Cheng Tingyu utilized the special ability of his keen eyes, patiently and attentively observing the situation inside the market. Then he smiled at his companion and said, "I'm very relieved; fortunately, they sell fresh food inside."
She planned to judge the situation by observing the changes in the food, and she did obtain useful results. However, when she saw several bags of bread with the production date marked as "Year 3795," she fell silent for a moment.
——The year Cheng Tingyu traveled through was 3796. She didn't know whether the bread was already expired or if this world had adopted different standards and techniques for food preservation compared to before her time travel.
"..."
Weixu Gui didn't say anything, he just planned to replace the bread with biscuits the next time he bought food. Although the result might not be much different, as long as he didn't see it, he could pretend it didn't exist.
The two no longer worried about the shelf life of the store's products. Cheng Tingyu, with his hands in his pockets, walked around the market, not in a hurry to enter the dungeon just yet.
They are waiting for someone.
Ten minutes later, a completely black vehicle with the inspector team's emblem stopped in front of them.
The "Screwdriver" insurance company and the inspection team clearly had a certain understanding. After Shen Xingliu agreed to provide Cheng Tingyu and the other person with temporary employee status at "Screwdriver," Qin Luosong also called to inform them of the inspection team's entry date into the instance, hoping to form a team to enter together.
This is both cooperation and surveillance.
Cheng Tingyu was quite pleased with this outcome. After all, the Inspection Team belonged to the lawful faction and was quite powerful, making them excellent allies. If there was a flaw to be found in this team-up, it would have to be herself—players with secretive abilities like hers couldn't reveal their true names. If her sanity value dropped too much, she could easily switch sides on the spot and become a follower of the Ancient Ones.
Four people got out of the black car.
The leading inspector gave a brief introduction. She pointed to herself first, "Li Yetai." Then she introduced her colleagues one by one, "He Xijiang, Hong Yuanning, and Li Fuci."
Based on their attire, Li Yetai and He Xijiang were official members, while the other two were interns.
Cheng Tingyu herself hadn't really paid much attention to the differences in the patterns on the inspector team's uniforms, but her abilities as an "appraiser" could substitute for her in making distinctions
[Name: Hong Yuanning]
[True Name: [Unable to Display]]
[Position: F0631 City Outer District Inspectorate Intern.]
More people came than she had imagined.
If it was just to guard against her or Wei Xu Gui, they shouldn't have brought the kids from the team over.
Moreover, judging by the usual conduct of the inspection team, they don't seem like the type to use their own people as cannon fodder.
Cheng Tingyu turned his head to look at the market in front of him and made his own prediction.
——Perhaps there is something in this building that is related to the number of people.
The four members of the inspection team exchanged greetings with Cheng Tingyu and her group, then Li Yetai said, "Actually, this isn't the first time the inspection team has sent field personnel into the 'Fiery' marketplace."
"We once sent someone to try to go in, but as soon as they stepped inside..."
The two interns who were fortunate enough to be chosen for the task stood at attention, listening intently as their senior recounted the background of the mission. When they realized the senior had paused, they both simultaneously displayed a cautious expression.
Li Yetai had a look of confusion on his face, and after a moment, he finished the second half of his sentence: "Then they just walked out normally again."
"..."
The two interns showed slightly bewildered expressions on their faces—just a simple in and out, what about the mechanism of the instance, the dangers, and the environmental conditions?
Cheng Tingyu suddenly realized: "You mean the entrance that was supposed to lead to the interior of the dungeon, but instead led to the outside."
Li Yetai nodded, seeming to find it somewhat difficult to describe, and added, "You'll understand the situation once you go inside and take a look." He reminded them again, "Don't rush to take action after you go in. Wait for us to regroup at the spot."
Cheng Tingyu nodded slightly at the words and, without hesitation, stepped towards the entrance of the bustling marketplace.
Noticing her actions, the two interns instantly felt the heavy trust that ordinary citizens placed in the inspection team.
Wei Xugu, who had already come to understand the nature of his neighbor, thought that with Cheng Tingyu's personality, even if he suspected that the information given by the inspection team was dubious, he would most likely choose to walk in cheerfully.
A replica of a real location, although visible to those not involved, is essentially an area that has already been altered.
Just by approaching the entrance of the marketplace, Cheng Tingyu felt a pervasive sense of unease.
The last time she entered Wei Heng's former residence, her feelings were not this intense.
Unlike the ordinary and normal reality, this store has already been tainted by a twisted force and is gradually being stripped away from the world.
The seemingly normal door appeared like a perfect sticker on a picture, but in essence, it had become an anomaly that clashed with normalcy.
Cheng Tingyu smiled, pushed open the glass door of the store, and walked in without hesitation.
At the moment he stepped over the threshold, the scene in Cheng Tingyu's vision began to distort severely. By the time everything stabilized, the surroundings were completely different from what he had seen before entering.
Cheng Tingyu observed the refresh point of this instance with great interest.
