The commotion Yue Cheng had caused earlier was far from insignificant.
Now, at both ends of the corridor, the Ghost Butler and the Ghost Maid stood, one at each end.
The corners of their mouths stretched wider and wider, as if they were merely waiting for the invisible man to leave, at which point these two A-class ghosts would attack any living person appearing in this hallway.
However…
"What if I kill you instead?"
Yue Cheng took another step forward as he spoke.
After hearing the recent threat, the young man standing in the corridor became even more excited. The emotion on his face was clearly one of eager anticipation, and a sound resembling a murmur escaped his lips: "Why did you stop the train?"
This train, originally supposed to head towards District 2, had unexpectedly stopped in District 5. Even thinking with the flour he had brought, Yue Cheng could figure out who was responsible. Moreover, the person who stopped the train had illegally entered the dungeon.
…And had become the dungeon's boss.
What a coincidence.
Yue Cheng looked at the blood-soaked figure opposite him, the corners of his mouth lifting, his expression exuberant.
Seeing this scene, the invisible man felt an indescribable depression. "…"
"I know you brought an Enforcer in. That player from District 2, Xun Yi, right? He's an Enforcer… You actually have connections with an Enforcer from District 2. How interesting." As the invisible man spoke, it had already retreated a distance, almost teleporting, and its voice gradually turned cold. "If he uses his Enforcement skills in the dungeon, and the Law gets involved to investigate, both of us will be finished."
The invisible man warned the person opposite him, someone whose only harmless feature was his appearance.
Playing around was one thing, but if the Law took notice and punished them, it wouldn't be fun anymore.
Yue Cheng, however, said nonchalantly, "It's fine. I like being locked in a small dark room."
Violating the rules and accepting punishment~ It's only natural~
"…"
You're truly insane!
The invisible man exhaled. Just hearing this person speak was infuriating.
But he still asked, "What are you chasing him for?"
Hearing the constant calls of "brother, brother" was enough to make even a ghost's skin crawl. It made one wonder what kind of scheme this monster from District 4 was cooking up again.
Finally, the invisible man tentatively said, "Do you want that card he has, too? That card is indeed quite surprising..."
Yue Cheng wouldn't listen, shutting the conversation down directly: "Mind your own business."
The invisible man: "..."
Just go to hell.
But the next second, as if thinking of something, the invisible man's form froze, letting blood splatter noisily all over the floor again.
"Oh..."
He remembered. He had heard that the few who had entered the E-rank newbie instance before had also acted a bit strangely towards this newbie.
But he hadn't seen it with its own eyes and didn't know the details, only knowing that in the end, the several district administrators who interfered with the newbie instance were all punished by the Laws.
Those few were all locked up in the Void.
And haven't come out yet.
He felt somewhat absurd and fantastical.
...All for a newbie?
The invisible man looked again at the dangerous individual in front of him.
He was just about to think, forget it, you can't reason with a madman.
But Yue Cheng suddenly laughed, his voice tinged with a sinister sweetness: "Almost forgot, you scared my brother so many times before..."
Heh heh.
Seeing the other's attitude of wanting to go out in a blaze of glory, the invisible man's thoughts took a sharp turn, and he further threatened:
"I just wanted to come in and see what kind of newbie could make the administrators of three districts all enter the instance to fight over."
"Unexpectedly."
"He actually has that card."
The invisible man paused for a moment here.
Then continued: "Tong Shan, you've nurtured this backup identity of yours, a B-rank player, for a long time, haven't you? It never got exposed before. It'd be a real shame for you to die in this instance."
The person's tone now carried a hint of feigned regret.
He was trying to persuade the other party not to do anything rash.
Otherwise, not only would an E-rank newcomer expose the treasure, but the person opposite would also waste a spare identity.
But the one called Tong Shan ignored it, instead asking with concern, "Doesn't it hurt anymore?"
Yue Cheng said as he raised his hand and pointed at the several bloody holes on the other's body.
Thinking to himself, brother stabbed so well!
His emotional display was too exaggerated, earning him a nearly inaudible sound of gritted teeth.
"If you know what card he has on him, then you should also know that the previous instance upgrade had nothing to do with me," the invisible man said, a hint of hostility flashing in his tone.
Originally, he could have ended this instance earlier too...
But this new friend is just too infuriating.
Back and forth, he had already punched quite a few holes in him. Although this was only the body of an instance boss, the pain he suffered while controlling it was all too real.
The invisible man looked down at his own still-bleeding chest, and once again felt his gums itch with anger. The other party could attack him in self-defense out of 'ignorance', yet he, due to the instance mechanics and rules, couldn't impose any substantial punishment on a player who hadn't 'fouled'.
