Chapter 92.1 Crimson Sunset Expedition
The tour guide’s shadow was strong, countering every move. In daily life, rules confined her, making it easy to overlook her real strength. At that moment, watching the fight, Wen Shi quietly took a seat inside.
The shadow’s arm blocked the tour guide’s kick, and the other hand swiftly threw a knife towards Wen Shi, the sound of wind cutting the air.
“I duck.” Wen Shi immediately bent down, thinking how people nowadays often used knives as hidden weapons.
Compared to the old lady’s kitchen knife, this short knife’s attack could be considered gentle. At least each strike hit its target, maneuvering intelligently with curved slashes.
The short knife ended up in the bed’s edge, pinning the mattress and bedsheet together. The daring mosquito landlord, who risked coming over to see, poured out a string of numbers.
Taking advantage of the tour guide’s distraction, the shadow rushed into the room. Wen Shi pulled out his knife, copying the opponent’s move, and threw it hard. The shadow hesitated in its movement and, while dodging, got a strong kick on the back.
The tour guide angrily yelled, “Go to hell.”
The shadow glanced at Wen Shi, eyes showing murder in them. The next moment, she jumped out of the window to escape.
It was absolutely essential to eliminate this shadow. The tour guide blew the whistle, signaling for all the tourists to come out.
Door after door opened slightly. The tour guide’s face turned cold. She pointed at Wen Shi and said, “Everyone, stay with him. If he dies, then we’ll all go down together.”
She couldn’t afford to make a mistake in this line of work.
The tour guide wanted to prevent the shadow from turning the tables. After speaking, she leaped out of the window and gave chase.
Amid the heart-wrenching howls of the mosquito landlord, Li Nan was the first to come and assess the situation. He had been in a blind spot earlier and couldn’t see clearly, but now he saw the mess on the ground and Wen Shi in a bathrobe. His expression was quite something.
Li Nan acknowledged his decent reasoning skills, but he couldn’t fathom what had occurred.
As Li Nan appeared, people started coming over one by one. Seeing Wen Shi, barefoot and wrapped in a sheet on the ground, they took a few steps back.
Someone said, “Is this the kind of deal I imagined?”
Wen Shi: “……”
You’d better know how to speak human language.
In the crowd, Qian Laiye turned his head somewhat guiltily. Was the strike that accurate?
He always felt that Wen Shi was being targeted at night, and he couldn’t shake off the association with his own words from the afternoon. Would he be next?
Wen Shi, wrapped in a sheet, moved forward, planning to return to his room and change clothes. He explained as he walked, “The tour guide has a long shadow.”
With just this sentence, it was enough for everyone to imagine a lot. When they looked at Wen Shi again, their eyes held a touch of sympathy.
The previously smooth-sailing tour guide, upon encountering Wen Shi, had hit a setback in life. It seemed she had finally chosen to give up, but this seemed to be the start of a miserable ordeal.
Qian Laiye, upon hearing this, somewhat heartlessly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t have the audacity to be the tour guide’s “original intention.” The rules wouldn’t easily find a way to target him.
In the corridor, Wen Shi walked ahead, a group of people trailing behind.
The tour guide’s final threat wasn’t just an empty phrase. If Wen Shi were to die at the hands of the shadow, she would shoulder the blame. She would undoubtedly vent her anger and do whatever it took to eliminate the tourists.
Wen Shi entered the restroom first, locked the door, and changed into regular clothes. Only then did he notice his disheveled hair, resembling a bird’s nest.
“Phew—”
What sins had he committed?
Exiting the restroom again, a group of people stood outside. Even though Wen Shi had a pretty tough mental state, facing this scene made him feel a bit embarrassed.
In the moment he lifted his eyelids, he saw the teenager standing by the dressing mirror. The other’s eyes were filled with undisguised schadenfreude. Wen Shi let out a sigh and prepared to first see if the tour guide had successfully hunted the shadow before deciding whether to tell the teenager about the true spirit’s matter.
The room appeared quite crowded. Wen Shi said, “Actually, there’s no need for so many people.”
No one paid attention to his words. The reason for gathering was that nobody knew the current condition of the tour guide’s shadow. Being alone wasn’t safe.
The cold prompt sound brought a bit of comfort.
“Congratulations on completing the special side quest—Who is the Killer.”
“Special rewards have been distributed. Please check.”
With so many people around, Wen Shi didn’t have the energy to check the rewards now. He felt dazed and confused.
His transformation still had some time left before wearing off. Subconsciously, he took out the teddy bear, and said in an inquiring tone, “If there’s nothing, I’ll go to sleep first.”
Alternating between cold and heat, he had just gone through another chase. His brain nerves were throbbing in pain at the moment.
Unlike the carefree teenager, Wen Shi had a sense of fragility about him. His cat ears drooped weakly.
“Go to sleep.” Xiao Hua unusually let her maternal instinct overflow.
