The four of them walked towards the service desk.
One after another, other players could be seen walking towards them from different directions. They had obviously heard the content of the broadcast.
According to the current situation displayed by the system, there were only 12 people left out of the 18 people who initially entered the game. Just as Chi Ting was about to close it, the data on the interface jumped again and it became 11 people.
“It looks like the mortality rate of this instance is indeed a bit high.” Ji Xingque also noticed this, and his eyebrows twitched.
“Ah,” Song Xuefeng replied lazily. “It is hard to participate in so many games in a row. You just have to get used to it.”
Ji Xingque: “……”
What get used to it?
Chi Ting closed the panel and looked around.
The few people who arrived now were familiar faces he had already seen, but not too long after, their faces had become noticeably paler. They had obviously all experienced great trauma from the impact.
However, he didn’t see Wu Ruici from the Blue Mountain team whom he had met before, nor did he see Hang Jin, who said he was going to save some game coins. It wasn’t known what happened to them.
After looking around, Chi Ting’s gaze finally stopped on the two staff members in doll costumes standing in front of the service desk.
One was a white rabbit and the other was a yellow cat. They stood there side by side. Since others didn’t dare to approach them, they kept a distance and stood there in a lonely manner.
The NPC staff seemed to have long become accustomed to such treatment. They stood by as if it was normal. They were obviously enjoying the players’ fear. The smile sewn on the lines of the headgear was completely curved.
This was until they suddenly realized something. They turned their heads and met a pair of staring eyes.
A staff member asked, “…What’s the matter?”
In the blink of an eye, Chi Ting had gotten very close, so close that his gaze was almost passing through the black hole on the hood.
He didn’t say anything. Rather than asking for help, it was more like he was studying something with great interest.
“……”
For the first time, the staff member seemed to be uncomfortable due to a player. He had to ask again, “Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, don’t worry about me. Just take care of your own things,” Chi Ting answered very gently. After that, he really didn’t want to pay attention to anything. He slowly examined the white rabbit from his hood to his paws. Then he walked to the cat and observed him again, showing incredible patience.
Once he finally stood up, he heard someone behind him ask with interest, “What did you see?”
“Basically, they are all constructed with threads. I guess the doll costume is indeed completely sewn together with the bodies inside. They can’t really be called doll costumes. It should be their bodies.” Chi Ting thought about the gas station employee that Song Xuefeng met in the surveillance room. As he spoke his conclusion, he touched his chin thoughtfully. “But overall, they feel a bit different from the one in the gas station.”
Yue Ren wondered, “Oh?”
Chi Ting pointed to the paws of the two staff members. “Look, they really have fake nails, not threads.”
Yue Ren raised his tone in agreement. “What a great discovery!”
The staff member who felt completely looked down upon by these two people: “……”
However, Chi Ting seemed to be certain that these NPCs couldn’t attack players directly, or he wasn’t afraid even if they did. He was indeed quite fearless. He ignored such subtle gazes and continued to say to Yue Ren, “It is obvious that the doll costumes used outside are much more exquisite than those at the gas station and have many more details. If my intuition is correct, there should be some type of affiliation between them or a hierarchical relationship. If I have to choose between the two, I prefer the latter. In simple terms, it can be understood that the ones outside are finished products while the ones inside should be semi-finished products.”
The outside that Chi Ting mentioned naturally referred to the interior of the game hall while the inside referred to the service areas within each project. Even though the situation at the gas station was basically from Song Xuefeng’s perspective through the surveillance, a simple observation revealed that the doll costume of the employee NPC was obviously more similar to the employee he met in the immersive shooting experience hall.
Under such a contrast, there was obviously some important distinction between the outside and inside.
But Chi Ting couldn’t figure out the specific relationship for the time being until he had more clues.
He pondered on it for a while but simply stopped thinking about it. He scanned the staff members again before his eyes finally fell on Yue Ren.
For a moment, the inquiring look was exactly the same as before.
Yue Ren stood up straighter, very sensibly, as if to let Chi Ting have a good look. He couldn’t help laughing, “You want to analyze me too? What did you find out this time?”
Chi Ting withdrew his observation and said, “I can see that you are quite lucky. If it was the same situation as the staff members at that time, I might not have been willing to extend my hand when I was standing in front of the door.”
“Oh… indeed.” Yue Ren looked at Chi Ting steadily with no emotion in his eyes for a moment. “I also feel very unlucky. After all, if Captain Chi really wants to be cruel, then you really have a heart of stone. If I had completely left the human category, I think I would really end up living alone in the apartment.”
Chi Ting obviously disagreed. “With your methods, you would choose someone else sooner or later, even if you didn’t meet me.”
