Chapter 100.2 Crimson Sunset Expedition
In front of them, the ground had a large arrow with “Green Passage” written on it. The passage led directly to the outside of the hospital. However, in the middle section, the ground disappeared, replaced by a wooden suspension bridge with wide gaps between each foothold. Purple lights illuminated the iron cables on both sides, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
The most absurd thing was that there was a sign beside the bridge: Naihe Bridge.
Underneath the bridge was a wide pit, filled with people without features. Their thin skin was tightly stretched, and they aimlessly wandered in the crowd. Despite having no mouths, sharp cries continuously emanated from them.
These uncomfortable wails were the source of the noise the teenager had heard earlier.
Wen Shi stood silently in front of the bridge, his gaze lowered, his brow furrowing occasionally.
After spending some time together, Song Yan had a certain understanding of Wen Shi. He knew that when Wen Shi was in deep thought like this, it meant he couldn’t come to a conclusion right away.
Indeed, without any hints or rules, it wasn’t easy to find where the game had set its traps.
Although they were lucky to avoid being pulled into the mirror space, correspondingly, they lacked the systematic clues.
Suddenly, Wen Shi moved.
He left the wooden suspension bridge and took a step to the side. There was no obstruction ahead, and a slight misstep could lead to falling into the abyss.
Unfortunately, Wen Shi, seemingly unafraid of death, leaned towards the edge as if determined. He stared below for a moment and suddenly said, “Song Yan, let’s jump down.”
“?”
Faced with the odd creatures without features below, Song Yan forced a smile. “How about I go first and explore the bridge? If things don’t seem right, you can try to save me, boss.”
Wen Shi turned his face slightly, the eerie purple light unable to blur the handsomeness of his features. “Are you sure?”
He pointed at the chains on the suspension bridge. “This thing reminds me of the night shift security guard’s weapon.”
Wen Shi vividly remembered the system prompt back then: bound by infernal iron chains, followed by the grim announcement of depleted health points.
Song Yan’s face turned slightly blue at his words.
He stared at the wooden sign that read “Naihe Bridge.” Speaking of it, the Naihe Bridge was also something related to the underworld, just like the infernal iron chains. They both originated from the same place.
The gaps between the wooden planks on the suspension bridge were too wide to stand steadily on it. It was impossible to cross it without holding onto the iron chains. If they went up, their health points might plummet drastically.
In the moments of hesitation, the mass of green figures behind them surged like an anthill, almost about to reach them.
Song Yan, following his gut feeling that being too close to these green shadows would lead to undesirable consequences, made up his mind. “I’ll listen to you, let’s jump!”
Learning Wen Shi’s skill of making fun out of adversity, he said with great determination, “Yujump, Ijump.”
Wen Shi: “……”
Currently, the true spirit’s understanding of the real world seemed to come from his father, and those were all old jokes from over a decade ago. His incarnation’s information seemed to have only been updated up until that time.
Suddenly, Song Yan turned back. “I misspoke, I’ll go first.”
He still had a conscience, willing to play the role of little guinea pig.
Wen Shi was usually decisive, but now with the green figures only a few centimeters away, there wasn’t even enough time for him to observe.
With a swift leap, Wen Shi jumped faster than Song Yan.
The strange rustling wind brushed past his ears, and because there were so many creatures below, the moment he fell down felt more like falling into a pile of dough. Wen Shi even bent the spines of a few featureless beings upon landing.
He wasn’t particularly nervous crawling down from the creatures’ backs.
With green figures behind and the suspension bridge ahead, since both paths were impassable, no matter how frightening it appeared under the bridge, it remained a lifesaving option.
“I made the right bet.”
The featureless monsters were extremely terrifying, but they didn’t immediately launch an attack.
“My dear grandson,” a familiar and ethereal voice sounded.
Wen Shi, who was currently squeezed among the monsters, paused for a moment and followed the source of the sound. “Grandma?”
Ahead, there was a separate area shrouded in black mist, and the faceless beings around it seemed to avoid that place. When he was up on the bridge, Wen Shi hadn’t seen this kind of area.
The old lady spoke softly, her voice barely audible amid the crying. “I saw you just now, but my voice couldn’t reach you.”
