Chapter 158.1 The Horror Club
Bank President suddenly felt a chilling sensation for no apparent reason. Trusting his instincts, he turned to look in Wen Shi’s direction.
But before he turned, there was a small cry from beside him.
Everyone looked at the water curtain. Bank President, accustomed to grand spectacles, displayed a noticeable change in his expression as his eyes met the water curtain.
The range of the water curtain was limited, and even a massive monster projected onto it appeared as a small black dot. At that moment, countless tiny dots converged towards a central point, and the sense of dread could be felt across different spaces. Though ants were small individually, when they united, they couldn’t be ignored, especially when they had transcended the meager power of ants, resembling a vast swarm of locusts that had passed through.
The casino echoed with gasps. As Bank President took a cool breath, he felt a bit of joy inside.
He was sure that no matter how strong a monster was, even a true spirit couldn’t escape this kind of encirclement.
His joy doubled quickly as he noticed three standout black dots among the many, almost clear enough to see their shapes.
One of them, with each step, had red ghostly flames clearing a path around it. Bank President had seen this in the “Ghost Flames” instance before, confirming they were true spirit.
In the game, whoever needed to be hunted was never dealt with directly. Instead, the protagonist had to rely on others for assistance. Surprisingly, even the true spirits had joined in the hunt, and the mysterious entity in the void had just started to make a move. Their method of killing was odd–any nearby monster simply turned into smoke and blown away by the wind, no flashy fights, just a quiet and unsettling outcome.
“Ants devouring an elephant.” Shaken by this supernatural technique, Bank President had a rough estimate of the outcome. “Even the mightiest power can be drained eventually.”
A fight of this magnitude shouldn’t spill over into the virtual world.
He glanced at Wen Shi, who was slightly frowning, not looking at the water curtain. There seemed to be an unresolved concern in his expression.
At a time like this, there was no need for pretense. Wen Shi’s genuine emotions, now on full display, put Bank President at ease.
“Stop pretending.” Boss Mei’s playful tone turned into a hushed whisper as a barrier separated the two, isolating all sound. “That person doesn’t see things in 360 degrees, but in 359 degrees.”
The game always excelled at ignoring emotional factors. It was an inherent flaw. Its robust mechanisms didn’t allow for too much emotion, so this kind of bug was automatically filtered when assessing situations.
Boss Mei seemed to have seen through everything a long time ago. She counted on her fingers, “First, inject all the power into a specific organ, place it in the eye, then insert it into a brain, and finally add a touch of soul…”
She clapped her hands. “A perfect puppet doll is ready.”
A puppet was more fitting than a clone. That empty shell left in the void was continuously controlled by the sliver of soul left by the Lord of Terror.
Boss Mei sat on the control panel, gently swinging her legs, and spoke her favorite four words, “First strike guarantees victory.”
By paying with a sliver of the soul, one could manipulate the Supreme Will with ease. The Lord of Terror was the shrewdest entrepreneur of them all.
“Soul?” Wen Shi squinted.
In his view, that cost was already quite substantial.
“The taste of a damaged soul is not pleasant, but for beings like the Lord of Terror, who feed on others’ negative emotions, as long as it’s not too severely harmed, it’s a renewable resource.”
The first wave of attrition battle within the water curtain had concluded, leaving no room for the Lord of Terror to catch his breath. Three true spirits joined forces.
Vast power converged, resembling numerous white lanterns at first glance, forming a giant character “薨,” determined to forcefully end someone’s existence.
[T/N: From baidu baike: The original meaning of “薨” referred to the death of feudal lords in ancient times. In later periods, it was also used to describe the death of high-ranking officials with noble titles.]
Wen Shi’s brow furrowed even deeper.
Boss Mei finally grew curious. “Clones without individual consciousness perish when they die. What’s bothering you?”
“I’m contemplating matters of love.”
The earnest words spoken by Wen Shi nearly cracked a smile on Boss Mei’s facade.
Wen Shi sadly looked at the plum blossoms that had fallen next to Boss Mei’s skirt. “Can you give them to me?”
Once money paved the way, the quickly withering flowers became useless. Boss Mei generously shook the branches and gave him a whole bunch.
Walking alone into the shadow under the tray, Wen Shi started tearing petals like a cat. “…I like him, I don’t like him…”
Petal by petal slipped from his hand, and when he reached the last one, Wen Shi paused. “I like him?”
The ancient petal divination never made mistakes.
Boss Mei’s expression was inscrutable. Before this, she had seen Wen Shi tear nearly twenty flowers, with the last petal falling on “don’t like” each time, until the twenty-third flower finally caught an odd number, landing on “like.”
