In a place unseen by others, Zhou Qi’an’s heart was far from calm. The [Cloud Crystal]’s preservation time was running out, with less than two minutes left.
As his words fell, the temperature throughout the carriage abruptly dropped.
Large, blooming roses appeared on the carriage walls, an ominous sight. Bertram wanted to say something about Zhou Qi’an’s hasty decision but, fearing Mother Zhou, dared not speak. Zhou Qi’an didn’t even spare him a glance.
When will he encounter high-quality players like Ying Yubai and Chan Yi again? Why has he only met trash recently?
Even without the college student, he wouldn’t have considered doing side quests. They held little meaning.
Zhou Qi’an could predict that side quests were merely designed to incite players to kill each other. If it came to fighting, even if Dong Li revived, he wouldn’t be able to defeat his mother in a group attack. Bertram and Wen should be grateful there wasn’t enough time.
The system prompt descended again:
[More than half of the players’ chosen candidate has been determined]
[Chosen candidate: A plain, impoverished little boy with black spots]
As the prompt continued, everyone felt like they were listening to a court verdict. Life or death, acquitted or condemned—it would be decided in an instant.
Wen looked at Zhou Qi’an with a wry smile: “How confident are you?”
Zhou Qi’an didn’t speak, still gazing in the direction of the little boy. As their gazes met in mid-air, Zhou Qi’an felt like he was staring into a bottomless pit; behind those pupils, there was only an endless abyss.
Clap, clap.
After a moment, the little boy clapped his hands alone. The black spots on his face gradually faded, and the joints in his body cracked like firecrackers.
Even more bizarrely, his body stretched, his limbs continuously extended, but his facial features gradually blurred. In the blink of an eye, the little boy transformed into a tall, featureless man.
Faced with this strange scene, Zhou Qi’an was only slightly surprised. The most excited were the other two players; the moment the little boy began to change, they knew they were safe.
The man calmly walked to the center of the carriage. As he passed Bertram and Wen, he said with a half-smile:
“You two acted quite well too.”
The earlier unease and annoyance dissipated; the voting result was correct! They immediately broke into smiles.
The King of Drama was a man of his word. Several boxes carved with roses appeared out of thin air in his hand, and he began to personally distribute rewards.
“Please keep up the good work.”
A respectful phrase made the players flattered as they accepted.
When it was Zhou Qi’an’s turn, he showed no smile. The King of Drama distributed the rewards one by one, clearly dragging out the time. As if knowing what he was thinking, the King of Drama’s hand movements intentionally slowed by half a beat.
“This one, I personally signed for you.”
Zhou Qi’an flipped it open and glanced at it, his expression subtly changing. He then decisively closed the contents:
“We don’t want the rewards. Shouldn’t it be the curtain call now?”
Seeing him forgo even the rewards to save time, the other two players were secretly stunned. What era is this? Are there still hotheads in games who let emotions cloud their judgment?
Wen and Bertram couldn’t help but look at Shen Zhiyi and Mother Zhou. They actually agreed to be represented in this decision?
Shen Zhiyi was feeling sleepy, his mind wasn’t even there. As for Mother Zhou, after seeing that the box Zhou Qi’an opened contained a hardcover book, she lost interest.
It would take up space in their small home, and it wouldn’t sell for much if recycled as waste paper by the pound.
“He doesn’t need it either,” Zhou Qi’an decided on his own, not even letting the King of Drama give it to the college student. Whoever takes this ominous thing will be unlucky.
Zhou Qi’an had glanced at the contents earlier, which were just common knowledge about ghosts, what was the difference from a school textbook?
It was a pure trap.
It was evident that Bertram and the others hadn’t been to relevant instances, or even if they had, they hadn’t realized the story background, otherwise they wouldn’t have touched this hot potato.
“The future is promising,” he said, looking at the two. Bertram and Wen felt inexplicably uneasy.
Delayed by the King of Drama, less than a minute remained. The college student was radiating a withered aura. Zhou Qi’an coldly looked at the King of Drama.
Delays breed complications; he disliked surprises. His face practically screamed “end the show quickly.”
“Don’t rush,” the car passed through the tunnel, daylight returned as usual, and after large areas of flowers bloomed, a fragrant scent filled every corner.
The King of Drama whispered: “It’s not the end yet.”
