Inside the 【Recitation Stage】.
The 【Vine Cage Girl】 began making coffee, and the aroma of the beans soon filled Zhu Yan’s nose.
“Oh, right.” Zhu Yan suddenly remembered something.
Nearly a month ago, just after he had left the instance 【Metabolism Module】, the strange horror creature named “Ji Xiting” had announced over the broadcast that it was a “player.”
Zhu Yan had always taken that as a vague warning.
However, the other party had made no further move for so long. Zhu Yan had also been rather busy these past few days, so he had temporarily put the matter out of his mind.
Zhu Yan gave the 【Vine Cage Girl】 a rough explanation of what had happened.
The other party occasionally hummed in acknowledgment, looking completely absorbed in the process of extracting the coffee.
“So you want to make inquiries about this person?”
After Zhu Yan finished speaking, it casually summed things up and pushed over a beautifully layered cup of coffee.
“Then you’ll have to put in some effort, because its status and abilities are both fairly impressive. It can manage certain instances remotely. The lowest-level ones are things like fast-food and kitchen-themed instances.”
Zhu Yan pulled the cup toward himself.
So, could the other end of the express passage he had taken—the 【Endless Kitchen】—be…
“The tunnel I found connects to an instance called 【Endless Kitchen】. Is that also territory under its control?”
“Remotely.” The 【Vine-Cage Woman】 lowered its head and began writing out its commission requirements, giving a soft laugh. “You’re pretty lucky. The horror creatures inside didn’t discover you—because these days, eight out of every ten passages lead to restaurants.”
Zhu Yan didn’t know what to say, so he simply fell silent.
Had this fellow named “Ji Xiting” deliberately contracted all these places?
It clearly didn’t look very old. Why was it so capable?
Was there some hidden story behind it?
The 【Vine Cage Girl】 advised him, “I suggest you don’t clash with it head-on for now. Play it safe.”
“For example, 【Endless Kitchen】 is an unsolvable, conceptual sort of thing. In the terminology used by you modern youngsters, it should be considered similar to the Backrooms.”
That sounded pretty sinister.
Zhu Yan thought for a moment, then pushed the cup of coffee back.
“Could you… arrange an instance for me and my friend, the 【Hunter】—one that would allow us to approach Ji Xiting or gather information about it?”
He admitted that he had moved too quickly, been recklessly bold, and gotten greedy.
On the one hand, he wouldn’t feel at ease unless Ji Xiting was eliminated.
On the other hand, his portable instance space, 【Auditorium】, was a little small.
But 【Endless Kitchen】 sounded huge!
At that, the 【Vine Cage Girl】 raised one eyebrow high. Its purplish-blue corpse-like face squeezed out a stiff expression of surprise.
“That can be arranged. I can’t tell you much more, but be careful.”
It sighed and printed another label, placing it over the old one. “Bring my manuscript back safely.”
Zhu Yan grinned, then looked at the contents of the label.
“Mission Objective: Help Hunter No. 3 obtain the portable instance location 【Tan Jade Temple】.”
Zhu Yan’s smile vanished.
【Tan Jade Temple】 sounded much more high-end than his 【Auditorium】.
Damn it. Why was that fair?
But Zhu Yan quickly regained his composure.
Why was he ranked first on the 【Hunter Rankings】? Because he fought for and seized everything he could.
“Mission Hint: Some restaurants need fresh ingredients to prepare glistening, delicious char siu, fragrant meat pies, sweet-and-sour ribs, and a wide variety of other dishes.”
“You must provide the Great Buddha inside 【Tan Jade Temple】 with eight players who volunteer to become sacrifices.”
“The Great Buddha will not consume the sacrifices’ bodies, but it will make their meat smooth, tender, and succulent.”
No wonder Ji Xiting could run restaurants, Zhu Yan realized.
So there was actually an artifact like this!
“Please note: Do not drag out the mission for too long. The boss will get angry!”
Zhu Yan read the text over twice, then took a photo for future reference.
Did this “boss” who would get angry refer to the person in charge of each restaurant, or to that short-tempered child named “Ji Xiting”?
“Boss” might be a clue pointing toward Ji Xiting.
Zhu Yan took a few sips of coffee and politely thanked the 【Vine Cage Girl】 again before accepting the densely written commission requirements from its hands.
“Good luck,” said the 【Vine Cage Girl】.
Zhu Yan bid it farewell.
In theory, he should have immediately found another express passage and returned directly to 【Westhill University】, sat on his dormitory bed, bought some things from Dragonfly, and then waited to go to the 【Nightmare Bookshop】 to look up information about Hunter No. 3.
But people needed rest.
Besides, he didn’t even know Hunter No. 3’s name, so he couldn’t meet the search requirements at all.
He would have to wait until he reunited with Qiu Lingxiao, then use Jin Rongxu’s ability to read the other party’s thoughts.
Until then, his free time would be a vacation.
Leaving the coffee cup behind, Zhu Yan switched back to 【Invisibility】, floated through the long, dark tunnel, and slipped back into Zhu Zeyu’s body.
…
When Yang Zhanbai learned that this place was an instance, he instead revealed an expression that said he had expected as much.
He put away the card and waved the pistol again.
“Bring out some food,” he ordered the impostor flatly. “Not that fresh-made nonsense of yours. I want convenient food that people can actually eat, along with a basic medical kit. I know you have them here. Same as before. One—”
The impostor didn’t dare delay.
Under Zhu Zeyu’s astonished gaze, it hurried away from the service window again, as though it had encountered some indescribable horror.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yang Zhanbai actually leaned into the window and, with practiced ease, pulled open the drawer beneath the register. He swept the bone coins and bone silver coins inside into his arms as though caught in a gale.
Zhu Yan stared in shock. “Huh?”
“If there’s an advantage to be taken and you don’t take it, you’re an idiot.” Yang Zhanbai shrugged. “Don’t forget, we might have to go back to 【Westhill University】 and pay rent later. Qiyinming and I asked the Slime at the library. It said…”
“What did it say?” Zhu Yan asked.
The impostor returned.
Yang Zhanbai pretended nothing had happened. He took a new disposable storage bracelet from the impostor and inspected it with his mind.
“It said that because the public beta instance is about to begin, we can stay outside without worrying. We don’t need to ask for leave, and the school will treat it as a vacation… Something like that.”
“Let’s go.” He waved the card in his hand at Zhu Zeyu. “There shouldn’t be anything wrong with these things.”
Zhu Zeyu followed Yang Zhanbai toward the vehicle.
The military vehicle soon started moving again, and the strange service area grew farther and farther away in Zhu Yan’s field of vision.
He adjusted the back of his seat as Director Jin had done, accepted a military blanket from Yang Zhanbai, and opened the 【Player Forum】.
In the short span of half a day, many more posts had appeared on the Player Forum. Quite a number of the avatars belonging to newcomers seeking help had already gone black.
Zhu Yan didn’t waste time on those strange posts.
He stared at the search bar at the top and entered the keyword “Tan Jade Temple.”
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
