Ch1 - First Entry
Very late at night, in a convenience store that was about to close.
Xiao Lan changed out of his uniform and was packing up his things. His youthful features were elegant, and there was a cold fairness to his skin. Usually, he would hurry home and race to shower and sleep because he had to wake up at 5 the next morning to start his other job.
But at that moment, he didn't know where he should go.
He had just been chased out by his landlord today because the latter wanted to increase the rent of his rotten place, which creaked all day on the verge of collapse with water dripping during the day and cold wind slipping through the cracks at night. And Xiao Lan, who had used nearly all of his income to pay off his debts, truly didn't have much money left.
Thus, after being ridiculed grandly for being poor, Xiao Lan could only pack up and leave. Right now, everything he owned was in the black backpack in his hand.
Wondering whether he should find an unoccupied house and make do for the night, Xiao Lan opened the door of the staff room.
It was pitch black outside the door.
Xiao Lan suddenly felt that something was wrong. Just now, did he... turn off the lights?
Since he hadn't left the convenience store, why would he turn off the lights? Moreover, the light switch was located opposite the staff room.
The darkness was abnormally silent; even the usual sound of the occasional car passing by had disappeared.
In one corner, a darkness thicker than the night seemed to be spreading out.
The situation was odd. Xiao Lan directly strode past the deep darkness with his long legs as he charged out of the convenience store. As a qualified employee, he didn't forget to lock the door either.
After he exited the store, he straightaway got onto his bicycle, which was so old the whole thing made noise on top of its little bell. The tall and slender youth stepped on the pedals with all his strength and used the fastest speed to leave the convenience store behind.
The clamor and exhaustion of the day was carried on the night wind in the city as it blew through his slightly curly black hair, bringing with it the smell of dust. It couldn't be considered refreshing, but it was the smell that Xiao Lan was most familiar with. Today was still the same.
Unwittingly, the wind stopped, and the strange feeling still didn't fade.
It was too quiet – quiet to the point that it was strange. There weren't any sounds of people or of air-cons running. There wasn't even the sound of the wind, or of birds and insects. It was as if the entire world was stationary right now.
From afar, the dense darkness gradually permeated everything. It swallowed up the street lamps that were already flickering feebly, and bit by bit, the street sank into a darkness which approached Xiao Lan step by step.
Seeing that things didn't look good, Xiao Lan adjusted his grip on the handlebars and rushed in the opposite direction of the darkness.
But after passing several streets, everything was just as silent. He lifted his eyes for a look, and the darkness was approaching gradually from every direction.
— He was surrounded.
The darkness blustered and corroded its way toward him. In the next second, Xiao Lan sank into a completely dark world.
.
When he opened his eyes again, there was a door in front of him.
It wasn't high quality stuff; it was the type of shoddy wooden partition doors that were usually found in public toilets. The glued-down surface veneer had peeled off, dangling as if unsure whether to fall off or not and exposing the wooden fragments underneath. On the door was even written:
【Wealthy Woman Will Pay A Lot To Try And Have A Child 136XXXXXXXX】
【Is LS a fool? This is the ladies toilet】
【Very good, you've succeeded in attracting my attention】
Someone had even written an entire song about a hero, and it dripped with vague bitterness...
Xiao Lan pinched himself; there was no reaction. He tried to push the door open; it didn't budge. Now that was unscientific — since when were public restroom doors so high quality?
Looking out through the door seam, he didn't see any traces of other people either.
Xiao Lan looked around. The light in this toilet booth was dim and flickered occasionally. Wide patches of mold covered the walls, and the floor was dusty and had also collected water; it seemed as if the toilet hadn't been used in a very long time.
However, what was even more frightening... was that Xiao Lan's backpack was missing!
It wasn't just his bag, but also the discounted, unsold bentos, his scant cash of fifteen dollars and three cents that remained, as well as his personal bike — a who-knows-how-many-hand Mr Bicycle from the last century.
Right now, he was only left with his lousy hand phone that even needed to be stuck together with scotch tape, and... his clothes and shoes that weren't even worth 100 dollars in total.
"All my belongings—" Xiao Lan couldn't help rubbing his face to see if he could rub himself awake from this nightmare.
When you thought you were already broke enough, reality could still give you a grand and cold slap in the face and tell you, "No, you can be even more broke." Who knew if appearing in this strange place was scarier, or the current threat of becoming bankrupt was more deadly.
"Ha..."
All of a sudden, there was hoarse and unpleasant laughter outside the silent cubicle, which was followed by a gloomy and icy wind which whistled past Xiao Lan's ears and made him feel extremely uneasy.
Xiao Lan abruptly raised his head. He had confirmed earlier that there clearly hadn't been anyone outside.
