Chapter 96 Nightmare Community

The wind was cold and the dim street lights could barely illuminate the road.

Xu Zhiyan chased the pedal tricycle, turning several turns, and finally stopped at a small gate on the north side of Meimeng Community.

He leaned against the wall, not caring about the uncleanness of the wall, breathing heavily, his heart almost jumping out of his throat.

The boss looked as if nothing had happened, and he kept shaking the big spoon in his hand, making his new dish, stir-fried longevity noodles.

"Young man? Still panting? Hey."

"The noodles will be ready soon. Do you want some chopped green onions and cilantro?"

The boss bared his signature single front tooth and seasoned the food expertly.

Seeing Xu Zhiyan nod, he quickly grabbed a handful of green coriander and threw it into the pot, making the fried noodles even more fragrant.

By the time the stir-fried longevity noodles were ready, Xu Zhiyan had finally recovered.

Instead of checking the fried noodles first, he took the lead in looking around.

Before this, Xu Zhiyan always thought that the Meimeng Community only had two gates, the East Gate and the South Gate, because every time he passed by the other places, they were overgrown with weeds.

Unexpectedly, there was a door at the edge of the green belt.

Seeing that the toothless boss was packing longevity noodles, Xu Zhiyan didn't care about following the car just now, nor did he directly ask about the detector in the dark.

He clicked on the panel and checked the tasks.

[Congratulations to the player for triggering the mission! ]

[Mission: Eliminate violators]

[Reward: Correct time (48h)]

[Note: You accidentally found a mobile stall in the commercial street at night, bought food from the mobile stall, and met the tester. ]

[Note: The Dream Community actively responds to the rule call and does not allow mobile stalls to appear. The inspectors are very hard for this and have to patrol very late every day. As a considerate player, you decide to help the inspectors eliminate the problem and eliminate all violators. ]

[Tip: The cleanup must be done after midnight, and you only need to clear out the stall owner. ]

[Progress: 0/18]

The first note talks about the conditions.

This mission will only be triggered if you buy food from a mobile stall after midnight, and you must also encounter a black shadow. If one of these is missing, the mission will not be triggered successfully.

"Another purge?"

Xu Zhiyan frowned.

If the facts are really as he guessed, the main system is using the players to transform the entire community into the perfect area it wants, then do these tasks make sense?

As a punishment copy, the players who were thrown in were considered to have "made mistakes".

Now let one group of mistakes eliminate another group of mistakes, doesn’t it seem like a good idea?

He suddenly thought of the haunted house mission.

Assuming that the Meimeng Community is regarded as a healthy human body, then the residents who live and work normally in the community are equivalent to healthy cells, and the Beast of Error is a tumor that becomes cancerous after the cells go wrong.

As an alien virus invader, players have to follow the rules.

But in the final analysis, the players and the Beast of Error are the same, they are all wrong existences for this community, so some tasks that will make the players die on the spot will be randomly interspersed in the missions, such as White Ember.

This guy is most likely the power provider of this copy, just like the previous two.

The main system doesn't like it, but can't get rid of it.

But the main system still has some intelligence, so it makes use of Bai Jin.

Before the players arrive, the main system arranges some residents who are about to become wrong beasts to enter the haunted house to do some simple processing.

At this point, the clues obtained previously are connected together.

However, Xu Zhiyan, who had already touched the truth, could not be happy.

This kind of thinking that forces humans to grow along a set path and wants to control everything is terrifying when you think about it carefully.

"So the main system is really AI?"

Otherwise, how could there be such a standard of correctness that is almost abnormal?

Xu Zhiyan smacked his lips and put away the panel.

The toothless boss had already packed the noodles and was standing aside.

Seeing Xu Zhiyan looking at him, he quickly handed the noodles over, then took out an iron box from the side of the car and grabbed a handful of candy from it.

"Hey! Happy birthday! I guess you can't buy any presents this late at night, so this will be your present!"

