WTNL Chapter 346

Xingwamg Hotel
Chapter 346: Clever way to use the bug

In truth, the moment Wen Jianyan pulled open the door and called Wu Zhu out, he regretted it.

He stared at the darkened bed before him, falling into self-doubt.

“Why are you even bothering with him?”

It’s not like this guy is human anyway. Letting him stay in place all night wouldn’t make any difference—was it really worth all this trouble?

But—

The words had already been spoken.

And now the person had already followed him out.

Wen Jianyan glanced at the mirror behind him.

Wu Zhu stood silently at his back, his golden eyes lowering as he gazed at him.

With the room shrouded in darkness, only those glowing irises were faintly visible—like a beast’s eyes reflecting light in the night.

Forget it.

At this point, regret was useless.

At the very least, the beds in this instance were big enough—more than sufficient to accommodate two adult men.

Wen Jianyan sighed and glanced at Bai Xue on the other bed, confirming that he had not woken up.

Only then did he lie down on one side of the bed.

The mattress beside him sank slightly.

For a split second, Wen Jianyan’s shoulders tensed unconsciously.

He gritted his teeth, irritated at himself for reacting so instinctively.

Objectively speaking, they were both biologically male—there was no logical reason to treat this situation as if it were some grave matter.

But—

Perhaps it was because Wu Zhu’s true form was tainted with far too many sins, making it almost impossible for Wen Jianyan to perceive him as just a normal, non-threatening individual.

Sleeping beside a regular person would have posed no issue—but with this particular individual, he found it impossible to remain at ease.

“Don’t try anything funny.”

Wen Jianyan turned his head slightly, lowering his voice.

“If you do, I won’t hold back. Understood?”

In the darkness, Wu Zhu maintained his usual guileless expression, his face unreadable.

But Wen Jianyan knew all too well—

This guy, though lacking memories and far less dangerous than his original self, had not changed in essence.

Wu Zhu wasn’t incapable of understanding human language—

He simply chose not to understand anything inconvenient to him.

“……”

Sigh.

Wen Jianyan mentally sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

Even more regret.

Clearly, for him, having a conscience always led to disaster.

Despite remaining highly alert, Wen Jianyan had no choice but to sleep—he needed to recover his strength.

Though, in this situation, falling asleep quickly would be… difficult.

Darkness filled the room.

And yet—

Not long after the human young man closed his eyes, his breathing gradually evened out.

---

In the “Integrity First” live room barrage:

[…He fell asleep?]

[He actually fell asleep?]

[Respect. Absolute respect! No wonder he’s the most promising high-level anchor lately. Even with a literal bug lying next to him, he can still sleep—his mental resilience is insane!]

[Seriously, if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, he probably wouldn’t even flinch.]

[But his basic precautions are still there. Did you guys notice the few tools he set up at the door? Even though he doesn’t have much experience with long-duration instances, his survival instincts are surprisingly well-developed!]

[By the way, what’s going on with the Black Faction? Are they making any moves?]

 [I don’t know, let me take a look.]

There were fluctuations in the number of online viewers across multiple live broadcast rooms.

[The Gentlemen squad doesn’t seem to have any intention of making a move; they’ve already settled down to rest.]

[Well, that makes sense. They currently have a clear advantage, and as long as they proceed step by step, their chances of losing are minimal. There’s no need to waste time and energy at this point.]

[Same on my end.]

[Wait a minute, there seems to be a squad acting a little restlessly.]

[What? Where? Let me take a look!]

Inside a room belonging to the Black Faction.

“The Gentlemen didn’t issue any commands?” one of the team members asked.

“No,” the captain shook his head. “They only told us to act at our own discretion when we split up…”

“What do you think?”

The captain spoke slowly, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I don’t think we should let it slip away. Even if we don’t manage to eliminate the Red Team’s squad, just disrupting their rest time would still be beneficial to us.”

“I agree!”

The teammates nodded in agreement.

“Captain, how should we act?”

The captain fell into deep thought.

