WTNL Chapter 42 [Arc 3]

Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Thank you ‘Lou’ for the Ko-fi~

Antai Community
Chapter 42: Goddess of luck’s blessing

Wen Jianyan returned to that transparent waiting room surrounded by countless cameras again.

Before the start of the next instance, he took the time to check his backpack.

The “Xiao Jie’s tooth” obtained from the Decai Middle School instance had been used up, and Wen Jianyan had not yet figured out the usage of “Mr. Mirror”, so he could only leave it in the backpack for the time being.

The two props obtained at Fukang Private General Hospital were also placed in the backpack.

【Lin Qing’s doctor’s certificate (Difficult-level item in Fukang Private General Hospital instance); Utility: Resist a fatal injury
Note: The anchor has Lin Qing’s blessing to improve the prop’s utility: after using it, you will get a one-minute golden body effect.】

The number under the doctor’s certificate was 1, which meant this was a consumable item that could only be used once.

【The remains of the sleeping Holy Child (Legend-level item in Fukang Private General Hospital instance); Utility: Wake up the Holy Child and obtain the status of the Mother of the World for 30 seconds.】

【Level 1】

【Permanently bound to the anchor: Wen Jianyan.】

There was no quantity indicator below the Holy Child, only a very long cooldown bar.

These were extremely rare props in Nightmare, and the prop “the remains of the Holy Child” he got was even rarer among the rare. Not only would it not be consumed, but it was also permanently bound to the anchor and could not be dropped or robbed.

At least, Wen Jianyan had not heard of the existence of a second similar prop so far.

He touched the holy child in the space with his fingertips, and an inadvertent soft color flashed across his eyes.

【Apple Seedlings: Level 2】

【Flower of Delusion: Developing】

【Fruit of Lies: Developing】

Only thirty seconds remained in the blood-red countdown in space.

Then he heard the lively voice of the little assistant:

“The number of points that a D-level anchor can bring into the instance is 5,000; please save expenses and try to survive!”

This was much better than the E-level anchor, who could only bring in 1,000 points. At least one could buy a life-saving prop or exchange them for 50 minutes of survival time. 

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and closed the backpack interface.

During this period of time, he wore various appearances, wandered among the various low-level and middle-level guilds, and learned a lot of valuable information.

However, the specific information and plot within the instances remained a secret.

Obviously, there was a very strict set of “spoiler prevention” rules in the Nightmare live broadcast room. Not only could the anchors not watch the live broadcast, but they also couldn’t enter the instance they had gone through previously. The system would also severely punish the anchor who leaked the plot or content of the instance. Therefore, no anchor could know the content of the next instance in advance.

However, the mode of the instances below the C-level was basically fixed. The anchor only needed to avoid all kinds of death rules, maintain the live broadcast, and clear the instance by exchanging the survival time. If you didn’t think about collecting hidden items or changing the plot, it was not that difficult to survive.

However, the instances of level C++ and above were different.

The modes of the instances above would become more flexible and demanding, and there were various kinds, just like the team hunting battle in the last instance, which was one of the unique modes. In these instances, although survival time was still important, if the task was not completed, even if you survived long enough, you would encounter a death crisis.

Due to the level restrictions and in order not to be targeted by the members of the Dark Fire, the anchors that Wen Jianyan had contacted were basically D-level similar to him, and the highest was C-, so he did not know about the instances above C+ level.

But it did not matter.

The D-level anchor could only enter a C-level instance at the highest.

After having a full understanding of the rules, Wen Jianyan was very confident about entering the instance this time.

The experience he summed up was briefly summarized in only three words:

Don’t court death.

As long as he was not stupid enough to blindly increase the degree of plot modification, with Wen Jianyan’s current popularity in the live broadcast room, it was easy for him to pass a D-level or even a C-level instance.

No need to worry at all!

However, before Wen Jianyan could feel relieved, he heard the mechanical female voice ringing in her ears again:

“Ding! Due to the excellent performance of the host in the last instance, a B-level instance will be opened for you!”

“I hope the anchor will make persistent efforts and continue to improve the viewing experience of the audience!”

Wen Jianyan: “………………”

Ah?

