Do You Think I Have Nothing Better to Do, Paradise?

In fact, he was already ravenous.

But the sight of his younger brother's death and the smell of blood and flesh mingled with the aroma of food would not leave him, and he had no appetite at all.

He could not even control his attention—it kept drifting back to those bloody images.

Zhu Yan forced himself to drink a few mouthfuls of milk tea. It was unhealthy, but it had calories.

The sweet, rich flavor spread through his mouth. Zhu Yan reclined his seat, pulled a jacket from his backpack, and wrapped it around himself.

Once the muscles in his shoulders and neck could relax naturally, Zhu Yan gazed at his left palm for three seconds and entered the player center.

Several translucent red blocks appeared on his retinas, with bold white text standing out on them.

At the top were personal information and settings, followed by the forum, the horror map, and the online shop.

Zhu Yan's gaze lingered there for a moment, then he entered the personal information page and continued browsing.

His nickname, level, and abilities were neatly listed there.

There was even a profile picture in the upper left corner of the page.

The picture was also of him, but it was an oil painting with rough brushstrokes. His face and features looked like a melting candle.

"Player nickname: Zhu Yan (can be changed; same as your forum nickname)"

"Player level: Lv.1"

Zhu Yan did not want to use his real name online.

He gazed at the first line for three seconds. The name "Zhu Yan" flickered and became a blank field.

"Please concentrate and silently recite your new name," a line of small red text prompted. "And picture exactly how it is written."

Pretty convenient.

Zhu Yan promptly changed his name to "User Has Been Deregistered".

What a great name!

If he did anything using that name, people wouldn't even know how to call him out on the forum.

He tried gazing at his profile picture next, and after three seconds, everything in his field of vision disappeared.

A red camera button appeared in the center of his vision.

"More features are currently undeveloped. Only taking a photo to change your profile picture is supported."

Zhu Yan pulled his jacket over himself to block out the light.

Then he closed his eyes and took a completely black photo.

The next second, a bright red notification popped up.

"Profile picture changed successfully."

Now, no one could tell whether he was dead or alive.

Zhu Yan leisurely continued scrolling down, checking his abilities and taking another look at his palm along the way.

An hour had long since passed, but his palm was still clear.

Zhu Yan was delighted.

That meant the little Hidden Player Mark ability really had no time limit outside an instance!

"I'm certain he didn't have that mark."

At a police station a hundred kilometers away, the young officer spoke with conviction.

He was the officer who had conducted Zhu Yan's routine check.

Now, standing in the station's conference room, he lowered his thick eyebrows slightly and carefully recalled his first meeting with Zhu Yan.

Two police officers sat at the conference table, with Auntie and the older officer across from them.

"He didn't change his appearance. It was the same face as in his records." The young officer checked the identification details in his hands again and again. "The light was bright where I was. There's no way I saw wrong."

"I also wiped his palm with makeup remover."

The officer clearly remembered Zhu Yan's stunned expression.

"Oh, he also showed me his digital ID and university Admission Notice."

Auntie froze when she heard that.

She blurted out, "University Admission Notice?!"

"He's supposed to stay here and work! What university?!"

Her voice was so shrill and distorted that it pierced the solemn atmosphere in the conference room.

"You didn't know?" the young officer asked curiously. "Aren't you his guardian?"

One of the officers nudged him.

"The family situation is complicated," the officer said quietly. "Little Guan, don't agitate her."

The young officer lowered his head and flipped through the brief file in his hands, but Auntie began to curse viciously from across the table anyway.

"That little bastard! He got my whole family killed! I should have chopped him up from the start!"

"Letting him go to high school was already an enormous favor! If that factory didn't pay high school graduates a little more, I would've sent him there in middle school..."

"And now he's gone and enrolled in university behind my back. His worthless life was bought with my son's..."

Little Guan looked up. "Child labor is illegal."

The officer kicked him.

Little Guan shut his mouth and continued reading the file.

According to the file, the man of the family had died suddenly that afternoon at a hotel.

