You've been treacherous for more than a day or two.

Zhu Yan sized up the "officer" and understood.

This horror creature simply didn't want the other players to figure anything out, so it obscured the price, using the vague term "coins."

Coins could mean RMB, or they could mean bone gold coins, bone silver coins, or bone copper coins.

The "officer's" pitch-black eyes stared straight at him as it broke into a smile again.

Heh, probably another trap.

If Zhu Yan were a new player and tried to leave after paying only three yuan, it probably wouldn't be long before an "officer" escorted him to the duty booth.

According to the rules, horror creatures indeed could not attack players during the day.

However, they could trade with players and collect the "correct payment" from them!

Zhu Yan glanced at the crowd of onlookers nearby, hid the knife from his pocket into his sleeve, and wrapped his right arm around the "officer's" back in a feigned display of intimacy.

The sharp tip of the knife pressed against the "officer's" uniform through the sleeve. Zhu Yan shifted his body to block the others' line of sight.

"You are too kind, Uncle," he said with a beaming smile, flashing the player badge in his left hand.

"How could I possibly feel right about you only charging me three yuan?"

The "officer's" eyelids twitched violently, its pupils dilating in a flash of surprise.

The next second, its smile completely vanished, and it stared coldly at Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan kept smiling without changing his expression. "Come on, scan for the payment. Just charge me the regular price."

The tip of the knife poked viciously into the "officer's" uniform. Zhu Yan noticed a momentary wrinkling of its facial skin.

The previous "officer" had made the same expression right before it died; Zhu Yan guessed this indicated fear.

"A-alright then."

Probably not expecting Zhu Yan to have an item capable of dealing with a level-four monster, the "officer" wore a stiff face, its amiable voice catching strangely in its throat.

It pulled a strange card from its pocket and rather swiftly scanned Zhu Yan's left palm.

Zhu Yan felt the mark burn for a few seconds.

It seemed that this time, the "officer" wasn't playing any tricks.

Extremely reluctantly, it pulled something from its other pocket and shoved it into Zhu Yan's hand.

"Take it, child. You've paid, so it's all yours."

A clue!

Zhu Yan's eyes lit up.

Behind him, some players muttered softly in dissatisfaction.

"What kind of person is that..."

"...The uncle has such a good temper."

Zhu Yan didn't care at all.

He took the item and quickly swept his eyes over it.

It was a piece of hard metal shard, with the texture of gold.

Sharp and irregular, it bore some strange patterns, looking like a fragment of something.

Zhu Yan put it away, and the tip of his knife thrust forward again, pinning against the "officer's" uniform.

"I just need to go buy things at the other stores, right?"

He asked softly, "Are there any trading limits?"

The "officer's" throat bobbed in fear.

It shook its head to indicate there weren't any, so Zhu Yan withdrew his right hand and left the convenience store without looking back.

A boy watched Zhu Yan's retreating back and curled his lips.

"This guy is really weird. Do you guys think he could be that Xuexitong?"

...

While keeping half an eye on his surroundings, Zhu Yan inspected the foil wrapper, the lighter, and that box of condoms one by one, trying to find anything abnormal.

But there was nothing—

These items themselves were incredibly normal, without anything special about them.

Zhu Yan looked around.

Opposite the convenience store was a pharmacy, and opposite the pharmacy was a post station piled high with express packages.

In comparison, there were a few more students in the pharmacy. Zhu Yan even spotted a familiar figure from afar.

This person was wearing a hood, with a striking lock of red hair poking out.

He was pulling a boy aside, discussing something in a very low voice.

Under the pharmacy's bright lights, the fear and suspicion on the boy's face were clearly visible.

It was Yang Zhanbai.

Zhu Yan did not hesitate. He turned, lifted the plastic curtain, and stepped into the dilapidated, cramped post station.

Yang Zhanbai was very sharp.

If Zhu Yan operated in the pharmacy, the other party would definitely come over and ask all sorts of questions.

He was, after all, a [Hunter].