He stuffed the candy into Xu Zhiyan's pocket and grinned.

Xu Zhiyan looked down at the bulging coat pockets and felt a little uncomfortable.

These 'mistakes' that were listed in the mission were now standing right in front of him, showing him unreserved kindness.

He even felt that the smile was a little dazzling.

The toothless boss didn't know what Xu Zhiyan was thinking, nor did he know that the new task he had received was to eliminate him.

"Will you come tomorrow? If there's anything you want to eat that's not available at my stall, you can tell me in advance and I'll make it for you."

"Hey, I'm not bragging, don't underestimate my small stall, the food I make is much better than the food in the store!"

Having a new regular customer, he felt great and did everything he could to please the other party, hoping that he would come back more often.

After saying that, the toothless boss started to turn off the fire and clean up the wok.

The worldly atmosphere was wiped away bit by bit by the rag.

Xu Zhiyan held the noodles and watched the boss wipe the pot and put away other things.

If the boss in front of him is a bad guy or a monster, then he might think about how to kill him so as to get the time smoothly.

Everything the other party has shown so far is no different from a normal person. It can even be said that he is an ordinary, kind person.

For Xu Zhiyan, killing ordinary people is beyond his bottom line.

He tried to ask.

“Why do you have to set up a stall in Meimeng Community?”

Although this city looks strange, that's only from the players' perspective. It should be different for the residents, right?

After all, you can see office workers leaving the community every morning and evening.

Hearing this, the smile on the toothless boss's face began to falter. He looked around a few times, made sure the tester hadn't followed him, and asked back in a low voice.

"You look young, have you never been out of the community?"

“…I guess so.”

Xu Zhiyan's answer was ambiguous.

If we count from the day he entered the community, he has indeed never left the community.

However, according to previous copy rules, players probably cannot leave the community.

The toothless boss had an expression of 'I guess so'.

"I used to live in this community, but I always felt like something was wrong..."

Halfway through his speech, he suddenly changed the subject, as if he had thought of something bad. His expression became more serious, and his words turned into words of persuasion.

"Forget it, young man. It may sound a little strange to say this, but I hope that if you don't notice anything wrong, you can just live your life honestly and...if you can stay in the community, then don't leave."

“Something is wrong.”

"Even if you just see or hear it, it's wrong."

After saying these words, the expression on the toothless boss's face was completely different from the relaxed and happy look he had shown before.

Xu Zhiyan saw him pushing the bike out of the door, as if he was leaving the community, and hurriedly followed him, "You live outside the community?"

I have seen these small tricycles riding out of the community before. It seems that there are really people living outside the community.

"Not really... You're one of the people inside, so it's better not to come out."

The boss parked the car outside the narrow gate and was still trying hard to stop Xu Zhiyan from following.

"I'm very curious. I can't sleep without taking a look outside." Xu Zhiyan didn't care at all and followed him.

Since the toothless boss is standing outside the community and there are no unexpected changes, and everyone can even talk to each other, it means that the inside and outside of the community should still be in the same dimension.

And when Xu Zhiyan popped half of his body out of the small door and looked outside, he finally discovered the biggest abnormality that had been ignored all along.

Looking out from the community, the city outside is quiet and beautiful.

Most of the lights in other residential buildings in the surrounding area were turned off, with only a few lights left, and occasionally vehicles could be seen passing by on the road.

But when Xu Zhiyan stood outside and looked at the city again, everything was the same as when he saw it on the first day.

Except for the roads closest to the residential area which were illuminated by street lamps, the rest of the city was still in darkness, with no end in sight.

The entire community seems to be isolated here.

Yes, although people come and go in the community, but if you think about it carefully, for such a long time, apart from the people coming in and out of the community, there have been no large vehicles transporting goods coming in and out.

Where do the vegetables in the vegetable market come from?

How to obtain raw materials for the pastry shop?

When Ms. Zhang picked up the goods before, the piles of pork at her house did not look like they were bought from the vegetable market.

