Chapter 153 The Spirit of Adventure (Unrevised) There's always time...

Everyone watched as Gu Keke's figure disappeared around the corner, and soon after, the countdown to her expulsion, symbolizing death, came to an end.

【1——】

Xin Sang abruptly closed her eyes, refusing to look at her surroundings. Qi Zhixia also showed a rare display of panic, clasping her hands together in front of her chest as if making a final prayer for Gu Keke.

Liang Jun's gaze never left the aisle of Gu Keke's cashier counter. She was waiting for a familiar figure to appear in the distance, and also waiting for the system to issue the next instruction to her brain.

Just as everyone was holding their breath, the system announcement finally came belatedly.

No real-time player complaint rate detected...

[Currently in "No Target" state...]

The store was unable to expel the player; the penalty has been revoked.

Everyone's long-held anxiety was finally relieved.

As the invisibility cloth covering the NPCs behind them went into cooldown, a figure bent over and panting heavily burst into everyone's sight.

Gu Keke was completely exhausted; the energy she had unleashed during her life-or-death escape had depleted her reserves. Her face was sallow, her lips were pale, and her clothes were soaked with sweat.

Even so, Gu Keke still wanted to share the good news immediately. She stopped in her tracks, waved with all her might towards the deserted passage, then, catching her breath, shouted, "We did it! We did it!"

This cry was like a long-awaited nectar, offering a chance for life to the travelers struggling to survive in the desert.

Xin Sang and Luo Chuange ran quickly to meet her and caught her before she could stumble and fall.

Liang Jun also had tears in her eyes at this moment. After all, everyone had prepared for the worst in their hearts, but when the real victory came, they felt at a loss.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Liang Xun snatched the shopping basket from the customer next to her, ignoring the other person's threatening and verbal abuse, and emptied the basket of everything inside. She then turned the entire basket upside down on the ground, pulled Gu Keke down to sit, and said, "You've already passed the level, haven't you?"

Gu Keke's throat was sore, as if she would spit out blood if she spoke again.

She could only nod, accepting the bottled water Luo Chuange handed her, letting the cold liquid wash over her congested throat.

After calming down for a while, Gu Keke explained in detail: "When I ran into the cashier's counter, there were only two seconds left on the countdown. I thought it was too late, but I still subconsciously stuffed all the money into the cash drawer and then slammed it shut."

"The moment I closed the drawer, the countdown to expulsion ended, and my legs suddenly went weak, and I collapsed heavily to the ground."

Gu Keke gasped, "I thought it was too late—but actually it wasn't."

She subconsciously looked at Liang Jun standing in front of her, and Liang Jun understood her question and explained, "Because the time you actually have left is calculated based on the duration of the Invisibility Cloth."

Amidst the bewildered gazes of the crowd, Liang Jun pulled over the now temporarily useless invisibility cloth.

“This prop can erase all traces, remember?” The glitter on the velvet fabric emitted different lights depending on the angle. Liang Jun weighed it in her hand. “The expulsion order was issued because the complaint rate exceeded 50%, and these complaints were directly issued by the NPCs. In other words, the source of the expulsion signal is these NPCs. As long as we can erase the traces of the NPCs’ existence, we can also erase the expulsion signal that was triggered.”

Upon hearing the full explanation of the plan, everyone couldn't help but gasp.

It's important to know that Liang Jun would never have considered this point before this hidden rule was triggered.

But the moment the new rules were triggered, she reacted immediately and quickly devised and implemented a response plan.

This kind of reaction and coordination, which almost pushes the limits of human capability, is something that could never be done under normal circumstances.

Ge Lin's mouth gaped open in shock, his lips stretched into a circle, as if a large light bulb could be stuffed inside.

"Holy crap! Sister Jun, you're amazing!" Ge Lin exclaimed. "That's brilliant! I would never have thought of such a method in my entire life."

Liang Jun blushed slightly at the compliment.

This brief easing of tensions is actually a good thing in the current environment. It shows that people haven't been psychologically traumatized by the current high-pressure situation; on the contrary, they are viewing everything unfolding with optimism.

The sales revenue has been stuffed into the cash drawer, and the complaint rate has been completely wiped out. These customers who were eyeing us with predatory intent just a second ago are now no different from lifeless wooden puppets.

Their empty eyes stared blankly ahead, like rows of robots back to their factory settings.

Liang Jun didn't pay much attention to them. She waved to the crowd, signaling them to huddle together.

"Now, our entire chain of action has come to light."

Liang Jun explained: "First, we still use the old method to try to get revenue from customers. However, our unconventional methods will definitely cause a group of complaints from customers. So once the system issues an expulsion warning, we must immediately use the Invisibility Cloth to erase their traces. Then, during the ten seconds that the other party is invisible, we must return to the cashier counter and stuff the revenue into the cash drawer to complete the mission."

