"I haven't seen you on the seventh floor," said Liu Ruqing, her tone indifferent.
The seventh floor was where the top players of the All-Mixed Guild resided. Only those recognized by the other senior players were allowed to enter and live on the seventh floor. The difference in status between players on the seventh floor and those below it was significant. As players grew stronger, this gap became increasingly evident. This was why many newcomers were initially attracted to Liu Ruqing's beauty, but as they lived longer and grew stronger, they became more fearful of her.
"Furthermore..." Liu Ruqing continued, "I can't control what happens in the dungeons, but if you dare to cause trouble in the guild headquarters..."
Liu Ruqing flashed a playful smile at Xiang Baobang. His face turned pale, his clenched fists trembled, and cold sweat formed on his back. Liu Ruqing turned and led Zhao Yi away.
Xiang Baobang remained silent in his position for a while, then instructed the tattooed man with a strange and sinister look. "Go ahead, but make sure your hands are clean and don't cause any trouble for me."
Xiang Baobang spoke coldly, and the tattooed man nodded before leaving the room.
...
The door slammed shut as Liu Ruqing entered the room, rolling her eyes at Zhao Yi, who was peeling tangerines on the sofa.
"You're not very polite," she remarked.
Zhao Yi replied, "The view from the seventh floor is nice."
Liu Ruqing sat down on the sofa opposite Zhao Yi, crossing her legs and revealing a tantalizing pair of long legs beneath her silk robe.
"What's so good about it? Isn't it the same as the lower floors?" Zhao Yi asked, eating his tangerine and wiping his hands with tissue.
Liu Ruqing supported her delicate chin with one hand, her tone playful. "Do you want me to help you because you saved me?"
Zhao Yi laughed. "Sure, but I don't like owing favors to others."
"And I believe a woman like you must be more ruthless and malicious than most people, otherwise those villains wouldn't fear you so much."
Liu Ruqing covered her mouth and giggled. "You're interesting... So, guess why I saved you?"
Zhao Yi thought for a moment. "I don't know, but I'm sure it's not because I'm handsome."
Liu Ruqing rolled her eyes and poured herself a small glass of red wine, bringing it to her lips. "You look like someone I know... intimately."
Zhao Yi smiled. "Not an ex-boyfriend, I hope?"
Liu Ruqing blinked her big eyes.
"Indeed," Zhao choked up.
Liu Ruqing continued, "I have some unresolved grievances with him."
"Why don't you just go find him then?" Zhao asked.
"He's dead," Liu Ruqing replied.
"How did he die?" Zhao inquired.
Liu Ruqing tapped her high glass with her fingertip, producing a crisp and melodious sound. "I killed him."
Curious, Zhao asked, "Why?"
Liu Ruqing didn't answer Zhao, her peach blossom eyes shimmering.
"Why do you want to know about me?" she asked.
Zhao touched his nose and chuckled, "Sorry, it's professional habit."
With a faint smile, Liu Ruqing sank into the soft sofa, reminiscing about the past.
"I was an angel of oblivion... I had dealt with over a thousand of the most terrifying and dangerous mental illness patients in the sealed country, successfully treating their psychological traumas and restoring them to normalcy."
"You're so talented. Can you help me with my illness too?" Zhao crossed his hands and placed them on his lap, speaking earnestly.
"To be honest, your illness is not easy to treat," Zhao replied.
Liu Ruqing narrowed her eyes.
"You never asked me what illness I have."
Zhao explained, "In psychology, although there are many complex illnesses, the most difficult to treat are patients like you who seem to have no illness at all."
"In my words, you suffer from 'lucid syndrome,' which is much harder to treat than those with paranoia."
Pouting her lips, Liu Ruqing looked at Zhao pitifully.
"Dr. Zhao, you can surely cure me, right?"
Zhao replied, "It will take time."
"And it won't be short."
Liu Ruqing reached out and tousled her hair, her eyes seductive.
"I have plenty of time... If you can cure my illness, I will give you a precious gift as a reward, my dear~"
Zhao pondered.
