Listen to Master's Words

"Damn it..."

Hearing this, the group retreated a few steps, staring at Deng Zhiwei in horror.

"I didn't mean to, my master forced me to do it. If I hadn't, I would have been the one to die," Deng Zhiwei said, his emotions spiraling.

Song Linjia said in utter shock, "So, you killed our classmate?"

The group's brows furrowed tightly.

The original inhabitants of the instance were equivalent to NPC residents in a game; it was unlikely for them to die or kill one another.

If Deng Zhiwei said he killed someone, it could only mean another player who had entered the instance like them.

He hadn't saved Zhou Miaomiao, yet he had killed another classmate?

Deng Zhiwei said frantically, "Do you think I've had it easy? I haven't dared to close my eyes all night. Every time I do, I see her bloodied, mangled face!"

The group retreated a few more steps, as if they had seen a ghost.

Only Li Ran asked with a calm expression, "What is your mission?"

"Listen to Master. I mean, the mission name is—Listen to Master," Deng Zhiwei said in a panic.

"Is the mission complete?"

"It is."

Li Ran continued, "Why did your master make you kill?"

When asked this, Deng Zhiwei shuddered, his face filled with terror as he said, "She... she likes to collect women's faces..."

The group's brows immediately locked together.

Xiao Yi asked, "What do you mean?"

"Her obsession with beautiful female faces is bordering on madness. She is a woman of great charm, very beautiful and sexy. She brings customers into the shop under the guise of beauty treatments, then uses some unknown method to cut off their faces... and then... then she makes me handle the aftermath..."

"If I don't obey, Master will eat me."

"So, I dragged that person into the bathroom... and in the end, I... flushed everything into the sink... into the toilet..."

"Actually, while I was cleaning up, she woke up from the pain... Hahaha, she was awake... she was awake..."

The group's expressions changed drastically, revealing looks of dread.

The expression on Deng Zhiwei's face was no longer one of terror or fear; it had been replaced by manic laughter and excitement.

Song Linjia was furious, "You are a devil!"

"Everyone, back away..."

Xiao Yi, Chen Jiabin, Qiu Zhongji, and Song Linjia retreated in terror.

Deng Zhiwei's facial features twisted unnaturally, his limbs twitching as if he were having a seizure.

"What's wrong with Deng Zhiwei? This isn't right," Qiu Zhongji said, his face pale.

None of them could answer that question.

"At the time, I... I was really scared, really panicked. I swore I wouldn't kill again, but... but that feeling in my heart was something I had never experienced before. I lay in bed all night, unable to suppress the excitement and agitation..."

A line of text on a system panel floated above Deng Zhiwei's head.

Warning: He is infected with a virus and may turn into a monster at any moment. Please evacuate immediately.

Li Ran stepped forward, "He's infected with a virus."

"We had better leave here first!"

None of them were fools; Deng Zhiwei's condition could no longer be described as just "not right." He was like a monster undergoing a mutation—his eyes were slanted, his nose crooked, white foam spilled from his mouth, and things were writhing frantically beneath his skin, reshaping his body.

"Yeah."

The group quickly retreated toward the entrance of the residential complex.

At the complex entrance.

"Did you encounter a huge fat man earlier?" Xiao Yi asked.

Li Ran nodded, "Yes, he's dead. He burst himself open."

"Burst?"

Chen Jiabin, Qiu Zhongji, and Song Linjia looked on in confusion.

"He was my friend, a highly disciplined and self-controlled athlete. He only ate fat-loss meals every day, strictly controlled his body fat percentage, and was extremely demanding of himself. It's a pity that when I found him this morning, he had turned into that state."

Xiao Yi adjusted his glasses, his expression pained and self-reproachful.

"Then what about Deng Zhiwei?" Qiu Zhongji asked.

"Just as Li Ran said, they are both infected with the virus," Xiao Yi said.

"How were they infected? Where?"

"Yeah, so why are we fine?"

The horrific state of Deng Zhiwei truly terrified the group, and upon learning about the infection, a sense of dread settled deep within them.

This virus was invisible and intangible, following no discernible pattern—how was one supposed to guard against it?

Wearing a mask?

Li Ran recalled the warning given before entering the Weird World:

"This virus amplifies the desires within a person's heart; once infected, they become a monster ruled by those very desires."

