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Bonus chapter! Thank you to --- for the donation! ^^
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The waiter's fall made a loud noise, drawing the attention of nearby players. In an instant, the lively chatter died out, and the café plunged back into dead silence.
Even those who never cared about appearances froze in place.
With his hood removed, the young man's true face was revealed. Beneath the cloak was a boy so exquisitely beautiful it bordered on perfection. His lips were pressed together nervously, his stunning eyes wide with panic—like vibrant peach blossoms blooming across an ink-wash painting, so radiant the entire world faded into the background.
Now, the men finally understood why someone had brought him into the ranks of high-level players, and why he hadn’t been the one to die in the dungeon.
Just sitting there, he seemed bathed in light, as if the universe itself favored him. A single glance from him could likely make countless people willing to die for him.
Every person in the café stared at Ruan Qing, unable to look away even after he hastily pulled his hood back up.
Including the men sipping coffee at their table.
Lu Xiuyuan’s eyes darkened, a dangerous glint flashing in their depths. The next second, an overwhelming pressure engulfed the café—far more terrifying than before.
The players paled, realizing the truth: these high-level players hadn’t just been passing by. They’d been sitting among them the entire time.
Immediately, everyone averted their gazes, bowing their heads in fearful silence.
Shen Qifeng, equally displeased, glanced at the cloaked figure. "Let’s talk somewhere else."
No one objected. They all stood.
Being alone with dangerous people only made things riskier. Ruan Qing had no desire to leave, but the men weren’t asking for his opinion—they simply turned their expectant stares his way.
Clearly, they expected him to follow.
If he refused their superficially polite offer, they’d undoubtedly make him comply. With no other choice, Ruan Qing had no choice but to go with them.
Just like that, the group abandoned the five hundred assembled players and walked out of the café.
Originally, their goal had been to teach the person who’d tricked them a lesson. But after seeing the boy, their plans changed.
A fragile, breathtakingly beautiful youth, now without powerful protection, would naturally attract endless covetous eyes. Being cautious wasn’t unreasonable.
Their new meeting place was an elegant villa—Lu Xiuyuan’s private residence.
Ruan Qing stared at the villa before him, a flicker of astonishment flashing through his eyes.
In the game’s central district, everything required points—and housing demanded an astronomical sum. Under such conditions, owning a private villa outright spoke volumes about just how terrifying its owner must be.
It was also a clear testament to the owner’s overwhelming strength.
Lu Xiuyuan was thoroughly pleased by the slight pause in the young man’s steps, his entire demeanor radiating satisfaction as he strode ahead and entered the villa first.
Shen Qifeng and the others immediately saw through Lu Xiuyuan’s intentions. In this perilous, horror-filled infinite game, a weak lamb who had lost its protector would naturally rush to seek out the next patron.
And at a time like this, flaunting one’s formidable power was the best way to lure the lamb right into the trap.
The group watched Lu Xiuyuan’s retreating figure, a shadow of gloom passing through their eyes.
Lu Xiuyuan preferred solitude—the villa was his alone. They settled onto the living room couches and began discussing the dungeon they would enter two days later.
The dungeon item Qin Yulian possessed was for a dungeon called <Death Call>, one of the instances where the clearance rate had plummeted drastically.
True to its name, <Death Call> was exactly what it sounded like.
After entering the dungeon, players would successively trigger death conditions, then receive a phone call at midnight. The call would begin with strange noises before culminating in a blood-curdling scream.
That scream belonged to the player—their death throes. The manner of their demise would eerily mirror the sounds from the call, down to the panicked, ragged gasps.
It was as if the call was a glimpse into the future.
The triggers were unknown. The owner of the number was unknown. How to avoid death was unknown.
It seemed that once you received that call, death was only a matter of time.
With the dungeon’s name, gathering information about it should have been easy—but strangely, this scenario had drawn little attention. The player forums yielded no videos or discussions about it.
Even in the live broadcast hall over the past few days, the dungeon’s name had never appeared.
Qin Yulian seemed the taciturn type. Perhaps from long disuse, his low voice carried a faint, rasping quality as he said, “I’ve been keeping track. This dungeon has never appeared on the live broadcast screens.”
He’d been monitoring it ever since obtaining the item. It seemed few players entered this dungeon—and those who did weren’t broadcasting their runs.
But the clearance rate had only begun plummeting recently. Given how sharply it was falling, the number of players entering this dungeon must have increased significantly.
With so many players, there should have been at least some who streamed their attempts—yet strangely, this dungeon's name never appeared in the live broadcast hall.
In fact, it wasn't just this one. Other dungeons with rapidly declining clearance rates had also vanished from the live halls.
All of this pointed to one conclusion: something within these dungeons had changed.