Suddenly, a row of words appeared unscientifically out of nowhere before Xiao Lan's eyes:
【You're so broke it makes Zhang Dong happy that there's finally someone even more broke than him in the world. As such, he has decided to give you a chance】
【Triggered a hidden side task: Freeloader】
【Task explanation: Reach out to the lucky people outside to borrow a tissue】
【Task reward: Random skill *1, Zhang Dong's gift *1】
【Tip: A hidden side task is extremely rare. The above-mentioned task cannot be abandoned. Task failure means forever never leaving the current space】
This was the pace of being trapped in the toilet to be trash forever after failing!
What a hardcore opportunity.
Xiao Lan didn't know whether he should curse or not.
After Xiao Lan tried opening the door and failed, then verified that climbing the walls didn't work either, he finally accepted his fate. Wasn't it just finding someone to borrow tissue from in a strange toilet?!
And it was even a goddamn ladies toilet...
But who was Zhang Dong ah?
.
After a while, someone finally entered the toilet, and it was quite a number of people.
They sized up the toilet: dust had accumulated everywhere, and there was mold on the walls and pools of water on the floor. Coupled with the dim, flickering light, the atmosphere felt indescribably weird.
"Um..."
A voice rang out faintly and resounded in the shabby setting, even producing an echo.
"Ah — a ghost!"
An ear-piercing scream rang out and shattered their hard-earned courage. After that, several people hastily withdrew. A man in a suit tried to persuade them for a while, but they still refused to go back in no matter what.
In the end, the ones who chose to enter and explore the toilet were just the suited man, two people who looked like gangsters, and a short-haired schoolgirl. They walked to the cubicle where they suspected the voice had come from and stood outside as the suited man prepared to ask some questions.
However, a hand stretched out from the gap under the door. "Excuse me, can I borrow a tissue?"
Four of them: "..."
They wanted to go back.
Who present hadn't heard one or two strange rumors before about the toilet? This scene of a neighbor borrowing tissue simply couldn't be any more typical, and was at the very forefront of strange rumors. Whoever lent the tissue would have bad luck — it couldn't be any more lethal.
The female student shrunk back slightly.
A gangster wearing a gold necklace at the side couldn't help pulling up their trousers, possibly afraid of peeing and humiliating themselves.
The man in the suit seemed experienced and knowledgeable, and at that very moment, didn't panic or turn pale. He pushed up his glasses and calmly said, "You're someone who was also pulled into this place, right? Your surroundings suddenly went dark and extremely quiet. Then, after you woke up, you were here."
"Yes, that's right."
It turned out that it wasn't just Xiao Lan alone who had run into this strange situation. At the moment, he didn't know if he should be happy or worried. In the end, what on earth could pull so many people into another place all at once? It felt even more troublesome than just one person encountering this mysterious situation.
"The person inside is also the same as us," the person in the suit said to the three people beside him, then seemed a little perplexed. "I don't have any tissues on me. Do any of you have any?"
The gangsters looked at each other in dismay. Real men never carried tissues with them when they wandered the streets.
"I... I do." The sole girl took out a pink packet of tissues, and at the suited man's gesture, handed it over while she trembled.
"Thanks." Xiao Lan drew back his hand, and the kitty's innocent wide eyes on the tissue stared back at him.
Instantly, the task display before his eyes turned into【Completed】.
At the same time, a skill card and an European-style, retro envelope with the word 'Luo' appeared before his eyes out of nowhere.
After Xiao Lan touched the card, it immediately disappeared, and information related to the skill appeared in his mind:
【Name: Poverty is unable to restrict my imagination (Bound)】
【Ability: 1. Imagine an ability, and it will be bestowed upon you for five minutes. The poorer you are, the greater the ability (lvl 1) 2. The player's physical qualities are boosted according to the degree of poverty (Passive)】
【Cooldown period: 24h】
【Explanation: Even if I'm broke, I can still have a dream ah! This is a broke person's ultimate obstinacy】
Xiao Lan: "..."
It was clearly a skill, but unexpectedly came with self-ridicule. As someone from a capitalist society, he felt discriminated against.
Xiao Lan pondered as he looked at the explanation of the ability. An ability... who knew whether it was an ability that could be used with a human constitution, or if it was an inhuman ability. He needed to find a chance to test it out. Moreover, the skill explanation of 'the poorer, the stronger' gave Xiao Lan a bad feeling — it couldn't be that he would be unable to rise out of poverty in this life, right...
As for the second point about the boost in physical qualities, Xiao Lan jumped twice on the spot. It seemed he could jump even higher and easier than before. There was nothing more than that; could it be that he wasn't broke enough in the eyes of the skill?
While he was thinking this, another row of words appeared:
【Current poverty index -22.2608 million. Standard for skill activation has just been attained. Please continue to persist in your efforts, and strive to create brilliance on the road to poverty】
-22.2608 million just so happened to be the sum of all of Xiao Lan's miscellaneous debts, plus his high-interest loans which had inexplicably appeared.
Did this skill hope that the creditors would one day stick him in cement and drop him into the sea? It really didn't have any humanity!!
Create brilliance, your ass!!