Because he had rented the room by the hour, his body was not discovered by the cleaning staff until seven that evening.

The police station had confirmed his identity, but Auntie's instance had begun by then, and they could not reach her by phone.

Meanwhile, Auntie had snapped and was shouting, having completely lost the ability to think.

"Who cares if it's illegal?! He killed my son, and you didn't say that was illegal!"

"Someone must have wanted to hurt us! It had to be Zhu Yan! My son kept talking about some game card. Zhu Yan must have sent it to him and dragged him into it!"

"Why didn't I get one of those things?!"

The young officer ignored her and continued reading the file.

Zhu Yan was their nephew. He had gone downstairs twice that day to collect two deliveries.

The first consisted of an Admission Notice and a small black envelope.

The second time, he had collected meat and vegetables, and the surveillance footage clearly showed him opening another black envelope.

...And brazenly stuffing the card and badge into his pocket.

"You didn't receive one?" the young officer asked Auntie, looking up to confirm. "And you didn't fuse with one either?"

"No!" Auntie shouted. "I don't know anything!"

The officer looked up and gestured for the older officer to help Auntie away to rest.

Then he turned to the young officer and stood up.

"The deceased was still in high school and had no record of receiving any deliveries."

"According to his mother's statement, he most likely obtained a card some other way and fused with it."

The deceased was the younger brother, and his mother was Auntie.

The young officer's expression changed.

His superior had already told him the key points of Auntie's statement.

Judging by Auntie's description of the Beginner Instance and his own encounter with Zhu Yan, the man was mentally tough. Even after clearing a Beginner Instance with a very low survival rate, he had remained calm and immediately fled the scene.

Zhu Yan had most likely deliberately left Auntie's [Ability Card] with her to ensure his own survival in the instance.

He was a very dangerous player.

What was his ability, then?

Transformation? Or deception?

"We've already notified Anwu City," the officer said. "Zhu Yan will be intercepted as soon as he arrives at the station."

The young officer nodded and waited for his superior's next instructions.

"Guan En, go get ready."

"We'll leave in ten minutes and head to Anwu City to assist with the reception."

On the high-speed train.

Zhu Yan carefully read the descriptions of his upgraded abilities.

"[Roleplay] Lv.4: You can imitate the behavior of horror creatures at level 4 and below, and make them believe you are one of them. This part has no time limit."

"You can slightly alter your aura to deceive players at level 4 and below, and make them believe you are someone else or a horror creature. This part has no time limit."

"In each instance, you can hide your player tattoo for 1.5 hours."

This is great. I can actually take on anyone level 4 or below.

Zhu Yan looked at his empty palm again, confirming that his hiding ability was not limited outside instances.

"[Complaining] Lv.3: You can subject a specific target to personal attacks, including verbal abuse and shifting blame, and point out that they caused your misfortune, thereby weakening their spirit and drawing on their strength."

"The extent to which a specific target is affected depends on their level. Currently, players or horror creatures at level 4 are completely unaffected."

"This ability does not affect you."

Zhu Yan had seen how powerful this ability was.

His younger brother had been a level 0 player, and [Complaining] at Lv.2 had left him completely unable to resist.

It was quite practical, simple to use, and very interesting.

Zhu Yan took a sip of milk tea and decided to find an opportunity to try it himself.

He scrolled down the page. He still had the details of the [Humiliation] ability to read.

But the pleasant female voice suddenly rang out, startling Zhu Yan into looking up.

"Hello, player. An instance you can enter has been detected."

Zhu Yan instinctively glanced around the carriage.

Here? Now?

But he had only just finished the last instance!

"After the instance [Who Is the Crown Prince] ended, a surviving player caused you trouble."

The female voice continued unhurriedly.

"Your actions have drawn considerable attention from human authorities, who have decided to pursue you."

"In 6 hours, the instance [Cat-and-Mouse Game] will begin. Instance location: G3075 Train."

"Would you be willing to participate in the instance [Cat-and-Mouse Game]?"