Lin Bai Was Running Out of Time

The blacksmith and the carpenter had the same idea.

It made sense when you thought about it.

Word of the haunted house had spread like wildfire, and the surrounding area had remained abandoned ever since. How many mouths could the Brokerage silence? A little asking around would uncover the truth.

Faced with something like this,

even a fat sheep ripe for fleecing would probably end up swallowing his bad luck.

So every craftsman planned to stall as long as possible. Once Lin Bai recognized the difficulty and backed off, the matter would naturally fizzle out.

Who could have known they would run into such a ruthless character this time?

And so,

The blacksmith inevitably suffered the same fate as the carpenter. After Lin Bai used Ghost to harvest his Negative Emotions, he had no choice but to work overtime, seething with anger as he rushed Lin Bai's order.

The poor, simple, kindhearted family of ghosts had been painted by Lin Bai as Vengeful Ghosts who devoured people without even spitting out their bones, their reputation utterly ruined.

Mercy, mercy!

Still, there was no denying it.

People certainly worked much more efficiently with a gun pointed at them.

In Lin Bai's mind, the stalled task progress bar of the incomplete system finally began crawling forward again.

His Negative Emotions points rose along with it.

With three ghosts hovering overhead, forced overtime, and finished products that had to be defective, nine out of ten people would be full of resentment.

In this short span, Lin Bai had already watered the tree twice. In a certain sense, they had contributed to environmental protection, too.

"Heaven watches what people do. Dishonest people deserve punishment."

Most people's happiness was built on someone else's suffering, and Lin Bai was no exception. Right now, he was very happy.

Positive emotions were picky about people and required careful cultivation.

Negative Emotions could be scooped up at will and would keep growing. Choosing Negative Emotions meant choosing the expressway—you could floor it right from the start.

It was practically guaranteed happiness.

At the Blacksmith Shop, Lin Bai encountered another player named [Deng Libuduo].

He wore a blacksmith's apprentice outfit and an apron and was working the bellows. Clearly, he already had a profession.

However,

Lin Bai pretended not to see him.

Everything he had accomplished so far had come from borrowing others' power.

At Luo Congwen's home, he had borrowed the influence of Old Master Luo, whom he had never met, to earn his starting capital;

against Ghost, he had borrowed the players' immortality;

against his big brother [Lao Mi], he had borrowed the power of the Government Office and the Beggar Gang;

to push the craftsmen into working, he had turned around and borrowed Ghost's power;

Lin Bai was like a diplomatic strategist, maneuvering between the different parties again and again. His assets and gains seemed to be growing, but every step landed on a tightrope.

If any one party came to its senses, it could set off a mine.

Borrowed things were never truly his own.

To forge iron, you first had to be strong yourself. Ultimately, he was still just an empty shell.

The natives were already powerful.

The players, meanwhile, were a special breed. For experience, they approached everything with boundless enthusiasm. Once they found a method, they could shoot upward at lightning speed.

Lin Bai was running out of time.

Before any one of these matters blew up, he had to gain the strength to handle it.

So,

no matter how tempting they looked, he could not provoke any more players.

Keep a low profile.

At least until he had some fighting strength, he could not invite any more trouble.

As it turned out,

even when the bright moon in the night sky showed only a sliver, it still drew more attention than the surrounding stars.

The moment Lin Bai left the Blacksmith Shop, the newly promoted Blacksmith Apprentice [Deng Libuduo] could no longer contain his curiosity. "Master, what was the deal with that guy just now?"

"He's a lunatic." The blacksmith swung his hammer down hard on the glowing red iron billet, venting his resentment toward Lin Bai amid a shower of sparks.

Beside him, [Deng Libuduo] listened until he was practically drooling.

A haunted shop, defective iron bowls, a shop with an unknown purpose...

This guy was a hidden NPC!

Compared with the legendary Lin Bai, [Deng Libuduo] suddenly found his Blacksmith Apprentice status much less appealing. His heart stirred restlessly.

Perhaps,

he should learn more of Lin Bai's story.

One man suppressing three Vengeful Ghosts—only an idiot would believe he had no superior spells!

This game was called "Immortal World." Immortal Techniques and Dao Arts were the main attraction.

Yesterday, he had scoured the entire city without finding a sect where he could learn Immortal Arts. The Martial Arts Hall charged tuition, so he had been forced to join the Blacksmith Shop as an apprentice, planning to pick up a crafting profession first and build up his experience...

Who would have thought that, just after becoming an apprentice, he would unearth such explosive news?

Could this be the legendary great hermit hiding in the bustling city?

The expert had been right: only by integrating into the world could you find a path forward.

This game was getting more and more interesting. Its storylines were hidden in the details of everyday life.

