Chapter 43

Manager Liu's eyes darted as he asked, "Xiao Nie, ask that girlfriend of yours if she has any ideas. At a critical time like this, we need to stand together!"

Under everyone's expectant gazes, Nie Yun sent Ye Zhao a message, explaining their analysis of the current situation and asking whether she had any suggestions.

But after waiting for a long time, Nie Yun still received no reply from Ye Zhao. He could only shake his head at Manager Liu and the others regretfully. "She didn't reply."

Manager Liu smiled. "No rush. We'll talk when she replies."

Because the Granulation Ghost had reached the third floor and was far too close to the second, they did not dare take the risk. They had no choice but to head downstairs again and find an office on the first floor with easy escape routes to use as a temporary shelter.

Manager Liu asked Nie Yun again whether Ye Zhao had replied, but Nie Yun still shook his head and said no.

Manager Liu gave an "oh" and did not press further. Once he stepped aside, his expression darkened. He found a corner to sit in and opened the Player forum he had searched so hard to find.

There were few people on the forum, but it was lively. New posts appeared constantly. He wanted to look for other Players' experiences dealing with ghosts when one post caught his attention.

[After they have eaten their fill, their destructive power will greatly decrease.]

Eaten their fill?

Did it mean what he thought it meant?

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over every person in the room one by one.

The thirteenth day after entering the game, late at night.

In just one day, the Granulation Ghost had torn through two floors. Perhaps because it had gone so long without food that it was on the verge of exploding, it did not come down the stairs. Instead, it jumped wildly on the second floor, its enormous body and crushing force punching straight through the floor before it landed in the first-floor corridor with a thud.

The booming crash jolted awake everyone who had not dared sleep.

Ye Zhao had not been sleeping deeply in the first place. At the sound, she rolled over and sprang up, reaching the door in the blink of an eye. She opened a narrow crack and peeked outside.

The hotel's electricity had long since gone out. Everything was pitch-black now, with only the emergency lights still on, barely illuminating the scene outside.

"I saw it, I saw it..." The Granulation Ghost's garbled voice rang out nearby, followed by the thunderous sounds of it smashing things apart.

Ye Zhao used her Creation Skill to create an elementary ghost and ordered it to lure the Granulation Ghost back to the second floor.

The elementary ghost obeyed, but the moment it approached the Granulation Ghost, it was instantly devoured. One hundred Creation Points vanished without even making a splash.

Ye Zhao: ...

She spent another hundred Creation Points to create a zombie.

The staggering zombie caught the Granulation Ghost's attention and turned to run. The Granulation Ghost reached it in the blink of an eye, and a scalp-crawling chewing sound followed. But zombies were ultimately different from humans. They did not possess the fresh human flesh that could satisfy the Granulation Ghost's appetite.

Ye Zhao slipped out of the room and climbed up to the second floor via the staircase on the other side. By then, the second floor had nearly been demolished. The moment she poked her head up, she could see the moon in the sky. A gust of cold wind blew through without obstruction, making her shiver involuntarily.

She had to admit, the Granulation Ghost's destructive power was no joke. Who would have thought a hotel more than ten stories tall could be turned into a one-story shack?

And wandering around the ruins were ghosts eyeing the place hungrily.

She hypnotized herself into believing she had seen nothing at all, then carefully moved up and crouched on the ground to sense the Granulation Ghost's location.

Just then, she spotted a familiar figure crouching in a corner some distance away.

That damned thief!

Her heart skipped a beat. He hadn't seen what happened earlier, had he?

Probably not. The ghosts and zombie she had created had not gotten too close to her, and there had been no confrontation between them. Even if he had seen them, he would not connect them to her.

Without another word, Ye Zhao drew her gun. In that instant, the figure flipped behind the wall on the other side and whispered, "Sis, isn't shooting someone in the back a little unfair?"

Ye Zhao was speechless. His escape speed was a little too fast, wasn't it? Or had she let her killing intent leak out?

The corner of her mouth twitched, and she quickly hid behind a broken wall. She was this underhanded herself, so of course she was wary of someone else taking a shot at her from behind.

The two remained at an impasse for a while. The commotion downstairs grew louder and louder, and even Ye Zhao was nearly losing her footing upstairs.

At the same time, Nie Yun, Manager Liu, and the others hiding in the office were jolted awake. To make matters worse, the Granulation Ghost had fallen near where they were hiding, blocking their way out. No one dared leave. Everyone squeezed into the innermost break room of the general manager's office, their faces deathly pale as terror crept across every face.

Manager Liu grabbed Nie Yun again, unable to maintain his calm facade any longer. "Your friend still hasn't replied? Is she even really your friend?!"

Nie Yun was terrified too, trembling as he said, "That's hard to say. We've only met once!"

Manager Liu: ...

They really were unlucky. The Granulation Ghost actually smashed through the office door outside, furiously stomping dozens of desks and chairs into splinters. It rammed the walls until spiderweb cracks spread across them, then staggered toward the innermost general manager's office.

Someone cried out softly, "We're done for! What do we do? It's getting closer!"

"Think of something, quick!"

"Wuwu, I don't want to die..."

"Shut the fuck up! Don't make a sound!" Manager Liu snarled.

The crowd fell silent for a moment. Then the wall was smashed apart, and a head covered in granulations poked through. Though it had no visible eyes, it seemed as though it really could see them. Its voice brimmed with delight. "Found you~"

"Ah!! Ah!" Screams erupted everywhere. The Players gathered together instantly scattered in every direction. In their panic, some threw Exorcism Talismans at the Granulation Ghost. Nie Yun clutched the Exorcism Bronze Mirror tightly and picked a route to flee outside!

But the Granulation Ghost was far, far too fast. Even Ye Zhao had to raise her speed to one hundred and fifty to shake it off, much less the other Players.

Just as it reached for Manager Liu, who was closest to it, every hair on his body stood on end. Almost instinctively, he shoved the woman beside him forward!

The woman let out an incredulous scream. "Ah! Why—"

The woman crashed into the Granulation Ghost's embrace and was quickly swallowed by the flesh buds.

"Bleurgh!" Witnessing this, Nie Yun was shocked, terrified, pained, and nauseated. He glanced at Manager Liu, clutched the Bronze Mirror, and charged outside as if his life depended on it!

Manager Liu and the others seized the chance as well, running for the exit!

Still immersed in the pleasure of having its appetite satisfied, the Granulation Ghost did not give chase immediately. Manager Liu, noticing this, was both startled and delighted. A twisted, vicious grin appeared on his utterly ordinary face.

Upstairs, Ye Zhao heard the screams below. Before long, Nie Yun rushed up, with several other Players following close behind him.

After rushing upstairs, the group each found a place to hide amid the roofless ruins, holding their breaths and not daring to make a sound.

Downstairs, the well-fed Granulation Ghost finally stopped wreaking havoc and instead slowly wandered through the rooms.