Wen Shi hugged the bear and got under the covers, while everyone else silently found their own spots to sit in the room.
As night fell, occasional sounds of noses inhaling deeply could be heard.
Clutching the blanket tightly, Wen Shi furrowed his brow uncomfortably and let out a soft ‘uh’ twice.
The teenager nearest to him hesitated briefly, then reached out to touch his forehead. It wasn’t extremely hot, but the temperature wasn’t normal either.
“He’s running a fever.”
Qian Laiye woke up at the words, rubbed his eyes, and said, “I’ll go to the pharmacy.”
Nearby pharmacies were open 24 hours, but going alone wasn’t safe. His gaze shifted between Li Nan and Yu Xingzhou. Yu Xingzhou stood up and said, “Let’s go.”
The two quickly returned with the medicine, and the hot water was acquired by the girl from the mosquito landlord.
No need to call him, Wen Shi’s sense of smell hadn’t deteriorated too much. He smelled the medicine and got up by himself, holding the bowl and sipping slowly. He behaved really well.
… Like a little child.
Just as the thought arose for a split second, Yu Xingzhou shivered, forcefully dispelling that notion. He mustn’t be brainwashed like Ji Yuanzhi.
The night quickly passed.
Only a hint of dawn was breaking on the horizon when the mosquito landlord carefully assessed all the losses. Before long, the silver-haired woman covered in blood carried a body and entered the inn.
The landlord who was preparing to claim compensation hesitated and crossed out the twelve items discreetly added to the bill.
The woman carried the body up the stairs. The strong smell of blood made both players and shadows very alert.
The tour guide casually tossed the body onto the ground and coldly said, “It’s me.”
The shadows of monsters are straightforward. The tour guide’s gaze towards Wen Shi held anger, annoyance, and a hint of faint sadness. If it were a shadow, there would probably only be coldness and murderous intent, lacking such a human touch.
And the mastermind behind all this… Wen Shi, who had just woken up, weakly waved his hand, gesturing for no one to point fingers at anyone. At this moment, he hadn’t gained any benefits either.
In the tense atmosphere, Song Yan timidly spoke up, “The landlord is calling downstairs, saying it’s time for dinner.”
He stood closer to the door. The usually quiet mosquito landlord yelled today, filled with resentment.
With the shadow resolved and after staying up most of the night, everyone hurried back to freshen up. Wen Shi rubbed his temples and noticed Song Yan hadn’t left yet. His voice was slightly hoarse as he asked, “Something wrong?”
Song Yan pointed at the body on the ground. Despite his fear, he persisted, “She looks like she recently died. Should we ask the landlord to lend us a fridge to preserve the body? This instance has been harvesting organs, perhaps this body could still be useful.”
The tour guide tossed the shadow’s body into Wen Shi’s room, conveying a bit of frustration. She probably didn’t expect that someone would think of utilizing the waste.
Wen Shi looked deeply at Song Yan and said only two words: “Go ahead.”
His approval seemed important to Song Yan, who closed his eyes forcefully. Despite his extreme disgust, he still managed to drag the body away.
The room finally regained its tranquility. Wen Shi got up to pour a glass of water. Song Yan’s obsession with accumulating wealth gave him a strange sense of deja vu. Due to a swollen throat, drinking water was slightly painful for Wen Shi. He whispered, “Just like me.”
“……” Wen Shi could somewhat understand now how people around him felt when they looked at him. Ignoring others’ opinions, he focused his attention on checking yesterday’s quest rewards.
【K9999 Train Ticket*2: With this ticket, you can take the K9999 train again on your next entry into the instance, heading to the final destination—Merfolk Shore.】
Unlike the ordinary train ticket, these two tickets were quite exquisite. They were lake blue in color, with a slightly raised mermaid image on the surface that shimmered with a metallic gloss, resembling works of art.
“Merfolk Shore.” Wen Shi gazed at the words on the ticket, recalling the girl’s words that the shadow of the scarecrow hadn’t disembarked. If he rode the train to the end, he might likely encounter it there.
He put away the tickets. To reach Merfolk Shore, he had to make it out of Sunset Town alive first. It was too early to consider whether or not to visit the next instance.
•
Breakfast time.
Players and shadows sat at separate tables to eat. The tour guide negotiated prices with the landlord on the side.
After the meal, the tour guide led the group directly. It was still not even nine o’clock, an hour earlier than yesterday’s departure.
Just as they entered a narrow alley, they encountered a fight between a rabbit shop assistant and a minotaur on the opposite side. Sunset Town was a retirement sanctuary, but incidents of robbery and brawls were rampant. The town’s residents were mostly beastkin, and they had grown accustomed to such occurrences.
As Wen Shi passed by, he glanced a couple more times, reaffirming the existence of the true spirit.
Similarly mutating through a virus, the NPCs in this instance hadn’t experienced the complete collapse of Big Factory employees. Ignoring the influence of evolution, it could even be said that they had succeeded in human transformation.