Another ten seconds passed. A mouth appeared on the man’s blank face, its lips a vibrant red, the curve of his smile rising higher with time.
Dong, dong.
The bell rang again. All the NPCs in the coach began to blur, and white light emerged from the players.
[Four-and-a-half-star instance: Huagu Coach Station cleared]
[Clearance reward: Fourteen thousand points deposited into inventory]
Confirming that he heard the system prompt, Zhou Qi’an’s light-colored pupils slightly brightened.
However, in the next moment, the light gradually dimmed.
The rich fragrance of the flowers became even more potent.
This was different from the usual signs before transmission.
He felt something was wrong.
Just in case, Zhou Qi’an took a few steps to the college student’s position and pushed him to Mother Zhou.
This sense of crisis was correct. In just over ten seconds, the players’ figures disappeared one after another. After a blink, only Zhou Qi’an was left standing alone in the carriage.
The prompt didn’t continue. Besides the flower fragrance, there was nothing else around. The world suddenly plunged into darkness. Zhou Qi’an’s heart sank. What other tricks were there?
In the darkness, the King of Drama’s voice echoed in his ear: “He who transforms me lives, he who breaks me advances, he who resembles me dies.”
Zhou Qi’an replied: “Uh-huh.” What’s with quoting famous sayings? He had quoted the same words in the dance studio.
The King of Drama: “You are the only actor who derailed the plot.”
Zhou Qi’an: “Uh-huh.”
The world suddenly brightened.
The sudden light caused his eyes to tear up involuntarily.
There was no longer the feeling of bumping or the sound of the engine. Both players and NPCs were gone. Zhou Qi’an belatedly realized that he had been brought back alone to the coach station’s office. He suppressed a hint of unease in his heart.
The system prompt had stated that the instance was cleared, and the college student was pushed to his mother at the last moment, so he should be fine. Now, he himself was in trouble.
Reining in his somewhat scattered thoughts, Zhou Qi’an’s face was stern, looking more imposing than the King of Drama himself. The office was as dim as ever.
The King of Drama said nothing more, calmly looking at the painting on the wall. Without any warning, he smoothly crossed out the description of himself below the painting with a fountain pen.
When he saw the King of Drama’s next move, Zhou Qi’an moved, immediately intending to rush over and stop him.
However, just like when he took the actor’s qualification exam, an invisible obstacle in the air reappeared.
Before he could break free, the scratched-out area below the portrait was replaced with a new name: [Zhou Qi’an].
The scarlet, ornate script glowed strikingly in the dim light.
A mechanical voice eerily descended again:
[You are the beginning of the entire play]
If you had not boarded that punctually departing coach, this play would never have premiered, and everyone would have perished in the prologue.
[The story begins, you found the killer; the story ends, you found the King of Drama]
[The glory of the King of Drama has ended]
[Congratulations on becoming the new Stage Setter of Huagu City]
[Huagu City Stage Setter: Needs to write a play for Huagu City every seven days. After game review, it can be screened in the city.]
[Stage Setter Benefit 1: After death, you can effectively avoid becoming a tunnel corpse and become a game native with self-awareness. Note: You’re still alive anyway, so live. Who can live longer than you?]
[Stage Setter Benefit 2: You are the only one who can use the [Pocket Watch].]
[Pocket Watch: A reward once given by the King of Drama. Usage guide: Turn counter-clockwise to rewind time by one minute. Quality: Five-star. Note: This item will have a very long cooldown period after use. Perhaps you can only use it once in your lifetime.]
[A talented writer needs a good mind]
[Your cerebellum is automatically evolving…]
The facial features in the painting on the wall gradually filled in: long brows like distant mountains, eyes like the deep sea.
The contours of the person in the painting became much softer. The flowing long hair still draped over the shoulders as always, and the hair’s color began to transition towards a cold blue hue. It was undeniably himself.
The King of Drama, no, the former King of Drama, turned around and elegantly spread his arms:
“I said, this will be my most excellent work.” To turn an actor who always presented a righteous image in every act into a behind-the-scenes planner. How absurd, realistic, and profound!
“There were also some clever people who boarded the coach before, but you are the only one who walked away.”
On Zhou Qi’an’s chest, just like in the painting, appeared a vibrant rose, pinned with a fountain pen.
[Dream Pen: A top-tier fountain pen symbolizing identity and prestige, dreams and talent.
