Coffin Bearers? Automatic Version

Everyone got out of the vehicle, and Xu Kai finally heard the pleasant voice.

[Role-Playing Mission completed. Task to transport and injure the players completed. Reward: Weird Energy quality increased by ten percent.]

The moment the task was completed, Xu Kai felt lighter, and his wounds hurt less. He walked straight away. He even wanted to sprint. As long as he escaped the Killing Zone, he could ignore everything, lie low until the players died or the instance was cleared, and coast to victory.

However, just as he was thinking this, something unexpected happened.

Everyone had just gotten out and untied the coffin, ready to carry it into the crematorium, when the coffin moved on its own.

Xu Kai stood right in front of it, watching as Weird Energy suddenly appeared inside. A hand pushed open the lid, and the person inside shouted,

"No need for you to do it, I'll do it myself! Hahaha..."

Seeing this, Xu Kai understood. There was no corpse in the coffin at all. It was an "evil," one the Stone Statue Weird had carefully planted, waiting to give them a surprise when everyone let their guard down!

He hadn't expected the Stone Statue Weird's backup plan to be hidden here.

This "evil" had a slightly square head, and his mouth held a look of smug malice and a readiness to face death. As soon as the square-headed evil finished speaking, he was erased by the game for violating his Role-Playing Mission and turned to ash.

"Damn... the corpse came to life and turned to ash. What do we do?!"

Yellow Hair still hadn't processed what he had just seen, and hurriedly asked the short-haired woman. Her knife hand trembled. Her talent advised her to flee, get away from here and find another corpse that met the requirements.

"Run!"

As soon as she said it, she darted three or four meters away, but before she could get far from the Funeral Car, an invisible wall blocked her path. The other players met the same obstacle. They charged at it, hoping to glitch their way through, but to no avail.

Thud, thud, thud.

Heavy footsteps sounded. Under the crematorium's dim lights, a towering figure stood in the doorway, his shadow covering the entire area.

That deep voice and ashen-gray skin could only belong to the Stone Statue Weird.

"You're here. Why would I let you leave? How unfortunate, you broke the rules. Accept your deaths. Perhaps the great Game Lord will even bring you back to life again."

With that, the Stone Statue Weird stretched out a hand. Ink-black Weird Energy crawled forth and shot toward the players and Xu Kai.

The short-haired woman had dodged a moment early, but it grazed her left hand. Her entire hand petrified and was crushed to powder by the immense pressure of the Weird Energy. She made no sound, only watching warily for the Stone Statue Weird's next move.

Yellow Hair didn't have time to react. He looked at the Funeral Car and activated his talent, borrowing a door from the vehicle to shield his chest. But the Weird Energy pierced his heart in an instant. After he petrified, it crushed him to powder as well.

JK was tall and slender. Despite being a newbie, he managed to dodge the Weird Energy. Even when the remnants grazed him, he acted as if nothing had happened, making the Stone Statue Weird's expression tighten.

As for Xu Kai, his Role-Playing Mission was complete, so he gave it his all, releasing Weird Energy from his body and using it to pull himself aside in a desperate dodge.

For all the terror of that attack, Yellow Hair was the only one who died.

"Good, good, good. You actually made me attack a second time. You should be proud!"

The Stone Statue Weird was furious. The game's mechanics were clear: as the instance boss, he would always be stronger than the players matched against him. He was an invincible existence in the instance.

Yet these insects, these materials, refused to die obediently and made him waste his effort. How could he not be furious?

He moved, so fast he left an afterimage. This was the speed of a Low-Tier Weird: too fast to see, so fast that pain was the first thing a human felt. The short-haired woman stood in front, and he caught her first, instantly petrifying and crushing her to death. Yet to Xu Kai, the whole sequence played out in just three frames. It took his brain a moment to register that the Stone Statue Weird had already killed someone.

The Stone Statue Weird then charged at Xu Kai rather than JK. Xu Kai felt as though he had been hit by a truck and was sent flying. Terrifying Weird Energy engulfed him, instantly petrifying him and reducing him to fragments. He didn't even have time to use his flame or high-altitude talents.

Before he died, he saw the Stone Statue Weird attack JK. JK's talent was powerful, making him almost immune to the Stone Statue Weird's petrification, but the Stone Statue Weird still caught him and tore him apart.

Everyone died once again.

On the fifty-seventh rollback, Xu Kai sat in the vehicle, with the crematorium already visible ahead.

He paused for a while and finally understood. Running away had never been a good choice, especially in an instance like this. There was no escaping.

The idea of leaving the players and lying low in a safe zone until the instance was cleared was pure wishful thinking.

Last time, the Stone Statue Weird had given him two tasks, but in this instance he had only given him one. He was even less likely to let Xu Kai escape.

If they wanted to survive and avoid a dead save, they had to stand united. Only then could they escape this fatal situation!

"Stop the car."

