Xia Bing said, "I was just about to tell you about it, and there's something I want your help with too."
"Sure, as long as it's something I can do," Shen Hao replied.
"Our guild, the Paradise Player Alliance, is the largest guild in the game. Nearly seventy percent of the players have joined us.
"But there are many other guilds besides ours. Some are neutral, while others are evil.
"And the man you killed belonged to an evil guild—the Blood Banquet."
"The people in this guild are brutal and evil. They've repeatedly committed major crimes all over the world.
"They worship an evil god. They believe that by continually holding Blood Banquet rituals, the evil god will descend into the world and become its ruler."
"So the man I killed was a player from the Blood Banquet Guild?"
"Mm. His name was Hong Tao. He wasn't very strong, but his status was unusual. He was the son of an elder in the Blood Banquet Guild."
"Uh, so I killed some second-generation member of the Blood Banquet Guild?"
"That's right," Xia Bing said with a smile. "That's quite an accomplishment. If you'd belonged to the Alliance Guild at the time, the guild would definitely have given you a huge bonus."
"But you were the one who actually killed him. If your steel needle hadn't pierced his heart, I wouldn't have had a chance to kill him."
"Exactly, so the bonus went to me."
"That's not what I meant. I was trying to say..."
Shen Hao was at a loss for words. Why had Xia Bing collected the bonus while he was the target of their revenge?
It didn't make much sense.
"You're wondering why they aren't coming after me for revenge, right?" Xia Bing guessed what he was thinking and said with a smile,
"Maybe I'm one of their targets too, but they'll definitely come after you first.
Because I'm the leader of group three in the field operations department, a level 19 Control-type Ability User, I'm not easy to kill.
"Besides, the Blood Banquet may not know what really happened, but they definitely know you were the one who cut off Hong Tao's head."
Shen Hao understood. Even an evil organization like the Blood Banquet knew to pick on the weak.
Xia Bing was a group leader at a branch of the Alliance Guild. Although she was a leader at the lowest level, she still had some standing within the guild.
She was also a Control-type Ability User with relatively balanced offense and defense. Killing her really wouldn't be easy.
Since the Blood Banquet couldn't deal with the tougher target for the time being, they could only go after him.
Xia Bing added, "Don't worry. The Blood Banquet is our enemy. Even if you weren't a member of the Alliance Guild, we would still protect you. I arranged for people to stay near you a long time ago."
Shen Hao seemed to understand. "Then what did you say you needed my help with? Do you want me to help you lure out the Blood Banquet's people?"
"You're smart. That's exactly it. The Blood Banquet is getting more and more brazen. It's time to teach them a lesson."
"Then what should I do?" Shen Hao knew he wasn't in a position to refuse.
Besides, he didn't want to refuse. Fighting evil organizations was what a good citizen should do.
What's more, he was a member of the Alliance Guild.
"You don't need to do anything right now." After saying that, Xia Bing gave Shen Hao a phone.
"Use this phone only to contact me. If anything unusual happens around you, report it to me immediately.
"In a few days, I'll withdraw the people protecting you. After that, you'll have to deal with whatever happens on your own."
"Why withdraw them?"
Xia Bing explained, "If our people stay there the whole time, the Blood Banquet will be more cautious when they make their move against you and send more experts. That would put you in an even worse position.
"So I have to withdraw my people."
"I understand," Shen Hao said. "But how can you be sure they'll come after me?"
"We couldn't be sure before, but we just received intelligence today. They've investigated you and found out everything about you. They intend to offer you as a sacrifice to the evil god.
"Now that you're the evil god's sacrifice, they'll use every means at their disposal to kill you.
"If you don't die, it would be like making the evil god a promise they couldn't keep. Given how fanatically devoted they are to the evil god, there's no way they would do that."
"I see."
"There's something else. The Blood Banquet's people are extremely brutal. If they make a move, you won't be the only one who dies. Everyone around you will die too.
"So you must be careful. Tell me immediately if anything unusual happens."
Shen Hao said, "Then should I avoid crowded places for the time being?"
"There's no need," Xia Bing said. "Just act naturally."
"Isn't that too risky? After all, it's not just my life at stake."
"It is risky, but we have to do this," Xia Bing said resolutely.
"The Blood Banquet's people have been growing more and more brazen lately. We have to find a chance to strike at them, or they'll commit more bloody crimes."
After learning how the Blood Banquet operated, Shen Hao knew Xia Bing wouldn't leave him to fend for himself, because his life was now tied to many others.
Giving up on him would mean giving up many lives. Xia Bing probably wouldn't dare do that.
"All right, then I'll be the bait."
Although he knew full well he was bait, he had no other choice now.
For the time being, though, he was safe. The Alliance's people were still protecting him from the shadows, and that protection should last until he finished the next instance.
He wouldn't have any trouble for now.
"Oh, right. You don't need to come to work here for the time being. Just do whatever you normally would, and come back to work after this is over.
"You'll still get paid during this time, though."
"Okay." Shen Hao was quite happy to get paid for nothing.
Three days later.
Everything was as usual. The Blood Banquet's people hadn't come knocking.
That day, Shen Hao was matched with a new instance. He would be able to enter it tomorrow night.
It had been less than ten days since he first entered an instance, and he was already about to start his third. He really had been grinding hard.
The instance he was about to enter was the Water-Sky Amusement Park, and its difficulty was A-rank.
Shen Hao obtained a guide to the instance from Xia Bing and began studying it carefully.
"An amusement park should be a place that brings people joy, but not the Water-Sky Amusement Park. Here, all you will feel is fear.
"No one knows exactly what happened at this amusement park, but everyone knows that you must never enter it. The strange things here are far beyond anything you can imagine.
"If you are unlucky enough to enter, and if you do not wish to die, please follow the visitor rules."
The Water-Sky Amusement Park's backstory looked like a rules-based horror story and revealed little useful information.
Shen Hao continued reading. "The rules of this instance have been changed. It is said that a player died in the instance, and an item he carried caused the instance to change.
"All guides to the old version of the amusement park are now invalid. They have no value as references and will instead mislead your judgment.
"All players who tried to use the old guides died in the instance, so they are no longer provided here.
"Since the revision, few people have been matched with this instance. So far, no Alliance Guild player has cleared it, and there is currently no guide available.
"Please stay tuned!"
"No guide?" Shen Hao didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
This instance was probably quite difficult, though. At the very least, it wasn't like the first two, which had been pure giveaway instances.
The instance being more difficult should be a good thing for him.
He didn't have a guide, but neither did the other players. He was the game boss, though, so he still had the advantage.
Shen Hao had just finished reading the information when Xia Bing called him.
"Have you read the information? This is a very unpopular instance. There used to be a guide, but the instance has changed.
"The guide to the old instance is no longer useful as a reference, so you'll have to rely on yourself."
Shen Hao said, "I've read the information. Not having a guide is a bit troublesome."
"I applied for a supernatural item for you: a Substitute Doll.
"Whether you're in an instance or the real world, this thing will give you an extra life. It's a very valuable item.
"Come see me today, and I'll give it to you."
If Shen Hao died, their plan to deal with the Blood Banquet would fall through.
He hadn't expected Xia Bing to apply for a game item for him, much less a valuable resurrection item.
The item wasn't particularly rare, but it was valuable. After all, it was an extra life.
That showed how much importance the people of the Alliance Guild attached to this matter. They were afraid he might die in the instance.