Xiao Lan expressionlessly shifted his attention to the envelope, and a couple of explanatory lines appeared on it:
【Name: Unopenable envelope (Bound)】
【Explanation: This is Zhang Dong's acknowledgement of you since you're poorer than him, but this envelope simply looks like a randomly picked supermarket unsaleable item】
The dazzling 'supermarket unsaleable item' was filled with a sense of existence.
Xiao Lan: "..."
He took a deep breath and curbed the urge to flush it down the toilet.
Shutting me up in the ladies toilet for such a long time just to give me such a shoddy plaything; Brother Zhang, aren't you a little too miserly?!!!!
Xiao Lang randomly stuffed the envelope into his pocket, and while he was subjected to the complicated gazes of the masses that could be saying 'You actually have the mood to use the toilet', or 'Momma, there's a pervert hiding in the ladies toilet here', he pushed open the door and calmly exited the cubicle, and washed his hands in passing to demonstrate his innocence.
After that, he followed the suited man's lead, and they left together with the other three people to meet up with the others.
.
Everyone gathered together: The suited man, a gangster with a gold chain necklace, a gangster with a sleeve tattoo, three schoolgirls, a pair of sweethearts, a middle-aged woman, and a stout and bald middle-aged man.
Including Xiao Lan, there were 11 of them.
They were prepared to discuss the situation, but before they could open their mouths, the extremely rusty-looking roll-up door behind them let out a teeth-aching, metallic screech as it opened bit by bit.
A musty smell assaulted their senses.
Everyone couldn't help turning to look.
Behind the roll-up door was a supermarket that was just as shabby as the toilet earlier. It wasn't too big, the lights were dim, the floor was covered in stains, and the shelves were in a terrible mess; there were even dubious, dark hand prints and traces of finger streaks on the walls.
"Welcome to Terminal Supermarket, lucky ones!" A gentle and pleasant sounding female voice rang out.
A woman wearing a shop assistant uniform suddenly appeared before their eyes. Xiao Lan could confirm that there hadn't been the shadow of a person at all when he was sizing up the supermarket, so where did this woman come from?
Her smile was sweet but stiff, and she spoke to them in an enthusiastic tone. "Next, you will participate in the supermarket activity.
"Every hour, please gather at the checkout counter and select one product with the boss as witness.
"If the selected product does not conform to specifications or time runs out, you will be punished.
"Wishing you a pleasant game!"
The female shop assistant bowed to everyone, and was about to leave.
"Wait a second!" The bald middle-aged man promptly blocked her way. "What on earth are all of you doing? Recording a program or carrying out a prank? I was discussing millions on the phone, and I really have no interest in playing with you."
The female shop assistant was still smiling stiffly. "This is the Advent World, and all of you are the chosen lucky ones."
"What the hell, laozi wants to leave now!" The gangster with the gold chain necklace was fairly twitchy. He looked fierce, but in reality, he was scared of the supernatural the most. Currently, his nerves had already been stretched to the very limit, and he directly stepped forward to grab the shop assistant's wrist.
The female shop assistant repeated, "All of you are lucky..."
The gold chain gangster roughly cut her off as he yelled, "Bullshit! I'm warning you, don't play around with laozi!"
The female shop assistant still had that strange, stiff smile on her face. From the moment she appeared, there hadn't been the slightest change in it. Xiao Lan felt that something was wrong with the situation, and he immediately spoke up to stop the gold chain man. "Calm down —"
Before he could finish speaking, the gold chain man slapped the female shop assistant and directly sent her flying. With a muffled thud, she hit her head hard against a wall.
Her body slowly slid down the wall, leaving behind a streak of red blood in her wake. She lay unmoving, and her chest didn't move either; she was like a dropped, broken puppet.
"I... I didn't use that much strength ah," said the gold chain man in disbelief as he looked at his hand.
Everyone sank into silence. The game that suddenly appeared and this strange woman was already very hard for them to take in. The woman was now dead — was there still a way for them to leave?
"She... she moved." The short-haired schoolgirl pointed at the female shop assistant on the floor, whose condition was unclear.
Then, they saw her entire body jerk. Her head still drooped, yet her body sat up from where she had been lying on her side, and her limbs moved in a bizarre way over the floor as she headed toward the gold chain man...
Seeing that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, the gold chain man turned and ran. However, the female shop assistant sped up and directly pounced on him, trapping him firmly with her limbs.
Then, what happened next made everyone's scalps turn numb — the two of them actually fused!
It was like chocolate slowly melting into a puddle at a high temperature. After that, a human figure gradually crawled out — wearing a shop assistant's uniform, her smile sweet but stiff.
It was the female shop assistant!
_________________________________
The author has something to say
In a fit of anger, Xiao Lan flushed the envelope down the toilet.
Luo: ...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ch2 - Luo
In front of everyone's alarmed gazes, the female shop assistant said:
"Wishing... you... a pleasant... ga...me." Her voice was indistinct, sometimes masculine, sometimes feminine, as if she was digesting the part which belonged to the gold chain gangster.