He looked at Xiao Yi: "Even though your friend was an extremely disciplined sports student, he had suppressed his appetite for years to maintain his body fat percentage. Once the virus seized the opportunity to slip in, his repressed desires surged like a wild beast breaking out of its cage. He couldn't stop it, and in the end, he turned into a monster that ate frantically until he choked himself to death."

"To put it bluntly, this virus exposes the truest side of a person's heart. It can kill, and it can turn people into monsters."

The others agreed with Li Ran's assessment.

At this moment, Chen Jiabin sighed and said, "Sigh, I've known Deng Zhiwei since we were kids; he was my next-door neighbor. Even back then, he liked to secretly use a slingshot to shoot at girls' backsides. He was cowardly and sleazy. He had very little presence at school, but I knew he would still secretly play pranks on girls behind their backs. He had the heart for mischief but lacked the guts. His personality was very strange, and he didn't have many friends. I have no idea how he was chosen to be brought into this instance."

Song Linjia remarked, "A classic personality type that craves attention but lacks the courage to express it. People like this want to be noticed by women while simultaneously trying to project an indifferent facade. In reality, such people are easily overlooked and lack any real presence."

Song Linjia continued, "In criminal psychology, what we call 'homicidal addiction' is when killing women allows a person to achieve a sense of accomplishment—it's the feeling of a weakling becoming strong. Because of his inferiority complex and cowardice, he couldn't handle interactions with the opposite sex, so he chose a cruel and hidden way to vent his emotions, turning the frustration of unrequited love into the thrill of being a controller."

"The Desire Virus turned him into a true serial killer."

After hearing this, the others looked at Song Linjia with newfound respect.

"Impressive. I didn't expect you to have studied this field," Li Ran gave Song Linjia a thumbs-up, then looked toward Building One: "Regarding the information I shared, Building One is inhabited by..."

Li Ran briefly informed the group that Zhou Miaomiao had been killed by Wang Gan in Building One, warning them that this person was extremely dangerous. As for the "scavenging" in the residential complex, he didn't say a word; after all, that concerned his Golden Finger.

The clue provided by Qiu Zhongji was that there was a woman dressed like a rich woman in the complex's bar. He, Xiao Yi, and Chen Jiabin had all tried to interact with her, but none had been able to trigger a mission.

Song Linjia offered a piece of information: there was a strange old woman by the lakeside, staring at the bottom of the lake while muttering to herself. It was very eerie, and out of fear, Song Linjia hadn't dared to approach her.

Xiao Yi suggested, "Since everyone is here, why don't we start with the first one? The old man in the security booth—who wants to try first?"

The group nodded, and they headed toward the security booth.

Just as they reached the entrance, a loud bang rang out.

"Boom!"

The group was startled by the noise and immediately looked toward the source.

Xiao Yi adjusted his black-rimmed glasses and whispered, "That's the old man from the security booth I told you about. He's kicking the door again. Who wants to go and meet him?"

"I haven't completed a single mission yet, so I'll go first," Chen Jiabin said, walking forward with a wide, duck-footed gait.

Qiu Zhongji was tempted, but since Chen Jiabin had beaten him to it, he had no choice but to give up.

Li Ran didn't compete; he also wanted to observe the old man.

Chen Jiabin arrived at the entrance of the security booth and called out inside, "Old man, do you need any help?"

A chubby, bald old man with a white beard, wearing his uniform half-open and holding a security cap in his hand, walked out, blowing his beard and staring wide-eyed. "You want to help me?"

"Yes, sir," Chen Jiabin replied with a smile.

The old man raised his eyelids, brushed the dust off his hat with his hand, and wore a look of displeasure as he said, "Fine."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, Chen Jiabin's gaze became fixed, staring blankly ahead.

"What's wrong with him?" Qiu Zhongji asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, he must have triggered a mission. He's reading the mission description."

Xiao Yi had experience with accepting missions and immediately saw that Chen Jiabin had triggered one.

Li Ran looked on with confusion, thinking to himself, Can you trigger a mission just by talking?

Just as he thought this, Chen Jiabin, having finished reading the mission, suddenly fell to his knees with a "thud," looking at the old man in despair.