Rotten Vegetable Village was a Domain symbolizing "Order."
Old Sin City held many such Domains symbolizing "Order," and without exception, every single one housed a branch of the Order Management Bureau.
"Whoosh—"
Another figure darted past Yan Jing with a swish, becoming the second runner in this sudden flight after Chen Nian.
Yan Jing looked back and instantly caught sight of Old Liu's familiar green military overcoat and silver hair.
The old man was moving at a surprising clip.
His two inner world resident friends certainly had a few things in common.
At the very front of the Order Management Bureau squad was a woman with a face as cold as frost. Although her features were quite pretty and her figure outstanding, her expression carried such heavy murderous intent that it smothered any inappropriate thoughts on sight.
Beside her, a fresh-faced Youth repeatedly shouted to the crowds on both sides:
"Clear the streets, seal the village!""Clear the streets, seal the village!"
"Clear the streets, seal the village!"
"..."
Clearing the streets and sealing the village? What were they trying to do?
Yan Jing was deeply puzzled.
Watching the Bureau squad draw nearer, he glanced over to see that Mantou had already left with the main crowd, so he stepped out of the vegetable market as well.
At the same time, a line of prompts popped up:
[For some unknown reason, the Rotten Vegetable Village branch of the Order Management Bureau has begun a street sweep and sealed the village, forbidding any inner world residents from entering or exiting.]
[The "destiny meal" task proceeds as normal. The "overnight stay" task has been shortened to the final hour.]
[In one hour, the Order Management Bureau will purge anyone remaining on the streets. This operation will last until midnight.]
Yan Jing looked around. More than a few players had fear written all over their faces.
They had either failed to buy a destiny meal, or hadn't even begun their overnight stay task.
The Inner World was just like this. Published tasks could be adjusted at any time due to unexpected circumstances.
Everything depended on the actual situation at hand.
Yan Jing didn't linger. He went straight back to the Cameraman's home.
Unlocking the door and returning to the familiar room, Yan Jing felt his sense of security rise significantly.
He lay down on the bed and began to think.
After tonight, Stage A of the task would be considered complete, but he didn't have a clue about Stage B yet.
He vaguely suspected that Stage B might be connected to this street-clearing and sealing operation, but the exact reasons required further investigation.
That was easy enough. Once the Stage B task was issued, he could use the intermission between the two stages to investigate in his identity as the Cameraman, just like before.
Then there was the Ritual.
According to Xu Weizhou, the power system most suited for him was the Ritual, which meant deciding on his Day Selection Ritual had to be put on the agenda.
In fact, a destiny meal was a decent choice.
He had seen some players on the forums use extra destiny meals for their Day Selection Ritual and obtain fairly good abilities.
The flexibility of the Ritual lay in the fact that anything could be used as an "offering," whether living or dead, or even items utterly devoid of weird energy.
But right now, this was only an idea.
After all, he needed to advance to the First Tier before he could initiate a Day Selection Ritual.
For him, if he returned to the Dungeon in the identity of the Cameraman after tomorrow's trial concluded...
There was one matter that absolutely took priority.
Finding the murderer who wanted to kill him!
The very thought of someone secretly watching him, ready to strike at any moment, left Yan Jing feeling incredibly stifled. He closed his eyes and began to review everything he had seen and heard over the past two days.
The strange old woman, Old Liu reading his novel, the gossiping Chen Nian, the closed Elephant BBQ...
Amidst the chaotic and overlapping images, his thoughts gradually drifted away until he actually fell asleep right there on the bed.
Several days of high-intensity focus had left him completely exhausted. With Stage A on the verge of completion, he could finally no longer fend off his drowsiness and slipped into dreamland.
This sleep carried him straight into the middle of the night.
"Rumble—"
Stirred by the rolling thunder, Yan Jing woke up and opened his eyes.
The lights were off and the room was dim, but having had his eyes closed for so long, he quickly adapted to the darkness.
His throat burned. He stood up, instinctively wanting to grab a glass of water, but immediately realized he wasn't at home.
There was no water in the room.
Left with no choice, he lay back down on the bed and tried to go back to sleep.
"Pitter-patter—"
"Whoosh— Whoosh— Whoosh—"
The rain and wind battered the window, dispelling the last trace of sleepiness in his heart.
He turned his head to look outside. The rain was heavy; the bean-sized droplets fell so hard they seemed to "smash" down, rattling the windowpane.
Under such a curtain of rain, everything became a blur.