Luo Chuange suggested, "Then we can choose the nearest checkout lane. This way, the time wasted on the way will be greatly reduced, and we won't be scrambling at the last minute..."

"no."

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Keke, who was sitting on the shopping basket, firmly refused.

“I’ve tried it. The cash register is a one-time use item. For example, the one I just saw, after receiving the system notification, the magnetic door of the counter could not be closed again. Players can come and go freely, but the cash drawer cannot be opened again.”

Luo Chuange shut his mouth and didn't continue speaking.

Liang Xun nodded and picked up the conversation from the information, "In that case, let's start from the farthest and start from the nearest."

She turned to look at everyone, "Luo Chuange will be the first to act in a bit. You need to run fast because your checkout counter is the furthest one of all of us."

Luo Chuange readily agreed.

"Don't worry, although I'm a programmer, I'm also a programmer who insists on going for a run every morning."

"After he comes back, I'll be next."

Liang Xun pointed to herself, "The order of departure from now on will be based on our cashier positions. But remember, we must wait for the previous person to return safely before proceeding to the next step."

She spread her hands at her sides and said, "We have plenty of time. Let's take it one step at a time. Don't panic. We'll make it in time."

-

When Luo Chuange returned safely, he felt as exhilarated as if he had run a marathon.

Before he could even adjust his state, he quickly took the other corner of the invisibility veil from Ge Lin, ready to cover the customers' heads with it at any moment.

Xin Sang and Gu Keke are in the front row performing the most important tasks; the revenue they collect will ultimately fall into Liang Jun's hands.

After all, not a single second could be wasted. The moment the amount was collected and the alarm sounded, Liang Jun would grab the stack of banknotes and begin her final sprint.

After repeating the operation several times, Xin Sang had figured out the pattern.

Before trying to persuade the next customer, Xin Sang turned to Liang Jun and said, "Get ready, the alarm is probably about to be triggered."

Liang Jun simply nodded, indicating that she already knew.

And just as Xin Sang predicted, when the customer handed over the sweaty banknotes, the familiar system notification sounded again.

Luo Chuange and Ge Lin instantly pulled back the curtain, smoothly covering the customers' foreheads. Liang Jun received this signal immediately and then turned and ran.

When you run, the wind is both tangible and audible.

These knife-like wind blades grazed her cheeks, and Liang Jun only felt a burning pain; the whooshing sound of the wind was even more disturbing than the system noise that she couldn't shake off in her mind.

Liang Jun's original cashier position was the fourth one, but when she got to that position, she still had some time to spare.

She reacted quickly once again, continuing to run forward and successfully reaching the third checkout lane.

This used to be Jiang Zhiling's cashier counter.

In that extremely brief second, Liang Jun thought of many things.

She realized that there was no strong real-name binding between the cashier and the players. From beginning to end, the only thing the cashier recognized was the turnover stuffed into the cash drawer.

That means that as long as the cash drawer is filled with sales revenue, the player can complete the dungeon mission regardless of which cashier they are currently at.

Of course, someone needs to put this into practice to see if it's feasible.

So Liang Jun pushed open the magnetic door of the third cashier counter.

Press the button, wait, insert money, close.

The entire sequence of movements was performed in one smooth motion, without the slightest pause or hesitation.

To some extent, Liang Jun's actions would be described as "a reckless adventure," but at this moment, she was incredibly calm.

Because she knew her deduction wouldn't be wrong—

No real-time player complaint rate detected...

[Currently in "No Target" state...]

The store was unable to expel the player; the penalty has been revoked.

[Current progress: Revenue 12887/10000...]

[Congratulations, player! You have successfully passed level 5: Zero-Yuan Shopping Mall! Points are currently being calculated, please wait...]

The low-frequency electronic hum of the system continued, but Liang Jun simply ignored it for the time being and reached out to touch the magnetic door that had just been tightly closed.

With a gentle push, without even using much force, the little blue door opened easily.

Liang Xun breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the group, briefly recounting what she had just done.

Qi Zhixia listened to everything with a frown, and finally asked in conclusion, "So, for us, the cashier counter is not a limiting factor, right?"

"In that case, we still have one last, closest passage."

Ge Lin scratched his head, "Such good resources, wouldn't it be a waste not to use them?"

Liang Jun remained silent for a few seconds.

"I want to keep it."

She gazed into the mysterious depths of the store, thinking, "If Jiang Zhiling comes back, she might find it useful."

-----------------------

Author's Note: Why are there so many unedited chapters? (faints)