Including the few masks Shen Ru had smashed himself, there were two hundred faces in total. The young man paid the supplier eight thousand with a cheerful smile, then waved it off happily.
Whether the monster was reeking all over or flinging black-and-yellow sludge around, he found it especially pleasing to the eye.
After all, who wouldn't love a sucker?
Shen Ru covered his nose and mouth with one hand, frowned slightly, and took two steps back. Displeased with the six NPCs still standing there in a daze, he swept a cold gaze over them. Just as he was about to speak, Qi Liang barked from behind him, borrowing his authority:
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and move everything inside!"
Since someone had taken the bad-cop role, Shen Ru smoothly took on the good-cop role.
The young man smiled at them and kindly reminded them, "Your probation starts now. If you substitutes perform well, I might just make you permanent."
Capitalists always managed to insult people without swearing. Shen Ru couldn't say he liked it, but it certainly came in handy.
He had to admit that although these NPCs looked terribly stiff and eerie, they worked very quickly and were extremely organized.
Before long, they had emptied the supplier's truck.
Yet the yellow mud monster wasn't particularly pleased. An even more suffocating sound emerged from its throat, its slimy voice sounding as though it might spray some nauseating, unidentified substance at any moment.
But despite its fury, the monster suddenly began cheerfully humming a strange, tuneless song before leaving.
It turned its utterly featureless head as though taunting him, then drove off unsteadily.
The young man's clenched fist abruptly relaxed. His dark red eyes were like stars sunk in an icy pool, his entire face clouded with gloom.
Tomorrow, he would figure out exactly how the operation worked. The final night of deliveries would be the night this mud man's life ended.
His lashes trembled twice. Once he had completely suppressed his anger, Shen Ru returned to his earlier carefree, languid manner.
"Clean up the entrance."
Looking at the store packed full of yellow-mud Human Face Masks, Shen Ru fell into thought.
He carefully reviewed the players, monsters, and NPCs he had encountered since entering the instance. Not one of them could wear this thing without looking completely out of place.
Either it automatically fused with a person's skin upon contact, or the customers were made of yellow mud, just like the supplier.
Neither possibility was particularly reassuring. What normal person came to a convenience store to buy a face?
What an oddly specific phrase!
And when the young man had inspected the register, he hadn't just found positive-review slips. There were negative-review slips too.
That was why he had kept two thousand in reserve.
Doing business inevitably meant encountering unreasonable customers who made trouble. A single negative review could affect the entire store's sales and customer traffic.
Cheng Lin and Qi Liang had also helped the NPCs carry the faces inside, while Wei Lingling stayed outside to clean.
With the store about to officially open, cleanliness inside couldn't be overlooked either.
Just as Cheng Lin was wiping down the second row of shelves, something eerie happened.
He discovered that one of the faces on the third shelf had actually begun to cry. Its eye sockets sank deep into its face as tears flowed endlessly, yellow sludge running down its high cheekbones onto the shelf.
Listening carefully, he realized this horrifying thing was even making sobbing sounds.
Cheng Lin felt a chill shoot straight up his spine to his head. He hastily turned to look at Qi Liang, but nothing unusual was happening on his side. It seemed Cheng Lin was the only one who could hear the eerie crying.
In previous instances, something like this was no different from a death sentence. But judging by how Qi Liang followed Shen Ru's every lead, Shen Ru had to be a high-level player. There was still hope for him.
At that thought, he stopped paying attention to his surroundings and hurriedly turned to run toward Shen Ru.
Where he couldn't see, the six NPCs seemed to sense something. They abruptly twisted their heads toward the direction Yellow Hair was running and revealed strange, terrifying smiles.
"H-help!"
Although Cheng Lin was panicking, he wasn't brainless.
He deliberately kept his cry for help low, his voice trembling with fear and helplessness as he dropped to his knees right in front of Shen Ru.
"Boss, there's a mask... no... there's a face crying!"
Perhaps he was too frightened to think straight. Yellow Hair's words came out jumbled, but despite all his stumbling, he managed to explain what had happened.
It wasn't strange for these Human Face Masks to have expressions of their own. Perhaps that was the real reason they attracted customers. But even when they had all been packed together earlier, Shen Ru hadn't heard a single Human Face Mask make a strange sound.
Shen Ru's interest was piqued, and he followed Yellow Hair to the second row of shelves.
"Which one do you mean?"
Cheng Lin blinked hard. The Human Face Mask that had been weeping bitterly earlier now lay motionless on the shelf with its eyes tightly shut, as though asleep.
Yellow Hair cursed under his breath, then hastily turned to explain to Shen Ru, "But it really was crying just now. I even wiped up the sludge it left behind. Look..."
Eager to prove it, he hurriedly picked up the rag he had used to wipe away the sludge. But when he spread it out, it was perfectly clean. There was nothing on it...
Disbelief covered Cheng Lin's face. He collapsed onto the floor, murmuring in terror, "How could this happen... I really saw it..."
Shen Ru remained expressionless. He didn't think Yellow Hair would be bored enough to invent a ghost story to scare him, so why had this happened?
The young man's gaze swept quickly over the rows of shelves. To him, every mask wore more or less the same expression. The only reason he could tell they were moving was the twitching of their facial muscles.
Was that what everyone else saw too?
"Qi Liang."
Shen Ru's voice wasn't loud, and his tone and expression remained calm. His question sounded almost casual:
"What expressions are these Human Face Masks making?"
Qi Liang was a little bewildered, but since the boss had asked, there had to be a reason. He obediently answered:
"The first two are smiling. The one in the middle has its eyes open and is looking at us. The last two seem to be sniffing something."
As soon as he finished, before Shen Ru could speak, Wei Lingling's breath caught beside them. Her face abruptly paled as she stared at Qi Liang in disbelief.
"But I see the first two rolling their eyes around, and the ones behind them opening and closing their mouths as though they're talking..."
"What? How is that possible?"
Qi Liang looked just as grim, especially with several eerie, unidentified creatures still standing inside the store.
For a moment, no one spoke. In the silent space, it seemed the only sound was the pounding of their hearts.
"Hahaha..."
The beautiful young man laughed unrestrainedly, his red eyes glistening with the intensity of his emotions. His low, husky voice carried a trace of morbid obsession:
"This is so interesting. Absolutely wonderful!"
No one dared approach that delicate, luscious red rose to ask what he was laughing at. All they knew was that the instant his laughter erupted, something abruptly shattered the terrifying deathly silence.
In the livestream chat:
[Holy shit!! Babe, don't be so unhinged!!!]
[Not naming names, but someone just got scared to death...]
[Help, aaaaaah, this is so fucking hot!!! I don't care about the Human Face Masks anymore. I just want to kiss my babe!!!]
[Aaaaaah, holy shit!!! Did you see those NPCs? They look like they're coming for my babe!!!]
[Holy shit, stop being so fucking captivating and look around!!!]
Before you continue