Drowned out by the crying.
“It’s probably a rule restriction,” Wen Shi asked, “Where did the little octopus go…”
Before he could finish his sentence, he was embraced from behind by two tentacles. Currently, the mini octopus had a shape that wasn’t too big or too small. The tentacles wrapped around the teenager’s body like vines, as if trying to parasitize him. The sticky sensation made Wen Shi’s smile a bit stiff. But wait, didn’t it have a brain now?
Do seafood creatures usually hug people from behind?
Another tentacle looped around to the front, and at its tip was a gourd-shaped bottle containing a potion.
The transparent little bottle held a pale purple solution with golden particles settling at the bottom. The tentacle, now covered in suckers, twisted around the narrowest part of the bottle’s mouth, oddly exuding a sense of eerie beauty.
As Wen Shi was about to have the octopus come down, he instinctively reached out to touch the potion bottle. The moment he tightly held the bottle, the system’s prompt sounded:
“Congratulations, you’ve obtained a bottle of ultra-rare Divine Evolution Potion.”
“Main quest—Burglar is completed.”
“Please escape from the hospital as soon as possible.”
While Wen Shi was momentarily stunned, the mini octopus managed to stick around for a bit longer.
In the meantime, its big eye caught sight of Song Yan approaching this area. Like tossing a beggar a coin, it flicked a bottle of ordinary Divine Evolution Potion over.
Wen Shi’s judgment of Big Eye had never been wrong. Even though he received an ultra-rare Evolution Potion, it wouldn’t let go of an ordinary Divine Evolution Potion.
Driven by Jian Qingrong’s instinctive consciousness, it had a strong interest in all contaminants. When collecting such things, more was better.
After Song Yan received the Evolution Potion, before he could even say thanks, one of the octopus’s tentacles extended to make a human-like waving gesture, indicating for him not to come over. Then it continued sticking around with Wen Shi.
“……”
Successfully gaining an extra half a minute for himself, before Wen Shi could begin his lecture, the octopus preemptively changed into a mimicry state. Its small tentacle covered its eyes, portraying a shy and cute demeanor.
Wen Shi’s mouth twitched slightly. This octopus probably used all eight brains for everything but this.
The mimetic octopus accurately grasped Wen Shi’s thoughts, knowing that he was probably focused on planning their escape.
The old lady’s lips moved, but the mimetic octopus extended a short tentacle, continuing to act as a mediator–let me speak.
This mouth shouldn’t go to waste.
The old lady looked at it with a caring and indulgent expression, even though it had a brain now, it seemed like its brains grew for specific situations.
“After we got the Evolution Potion, the old lady said she would go up to the ceiling to scout the situation outside.”
Wen Shi nodded in agreement. The old lady was indeed quite wise.
“She found security guards up there, so we continued exploring on the first underground floor until we saw the safe exit sign.”
The old lady sealed their *aura, so they weren’t pulled into the mirror world. Coupled with her deep perception of cursed objects, she quickly identified the issue with the suspension bridge.
In fact, she and the the mini octopus could leave too. The old lady wasn’t very afraid of these things, and the octopus could shrink to the size of a coin, with almost negligible weight. They could easily escape through a drainage outlet.
However, they decided to stay and wait for Wen Shi.
The mini octopus continued speaking in a human voice, reporting the observed pattern: “Approximately every half an hour, a monster comes to feed. During this time, the first underground floor shifts, changing the route. Monsters on the first underground floor become food during this process.”
“Food?” Wen Shi had seen what the brain monster feed on–those bloody brains in the small rooms.
However, the next words from the the mini octopus proved that it wasn’t just that. “The beings under the bridge are constantly searching for memories. Every day, they remember a bit and then the monster take it as nourishment.”
The patients who died in the Crimson Sunset Cosmetic Surgery Clinic, their tragedy began after death.
Wen Shi pondered, one of the plump nurses in the operating room had mentioned that the previous experimental subjects would only have some parts of their brains replaced. Having remnants of procedural memories wasn’t surprising.
They had seen those fresh but short-lived cocoons inside the brain monster before, indicating that the brain monster were constantly ingesting fresh memories. After digesting a cocoon, it would eat again.