They were currently in the “Employee Dormitory” area. While malevolent spirits couldn’t invade this space, and the so-called hotel manager hadn’t mentioned any rules prohibiting conflicts among employees, launching a direct attack in this situation was clearly unwise. After all, the Red Faction’s members were all experienced anchors—they wouldn’t be completely unguarded.

Since a frontal assault wasn’t an option, then perhaps…

The captain looked toward one of his teammates and suddenly smiled. “Do you still have the item you left behind in the last instance?”

Seeming to understand the unspoken meaning behind the captain’s words, the teammates exchanged knowing smiles. “Of course.”

Soon, the item was activated.

A long, thin, thread-like worm appeared in the air, floating slowly before slipping through the gap beneath the door and wobbling its way into the distance.

“Don’t worry,” the team member who had activated the item explained, “this thing may not be able to evade highly advanced detection tools, but it’s extremely difficult to eliminate. Even if a small section is destroyed, it regenerates quickly. In my last instance, which was based on Miao Gu witchcraft, I was entangled with this thing for three whole days before finally figuring out how to counter it on the last day.”

The nearly invisible thread moved stealthily through the darkness, making it almost impossible to detect with the naked eye. It didn’t resemble a living creature; rather, it looked like a floating speck of dust in water. However, it was very much real as it extended into the distance, bypassing the Black Team’s territory and drifting toward the Red Team’s half of the area.

The thin strand began to branch out in an eerie manner. Identical silk-like filaments split from the main thread, weaving toward numerous tightly closed door cracks. The white silk threads wriggled, approaching the detection device that Wen Jianyan had set up at the doorway. Its tip was reflected in the mirror’s surface.

In the darkness, Wu Zhu suddenly opened his eyes.

His golden irises shimmered with an inorganic glow as he swept his gaze toward the door.

Snap.

Under some invisible force, the long, white filaments suddenly snapped apart, breaking inch by inch and drifting toward the ground.

“…At any rate, if the opposing team is caught off guard, then we’ve hit the jackpot. It’ll coil around a human’s neck, suffocating them to death,” the team member said with confidence. “Of course, even if it’s discovered, it doesn’t matter. The Red Faction will still be entangled by it all night, making it difficult for them to recover their stamina—”

Suddenly, his voice caught in his throat.

The teammate beside him was startled and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“…”

With a blank expression, the team member murmured, “It’s gone…”

“Huh? What?” The others were also stunned, momentarily unable to react. “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

Refusing to believe it, the Black Team member opened his backpack and frantically searched through it. After confirming that the item had indeed vanished completely, he stiffly raised his head, his face still filled with bewilderment. “The item… has been consumed.”

No way. That’s impossible!!

Even though its effectiveness was greatly reduced after being transformed into an item, it shouldn’t have disappeared within mere seconds! Is this a bug in Nightmare?!

Wu Zhu stared at the doorway for a moment.

The broken white filaments slowly floated down, landing just a few centimeters away from the security threshold before dissolving as if melting into nothingness.

Retracting his gaze, he looked at the young human lying close by.

The young man was sleeping on his side, his body habitually curled up slightly. Shadows cast softly over his slightly tousled silver hair, his long eyelashes drooping, leaving a deep silhouette on his face. His facial contours were elegant and smooth, his breathing steady—he had yet to be disturbed.

Perhaps sensing the weight of an external gaze, the young man furrowed his brows slightly. His eyes moved beneath his closed eyelids, and he turned over. In doing so, his head happened to press against Wu Zhu’s chest, not far from his heart.

Wu Zhu carefully placed his hand on the other’s waist and gently pulled him closer into his embrace.

“…Good,” he thought. He hadn’t woken up.

Satisfied, Wu Zhu closed his eyes.

In the “Integrity First” live room chat:

[…]

[…]

[F***!!! What is going on with the atmosphere in this livestream… Is this really what I came here to watch?!!!]

[I have to say, I’m in awe. At first, I thought the anchor was going to sleep way too quickly, but I was seriously underestimating him—he’s operating on another level!]

[Sorry, but I really didn’t expect a bug to be used this way!!!!]

