Is Anyone Still Alive

Zhu Yan grabbed the boss's golden key, trotted all the way across the hall, stuck his head into the empty "elevator shaft," and shouted.

"Lower the golden cage!"

This really felt like the old witch from Rapunzel.

If only "golden cage" were replaced with "your hair"...

Zhu Yan thought messily as the metallic scraping sound of the golden cage slowly descending once again filled his ears.

Yang Zhanbai had already gotten out of the cage—

Zhu Yan stepped in, maintaining the appearance of the "boss," and took advantage of the short time the cage was rising to think rapidly.

His human identity was "Zhu Zeyu," but he had abandoned his teammates and ran away earlier.

It would be inconvenient to complete the [Hunter] mission as "Zhu Zeyu," but if he were to complete the harvest as the "boss," and casually check on those two unlucky souls he had left behind, it should be quite reasonable, right?

Bright, warm light gradually filled the entire space.

The golden cage slowly rose to the middle of the split counter. The Doppelganger stood outside the cage door, bowing its head submissively to open the door for Zhu Yan.

"That [Hunter] hasn't recovered yet." The Doppelganger's neck was buried deep in its collar. "Where is the captain? Didn't you come up with the captain?"

Hasn't recovered?

Zhu Yan looked past the Doppelganger in surprise, and sure enough, Yang Zhanbai was still leaning against the flower stand.

His consciousness seemed very clear, and his right hand was still tightly gripping that knife.

However, his face and lips were frighteningly pale; it seemed that crawling out of the golden cage had exhausted all his strength.

The moment their eyes met, Yang Zhanbai's fingers tightened around the dagger, bringing out a slight, spasmodic tremble.

"The captain is dead," Zhu Yan explained coldly. "Keep an eye on the [Hunter]. He still has a mission to complete."

Yang Zhanbai couldn't die just yet.

As the only player who knew the "truth about the [Hunter]," he still had a role to play.

Besides, Zhu Yan wasn't sure if he would need this teammate in the future.

"Dead, dead..." The Doppelganger didn't expect the boss to be so ruthless, and its body stiffened completely.

It hurriedly lowered its head, adopting a fawning tone.

"Rest assured. I will definitely not follow in the captain's footsteps..."

Zhu Yan had no time for it; he turned and pushed open the flower shop's door.

Instantly, darkness mixed with terrified screams rushed at him.

A thick stench of blood suddenly overwhelmed Zhu Yan's nasal cavity, and he couldn't help but gag slightly.

A head rolled to his feet with a rumble, and immediately a damp, thick fog flowed over silently, enveloping the head.

"Hello." A respectful and faint voice came from the fog. "Welcome. There is food everywhere here—"

The level-five table knife pierced through it without mercy.

The black fog rolled and contracted, bursting silently into the air.

Zhu Yan fought down the urge to vomit and strode away, not looking at the remains with lingering flesh and muscle on the ground.

The streets were indeed full of "food"—

In the dim blue light on both sides, some students wandered, crying and howling.

A chubby boy walked towards Zhu Yan, his face a shiny mess of snot and tears, yet his hands still tightly clutched half a small bag of biscuits.

"Save me..." he cried, biscuit crumbs flying from his mouth. "Where am I? ... I shouldn't be here!"

The boy pinched the last bit of biscuit crumbs and stuffed them into his mouth, his cheeks working frantically.

His brows relaxed with the action, but soon he started sobbing again.

"Not enough!" he shouted frantically. "Give me more! This little bit isn't enough for me to go back there...!"

Zhu Yan didn't respond.

Who was he asking for help? Him?

His current appearance was that of a thoroughgoing horror creature!

Zhu Yan silently looked at the person's abdomen.

Under the night sky, his torn light-colored clothes were soaked with a large patch of dark liquid.

Beneath the clothes was a completely ulcerated abdomen, with internal organs exposed, but they seemed glued in place, not falling out.

Zhu Yan's gaze swept over those viscous organs.

They were actually still wriggling slightly, like soft worms coated in syrup.

He was beyond saving.

Zhu Yan showed no more mercy.

The sharp knife in his hand easily pierced the person's heart; the sensation was an elastic hardness, and the blood, mixed with a strong, sugary stench, made him nauseous.

The boy fell, and a patch of flowing mist quickly enveloped the rotting flesh.

"Congratulations!" A female voice appeared in his ear. "You have harvested one..."

Zhu Yan felt a buzzing in his ears.

He stepped on the scattered broken glass and walked forward, finding that most of those crying and wandering outside were such students.

The sharp knife in his hand decisively and accurately pierced four hearts, and he continuously dispersed several wisps of thin mist.

The female voice rang in his ears successively, then hummed a simple, cheerful tune.

"Congratulations!"

"Dear rookie [Hunter], congratulations on completing today's harvest mission!"

"Please keep up the good work tomorrow!"

Zhu Yan put away the table knife, feeling a wave of dizziness.

These people were going to die eventually; killing them was much better than killing those innocent people who could survive on their own, right?

Zhu Yan bit the tip of his tongue, forcing himself to suppress the surging nausea.

No, now was not the time to sort out his emotions.

He should go check the general situation of the candy store, then go back to find Yang Zhanbai!

Zhu Yan put away the level-five table knife in his hand.

He avoided the crying students, quickly transformed into the appearance of "Zhu Zeyu," and ran all the way into the broken door of the candy store.

Under the dim blue light, the originally neat shelves were overturned on the ground.

Some people lay on the ground in various postures, scattered with colorful candies.

The sweet smell rushed into Zhu Yan's nasal cavity, accompanied by a squelching sound of chewing on mucous tissues.

Zhu Yan looked towards the sound and soon saw it in the darkness—

The "Officer" of the candy store had torn the skin off its face and was crouching over a body, feasting.

Perhaps catching the scent of a living person, it suddenly raised its head, staring straight at Zhu Yan.

"Aha."

The "Officer" stood up unsteadily, holding a huge fist.

Zhu Yan recognized this as the hand of the level-three boy from earlier, because it still maintained its metallic state; it seemed the boy's strike had missed.

"It's you, the guy who bought things. Your group of companions is really smart."

The "Officer" laughed weirdly and hoarsely.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Yan asked, warily scanning the surroundings. "What happened to them?"

He quickly noticed something was wrong.

Two rows of heavy shelves had been moved to the innermost corner of the store.

In the shadows unreached by the blue light, they were arranged at a right angle, leaning against the walls on both sides, like a small fortress.

Sure enough, the "Officer" pointed to that "fortress" as it approached him.

"They thought that by doing this, I wouldn't eat people."

It said eccentrically.

"Oh my, I really didn't eat them, because there's too much food outside."

"But, I still have over ten hours to get through."

The "Officer" lifted that metallic fist to show him.

"Damn players."

"He is dead, which makes your ability the most powerful. I won't fight you during the day. Hehe."

Zhu Yan saw its ghastly white teeth and the crisscrossing muscles on its face.

"Now that you are back, I will—"

"Watch out!!" someone screamed from the shadows, their voice tearing through the air.

The "Officer" moved at that exact moment, its twisted, distorted voice violently piercing Zhu Yan's eardrums.

It was incredibly fast; Zhu Yan could only make out a blur.

"I'll kill you!!"