…

These details do not bear scrutiny.

It was as if something took the initiative to replenish these raw materials and allow them to do business.

Seeing his dazed look, the toothless boss quickly pushed his leaning body back.

"You, what are you looking at! There was a power outage outside. You are just a little kid, go back to bed."

After saying this, he seemed to be afraid that Xu Zhiyan would come out, so he locked the small door from the outside, got on his bike and rode close to the wall near the edge of the community, and disappeared in a flash.

Xu Zhiyan held the noodles and did not chase after him.

The city outside doesn’t look like a habitable place, so the residences of these mobile stall owners must be related to the Meimeng Community.

It seems that he needs to find Xie Lingyi again tomorrow to get the business map of the community.

Calculating the time, Xu Zhiyan did not hesitate and turned around and left this inconspicuous corner of the community.

It seems that the correct time of 48 hours cannot be obtained, so we have to supplement it.

By the time he finally arrived at Building 114, it was already past half past twelve.

However, as someone who was not very confident in the longevity noodles in his opponent, he was prepared to quickly deal with the wrong beast inside.

Outside the door of Room 1002, Unit 3, he knocked on the door with a smile.

“Boom boom boom—”

"Hello, Ms. Zhang, your takeaway has arrived!"

Love what you do.

Xu Zhiyan still treats every customer with the best attitude.

“Squeak—”

The door quickly opened a small crack, and there was no light on inside.

A thin old lady poked her head out from the crack in the door with a look of horror on her face.

"What takeout? Who would order takeout at this time? Go away!"

She must be very old, and her voice has a decadent tone that is unique to the elderly.

Xu Zhiyan was shocked by this sudden change.

On the way here, he thought about the appearance of Ms. Zhang. She might be troubled by the mistake, or like Chu Fei, she was on the verge of mutation and collapse.

But he didn't expect it to be a normal-looking old lady!

"Perhaps it was ordered by your granddaughter? Or by someone else? The recipient's surname is Zhang."

Xu Zhiyan wanted to know if there was a second person in this room.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the old lady was stunned for a moment, then shook her head frantically to deny it.

"Impossible! I have lived here alone for a long time! A long, long time! There are no other people..."

After saying that, she was about to close the door.

Xu Zhiyan was quick to block the door, holding up the things in his hand and explaining, "Maybe someone has a birthday today? Someone ordered longevity noodles for Ms. Zhang."

After saying the last three words, he felt that the old lady who was pulling the door had eased a lot.

Xu Zhiyan knew he had grasped the old man's pulse, and hurriedly added: "Since it's your birthday today, do you want me to come in and spend it with you? This is the last order I'm delivering today."

In the end, he successfully got into the room.

The audience in the live broadcast room was as confused as he was, and some of them couldn't help but start asking questions.

[What's going on? Is this a living person? ]

[Help! Although we Infinity Game players don't blink an eye when killing NPCs, it's still a bit difficult to kill innocent old ladies directly! ]

[Ahhhh, what should Xiao Baiwan do? Should he just take action? ]

[Although, can anyone tell me what the old lady did wrong? I think she is quite peaceful and rational.]

[Yes, yes! I can understand killing Chu Fei, a half-human, half-monster, wrong beast, but directly killing people...? ]

[It should be that the player needs to instill some content into the target. I saw that before Gan Mi killed the Error Beast, he would repeatedly talk about the opponent's mistakes, striving to make the Error Beast complete. ]

[This should bring good returns.]

[But I don’t think Xiao Baiwan would do this. Although he is greedy, he still has some bottom line.]

[…+1, greedy but with a bottom line. ]

The area of 1002 is much larger than Chu Fei's house. It is kept in good order. It can be seen that the old man in front of him lives a very careful life.

Sofa, TV, refrigerator, water dispenser...

Everything was covered with colorful covers made of wool to keep out the dust.