Then he openly declared that this was the divination result brought by the petals.
From start to finish, it was a result manipulated entirely by hand.
Boss Mei tilted her head. “Are you polite?”
In the void, an unprecedented massive battle raged. One true spirit was injured, another heavily wounded, and the Lord of Terror’s body began to crack. Meanwhile, he was actually pondering personal matters outside the battlefield.
Wen Shi hadn’t slept well all night, with no inclination to focus on a battle whose outcome had long been determined. Seeing Boss Mei in a good mood due to an impending high-stakes game, he tried to ask, “How did the monsters suddenly launch an attack?”
“The night is long, and dreams are plenty,” besides the initial surprise, Boss Mei had already figured out the reason, “I sealed the Lord of Terror’s brain as a chip. When the clone’s presence suddenly weakened, the lurking monsters naturally seized this opportunity with all their might.”
The part of the shadow that was sliced turned out to be the brain. Wen Shi suddenly thought of the editor-in-chief of “The Horror Club” and couldn’t help blurting out, “Brainy Mei.”
Boss Mei admitted it with a serious tone, “It’s me.”
“……” Wen Shi shivered.
This Boss Mei’s belly was full of dark water. Ever since the Lord of Golden City was replaced, she had been using this pen name, appearing as if she had already seen the ending. She was subtly hinting to the game that she shared same judgment with it. On the other hand, the Lord of Terror was planning to use his brain as a chip to leave a way out.
“I’m the editor-in-chief, but it owns Gaming Back and Forth Publishing House,” Boss Mei sighed, “The big boss even wants to control my Money Balance in recent years. That won’t do.”
Wen Shi had only one thought in his mind.
Lousy game, with such poor people interpersonal relationships, you deserved to be deceived.
Boss Mei held the plum branch and, in a rare serious tone, said, “The Lord of Terror doesn’t want to be trapped in the same world forever. He gambled with the game, and if the outcome is the Lord of Terror’s victory, he gains the right to enter and exit the game freely.”
The game placed strong restrictions on the Lord of Terror, as evident from Song Yan being a complete clone who could enter the virtual world, yet a single eyeball couldn’t.
Boss Mei: “The Lord of Terror’s belly is full of dark water.”
Wen Shi, who had just secretly complained about the same thing, felt a bit guilty and looked away.
“Every day, he feigned an attitude of indifference towards life and death, even appearing tired of living. During that period, including myself, none of us believed he possessed any desire to survive,” Boss Mei seemed to recall something amusing, “Sunset Town is a standalone instance. You can’t stop someone from entering it. The game couldn’t handle the dark side of the Lord of Terror’s power. So, it was only natural for the clone to slice out the Lord of Terror’s brain as a shadow and tell the game that it owed a favor…
“The game thought this brain was meant for an escape plan, so out of obligation, it didn’t intervene…”
Boss Mei laughed, choking on her own words, “The schemes keep getting dirtier.”
Wen Shi didn’t argue. It was less about outsmarting each other and more about everyone being a villain.
Boss Mei was willing to explain because Wen Shi had unintentionally tricked the game when he entered Sunset Town.
The sound within the water curtain became distorted, mixing the altered roars and screams. Even as mere spectators, everyone’s body involuntarily tensed. A burst of intense rainbow light dissipated in the sky, turning into a real rainbow
The towering Lord of Terror finally showed signs of wavering. At the cost of expending a lot of energy and losing an arm, he caused the fall of one true spirit. Seeing him injured, the remaining monsters attacked his severed arm like they were possessed.
The clone, containing the Lord of Terror’s energy, was a feast for the monsters as well. After gaining some strength, they surged over again during the Lord of Terror’s weakened moment, like a tidal wave.
The clone was instantly like a totem pole surrounded by ants.
Witnessing this scene firsthand, Wen Shi felt a creeping chill climbing up his spine.
A vast purifying white light burst from the colossal figure, and countless monsters were visibly purified at a rapid pace.
It was an almost self-destructive counterattack. Wen Shi tightly pressed his lips together. “Why aren’t the monsters retreating?”
“Some are controlled by true spirits, and some have extremely extreme natures. The Lord of Terror relies on absorbing dark emotions to strengthen himself. In this realm, he clears out a large number of ghosts and monsters every so often.”
With such a looming threat overhead, how could the monsters not hold grudges?
Survival was the top priority, the same for all species.
Led by three true spirits, a massive legion of monsters fought with all their might. After several hours, their numbers had decreased by nearly three-quarters, and those remaining were badly battered.
