Chapter 36: Boss, your vest fell off!
After Jing Miao shouted loudly, "Boss, be careful!", the hurried steps of several players standing near her couldn't help but pause.
"The voice that just shouted... was it Jing Miao, the receptionist at the hot pot restaurant?"
A player who often visited the hot pot restaurant scratched his head, with a hint of uncertainty in his tone: "The one who made her call him 'boss' must be the NPC boss of the hot pot restaurant, right?"
"But wasn't the player who just ran over 996?"
The other player blinked in confusion.
"Yeah, that's weird... It can't be that the owner of a hot pot restaurant always works 996!"
"Hahaha, your train of thought is quite impressive. I think you two must have been dazzled just now!"
"Oh, forget about it, just move aside and don't block the road!"
“…”
On the other hand, Zhu Yu was completely unaware that his vest was already crumbling.
While she was dispersing the onlookers, she briefly explained the whole story to everyone - this time she deliberately issued a high-value task just to lure out this nightmare beast and solve the problem once and for all.
After listening to Zhu Yu's explanation, the players who had been suffering from depression and nightmares at night finally realized what was going on and reacted.
Several players who were still frightened quickly expressed their gratitude to Zhu Yu, but some players also questioned her plan:
"996, you were so careless in bringing out the A-level monster in the fortress, but we don't have the ability to fight it right now. Isn't this setting us up?"
"It stands to reason that we should capture the leader first. As long as we subdue the summoner, we can stop the nightmare beast. But don't forget, the rules of the game clearly prohibit direct attacks between players. Even if this summoner has been attacked, he is still a player and cannot attack directly."
"Yes, yes, 996, if you want us to work together, this is too difficult. The two options of A-level monsters and being punished by the game are not good choices!"
“…”
However, not everyone was skeptical. Some enthusiastic players and Zhu Yu's friends stepped forward to try to share the pressure with her.
Lin Ji and others had already summoned their weapons, ready to deal with the nightmare beast.
Zhu Yu decisively called a halt: "Everyone step back, I will handle this matter alone."
Just as the players were hesitating to withdraw from the attack range, the Nightmare Beast let out a low hiss, and used its tail to casually throw Xiaoju into the summoner's arms. Its huge head slowly raised, and its pupil-less eyes coldly scanned the surrounding players, as if selecting prey.
As it moved, wisps of black mist emanated from its body and quickly spread, and the air around it became cold and depressing.
Zhu Yu's heart tightened, knowing that this was a sign that the Nightmare Beast was about to release a skill.
Just as the players said, with her current strength it is indeed difficult for her to compete with an A-level Nightmare Beast.
But don't forget, she is the only owner of the entire fortress.
After confirming that the players had retreated to a safe distance, Zhu Yu did not hesitate any longer and quickly opened his personal panel and switched to the NPC permissions page.
As early as when the fortress first appeared, 996 reminded her that she had full authority over the fortress and would not be restricted in anything she did.
Just as the nightmare beast pounced on her and its fangs were about to touch her, Zhu Yu calmly activated the NPC authority of the fortress for the first time.
As her authority was activated, her appearance quietly changed, and the disguise on her face gradually faded away, revealing her original appearance.
Zhu Yu raised a hand, pointed at the nightmare beast, and whispered, "Stop!"
The nightmare beast suddenly stopped in the air, as if it was bound by invisible chains in mid-air, without even a chance to struggle.
The players around all held their breath and stared at the scene without blinking, too surprised to speak.
Zhu Yu raised his head and locked his sight on the nightmare beast in mid-air, his pupils gradually turning into ice blue.
The next second, she said coldly: "Destroy."
As her voice fell, the Nightmare Beast seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force, and instantly turned into countless pieces in mid-air. The black body turned into countless pieces, and then turned into materials and scattered all over the ground.
The entire crisis was resolved so easily.
The venue fell into silence for a moment, and then broke out into deafening cheers and exclamations.
"This is too amazing! Zhu Yu must be cheating!"
"Who said the 996 plan is a scam? This plan is awesome!"
"Wait, look at 996's face! Why does it seem to have changed?"
"Yeah, this look... I seem to have seen this look somewhere before! It looks so familiar!"
"Fuck, isn't this what a hot pot restaurant owner looks like?"
"Ah, ah? Ah!"
“…”
After dealing with the nightmare beast, Zhu Yu walked to the unconscious summoner who had fallen to the ground, carefully picked up the shivering Xiaoju, and while comforting it, he looked for Jing Miao in the crowd.
She gently handed the little orange to Jing Miao, and just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she realized that all the players around her were staring at her, all of them with shocked expressions, as if someone had pressed the pause button on them.
Jing Miao took Xiaoju and came close to her while holding a small mirror, and whispered: "Boss, congratulations on defeating the A-level nightmare beast, but your vest seems to have fallen off."
The vest fell off? But the disguise potion hasn't expired yet, has it?
Zhu Yu was stunned for a moment, and didn't react for a moment. At this moment, all the players suddenly heard the system's all-server broadcast -
"Announcement: Congratulations to player 0996 for becoming the first player to reach A-level."
This announcement was like a stone that caused a thousand ripples. The players in the entire hall reacted more enthusiastically. Some opened their eyes wide, some covered their mouths, and stared at Zhu Yu, unable to believe their ears.
