Only Two Days of Life Left

The ugly black cat "came back to life" and broke free from Zhu Yan's grasp.

The instance ended, and the power acting upon it vanished as well.

It lifted its face and let out a soft cry at Zhu Yan. In the dim light, Zhu Yan surprisingly felt that it wasn't quite as ugly anymore.

...But it was still ugly.

More importantly, this thing ate human flesh, which deeply unsettled him.

Anyway, Zhu Yan had followed the broadcast's instructions and brought the black cat out.

Whatever happened to the cat from now on was none of his business.

With a thought, Zhu Yan stuffed the [Demon] cloak along with the [Plague Potion] into his ring.

Taking advantage of the black cat curiously looking around, he sprinted downstairs at the fastest speed of his life, running to the 7th floor and pressing the down button for the elevator.

The safety door slammed shut heavily behind him. Zhu Yan stood in the empty corridor and looked around; he didn't see the ugly black cat.

Good. Zhu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

He went down to the first-floor lobby, bought himself a drink from the vending machine, and walked back into the unforgiving night of Queye Street.

Guan En didn't come, there were no police cars around, and everything was peaceful and beautiful.

The evening breeze was warm. Zhu Yan walked briskly past a lit-up glass office building and hailed a random taxi at the intersection.

"Old town district," he said to the driver. "Just drop me off anywhere there."

It was not even nine o'clock yet; Zhu Yan could just take a walk back.

"Sure." The driver turned his head to glance at the back. "Pets are allowed, but if the cat poops or pukes in the car, or ruins my seats, it'll be a 200 fee. And it can't distract me from driving."

"Wh—" Zhu Yan felt something was wrong.

He immediately followed the driver's gaze, turned his head, and lost his composure.

"Those are the rules." The driver stepped on the gas and turned on the music.

"Distracting me from driving is 500."

Gentle love songs filled the entire cabin, but Zhu Yan was in no mood to appreciate them.

On the seat next to him, which was covered with a bamboo cooling mat, obediently lay an unfamiliar-looking black cat.

The black cat he had ditched!

He clearly hadn't seen this thing at all along the way!

Zhu Yan was screaming internally.

Now, the black cat's front legs were stretched out quite comfortably, and its fur had turned warm and fluffy.

Perhaps because it hadn't eaten its fill, the cat kept licking its now delicate and standard-looking snout, its dark pupils dilated round.

...It was prettier now, but this thing ate people.

There was no way he could keep it.

Zhu Yan glared at it, and it glared back at Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan shifted to the side. "If you dare come over, I'll stew you."

"Meow." The black cat made a soft, high-pitched sound.

Zhu Yan couldn't understand cat language, but he knew he was in big trouble.

He glanced at the driver who was focused on driving in the front seat, grabbed the black cat by the scruff of its neck, and pulled it over.

The love song was still playing. Under the cover of the music, Zhu Yan issued a threat to the black cat in a very low voice.

"Don't follow me," he said, pulling out a short dagger. "If you keep following me, I'll really kill you."

The now smaller black cat struggled fiercely and broke free.

It landed gracefully on Zhu Yan's thigh, its tail bending at an incredible angle to form a large "M".

...Huh?

Zhu Yan stared at it in shock.

"Meow," the black cat said.

Threats didn't work, but as Zhu Yan looked at that face, which was as cute as a real cat's, he simply couldn't bring himself to do it.

He started brainwashing himself, repeating that this thing ate humans, but the next second, a crisp broadcast voice drew all his attention.

"Hello, player."

"You participated in the instance [It] in a special way and greatly advanced the progress of the instance."

"Therefore, I will broadcast the clearance status of the instance for you as normal and announce your special rewards."

The music in the car was still crooning. Zhu Yan looked down at the black cat, whose fur color was starting to change, and decided that the rewards were more important.

He could deal with this thriller creature somehow; at worst, he would just kill it.

Zhu Yan leaned back in his seat and looked out the window at the increasingly bustling street scene.

"The overall clearance results for the instance [It] are as follows:"

"Total number of players: one. Cleared: one."

"You do not have the basic rewards for participating in the instance, but your special rewards are as follows:"

"Rest days: 4 days."

"Since you have previously used up a few rest days, after consideration, we have rounded your total rest days."

"Current accumulated rest days: 30 days."

Zhu Yan temporarily had no objections to these accumulated 30 rest days.

Let alone 30 days, given the current situation, being able to use a week would already be considered pretty good.

"Of course, you may choose to enter an instance early; that is your freedom."

No, it wasn't.

It was often a forced matter of life and death for him.

"Special assistance reward: 30,000 yuan."

"You may choose to receive it in the form of human currency or [Carnival Paradise] currency."

This was an unexpected pleasant surprise.

Zhu Yan thought of what Guan En had said about the [Hall of Mourning] opening in seven days. After some thought, he chose the [Carnival Paradise] currency.

If the [Hall of Mourning] opened, every player who entered would likely be forcibly registered.

In his situation, once registered, his address checked, and his novice instance questioned, discovering the old town district and the sudden unattended death, he would very likely be exposed.

He currently had enough human currency to spend. With the exchange rate potentially rising, choosing the [Carnival Paradise] currency was safer.

"Three hundred Bone Gold Coins have been credited to your account," the pleasant female voice prompted.

"Player Level: Lv.4. This is a special privilege we are giving you."

Very generous indeed.

Zhu Yan silently sighed in his heart.

Leveling up without even entering the instance was truly an unexpected surprise.

"[Roleplay] ability level: Lv.5. One more closed beta instance is required to upgrade."

After the previous instance [Devouring Villa] ended, the broadcast prompted that two more instances were needed to upgrade.

This time, only one more instance was needed, which was an unexpected gift for Zhu Yan.

"[Complain] ability level: Lv.5. Two more closed beta instances are required to upgrade."

"[Humiliate] ability level: Lv.4. Not a weakness; balanced development."

Looking at it this way, all three of his abilities had actually improved.

Except for the lack of the basic reward money, everything else was really no different from actually participating in the instance.

Moreover, he had also taken the cloak left behind by the [Demon].

He wondered what that thing would be used for.

"And, congratulations on obtaining the items [Plague Potion] and [Demon Cloak]. Congratulations on acquiring the thriller creature [Cat]."

Wait.

What did that mean? He didn't want to raise this man-eating monster!

Zhu Yan lost his calm.

He glanced again at the black cat beside him, which had now grown a white tail tip, and couldn't help but protest in a very quiet voice.

"Can I not have this cat?"

To his disappointment, the female voice continued its pleasant but rigid broadcast, completely ignoring him.

"Before I explain in detail, I need to remind you."

"Because a considerable amount of your life force was absorbed by the [Demon] during the process of killing it, you now have less than two days left to live."

"However, considering that you are the first player so far to slay a [Horror Creature], we will give you a chance to choose."

Zhu Yan immediately recalled the slender mouthpart that had pierced right through his stomach; that must have been what the [Demon] used to siphon his vitality.

Indeed, looking back at that moment, his state of mind had been quite dazed.

Still, having his lifespan drained until he had less than two days left to live was a level of ruthlessness that Zhu Yan had not anticipated.

What kind of choice would the [Carnival Paradise] offer him?

"You can choose to live out your remaining time of less than two days as a player."

"Or, of course, you may choose to assimilate a portion of power from the [Carnival Paradise] known as [Thrilling Rapture]. This will replenish your lifespan and grant you an alternative progression path."

"Please note, this is a supreme honor bestowed upon only a very select few players."