The female shop assistant started to walk away again with disjointed movements and a grotesque posture. This time, no one dared stop her.
After that, with a 'ding dong', a hoarse, male voice rang out. "I hate people who waste money."
At the same time, a gigantic countdown appeared on the wall — 00:59:59.
What was this situation? Most of the people present exchanged glances. They had been terribly frightened earlier, and now they were faced with this inexplicable game. Everyone couldn't help bursting into discussion.
"What game is this? How scary..."
"What should we do? Select goods? How do we choose?"
"The punishment shouldn't — shouldn't be like just now ba..."
Seeing this, the suited man let out a timely cough, drawing everyone's attention.
"Long story short," the suited man said in a clear voice, "this is a place called the Advent World. Every person who enters becomes a random participant in a game. This is a game of life or death, and what we have to do is survive. That shop assistant just now was the NPC who announced the task. As for the sentence that came after the beep, it's a tip to clearing the instance.
"It's best not to attack an NPC. As for the outcome, all of you have seen it." He gestured in the direction in which the female shop assistant had disappeared.
"Why did we end up here?" the bald middle-aged man asked impatiently.
The suited man pushed up his glasses. "I don't know. The Advent World chooses people randomly. No matter who or where you are, there's always the possibility of being chosen. The NPCs of the Advent World call us lucky ones, but we generally call ourselves — poor sods."
"Then, the way out..." Someone else spoke up.
"Supposedly, you might find a way out if you become a high-level player, but no one knows if those big shots are dead or if they really left."
"How do you know this?" someone in the crowd asked.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Lin Yan, a veteran player. It seems that I'm the most experienced person present. If all of you cooperate, I can help you up to a certain point, and even lead you in clearing this smoothly," said the suited man, Lin Yan, as he surveyed everyone.
His attitude was steady and his tone mild, and he appeared friendly and extremely reliable.
"Then Lin ge, I'll follow you." The gangster with the sleeve tattoo immediately made his attitude clear.
"Me too."
"I'll be relying on Lin ge."
"If you need anything, just let me know, Lin ge."
Everyone agreed one after another.
Appearing very satisfied with this situation, Lin Yan nodded at them with a faint smile. "Everyone has to be united to clear this more safely."
He then looked at Xiao Lan, his smile gentle. "You received a hidden task just now, right? I don't know what kind of reward it is. Take it out and show it to everyone; it might contain some clues."
Everyone's gazes fell on Xiao Lan.
In front of everyone, as long as Xiao Lan didn't want to provoke their anger, he couldn't not take out what he had obtained.
Xiao Lan lightly sized Lin Yan up. He encountered all sorts of people in his life as a frequent part-time worker, and could be considered to have seen countless types. This person might seem polite, but he gave off a pretentious and haughty air.
His behavior of having someone else hand over the tissue before prior contact, and his method of deliberately waiting for someone to die before revealing his identity to win people's hearts — this was the familiar scent of a natural scheming green tea bitch.
In any case, Xiao Lan couldn't take out his skill, so he decided to conceal it.
As for the envelope, he couldn't make out anything from it either. The only thing that could count as a clue was the name, so he might as well throw it out and see what the veteran player thought.
"It's an envelope. Someone said that because I was poorer than him, he would give me a side plot." Xiao Lan said with an unperturbed face as he casually held out the envelope to Lin Yan.
Lin Yan reached out to take it, but discovered that he couldn't touch it.
He frowned and carefully studied the explanation of the item before his expression relaxed and he said, "So it turns out it's a bounded object. You really are unlucky, triggering a hidden task to only obtain a regular item.
"It appears that this envelope's greatest use is the hint to the boss's identity. We can start with this name, 'Zhang Dong'. What a pity there's nothing written on this envelope."
Xiao Lan raised an eyebrow. Lin Yan couldn't see the handwriting on it?
Or was he ignoring 'Luo', this meaningless piece of information that one couldn't make heads or tails of?
Smiling, Lin Yan asked again, "Is there anything else? The hidden task can't have been that simple."
There was no smile in the eyes behind those glasses. He stared unblinkingly at Xiao Lan, examining and sizing him up.
"There's nothing at all. The task explanation just said Zhang Dong's gift, but this gift looks too miserly," Xiao Lan said without a change in expression as he casually spread his arms to show that there was nothing else on him.
His many years of acting shamelessly at debt-collecting companies had made Xiao Lan a skilled actor.
Lin Yan took Xiao Lan's measure again for a moment, before dropping the subject for the time being after confirming that there truly was nothing on him that he could hide.
"Since we have a name now, I suggest everyone split up first and search for clues to do with the name Zhang Dong. We'll then gather here ten minutes before the deadline to share information," Lin Yan said to everyone.
They nodded and dispersed in various directions.
.
As Xiao Lan moved, he pondered the game's hint: "I hate people who waste money".
