Really Getting Carried Away with the Act

Guan En's retreating figure grew smaller and disappeared at the brightly lit end of the street.

Zhu Yan walked beneath a streetlight and unfolded the note in his hand.

Resorting to a phone call really had been a last resort. The other party apparently had been driven into a corner, to the point of disregarding the police's subsequent investigation.

The handwriting on the note was exceptionally neat, as if its writer had been afraid Zhu Yan wouldn't be able to read it.

"116 Sparrow Leaf Street, room 1030, Fortune Source Hotel."

"No ID registration required. Just pretend you've already checked in!"

He didn't have to register his ID?

That showed plenty of sincerity.

Zhu Yan searched for the address on his phone. It wasn't particularly close; the drive would take twenty minutes.

Factoring in the time needed to hail and wait for a car, it would take the full thirty minutes.

In any case, Zhu Yan planned to head straight there and find somewhere downstairs to wait.

He really didn't trust [Merry Happy Land]—

Especially after the announcement had explicitly stated that their actions "ran counter to the aims of [Merry Happy Land]."

The dead female player had been given a thirty-minute grace period because she wouldn't help [Merry Happy Land] spread the plague.

What if their grace period was only ten minutes, or even five?

Zhu Yan believed [Merry Happy Land] was capable of it.

116 Sparrow Leaf Street.

Compared with the old district, the gray buildings here looked tall and cold. There were hardly any shops or storefronts along either side of the broad road.

The Fortune Source Hotel's sign glowed inside an office building's lobby. Its stark white light fell on the less-than-clean gray concrete floor tiles, making the already plain front desk look even shabbier.

Zhu Yan checked the time. Less than thirty minutes had passed, and there was no telling whether Guan En had even finished picking up the goods.

He walked over to the lit vending machine in the lobby and bought a small bag of bread at random, making it his dinner to stave off hunger.

The emergency stairwell was right between the two narrow elevators.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Yan followed a couple checking in through the door and pressed the button for the tenth floor.

They were going to exploit a loophole in [Merry Happy Land]. Guan En's ability level was lower, so he would be the one to draw out [Witch].

But if Zhu Yan waited right outside the room, he was also afraid he would be automatically dragged into the instance, causing its difficulty to soar.

If he stayed farther away, though, and [Merry Happy Land] went crazy and started the instance after only five minutes, and the elevator happened not to come, they would be screwed too.

Better to play it safe: scout the place first, then hide in the emergency stairwell and wait for Guan En's call.

The elevator doors opened.

Zhu Yan stepped into the long corridor with its soft carpet and followed the signs on the wall until he found room 1030 near the far end.

He carefully checked the room number against the note several times, then looked at the numbers on the neighboring rooms to help confirm it.

Once he was sure he had the right room, Zhu Yan walked the route twice more before cautiously retreating into the emergency stairwell. He wedged the door open a crack and leaned against the wall behind it.

He really felt unsafe.

If he didn't do this and the door somehow locked, all their efforts would be for nothing.

There were no lights in the emergency stairwell, only green signs glowing intermittently.

Zhu Yan stood there for quite a while, but no one came.

With a thought, he transformed into the high-level horror creature dressed like an aristocratic lady that he had seen in the Hall of Mourning.

Although he didn't know this "madam's" name, her identity was genuinely convenient to use.

He would gladly make use of it!

At the same time.

Guan En carried a large bag of things into the elevator on the first floor.

Along with the things he had originally bought, the bag contained two pieces of cloth covered in strange runes.

The seller had had a change of heart and thrown them in for free, giving Guan En everything he needed for the ritual.

On the way, Guan En had watched several ritual videos and committed the steps to memory.

In the cramped, stuffy elevator, he breathed out softly.

He wondered what identity his mysterious companion would appear under.

In any case, the other party was strong and clever.

He stepped onto the soft carpet in the tenth-floor corridor and felt a strange, bone-deep chill seeping out from the emergency exit door.

It was open a crack—

Guan En glanced at it. The gap was pitch-black, making the hair on his body stand on end.

An ominous feeling welled up in his heart.

