A red wheel symbol appeared in Zhu Yan's field of vision.
He knew what the [Monster Tram] was.
He had seen it in the first instance.
...That enormous, furry monster head, with four revolting eyes and a huge mouth.
Zhu Yan glanced at the gun in his hand and quickly made a decision.
Snatching a police officer's gun and pointing it at the officer was a serious crime, and since his fingerprints were on the gun, it was probably his.
Forget it. In any case, he didn't want to return to the real world.
He would surely be taken back, locked up and studied, perhaps even sentenced to prison!
Zhu Yan decisively chose to stare at the wheel symbol, pushed open the garden gate, and quickly slipped through the gap.
The flower bed still stood quietly under the streetlight. The [Plague Ghost] roared again from inside the gate, closer than before.
Zhu Yan reached into the flower bed and rummaged around, pulling out the book "Coexisting with Forbidden Things."
"Please proceed to the intersection as soon as possible," the pleasant female voice prompted. "In ten minutes, I will announce your settlement rewards for this round."
Zhu Yan wished he could fly to the stop.
He immediately broke into a run and, with a thought, activated the ability [Roleplay] again!
The [Monster Tram] had arrived.
It was parked at the pitch-black intersection, giving off a scorched, burnt smell.
The four eyes embedded in its enormous head rolled over Zhu Yan, and then its huge monster mouth opened, revealing small round tables and red velvet chairs inside.
Zhu Yan clambered in using the monster's teeth and found an empty seat at random.
The huge mouth closed over him, and Zhu Yan felt his seat give a slight jolt.
"Hello, passenger." A broadcast voice even softer than the female voice sounded inside the tram.
"I am the Voodoo Doll. Please read the list of stops on the table carefully and use the ballpoint pen to check the stop you wish to travel to."
Meanwhile.
The [Plague Ghost]'s head was as empty as its account.
The filthy liquid on its body and the grass was disappearing, but the piece of human leg was no longer fit to eat.
The yard was empty too.
The [Plague Ghost] collected itself as it looked at the yard gate, which stood slightly ajar, and suddenly realized something was wrong.
The [Cannibal House] was destroyed, but it didn't care how.
But it did care about the two Bone Coins it hadn't received!
Where were its Bone Coins?
Where was that Pseudo-human?!
The [Plague Ghost] looked around, then shrieked and leaped over, grabbing Guan En's wrist without a second thought.
"What have you done, player?!"
"Where is he?! Where's that Pseudo-human?!"
Guan En was no longer afraid of the [Plague Ghost], because the pleasant female voice was broadcasting clearly inside his head.
"Player, please prepare yourself. You are about to return to the real world."
He smiled at the [Plague Ghost] and swiftly slipped one of the [Transfer Rental Contract] into his pocket—
Because the [Plague Ghost] had already snatched the other one.
"Why is this thing in your hands?!" it huffed.
"I warned you long ago."
Guan En answered in a slight daze. He still couldn't figure out how Zhu Yan had done it.
But that didn't stop him from saying one last thing to the [Plague Ghost].
"You've been tricked, landlord."
The [Plague Ghost] lowered its brows.
"What do you mean?"
The next second, its hand fell empty, and the hateful player vanished.
The contract paper in its hand still retained a human's body heat. The [Plague Ghost] hurriedly looked down at it, hoping to find information about the new tenant.
But what it saw made it unable to believe its eyes.
There was only a signature so scrawled that there was no telling what it was, and a... a...
The [Plague Ghost] realized something.
That wasn't a monster's mark at all.
That was a fucking player!
"I'll eat you!! I'll kill you!!"
The [Plague Ghost]'s roar pierced the night sky.
"My goodness, sir!"
A familiar voice called out.
Zhu Yan pulled his attention away from outside, because he had just seemed to hear the [Plague Ghost]'s roar faintly.
The [Monster Tram] seemed to be squirming along slowly and bumpily, and there were no windows inside, making it quite uncomfortable.
He looked up to see a very unfamiliar-looking Pseudo-human pulling out the chair across from him.
