PFRG: Chapter 121

The moment Song Xuefeng arrived at the finish line and got off the car, he immediately saw three figures waiting there.

At the same time, there was a staff member wearing a doll costume standing next to them and communicating something with Chi Ting.

The second half of the journey came to an end, and Song Xuefeng’s hideous wounds had all healed not long ago. They were still very shocking at first glance, but what made him want to frown the most was the sticky feeling of the remaining blood.

They were still in the Death Go-kart area. Seeing that the others had not taken off their helmets, he could only continue to walk over in this embarrassing state and ask, “What is he saying now?’

“Three laps are over. This is the time we have taken.” Chi Ting pointed to the sign above his head and handed the signed form back to the staff member very naturally. “Then let’s go out first.”

“Can we go now?” Song Xuefeng pointed to the statistics board next to him that was still counting the time.

Chi Ting understood instantly. “It is okay. I asked, and the staff member said we can just go out. Once the blue team is finished, the system will directly update the settlement to our game cards.”

This was exactly what Song Xuefeng wanted to hear, so he turned around and left without saying a word.

The sticky feeling on his body was so uncomfortable that he needed to change the outfit quickly.

The others obviously didn’t have a good impression of the bulky racing suit either. They changed them immediately and finally walked out of the door of the Death Go-kart area in a refreshed manner. Among them, Song Xuefeng also changed into the new clothes he bought from the points mall.

“So, which one do you want to play next?”

Chi Ting asked for an opinion again, but before he could finish speaking, a chilly voice sounded from behind him. “Don’t you want to take a break, Captain?”

Chi Ting shuddered as he felt a chill on his back. He turned around and met Song Xuefeng’s gaze. “……”

Chi Ting said, “Yes, I am tired. Let’s take a rest.”

Song Xuefeng went straight to the chair next to him that he had been eyeing for a long time.

A figure flashed by, and Ji Xingque followed him, obviously not forgetting to make accusations. “Come on, come on, the break time is just right. Old Song, tell me what is going on with your words about an early or late death doesn’t make a difference. What is the matter with not bringing tools…?”

The chattering voice gradually faded away. Chi Ting laughed before looking towards Yue Ren. “Can we chat too?”

Yue Ren was quite easygoing. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

“It is about the information that Old Song asked at the end.” Chi Ting glanced at the entrance of the go-kart area they had just left, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “So, the NPC employee at the gas station should also be, or at least used to be…”

“A player.” Yue Ren continued calmly without showing much surprise at the conclusion. “No 7, this perverted guy always likes doing this type of perverted thing.”

At this point, he thought of something and quickly looked at Chi Ting’s face several times with his eyebrow slightly raised. “What’s wrong, Captain Chi? You aren’t thinking of saving people again, are you? Don’t blame me for not reminding you. After becoming an NPC on a level like this, it is very difficult to survive. After all, not everyone can be like me.”

Chi Ting wondered, “What are you like?”

The corners of Yue Ren’s lips curved up. “Strong.”

Chi Ting: “.”

He paused before saying, “Don’t worry, I know my limits. I was just thinking about something else.”

The so-called ‘reassurance’ was naturally based on the premise of ‘worry.’ Yue Ren wanted to tease Chi Ting and ask why he thought Yue Ren was worried. Then he glanced at that face, and his words changed. “What else?”

Chi Ting looked towards the dazzling lights of the arcade in the distance. “I was wondering if this was just the case with the gas station employee, or if it is the same for all the staff members in the Starry Sky arcade.”

Due to the permission blocking, the audience in the live stream room couldn’t hear Yue Ren say the word ‘player’. But combined with Song Xuefeng’s performance in the project, they could probably guess something. Now when Chi Ting said such words, the seemingly simple statement suddenly made everyone feel that their hearts were hit hard.

They might be viewers of the live stream room but they were essentially players. No one understood better than them what it would mean if this assumption was true.

The longer players stayed in this unlimited world, the more calmly they could face death.

For many people, death might’ve already become something that would happen sooner or later. Even so, it was another matter if they still needed to face the fear of the unknown after ‘death.’

[No way. This means that even after death, I can’t rest in peace.]

[I went to Song Xuefeng’s live stream room to see if that thing was really a player like us before. It obviously isn’t a human body!]

[Hiss, those threads couldn’t have grown from eating human flesh, right?]

[Help! Suddenly, a picture appeared.]

