Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Silence fell for a moment.

Then all the ghosts burst out laughing.

“Dream on. Ghosts and monsters have the highest head count. We’re the most cutthroat of the cutthroat in the NPC world. Every one of us has gone through a strict assessment and selection process, and you have to be strong enough. With those scrawny little arms and legs, if you ran into a fiercer player, they’d be chasing you all over the place.”

“If you were some niche species, like a demon or an evil god, then maybe we could consider it.”

I did not quite understand, but it sounded impressive. “Then how strong do you have to be to become an official NPC?”

The Instance Mini Boss rolled his eyes. “You’re too weak. You couldn’t even withstand one hand from me–”

Looking at the Instance Mini Boss who had been slapped ten li away, I guiltily withdrew my hand. I hadn’t meant to send him that far. So he was really that bad at taking a hit.

Originally, I’d only planned to slap him one li away.

All the ghosts stared, dumbfounded.

The Instance Master rushed over after hearing the news, clutching the huge bump on his forehead. “Which bastard smashed me with the Instance Mini Boss?”

“Her!” After being identified by all the ghosts, the Instance Master finally noticed me.

Having to meet the leadership so suddenly made me very nervous. I twisted my hair around my fingers. “I-I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t think he was this bad at taking a beating. I can beat him now, so can I be an official NPC?”

The Instance Master said, “What official NPC? All our official NPCs have employee badges…”

I picked up the employee badge the Instance Mini Boss had dropped, hung it around my own neck, and looked at the Instance Master expectantly. “I’m an official employee now, right?”

The Instance Mini Boss finally limped back. “Master, she’s the one who slapped me ten li away!”

The Instance Master jumped aside with a whoosh. Realizing how terrifying this strange ghost was, he answered timidly, “C-Consider yourself one, I suppose.” He wiped away cold sweat.

My eyes lit up.

I also ran off with a whoosh, and five minutes later, I dragged back a bowl three meters wide. I knocked on it, full of anticipation. “Boss, pay me, pay me! You haven’t paid me in five whole minutes!”

The Instance Master’s mouth twitched hard. Looking at that three-meter-wide bowl, he felt a mountain of pressure.

Wait. That bowl. Why did it look more and more familiar the longer he stared?

The Instance Master asked, “That bowl of yours. Where did it come from?”

Seeing someone appreciate my bowl made me extremely happy. I introduced it proudly. “There was a Giant Skeleton Frame on the other side of the mountain. His skull was big and round, very suitable for a bowl. I have a tiny little collecting habit, so I collected it as a bowl…”

“What? You took the Ultimate Boss’s skull?” The Instance Master’s eyes went wide, and he retreated in horror.

Then it clicked.

No wonder the Ultimate Boss had been slacking off so badly lately, running to a corner, digging a hole, and hiding himself inside no matter how they tried to drag him out. So his skull was gone. He had no face to meet the ghosts.

I pouted and emphasized unhappily, “I didn’t take it. I robbed him. For us ghosts, being ferocious, cunning, and vile is a virtue.”

However, the Instance Master refused to be morally blackmailed by me. He also told me that although I was now an official NPC, I was still on probation. The only condition for becoming a regular employee was to quit my collecting habit.

Fine.

For the sake of becoming permanent, I parted with it despite the pain.

I dragged my one and only collectible back.

The Giant Skeleton had buried his head inside the hole with his face turned inward. The mountain was too small and only hid half of him. The Instance Master led a crowd of ghosts and monsters over, but no matter how they called, he refused to come out.

The Instance Master then summoned a large group of NPCs. A heap of ghosts and monsters used every ounce of strength they had, but they still couldn’t pull the Giant Skeleton out. In the end, they even brought out a tug-of-war rope and tied it to the exposed foot of the Big Skeleton. The ghosts split into five teams.

“One, two, three!”

“One, two, three!”

“Pull!”

They failed to drag the Giant Skeleton out.

Instead, they pulled off his big red underpants.