Meeting Zhu Yan's puzzled gaze, it hurriedly changed its skin and stuck out its tongue to lick the blood remaining around its mouth.
"It's me. You treated me last time."
The Pseudo-human spoke, its hungry, gloomy eyes fixed on Zhu Yan.
It had taken on his uncle's appearance—even its voice had changed.
"We meet again. Where are you going?"
An awkward feeling rose in Zhu Yan's heart.
A few days ago, he hadn't expected to meet his "uncle" like this.
He suddenly thought of his uncle when he was alive.
His uncle hadn't thrown him out. Although he often treated him harshly, he had at least been willing to spend a little money to support him.
In any case, they barely counted as family.
This Pseudo-human didn't seem to treat him coldly either—it was even more polite and welcoming than his real uncle.
Zhu Yan was startled by the thought that had suddenly popped into his head.
No, he was simply too lacking in emotional support.
But developing a favorable impression of a horror creature was absolutely out of the question. It was dangerous.
He wouldn't allow it.
Zhu Yan picked up the list of stops on the table without directly answering the Pseudo-human's question.
"Good evening. What about you? Where are you going?"
The list was densely packed. Zhu Yan followed the numbers and read carefully down the page, finding that there were more than fifty stops.
He saw the familiar [Hall of Mourning] and the [Nightmare Bookstore], which advertised on the Player Forum.
Besides those, there were a bunch of place names that were obviously in [Merry Happy Land].
For example, [Scream Square] and [Living Body District].
He understood why the female voice had given that warning.
If he got this wrong, he might end up a permanent resident of [Merry Happy Land], never to return.
All right.
Actually, becoming a permanent resident of [Merry Happy Land] was only a matter of time anyway.
Zhu Yan quickly picked out one fairly normal-looking location from the pile of strange place names: number 46.
"Anwu City, Sunset District, Plum Garden Subdistrict, old house at No. 178. Estimated arrival in fifty minutes."
Whatever else could be said, it was at least in Anwu City.
Zhu Yan found a ballpoint pen on the table and carefully put a check in the small box beside the stop.
"Oh, yes." The Pseudo-human watched Zhu Yan's movements closely. "The first time, I didn't read the instructions carefully and thought they wanted me to fill in an answer sheet."
"I filled it in—and missed out on a delicious meal."
The Voodoo Doll's gentle voice sounded.
"All right, we will arrive at stop 46 in fifty minutes. Please prepare yourselves, passengers."
Zhu Yan breathed a soft sigh of relief.
The Pseudo-human across from him, wearing his uncle's skin, lowered its head and carefully filled in a place called [Pseudo-human Street].
Zhu Yan wanted to ask the Pseudo-human about the stops, such as whether all the stops in the real world were instances.
But he couldn't, because that would give him away.
The Voodoo Doll's voice sounded again, but this time it announced that they would arrive at a stop in five minutes.
"What are you holding, sir?" This Pseudo-human seemed especially talkative.
"A [Plague Ghost]'s clothes," Zhu Yan said calmly. "Nothing special."
However, the Pseudo-human's expression changed, mimicking a look of awe.
"[Plague Ghosts] are stingy beings," it said stiffly. "How did you do it? Did you snatch them? What level is it?"
"Level five," Zhu Yan said offhandedly, unwilling to delve too deeply into the subject.
He wanted to turn the conversation around and fish for information from the Pseudo-human, but he saw it sitting stiffly in its chair, its hollow black eyes seemingly filled with shock.
"Oh! Does that mean you're at least level six?"
Zhu Yan made something up on the spot. "More than that. But I don't want others speculating about my level."
"Very well, my lord. I will sing your praises." The Pseudo-human tilted its head mechanically.
"Please forgive me—my stop is close, and we'll be there soon. I hope we can work together again next time."
"I'll be sure to tell my friends about your generosity and abilities!"
Meanwhile.
Guan En forced his exhausted body to the intersection, which had been tightly cordoned off.
But he didn't see the figure who should have come out ahead of him.
There was nothing but special police officers and those reflective shields!