In an instance filled with hidden dangers, even if one knew that their current room was temporarily safe from supernatural threats, it was still difficult to truly relax. After all, the opposing team’s streamers were just a wall away, and no one could be certain whether they would launch a night raid. While making the most of the time to recover stamina, vigilance could not be abandoned.

The scheduled time soon arrived.

The team members gathered in the room where Wen Jianyan and Bai Xue were staying.

Wen Jianyan swept his gaze over his teammates and asked, “How was your rest? Did anything unusual happen?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Perhaps it was because the designated safe period in the script was too brief and precious, or maybe it was out of concern that an unforeseen conflict in this unknown territory could have incalculable consequences, but contrary to expectations, the Black Team did not launch a night attack. The first night passed uneventfully.

Yun Bilan glanced back and forth between Wen Jianyan and Bai Xue.

Was it just her imagination…?

Although both of them looked almost the same as they had before parting ways last night, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something in the atmosphere had subtly shifted.

“How about you? Did anything unusual happen?” she asked.

…Unusual?

Wen Jianyan paused, instinctively lifting his gaze to glance at the large mirror facing the room.

Inside the mirror, the black-haired, golden-eyed man stood in his usual place, unmoving, right beside him.

Unexpectedly, the guy had actually been well-behaved last night.

However… waking up to find a gigantic, unblinking eldritch bug-eyed entity staring directly at you was still enough to give anyone a heart attack.

Wen Jianyan’s mouth twitched slightly. He shook his head and said, “Nothing unusual.”

Moving on to the main topic, Wen Jianyan asked, “Have you all put on your uniforms and name badges?”

The team members nodded in response. Wen Jianyan continued:

“I suspect that today, our uniforms and name badges will be essential, but their exact function remains unclear. We’ll have to figure it out as we go.”

He then quickly assigned tasks for the day.

Their objectives were twofold: first, to ensure that more members of the Red Faction became official employees, and second, to enter the abandoned house in town and investigate the dried-up well, completing the true commission of the guest in Room 408. On the surface, these two tasks seemed sequential, but in reality, they were not.

Since they had no way of knowing how many scattered Red Faction squads were still inside the hotel, searching for them would take time—too much time.

“Yun Bilan, you and Rui Rui will handle the first task,” Wen Jianyan said, turning to the two.

“The rest will come with me into town.”

Yun Bilan frowned, displeased.

“Why?”

She was a combatant, arguably the strongest in the squad. Yet, she was being sidelined into a supporting role, accompanying non-combat members to find other Red Faction squads and exchange information…

Clearly, she wasn’t happy with this arrangement.

“I would be much more useful by your side. Why not send Zhong Shan or Chen Mo to handle intelligence gathering instead?”

Wen Jianyan gave her a long, steady look. His gaze briefly lingered on the thorn-like markings on her face, which had become even more pronounced. Then, in a smooth tone, he replied:

“Locket’s squad had two former players from previous instances, meaning their voices carry more weight among the players. Since you’re with him, you can represent his authority. While others could also do this, they don’t stand out as much as you do. Other squads will remember you first, not the relatively unremarkable Chen Mo.”

“But—”

Yun Bilan was about to argue further, but Wen Jianyan cut her off with a shake of his head.

“I have other considerations.”

“…”

Though still dissatisfied, Yun Bilan eventually fell silent and stepped back to stand beside Ruirui, who was nervously watching her.

Wen Jianyan’s gaze lingered on Yun Bilan for a moment, and he sighed inwardly.

Talents in Nightmare always came with side effects.

Although Yun Bilan’s talent had surged in a crisis, this also meant that her level of aberration was worsening.

The side effects were not just physical—they also manifested mentally.

Because of this, he couldn’t allow Yun Bilan to have too much exposure to danger. After all, in a life-or-death situation, whether or not she used her abilities would no longer be up to her.

So, despite her superior combat capabilities, Wen Jianyan had made his decision.

With the task assignments completed, the designated wake-up time arrived.

Knock, knock, knock!

The door was rapped on precisely on schedule.

From outside, the hotel manager’s voice called out:

“Official employees, gather outside.”

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