He steadied himself, strode back to his room, and leaned against the door to collect himself before starting to arrange the altar.

What was behind the emergency exit door?

Could [Merry Happy Land] know he was up to something and have already ordered [Witch] and [Demon] to stand by on the spot?

At that thought, Guan En took out his phone and sent a text to the number on the note.

"Can you come over now? Things don't look too good."

Zhu Yan was leaning behind the door, having just finished his little bread roll.

Things don't look too good?

He looked around, then stuck his head out to check the corridor.

It was quiet, and the lights were bright.

Other than the corridor looking a little like a tomb passage, Zhu Yan found nothing amiss.

"What's wrong? Where are you?"

Guan En had already entered the [Player Forum] and was slowly arranging the altar according to a photo in a post about [Witch].

"I've got the things and I'm back," he said. Looking at Zhu Yan's message, he felt as though the lingering chill from behind the emergency exit door were following him everywhere.

"Hurry up and get here. I suspect this won't be easy. There's definitely something in the corridor near the emergency exit."

Huh?

Zhu Yan was startled.

He turned to look outside the door, then at the pitch-black stairwell, confirming that it was merely dark here. There was none of the chilling cold peculiar to horror creatures.

No matter where he looked, he was the only one here.

Could the thing Guan En meant be Zhu Yan himself, with [Roleplay] activated?

Zhu Yan wanted to laugh.

He wasn't sure how good Guan En's acting was, so he decided to let him stay scared.

After all, genuine feelings had no flaws.

Zhu Yan replied, "I'm almost downstairs. The ritual will take some time anyway, so go ahead and start."

Guan En quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He asked, "How long until you get up here?"

"I can be at your room within ten minutes," Zhu Yan said. "Remember, we need two."

The two things meant two doses of vaccine.

Guan En let out a huge sigh of relief at the words "ten minutes."

There would definitely be enough time!

Now, in front of the hotel sofa, he had arranged the altar on the low rectangular coffee table.

Flickering flames slowly consumed the black candles. Guan En dimmed the lights and recited the first passage of the prayer fairly fluently.

He stared nervously at the center of the table. Suddenly, a breeze swept through, and two of the candles went out.

In the emergency stairwell.

Zhu Yan straightened up, put his phone on silent, and stared intently into the dark stairwell ahead.

Rustle. Rustle.

Something was coming up—

It didn't seem to have a heavy physical body. Judging by the sound, it was more like a robe floating in midair and brushing against the floor.

Rustle, rustle.

The faint scraping sounds echoed through the stairwell.

It approached very slowly, gradually taking shape in the intermittent glow of the green signs.

It was a cloak floating in midair, its hood drawn up.

Even in the dark, Zhu Yan could make out that it was translucent.

It was floating up from the turn in the stairs below. Each time the green fluorescent sign flickered, it came a little closer.

Zhu Yan's nerves tightened as he watched the cloak slowly turn toward him. There was nothing beneath the shadow of its hood.

The green sign continued to flicker, but the light, floating cloak stopped.

Its raised hood dipped obediently, and the bottom of the cloak suddenly collapsed a little, as though it had given Zhu Yan a comical bow.

"Madam." The voice was as hoarse as the wind, and Zhu Yan could feel the chill in it.

But whether because his player level had increased or not, he didn't feel particularly afraid.

"What an honor. What business brings you to such a place?"

This should be [Demon].

Zhu Yan adopted a tone and gave a cold laugh.

"A friend of [Eye of the Abyss] who can foresee the future told me there would be a good show here."

Judging from the Plague Ghost's reaction in the previous instance, the name Eye of the Abyss was useful.

So Zhu Yan repeated the trick, keeping his eyes fixed on [Demon]'s reaction.

The empty cloak seemed to tremble, and its lower half sagged more noticeably.

[Eye of the Abyss].

The famous [Eye of the Abyss Club]!

It had only come to collect a payment!

[Demon] wanted to raise its head and look at this high-level horror creature, but it didn't dare.

Damn it.

It was only a little level-four demon. Since when had it attracted the attention of the big shots?!