There wasn’t much sympathy in Wen Shi’s eyes. The beastkin who came here for surgery probably didn’t lead virtuous lives before.
“What happens during the feeding?”
Wen Shi had no doubt that if they were to escape, it would have to be during the monster’s feeding time.
“The monster’s neural tendrils extend like branches. You just need to climb up them in time.”
The only problem was that the neural tendrils weren’t that thick, and the monster’s feeding time didn’t exceed three minutes.
However, for Wen Shi, this wasn’t a problem either. According to the promise of the game, completing the advanced main quest would grant him a complete transformation body.
Wen Shi checked his attribute panel and called out to Song Yan to do the same. Song Yan had only the “ordinary burglar” quest. Theoretically, he should wait until they left the instance to randomly activate a transformation skill. However, due to his unique status and the promise from the true spirit that he would receive a powerful transformation, it was very likely that the activation could happen directly in the instance.
Ignoring the warning from Big Eye, Song Yan eventually managed to squeeze next to Wen Shi.
“Boss, I have an unopened transformation skill.”
“Use your consciousness to control the cursor and click.”
The rest didn’t need Wen Shi’s instruction. The attribute panel had already brought up the question of whether to activate the transformation skill.
Wen Shi was also checking his panel. His seduction skill status had been updated.
【Beginner Drunken Reverie—Cat’s Temptation
In this state, you can completely transform into a cat. The required points for single use are 500, and the duration is 60 minutes. Agility +30, Night Vision +30.】
The price had gone up.
It was labeled “beginner,” but in reality, the required points for both beginner and advanced levels were the same. However, all the functions had been upgraded this time, making it a generally worthwhile choice.
“Detected that you are currently in a transformation state. Do you want to pay the remaining points to switch to the complete transformation state?”
Wen Shi laughed, go ahead and be frugal. He had been using his transformation skill for a while now, which meant paying the same money for fewer services.
“Switch.” Wen Shi had no other choice.
They hadn’t encountered any seismic activity along the way, so it was likely that the monster would start feeding soon.
“Hint: Please take the Divine Evolution Potion before the first evolution.”
Wen Shi unscrewed the bottle cap of the gourd-shaped vial, with the octopus blocking the opening, its big eye fixed on him.
Wen Shi: “I know what I’m doing.”
After saying that, he used one hand to remove the octopus and poured the liquid from the bottle down his throat.
The taste of the potion was far from as pleasant as it looked. It was a bit salty and fishy. Wen Shi had to exert some willpower not to vomit it out.
Pain.
Colorful light waves appeared before his eyes, extending and intensifying continuously. The exaggerated dizziness made Wen Shi almost feel like he was thrown into a more dazzling and bizarre world. His flesh, skin, and even his bones were all convulsing. He clenched his teeth, wondering if it would hurt this much every time in the future. He quickly dismissed the thought, knowing that he had only one bottle of the Evolution Potion. He hoped he could switch forms instantly in the future.
Once a day, he started cursing the damn game and its family.
It felt like the process of taking the potion was deliberately messing with him.
The octopus looked worriedly at Wen Shi, and just as the old lady was about to approach to check on him, a white light flashed, and Wen Shi disappeared from the spot.
In the same place, a gracefully poised cat sat silently. Its fur was as black as the night, and its long tail curled elegantly around its legs, much like its owner would do.
When Wen Shi transformed before, his tail had been more bluish-gray, but now it had turned completely black. His black cat form looked incredibly smooth and soft. The octopus couldn’t help extending a tentacle, tempted to touch the fur that seemed immaculate.
Oh, really wanted to pet it.
The octopus almost made a greedy slurping noise.
The black cat shook its fur, trying to adjust to the new body, radiating an air of mystery.
Song Yan’s eyes were also envious. Beautiful and proud creatures easily stirred the desire for conquest in other beings. Fortunately, his intense sense of admiration suppressed the natural urge to conquer. Song Yan couldn’t help but exude boundless anticipation for his own transformation.
The true spirit’s personal confirmation of its power must mean it’s truly powerful.
“Let me try too.”
