"So are you going to buy anything or not?"
The weapon shopkeeper eyed Mi Xiaobai, though he no longer dared to sound too demanding.
The man leaning against the doorway didn't even look up. He merely gave him an infuriating smile.
"I already told you. I don't have any money."
As long as the purchase remained incomplete, this man could return to his shop whenever he pleased.
The shopkeeper felt that dying might be preferable to enduring another visit.
He gritted his teeth. "How much money do you have, exactly? Tell you what, I'll take a bigger loss. This little knife normally costs 300 assets. Yes, the one you were using so comfortably just now. I'll sell it to you for thirty!"
The bastard was still tapping away at his phone.
"No, thank you. I don't even have thirty."
"Then I'll give you one for free!"
"Don't want it."
The shopkeeper was getting desperate.
"Come on! Even if you know how to draw talismans for helping souls pass on, you still need a knife to do it, don't you?"
Mi Xiaobai finally deigned to look up from his phone.
"Actually, I need your hand more than I need the knife. If you're feeling that generous, why don't you just chop it off and give it to me?"
The shopkeeper: "..."
Was this hell?
By the time this living nightmare finally finished sending his messages, picked up his jacket, and left, he still had the nerve to wave over his shoulder.
"See you around, boss."
The shopkeeper was already searching his shop for a length of rope.
Hanging himself outside the front door sounded considerably more pleasant than seeing that man again.
Mi Xiaobai had barely taken a few steps toward the hotel when his phone suddenly began to vibrate.
For a split second, he almost thought someone had already replied to the message he had just sent.
But it was only a system notification.
【Congratulations! Players Three Ks, Just Plain Rude, ^ ^, and Sushi Bar have completed the hidden achievement First of Its Kind and received a special item reward.】
The announcement appeared simultaneously in World Chat.
The players chatting there took several seconds to notice it.
—What the hell just flew past?
—What the hell just flew past?
...
They amused themselves by copying and pasting the same message for a while before someone finally noticed that something was wrong.
—Wait a second! Have you guys looked at the achievement details? It requires players to kill ALL the bosses in the beginner guide stage while they're Level 3 or below...
—You don't mean those ghosts crawling around in the beginner instance, do you?
—You mean those things with 30,000 HP when I've only got 300? The ones that don't lose a single drop of health when I shoot them with an arrow?
—YOU CAN ACTUALLY FIGHT THOSE THINGS?????
—YOU CAN ACTUALLY FIGHT THOSE THINGS?????
...
—How is that any different from asking three-year-old me to yank Lu Zhishen out of the ground???
It wasn't any different.
So who the hell had killed them???
Three Ks was huddled in the corner of his bed.
When he saw the notification, he was even more bewildered than the players in World Chat.
Unable to contain himself, he sent a message in Team Chat.
—Three Ks: What's going on?
Just Plain Rude immediately joined in.
—Just Plain Rude: That's what I'd like to know. What's going on? @Sushi Bar @^ ^
Mi Xiaobai had just entered the hotel when the mentions came through.
He opened Team Chat, glanced at the messages, and typed a few words.
—^ ^: What's going on?
—Three Ks: ?
—Three Ks: You don't know either? Weren't you just asking about a decent weapon?
—Just Plain Rude: But he also said he was a coward.
Mi Xiaobai typed his reply.
—^ ^: That's right. I'm a coward.
—Three Ks: Fair enough. That makes it pretty obvious, then. @Sushi Bar, was it you?
—Just Plain Rude: @Sushi Bar, you did it, didn't you?
Mi Xiaobai, still happily enjoying the spectacle, chimed in as well.
—^ ^: @Sushi Bar, you did it, didn't you?
Their teammate appeared to be a lone wolf. From the very beginning, Sushi Bar hadn't bothered responding to anyone.
Even after being mentioned repeatedly, there was still no reply.
If the system hadn't announced that the team had four out of five players remaining when Lord Spicy Soup died, and if this achievement hadn't suddenly appeared, Three Ks and Just Plain Rude would have started wondering whether their teammate was still alive.
Mi Xiaobai, however, didn't care about any of that.