Xu Zhiyan took a look and found these woolen covers very cute. Some of them had small strawberries crocheted on them, and some had small flowers and frogs crocheted on them.

"Ms. Zhang, you are really clever and skillful."

Although he didn't quite understand why the target looked like nothing had happened, he decided to praise him anyway.

"What Ms. Zhang? Call her Grandma Zhang!" The thin old lady asked him to change her name.

She went to the kitchen and got a large porcelain bowl, then took the bag from Xu Zhiyan and poured all the noodles into it.

Maybe it's because it's been a long time, the noodles are a little lumpy.

But Grandma Zhang didn't care. She sat at the dining table and thought hard for a while. Suddenly she remembered that she had forgotten something, and hurriedly went to look for candles in the drawers.

After she put the candle on the dough and lit it, she asked Xu Zhiyan in a low voice: "Can you help me turn off the light?"

"With pleasure."

Xu Zhiyan was a little curious.

The lights were turned off, and the flickering candlelight illuminated the old man's face.

She sang the birthday song softly.

"Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me..."

Xu Zhiyan stood at the door, listening to the birthday song in a low and hoarse voice, and watching Grandma Zhang in front of the dining table doing this somewhat funny scene, without any expression.

Before singing the song and blowing out the candles, he helped to applaud and wished Grandma Zhang a happy birthday.

“Pah—”

The candles went out and the lights came on.

Xu Zhiyan called up the panel and took a look.

【Food: Birthday】

[Customer information: 1002, Unit 3, Building 114, Meimeng Community, Ms. Zhang, Tel: 18...]

【Delivery time: before 01:00:00】

【This order has been completed】

[Estimated profit of this order: Correct time (3h)]

The order was completed, but nothing had turned into Ms. Zhang, and he hadn't found any error beasts that needed to be killed.

Just then, Grandma Zhang spoke.

"Thank you, young man... I haven't celebrated my birthday for two years. I think this might really be the noodles my granddaughter ordered for me."

The skin on her face was all wrinkled, and even though her expression at the moment was very happy, it was impossible to tell how happy she was. Instead, she looked even more hideous.

But Xu Zhiyan is not a fool.

He could still tell the difference between an old man and a monster.

Hearing these words which sounded like a story, Xu Zhiyan moved closer.

"Why? Birthdays are supposed to be happy."

As for the matter of face to face, Xu Zhiyan thought about it and decided not to explain.

Grandma Zhang seemed to be lost in her memories. She ate the solidified noodles and chattered about her own affairs.

"I'm ninety-two."

"I think I have a daughter, and I also think I have a granddaughter, but I just can't remember!"

"I hide in this small room every day, not knowing what I'm waiting for. I feel like I should die, but I don't want to die... Is there anything wrong with wanting to live?"

Along with Grandma Zhang's words, new clues appeared.

[Tip: The age of residents in the Dream Community is between 0 and 90 years old. If it is outside the range, it is an error. Please handle it at your discretion. ]

[Tip: Players have the responsibility and obligation to convey the correct information to every resident. I hope players will seize the time, as rewards are waving at you.]

Xu Zhiyan stood there in a daze looking at the prompt.

What is this?

Let him handle it at his discretion?

Kill her? Or should I shake the old lady's collar and tell her, "It's wrong for you to live to this age. Now turn into a beast of error, OK?"

Grandma Zhang didn't know why Xu Zhiyan came, and was still explaining.

"I haven't been out for two years, but there's always some food at home... It's nothing strange, it seems like I've been doing this for years."

"Sometimes I feel like this is not right, but I don't know what's wrong. I went out once before and no one recognized me. Even the owner of the vegetable stall didn't remember me. Some people talked about my name and said I was dead... but I was still alive and well..."

It turned out that since two years ago, Grandma Zhang dared not go out.

Every time she goes out, she encounters some strange things, and everything around her becomes weird.

In the eyes of the residents of Meimeng Community, Grandma Zhang is already dead.