The group waited at the bus stop for quite a while.
Today, they were taking Bus 104. The route had few stops, but it covered a long distance. The timetable on the sign even showed the duration from the start to the end: 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Finally on the bus, they transitioned from bustling streets to a remote scenic area. The nearly three-hour ride worsened the complexions of the already exhausted travel group. When they disembarked, everyone’s steps were sluggish.
Ticket booth.
The proprietor was enjoying fresh strips of meat when business came knocking. He opened a small window, but his smile turned rigid upon seeing the group outside.
The tourists looked spiritless, and the tour guide had dark circles under her eyes. Each person emitted an aura resembling vengeful spirits. The proprietor was taken aback by their mental state.
However, upon seeing the tourists, the corners of the proprietor’s mouth widened again. When tourists visited his establishment, there usually weren’t too many left in the group. Most of them had already been stripped clean by the tour guide and others. This time was relatively good.
The proprietor brought out a small box from the ticket booth. As he stepped out, he couldn’t wait to introduce the art gallery he ran.
“Most art galleries emphasize elegance and quietness,” the proprietor sneered at the notion, “In my House of Mirrors, everyone can have fun to their heart’s content.”
Ahead was a glass building, its smooth panels reflecting the colors of the sky, even capturing the clouds’ reflections with incredible clarity.
Wen Shi was particularly sensitive to things like mirrors now. He couldn’t help but let his gaze linger a bit longer.
The whole structure stood sharp and clear like a cardboard box. It had a balance of strength and softness. Standing beneath it, their souls were stirred, instantly awakening everyone considerably.
The proprietor beamed with pride, “House of Mirrors offers two interactive activities each day. Don’t be fooled by the limited choices. I guarantee you’ll have an unprecedented experience.”
He looked at the girl first, “You’re not wearing a tourist badge, so you can’t enter.”
The girl stood quietly in place, her serene appearance masking her contemplation of whether she should turn the proprietor into a corpse before reasoning with him.
After the teenager shook his head, the girl reluctantly suppressed her urge to kill and whispered, “This House of Mirrors seems a bit strange. I don’t feel at ease letting you go in alone.”
“Help only when necessary.” The teenager wasn’t aiming for complete self-reliance. The game had been stripping them of things, and leaning on external help might attract unwanted attention.
Just like how the tour guide randomly stopped the turtlekin at the station, leading to her later hostility towards Wen Shi, in his perspective, this might be somewhat due to the old lady intervening to help the original body deal with the chubby worms in the train.
Forcing a head-on confrontation with the game would surely lead to an unfavorable outcome. Borrowing the strength of others would likely result in receiving some backlash of karma.
The system prompt interrupted their conversation with a chime.
【Side Quest: House of Mirrors
Successfully experience two activities in the House of Mirrors to activate the main group quest for you.】
Hearing that the main quest was about to be revealed, everyone let out a silent sigh of relief. The sooner the main quest appeared, the better, considering their current injuries weren’t too severe.
The glass building had no visible windows from the outside, making it hard to find the main entrance. However, the proprietor precisely located a specific panel and gently pushed it, opening the door.
Everything in sight was mirrors. Even the floor looked the same. When you looked down, it felt like you were suspended thousands of meters up in a skyscraper. The interior was unlit, but as the proprietor lit a white candle, every mirror surface was adorned with sparkling lights, creating a beautiful sight.
“Hiss.” In such an environment, people could lose their basic sense of direction. A player accidentally bumped into a mirror.
The tour guide didn’t say much today. It was mostly the proprietor of House of Mirrors doing the talking.
“All the exhibits here are related to legends about mirrors.” There were a few hidden inner doors in the House of Mirrors. The proprietor opened two of them, and the number of mirrors in each room matched. The first room’s mirror was marked with lipstick: “Absolutely Safe.”
The second room, on the contrary, had a hastily scrawled, alarming message: “Danger! Danger! Danger!”
Three exclamation marks in a row, emphasizing the point with force.
“Today’s two interactive activities are ‘Mirror Person’ and ‘Spirit Summoning.’ What you’re currently seeing is ‘Mirror Person.'”
Subconsciously, everyone looked towards the nearest mirrored room, seeing only their own reflections. Someone mumbled, “At most, this is a reflection in the mirror.”
The proprietor smiled mysteriously, his gaze shifting around them in the candlelight. “Soon, there will be people.”
He touched the mirror with a trance-like fascination, as if caressing a lover. “Later, you can go in groups to visit. The more people in a group, the safer it is.”
Finally stepping away from the mirrors, the proprietor’s reflection revealed his sinister smile. “However, I want to emphasize one point: the more female tourists in the group, the more dangerous it becomes. If it’s all males and the group has four or more people, you can enter the Absolutely Safe Room.”
If you enjoy this novel, support the Translator ginevre on her ko-fi account :))