[I really don’t want to enter this type of instance even if I die. If I knew I had to enter it, I would rather die first!]

[I’ve had enough of this broken world. Some people used to say that they could definitely get out, but has anyone really gotten out?

[Yes… wasn’t there a certain person from District 1 back then…?]

[Oh, come on. Are you sure that the one who collected all the cards back then has really cleared the level? Maybe that person died in the last instance.]

[Didn’t the captain of the Aspire to the Top team say that he knew the great player from District 1? I remember he once said that person would never die in the ultimate instance.]

[Yes yes yes, he definitely won’t die. There is another way to neither die nor live. Maybe he has become an NPC somewhere, hahaha.]

Chi Ting didn’t know that the live stream room had completely exploded, and he had just made a casual guess.

In fact, when he saw the gas station employee rules earlier, he had already noticed something strange. After all, the employee rules were written in too much detail. It seemed to be a reminder to the car racing players, but in fact, they were full of restrictions of another identity. Obviously, the content of these rules was written for the gas station employee but the level of strictness was similar to the situation that players like them faced.

The rule that Chi Ting cared most about was undoubtedly Rule 4. Those driving red and blue vehicles are our VIP customers. Please serve them wholeheartedly. Even if you have to work overtime and stay overnight, you must serve at least one customer and ask them to leave a five-star review before you can leave work.

After verification by Song Xuefeng, it wasn’t difficult to see that keeping the players who entered to refuel for more than eight minutes was indeed a work indicator that gas station employees needed to complete.

In other words, they only needed to delay one person successfully. Then after a series of unknown developments, they could get a five star review and leave work. Otherwise, as long as they never completed the so-called ‘service’ task, they would need to ‘work overtime or stay overnight.’ They would be trapped in this gas station forever.

It might be cruel, but the words ‘get off work,’ itself were very subtle.

Leave.

After becoming an NPC and leaving, where could they go?

Being able to escape from an instance like Yue Ren was ultimately just an exception. Within the process track that had been arranged in advance by Designer 7, Chi Ting didn’t really think the other party would be so kind as to leave a new way out.

According to his guess, the greater probability of the so-called ‘off duty’ was perhaps that they could finally welcome death and be completely freed from this state of being trapped after death…

Chi Ting was vaguely aware of something and slowly raised his head to look toward the oppressive dark roof above him.

He had a distinct feeling that something was watching him from behind it.

“Ah, he looks very sensitive.” After a long period of watching. No 3 had already found a chair to sit down on. Her black lace skirt was loosely scattered beside her, and her feet were swinging comfortably. She was holding a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. She blew on it gently, put it to her lips, and took a sip gracefully. Then she stuck out her tongue because of the burn.

No 3’s dark eyes revealed a bit of dissatisfaction. Seeing that the person next to her was silent, she looked over curiously. “No 7, there is a question I also want to know. If I remember correctly, the group of players from the Strange Stories Arcade should be your first test players, right? Since no other players have entered before, where did you get those NPCs from?”

“Of course, they are leftovers from other instances. Some were directly transferred from the sub-world.” No 7’s eyes were always fixed on the figure on the screen when he answered, without moving away at all. “They should feel honored. After all, they were originally dying. Now they can get such a rare opportunity and gain hope again.”

No 3 looked at him in amusement. “Are you sure it is hope?”

No 7 didn’t comment on the teasing and smiled. “Keep watching. We are about to get to the interesting part.”

The moment he finished speaking, music suddenly burst through the screen.

At the same time, all the instance players, including Chi Ting’s group, heard the cold mechanical announcement against the background of such exciting music.

[Congratulations to all the guests still staying in the Starry Sky Arcade. You have become the lucky players of this arcade! Please gather at the service desk as soon as possible to enjoy the last celebration provided by the arcade!

Congratulations to all the guests who are still staying in the Starry Sky Arcade. You have…]

The mechanical sound was repeated over and over again, instantly spreading to every corner of the game hall. It drowned out the lively music and made everyone’s body feel chilled for a moment.

“What’s going on, Captain?” Even Ji Xingque, who was still looking for Song Xuefeng to settle the score, couldn’t ignore such a big scene and walked over in surprise.

Chi Ting pointed in the direction of the door and said, “Didn’t it say to gather at the service desk?”

Yue Ren let out a low sigh, expressing everyone’s thoughts. “The last celebration? I feel like this doesn’t sound like a good thing.”