Usage guide: It is your other form of expression, your other channel for speaking. Gently press the pen cap three times, and within ten meters, all living beings must hear your voice. You will speak with persuasive eloquence, generating unconscious conviction.
Quality: Four-star. Hint: Each use lasts for one minute and has a one-week cooldown period.]
“…” Isn’t this just a multi-level marketing scheme?
Outside the window, a drizzling rain began to fall, and boundless chill permeated his spine. After losing his [Identity], the King of Drama’s figure began to decompose in the air. For a moment, the room was filled with a sweet, decaying smell.
“The outsider fortune teller.”
“The righteous Detective Mr.”
“The passerby who is outside the plot.”
“The pure and good Saint…”
“Do you like this ending?”
His voice, like before, was ever-changing, sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes old, sometimes young, interweaving together, even colder than the system prompt—
“The dragon-slaying youth ultimately becomes a dragon.”
[Hint]
[About to be teleported out of the instance]
[Teleportation countdown: one minute]
[Please adhere to the Huagu (Flower Ancient) City confidentiality agreement. It is prohibited to proactively disclose instance secrets to others.]
Dong dong.
The King of Drama mysteriously vanished from sight.
As Zhou Qi’an looked around, the office door suddenly knocked. Miss Qi walked in. She was like a professional secretary, smiling:
“Mr. King of Drama, in your absence from Huagu City in the future, I will take care of everything here on your behalf.”
Zhou Qi’an took a moment to realize she was calling him. He suddenly understood that the game had given him a free part-time job.
“%#&￥…”
He couldn’t help but curse, a very foul curse, just like this foul world. Although he kept reminding himself that, ignoring the items, the free cerebellum evolution wasn’t a loss. From the first day entering the instance, the options had emphasized that brain evolution was the most difficult. After forcibly comforting himself for three seconds, he cursed even more foully.
—
Zhou Qi’an crossed his arms, trying to calm himself, and scrutinized Miss Qi. This NPC had been quite averse to him, and now he was her nominal boss. He wondered what she thought.
Using the last moments of the countdown, Zhou Qi’an put on his boss persona and asked Miss Qi for her current thoughts.
Miss Qi returned Zhou Qi’an’s own words, maintaining her professional smile: “Let’s work overtime together.”
[10s, 9s…]
As the countdown began, Zhou Qi’an suddenly said:
“In my absence, remember to hold a seventh-day memorial for the former Mr. King of Drama, right in his garden.”
Firstly, to let those tragically dead actors appreciate the fate of their former director, especially Miss Thief. Secondly… Zhou Qi’an wanted to test Miss Qi’s attitude. The King of Drama’s disappearance was too sudden; who knew if he was dead or alive.
Miss Qi’s diamond ring sparkled, just like her smile: “Death is also a release…”
Her lips kept curving upward, but her eyes gradually grew forlorn: “That Mr. King of Drama is finally no longer a game puppet.”
Zhou Qi’an remained silent.
[3s, 2s, 1s]
The final second of the countdown ended. It was like a bell ringing in his ears, three times in a row, each more ethereal than the last.
Zhou Qi’an only felt his soul resonating with the bell. Before he fell completely into darkness again, he vaguely saw a dark shadow appear in the office.
Zhou Qi’an tried to see the phantom more clearly, but then everything went black again, and he completely lost consciousness.
The phantom in the corner, after confirming Zhou Qi’an’s safe teleportation, glided out of the office.
It moved extremely fast, tracking the sweet, decaying scent. With the instance over and no rules encompassing it, the phantom was almost unimpeded. It traversed the lonely highway and finally arrived in front of a building.
Man-high flower branches swayed in the wind. The long-haired man standing in the center path had his head slightly bowed.
His translucent skin continuously mottled, peeling off like wall plaster. The phantom instantly teleported.
The already decaying body was mercilessly pierced by the phantom, and a bone was even forcibly extracted.
The King of Drama let out a muffled groan, not looking down at his air-leaking body, but slightly raising his head: “As expected, it’s you…”
Monster.
Everything in Huagu City could not escape the King of Drama’s notice.
When the Shadow and Shen Zhiyi successively tormented the priest in the church, the King of Drama had already sensed something was wrong.
The reasons for tormenting the priest twice were also very interesting. The second time was to interrogate him about Zhou Qi’an’s whereabouts.
The first time… now that he thought about it, it was to vent his frustration over Zhou Qi’an’s drowning.
