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Bonus chapter! Thank you to JustSomeOne for the donation! ^^
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Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
A rhythmic sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway, carrying an inexplicable sense of oppression that tightened everyone's nerves.
And those footsteps were getting closer.
The moment they heard them, all the players froze, their expressions tense as they stared at the closed door.
Too fast. Lin Zhiyan had returned far too quickly. None of them had expected him to come back this soon.
With the permission control system disabled, the elevators were in near-constant use—even summoning one took a while. So even if Lin Zhiyan had taken the elevator, it should have taken him at least four or five minutes to return. And yet, barely a minute had passed before he was back.
It was almost as if he had never left the tenth floor at all.
But it was too late to dwell on that now. Whatever the reason, there was no way for them to escape anymore.
Because if they stepped out now, they would run straight into him.
Hiding wasn't an option either.
With over twenty of them crammed inside, even a room this large couldn't possibly conceal nearly thirty people.
That left them with only one choice: charge out.
Outside, there were only two sets of footsteps—against their twenty-plus players. If they acted fast, they might be able to rush past before Lin Zhiyan could react.
Even if they couldn't all escape, those two pursuers could only catch up with a couple of them at most. As for who would be the unlucky ones... well, that would be up to fate.
A grim resolve settled in the players' eyes. After exchanging silent nods, they steeled themselves—
"Don't—" Ruan Qing realized their plan and reached out to stop them, but it was already too late. The group had flung the door open and bolted out.
Watching their retreating figures, Ruan Qing pressed his lips together uneasily. Instead of following, he grabbed Qi Lintian and quickly hid.
Hiding twenty people was impossible, but two? That was more than manageable.
Ran Jia had initially intended to flee with the others, but after seeing Ruan Qing take cover, she chose to hide as well.
Qi Yi was still out there, having drawn Lin Zhiyan away earlier. With her own combat skills being weak, if she ran now, she'd likely end up as one of the unlucky ones caught.
It would've been better to just hide with the big shot.
By the time the three were fully concealed, the players who had rushed out earlier began trickling back into the room - all within a mere ten minutes.
This time, however, most were severely injured, and every one of them looked utterly disheveled.
Ruan Qing: "..." He'd expected this.
Ruan Qing wasn't the least bit surprised. Lin Zhiyan was this dungeon's key NPC - did they really think he'd be so easy to deal with?
Moreover, just because he appeared alone didn't mean he was alone. The staff moved with eerie speed, materializing almost instantly at his command.
And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. The moment the players charged out, they realized Lin Zhiyan wasn't by himself.
Even if it had just been Lin Zhiyan and the lead staff member, the players stood no chance. Their strongest fighters couldn't even last a single move against him.
The cruise staff were monsters - Lin Zhiyan included.
One player witnessed Lin Zhiyan execute a double jump to take down a fellow player - a move defying human physical limits.
Worse, he seemed capable of self-regeneration.
A player barely managed to graze Lin Zhiyan's skin with a special item, but instead of blood, the wound oozed a transparent fluid - identical to the liquid that spilled from the many-eyed monster when injured.
The only differences between Lin Zhiyan and the monsters were his humanoid form and his ability to think like a human.
Terror flashed in the players' eyes as they instinctively tried to flee in the opposite direction.
But the exits were already blocked by staff, sealing off the entire tenth floor. There was no escape.
Even though Lin Zhiyan rarely attacked personally, the staff alone were more than enough to overwhelm the players. Resistance was futile - soon, all lay sprawled on the ground, grievously wounded.
After heavy casualties, the survivors stumbled back into Lin Zhiyan's room, their current state a far cry from their condition just ten minutes prior.
Now, they were nothing but fish on a chopping board, utterly at his mercy.
Yet, for some reason, Lin Zhiyan didn't kill them outright. Instead, he had the staff bind the players and toss them onto the floor like discarded trash.
The next second, Ruan Qing understood exactly why Lin Zhiyan had spared them.
Lin Zhiyan looked down disdainfully at the disheveled figures on the floor, his voice languid yet sharp as he asked, "Where is Xia Qing?"
Most players might not have met Xia Qing in person, but the name was hardly unfamiliar to them—he was known as Lin Zhiyan's lover.
Yet the players were baffled by his question. Hadn’t it been said that Xia Qing had already fallen overboard?
Fear still lingered in their eyes as they exchanged uneasy glances, their confusion unmistakable.
