chapter 147

Looking at the dark circles under Gu Yu Chu’s eyes from sheer exhaustion, Luo Jia Bai blurted out in shock, “Didn’t I text you to stop knitting?”

“You said it too late.”

“Where do you think the tutorial posts came from?” Gu Yu Chu said faintly. “I finished one already, then took it apart step by step and filmed it for you.”

“I forgot to send you the photos.” Lu Li touched his Neck Collar, taking the initiative to admit fault. “Sorry. I thought you were joking, and the new collar came really fast, so I didn’t tell you in time.”

“I wasn’t joking. If I say I’m going to do something, I’ll definitely do it…”

Meeting Lu Li’s clear eyes, so clean it felt like you could see all the way to the bottom, Gu Yu Chu blanked for a moment. He fidgeted with the hem of his clothes, a little awkward. “It’s fine. Just take it as a gift from me.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me. I haven’t even had time to thank you yet. That last Instance was a Bug Instance with an extremely low clear rate. And after we cleared it, the Points were settled at triple. I earned more than I would from grinding four regular Instances. Without you, I probably wouldn’t have lived long enough to make it to this Instance.”

Lu Li silently repeated the word “gift” in his heart. “I’ll take good care of your scarf. Thank you.”

Gu Yu Chu raked a hand through his hair. “I didn’t charge you for the Items in the last Instance. Starting from this one, if you want to buy Items from me, I’ll have to charge.”

“Sure,” Luo Jia Bai agreed first. Riding on Lu Li’s coattails, he’d cleared just as many Bug Instances as Lu Li, and his Points balance had risen along with it.

Compared to the Shop Items, the Items Gu Yu Chu made himself had an incredibly high cost-performance ratio.

Buying from him was guaranteed profit.

Luo Jia Bai tugged on Gu Yu Chu’s arm and realized that even the standard Necromancer Game clothes looked loose and empty on him. “Charge a bit more Points. Then go back to Game Night and exchange some meat. Look at how skinny you are.”

He shoved two candies into Gu Yu Chu’s pocket. “I just exchanged for these. Didn’t use your Points. They’re pretty good. Try them when you have time.”

All the surviving Players had gathered. A few of them lowered their heads and tapped a few times on their Wristbands. The Two-Headed Monster immediately reacted. Its massive body slowly lumbered over into the crowd of Players, sweeping its gaze across each face.

“Two people redeemed a Card Draw Opportunity!”

It held a box in each hand, its ever-lengthening arms stopping in front of the two Players.

“Do you want to add an Evil Spirit, or replace an Evil Spirit?”

Each head looked at a different Player. When they spoke in unison, their voices echoed around the empty hall.

Both chose to add an Evil Spirit.

The Two-Headed Monster snorted. “So cautious. You’re worried you won’t be able to control a more powerful force, so you choose to increase in number instead.”

Lu Li looked over at the Players who were drawing cards.

Two men.

One was tall and broad-shouldered. Before Lu Li turned to look, he seemed to have been glancing over with the corner of his eye, but he withdrew his gaze so quickly that Lu Li couldn’t be sure whether the man had actually looked at him.

The other had a sharp mouth and monkey-like cheeks. Before the box had even stopped moving, he was already impatiently shoving his hand inside.

The card was drawn easily. No golden light. The ability seemed mediocre at best.

All it earned was a resentful curse from the Player.

The tall man took his time drawing a card.

Still no golden light.

After he saw the face of the card, he smiled. “This Evil Spirit Ability isn’t bad.”

Luo Jia Bai quietly analyzed the situation with Lu Li. “The two who drew cards know each other. Add the woman standing next to them, that’s a team of three. There’s a loner standing all the way at the edge. I have a feeling that tall guy isn’t simple. He even looks a bit familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve seen him before.”
Lu Li watched curiously as the card, once drawn out, slowly faded away.

“Will the Evil Spirit Ability be written on the card?”

“Yeah,” Luo Jia Bai replied. “The front of the card marks the Evil Spirit’s rank-whether it’s normal or high-tier-and it details the ability you can exchange for at night. Didn’t your card have that?”

Lu Li gave a noncommittal “Oh,” nodded, but didn’t answer the question directly.

Bosi’s card was pitch black.

No ability was listed-just the words: Underworld King.

The Two-Headed Monster closed its hands around the box and stepped aside to make way, announcing:

“There are eight Players in total. The game officially begins now. Best of luck to everyone.”

–

A burst of dazzling light flooded the doorway.

Lu Li walked at the back of the group and suddenly caught a faint muttered complaint.

The sound echoed slightly from afar, as if two voices overlapped.

“Failed again.”

Who was speaking?

A Player, an NPC from the Instance, or the Boss?

When the harsh light faded, all the Players found themselves standing outdoors on an open patch of ground.

Before them stood five tall, slender, and oddly shaped stone Pillars, soaring high above their heads.

At the top of each Pillar, a short strip of black stone jutted out.

Upon entering the Instance, the Players began searching for any clues they could find:

“These five Pillars are really weird. The shapes are odd.”

“There’s a huge rectangle drawn on the ground, divided into countless square tiles. We landed on the tiles as soon as we entered.”

“Take a couple steps to the side-let’s see if two people can fit in one tile.”

“Nope. Only one person per tile.”

“There’s a countdown appearing in the tile!”

The sudden change was quickly noticed. The Players looked down. The dividing lines between the tiles began to emit a white glow, rising up.

And in the very center of every square tile, a countdown had appeared.

The numbers dropped from 4 to 3.

Beneath the numbers, each tile displayed a different glowing symbol:

A circle, a square, and a triangle.

Lu Li looked down-his own tile had a triangle.

Only Mirella was standing on the same symbol as him.

The number dropped to 2.

The Players quickly figured out their next step. “No idea which shape is safe, so everyone just pick a different one!”

“Another round of tough difficulty right out the gate, and they’re not even giving us the rules,” Luo Jia Bai complained as he strategized. “We’ve got four people, more than there are symbol types, so we should…”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Lu Li simply picked him up and set him down in a tile with a triangle symbol.

The number dropped to 1.

Lu Li said to Gu Yu Chu, “Find a triangle. Don’t stay in your current tile.”

Lu Li’s tone wasn’t commanding-just calm and assured, the kind of steadiness that makes people feel safe when they’re confused and lost.

Gu Yu Chu didn’t hesitate. He jumped to the nearest triangle tile.

The number dropped to 0.

Countdown over.

The white light on the lines flared up, and the ground shook violently.

The Players couldn’t stay upright; they had to crouch low to keep their balance.

Amid the shaking, three of the previously motionless Pillars began to creak and bend.

They came crashing down from above.

In an instant, they speared toward the three Players standing on the square and circle tiles.

The sound of Life-Saving Items shattering rang out one after another.

The gusts of wind whipped up dust that stung everyone’s eyes. Through tears, Luo Jia Bai caught sight of Gu Yu Chu silently slipping on a pair of Windproof Goggles. As Luo Jia Bai wiped his eyes, he asked Lu Li, “How did you know the triangles were safe?”