【Welcome to the Nightmare live broadcast room, the next live broadcast will start immediately.】

【Our aim is to entertain to death!】

***

Wen Jianyan’s eyelids trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Noisy, very lifelike voices came into his ears. The crowd was constantly flowing — the old, the young, men, women, laughter, shouts, conversations, and countless voices mixed together like a loud and huge sound wave rushing straight toward him, enveloping him completely.

The surroundings suddenly changed from extremely quiet to extremely noisy, and Wen Jianyan couldn’t recover for a while due to the excessive contrast.

He blinked, and after a brief moment of blankness, his eyes slowly focused.

He realized that he was standing in the middle of a vegetable market.

The sun was setting.

The reddish afterglow shone on the old-fashioned market, flanked by simple pavements, vegetables, meat, cooked food, etc. Crowds were constantly flowing around — the students after school, office workers who just got off work, and gray-haired old people. They stopped and walked, shopping for what they needed for dinner, and the air was full of the smell of smoke and cooked food.

Wen Jianyan was in a trance and even temporarily doubted whether he was in the real world.

A mechanical voice sounded in his ears and pulled him back from his daze:

【Welcome anchor in the B-level instance “Antai^[1] Community”. This instance is a time-limited role-playing instance with a duration of 12 hours. Please check the ID card in time to complete the main task.
Note: The main task in this instance must be completed, otherwise it will be judged that the live broadcast has failed and the live broadcast room will be closed immediately.】

…B-level.

Wen Jianyan’s eyes twitched slightly.

He was about to change his mind and become a good anchor who fished in troubled waters^[2], but he was directly thrown into this “role-playing time-limited instance” that he had never heard about…

He must have been targeted!

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Aaaaahhhhhhhh the dog liar is on-air!]

[I’m here, I’m here!]

[Man, B-level instance, the difficulty is rising too fast!]

[However, “Antai Community” is not bad. It is considered a low level of difficulty in this level of instance.]

[Yes, this instance is still quite friendly to the newly upgraded anchors, and the initial survival time of each anchor is also fixed. As long as you don’t get those few difficult identity cards, it could be done easily.]

[Hahahaha, yes, I remember that there is an identity card with a high mortality rate in this instance. Basically, no anchor has survived the first few tasks after obtaining that identity.]

[Yes, yes, I remember that it seemed to be a paranormal investigator, right? Lol, this identity is really amazing — killed by supernatural events every time. That main task is really to put people to death.]

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, gritted his teeth bitterly, and took out his mobile phone from his pocket.

The mobile phone this time was much more advanced than the ones distributed by the system at Fukang Hospital. The props distributed to the anchors in the Nightmare Live Room would obviously vary according to the timeline of the instance.

However, the prompts that popped up on the screen were exactly the same.

[Due to a large number of NPCs in this instance, in order to ensure the quality of your live broadcast, the Nightmare app service will be opened for you.]

【Please make persistent efforts to create a more exciting and novel viewing experience for the audience!】

Wen Jianyan skillfully opened the Nightmare icon on the phone.

【Identify card】

Life: Wu Qinghe
Age: 22
Occupation: Paranormal Investigator
Related plot: Unlocked

【The initial survival time has been allocated: 5:00:00】

A few “……” floated through the ”Integrity First” live broadcast room

[……]

[…Sure enough, no surprise.]

[Hahahahahaha lmao, it’s really him!]

[The initial survival time was the same for all the anchors, but this ID card… Hahahahahaha I really shouldn’t have the slightest expectation for the luck of the anchor!]

Wen Jianyan, who was unaware of this, became spirited.

Five hours!

Great!

This was the first time he had gotten such a high survival time! Could it be that the goddess of luck finally favored him?!

Wen Jianyan’s confidence suddenly rose, and his whole body was full of energy.

His eyes fell on the “Related Plot” column.

This time, the related plot on the ID card was no longer “Not unlocked,” but was “Unlocked.” Was this the difference between a role-playing time-limited instance and an ordinary time-limited instance?

Under his thoughtful gaze, the related plot on the ID card slowly emerged:

【Your name is Wu Qinghe, and you are a paranormal investigator who signed a contract with a streaming platform. Recently, you heard that there were many supernatural incidents in the Antai community, so on July 14th, you came here with your equipment, getting ready to shoot material for your new video, “Zhongyuan Festival”^[3].】

The main task had already been refreshed.