Their bewilderment wasn’t feigned—they genuinely had no idea where Xia Qing was. Lin Zhiyan’s brow furrowed slightly before he spoke again, his tone icy. "How did you get the access card?"
The players finally realized what was wrong. There must have been an issue with that access card.
That card should have been in the possession of Lin Zhiyan’s lover—so how had it ended up with that top player?
Stealthily, they glanced around, but there was no sign of the big shot among them. Shock flickered in their eyes.
Where was he? Just moments ago, he had been with them.
Had he been killed by Lin Zhiyan? Or had he broken through the staff’s encirclement?
They tried to recall the earlier scene—no, he hadn’t died at Lin Zhiyan’s hands, nor had anyone escaped the staff’s blockade. Yet, none of them could remember exactly where he had gone.
It was as if… he had vanished the moment they rushed out.
The players at the front hadn’t noticed Ruan Qing slipping away, but the last two who had exited had seen it—they even knew where the trio was hiding.
Yet neither dared to lift their heads and glance in that direction, terrified of accidentally giving away their position.
As long as someone remained free, there was still hope for rescue. But if they were all caught, it would mean certain annihilation.
The two players kept their heads bowed low, careful not to draw suspicion from the staff. The others, unaware that the group was still hidden in the office, also kept silent about the access card.
But Lin Zhiyan had little patience left. With a cold glance at the players, he snapped his fingers.
The crisp sound was followed by something dragging and slithering outside the room, accompanied by a slow, ominous dripping noise.
It was… the sound of a monster moving.
Horror twisted the players’ faces as they instinctively turned toward the door, a terrible realization dawning on them.
Sure enough, within seconds, a grotesque creature covered in eyes appeared in the doorway.
As if blind to Lin Zhiyan and the staff, the monster lurched forward—straight toward the players on the floor.
These staff members were indeed the same as the monsters—Lin Zhiyan could even control them.
The players watched in horror as the creature approached, instinctively trying to retreat. But bound as they were, they could only stare helplessly as it drew closer.
The dripping sound was like a death knell, gnawing at their sanity. Finally, one of them broke, his voice cracking with panic. "I'll talk! I'll talk!"
The monster halted when he spoke, lingering just out of reach, its greedy gaze fixed on the players as if it might lunge forward and devour them at any moment.
Yet it did nothing more—only stared, motionless except for the relentless dripping. As though something held it back.
"I'll talk," the player stammered, his voice trembling with fear, even choking back a sob. "The access card belongs to—to someone who looks like a high schooler. He’s… he’s really strong. Mysterious, too. He had multiple access cards on him and even gave us one. And—and your name was written on it."
He glanced fearfully at Lin Zhiyan, who stared back coldly, prompting him to babble on. "We don’t know how he got so many cards! He’s the one who brought us to this room!"
Lin Zhiyan’s expression remained icy. He lowered his gaze, looking down at the player. "Where is he now?"
The player shook his head. "I don’t know."
At those words, the monster moved again—this time, not toward the nearest player, but straight toward the one who had spoken.
"I really don’t know!" the player screamed, his voice raw with terror. "He was with us earlier, but when we ran out, he just… disappeared!"
The monster stopped once more. Though the speaker wasn’t at the edge of the group, the creature now stood so close that the slightest movement from anyone nearby might brush against it.
The player stared in horror at the liquid pooling on the floor—and the grotesque eyeballs that dropped into it with each drip. Desperate to avoid infection, he writhed backward, trying to put distance between himself and the creature.
Fortunately, the fallen eyeballs slithered back up the monster’s legs, returning to their original positions.
But no one noticed—not even the livestream viewers—that a single drop had already landed on the player’s face.
The audience was too busy raging at the traitor, wishing the monster would just finish him off already.
[This idiot! I swear, I’d kick him twice if I could! So damn infuriating!]
[I’d be scared too, but I’d never sell out our wife! Never!]
[Oh no, oh no! Lin Zhiyan definitely knows people are still hiding in the room. I told you not to bring these useless players along - they're completely worthless except for dragging us down.]
Just as the live stream audience predicted, Lin Zhiyan paused slightly after hearing the player's words. "They rushed out and then disappeared?" he asked.
No one knew better than the staff whether anyone had actually rushed out. A staff member addressed Lin Zhiyan respectfully, "All who attempted to rush out have been intercepted. None escaped."
If no one had gotten out, then only one possibility remained.
The intruders... were still inside the room.
