PFRG: Chapter 134

The Dawn team, each person holding a pass, obtained the right to leave the instance at any time. They stood neatly in front of a sign in the corner that stated the rules for the arcade’s staff.

In just a moment, the threads all around them had eaten up the equipment in the entire arcade. However, there was obviously still a fear instinct that came from nowhere. They gave way as the people passed by.

Yue Ren seemed very satisfied with the setting of accepting force suppression in this instance. He stood in front of the sign and pinched his chin thoughtfully. “So, what we need to do now is to study the rules on this sign carefully?”

He spoke more bluntly since there were no other players around. “Excuse me, instead of wasting time on unnecessary thinking, it would be better to just destroy this arcade and be done with it.”

Ji Xingque raised an objection. “Even if it is smashed, can’t this instance be restarted anyway?”

Yue Ren was amused. “You really know how to be witty from time to time.”

Ji Xingque wondered, “…Why do I always feel that this sounds so infuriating?”

“By the word destroy, he didn’t mean to destroy the equipment.” Chi Ting finally moved his eyes away from the employee rules and explained for Yue Ren, “The key point of this instance is the threads. There are no key NPCs in this instance that I can take away. In the absence of other obvious clues, burning all these threads should be the most likely way to destroy this instance.”

Ji Xingque replied, “Huh? Yes! So what should we do now…”

“There is no rush.” Chi Ting’s eyes fell on the last few rules of the employee code. “Let’s collect these threads first.”

It had to be admitted that there were indeed various rules inside this arcade. These rules obviously weren’t just for the players. Some were also aimed at the staff NPCs, such as the arcade’s employee rules in front of them.

According to these contents, he could roughly know that these staff members dressing in doll costumes and serving batches of players was the basis for them to continue to survive in the instance. Good service could allow them to collect more threads, or in a certain game, they could lead players to death without breaking the rules and get more threads. Just after the end of each celebration, it was the time for time to submit all the collected threads for settlement. Comparing the time of the instance, that should be now.

“Okay, I’ll go right away!”

Ji Xingque did what he said. He rolled up his sleeves and rushed towards the threads that scattered like birds and beasts when they saw him. Chi Ting didn’t forget to remind him, “Avoid the pink ones if you see them.”

Ji Xingque was stunned for a moment before he nodded. “Understood. Captain, don’t worry!”

Yue Ren clapped his hands lightly. “If nothing else, the execution is quite good.”

Song Xuefeng lowered his eyes as he listened nearby. It seemed he agreed with the evaluation.

After all, if it wasn’t for Ji Xingque’s execution ability, Song Xuefeng wouldn’t have been willing to partner with him so many times before.

Chi Ting looked around and started walking. “Let’s go to the director’s office and take a look.”

Judging from all the current signs, the suggestion given by Yue Ren was indeed the best way to solve this instance. But for some reason, this place always gave him a very subtle feeling. It made him feel that it was necessary to take a deeper look.

Unexpectedly, the director’s office they were heading to wasn’t difficult to find. They soon saw the eye-catching room number diagonally behind a large game venue.

Chi Ting glanced over and frowned slightly.

It was another pink sign.

He didn’t hesitate to walk over. He strode past the locked door, raised his foot, and kicked it in.

Bang. There was a loud noise followed by a cloud of dust.

Yue Ren whistled softly at this nostalgic and familiar scene.

He took one long step and followed Chi Ting in naturally, not forgetting to close the distance at the right time. “Captain Chi, can you protect me?”

“Yes.” Chi Ting also thought of the fragile body of the man who was defeated in the arm wrestling match and pulled the man back.

He was about to say something, but his words completely stopped when he saw what was in the office.

Yue Ren, who had already come close to him, hissed and raised his voice. “This instance designed by No 7 is really a bit perverted.”

The entire wall was painted pink. At first glance, it was like they were back in the Love Apartment.

However, what attracted everyone’s attention at this time were the threads moving on the wall. They were like densely intertwined blood vessels, wandering, wriggling, and covering the front layer by layer, active and wanton.

Following the direction of the threads, they could see all the way to the compartments from inside. However, from the angle of the door, they could only vaguely catch a few outlines.

The moving, living threads gradually weaved out new sets of doll costumes that hung on the inner wall. Since there was no wearer, they were shriveled and lifeless. They were like lifeless shells that were peeled off.