If this "I" was Zhang Dong, then factoring in the hidden side plot's task tip, he was probably a very poor and stingy person, though he wasn't as poor as Xiao Lan himself...
It was highly possible that Zhang Dong was a supermarket employee, and one with a low wage. If he could access the supermarket's poor-selling envelopes, then his work scope had to also intersect with the warehouse. Xiao Lan decided to first head in the direction of the warehouse and look for clues there.
On the way, Xiao Lan noticed that the supermarket's goods looked very strange.
Not only did they look just as shabby as the supermarket, the details on some of them also weren't very nice. There were also some packaging boxes with twisted and damaged human bodies drawn on them, which made one feel very queasy.
For example, the frozen fresh meat. The color and texture wasn't fresh at all. The skin on a chunk of meat even had a tattoo; not an inspection stamp, but a genuine tattoo design. No one would be so bored to tattoo a pig in a slaughterhouse, right? In that case, that was...
Moreover, Xiao Lan had never heard of the brand names here. There also weren't any price tags, and there was no way at all to directly confirm their prices. Perhaps the goods selection later wouldn't be easy.
In the dim, flickering light, there was the flash of a cold gaze in the shadows of the supermarket shelves.
Xiao Lan seemed to sense something. He looked down, but didn't notice anything at all. Crouching down to do a careful inspection at a short distance, he finally saw a hand print in the dust under the shelf.
Something had crawled past here and had been creeping around in the dark — perhaps that thing had been watching him since the beginning.
Frowning, Xiao Lan immediately stood up and left the shelves with quick steps. He didn't want to get to the bottom of that matter at all. No matter how strong he was, he should first escape to live a long life.
He found the warehouse, and it was no surprise that the door was locked.
It was now 40 minutes before the selection time mentioned by the NPC. In a situation where he wasn't certain if he would trigger a punishment if he picked the lock, Xiao Lan decided to keep his head down first, and headed to the office to look for a key.
The handling of a supermarket key generally followed the principle of 'The person in charge is the person who takes responsibility', so Xiao Lan should get lucky in the warehouse manager's office. At the same time, he could also check for information on the staff and see what sort of person Zhang Dong was.
"Hello." Lin Yan's voice suddenly rang out behind Xiao Lan. He was still wearing that warm smile, like a reliable older brother.
"Lin ge, did you need something?" Xiao Lan turned around to meet his gaze and smiled as he began acting.
"Hehe." Lin Yan smiled and spoke in a sincere tone. "As a veteran player, I just wanted to suggest something. When it comes to choosing goods later, you can start with the special offers section. This is the most dependable method. After all, you're the one I'm most optimistic about among the newbies."
【It's better not to trust him, master】
A few words appeared behind Lin Yan, attracting Xiao Lan's attention.
The handwriting was graceful, clear and strong. Most importantly, it was identical to the one on the envelope.
Lin Yan noticed Xiao Lan's gaze, and turned around to look behind him, puzzled — nothing. He refrained from frowning, and his gaze swept over the area behind him again; still nothing.
Seeing Lin Yan's actions, Xiao Lan withdrew his gaze and looked at him gratefully. "Thank you, Lin ge. I'll consider it when the time comes."
Considering didn't necessarily mean he would do it.
In the eyes of pauper Xiao Lan — a former supermarket employee as well as a special offers enthusiast, who was unable to squander even the slightest bit of money — the special offers section was a place filled with traps, and often had regular priced items mixed into the lot.
Lin Yan probably had another purpose for his suggestion.
Lin Yan patted Xiao Lan's shoulder encouragingly. "Do your best. With your luck, you'll definitely be able to live to the end."
Xiao Lan smiled and acted along, staging a play of the harmonious interaction between a promising newcomer and a friendly senior, then watched Lin Yan walk off into the distance.
.
After confirming that there was no one around, Xiao Lan took out the envelope and said quietly, "Were those words just now from you?"
The original handwriting on the envelope disappeared, and new writing slowly emerged.
【Yes. I can perceive the activity in a particular range around you. He's currently planning to use people to test the preconditions for death】
Xiao Lan didn't panic. "Thank you for your warning."
【To be able to serve you is my honor】
"Who are you?" Xiao Lan became curious.
【My name is Luo. I'm sealed inside this envelope, and you're the envelope's owner, my master】
Who would have thought that this envelope which looked like a supermarket's poor-selling product actually had an inhabitant. Xiao Lan was glad that he didn't chuck the envelope into the toilet.
However, it was still a little hard for him to accept it. "This..."
【If you don't need me, my existence will have no meaning at all】
【If that is the case, you can get rid of this envelope】
Pauper Xiao Lan, who hadn't seen all of the world, had never encountered such a situation before. "...Calm down."
Is your Advent World so devoid of human rights?!
Even though this one didn't seem very human...
【My only worth is to stay by your side】
Xiao Lan felt a little in over his head.