At the same time, a player quickly opened his personal panel and quietly shared the video he had just recorded to the player group chat, with a shocking title:
[Surprise! The NPC boss of the hot pot restaurant is actually her? 996 boss's vest is exposed! Today's A-level nightmare beast incident full record! ]
"Sure enough, now it is 100% certain...the owner of the hot pot restaurant works 996!"
"To be honest, I doubted 996's identity from the beginning. After all, her upgrade speed was too fast. How could she be an ordinary player?"
"Come on, you hindsight guy, I've never heard you mention this speculation."
"I don't understand why 996 has to go to so much trouble to hide his identity. If it were me, I would definitely want all players to know my other identity. How impressive!"
"You are stupid. If this identity card is exposed too early, what if someone targets you and something unexpected happens? Of course, you have to keep a low profile and save your life first."
"Oh my god... So I actually ate at a 996 hot pot restaurant? That's it. I even complained about the expensive hot pot in front of her!"
"As her friend, I only care whether 996 can give me a discount at the hot pot restaurant, or sell me a few more skewers of oden at a time!"
“…”
*
When Zhu Yu saw his current face clearly, his mind went blank for a moment.
Her vest just fell off like that?
The announcement of the game was still echoing in the hall, but as the center of the topic, she just wanted to disappear from the central hall as soon as possible.
The reactions of other players were within her expectations. She could accept the shock, awe, and discussions calmly. After all, these players only had a trading relationship with her at most. Exposing her identity would only give people more topics to talk about.
The people she felt most guilty about were the few friends who stood by in silence.
She secretly raised her eyes and glanced, and sure enough, a familiar figure was staring at her with complex and deep eyes.
It’s over, what should I do?
Zhu Yu, who was unable to disappear from here immediately, began to frantically come up with reasons in his mind.
You said that you concealed your identity to prevent some players from doing bad things? Or that you were bound to the permissions of the safe zone and couldn't tell anyone casually?
Just when Zhu Yu was about to bite the bullet and explain, her friends' eyes suddenly turned red and they surrounded her with complicated expressions.
Zhu Yu's heart tightened, and he was about to face the questioning, but he didn't expect to be greeted with excited tears and...gratitude?
"So... you have been silently protecting us all these days!"
996 is the person in charge of the entire safe zone, and at the same time she has to go out and fight monsters. How much pressure does she have to bear!
Lin Ji choked up and spoke, his tone full of emotion.
"Zhu Yu, will you be punished by the game for exposing your identity like this?"
This kind of information tied to the safe zone is definitely the biggest secret of 996! For us, she is willing to expose her vest...
Tong Qiao hugged Zhu Yu with tears in her eyes and asked worriedly.
Zhu Yu waved his hands repeatedly: "That won't happen--"
Before she could say anything, Li Qinglan, who was approaching, patted her on the shoulder and said:
"996, don't worry, we all understand."
996 must have had her reasons for keeping this important identity a secret.
Li Qinglan nodded towards Zhu Yu with an expression that said "I understand you".
Zhu Yu: “???”
No, what did you understand?
That’s not actually the case.
Zhu Yu was stunned and forgot all the reasons he had prepared. He could only blink mechanically, trying to keep up with the pace of his friends' imagination.
The next second, her friends grabbed her hands and said seriously, "Don't worry, we won't let those bad guys and monsters who covet the safe zone have any chance to hurt you!"
"That's right! Just continue to be the boss of your hot pot restaurant and leave the rest to us!"
"If anyone wants to cause trouble, we will help you stop them!"
Zhu Yu opened his mouth and tried to say something, but faced with the touched expressions of his friends, he finally swallowed back all his explanations.
The helplessness in her heart almost overflowed, but when she saw the sincerity and trust in these people's eyes, she couldn't help but feel some warmth in her heart.
She coughed lightly and decided to go with the flow: "Okay, then... thank you."
At this moment, she suddenly thought of something, opened the hot pot restaurant's page, and was surprised to find that there were new hot pot soup base updates.
【Cantonese coconut chicken hotpot is now available】
[You can click here to see the additional effects of Cantonese Coconut Chicken Hotpot]
Coconut Chicken Hotpot Additional Effect 1: [Calm the Mind and Help You Sleep]
“The specially selected coconut juice in the coconut chicken hotpot is rich in natural sedative ingredients, which can relieve the player's mental fatigue and anxiety. After consumption, it can quickly improve mental stability and significantly improve sleep quality. In the next eight hours, the player will be immune to any nightmares and gain a deep sleep bonus. The effect takes effect once and cannot be stacked within 24 hours.”
Coconut Chicken Hotpot Additional Effect 2: [Blessing and Nourishment]
"The high-level medicinal materials in the coconut chicken hotpot have been specially formulated to activate hidden life energy and repair the body's damage and weakness. After consumption, you can also gain the 'blessing enhancement' effect, which increases the effectiveness of all healing skills and recovery potions by 30% in the next two hours. The effect takes effect once and cannot be stacked within 24 hours."
After reading this, Zhu Yu thought of Ou Qi and other friends who were deeply affected by the Nightmare Beast.
She thought for a moment and decided to take the opportunity to help them recover their mental state and make amends, so she invited everyone:
"Are you guys free later? Call Ou Qi and the others and go to my hot pot restaurant to have some coconut chicken hot pot!"
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