My mouth is watering; I want to eat oden.

"Wait a moment," Yang Zhanbai said.

Was there a change of plans?

Zhu Yan stopped his turning motion, but the other simply scanned the group with a serious expression.

"Let's divide the area, so it won't be a mess."

Zhu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then I'll take the area with the pharmacy, the snack shop, and the milk tea shop, towards the back."

For one, according to the information he had coaxed out during the meeting, the note for the next time announcement was hidden in the snack shop. Time was tight, and him handling it would be the fastest.

Secondly, the corner that allowed him to conveniently change his appearance was in this area. Choosing this spot meant he was less likely to be exposed.

"Alright," Yang Zhanbai said. "Then I'll be responsible for the middle area with the hardware store. The front will be left to you three."

...

One by one, the group squeezed through the gap between the walls with considerable effort.

The rough wall scraped against Zhu Yan's clothes. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt the gap had gotten a bit narrower.

In just a few minutes, there weren't as many people outside anymore.

Many students had returned to the stores. Through the display windows, Zhu Yan could see some of them carefully searching the shelves for remaining food.

Only a small number of students were wandering the streets, seemingly all heading towards the milk tea shop.

"Watch the time." Yang Zhanbai skillfully found cover and crouched down, taking a quick glance at his phone.

"It's 11:10 right now. We must be back here by 11:30."

Zhu Yan's time was tighter than the others.

He walked into the pharmacy with a clear purpose, grabbing a bottle of saline solution from the bottom shelf of the very last aisle.

Yang Zhanbai, along with those teammates who were obviously rookies, clearly lacked experience dealing with thriller creatures.

Even if he directly gave them the shopping list, they would most likely have to mess around for a long time.

By then, who knew how long it would be until dark?

Zhu Yan took out the painkillers he had found earlier, which had packaging resembling a soap box, stuffed them into his jacket along with the syringe and saline solution, and hurried toward the counter.

Just like before the time announcement, there was a long line at the pharmacy counter.

He walked straight to the front of the line and saw a smiling "police officer" busy taking a small packet of powder from a student, brewing it with boiling water in a disposable paper cup.

Zhu Yan curiously leaned his head over and found it was a pink drink giving off a sweet strawberry scent.

"Something to prevent colds!" the "officer" enthusiastically explained to Zhu Yan. "We were worried you wouldn't be used to the bitterness, so we specially prepared a flavor meant for kids!"

It shoved the drink into the student's hands while asking Zhu Yan, "Want a cup, student?"

Zhu Yan chuckled, took a step forward, and smoothly vaulted over the counter.

This sudden action startled the "officer," causing several surrounding students to frown in displeasure.

"Student, how could you—"

"Get me a cup." Zhu Yan circled behind the "officer," pretending to watch it brew the powder.

The sharp dagger silently pressed against the "officer's" waist, easily slicing a small slit into the uniform.

The "officer" turned its head slightly, its face instantly turning awful.

"Student, first come, first served. How can you be so impolite?"

The students still waiting in line immediately began to criticize him: "I should be next, and the people behind..."

As soon as those words came out, the people behind immediately expressed their dissatisfaction.

"Exactly, did you even ask us?"

Zhu Yan couldn't even be bothered to give them a glance.

He simply pushed the tip of the knife forward a bit, feeling the "officer's" muscles were as hard and tough as rubber.

"I also need to buy some things. Not taking them for free, buying them."

He casually tossed the three items onto the counter with his left hand. At this, the "officer's" face completely changed.

It looked at the complaining students, then wanted to turn back to look at Zhu Yan.

However, the tip of the knife mercilessly poked forward again. The immense sense of threat forced it to squeeze out a smile.

"S-sure. I'll check you out first, the medicine powder..."

"I don't need the medicine powder."

Zhu Yan immediately changed his tune, and the expressions of the queuing students instantly relaxed.

...Could these people really wake up?

Three minutes later.

Zhu Yan hurried toward the snack shop, clutching the three hard-earned metal fragments in his hand.

The three fragments could perfectly piece together into a damaged rectangular block, its edges decorated with embossed flowers.

Compared to the key the "officer" had mentioned, it looked more like a ticket.

How was he supposed to open the flower shop's door...?

Zhu Yan lifted the thick cloth curtain of the snack shop, yet was still startled by how packed it was inside.

The snack shop was a place that sold malatang, oden, and various steamed buns and wontons.

It was a full two hundred square meters, and every greasy little plastic table was surrounded by people.

The aisles were packed with students standing and eating. Zhu Yan squeezed past with considerable effort, doing his best to dodge the splashing oil and broth.

The ordering and checkout counter was at the very back of the shop. Besides a "police officer," there was also a plump auntie wearing a white uniform.

Seeing Zhu Yan, the "officer" smiled eagerly.

"Student, what else would you like to order?"

The sweet aroma of oden and the steam from the boilers mingled together, but they still couldn't mask the faint, lingering smell of rot in the air.

Zhu Yan wrinkled his nose, sharply locking his gaze onto the livor mortis at the plump auntie's collar.

What kind of monster was this?

"I want malatang." Zhu Yan didn't want to waste time. With a shift in his thoughts, he activated his ability [Complain].

"Three all-vegetarian portions, no meat, no extra toppings. How much? I'll pay."

The "officer's" mouth turned down into a scowl.

"The oden is free, and the meat in the malatang is all free. We'll prepare it for you—"

Zhu Yan immediately interrupted it.

"Is your head full of water that sloshes around and makes you deaf?"

The "officer" slumped downward like a limp pile. Zhu Yan immediately stepped forward and grabbed it to prop it up.

Beneath the tall counter, the sharp blade was pressed right against the "officer's" throat.

Zhu Yan looked up and grinned at the stiff-faced "plump woman," noticing that the purple blotches on its neck were slowly expanding.

"Sister, if the livor mortis on your neck spreads any further, you won't be able to keep your head."

"Check out!"

The "plump woman" went silent.

Its Adam's apple bobbed violently twice, letting out a panicked gurgling sound.

"...Please show your left hand... If you don't have money, you can use your hand, your fingers..."

Zhu Yan extended the palm of his left hand.

He watched the "plump woman" align its eyeball with the pattern, recalling the intel he had gathered earlier.

The second note was the receipt from the snack shop.

"Give me the receipt," Zhu Yan threatened coldly. "Or I'll kill you right now."

Three minutes later.

Zhu Yan casually placed the three packed portions of malatang on a small table. With his other hand clutching the fourth fragment and a small black envelope, he struggled to squeeze out of the shop doors.

With the four fragments pieced together, the pattern became much clearer.

On the golden card, flowers surrounded a rectangular indentation in the center.

In front of the indentation was half of a shape that looked like a sharp corner, resembling a broken arrow.

And the note...

Zhu Yan tucked the fragments away. As he walked toward the long line at the milk tea shop, he made quick work of tearing open the envelope.

This note was different from the first; the message on it was extremely concise.

"Congratulations on obtaining the second note."

"Time remaining until the next inquiry of [Mr. Wolf, Mr. Wolf, what time is it] is 00:40:25."

This meant that in forty minutes, the [Hovering Clock] would announce the time for the second time!

The final 25 kept flashing and ticking down. In the brief moment it took Zhu Yan to walk just a few steps, it rapidly dropped to 18.

Zhu Yan jogged to the very front of the milk tea shop queue, his gaze shifting to the final line of text on the slip of paper.

"Hehe. Evening is almost here!"