The current situation was: accept this fellow of unknown origin, or he would have to put 'it' to death. In any case, it was an intelligent species, so Xiao Lan couldn't do anything to it.
Xiao Lan gathered his thoughts. "You... Can you explain, what on earth are you, exactly?"
After a brief pause, the words slowly appeared:
【Many apologies, I am incapable of answering that question because my memory is incomplete】
【My world is just pitch black and nothingness. You are the only light in my life. Even if you abandon me and I return to nothingness in the next second, I'll still feel happy because you once looked at me】
Xiao Lan felt like he was going to lose it. "..."
This guy was even selling a great tragedy.
But Xiao Lan had to admit that this routine, though old, was effective.
Xiao Lan sighed. "Fine... We'll operate together ba, but don't call me master anymore; that makes it sound like I have some sort of special hobby."
【Thank you for your benevolence, sir】
【I offer you my loyalty】
Xiao Lan scratched his head, but didn't feel happy about obtaining the help of a mysterious existence.
The reason Luo appeared in front of Xiao Lan was just his one-sided story. They were only connected by a small envelope. Moreover, Xiao Lan was completely ignorant of the world Luo spoke of, and he wouldn't delude himself into thinking that such a frail connection could bind a loyal servant to him.
Xiao Lan understood very well that meat pies didn't fall from the sky.
However, Luo didn't exhibit any malice for now, at least; furthermore, he seemed to be in the same boat as Xiao Lan. After all, if Xiao Lan died, as his item, Luo wouldn't necessarily be safe either.
In this strange world, it wasn't bad to have an unexpected comrade.
"Then, can you come out so that we can meet, future partner?"
After Xiao Lan said that, no new words appeared on the envelope.
However, a black shadow bubbled out of the wax seal and slowly floated upwards, and there was no sense of weight. Xiao Lan stretched out one hand, and the black shadow bent slightly towards him, as if in salute, before reaching out to gently wrap itself around his hand, though Xiao Lan didn't feel anything at all.
Like an utter shadow.
Looking at the black shadow before his eyes, Xiao Lan smiled in greeting.
"Hello, Luo."
【Hello, sir】
The black shadow wrote in the air.
There were now 25 minutes left until the first selection.
_________________________________
The author has something to say
Xiao Lan: Do you know how to sing twinkle twinkle little star?
Luo: ...No
Xiao Lan: Then do you know how to cook?
Luo: ...No
Xiao Lan: Then what's the use of having you?!
Luo: A sexy shadow to chat with you online for a while?
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Ch3 - The First Selection
It was some time before Xiao Lan found the office.
From the traces left behind, it seemed that the door had been violently broken down a very long time ago; the damage on the door was covered in dust. The office was also a bit of a mess: chairs had been overturned and the things on the table had been swept roughly to the floor. A large hole had even been smashed in the computer, as if it had been a deliberate target.
It looked like an angry person had rushed in and vandalized the place as if to vent, and time in the supermarket seemed to have stopped not long after that.
After all, if a vandalized supermarket still continued to operate after that, it didn't make sense not to tidy up the manager's office.
The spot on the wall to hang keys was completely empty; who knew whether they were somewhere in the mess on the floor.
The things on the floor were in too much of a jumble. Xiao Lan meticulously rummaged through them for a while, but didn't find anything.
【What are you looking for?】
Xiao Lan answered as he rummaged around, "Keys or something related to Zhang Dong."
【Please allow me to serve you】
Xiao Lan: "You?"
【Please wait a moment】
The shadow in the envelope spread outwards to cover a radius of two meters around Xiao Lan as it searched the office. After a moment, there were a few black marks on the floor.
【There are no keys in the office, but there are a few scraps of paper with information related to Zhang Dong】
Xiao Lan was astonished. The speed of this search could practically be called a portable detector. If Luo's search range was a little larger, Xiao Lan could simply win without needing to lift a finger. Could it be that this guy was sealed because he was a cheat?
Xiao Lan spent some time piecing together the paper scraps, and realized that it was a disciplinary notice:
Due to frequently sleeping during work hours, leaving his post, insulting customers, destroying goods, violating supermarket regulations, and severely harming the supermarket's image, warehouse employee Zhang Dong is hereby dismissed and the relevant compensation fee is deducted from his pay.
We hope that all colleagues will take this as a warning to strictly abide by supermarket regulations and adhere to good professional ethics and work behavior.
Notice is hereby given!
XX Supermarket
XXyear XXmonth XXday
Xiao Lan waved the notice that he had stuck together with adhesive tape, and laughed lightly. "It seems that big brother Zhang Dong isn't just a terrible miser; his conduct is also indescribable ah."
【He's also very stingy when sending gifts, and ended up choosing the least valuable-looking envelope】
Xiao Lan: "...Probably to match my unique personality ba."
【Your poverty leaves a very deep impression on people】
Looking at the graceful handwriting which appeared on the wall, the veins on Xiao Lan's forehead twitched. "...I'll just pretend that you're praising me."