【Main line task 1: Move into Antai Community within two hours.
Completion degree: 0%】

【Main line task 2: Go to apartment 1304 for shooting; the shooting time should not be less than ten minutes.
Completion degree: 0%】

Wen Jianyan stared at the phone screen and fell into deep thought.

The word “move into” was the key.

It wasn’t “go in” but “move in”.

In other words, he must live in this community, not just enter it.

This was probably a bit difficult for Wu Qinghe, a paranormal investigator.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[I took a look at the live broadcast rooms of several other anchors next door. Most of them are residents of the Antai community. Now they have already started to explore the map. Only our poor dog liar is miserable enough to be left out of the map, and had to find a way to live in it, which makes me laugh to death.]

[Hahahahahahahahahaha is really miserable.]

[Fortunately, the first task is not too difficult. I remember there was an advertisement for rent posted at the entrance of Antai Community, right? As long as the anchor exchanged points for some cash, and then asked the apartment administrator, it should be no problem.]

While the audience in the live broadcast room was chatting, Wen Jianyan made an unexpected move.

He raised his head, quickly looked around the vegetable market in front of him, and then walked in a certain direction with great purpose.

The proprietress of the pork shop was chopping the pork bones on the chopping board with a sharp kitchen knife, and the scarlet blood dripped down the chopping board full of knife marks, her movements quick and skillful.

“Hello.”

At this moment, a young man’s voice sounded from above her head: “Excuse me… can you give me a piece of paper?”

The other party really has a good voice; it was clear, soft, and polite, and even in the chaotic market, it was like a clear spring.

The proprietress raised her head subconsciously.

Only to see a young man standing in front of the shop with his hands spread awkwardly, his slender white palms stained with blood from the shop: “I’m sorry, I just accidentally rubbed a little.”

The other party’s appearance was really outstanding. His facial features were handsome, his body was slender, and the clothes he was wearing were also clean and decent, making the stain on his hands more and more dazzling.

His amber eyes were lowered embarrassedly, glowing with a little soft light in the setting sun. When one was stared at by such eyes, it was almost impossible to feel the slightest rejection.

The lady boss’s face flushed slightly.

“No problem, wait a minute.”

She wiped her palm on the apron, turned her head, and searched the shop, only to find that the tissue paper roll that had just been placed on the counter disappeared at some point.

The proprietress hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the light yellow oil paper that was used to wrap the pork beside her:

“I don’t know if this will work?”

“Certainly.”

Wen Jianyan pursed his lips and smiled and took the oil paper from the other party’s hand with his clean hand: “Thank you.”

After he turned around to leave the pork shop, he took out the tissue paper from his pocket, tore out a piece, carefully wiped off the blood on his hands, and threw it into the trash can.

Immediately afterward, the young man began to fold the light yellow oil paper. His slender and fair fingers worked skillfully, and he easily folded the paper into the shape he wanted.

He folded it a few times, then put the folded things in his pocket, turned around, and walked toward the door of Antai Community.

“Knock” “Knock” “Knock”.

The community guard’s window was knocked softly from the outside.

“…Who is there?”

The guard was a middle-aged man in his fifties. He pushed open the greasy and dirty window and stuck his head out. There were blue and black circles under his eyes due to lack of sleep, and he looked irritable and restless.

“What are you here for? Visiting someone?”

“No, I’m not here to visit.”

Wen Jianyan withdrew his gaze from the community and turned his head to look fixedly at the guard in front of him.

The young man in front of him looked extraordinarily young. He was very decent in both his clothes and face, and his reply was also gentle and polite.

However, when he looked over at this moment, there was an unusually calm glimmer in his eyes, which made the guard inexplicably feel a little nervous: “Then what are you doing here?”

Wen Jianyan stepped forward, took out a folded, pale yellow copper coin from his pocket, and placed it lightly on the windowsill.

The guard’s face was a little unsightly: “What do you mean?”

“Before 12 o’clock tonight, burn it at the corner of the corridor on the 13th floor where the lights disappear, and drink it with alcohol.”

The young man lowered his voice and instructed word by word:

“But this is not a way to break it. Remember, you can’t stay here for a long time. The farther you go, the better. Don’t come back.”

