Translator: Cinder Translations
--------
Jiang Cheng turned his head, making eye contact with the old man for a moment before deliberately looking away. "Grab the camera," he said to another man, "let's go."
Just as everyone was about to step out of the courtyard...
"Wait."
Hearing this, everyone paused and turned around.
The old man, leaning on his cane, struggled over, holding a black bag in his hands.
"Since your camera is broken, you can take this as a substitute." Before the man from Room 406 could react, the old man stuffed the black bag into his arms.
Confused by the old man's intentions, the man instinctively tried to push the bag away.
But the old man didn't give him a chance; he turned and hobbled back into the courtyard, shutting the door with a creak.
Inside the bag was a black camera.
The model was quite old, with some corners seriously worn, revealing the metallic color underneath.
But at least it was still functional.
The fatty looked at the mysterious camera with some resistance, muttering, "What's this? A random reward for triggering a side quest?"
Jiang Cheng stared at the closed courtyard door and shook his head. "This doesn't seem like a side quest."
After all, when they were first introduced to the mission, it was mentioned that the equipment they needed had already been delivered to the equipment room.
So they were definitely going to come here.
The camera's previous damage was also planned.
In other words, everything that had happened since they entered the courtyard was rehearsed.
Like the guiding woman, the old man was also an NPC.
His purpose was to deliver the camera to the players.
This was a legitimate main quest.
After hearing Jiang Cheng's analysis, the man holding the camera became very fearful.
His body trembled as if he was about to drop the camera.
It was as if a malevolent spirit was hidden inside the camera.
No one stepped forward to comfort him.
At that moment, Jiang Cheng approached. He took the camera, inspected it carefully, and then put it back in the black bag.
Then he slung the bag around the man's neck and patted his shoulder, reassuring him, "Don't be scared. Try to think positively; I don't think you'll be in danger."
"Okay, now we have the camera. What's next?" the fatty asked.
The woman with the ponytail thought for a moment and said, "Let's find a few people on campus and take some photos to see if the camera has any issues."
This was undoubtedly a smart move, as no one knew if taking a photo would trigger the ghost's killing conditions, so testing it on students was the best option.
Just as they walked out of the equipment center, several female students approached from the side, dressed quite fashionably.
The man took out the camera and knelt down on one knee to take a picture of them.
"This doesn't seem right," a weak voice came from behind, sounding pitiful.
Everyone turned to look.
It was the girl in pajamas.
She slightly tucked her chin in, standing with her toes together, as if she knew her suggestion might not be welcomed, but still mustered the courage to continue, "After all, they are innocent; we are the outsiders coming to this world."
Her voice lowered with the last part, requiring careful listening to catch it.
Just as the fatty was inwardly cursing this "white lotus" for her good acting, a middle-aged man in a vest jumped out from the edge of the crowd. The fatty vaguely remembered him being called Zhou Taifu.
He pointed aggressively at the pajama girl, yelling, his gestures animated like a monkey that lost its banana.
Repeating himself, he essentially said, if you want to die, then die, but don't drag others down with you.
It was clear that the man taking the photos was also quite annoyed after being interrupted.
But his attention was mostly on the woman with the ponytail.
It seemed she was the one who could ultimately give orders.
However, the ponytailed woman wasn't in a hurry to speak. Her gaze gradually shifted to the pajama girl, and a glimmer of scrutiny flashed in her eyes.
"Gentlemen," the man in a suit spoke up, still looking elegant, "now is not the time for disputes."
He emerged from a small path in the woods, followed closely by a darkly clad man wearing a cap.
Jiang Cheng looked towards the direction the suited man came from.
The trees on this side were quite dense, and the small path was well hidden among them.
"We agreed to meet here at noon," the fatty started, "where have you been?"
The man in the cap sneered, about to retort, but was interrupted by the suited man.
He turned his head and replied with a smile, "Thank you, Brother fatty, for your concern. We encountered some issues but just resolved them and came over. It didn't delay our original plan, did it?"
"Not really." Jiang Cheng replied, "It's just that you didn't show up on time, and we thought—" he paused, looking somewhat embarrassed, "you can understand, this is the Dream Realm; anything can happen. As soon as you were late, we thought you were done for."
The smile on the suited man's face faltered.
"Don't push your luck!"
The man in the cap, clearly in a bad mood for some reason, was ready to blow up at Jiang Cheng's words.
"Don't get me wrong," Jiang Cheng quickly waved his hands, retreating behind the ponytailed woman with a terrified expression, stretching his neck and calling out, "I didn't mean to insult you; I just suspect you're not human!"
"I'll be damned—"
At this moment, the ponytailed woman, seeing that the situation was getting out of control, felt she had to step in.
To everyone's surprise, she chose to stand on Jiang Cheng's side.
She faced the suited man and the approaching cap-wearing man, saying, "I believe his suspicion is valid; you need to prove you're not ghosts, but human."
(End of the Chapter)
---
Want More of (NS)?
Read ahead on [Pa.treon](pa treon . com / CinderTL) – up to Chapter 108. (+6)
Early access starts at $1. Your support keeps this going! (🎉New Price)
Translated 1200+ Chapters and 1.42M+ Words.