That little lunatic who loved violence had probably figured it out long ago.
As long as the prey didn't think of escaping, the 'master' of the house wouldn't do anything to him.
He might even grow increasingly 'fond' of him.
Even those two ghosts wouldn't 'hurt' him.
...
Wen Shichun never once thought about escaping; he was completely waiting for the instance boss to appear before striking it hard.
The invisible man thought resentfully.
Just then, Yue Cheng's tone suddenly rose: "Your thoughts are very dangerous——"
Upon hearing this, the invisible man let out a strange laugh, his eyes already catching the movement of the other's hand. He said:
"But you should have noticed by now, this instance itself possesses the energy and conditions to evolve into a higher-level instance."
"That new friend unintentionally opened the passage in the middle."
"The players in the instance should have all been affected by now."
"Do you want to burn bridges with me right now?"
"They can't handle A-class ghosts."
"After you're dead..."
"If they run into an S-class ghost... what are they planning to do?"
"By the way—that new friend—is actually pretty afraid of ghosts, right?"
Before the invisible man could finish, the person opposite him had already charged at him.
How nice.
How friendly.
But it didn't matter. As the invisible man retreated, he threw out one last line: "The ghost that will kill you has been waiting for you for a long time. I won't keep you company!"
It's uncomfortable hiding inside a B-class player's body, isn't it?
While summoning the A-class ghosts at the end of the corridor, the invisible man fired back every verbal jab.
***
Fifteen minutes had already passed.
There was still no sound from the corridor.
It was just after 2:15 AM, and the messages Wen Shichun had sent in the team channel seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Instinct told him something was wrong.
Then the loud noise from the corridor rang out simultaneously with a mechanical system prompt.
Not only that—
Also sounding at the same time was the Specter Detector that Wen Shichun had placed by his bedside.
At this moment, the continuous alert from the Specter Detector sounded as if the item had malfunctioned.
Wen Shichun didn't have time to check whether it was abnormal; he just walked over and picked it up in a few steps.
The alarm kept ringing.
There was a ghost in this room.
...There are ghosts in the hallway too.
It seems there's no difference anymore.
By the time Wen Shichun opened the door and stepped out of his room, what he saw was Yue Cheng lying against the wall like a deflated ball.
The thumbtack by his door was gone, likely cleaned up by whoever had placed it there.
Wen Shichun's gaze swept quickly across the second-floor corridor.
In the silent, dim hallway, there appeared to be nothing at all.
But the sound from the Specter Detector was real.
It was almost disturbingly loud.
As if the house were packed with ghosts.
Despite all this noise, his other teammates still showed no reaction, and the disappearance of the team channel had remained unchanged since before he fell asleep.
Something had gone wrong.
Wen Shichun quickly walked over to Yue Cheng.
He was the only teammate Wen Shichun could see at the moment, but...
"How are you doing?"
As he asked this, he felt that the person in front of him was already on the verge of collapse.
Wen Shichun's gaze fell on the bloodstains in the hallway—left by that thing. The trail extended all the way to the stairwell, as if following it would lead him straight to the creature.
But he couldn't figure out how Yue Cheng had been injured.
Had Yue Cheng been pulled into another dimension earlier?
Wen Shichun frowned slightly. This contradicted his earlier conjecture that Yin Chu could no longer use the boss skill.
"Brother."
By the wall, Yue Cheng reached out and tugged at Wen Shichun's sleeve.
Even though an explosion had sounded earlier, the hallway now appeared completely intact.
And the system notification that had accompanied that loud noise read:
[Instance Upgrade]
[Current Instance Difficulty Rating: S-Level]
[Players, please prepare for action]
...
[Instance Upgraded]
[Wheel of Fate Current Spins Available: 1]
...
Wen Shichun kept an eye on the commotion in the corridor as he leaned closer to the boy beside the wall, wanting to hear what he had to say.
But as he drew near, a system notification sounded in his ear first:
[Wheel of Fate Activated]
Followed by:
[Player Yue Cheng has transferred the Wheel of Fate spin rights and decision-making authority to you.]
...
It was only then that Wen Shichun noticed the Wheel of Fate's spin light had lit up once again.
At some point, Yue Cheng had thrown in the one thousand points needed to activate the roulette.
At this moment, the other's hand was still tugging at his sleeve. Though his breathing was clearly labored, his eyes remained fixed on Wen Shichun.
Wen Shichun looked at Yue Cheng. The person before him had almost no breath left coming in.
Yet he continued to speak:
"Brother, you spin it."