She stood in a room that felt distinctly cramped, surrounded by a chaotic array of chairs, desks, and cabinets stuffed full of documents, as well as a changing room sectioned off by curtains. The floor was piled high with various bundles of clothes tied up with ropes, each stack reaching nearly half a person's height. The ropes used for packing were labeled with the ownership of different clothes. With a casual glance, Cheng Tingyu spotted at least ten different store logos, such as Big Eye Bull Children's Wear, Quansen Apparel, and Plum Deer Clothing Store.
The surroundings were excessively cluttered, making this place, which could be either an office or a storeroom, feel particularly cramped. About a dozen chairs were stacked together in an unstable manner, as if they would topple over with the slightest touch.
Four office desks, each with completely different materials and heights, seemed to have been molded together like clay, occupying a large portion of the space. It was difficult for Cheng Tingyu to find a place to stand without stepping on anything.
However, none of this is what most attracts the attention of outsiders.
Cheng Tingyu's gaze finally rested on the wall.
The walls, which were originally white, had turned a dull yellow-gray due to the passage of time and lack of maintenance. The decorative painting that once hung prominently had been pushed into a corner, its shape distorted from a rectangle into a twisted "C." The space meant for decorations was now occupied by six wooden doors.
The fact that there were doors on the walls was originally quite normal. What was abnormal was the number of wooden doors on each wall of this room. These doors appeared in an unreasonably compact manner, one next to the other. Including the direction she came from, each wall had exactly six wooden doors. The door frames had become deformed due to the crowding, looking like squashed long maggots.
Within three minutes of Cheng Tingyu entering the instance, Wei Xuguang and the four members of the inspection team also arrived at the refresh point one after another.
The room, already cramped and narrow due to the abundance of items, suddenly became almost unbearably crowded.
The two interns were coughing incessantly from the dust. Li Yetai frowned, "The situation is worsening. The last time we were here, there wasn't this much stuff. Each wall only had three doors, and the door frames weren't deformed."
Cheng Tingyu sensed something and asked, "Has the wall area changed?"
Li Yetai paused for a moment and shook his head.
Cheng Tingyu: "If the number of doors continues to increase over time or with the number of participants entering, but the area of the walls remains unchanged, then sooner or later, each door will be squeezed into a state where we can no longer pass through normally."
"..."
Everyone fell silent.
Li Yetai: "The inspection team had previously scouted the route, but participants who chose to go through the wooden door on the wall, regardless of which door they initially took, all ended up leaving the marketplace."
Although the result was somewhat inexplicable, it at least proved that there was a way to safely leave the mall dungeon.
Cheng Tingyu, upon hearing this, instinctively looked up at the ceiling, then carefully examined the floor beneath his feet.
Li Yetai vaguely guessed Cheng Tingyu's thoughts and reminded him, "I think you'd better not consider leaving from the roof or underground."
He Xijiang followed up, "During the time the mall dungeon was sealed off by the inspection team, three private teams also sneaked in, totaling fifteen people."
"Seven of them stopped exploring after leaving the sub-area and returned safely. So far, everything is normal. However, three chose unconventional ways to pass through: one tried to walk above the ceiling, one dug a tunnel, and another used the power of 'flesh' to attack the walls. In the end, all of them met with death."
The inspector turned his head to glance at Cheng Tingyu as he spoke.
Wearing the guise of a flesh-and-blood player, Cheng Tingyu said earnestly, "I'm a skill-based flesh-and-blood player; I wouldn't do something like attacking the walls."
The two trainee inspectors both glanced at Cheng Tingyu—they found it hard to associate a blood-and-guts player with a skill-based one.
The seasoned inspector, however, remained calm, clearly having seen too much and knowing that all kinds of weirdos exist among the players.
He Xijiang continued, "The remaining five people, after safely leaving the dungeon for the first time, chose to re-enter. Then, the moment they stepped through the door, they appeared outside the dungeon in a severely injured state. Two of them died immediately upon exiting."
"Those people didn't all enter the instance from the main entrance of the store; they also tried other entrances. But whether they came from above or underground, no matter where they entered from, the starting point was always this room."
At this point, he glanced at the intern beside him. Li Fuci swiftly took out a report: "The previous team of surveyors believed that there is a strong boundary force in the copy," he continued, "Although it is a rest day, there are still some people present. No one has purchased the 'Screwdriver' emergency rescue insurance, so we cannot confirm their status."
Another intern, Hong Yuanning, said, "If we can't leave the room directly, then let's take our things and leave..
Li Fuci silently read the rest of the report, then looked at his colleague with a sympathetic gaze: "Some of the failures did exactly that. The first time they entered the instance, they brought clothes out without any issues. The second time they entered, they were severely injured. There were also cases where someone left normally without taking any items the first time, but when they took some clothes the second time, they reappeared outside the instance with their limbs severed."
"..."
Hong Yuanning closed his mouth.
Sure enough, there was indeed a difference between the newly joined interns and those about to become full-time employees. Compared to herself, Li Fuci at least understood that in similar situations, one should not voice their own opinions.