Calculating the time, the players should be gathering soon. Xiao Lan went out and walked towards the checkout counter.
.
When Xiao Lan arrived at the checkout counter, many of the players had already gathered and were waiting nervously.
Lin Yan opened his mouth to break the silence. "There isn't much time left; everyone should first share the information they found."
At the same time, he took out a staff log sheet. Zhang Dong's name was written on it and there were many blanks; it seemed that this person was usually late to arrive and early to leave.
Xiao Lan immediately took out the disciplinary notice, with no plans to hide it.
He knew very well that his opponents in this game weren't the players. Despite the fact that Lin Yan had other intentions, the exchange of information was essential.
Xiao Lan said, "I found this disciplinary notice in the warehouse manager's office; Zhang Dong's work scope should be the warehouse."
Lin Yan took it for a look, then asked, "Did you find the key?"
Xiao Lan shook his head. "I ransacked the manager's office. Nothing."
Lin Yan nodded, then turned his head to say to the people around them, "Does anyone else have clues?"
Everyone silently shook their heads.
"It looks like this is the only clue we have for the first selection round," Lin Yan muttered to himself. "Zhang Dong was someone with a low position, who wasn't committed to his work, and who was even punished for it."
"He hates people who waste money; does that mean we should find the cheapest stuff?" the middle-aged woman asked.
Lin Yan: "Not necessarily. It's also possible it might be something that he deems a necessity. For example, drugs are a must for drug addicts, while drunkards will spend large amounts of money on alcohol. This isn't a waste of money to them at all."
"Then... what should we do?" someone asked.
Lin Yan replied, "We'll do this ba: let's start with low-priced daily necessities, or try to choose something the boss might like."
After saying that, he even secretly gave Xiao Lan and a long-haired schoolgirl a meaningful look. The girl gave him a slight nod.
Xiao Lan frowned slightly. How many people did he find to test the waters?
"Welcome! Welcome, everyone!!! My — Terminal Supermarket!"
A hoarse voice rang out, attracting the players' attention.
At some point, a person wearing a supermarket uniform had appeared In front of the only checkout counter in the place. His skin was grey and his eyes were cloudy like a corpse's. He danced and gestured frenziedly at the players. His movements seemed strangely uncoordinated, and there was an exaggerated smile on his stiff face.
He took off his hat and bowed to the players, revealing that the back of his head was completely smashed in.
Seeing this, the complexions of some of the players changed, and they couldn't help taking a step back to hide in the crowd.
Seeing the players' reactions, Zhang Dong was even more delighted, and he raised his voice slightly. "All of you must have been looking forward to this for a long time, right? Now, let us start a pleasant game —
"— And we'll start with you."
He pointed a grey finger at the bald, middle-aged man who had previously blocked the shop assistant's way.
The middle-aged man turned deathly pale and his sweat flowed like a waterfall. He turned and ran up the escalator, yelling, "I won't choose! I won't choose!!"
Once again, the female shop assistant appeared without anyone noticing her. Standing at the bottom of the escalator, her smile remained unchanged. "Please choose one item and hand it to the cashier."
"I won't —" The middle-aged man ran upward in a panic, but the escalator suddenly started to go backwards, and he still remained in the same spot despite running for a long time.
He tried to speed up so that he was faster than the escalator, but the escalator also sped up along with him.
"Please choose one item and hand it to the cashier."
"Huff... huff... That person is a demon! A demon! Mortal me won't go!" The middle-aged man was still gasping as he did his best to run, but the gap didn't widen at all.
"Please choose one item and hand it to the cashier."
Seeing that he still had no intention of turning back after the third reminder, the female shop assistant's sweet smile grew wider, the corners of her lips stretching up to her ears. "Foul —"
As soon as she said the word, the escalator suddenly split down the middle.
The middle-aged man was caught off guard, and was directly drawn into the escalator. "Save me! Save me —"
The escalator gobbled him up extremely quickly. The middle-aged man barely had time to struggle, when it already reached his waist. His bones crunched as they were squeezed together, and bright red blood flowed down both sides of the escalator to the sound of his screams, creating a red lake in front of everyone.
The players watched this with deathly pale complexions; the three schoolgirls covered their mouths to stop themselves from screaming, and the adults had ugly expressions as well. They were silent, and no one made a sound.
"Hahahaha..."
Zhang Dong's loud, hoarse and ugly laughter broke the silence that hung over the players. He rocked back and forth with his laughter, his cloudy eyes moving between the players' faces as he pondered their reactions, as if enjoying the fear of his prey.
"Come, come, come, come before me. Let me have a proper look and see whether you've been wasting money.
"This time — you come." He pointed at Xiao Lan.
Xiao Lan walked out of the crowd under everyone's alarmed and uneasy gazes, and went to the commodities section.
He looked through a pile of strange goods.