Grandma Zhang, who lives in the house, can only hide like a rat that cannot stand the light. Her memory has also been lost bit by bit in the past two years.

In the live broadcast room, the audience was also shocked after hearing it.

[Oh my god? Is this the mistake? ? ]

[My whole family was shocked! It turns out that living longer is also wrong? ? ? The rules of this community are really...]

[Wow, if living a long life is wrong, then is committing suicide also wrong? ]

[Of course, is there any need to think about this? ]

[I guess if someone commits suicide, they will be turned into a wrong beast and dealt with right on the spot, or there will be other punishments that are even worse than death? ]

[This copy is too abnormal! ]

[Ahhh, this is indeed perverted. Not the kind of perverted in the physical sense, but the kind of perverted that controls human nature and life.]

After hearing this, Xu Zhiyan was silent for a long time and couldn't bring himself to do it.

He felt that this copy was definitely meant to mess with him!

If all the members are villains, or if they are those who did bad things in the previous copy and deserved their punishment, he will not show any mercy in dealing with them.

But why is it that tonight, there are such harmless and soft 'mistakes' everywhere?

He doesn't think these things are wrong.

In Xu Zhiyan's world, everyone has the right to choose their own life.

"It was indeed the takeaway your granddaughter ordered for you. She said she was going to school in another city and wouldn't be back for a while, so she asked me to tell you to stay home and not go out."

After saying this, Xu Zhiyan looked at the old man's happy expression and felt relieved.

Three hours is fine.

If he finds time to get rid of the rabbit tomorrow, he will have ninety hours back and he doesn't need to feel too sorry for the time.

Back downstairs, the cold wind blew on my face.

Xu Zhiyan became much more conscious.

He thought about it and felt that according to the usual practice, the issue of this copy could not be resolved normally.

"It seems that we still have to make use of Bai Jin."

After gathering his clothes, he quickened his pace and returned to Building 167.

"bite--"

Get out of the elevator.

The door of 1402 also opened immediately.

Bai Jin was waiting at the door as he had done countless times before.

"Welcome home."

It narrowed its eyes and looked at the young man who arrived home at a little after one o'clock, and its mood improved a lot.

Xu Zhiyan nodded and quickened his pace to enter the room.

The moment they passed each other, Bai Jin sniffed.

Its prey did not have the smell of white hair, and this knowledge made it even happier.

After changing his clothes, Xu Zhiyan was about to call Bai Jin to come downstairs, when he suddenly seemed to remember something and took out a handful of candies from his coat pocket.

It’s a birthday gift from my toothless boss.

I left in such a hurry just now that I forgot to leave something for Grandma Zhang.

However, judging from the packaging alone, these candies are of low quality and have a strong saccharin smell.

Xu Zhiyan spread all the candies on the table, picked out some from them, and took out a piece of orange-flavored hard candy that looked pretty good.

"Come here. I brought you some delicious food from hunting this time." He waved at Bai Jin.

"Do you really treat me like a dog?"

Bai Jin smiled helplessly and walked over barefoot.

Seeing Xu Zhiyan excitedly tearing open the package and holding it up to feed it, Bai Jin obediently opened his mouth and stuffed the candy into it.

A strong taste of cheap orange candy spread in the mouth.

Bai Jin wanted to say that eating too much of this kind of candy is not good for you, but when he saw the young man in front of him smiling with narrowed eyes, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, he couldn't help but ask.

"Why are you so nice to me today? Do you need me for something?"

"Correct! I'll wait for you downstairs."

Xu Zhiyan snapped his fingers and went downstairs first.

Today's feeding has been completed. This is what raising a dog is like.

Bai Jin stood in the living room, looking at the young man's ostentatious back, his heart unable to help but beat wildly.

It's really... so weird.

It clearly knows that it is going to be used, but why is it so impatient?

This experience of being used as a stepping stone willingly was somewhat novel to it.

Bad quality orange candy doesn’t seem that bad.

Does Xu Zhiyan also kind of... like it?