And this change was deadly enough to claim even top-tier players.
Lin Yan listened to the clues about the dungeon, his slender fingers tapping idly against the armrest of the sofa before he spoke, tone indifferent. "If we go in, we might not come out. Revival items probably won’t work either."
Shen Qifeng nodded. "If revival items still functioned, the leaderboards wouldn’t have undergone such a massive reshuffle."
High-level players could certainly afford revival items—their absence on the rankings meant the items were useless here.
Death in this dungeon would be permanent.
Lin Yan’s gaze lingered on Ruan Qing for a second before sweeping over the group. His voice was quiet but deliberate.
"Two days. Are we going in?"
Lu Xiuyuan let out a soft laugh at that, his handsome face betraying no fear, only a refined amusement. "Do we have a choice?"
"The system won’t give us time to investigate. If we don’t enter voluntarily, it’ll toss us into some random dungeon instead. I’d rather not die somewhere without even knowing why."
No one objected—not even Ruan Qing, who nodded obediently. The decision was settled.
Their team only had five members, and this dungeon required ten. They could still bring five more players along.
None of them could be bothered to vet candidates, so Lu Xiuyuan simply sent a five-slot red envelope to their group chat: whoever grabbed a spot would join them.
With two days left before entry, their discussion about the dungeon concluded. Once the meeting time and location were set, there was no reason to keep Ruan Qing any longer.
Perhaps their earlier missteps had taught them caution this time. They didn’t press him, merely watching in silence as the slender figure walked away.
Unlike before, they weren’t worried he’d run. The boy was unbelievably weak for a high-level player, and without his former backer, clinging to them was his smartest move—just like that question he’d asked in the group chat.
No need to rush. They could afford to wait for him to come to them.
Ruan Qing felt their stares but gave no sign of noticing. His pace remained steady as he headed down the street, revealing nothing.
Though he had been going along with their conversation the entire time, Ruan Qing had absolutely no intention of entering a dungeon instance with these men.
Joining an instance with them would be like delivering himself straight into the tiger's mouth.
Just as Ruan Qing was putting more distance between himself and the group, Qin Yulian's low, gravelly voice called out from behind him:
"Wait a moment."
Ruan Qing's hands clenched slightly beneath his robes, his heart leaping into his throat. Had they recognized him?
The possibility made him dig his fingernails into his palms until they turned white, the sharp pain barely registering through his tension. But he dared not show any sign of unease as he turned back with a politely puzzled look.
"Everyone should give me your player IDs now," Qin Yulian announced, "to make it easier when we enter the instance together in two days."
The request seemed innocent enough - directed at the whole group rather than singling Ruan Qing out. The other players readily complied, sharing their IDs without hesitation.
Ruan Qing desperately wanted to refuse, but any hesitation would immediately reveal his reluctance. If they grew suspicious now, escaping would become impossible. With no other choice, he reluctantly provided his player ID.
This time, no one stopped him as his figure gradually disappeared down the distant road.
Shen Qifeng watched the youth depart, a pensive look in his eyes. There was something inexplicably familiar about that slender figure, like he'd seen it somewhere before. Yet no matter how hard he searched his memories, the recollection eluded him.
Someone that strikingly beautiful - if he'd truly met the boy before, there was no way he would have forgotten.
Probably... just his imagination.
Once Ruan Qing was out of sight, the group wordlessly dispersed without farewells.
It wasn't until Shen Qifeng reached a secluded corner that he suddenly froze, his pupils contracting sharply as realization struck.
He remembered now where he'd seen that youth before - on the player forums' astronomical bounty board. That boy was none other than the one Su Zhen and the others had placed a massive bounty on.
Anyone capable of escaping from those monsters couldn't possibly be some useless decorative player!
Without a second thought, Shen Qifeng spun around and sprinted in the direction Ruan Qing had disappeared.
But by the time he reached the intersection, the road stood completely empty - the boy had vanished without a trace.
At normal walking speed, there was no way he could have gotten away in that short time—it seemed they'd been fooled yet again.
It wasn’t just Shen Qifeng; the others had caught up as well. Lin Yan radiated icy fury as he demanded, "Where is he?"
"Gone." Shen Qifeng’s voice was dark, his eyes filled with a venomous glare, his entire presence exuding danger.
Qin Yulian’s gaze flickered with cold detachment as he lowered his eyelids slightly. "It doesn’t matter. We have his ID now. Even if he flees to the ends of the earth, we can still drag him into a dungeon."
Forcing a player into a dungeon using an item only required their ID—unless the target managed to enter another dungeon before the item activated.
But Qin Y\ulian wasn’t about to give him that chance. Without hesitation, he triggered the dungeon item.
[Welcome, players, to the dungeon <Death Call>.]