In the end, he stood before a cart. There were black eggs in it, and several chickens that had been dead for a long time hung from red strings above. Ravaged by time, their bodies were shriveled, their eye sockets were empty, and their open, withered mouths were pointed up at the ceiling.
There was no price tag, and the eggs were a strange colour.
But from the display around the eggs and how it was positioned, Xiao Lan determined that this should be a product on special offer, the kind of 'lose profits' offer advertised on posters. After all, few people would go to the supermarket just to buy eggs. This way, not only would it make the customers feel that the supermarket's products were cheap, it would also drive the sales of other products.
Xiao Lan, who often rushed to be first in line during a special offers campaign, knew this like the back of his hand — this was the wisdom of the poor.
He picked up an egg and returned to the checkout counter.
Zhang Dong stared at him, no emotion visible in his cloudy eyes. "You're choosing this one? Seeing your poverty makes me happy, so I can give you another chance."
The expressions of the players who were watching changed, and they nervously whispered to each other quietly.
"Is it no good?"
"This black color looks very ominous..."
"Have you seen everything else? How much more auspicious do you think they can be?"
Xiao Lan was unmoved. "This one."
Zhang Dong picked up the black egg with an eerie smile, but didn't say a word.
The atmosphere turned heavier at his silence. The players' nerves were stretched thin by the cruel deaths that had happened one after another. They looked at Xiao Lan with some sympathy, and some had already turned their heads away.
After a moment, Zhang Dong let out a hoarse laugh.
"You pass... Don't disappoint me later."
Everyone let out sighs of relief. Only Lin Yan gave Xiao Lan an indecipherable look.
【Congratulations】
Relying on the fact that no one else could see it, Mr Luo directly wrote the word on Zhang Dong's face, and even drew a heart.
The image was a little amusing, and Xiao Lan nearly couldn't restrain himself.
If he laughed in the boss's face, big brother Zhang Dong might slap Xiao Lan back to reality. Xiao Lan had to stick his hand in his pocket to lightly flick the envelope before Mr Luo withdrew the writing.
The next person chosen was the middle-aged woman.
With a pale expression, she cringed and hugged herself as she walked round and round the supermarket. In the end, she chose a carton of milk.
The carton was a strange, dark red colour, and there were several strange-looking eyes drawn on it. It gave off an ominous air.
However, the printing on the packaging was haphazard, and the quality so-so. At one touch, a person could tell that this was the cheapest type of milk one could find in a supermarket — don't underestimate a middle-aged woman's eye for identifying low-priced products.
Zhang Dong took the milk and curled his lip in dissatisfaction. "Pass."
After that, everyone basically mostly selected daily necessities. No matter how strange the packaging was, they were ultimately things that they were most familiar with, and the prices were also the easiest to guess.
However, Zhang Dong's expression became increasingly gloomy. How could these annoying lucky ones clear his checkpoint so easily? He wouldn't allow it.
Until, a long-haired schoolgirl, who was the last to come forward, chose alcohol which was splendidly packaged in a beautiful bottle; there was even an exquisite wooden box. The carved monsters on the box were extremely vivid, as if they could leap out the next moment and choose someone to devour.
She gave Lin Yan a cautious look. Lin Yan nodded at her, and the schoolgirl walked over with a pale expression.
The moment he saw the wine bottle, Xiao Lan's heart leapt. This thing looked nowhere near the range of a low-priced product, let alone something that, going by Zhang Dong's 'I hate people who waste money', might either refer to a general sense of not wasting money, or something that wasn't a waste of money in Zhang Dong's eyes.
If it was the former, this girl was screwed. Even if it was the latter, under what circumstances would a stingy and poor middle-aged uncle find it reasonable to buy top quality wine? Lin Yan was using this girl's life to test the terms for selection!
"Hahahaha..." Hoarse laughter rang out.
Under the long-haired girl's nervous gaze, Zhang Dong started capering joyfully once more, an excited and malevolent smile on his face. "A bad child who wastes money!"
He raised a strong hand.
"Ah —"
An invisible hand seemed to grab the schoolgirl by the ankle, and she was yanked directly to the floor. She was dragged all the way forward and couldn't break away no matter how hard she struggled. Her fingernails screeched over the floor futilely, and she was completely unable to slow down.
"Bang —"
The schoolgirl's entire body was crammed into the narrow gap under the freezer, and the crunching sound of breaking bones rang out nonstop.
After a while, everything was as serene as ever, and that gap was peaceful and still there.
The players stared at the gap in absolute silence. The price for choosing wrongly was too heavy. At that moment, no one could relax. The remaining two schoolgirls huddled together and let out muffled sobs.
Xiao Lan glanced lightly at Lin Yan and saw that there was no sorrow on his face; instead, there was a faint smile on his lips, as if he was pondering something. His eyes behind his glasses were dark and indecipherable.
At some point, Zhang Dong and the female shop assistant had disappeared, only leaving behind a restarted countdown — 00:59:59.