Please Enjoy the Sunset Glow

"Hurry!"

Zhu Yan shouted.

They ran through a sweet, sticky mist. Zhu Yan couldn't help but look up at the clock suspended in the sky.

The neon grid shifted and intersected, pulling down the raised corners of its lips, seemingly about to form a terrified expression just like usual.

They threw themselves against the closed glass door of the candy store. It wasn't locked and swung open inward effortlessly.

The violent movement triggered a burst of exclamations and complaints inside the store. Zhu Yan grabbed onto a shelf filled with various candies and pastries, ignoring the surrounding noise.

He quickly turned to the other three, gesturing for them to hide deeper behind the shelves for now.

"The Hovering Clock still hasn't chimed," Zhu Yan said in a low voice. "I'm going to take a look."

"Hey, you—it's probably about to get dark outside—"

The Bespectacled Man instinctively tried to grab him, but Zhu Yan dodged nimbly.

He pushed the door open and leaned half his body out, but his arm was yanked back by an even stronger force.

"Isn't this the four-man group that never buys anything? Why are you leaving as soon as you get here?"

It was that boy with a Level 3 ability.

His expression was far from friendly, and his other hand was still gripping a half-eaten large chocolate bar.

Zhu Yan looked up at the Hovering Clock in the sky. The giant face maintained its terrified expression, but the originally spinning eyeballs had abnormally frozen in place.

It was a sidelong glance, but the glassy black pupils seemed to be staring right at him.

It was too late.

He stepped back, quickly grabbed a handful of candies from the shelf, and stuffed them into the boy's arms.

The boy instinctively let go of Zhu Yan, freeing his hands to protect the scattered sweets.

Zhu Yan pushed the door open again and hurried toward the flower shop.

After running only two steps, his field of vision suddenly darkened.

Small cries of alarm erupted from the surrounding shops. Zhu Yan stopped in his tracks and, along with a few bewildered players on the street, turned his head to look up.

The neon light that originally illuminated the entire street became very faint—

The Hovering Clock once again turned a pale white, its massive outline looming behind the dim light.

Unlike the previous silhouette of the Alpha Wolf, this time, the giant red mouth did not disappear.

It remained in its original position and began to open and close.

A sticky, childish voice rang out, this time accompanied by a blurry background noise, like someone chewing.

"It's evening, it's evening!"

It said gleefully. Immediately after, a few simple, cheerful piano notes echoed in the air.

Zhu Yan felt a little nauseous.

"We are going to announce something important. Please listen carefully while enjoying the beautiful sunset!"

"Please focus and stay where you are—do not walk around in unsafe places!"

The red lips stretched to the sides, revealing two rows of neat white teeth.

Zhu Yan stopped.

He turned around. All the players on the street had stopped.

A wisp of mist drifted slowly past him, and Zhu Yan was surprised to find that it had turned a somewhat bright orange-red.

Is this the sunset?

Zhu Yan drew his dagger and stirred it. The mist churned and then quickly shrank away.

Oh haha, it looks like it was made by a monster.

"There is a traitor among the players."

The childish voice sounded very innocent.

"He pledged allegiance to the Carnival Paradise early on, willingly entering the game as a Hunter to harvest lives."

Damn, what a shameless smear!

Zhu Yan was speechless.

There was absolute silence in the shops on both sides. Through the glass, Zhu Yan could see the players looking at each other under the bright lights.

The Officer from the clothing store walked out, grabbed a player, and waved for the others to follow it inside.

"Go," it called out in a low voice. "Get to a safe place."

Zhu Yan hid behind a streak of sunset just as the childish voice continued.

"The Alpha Wolf despises such behavior, so it has set a special rule."

Despises my ass, acting like it's so noble.

Zhu Yan sneered.

"Regardless of day or night, 24 hours make a day."

"As long as you find and kill the Hunter within 3 days, we will grant all players an additional 48 consecutive hours of daylight on top of the 3-day duration!"

"48 hours is enough for you to walk to your respective universities."

The pitch of the childish voice suddenly rose, sounding very excited.

"We will announce the basic information we know about the Hunter for your reference."

Zhu Yan's attention instantly focused, his breathing involuntarily quickening.

"What we know."

These things, in theory, had no way of knowing the details of his appearance and facial features.

What would they announce?

"The Hunter forum ID is: User Cancelled, and the avatar is pure black."

"He has the Hunter mark on the palm of his right hand, the pattern being an arrow on a bowstring."

"This person's Hunter level is: Level 0."

Other than the pattern being a bit problematic, the rest was fine.

They didn't even know his player level, only stating his Hunter level was 0!

Zhu Yan's heartbeat steadied, and the omnipresent childish voice started giggling at this moment.

"Find and kill the Alpha Wolf, and all players can likewise obtain 48 consecutive hours of daylight."

"Choose one of the two, players—"

The tone of the last word soared again, the trailing sound dragged out long, like a summons.

A thick darkness suddenly poured down from the top of the sky, and the light plunged abruptly.

Only the faintly glowing white clock face remained on the horizon, while the shop lights struggled to pierce through the darkness.

Noisy whispers leaked out from the storefronts, enveloping Zhu Yan like a tide.

He was right next to the candy store and could even hear the Level 3 boy asking loudly amidst the noise.

"Officer, when is the car coming?"

Zhu Yan turned around as if possessed; from this angle, he could just see the counter of the candy store.

The Officer was still standing behind that bouquet of colorful candy flowers, smiling at the boy.

Bzzzt.

The lights in the store flickered.

The faint sound of electric current passed through Zhu Yan's eardrums, causing his heart to lightly contract.

...It's coming.

An obscure joy gripped his heart like metal pincers, gluing his feet to the ground just as he was about to leave.

Behind the colorful candies, the corners of the Officer's mouth pulled upward, revealing a row of neat teeth.

Bzzzt.

The lights flickered again, the players started looking around, and the noise grew louder.

The boy's chest heaved slightly as he stared at the Officer's face, while the Officer's emotionless eyes stared just as blankly at his neck.

Bzzzt—Bzzzt—

The lights flickered more violently and frequently, bouncing between a bright warm yellow and a dark, eerie blue.

Not just here, but the lights along the entire street began to flicker erratically, like the breathing of a dying creature.

The boy became a little panicked. "Are we supposed to go catch the Hunter?!"

The sound of electric current rang out continuously.

Amidst the flickering, the two colors of light alternated on the Officer's face.

Each flash of light could only illuminate half of its smiling face, and the expression outlined by the light and shadows became increasingly bizarre.

The "Officer" bared its two rows of teeth. In the translucent reflection of the candy bouquet, Zhu Yan saw its glistening saliva stretch into sticky strings.

"We do," the "Officer" replied in a shrill voice, stiffly crawling onto the counter.

The boy's neck and shoulders visibly tensed, his entire body freezing in place.

"You want to arrest the [Hunter]! And we—"

All of this happened within a mere dozen seconds.

Zhu Yan violently bit down on the tip of his tongue, the sharp pain piercing through the euphoric haze.

He didn't look back, sprinting madly toward Yang Zhanbai's position.

Behind him, the fierce roar of the "Officer" intertwined with the tender, childish declaration of a young kid.

"—are going to catch you!!"

"—Twelve o'clock. Night has fallen!"

Snap.

Every light source extinguished—including the [Hovering Clock] in the sky.

Zhu Yan was abruptly plunged into darkness. The screams of players, the crashing of shattering glass, and the shrieks of monsters merged into a deafening cacophony all around him.