“An unexpected… joy.”
Under the intense pain, the King of Drama laughed intermittently and nervously.
Only when a living person became the city lord of Huagu City could this dead city have other vitality.
Unfortunately, that was a new King of Drama with principles. But an existence that knew it was going to die and still came to torment him definitely had no principles.
“Perfect, truly, a perfect curtain call, a perfect…”
His soft, long hair was blown by the wind. The King of Drama’s slender neck bent unnaturally, and large patches of blood bloomed on the ground.
The color of the blood itself was more vibrant than any flower in the garden. The next second, the phantom, without any emotional fluctuation, casually pushed him. The surrounding flowers immediately acted like cats sniffing blood, their stems dragging the King of Drama’s body, feasting on the delicious nutrients in the soil…
The circulating wind reminded Zhou Qi’an that he had left the enclosed office. The first sense to return was hearing.
The rain had stopped.
Next was sight.
Zhou Qi’an looked around.
His legs felt somewhat shaky.
He was standing on the highway, and there was no longer any coach station in sight.
His phone was back in his pocket, still in the state it was in before he entered, with the map app open, showing he was on Provincial Highway 417.
“Brother Zhou!”
The college student’s familiar voice came. Mother Zhou’s car was not far away. The aura of death and decay was gone from him. The others had come out about three or four minutes before Zhou Qi’an. Mother Zhou was eating snacks in the car. Shen Zhiyi stood by the guardrail. After seeing Zhou Qi’an, he walked over, his drowsiness somewhat dissipated. The mist wasn’t very thick. They were no longer technically in the game, and both of them tacitly avoided mentioning the instance.
Zhou Qi’an’s mind was still unsettled, constantly cursing, “Overtime and everything can go to hell.” The Shadow was still in the instance, grinding bone into needles, and Shen Zhiyi didn’t care; it would walk back on its own anyway.
“Get in the car,” Shen Zhiyi said.
Zhou Qi’an nodded. After sitting down, he habitually logged into the forum to check. In the pinned posts, news was updated daily. In the post about instance entrances, [Provincial Highway 417] was displayed as closed. He guessed that since it had just been updated, not many people had noticed, and the discussion wasn’t high. No players would enter this instance again in a short time, as Huagu City mostly received players who had already died.
“Is it a fair exchange…” He withdrew his gaze and looked out the window. The game provided an evolutionary path, giving humans a chance to live, but once they died in this hunting ground, they would forever become “puppets” of the game.
“Dragon-slaying youth?”
Thinking of the King of Drama’s final statement, Zhou Qi’an sneered.
He was different from the former King of Drama; he entered Huagu City alive and walked out alive. If a giant dragon blocked the way, slay the dragon. If a youth blocked the way, deal with the youth.
There was no need for so many twists and turns. His goal was only one: to live with his closest kin and reach that new world.
As for Huagu City.
“The NPCs in Huagu City are in a much better situation than the tunnel ‘giant observation’ corpses; at least they can still think.”
From the last performance in Miss Thief’s garden, it seemed memory had a possibility of recovery. The most precious things for a person are memory and time. When one truly recovers memories and possesses time, will it be defined as life or death?
These thoughts merely flashed through his mind. For him, he currently had no energy to save the residents of Huagu City; surviving himself was the most important thing.
“When successful, help the world.”
The future could be discussed in the future.
The environment had been deteriorating daily. While Zhou Qi’an was spacing out, at least seven or eight notifications about abnormal climates in various places popped up on his phone. He casually glanced at them, and his head began to hurt:
“Twenties, no car, still carrying a loan, taking the bus every day. What does global warming have to do with me…”
Humans didn’t take him along when they developed, but they remembered him when they faced extinction.
Zhou Qi’an sighed deeply and specifically checked the date. Damn, it’s almost time for work again.
Author’s Note:
Shadow: Grinding an iron rod into a needle.
Shen Zhiyi: You’re walking too slowly.
A dead person as the King of Drama is a puppet forever controlled by the game; it’s impossible for their soul to even disperse. A living person is different; a living person might be able to exploit loopholes for manipulation. It’s like one seeks death, and the other seeks life. Huagu City primarily serves as a prelude to the next instance, which will be an ultimate showdown with black-hearted capitalists.
Crazy plot here love it. Capitalism reigns supreme, even in a monster world