Qin Guan pinched the little octopus by the neck and lifted it into the air, giving it a stern round of “persuasive education” that was half threat and half warning, strictly forbidding it from reporting the matter.
The octopus dumpling wriggled with all its strength in Qin Guan’s hand, so slippery that it was impossible to get a grip on.
“No, this is my duty, meow! No matter how much Boss threatens me, I can’t betray… waaahhh!!”
“Try me.”
A large hand suddenly reached over and scooped the little octopus out of his arms.
With Qin Guan on his back, Lu Chuan carried the squeaking little ball to a corner. No one knew what the big and little entities talked about, but by the time 191 came back, it was quiet and obedient, not saying another nonsensical word.
Qin Guan looked at it suspiciously. “You’ve really made up your mind?”
191 pressed its two tentacles together and nodded devoutly.
“You’re not going to tell anyone?”
191 brought its two tentacles together, swore to the heavens, and shook its head furiously, its head whipping back and forth at washing-machine speed.
Qin Guan’s suspicious gaze shifted to Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan hummed a tune, focused on fiddling with the ring in his hand.
The little octopus’ tentacles fluttered up and down as it rapidly operated the System interface.
“Oh, right, Boss, the 30,000 points from this livestream’s earnings have already been sent to your mailbox along with the MVP hidden reward, meow. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now, see you next time, meow…”
As soon as it finished speaking, the little octopus snapped its fingers and vanished from the system space in a flash, not even leaving a shadow behind.
Qin Guan: “…”
Patiently opening his backpack, Qin Guan indeed found the MVP hidden reward it had mentioned…
It was actually that chainsaw.
『Item Name: “The Chainsaw With No Retreat”』
『Item Attributes: A-rank, special, non-tradeable』
『Item Description: A chainsaw that has cut down countless resentments. Because of its ugly appearance, it became a frequent prop in horror movies, and people always assumed it was something only villains would use. In reality, it has a gentle and delicate heart. Strong and reliable, holding it makes you feel an unparalleled sense of security.』
『Special Effect: One-time-use item. It can forcibly kill any target that it can reach and that has a physical body.』
From the side, Lu Chuan poked his head out from somewhere. “Huh? Isn’t that my chainsaw?”
Qin Guan calmly closed his backpack and walked toward the exit nearby.
“Not anymore.”
Floor 701 of the Filth Room was a hotel with a somewhat classical architectural style. High above, on the vaulted ceiling, a crystal chandelier towered, exquisitely carved in layers and radiating an unbelievable brilliance.
The lobby bustled with people, all hurrying about.
In the center stood a huge television wall, embedded with hundreds of screens of all sizes, each one broadcasting live footage of various instances.
At the moment, many people had already gathered in front of the largest screen in the very center, whispering nervously to one another.
“Is that the vanguard team from the BM Foundation? Which floor have they reached?”
“Judging by the scene, it should be Floor 826.”
After hearing that number, startled cries rose from the crowd nearby. “What? Isn’t the highest explored floor only 825 right now? Are they about to break the record?”
At that, everyone around grew faintly excited.
The so-called “Filth Room” was not actually a flat space, but a vertical structure similar to the Tower of Babel, composed of two parts: the outer “instances” and the inner “Atrium.”
Each floor was an independent game instance. When a player entered the Filth Room for the first time, they would be randomly teleported to one of the floors and forced to participate in the game.
Only after completely clearing it could they choose to continue exploring upward or downward, starting from the cleared floor.
And the cleared floors did not disappear. Instead, they opened themselves to players in their most real form…
The world beneath these instances was also called the “Atrium.”
Floor 701 was one such place.
Inside the instance, this was an abandoned television station. A player only needed to find the hidden key inside to restore it to operation, thereby entering the Atrium. Most importantly, the television station in the Atrium could connect to the Filth Room livestream System, allowing people to watch other players’ clearance footage.
Word spread from one person to ten, then ten to a hundred. Many players on other floors would risk everything to come to Floor 701, just to watch the livestreams and learn about the situations on other floors in advance, giving themselves one more layer of protection for survival.
The crowd gathered here grew larger and larger. People traded supplies and searched for companions.
As a result, Floor 701 became one of the liveliest floors in the entire Filth Room.
So much so that some special organizations were born there…
“Look! Lin Xiao is in danger!”
A cry of alarm suddenly erupted from the crowd.
On the screen, facing the sharp claws charging straight at him, a blond, blue-eyed man dodged swiftly. In the same motion, he drew a narrow, slender sword and drove it straight into the monster’s heart!
“Oooooh! As expected of the vanguard team’s captain! That is way too cool!!”
“Good-looking and powerful… how can there be such a perfect man in this world!!”
A little girl beside them covered her face and screamed.
Another girl walking with her glanced at her.
“You can forget it. Captain Lin already has someone he likes. I heard the other person is even a man.”
“What??!! A man!!!” The girl’s eyes widened, her small face flushing red with excitement, and her screaming grew even louder.
“That makes it even better to ship!!!”
“Yes, and I’m not sure of the name, but it seems to be something like… G?”
“Aaaaaah, G!!!”
This time, it wasn’t just the girl screaming. The crowd nearby started screaming too.
The people who didn’t know what was going on hurriedly asked around.
“Floor record! Someone has broken a floor record!”
“So fast? No way. I thought Lin Xiao’s team would still need some time to clear it.”
“It’s not Lin Xiao, it’s… it’s ‘G’! ‘G’ cleared Floor 422! He broke the instance record!”
“What?! Everyone’s been rushing upward to grind floors. How did he end up at 422?!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If he’s really doing anything possible just to set records, then I think this G is here to be a clown!”
“You must be new here, right? You’ve never heard of G? He’s a very strange big shot. I heard that when he first came to the Filth Room, he was extraordinarily lucky and was assigned directly to Floor 999! He was clearly just one step away from clearing it, but he refused and kept going downward. By now, he’s almost torn through the entire Filth Room!”
“Why would he do that? Does this big shot not want to leave?”
“Sigh, who knows? But I heard he’s been looking for someone all along…”
Two cloaked figures passed silently through the crowd, drawing almost no one’s attention.
Hearing the others’ discussion, Lu Chuan raised an eyebrow with great interest and looked toward the figure beside him, tightly wrapped up.
“So that person is that important to you? Enough to keep you from leaving all this time?”
“Think whatever you want.”
Qin Guan had no intention of paying him any attention. He covered his face with a mask and scanned the surroundings warily, as if guarding against someone.
What happened back then, when he was teleported to Floor 999, Qin Guan no longer wanted to think about it at all.
Rather than being lucky, he had been extremely unlucky…
Because among all the players, Qin Guan alone knew.
The third rule for surviving in the Filth Room…
Never go to the top floor.