The unmistakable scent of blood and gore wafted through the water curtain. Even without seeing their faces, everyone present could feel the monsters’ excitement and elation.
The towering mountain that had loomed over their heads finally crumbled. They had finally witnessed the long-awaited scene–
The Lord of Terror had fallen!
Bank President and other players held their breath, looking up high as they witnessed the monsters eagerly dividing the spoils. Even the surviving true spirit moved so fast it almost left a blur. The corpse of the Lord of Terror was dismembered into countless pieces, becoming the monsters’ feast.
His short nails deliberately dug into his flesh, and the almost blood-curdling pain confirmed to Bank President that all of this was real. Those eyes that had been constantly focused on the screen now immediately shifted towards the heavy stacks of chips on the Money Scale.
World Shard, the Key… just the thought of these two chips made Bank President’s true greed impossible to hide.
Coincidentally, at the same time, Wen Shi was also assessing the chips that belonged to Bank President.
Boss Mei, positioned in the middle, was the most delighted. From her perspective, watching these clever but misled usurpers was particularly amusing.
Right above the control panel, just above Boss Mei’s head, a line of small text appeared out of thin air.
【The Winner…】
Boss Mei, with a mischievous streak, didn’t let this line of text fully appear. She waited for a few seconds, then the plum blossom seal responsible for freezing assets disappeared, and all the chips in one of the trays flew into another.
Wen Shi instantly raked in a massive haul, leaving no doubt about the victor
The situation took a sudden turn, and the smile on Bank President’s face hadn’t even had a chance to fade when his immediate reaction was to try to grasp those chips slipping away.
“No, the Lord of Terror is clearly dead. This gamble doesn’t… ”
He locked eyes with Boss Mei, and with an incredibly strong will, he forcibly swallowed the words “fair play.”
Happiness was born through comparison. Wen Shi felt that if he told him that the game had also been played, the twitching muscles on Bank President’s face might calm down a bit.
Boss Mei never listened to the delusional ramblings of losing gamblers. She removed the surrounding barriers, her eyes seemingly looking at a more distant place through the water curtain. Finally, she calmly said three words, “You have lost.”
The Lord of Terror was being devoured, but as long as the majority of his soul didn’t perish, the Supreme Will could vaguely sense it.
If, as previously anticipated, the Lord of Terror was left with only a final wisp of soul in the mortal realm as an escape route, the meager energy would be completely undetectable by the Supreme Will.
“You shouldn’t have tried to manipulate my Money Scale. You’re too domineering. Otherwise, I might have even switched sides.” Boss Mei stood up, her expression icy. “Do you know what’s most absurd? The Lord of Terror’s plan was originally flawless. But after he weakened, he actually developed feelings for a human. All those sliced parts inherited these emotions. It’s a massive vulnerability. But you completely ignored this issue, thinking that all the special treatment was because the Lord of Terror saw him as an escape plan.”
As a result, he got hurt badly due to those emotions.
Boss Mei let out a harsh laugh, venting her anger. She laughed again without reservation. “Hahaha…”
She not only laughed heartily herself but also waved at Wen Shi. “What are you standing there for? Laugh with me. The Supreme Will is the spokesperson of the rules. It has to endure all this mockery. Even if you spit on it a couple of times, can it do anything?”
After having a good laugh, Boss Mei’s tone turned cold again. “Those moths that fly into the fire, although they’re foolish, deserve some appreciation. They dared to challenge the gods by besieging the Lord of Terror.”
Wen Shi: “……”
There was something he wasn’t sure whether he should say or not. Although he felt that the game couldn’t do anything to Boss Mei, it could certainly do something to him.
Ding dong.
Unlike the usual notification sound, there was a sudden change. Wen Shi felt a shiver down his spine. It was like the final drop of water accurately hitting his brain.
The Golden City, mountain caves along the way, dense forests, borderlands, and the distant Golden Tower Kingdom… Players in different dimensional instances all heard the same sound.
Virtual world.
The weather was nice today. Song Yan, who had recently transformed back to his normal self, was outside the hotel enjoying the breeze. Inside the club, Yu Xingzhou and Ji Yuanzhi were discussing guild matters, while a few players who had just come out of instances on the plaza were making plans like, “We’ve survived a big ordeal. Let’s go have a drink.”
On an otherwise ordinary day like this, all the screens in the virtual world simultaneously cleared any ongoing instance information and replaced it with a uniform announcement. The mechanical voice of the system issued a notice to all players at the same time.
“Attention all players, please note that the special 3S-level instance, Frank Hospital, is now available.”
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