After speaking, he took a step back: “Goodbye, good luck.”

Wen Jianyan turned around and walked away from the community without hesitation.

But he was counting the seconds in his mind.

“10, 9, 8…”

Soon, a gasping sound came from behind: “Wait, wait!”

The guard’s voice was panicked, and he hurriedly pressed his hand on Wen Jianyan’s shoulder: “Little brother, wait!”

The corners of Wen Jianyan’s lips curled slightly without leaving a trace.

He turned his head and asked, pretending to be puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

“You… how did you…”

The guard stood steadily, his eyes moving a little uncomfortably, and he lowered his voice subconsciously: “What do you know?”

“I was just passing by.”

Wen Jianyan shook his head with a calm expression.

He took a deep breath, glanced at the Antai community unconsciously, and quickly retracted it as if he was very afraid:

“I’m just helping out; you don’t have to worry about it.”

“But……”

He paused.

The guard held his breath subconsciously: “But what?”

“It’s nothing.” Wen Jianyan sighed again and looked up at the gradually darkening sky, his eyes stained with a heavy look: “Tonight is the Zhongyuan Festival; I should leave.”

He stopped talking and turned to leave.

“Don’t go, don’t go!” The guard grabbed Wen Jianyan’s arm anxiously; his attitude had taken a 180-degree turn and was very sincere and polite: “Little brother, you, you look like an expert. Recently, recently this community really…”

He secretly looked left and right, made sure that no one was listening nearby, and then said cautiously:

“Something strange happened.”

“It’s a little inconvenient to speak here. I wonder if you would like to… go in and have a chat?” The guard asked nervously.

A smile flashed across Wen Jianyan’s eyes.

Good, hooked.

In just a few minutes, he had already taken a quick look at the entire lodge.

The five Emperor coins^[4] were hung by the window. Their position was abrupt and incorrect. They should have been hung up not long ago, and the person who hung them probably only knew a little about metaphysics.

The guard was wearing a Buddha string on his hand, a cross around his neck, and a small Guanyin statue on the table.

With such a complex combination, at first glance, it was obvious that the man was in a desperate situation and was trying to do anything he could. No matter whether it was the Buddha or a ghost, as long as it could be used, believe it.

In extreme fear, people would lose the ability to judge and grab any spider silk that reached in front of them.

Whether or not this spider silk was folded from pork wrapping paper.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[……]

[D@mn! As expected of you, dog liar! (50 reward points)]

[D@mn! As expected of you, dog liar! (100 reward points)]

***

Apartment 1025.

The narrow room was filled with a stale smell and was full of clutter, with almost nowhere to go.

The slender young man sat on the sofa. His eyes were lowered, and he was looking at the steaming old teacup on the table, seeming out of tune with the surroundings.

“How many times have I told you, don’t bring these kinds of people into the house.”

In the kitchen, the guard’s wife scolded her husband sternly: “Two of these kinds of people were liars, don’t you remember?”

She grabbed the Buddha bead on the guard’s wrist and frowned in anger: “Look at what you spent thousands on; are they useful?!”

“No, wife, listen to me. I’m afraid this one really has something.”

The guard gave her a general overview of what happened at the gate of the community: “He just said the thirteenth floor, and he didn’t ask me for money at all.”

Cai Feng snorted coldly: “Maybe he’s just a scammer who heard about the matter and ran over to fool you.”

She turned her head and walked out.

“You stay here, I’ll talk to him.”

Hearing footsteps, the young man raised his eyes and looked in the direction from which the voice came. Half of his face was immersed in the fading sunset outside the window, making him appear more and more picturesque and handsome.

“Hello.”

He greeted politely.

For some reason, the anger accumulated in Cai Feng’s heart subsided a little. Although her words were still hard, they were not as aggressive as she had thought:

“You said you can solve the strange things in this building?”

Unexpectedly, the young man slowly frowned and shook his head: “I’m sorry, I’m not very knowledgeable. I’m afraid I won’t be of much use.”

Cai Feng was taken aback: “…what?”

Wen Jianyan stood up and looked around the whole room, saying, “The location of the building is very strange; it is easy to accumulate yin qi when sitting south and facing north. The main line of the rooms in the building faces east; this year is the year of Gengzi^[5], and the inauspicious star five yellow^[6] is in the east, which symbolizes great calamity and evil.”

