As Mu Chenyi pondered, his gaze lingered toward the factory gate.
After experiencing his last death replay, he knew that "Xiao Chen" would soon appear before him.
A few minutes later—
A beautiful woman, dressed exactly as she was in his death replay, appeared at the factory entrance.
The moment he saw her, Mu Chenyi immediately took out the sparklers from his bag, lit them, and waved them to signal her.
The sudden burst of light was conspicuous,
Immediately drawing the woman's attention toward him.
"Pfft!"
The woman couldn't hold back her laughter when she saw Mu Chenyi waving the sparklers like a child.
Seeing her express a genuine, non-fake smile,
Mu Chenyi finally relaxed.
It seemed this woman truly was Xiao Chen—
A real human.
She walked up to him, glanced at the sparkler in his hand, and teased—
"Why didn't you just yell 'Mom! Dad! Save me!' instead?"
She was mocking the "Demon Murder Case" story Mu Chenyi had told over the phone.
"If you really want to hear it, I can yell it again."
Mu Chenyi joked back, then curiously asked—
"How did you get out of work to come here?"
"I still had two personal days off this month. After getting your call, I just used one to come find you."
Xiao Chen reached out her hand toward him.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Chen Wan'er. How did you know about me?"
"My ability told me you were human."
Mu Chenyi gave a vague explanation, then shook her hand.
"Mu Chenyi."
A strange gleam flashed in Chen Wan'er's eyes.
"Mr. Mu, you seem quite young?"
"Still in college. Got dragged into this game out of nowhere…"
Mu Chenyi sighed, then asked—
"By the way, how many times have you played this game?"
"This is my first time too…"
Chen Wan'er lowered her gaze slightly, her tone tinged with melancholy.
"When I first arrived, I realized everyone around me had turned into monsters… Scared me half to death."
Half to death?
Mu Chenyi silently complained in his heart.
I literally died the moment I arrived!
His revival coin was used up the second he entered the game.
"So what do we do next?"
Chen Wan'er looked at him expectantly.
"I originally planned to discuss going to buy fish with you…"
Mu Chenyi paused, his mind quickly reevaluating the situation.
"But now, I think we might have something more important to do."
After a moment of thought, Mu Chenyi decided to change strategies.
He wanted to find Wang Zichen.
Since both he and Chen Wan'er were newcomers,
She wouldn't have any useful information.
If anything—
She probably knew even less than he did.
So he didn't even bother asking.
Wang Zichen was a veteran player.
He had clearly participated in multiple doomsday events.
Just looking at his underground base and those two armored vehicles, it was obvious—
He had been preparing for this for a long time.
But more importantly—
If he and Chen Wan'er didn't go buy fish,
Their identities as humans wouldn't be exposed.
"Buy fish?"
Chen Wan'er looked at him curiously.
"Is that what you called me here for?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
Mu Chenyi glanced at the cooldown timer for [Eye of Death].
After thinking for a moment, he decided to call his 'mother.'
From what he knew—
As long as he played the role of a normal human properly,
He could survive this doomsday event without issues.
So as long as he kept up appearances in front of his 'mother,'
He wouldn't be exposed.
"Beep… beep… beep…"
After a few seconds, the call connected.
"Hey, Mom, I'm eating out with my classmates today, so I won't be coming home for lunch."
Mu Chenyi forced himself to imagine the creature on the other end as his real mother,
And spoke as naturally as possible.
"What? But I was going to make fish for you! Why are you eating out?!"
A displeased voice came from the other end.
"Come on, Mom, you and Dad can eat without me. I already promised my classmates."
"I'll bring the fish back later, alright? Gotta go—my friends are calling me."
Before she could respond, Mu Chenyi hung up the phone immediately.
This conversation—
Was exactly how he usually talked to his real mother in real life.
As long as he didn't let 'her' see his expression,
Nothing should go wrong.
"Isn't your mother a monster?"
Chen Wan'er tilted her head, waiting for him to finish his call before asking.
"She is. But in this doomsday scenario, we need to follow the rules."
"If we play our original roles well, we can survive this event."
Mu Chenyi explained briefly.
"Oh, I see!"
Chen Wan'er nodded in understanding.
But then—
She looked a little embarrassed and admitted—
"This is my first time playing this game, so I don't understand a lot of things…"
Then she glanced at him and said—
"But Mr. Mu, you don't seem like a first-time player at all. You act way too experienced."
"You'd be experienced too if you died a few times."
Mu Chenyi muttered under his breath.
"Huh? What did you say?"
Chen Wan'er didn't hear him clearly.
"Nothing."
Mu Chenyi changed the subject quickly.
"Do you need to check in with your family?"
"We probably won't be going home for a while."
"No need."
Chen Wan'er shook her head.
"My family doesn't live in Jiangcheng. I've always lived here alone."
"I see…"
Mu Chenyi nodded, then hesitated for a moment before asking—
"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you something."
His gaze landed on her delicate face, curiosity flashing in his eyes.
"Are you kind of famous in real life?"
"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."
He had been wanting to ask this for a while.
From the moment he saw her in his death replay,
He felt like he had seen her somewhere before.
"A lot of men say that when they see me."
Chen Wan'er rolled her eyes at him.
"Are you trying to flirt, kid?"
Mu Chenyi: …
I'm serious! You really look familiar!
"Since you don't need to check in with anyone, let's go here."
Mu Chenyi pulled up the map on his phone and showed it to her.
He pointed to—
Fu Yang Villa District.
Even though his phone couldn't connect to the internet,
The Jiangcheng map was still accessible.
"Why are we going there?"
Chen Wan'er looked at him in surprise.
"Do you live there?"
Then, she gave him a once-over, raising an eyebrow.
"Damn, you don't look like a rich guy at all."
Mu Chenyi: …
What's with this woman's sharp tongue?!
He really felt like he had seen her before—
It wasn't some cheap pickup line!
"It's not my house."
Mu Chenyi clarified quickly.
"We're going there to find some of our other teammates."
"Other humans?"
Chen Wan'er's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah."
Mu Chenyi nodded.
"Let's grab a taxi— No, wait. We're walking!"
The trauma of his last taxi ride still hadn't faded.
"Alright!"
Half an Hour Later…
The two of them finally arrived at Fu Yang Villa District.
But—
They immediately ran into their second problem.
At the entrance of the villa district,
A security guard stood watch.
The rules were clear—
Non-residents and non-resident guests were NOT allowed inside.
As expected—
They were stopped at the gate.
"Hello, could you please ring the doorbell for Villa No. 5?"
Mu Chenyi put on the signature fake smile of the monsters.
"Tell Wang Zichen that we were sent by Lao Zhao to pick something up."
The security guard narrowed his eyes.
"Why don't you just call him yourself?"
The guard asked suspiciously.
"Tch, he's not answering my calls."
Mu Chenyi's expression remained unchanged,
But his tone carried a hint of impatience.
"If he was picking up, would I even be here talking to you?"
The security guard hesitated.
What Mu Chenyi said actually made sense.
Plus—
The owner of Villa No. 5 was indeed named Wang Zichen.
So—
The guard finally picked up the intercom and dialed the villa.
A moment later—
A familiar voice rang through the speaker.
"Hello? Who the hell is this?"
It was the same voice from Mu Chenyi's death replay—
Wang Zichen!