Chapter 174

Chapter 174

The scrawny Monkey had been a thief before entering Survival Inn, and he had not abandoned the trade after entering instances.

He had cleared quite a few instances, but nearly all the ones he matched with emphasized intelligence or brute force. He had experienced very few supernatural instances.

That was also why he had laughed so hard earlier.

Every danger he had encountered could be seen and touched. After obtaining an Item that could give him the strength of a giant for 10 minutes, he regarded instances with even greater contempt.

He might look small and scrawny, but he was the primary physical attacker in their newly formed team.

Now, however, he did not want to waste a precious Item on a door, yet he could not get out. The dilemma made his head ache.

Had Brother Tang and the others not noticed he was missing?

Preoccupied with these questions, he failed to notice that something new had appeared in the corner of the room.

Whenever the lights went out, there always seemed to be a corner of the room that could not be seen clearly. Even when one stared, it remained a strange, indistinct blur.

The thing was hidden in just such a corner.

It shifted twice at the sound of Monkey talking to himself. Then, slowly, it began crawling toward him from the murky darkness.

Only when a faint rustling sound came from behind him did Monkey belatedly turn around and find himself facing a humanoid figure crawling on the floor a little over a meter away.

The figure looked very thin, with dry, matted short hair and an emaciated frame.

Monkey screamed and sprinted away, huddling in the farthest corner.

The figure did not seem angry or hurried. It merely continued crawling toward him.

The instant it raised its head, Monkey’s heart leaped into his throat. It had a face identical to his own.

The only difference was that a thick, white film like severe cataracts covered its eyes. The ghastly whiteness was horrifying.

Its mouth had been sewn shut with thread, the work brutally crude.

The stitches had been placed haphazardly, with some of the punctures dragged all the way into its cheeks, making the face look bloody and grotesque.

Monkey had never seen such a terrifying ghost. His upper and lower teeth chattered together.

As the thing crawled closer, Monkey forced strength into his weakened legs and sprinted toward the diagonally opposite corner.

The thing seemed slow to react. By the time Monkey reached the corner and leaned against the wall, panting from fear and exertion, it finally twisted around and began crawling toward him again.

Only this time, Monkey realized it was moving faster.

It did not crawl on its knees like an ordinary person. Its center of gravity was extremely low, its chest and belly almost pressed to the floor, while its elbows and backward-bent legs rose high in the air. It scuttled forward like a human spider.

Monkey had barely rested when he realized the thing was almost upon him. Gritting his teeth, he lifted his legs and began running laps along the walls.

The creature with his face crawled faster and faster. The scrape of its clothing against the floor drew closer until it sounded directly behind his head.

Monkey truly could not run any farther. He collapsed to the floor, panting like a broken bellows, his arms and legs covered in scrapes from falling.

Before he could catch his breath, a sudden weight settled on his back. Something had climbed onto him.

Monkey went rigid all over. Slowly, he turned his head and found himself face-to-face with a head resting on his shoulder.

Up close, the murky white eyes overflowed with malice, and the tangled threads across its cheeks made the sight even more chilling.

Monkey’s pupils contracted violently. He opened his mouth, desperate to scream out all the terror inside him.
Before he could make a sound, two cold, rough hands plunged into his mouth, seized both corners, and slowly, forcefully pulled them apart.

Blood gushed from the tearing corners of his mouth. His cries of pain and struggles grew weaker as time passed, until they finally stopped.

Only when Cheng Miao saw Linda beside her take out a phone did she dare slip her own from inside her clothes.

She had not held out much hope. Phones usually lost most of their functions inside instances. If an instance left players with a camera and a clock, it was already showing mercy.

But when she took out her phone this time, she froze.

The phone itself was still hers, but the interface was not.

It was rendered in heavy shades of black and red, and she had never seen any of the apps before.

Cheng Miao gained a deeper understanding of the hint.

She skimmed through the phone. Its apps and usage history could reveal the general personality of its owner.

The “Cheng Miao” who owned this phone appeared to be opinionated, fond of reading, and eager to express her views. She was very active on forums and message boards.

Not daring to waste too much time, Cheng Miao tapped the dark green messaging icon. It contained two work group chats, one for the Secretary Section and one for the whole company.

Apart from that, she had most people in the company in her contacts. Being teammates came with benefits as well.

Although Lin Zhu, Qin Musong, Qi Jiajia, and Qiudong did not work in her section, their assigned identities seemed to be close, and they even had their own small group chat.

She also had the contact information of several other players, but judging from the chat logs, they had barely interacted and had only exchanged details.

She had only exchanged a few simple messages with Qin Wen from Logistics, Yun Su from Finance, and Yan Yang from Human Resources.

Cheng Miao quickly opened the message Section Chief Qin Xi had just sent her. There would be a company-wide meeting in the large conference room at 9:30.

Cheng Miao checked the time. Ten minutes remained. With the instinctive awareness of a corporate drone, she picked up a notebook and asked Qin Xi, “Section Chief, would you like to go together?”

Qin Xi pressed her temples and waved Cheng Miao off. “Go ahead. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Cheng Miao nodded and signaled Shen Si and Fan Rui with her eyes as she passed their desks.

The two young women were fairly quick-witted. They had no idea how Cheng Miao had immersed herself in her role so fast. While they were still staring blankly at their computers, she already knew where to go next.

But following Cheng Miao could not go wrong. Compared with Doctor Tang, who had not even completed his introduction, they trusted this beautiful young woman who looked cool and unapproachable.

In a few sentences, Cheng Miao explained the information on the phones and computers. Enlightenment dawned on the two grateful women.

“You’ll have to discover the rest yourselves.” Cheng Miao nodded to them and stepped into the large conference room.

Several minutes remained before the meeting. People stood chatting in small groups. Cheng Miao listened without changing expression but did not obtain much information.

Before long, all the players had arrived. Some had come because a superior mentioned the meeting, as Cheng Miao’s had, while others simply followed the crowd.

Cheng Miao’s group gathered together, and she shared their current clues as quickly as possible. “This doesn’t feel like a traditional team instance. Each of us may have our own problems to face, so don’t let your guard down.”

Then she fixed Qi Jiajia with a pointed look. “Keep the hint in mind at all times. Don’t act according to your temper.”