The developers had really put their hearts into it!

[Deng Libuduo] worked the bellows out of habit, his heart surging. Seize it. I had to seize this opportunity. That NPC was mine...

"Pay attention when you work the bellows. Watch the heat." The blacksmith snapped irritably at his new apprentice. "Little Deng, you have a real gift for smithing. Don't let this filthy business spoil your mood. Strange customers like that are rare, after all. You might not meet one or two in your entire life. Focus on your craft, and you'll finish your apprenticeship in three years at most. Whatever else may happen, this craft of mine will definitely let you support a family."

Three years?

Would I have come to this shabby little place if I didn't need to unlock a profession?

One month, tops, and I'd have the Blacksmith Title.

In three years, I'd be a Forging Grandmaster at the very least...

[Deng Libuduo] grumbled inwardly, then forced out a ingratiating smile. "Master, when you deliver these vessels tomorrow, could I come along? Come to think of it, I've never seen a ghost!"

"What's so interesting about ghosts?" The blacksmith snorted, then turned to the apprentices whose shifty eyes made it clear they did not want to go to the haunted house. He spat in displeasure. "You, then! Don't run your mouth once we're there. That customer is hard to please. If you stir up trouble, I won't be able to protect you. The most important thing for a blacksmith is concentration..."

"Thank you, Master." [Deng Libuduo] answered cheerfully and worked the bellows even harder.

In and out—he wasn't pumping bellows, he was pumping experience points!

From that perspective, taking players as apprentices clearly offered a competitive edge over taking natives...

By selling his life, [Long Xi] earned his first pot of gold.

Leaving the pawnshop flush with money, he immediately ran to the Weapon Shop to buy a longsword, then hurried to Lin Bai's shop, intending to keep strengthening his relationship with the NPC.

But when he arrived, he found the door ajar and no one inside. The ghost family was nowhere to be found, either.

If not for the blood he had spat out when he was thrown through the doorway, [Long Xi] would have thought everything yesterday had been a hallucination.

Unwilling to give up, he went inside and searched for the copper coins and kitchen knife he had dropped upon dying yesterday, but found neither.

"Looting players' corpses—NPCs have no fucking shame. One day, I'll take back everything I lost, principal and interest."

Seething, [Long Xi] spat hard on the ground, then resolutely turned and left.

The Boss's level was too high. He was absolutely no match for him right now.

He had to raise his level before the other players did to have a chance at the Boss's First Kill.

He was running out of time, too.

On another street,

[Lao Mi] and [Jing Mi] were making one final effort to preserve their last story quest.

"Lao Mi, we've already covered three streets." [Jing Mi]'s hair was a tangled mess. "I'm seriously starting to think that NPC was just having fun at our expense."

"It isn't noon yet!" [Lao Mi] looked up at the sun, his certainty giving way to doubt. "Let's keep at it a little longer. If we still can't find him when time's up, we'll go to the City Lord's Residence and explain. Losing half a day or a day won't matter for grinding levels."

"Lao Mi, have you noticed there are more and more beggars on the streets?" [Jing Mi] surveyed their surroundings and asked in puzzlement, "There weren't this many yesterday, were there?"

[Lao Mi] had been so focused on finding Lin Bai that he had not noticed their surroundings. At [Jing Mi]'s words, he glanced around, and his expression instantly changed. "Damn it. We crossed a forbidden line."

"What?" Before [Jing Mi] could understand, his eyes suddenly lit up. He pointed excitedly into the near distance and shouted, "Boss, look! Isn't that your little brother?"

[Lao Mi] looked where he pointed, and a familiar figure immediately came into view. Overjoyed, he forgot even the beggars around him in his excitement. "Persistence pays off! I told you we'd find him..."

Before he could finish,

Thump!

A heavy blow struck the back of his head. Then his vision went black as a sack was pulled over it.

He heard [Jing Mi] shouting beside him. "What are you doing? Who are you?"

Thump! Thump!

Through the sack, [Lao Mi] took several heavy punches to the chest and several kicks to the shins...

"We've caught the notorious bandit."

"You little punk, posing as one of our Beggar Gang members! You really don't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is!"

"Enough chatter. Hurry up and take him to the Government Office for the reward before any new branches sprout from this mess."

Take him to the Government Office for a reward?

[Lao Mi]'s vision darkened again. It was over. This time, even with a mouth, I wouldn't be able to explain myself. Going to the Government Office on my own and being captured and dragged there were obviously two different things!

At that moment, his anger erupted. I played games to have fun. To hell with tempering my will through suffering. I quit!

Thanks to Meng Taizhen JW for the Helmsman-level tip, and to Laole123123 and Chongcao a for the Deacon-level tips, ^_^!