The Calm Before the Storm

The lunch at noon was nothing short of a disaster.

Even though the video was only a short clip of less than five minutes, and almost an hour had passed since then, everyone except Bai Zhi and Night Owl was still in shock.

"You actually knew about this all along, didn't you?"

Slumped on the Sofa outside the corridor, Zither-Drum Harmony stared at the Unique Night Owl who had escaped unscathed, his face filled with resentment.

"... I think Black&White said makes sense."

After a moment of silence, the Night Owl turned her head away, her expression slightly stiff.

"This kind of training is essential for us Player if we want to survive better."

"I know it's necessary, but to suddenly pull this stunt while others are eating, and the food they're eating is still... But why are you allowed to avoid it? What about your training? Don't you know what it means to share the good times and the bad? He's really taking care of you..."

He rolled his eyes, slumped back on the Sofa, Zither-Drum Harmony utterly dejected.

"Anyway, I probably won't have any appetite for the next few days... That guy did it purely on purpose."

"No, I did it on purpose."

As Bai Zhi walked out of the cinema carrying a trash bag, he calmly replied with a comment.

"You guys think you can be Player? If you can't even overcome this simplest psychological hurdle, how are you going to face the endless stream of bizarre and Type Anomaly that follow?"

"So, if it weren't for the fact that you ate it and saw it, we would have ganged up on you long ago..."

Following Bai Zhi out of the Movie Theater, PrayerUnderDreams rolled her eyes and threw herself onto the Sofa.

"People really can't be compared... Could your real identity in the Real World be that of a special forces soldier from some army? How could you still eat under those circumstances?"

"If you're so easily distracted by external things, you won't survive long when faced with those Anomaly."

Bai Zhi then tossed the trash bag into a nearby Trash Can and clapped his hands lightly.

"Anomaly many forms, and not all of them have a physical existence. Some are an entire house, some are an area, and some are even a videotape, a piece of text, or a sentence. Can you predict what Type of Anomaly you will encounter in the future? As the front line of defense against the invasion of Anomaly into our world, we Player need to have a heart as cold as the eternal ice crystals on the Frozen Throne."

"... Something more specific?"

After thinking for a moment, the Zither-Drum Harmony ensemble tentatively began to play.

"My heart is like the Buddha's, therefore I am as still as the Buddha's."

With one hand held upright in front of him, Bai Zhi's face was solemn and dignified.

"Benefactors, you are attached to appearances."

"Um... that does make some sense...?"

PrayerUnderDreams, Zither-Drum Harmony Night Owl, and the other two looked at each other in bewilderment.

"He was indirectly saying that when we eat, our minds are full of shit, so everything we see looks like shit..."

As Heavenless Heretic's rather speechless voice rang out, he was the last to walk out of the Movie Theater, also carrying a trash bag in his hand.

"Anyway, it depends on how you interpret it. If you're willing to interpret it that way, then it's not impossible."

Shrugging, Bai Zhi turned to look at the other person.

"By the way, why are you only coming out now?"

In a sense, the suspicion surrounding the other party has not yet been cleared, and with the progress of his investigation, the suspicion surrounding Heavenless Heretic has only grown stronger.

The nameless attackers who attacked with Zither-Drum Harmony, the strange passage leading to room [501], the non-existent Tailcoat projected into the mirror... these are all irrefutable evidence.

"If you hadn't come out so early and left all the cleaning inside to me, maybe I would have come out earlier."

He reached out and rubbed the corner of his eye, which hadn't gotten much Heavenless Heretic, and replied rather irritably.

"We've all pinned our hopes on you to complete this mission. What are your plans next?"

"Let's go to the mall and try our luck at the lottery again. We're just keeping it anyway... I remember you lost something at the mall, right?"

As if remembering something, Bai Zhi turned to look at the other person, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"It's been a whole day, and you still haven't found what you lost?"

"If I could remember what I lost, I would have found it long ago, but the problem is I can't, and when I checked my Inventory, I didn't find anything I'd left behind..."

He then reached out and pressed his Heavenless Heretic, his brows furrowing slightly before quickly relaxing.

"However, things that can be forgotten are probably not very important, so there's no need to worry about them."

"No, I might know what you lost."

After looking Heavenless Heretic up and down, PrayerUnderDreams crossed her arms and began to speak thoughtfully.

"You lost your things when you went to the Supermarket at night and were battling those Doll Figurine, right?"

"Uh... so what?"

"It's simple, you've lost your love for your wife!!"

PrayerUnderDreams sat up straight on the Sofa, her gaze intense.

"I can imagine the agonizing thought that drove you to kill your beloved wife, but for the greater good, you didn't hesitate... Hey, hey, hey, don't go! Isn't my reasoning correct?"

They haven't actually been to the Supermarket that many times. The Unique time they conducted a thorough and detailed search was when Night Owl was injured, which was done by Heavenless Heretic and her two companions. After all, the things here can't be put in Inventory, nor can they be taken away after the mission is completed. At most, they can only feast their eyes on them.

Although most of the Item and Skill drawn from the Mysterious Shop are pretty bad, it's better than nothing. After all, what's the point of keeping points if you don't use them for the lottery?

Today, everyone's luck wasn't as good as yesterday; no one drew anything like Skill Card, and the lottery was completed in less than five minutes.

As for Bai Zhi and Night Owl, they had long since run out of points.

"Ah... it's all junk..."

The Unique wealthy woman among them Zither-Drum Harmony, after exhausting all her points, looked at the huge pile of irreparable junk in front of her, and her lips twitched slightly.

She was actually quite lucky; among the junk she pulled out were a few pieces of Rare Level Equipment, but these Equipment were basically unusable and beyond repair.

How about you sell these things to me?

After crouching down and picking up a few badly damaged Equipment, Bai Zhi looked up and asked the Zither-Drum Harmony a question with apparent interest.

"I'll buy a Rare Level, Damaged Equipment for 50 Game Coins. What do you think?"

"Uh... what do you need these things for?"

After hearing Bai Zhi's words, Zither-Drum Harmony couldn't help but feel quite puzzled.

"Equipment that shows it's beyond repair is impossible to use as material for crafting other Equipment; it's completely unusable."

"Just tell me directly whether you're selling or not."

Standing up from the ground, Bai Zhi shrugged nonchalantly.

"But that's the price we're going to pay, 50 Game Coins per item. I don't have many Game Coins to spare."

After a moment's hesitation, Zither-Drum Harmony nodded.

These kinds of junk items are really useless; at most, they can be thrown at people in Special situations. Since the other party wants them and is willing to pay for them, why not?

Although she knew that the other party was willing to pay money for these worthless junk items, it must be because these junk items could be put to greater value in their hands, but what did that have to do with her?