Chapter 27
Chapter 27
“Hey, handsome. Just got out of the Ivy Girls’ School instance? How was it?”
Xiao Huai turned around. A bearded middle-aged man was trying to strike up a conversation with him.
“Not great,” Xiao Huai replied quietly. “Where is this?”
That was exactly what the middle-aged man had been waiting to hear. He pulled out a booklet. “Handsome, not ninety-nine, only fifty Survival Coins, and you can…”
The cover read *Newcomer’s Guide*. Before the man could finish his pitch, a notification informed him that Xiao Huai had transferred the money.
By the time he blinked, the booklet had vanished from his hand, and Xiao Huai was already walking away.
Ever since Xiao Huai left the instance, a countdown had remained on his system interface.
Seven days.
The system’s basic rules stated that when the countdown reached zero, the player would be erased.
This was probably how the system motivated players to continue entering instances.
Whether they entered first-, second-, or third-floor games, they could earn standby time.
It also ensured that experienced players who wanted nothing more than to coast could continue staying alive.
A large gate stood inside the first-floor game lobby, with people constantly passing through it.
Xiao Huai leafed through the *Newcomer’s Guide* as he slowly made his way outside.
Wherever humans gathered, a small society would emerge, whether in a game or in reality.
This was the player standby world the gods had created for all participants.
Survival Coins served as currency, while every breath consumed standby time.
When he pushed open the gate, Xiao Huai saw several guide NPCs.
These NPCs had existed since the player standby world was created. Their purpose was to help every player survive here for as long as possible.
When an NPC with a ponytail saw Xiao Huai emerge covered in bandages, she approached him.
“Hello. Do you require treatment? The hospital is on your left after you exit.”
“Thank you,” Xiao Huai said softly.
Then he followed the crowd outside.
Once he had fully left the first-floor game lobby, he saw countless billboards floating beneath a brilliant blue sky. Buildings also hovered in the air, linked by stairways formed from clouds.
This world was far more fantastical than any modern city.
All manner of small restaurants lined the ground below, serving Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, and more. Anyone with enough Survival Coins could live quite comfortably here.
Xiao Huai turned to look behind him. A fantastical eighteen-story building soared into the clouds, its upper floors too distant for him to see.
Or perhaps the system had automatically concealed their appearance.
Countless balloons and illuminated signs floated around the building. Each sign displayed the word “game” in a different language.
Game, juego, jeu…
Every floor had a completely different exterior design, but one thing was certain: a structure like this could never exist in reality.
The first floor looked as though countless faces had been painted across it in graffiti. Every face wore a different expression, yet the same despair showed in all their eyes.
If Xiao Huai had to describe the entire game tower in a single word, it would be eerie.
He stopped looking at the tower and went directly to the hospital entrance.
The hospital looked almost identical to one in the real world. Giant words floated above it: [Players-Only Hospital]
Xiao Huai slowly walked inside.
The moment he entered, he saw NPCs wheeling players with missing arms and legs toward different treatment rooms.
“Hello, player. The admission fee is three hundred Survival Coins. Please pay now.”
An NPC dressed as a nurse quickly approached Xiao Huai. He nodded, and the money was immediately deducted.
She led him to the surgery department. Four or five beams of light shone over his body, followed by another payment notification.
[Assessing patient’s physical condition. Please pay 500 Survival Coins for treatment.]
The sum was insignificant to Xiao Huai now, but no matter where one went, hospitals were apparently places where money vanished like water.
A payment confirmation chimed beside his ears.
No doctor appeared to treat him. Instead, flecks of green light spread across his body.
Every wound slowly healed without leaving so much as a scar.
Only the scars that had already existed around his wrist remained.
Apparently, the hospital could treat only injuries sustained inside the game.
Xiao Huai was not particularly surprised. If the hospital in the horror game could cure every illness, people on the verge of death would probably commit crimes in droves, desperate for a chance to enter the game.
Whether anyone had ever successfully cleared the eighteenth floor remained unknown.
Meanwhile, players with fewer Survival Coins faced much harsher circumstances. They could afford to treat only their most serious wounds.
The agonized screams of novice players rang through the hospital from time to time.
Such things happened constantly in the gods’ horror game.
They suffered because they lacked money and despaired because their remaining time kept dwindling.
* * *
Xiao Huai arrived at a Four Seasons Hotel. The NPC at the entrance greeted him with a brilliant smile. “Good day, sir.”
Xiao Huai transferred payment directly. “One king room for three nights.”
“Certainly. Here is your key card.”
Xiao Huai accepted it and took the elevator to the tenth floor. The moment he reached his room, he wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the bed and sleep for several days.
Even so, he showered first and changed into pajamas purchased from the System Shop.
Then Xiao Huai sank lazily into bed and drifted off.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Violent pounding came from the door.
“Boss, the contact stone says this is the location,” a man said outside.
Another person snorted. “The Ivy Girls’ School instance ended ages ago, but neither of them came out. They probably didn’t survive. Whenever one of Falcon’s contact stones passes to an outsider, it automatically establishes a link with us. Something must have gone wrong.”
“Could it be… that something happened to Hui Yulian and Hu Jiang inside the game, and the killer was…”
Before he could finish, the door opened. A pair of red eyes swept coldly over them.
Perhaps because he had just been woken, impatience clouded the man’s eyes. His hair stuck up like a bird’s nest, and as he lowered his gaze, thick black lashes trembled in the air, the corners of his eyes still damp from his shower.
The two men looked up at Xiao Huai and froze.
He was so extraordinarily attractive that they momentarily forgot how to speak.
“Looking for me?”
Only when Xiao Huai’s deep voice reached them did they recover.
“You… You have one of our organization’s contact stones?”
Xiao Huai took the stone from his system inventory and tossed it in front of them. “That’s right. I can’t discard it until twenty-four hours have passed. What? Are you planning to accuse me of killing members of your organization?”
As Xiao Huai regarded the pair of persistent nuisances, a wicked smile suddenly curved his lips.
“Information is worth its weight in gold. If you want answers, trade me something for them.”
The two men exchanged glances. There were two of them and only one Xiao Huai.
Logically, they had no reason to fear him. Yet Xiao Huai gave them the unmistakable feeling that he was not someone to provoke.
“How about this?” suggested one of the men, whose beady eyes gave him a shifty appearance. “Why don’t you come back to headquarters with us first? You can negotiate terms with our guild leader.”
The other man, who had a broad, flat face, smacked the shifty-eyed man hard on the crown and hissed through clenched teeth.
“Are you stupid? Why would anyone follow you to our headquarters? Do you think he doesn’t know how dangerous that would be?”
Xiao Huai stared at the two of them, utterly speechless.
He could hear every word.
With a soft laugh, he bent closer. “All right. I’ll go with you.”