When facing such a player, it was better to be cautious.

"Student, what are you doing here?"

The "officer" at the post station stretched out an arm, blocking Zhu Yan's path.

"There are no supplies here. If you want food, go get it over there."

Its arm was much more withered than those of the other "officers," with the uniform sleeve hanging emptily over it.

Zhu Yan guessed that this might be a different kind of horror creature, but that wasn't important.

"Right. There's nothing here."

And no people either—he could do whatever he wanted.

Zhu Yan repeated his old trick, his right hand slapping heavily onto the officer's shoulder.

With his back to the main entrance, the tip of the knife hidden in his sleeve pressed directly against the "officer's" neck.

The "officer" froze expressionlessly, its neck mechanically tilting to one side like a corpse wearing mortuary makeup.

"Give me some merchandise," Zhu Yan smiled at it. "Pick out everything I can buy."

"If you dare to miss anything, I'll kill you."

Under the pale light, the "officer's" dim eyes stared fixedly at Zhu Yan.

After a long while, its mouth split wide open, a smile crowding half its face.

"Alright. Please wait a moment."

The "officer" clumsily imitated a human's fawning tone, chuckling as its neck snapped to the left like a spring, dodging Zhu Yan's knife edge.

It quickly shuttled between the iron shelves, skillfully pulling out two small packages from the deepest part of the rack.

"This is it."

The "officer's" long, spindly claws held the packages and offered them to Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan sneered, opening his mouth to start a bluff.

"The packages available for purchase here, I remember there being six of them."

Six was a number he had just thrown out randomly; he had no idea how many there actually were.

This was just to bluff the horror creature and see if it was scamming the players.

He said six because, judging by the three items in the convenience store, there absolutely wouldn't be as many as six things here.

Therefore, this horror creature wasn't likely to see through his trick immediately.

"S-six?"

The "officer" was stunned.

The knife, tainted with the strong scent of its own kind, waved back and forth before its eyes, catching dazzling points of light.

It craned its neck, even forgetting to disguise its stiff movements.

"Where would there be six? That's impossible!"

The "officer" fell for it, crying out weirdly.

"Every store only has... only has three—"

Oh.

The blade pressed mercilessly against the "officer's" neck. Zhu Yan smiled and glanced at the shelf, glad that he had just tested the waters.

"Then where is the third one?"

The corners of the "officer's" mouth turned down.

Its stagnant eyes once again stared coldly at Zhu Yan, before it turned around and mechanically walked toward the shelf.

This time, the "officer's" movements were much slower.

It rummaged for a long time before picking up a black envelope, only the size of a palm, from a corner.

"Three in total." The "officer" looked on dejectedly as Zhu Yan snatched the envelope. "Three bone gold coins, or three fingers."

Two minutes later, Zhu Yan left the post station completely unscathed.

In his hand were two things he had taken out of the packages: a small packet of rock sugar, and a small packet of alum.

The rock sugar and alum had both been ground into powder, their contents identifiable only by the handwritten sticky notes attached to their packaging.

Zhu Yan did not dare to open the bags.

He stuffed the two items into his pocket and tore open the small black envelope.

Inside was nothing but a single handwritten note.

"Dear player, have you discovered the bug in this instance yet?"

"As long as players do not ask [What time is it, Mr. Wolf?], the [Hovering Clock] will not announce the time."

Zhu Yan's heart skipped a beat.

He abruptly looked up at the sky. The originally deep blue twilight had grown increasingly murky, and the giant human face happened to be displaying a look of terror toward the crowd.

"This is the only hidden rule in this instance. Congratulations on drawing it."

"Please shout [What time is it, Mr. Wolf?] at the [Hovering Clock] within 10 minutes."

The moment Zhu Yan's eyes landed on the "10", the number jumped to "00:09:59".

The final digit continued to tick down before his eyes: 8, 7, 6...

"Otherwise, once the countdown ends, the [Hovering Clock] will immediately announce that night has fallen."

"I am rooting for you, player!"