"I'll give it a try."
He wasn't joking... Liu Ruqing was the most severely afflicted patient he had treated.
Zhao was intrigued by her but wasn't completely confident in curing her illness.
"Also... After Xiang Baobang, he won't dare to come after you directly in the real world anymore... I've warned him. Although he's arrogant, he's also sensible. But as for the dangers in the game, you'll have to handle them yourself."
Liu Ruqing reminded Zhao before letting him leave without further retention.
Turning a corner at the staircase, Zhao saw Tian Tian holding a worn-out teddy bear.
"Tian Tian, what are you doing here?"
In response to Zhao's question, Tian Tian cutely swayed her body.
"Winnie said you were in danger, so I came to check on you."
Zhao glanced at the teddy bear in Tian Tian's arms and affectionately caressed its fur.
Even though his hand passed through the bear as he touched it.
But it didn't stop Tian Tian from wearing a happy smile.
"Big brother Zhao, it's so great that you're okay!"
"It's getting late, Fang Bai made some food and invited you to his room to have dinner together," said Tian Tian.
Zhao Yi nodded and rubbed Tian Tian's head before going with her to Fang Bai's room.
Bai Shuiji was also there. "A lot of people died in the new mission," she said apologetically when she saw Zhao Yi.
Not long ago, during the Butcher Game, she didn't stay behind to help Zhao Yi, which made her feel guilty. But guilt aside, if it happened again, she would do the same. Other people's lives weren't worth more than hers.
The four of them sat around a hotpot eating meat, and Fang Bai asked Zhao Yi if Xiang Babang had done anything to him.
Zhao Yi shook his head. "Did you inform Liusu?"
Fang Bai gave Zhao Yi a beer and said, "I saw you were taken away, so I was worried."
"I don't have any background or ability to do anything, so I can only go to the high-ranking guild leaders. Fortunately, Quan's uncle and others seem to have something to do, and on the seventh floor, there's only Liusu and an old player who can't be reached. Luckily, Liusu is still kind-hearted, otherwise your life would be difficult!"
Zhao Yi smiled and changed the subject. "How many people died in the new mission?"
"Six groups went, and six groups died, with each group consisting of six people, for a total of thirty-six people," said Fang Bai with a hesitant and melancholy expression. "Actually, I'm not very brave enough to take on this mission."
"It's very likely that it's completely beyond our ability range!"
Zhao Yi bit into a spicy lamb intestine, which made his mouth full of oil. "How will we know unless we try?"
"If you don't go, I'll go alone," he added.
Fang Bai glanced at Zhao Yi and became more conflicted. He wished he could be as bold and reckless as Zhao Yi, but he couldn't convince himself to joke about his own life.
Two talent points and one life. They couldn't afford to lose!
"The bodies of the dead were casually discarded and rotting at the station, in a state of extreme misery and almost unrecognizable, as if they had suffered enormous fear and pain before they died," Fang Bai said. "The most troublesome thing is that there is no information coming from the dungeon, and no one knows what the dungeon is like."
Bai Shuiji also coveted those two talent points. But the terrifying death rate of that mission made her hesitate.
Zhao Yi turned to Tian Tian and asked, "Do you want to go, too?"
The little girl was frantically stuffing her face with food and seemed not to have heard what Zhao Yi said, but she still agreed. She didn't seem to care about anything around her, including her own life.
After finishing the meal, Fang Bai and Zhao Yi clinked glasses and drank two bottles of beer. In the meantime, Bai Shuiji changed her mind and decided to go with Zhao Yi. Everything that happened to her during the Butcher Game made her realize how important strength was in this world!
"Good luck to you!"
Fang Bai escorted them out of the guild headquarters.
The three of them headed towards the abandoned train station once again.
They entered through the entrance and greeted the clown before going directly to the ticket gate and onto the platform.
The dimly lit platform was filled with broken and scattered bodies. Fortunately, there were many players nearby helping to clean up, otherwise the gruesome scene alone would be enough to frighten away some timid newcomers!