Since his pretty friend had asked him to clean up the mess, he ought to get as much done as possible. It wouldn't do to leave all those troublesome, tedious, idiotic little quests for the other man to handle.
After all, his friend didn't look like someone with a particularly good temper.
Mi Xiaobai opened the system notification and claimed the special reward for completing the achievement.
A holographic screen unfolded before his eyes, displaying the rewards he had received.
【Combat EXP: 3,000
Character Level: 2
Character Assets: 50,000
Congratulations! You have obtained the following special items:
Wish Slip ×1
Event Clue Fragment ×1】
Mi Xiaobai tapped the clue fragment first.
【Half a Scorched Room Key Card】
【Among the scattered remains of the ghosts, you have discovered the remains of a room key card. A strange fragrance still lingers on it.
The toiletries provided by this hotel differ according to room category. Search carefully.】
As he finished reading the clue, he felt something suddenly appear in his pocket.
He reached inside and pulled it out.
Sure enough, it was half a scorched room key card.
Mi Xiaobai then tapped the special item marked 【Wish Slip】.
Something else appeared in his pocket.
This time, it was a thin piece of paper resembling a bookmark, decorated with intricate patterns and bearing a single character meaning "wish."
He studied it thoughtfully, then walked over to the reception desk.
The puffy-faced man who had disappeared for the entire night was back behind the counter.
"Does this hotel have an altar for worshipping deities?" Mi Xiaobai asked.
"Of course it does. Any hotel in the island city without an altar might as well close its doors for good."
"Where is it?"
"Follow me."
The receptionist led Mi Xiaobai into the hotel's rear courtyard, where an exceptionally tall building stood on its own.
Mi Xiaobai entered and found himself facing a row of towering deity statues.
A square skylight had been set into the roof. Cold, blue moonlight streamed through it, while rainwater trickled slowly along the gaps around the window.
If the game booster who had created Mi Xiaobai's account had been standing here, he would have recognized the place immediately.
It was almost identical to the deity-selection interface at the beginning of the game.
As Mi Xiaobai entered, he heard voices behind him.
Three Ks, his fiery-red hair unmistakable, came walking in alongside Just Plain Rude.
After being chased by those white-faced ghosts, Three Ks had been left thoroughly traumatized.
The moment he stepped through the doorway and saw Mi Xiaobai's mask, he grabbed Just Plain Rude and turned to run.
Unfortunately, he'd grabbed the wrong person.
The receptionist: "..."
Fortunately, Three Ks glanced back and recognized the all-black suit. He returned awkwardly, complaining as he approached.
"Come on, man! Why are you wearing a mask like that? You scared the hell out of me..."
He received no answer.
Their teammate, whose nickname was ^ ^, was standing before the deity statues, seemingly lost in thought.
With the mask covering his face, however, no one could see his expression.
"Anyway, the altar's right here," the receptionist said. "Make yourselves at home. I'll be going now."
Three Ks took out a wish slip and turned to Just Plain Rude, who at least was willing to talk to him.
"I didn't read the guide. How are we supposed to use this thing again?"
"Easy. Which deity did you choose when you started the game? See how there's a candle stand in front of every statue? Just burn the wish slip in front of the deity you chose. Apparently, you'll receive that deity's blessing."
Three Ks was a helpful sort.
Having asked the question for himself, he was worried that Mi Xiaobai, who seemed rather distracted, hadn't heard the answer.
"Hey, did you catch that?"
He was just about to explain it again when he saw Mi Xiaobai walk toward a half-collapsed deity statue.
Three Ks: "?"
He leaned forward to read the inscription on the stone tablet in front of it.
Painted Skin.
Three Ks: "???"
"Wait, wait, hold on, bro. You chose Painted Skin when you started the game?"
With his head full of question marks, he turned toward Just Plain Rude.
"You can actually choose Painted Skin?"
"I couldn't. Did he spend money to unlock him?"
Mi Xiaobai shrugged.
"Well, he was available when I made my selection. Maybe I ran into a bug."
"Holy shit! No wonder you're running around in that cosplay outfit! Is there something special about choosing Painted Skin? Man, now I'm really curious!"
