"Dear viewers, I'm not exaggerating, but this wooden sword of mine has an amazing feel to it. What's that word? Ah! 'Patina,' that's right, patina!"

"Just look at this patina, I'm telling you, I've got this one in the bag. I'm covered in exorcism and demon-catching magic, hahaha!"

As Mingmei parked her pink electric scooter in front of an old apartment building, carrying a delivery insulated box on her front and back, a very familiar voice reached her ears from the dilapidated window on the third floor above her.

Very good!

Mingmei made a decision: since she couldn't find out whether Mu Chen had used connections or not, she would ask Lu Xiaoyao next time if she had also used connections.

Why do I run into her in every game?

The autumn wind was bleak, swirling up the fallen sycamore leaves at Mingmei's feet and lifting her long hair by her ears. The icy autumn wind caressed her face, causing Mingmei to shiver involuntarily.

Mingmei subconsciously turned her head to look at the quiet and empty streets around her, then scanned her surroundings again, and began to whisper to Guigui in her heart.

What's with this new escape game? It's creepy!

[This line screams "supernatural escape game! Host, this is the standard setup!"]

【Pah!】

Mingmei felt utterly disgusted by this new escape game, which, like the starting village, was labeled with a supernatural theme!

This instance made her feel an unprecedented sense of unease.

This isn't the beginner's village!

Mingmei shook the insulated box she was carrying, took a breath to prepare herself, and then stepped into the building.

This building is very old and doesn't have an elevator. A thick layer of dust has settled on the handrails of the stairs, covering the decaying wood from bygone days.

When Mingmei first carried the two large insulated boxes, she felt they were incredibly heavy. However, perhaps she got used to them after carrying them for a while, because once inside the building, she noticed that the insulated boxes seemed lighter.

[I'm not kidding, I just grabbed the lunchbox from the beginner village without thinking, and then in "Assassin's Creed," I had to use the food box to cover it up. Last game, I was carrying a big insulated box to sell the lunchboxes. This time, I'm carrying two! What about next game? Am I supposed to carry a refrigerator?]

Mingmei had just reached the second floor when she stood in the stairwell, hands on her hips, catching her breath. She then complained to Guigui that she had turned what should have been a survival game into a physical challenge, which was quite remarkable.

"This is necessary for your role, host. In this game, you're a pizza delivery person, so you need to carry an extra one." Mingmei already knew what Guigui was saying. Mingmei then glanced at the situation on the second floor of the old apartment building.

The second floor, like the stair railing, was covered in a thick layer of dust, clearly indicating that no one had been here for a long time. She could still hear voices coming from upstairs. Mingmei recalled the game description of the new game given to her by the system and let out another mocking laugh.

"My uncle is really getting more and more mischievous these days."

Mingmei looked at the sentence: "[Because of the many unfortunate events that have occurred at the Barry Apartments on Alice Avenue, the owner has decided to seek out skilled exorcists to eliminate the evil spirits causing trouble here.]"

Well, just a one-sentence summary of the story.

Too lazy!

Seeing how beautiful it is, I really don't know what to say.

She's an NPC!

These days, don't NPCs even deserve to know the script in advance?

Her uncle really doesn't treat her like family!

Thinking about it, Mingmei shook her head and continued carrying the two insulated boxes up to the third floor. She finally stopped at the room on the left side of the three stairwells, knocked on the door, and called out, "The takeout is here."

"ha!"

As the door opened, a yellow talisman suddenly slapped towards Mingmei's face. Mingmei, holding the insulated box, leaned back and used the insulated box to push the hand with the talisman aside.

Immediately afterwards, Mingmei stood up again amidst the surprised gazes of the group of people inside the door. She vaguely heard someone shout, "Young hero, what great waist strength!"

Mingmei: ...?

What line is this?

"Huh? It's not an evil spirit?"

Immediately afterwards, Mingmei heard a familiar voice asking in confusion. Mingmei's clear black and white eyes instantly met those of Lu Xiaoyao, who was wearing an indigo Taoist robe and had her hair in a bun in this game.

The other person was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

That familiar, confused look on Da Congming's face—sure enough, the next second Lu Xiaoyao said the same thing: "Oh! It's you... Wait, no, no, you're not as pretty as her."

Mingmei: ...

All she could say was, "Have you grown tired of saying 'Thank you!' already?"

Salty fish lying flat.JPG

Sometimes, Mingmei really wanted to say, "I'm not pretending anymore, I'm coming clean! I'm your classmate!" Just imagining that scene made Mingmei think it would be a huge blow to Lu Xiaoyao.

However, she hasn't gone crazy yet; she hasn't forgotten that Lu Xiaoyao is still streaming games.

Thinking about it, Gui Gui, as if on cue, broadcast Lu Xiaoyao's live stream footage to Mingmei backstage.

[Lu Xiaoyao! Lu Xiaoyao! Lu Xiaoyao! Open your eyes and see who this is!]

Why do all the mysterious merchants my child encounters come to him on their own, while mine... Damn it!

Honestly, the businesswoman is so beautiful! I can't believe my son said there's someone prettier than her! I don't believe it!

Unless you post a photo.

+1

[I have a friend who has a terminal illness and wants to see this, understand?]

I have a friend who's similar.

Being your friend is such bad luck!

...

As Mingmei watched the comments scrolling by, she even felt that her audience was more curious than Lu Xiaoyao's.

"Your pizzas have arrived." Ignoring Lu Xiaoyao's rambling in front of her, Mingmei looked directly at the other players looking over from inside the door.

One, two, three, four, five, six... Hmm, seems to be a normal player game.

Mingmei didn't see Mu Chen's face among these people, and her feelings were complicated.

Although she felt somewhat uncomfortable with the other person's various advances and friendly gestures, and didn't want to suddenly become so close to him, the sudden disappearance made her feel as if something was missing.

"Ah, pizza..."

One of the men, dressed in a police officer's uniform, suddenly spoke up: "Hmm, an acquaintance, Zhen Po, the player from the last game."

Zhen Po touched his pants pocket and found a pizza shop order.

Having confirmed that the meal was ordered by her original identity, Zhen Po stepped forward.

Lu Xiaoyao wisely stepped aside, and just then Mingmei asked, "By the way, our shop recently launched Chinese-style set meal boxes. Would anyone be interested?"

What puzzled Lu Xiaoyao was that when the other person said this, their gaze went past Zhen Po in front of them and went straight to her.

Lu Xiaoyao: 0.0 Huh? Why are you looking at me?