The first impression was that they were waiting for the arrival of their new owners.

“Captain, here I come! So what next…” Ji Xingque arrived. Then he froze as he saw the scene in front of him. After several seconds, he asked tentatively, “Where should I put these threads?”

Yue Ren pointed. “It should be placed there.”

Chi Ting agreed. “Yes.”

Ji Xingque came with a full load this time. He didn’t mind the sticky feeling of the pile of threads in his arms at all. He walked in the direction indicated and threw the whole pile of threads into the groove in the corner.

He completed the process very carefully without letting any threads leak out. Just after he finished the inspection, he heard Chi Ting calling him. He turned around and looked over, “What’s wrong, Captain?”

Chi Ting thought for a moment and asked, “During the time you were collecting these, did you pay attention to what happened to the NPCs?”

Ji Xingque thought for a moment after hearing the question. “It seems… there is no movement, but the pink doll costume seems to be still moving. You told me to stay away from him, so I didn’t go over.”

It seemed that damage to the doll costume was indeed fatal to them.

He might have some guesses, but Chi Ting couldn’t help shaking his head after learning the result.

Rule 4 of the employee code of conduct stated that they had to remember to regularly maintain their doll costume and replace it with a new one as soon as possible if the costume was damaged. This was clearly what was being referred to in the current situation.

After staying in this instance forever, these doll costumes had become the basis for the survival of the ‘staff member.’ Whether they could continue to survive in this way depended on whether they could collect enough threads to maintain a complete doll costume. These costumes were woven from living threads, and human bones and blood were probably the culture dish for cultivating these threads. It was only by obtaining nutrients for nurturing threads from new players that the balance from threads to knitting the doll costume could be completely achieved.

As for the tenacious vitality of the pink doll costume…

The moment Ji Xingque’s new ‘nutrients’ were inserted, the threads on the office wall suddenly became active.

Chi Ting quietly watched the long-dormant ‘doll costume assembly line’ start to operate again. He slightly tilted his gaze and groped his way along a pink thread that was almost integrated into the pink wall.

There was a sudden burst of force and the wall in the corner shattered in an instant.

Looking inside through the hole left by the collapse, everyone saw the figure sitting in the boss chair in the corner.

Ji Xingque took a look and sucked in a breath. “Is this a human… a human pig?”

“Not really.” Yue Ren’s attitude was quite nonchalant. He lowered his body and walked in first. After observing the place with interest, he said in a surprised tone, “So this instance is maintained by him.”

“Is that so?” Chi Ting wondered. He looked at the person in front of him, who could probably be considered a human being.

On the huge boss chair, only the head area had a clear outline.

The bare arms and legs were covered with densely intertwined pink threads. They could vaguely catch a glimpse of the strange glow flowing on them.

It was no wonder that Ji Xingque mistook him for a human pig. From this appearance, one could only recognize the former human appearance from the remaining upper body.

But one thing was certain. These active threads were a part of the man’s body. Even in the sleeping state with his eyes closed, the threads still followed the consciousness in the main brain and operated in an orderly manner.

Following one of the threads, they could vaguely see the direction of the staff member in the pink doll costume, whom they had just met.

Therefore, the NPCs were also controlled by this person.

Ji Xingque had digested the shock and came closer. He was a bit curious. “There is such a guy hiding in the corner of the instance. Who is he?”

The moment he finished speaking, the silent Song Xuefeng beside him suddenly said, “Look at the back of his neck.”

“The back of his neck?” Song Xuefeng always sounded sickly, but the low tone of his words was clearly different from usual. This made Ji Xingque look over.

The moment he lifted up the messy hair and looked over, his tone became clear. “Ah, Captain. Look, t-this… what is going on?”

Yue Ren was curious and also came over to take a look. He asked in confusion, “What is wrong with this?”

“This mark… is a uniform mark assigned by the Administration based on the risk of the superpower losing control.”

Chi Ting answered while tying up his hair with a rubber band. He slightly lifted the choker on his neck, allowing Yue Ren to see the pattern at the back of his neck. “Do you see it? Are they exactly the same? We usually refer to this mark for regular evaluation to confirm whether it is necessary to destroy the superpower or not.”

Despite the casual tone of the statement, the expression on Yue Ren’s face clearly darkened.