There was a small train standing on the overgrown tracks next to the platform, its rusty exterior bearing the marks of time.
Not far from the train's door, a mysterious halo was glowing.
Most players kept their distance from the halo, seemingly wary of it.
It appeared that this halo was the entrance to a dungeon.
"Don't run away!"
"Just because there are a lot of dead people doesn't mean you shouldn't do the mission!"
"What about the two talent points!"
Four people stood near the halo.
They greeted the nearby players, seemingly trying to recruit them.
This dungeon required a minimum of five people to open and could accommodate up to nine people. They were still missing one person to start the dungeon, but for now, no player was willing to join.
Zhao Yi and the other two joined them and briefly introduced themselves.
The four individuals were a middle-aged man named Wang Xu with a Mediterranean look and a greasy appearance, a seemingly quiet girl named Li Miaomiao, a muscular young man named Wen Long, and an old woman named Qin Xiufang who leaned on a cane.
When they heard that Zhao Yi was also in the team, their expressions subtly changed.
Even the middle-aged man enthusiastically chatted with Zhao Yi about everyday life.
Li Miaomiao cast a disgusted look at the greasy man, seemingly repulsed by his crude attempt to get closer to Zhao Yi.
"Now that everyone is ready, shall we go in?"
Surprisingly, it was the old woman Qin Xiufang who spoke first.
The others glanced at each other, and Wang Xu said, "Alright, since so many people have died in this dungeon, there must be dangers we can't imagine inside. We must stick together!"
After he finished speaking, he extended his hand towards the center, signaling for everyone to place their hands on top.
Li Miaomiao hesitated for a moment, feeling uncomfortable, but still placed her hand on top.
"Let's do our best, everyone!"
Wang Xu shouted loudly, boosting morale!
Then, they stepped into the halo, and everything turned white as they lost consciousness...
...
Boom!
A loud thunderclap resounded as rain, enclosed by dark clouds for a long time, finally burst forth and rushed towards the ground!
Zhao Yi opened his eyes and found himself sitting in carriage number six of the train.
He surveyed his surroundings.
Outside was pitch black, with a heavy rainstorm. The platform was in ruins, and apart from water droplets, there were no signs of living beings or the shattered corpses of players on the ground.
Inside the train, there was a mixture of dust and the smell of rusted iron.
The spacious carriage was empty.
The car headlights were broken, flickering incessantly. The surroundings were either icy or dead silent, and there was no sign of any other players. It seemed they had been separated.
Slowly rising to his feet, Zhao Yi made his way to the middle aisle. Before he could even begin to explore, he heard a sinister laugh behind him. "Hehehe..."
Despite hearing the laughter, Zhao Yi did not turn around. He continued to investigate and gather important items, such as a box of scattered pencils and a rusty iron pencil case covered in graffiti. Since their mission was to resolve these grievances, Zhao Yi needed to know what had happened here.
"Hehehe..." The eerie laughter sounded again, closer this time.
The voice belonged to a little girl, but Zhao Yi still didn't turn around. Instead, he carefully examined the pencil case. Although the iron case was quite hard, it could still be deformed by one's hand. However, the case in Zhao Yi's hand had already been crushed out of shape.
Looking sideways, Zhao Yi spotted a tattered schoolbag and a small black suitcase in the corner of the carriage. He pondered for a moment, before making his way towards the bag.
Inside the bag were elementary school textbooks and exercise books, all covered in colorful drawings made by children. They were of little value. Each page of the exercise books had been signed by parents, indicating that the child's parents cared about their child's education.
Zhao Yi's gaze then shifted to the black suitcase in the corner.
...
[Suitcase: High Danger]
[Note: You have enough curiosity, but... absolutely do not attempt to open it!]
...
Zhao Yi seemed to understand something. He made his way directly to the suitcase, and as he did, the sinister laughter came closer and closer, almost... right by his ear.
"Hehehe... Open it..."
"Open it!"
"Open it!!"
"Open it!!!"