Xu Kai sat in the back seat, his voice leaving no room for argument.

JK stopped and turned around, about to ask Xu Kai what was wrong, but Xu Kai picked up the toolbox from the pickup, got out, and walked to the back.

The vehicle had stopped at just the right spot, without entering the crematorium's territory. The "evil" inside had yet to awaken.

Xu Kai did his best to sense what was inside, but the Weird Energy he sent out vanished as though it had fallen into an abyss, telling him nothing.

Never mind that. He took a long nail and a hammer from the toolbox, aimed at the coffin, and struck with all his Weird Energy. The nail shot through like a bullet, hit the surface of the pickup beneath the coffin, and brought out a gush of blood.

"Master Xu, what are you doing?!"

The coffin was at stake, and the players all panicked. But something was even more anxious than they were. The person inside the coffin sprang straight out, a deep, gaping hole in his body—the square-headed "evil" had caused it by forcing himself up past the nail.

The players stared at the sight. How had the coffin opened by itself? Was the person inside actually alive?

Only Xu Kai sighed inwardly. This wasn't the "evil's" weak point.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the area became a Killing Zone, just as before, and the Stone Statue Weird appeared again.

"Hahahaha..."

Amid his roaring laughter, everyone was reduced to fragments along with the vehicle.

On the fifty-eighth rollback, Xu Kai stared at the coffin, picked another spot, and drove in the nail again! Then he pressed the coffin down firmly, preparing to drive in a second nail. But the "evil" wasn't the only thing inside; there was also a mechanism to push the coffin open. Xu Kai tried to hammer in another nail, but the "evil" sprang out again. Then came the sound of roaring laughter, and Xu Kai died once more...

The fifty-ninth rollback, the sixtieth...

The seventieth rollback.

"Fuck you, just hit already!"

Xu Kai had ruled out a great many spots. When he drove the nail in this final time, the coffin instantly fell silent. The square-headed "evil" had been nailed to death before he even realized it.

"If you want to be a corpse, then be a corpse. Why come back to life?"

Xu Kai was very pleased with that strike. He drove in a few more nails, not only keeping the corpse pinned down but also destroying the other mechanisms in the coffin.

"Master Xu, what are you doing? You're acting like the corpse is going to come back to life. You're being a little paranoid. This is our ancestor. Don't disrespect him!"

The short-haired woman held her knife and couldn't help complaining as she watched Xu Kai's strange actions.

Of course, what she really meant by the second part was to warn Xu Kai not to touch the coffin. She was afraid he would tamper with it and keep them from completing their task.

"Miss, I believe in science too. I was worried the coffin lid might come loose and our ancestor might fall out later. That wouldn't look good."

"Hmph. It had better be."

The short-haired woman put away her knife and got back in the vehicle as if nothing had happened. JK did the same. Once Xu Kai got in, the Funeral Car continued on its way and arrived at the crematorium.

[Role-Playing Mission completed. Task to transport and injure the players completed. Reward: Weird Energy quality increased by ten percent.]

The reward announcement sounded again, but Xu Kai remained perfectly calm.

Everything was peaceful. Xu Kai even pointed the players in the right direction, telling them the coffin had to go through a designated passage.

As before, while passing through the passage, Xu Kai encountered an ordinary person writing and drawing off to the side.

"Are you the new master of ceremonies?"

"What do you mean, new? Master Xu, you're so young, and your memory is already this bad? It's always been me."

"Oh, right..."

Xu Kai played along, understanding that the previous master of ceremonies had been "refreshed" when the instance began.

The players set down the coffin, and the master of ceremonies spoke.

"To the three family members: please set up the Funeral Hall according to custom in a little while. The relatives must keep vigil until after eating Tofu Rice tomorrow morning. Thank you all for your effort. If you get hungry, there's Tofu Rice available, but you'll have to light the stove and heat it yourselves."

"Then, tomorrow morning, once the farewell ceremony is over, we'll send the deceased off with fire. You needn't worry too much tonight. There are guest rooms near the crematorium, and as long as one person keeps vigil and the Eternal Lamp stays lit, that will do. The three of you can take turns to make it easier."

"This..."

Yellow Hair had learned to blink too. He stared at the short-haired woman.

The short-haired woman activated her talent. She closed her eyes briefly, then made a hand gesture and said to the master of ceremonies:

"All right. Sorry to trouble you with the arrangements."

"It's my duty."

Seeing that he had nothing else to do, Xu Kai was about to return to the dormitory and rest up for tomorrow's battle. Who would have thought the damned Stone Statue Weird would issue another task?

[Join the vigil and prevent theft. Recently, outsiders have often taken advantage of funerals at the crematorium to steal its property. Please stay with the outsiders until the ceremony ends.]

[Task reward: Gui Resistance increased by ten percent. Penalty for failure: erasure.]

[Game note (a message from the task issuer to the executor): Material, don't run. The game has only just begun.]