The black cat’s eyes, like sapphire gems, looked at him. “Do you have enough points?”
Using any skill required spending points.
“Five points per use, first time is free.”
“……” For some reason, Wen Shi’s mind involuntarily flashed the phrase “you get what you pay for.”
Song Yan was eager to use the Evolution Potion and activate his transformation. Players who obtained the ordinary Evolution Potion could only achieve an incomplete transformation like Wen Shi’s previous form. However, in just three seconds, Song Yan also achieved a complete transformation.
He turned into a dirty and grimy mirror.
The cat, the old lady, and even the octopus gathered around, wanting to examine what was different about this mirror.
Finally, the black cat politely inquired, “May I ask, what skills do you have?”
Song Yan fell silent.
He had been too excited during the transformation, and now, looking at the description, there was only one sentence: A mirror.
No further information.
“Can you move?”
Blood-red words appeared on the surface of the mirror: Cannot.
“……”
The old lady, with her vast experience, suddenly said, “Pretty impressive.”
The black cat turned its head. “Have you figured out anything?”
The old lady: “In my eyes, it’s just a mirror.”
A touch of human-like contemplation flickered in the black cat’s eyes. A nearly lifeless mirror, encountering monsters, had very little chance of being attacked.
Thinking about it that way, it was indeed impressive.
The mirror displayed another line of blood-red words: It will take three days for me to return to my original state.
“……” Didn’t that mean he couldn’t do missions for three days?
As expected, the game imposed limitations on any kind of skill.
The black cat reminded him, “Some special skills have the possibility of upgrading later. Check and see if there’s an upgrade option.”
The blood-red words appeared consecutively in three lines: Points required for upgrade, 10,000 points remaining until the next upgrade, can be upgraded to a mirror with philosophical thinking.
For Wen Shi, Song Yan disclosed all the information without reservation. As for the purpose of the philosophical mirror, there were no specific explanations. The mirror continued to display text: This mirror can be given a self-chosen name, I’ll name it【Contradiction】.
Sounded quite philosophical.
The black cat approved of the name, gracefully moving toward the old lady. The old lady lovingly held it in her arms, her hands with hardly any wrinkles gently stroking the cat’s fur.
The mimetic octopus looked on enviously, oh how it wished it had human hands now!
Greed burgeoned inside, with a mouth it wanted a brain, with a brain it was now restless, anxiously contemplating how to create a human-like shell.
While Big Eye started brainstorming its new plan, the suspended wooden bridge overhead began to shake wildly. The iron chains produced a rattling sound, and the faceless beings beneath the ground cried out even louder. Despair and agony caused their voices to rise almost to a screaming pitch.
An earthquake!
Countless horrifyingly elongated neural tendrils emerged from the cracked walls and gaps between the tiles. Some of them penetrated the bottom of the suspension bridge, cruelly extracting memories from the faceless beings. Those faceless figures that had just begun to regain a hint of facial features reverted to their tightly stretched faces.
The black cat leaped out of the old lady’s arms, one paw lightly treading on the blood-colored neural tendrils. The irritable brain tendrils initially intended to fling it away, but in the moment it was stepped on, the brain entity for some inexplicable reason changed its mind, inexplicably allowing the little cat to climb upon it.
Another paw lifted gracefully, stepping forward steadily.
The swirling neural tendrils around didn’t lash at this audacious and unexpected visitor. One of the neural tendrils, its sharp, forked tip tinged with red, hovered above the black cat, finally moving downward slightly, gliding over the sleek and shiny fur.
“?”
It got petted.
Oh well, with its head bowed beneath the eaves, the cat continued to climb along the neural tendrils with focused determination.
The mimetic octopus that had been clinging to the cat’s back was also knocked off by the petting. Big Eye seethed with impotent rage, only able to settle for clutching onto the cat’s slender tail and following along.
The mirror with no legs: “……”
Could someone care about it?
The old lady’s agility surpassed that of any animal. Just as she was about to ascend, the black cat ahead suddenly turned its head slightly. In that gaze, the old lady understood something, stepped back, and casually picked up the mirror from the ground. She sighed, “I almost forgot about you.”
The mirror: “……”
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