He frowned and pointed to the window: “Look here, it’s directly facing the front door, which represents the evil spirit piercing the heart.”

Wen Jianyan looked at Cai Feng:

“How have you been sleeping lately?”

Cai Feng’s eyes dodged a little: “…Alright.”

“Didn’t you hear any strange noises?” Wen Jianyan asked, his light-colored eyes staring straight at the other party, and his clear and calm gaze seemed to be able to penetrate everything: “Or… saw something strange?”

Cai Feng: “……”

She was a little afraid to answer for a while.

Wen Jianyan sighed lightly: “The whole building was already filled with evil spirits, and it just happened to be this year’s Zhongyuan Festival. The combination of the weather and geography has created such feng shui. I alone can’t do anything.”

He shook his head with a heavy expression:

“I suggest you’d better move out of this place, at least… don’t stay here during the Zhongyuan Festival.”

Under the words of the other party, Cai Feng couldn’t help shaking her head, and her back became cold.

She didn’t have any doubts about the strange things happening in the Antai community recently, but after being frightened by this liar, she believed it even more.

She went back to the kitchen and began to discuss with her husband.

Finally, ten minutes later, the two finally made up their minds.

It was better to believe that there was than to believe that there was not.

Compared to work, life was more important.

They simply packed their bags, hurriedly called to ask for leave, and prepared to go out to spend the next two days in a hotel outside.

After thanking Wen Jianyan, they escaped from Antai Community as fast as they could without looking back.

Listening to the sound of the vehicle running away, Wen Jianyan turned around and returned to the building. He took out a pin from his sleeve and opened the door with ease.

【Main line task 1: Move into Antai Community within two hours.】

【Completion: 100% Reward Points: 5000】

The dog liar looked around at the empty room in front of him with a satisfied look on his face.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room.

[……]

[…No! Is it alright?!]

[D@mn you, dog liar, it’s really something you would do! Truly shameless!]

[In a sense, the anchor really didn’t lie… If the couple stayed during the Zhongyuan Festival, it’s probably not far from death.]

[Hahahahaha, but it’s still awesome. D@mn, they were really fooled by him. It’s absolutely amazing!]

Next, it was time to complete the second task.

Wen Jianyan took out his mobile phone from his pocket and was about to check the video recording function of the mobile phone, but when his eyes fell on the back of his hand, he paused.

On his fair skin, a few faint black lines began to appear at some point — strange, tortuous, as if oozing out from under the skin.

It looked like… a spell.

And the pattern of this spell could be regarded as very familiar to Wen Jianyan.

Exactly the same as… that of “God the Father”.

And the hand with the lines was precisely the one that stabbed the scalpel into the opponent’s heart in the Fukang Private General Hospital.

“……”

Wen Jianyan’s pupils trembled, and an ominous premonition slowly surged in his heart.

He hurriedly rushed to the bathroom and wiped the weird lines on the back of his hands with damp paper, but the lines seemed to grow deep into the skin and there was no trace of being wiped off at all.

Wen Jianyan stood there with a blank face: “……”

His fingers were wet, still dripping with water, and the sticky touch of the blood seemed to remain on his skin for a long time and could not be eliminated no matter what.

…Right? Goddess of luck?

Do you only care for people for a second?!

---

The author has something to say: 

Goddess of Luck: What are you talking about? I didn’t care for you even for a second.

Prev | Table of Contents | Next

---

Translator's Note:
(1) Antai (安泰): Peaceful/ Healthy and secure. ^
(2) Fish in troubled water (Idiom): To take advantage of the crises for personal gains. ^
(3) Zhongyuan Festival: Also known as the Ghost Festival. It's on the 15th night of the 7th lunar month in which offerings are made to the deceased. ^
(4) The Five Emperor Coins: The five coins are used for protection against danger and harm as well as to attract wealth and luck. The five coins also signify the five feng shui elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth) for a balanced and harmonious life. ^
(5) Gengzi years are the years of the Yang metal rat in Ganzhi (a means of recording days in ancient Chinese), which presage disaster. ^
(6) Something based on the flying star feng shui chart. ^

Support me on Ko-fi

Join my Discord