“Indeed.” Yue Ren seemed to have seriously considered this possibility and came to a conclusion. “But the others aren’t you.”
He lowered his eyes. Once he said the next words, he rarely didn’t look into Chi Ting’s eyes. “Maybe this is called eating the marrow and knowing the taste. I don’t know what would’ve happened if I hadn’t met you, but for me now, I probably only want to follow you.’
Chi Ting was speechless for a rare moment. Then he corrected this person strictly. “But the assumption is based on the premise that there is no me.”
There was a brief silence before Yue Ren laughed. “I am beginning to believe that you really have no emotions, Captain Chi.”
For some reason, Chi Ting suddenly didn’t want to see Yue Ren laugh like that. After a few seconds, he calmly changed the subject. “To be precise, it can’t be said to be lucky. Both might be instances designed by No 7, but I always feel that the situation here is completely different from that of the Love Apartment. You should still remember the neighbors on each floor.”
Yue Ren followed his train of thought very naturally. “OF course, I’m afraid I will never forget it for the rest of my life.”
Chi Ting nodded. “In a way, what they are facing seems to be the same situation as these staff members. In addition, those ‘people’ at the bottom who are trying hard to obtain the status of ‘residents’ are just like the semi-finished products in each project.”
At this point, he stared into Yue Ren’s eyes and said slowly, “Do you know why I noticed you at that time?”
Yue Ren obviously enjoyed the feeling of being stared at seriously by Chi Ting. He thought for a moment and said, “Because I am special?”
“You can say that.” Chi Ting didn’t deny it. “At that time, I thought that this special thing was just because you were the key NPC to pass the instance. Now thinking back, I have another idea.”
He had been paying attention to the changes in Yue Ren’s expression. At this point, he knew that there was no need to give a reminder. “It seems that you have realized it too.”
Yue Ren smiled silently and continued what Chi Ting hadn’t finished saying, “You mean, the Love Apartment instance might’ve been built specifically to trap me.”
Facing Chi Ting’s noncommittal expression, he couldn’t tell what his mood was and laughed out loud. “If that is the case, it feels very impressive no matter how I look at it!”
Chi Ting thought about it and smiled. “Indeed, it is very impressive.”
The two of them seemed to have a pleasant conversation in the instance, but the audience who remained in the live stream room only understood half of what was being said due to the mosaic attribute of Yue Ren.
However, even though there were only a few viewers who had enough money to stick with him from the Love Apartment until now, they inevitably made associations after hearing the content of the previous few sentences. Once this content attracted attention, the discussion became uncontrollable in an instant.
[What did Captain Chi say just now? The key NPC to clear the instance? Is he talking about Mr Mosaic?]
[Where is the key NPC? What Love Apartment was mentioned earlier? What instance is that?]
[I did see the server-wide announcement of the first pass of the instance a while ago. It seems that it was indeed a team from the 13th World. I didn’t expect it to be the streamer!]
[That isn’t the point. So what type of NPC is this? Has anyone tried this instance?]
[I… I followed it. I don’t know what to say now. Could that mosaic be Yue Ren?]
[!!!!!]
[Yue Ren? Who?]
[…The gatekeeper NPC of the Love Apartment.]
[Huh????]
[That is impossible. How could he bring out Yue Ren? Either Chi Ting is crazy or I am crazy!]
[But now that I think about it, there was indeed a mosaic in every instance Captain Chi was in after coming out of the Love Apartment.]
[…No, I’m going to wash my face and calm down. Let me slow down.]
[What the hell? What are you thinking? Wake up. How is it possible that someone can take the instance NPC out?]
Chi Ting didn’t know what shocking news he had accidentally revealed. Naturally, he couldn’t experience the almost crazy state of the audience in the live stream room.
After reaching a certain consensus with Yue Ren, he looked away with satisfaction. “I will find a way to sort out your affairs after we get out. For now… if they are all the same type of NPCs and if the gas station has employee rules, the staff outside should also have them.”
Yue Ren watched Chi Ting turn around again, but his eyes never moved away.
Did they really need to find a way to figure out what happened to him?
Or could he still add the words ‘accompany him’ before this sentence?
The corners of his mouth, which were curved up, softened again at this moment.
Chi Ting had already looked at the two staff members behind him again.
The NPCs, who were originally ignored during the conversation between the two of them, “.”
Chi Ting’s smile was still full of gentleness. “Now I have something I need to ask you. I want to ask, where is the employee code of conduct of your arcade?”
The question was asked so blatantly that the expressions on the two NPC doll hoods seemed to be distorted for a moment.
Avid fan of danmei novels! If you want access to advance chapters, you can subscribe on Patreon. Thanks!
https://www.patreon.com/WhiteLily476
Thank you for the chapter!