Mi Xiaobai asked, "What blessings did you get?"
Three Ks and Just Plain Rude eagerly went to the statues of their respective deities and burned their wish slips.
Three Ks worshipped Lady Lu.
He received a random divine blessing that increased his personal assets by 30,000.
Just Plain Rude worshipped the Martial God.
His random divine blessing increased his character's Physical Strength by 100, the equivalent of gaining two levels at once.
"Hey! Making a wish increased my deity's Favorability by ten, and my Deity Bond just unlocked!" Three Ks exclaimed.
"Same here," Just Plain Rude said. "There's a deity avatar in my chat now, too, but the message input button is grayed out. No idea what it's for."
"What about Painted Skin?"
Curious, they gathered around Mi Xiaobai.
By then, the wish slip in his hand had burned almost completely away.
Three pairs of eyes waited for a full half minute before a holographic screen finally appeared.
It contained just two sentences.
【This deity cannot grant blessings.】
【Favorability with this deity cannot be increased.】
Mi Xiaobai: "..."
Then the wish slip, which had already burned to ashes, was spat back out, completely intact, into Mi Xiaobai's hand.
Three Ks, who had been watching the whole thing, coughed and gave an awkward laugh.
"Looks like that bug of yours has caused quite a few problems, huh?"
Just Plain Rude couldn't hold back a laugh.
You really are fucking rude, aren't you? Three Ks thought.
He hastily dragged Just Plain Rude away from the scene before they could get themselves into any more trouble.
Mi Xiaobai looked at the wish slip in his hand and blinked.
Then he addressed the little skeleton beneath the suit jacket covering its head.
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. So I've basically chosen to worship someone who expects to be treated like an emperor, is that it? Meow once if you agree."
The skeletal kitten didn't dare meow.
But Mi Xiaobai had no time to wait for an answer anyway.
He had suddenly noticed something subtly wrong with his body.
There was a growing warmth in his chest, accompanied by a faint dizziness.
His expression changed.
Without another word, he turned and hurried toward the hotel's guest rooms. He strode around the corner into the corridor and pressed the elevator button.
When this hotel wasn't infested with ghosts, its elevators worked reasonably well.
They were simply a little slower than usual.
Mi Xiaobai leaned against the elevator wall, watching the floor numbers climb one by one as the changes in his body became increasingly pronounced.
He had experienced this feeling before.
If he wasn't mistaken, it meant he was about to lose control of this body again.
Which meant he needed to get back to his room before he lost consciousness.
Ideally, he would be lying neatly and respectably on that enormous bed, perfectly clean and presentable.
Otherwise, someone might be rather displeased.
Unfortunately, things rarely went according to plan.
Almost the instant that thought crossed his mind, Mi Xiaobai's vision went black.
The last things he saw were the elevator's rusty handrail, its dust-covered lighting, and an enormous mirror that provided a perfectly clear view of his current predicament.
Mi Xiaobai: "..."
I'm screwed.
******
When Mr. Painted Skin, who suffered from an extreme obsession with cleanliness and placed tremendous importance on maintaining a dignified appearance, opened his eyes, this was the scene that greeted him.
The elevator's enormous mirror reflected his figure.
He was wearing a white mask bearing a shamelessly provocative smile. The cuffs of his shirt were wrinkled, and he was sitting...
On the floor.
He closed his eyes in disbelief, then opened them again to make sure.
Yes.
He really was sitting on the floor.
As soon as he moved, his expensive suit jacket slipped from his left elbow and fell to the ground, covering a small lump of something.
He lifted the jacket to take a look.
The little skeleton, now covered in white fur, was lying on the floor as though dead.
Face down.
The floor was filthy, yet the creature had chosen to lie with its face pressed against it, evidently too afraid to look him in the eye.
In his other hand, he was still loosely holding a phone.
The screen was displaying a conversation in the Friends tab.
Seething with rage, Yu Qing caught sight of only the final sentence of the message:
Just think of it as a little adventure that won't last very long.
And in the message input box beneath it, there was a single unfinished word:
Sor
Yu Qing: "..."
Yu Qing: "................................"