Moreover, there was no moonlight tonight. It was pitch black outside; he couldn't make out anything clearly.
Still, he stared blankly ahead, attempting to use this method to gather his drowsiness once more.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning pierced the long night, illuminating the outside as bright as day.
An incredibly familiar figure appeared just outside the glass, peering into the room through a pulled-back corner of the curtain.
"It" looked at Yan Jing inside, and Yan Jing looked back at "it."
Then, as if he hadn't noticed a thing, Yan Jing yawned, turned his head, and lay on his side facing the wall.
Only when he was certain the entity outside could no longer see his expression did Yan Jing let his shock show.
How could this be?!
How could it be "it"?!
He had considered every possibility, yet he never expected such a face to appear outside his window.
He secretly pinched his thigh to confirm he wasn't dreaming, then narrowed his eyes and slowly turned back around.
Through the slits of his narrowed eyes, he once again saw that all-too-familiar face pressed firmly against the glass, staring into the room.
Sharp angular lines, a metallic luster, with raindrops falling against it and pooling into streams.
Flowing slowly toward that pitch-black lens.
That wasn't a face at all; it was clearly a camera!!!
Yan Jing fought to maintain his composure and looked at the part below the camera.
A white shirt stood rigidly in the rain, soaked transparent to reveal a bite-mark-like scar on its chest.
Confirmed. It really was "himself."
The figure outside the window was genuinely the Cameraman he played—"Yi Ji."
He had cursorily inspected the body after taking over the role, and there had indeed been a scar just like that on the chest.
Soon, the lightning faded, and the world outside the window plunged back into darkness.
But this time, Yan Jing changed his strategy. He stood up and fumbled around until he found the room's light switch.
"Click—"
The instant the lights flared on, he whipped his head toward the window.
Nothing was there.
The warm light pierced a few feet through the glass, illuminating absolutely nothing but the driving curtain of rain.
It was as if the figure Yan Jing had just seen was merely a hallucination.
But Yan Jing slowly approached the window.
He hadn't realized it right away: he was currently the player "Yan Jing," not the Cameraman "Yi Ji." He didn't need to put on a deliberate disguise; any reaction he showed was perfectly normal.
Walking up to the window, he scrutinized the glass and spotted a circular ring of water.
It was the water stain left behind where the camera had pressed against it.
It was real.
He let out a breath of relief. It wasn't a hallucination. A figure identical to the Cameraman really had been standing outside the window just a moment ago.
He sat back down on the edge of the bed, his mind racing.
The Order Management Bureau had sealed the village in the afternoon.
This meant that since this afternoon, no one had entered or exited Rotten Vegetable Village.
Therefore, it was highly probable that the "Cameraman" from just now was someone already inside the village.
Either an inner world resident identical to the Cameraman had been lurking in this urban village all along without being discovered, or...
...there was someone in Rotten Vegetable Village capable of disguising themselves as others.
Suddenly, Yan Jing recalled the serial killer mentioned in Old Liu's newspaper.
"Skilled at disguise, kills with a single slash to the throat."
That made everything line up... This was why the Order Management Bureau had sealed the village.
They had found out the serial killer was inside!
Everything connected.
So why did that bastard disguise himself to look like "him"...?
Yan Jing didn't sleep a wink for the rest of the night.
It wasn't until dawn, as the sky outside gradually lightened and the rain that had poured all night finally showed signs of letting up, that system prompts at last appeared before his eyes.
[Dungeon: Rotten Vegetable Village - Stage A Completed]
[Calculating Dungeon Rewards]
[Task "destiny meal" evaluated: The player consumed two destiny meals in total. Based on the quality of the destiny meals, the task rating is: S (Highest rating is S-Rank)]
[Task "Please let me stay the night at your house" evaluated: Player completion rate is 100%. Based on the player's performance, the task rating is: A (Highest rating is S-Rank)]
[Overall Dungeon Rating: S-]
[Tallying Rewards]
[Base Rewards: 30% Experience, 2,000 Eerie Coins]
[S- Rating Bonus Rewards: 20% Experience, 2,000 Eerie Coins, Mental Immunity Potion (Bound Item) x1]
[Issuing Stage B Tasks Now]
[Task 1: Dangerous Village]
[Task Description:
The Order Management Bureau's lockdown operation seems to foreshadow the arrival of some sort of danger. Please strive to survive inside Rotten Vegetable Village for more than 24 hours.
Note: Due to the Order Management Bureau's lockdown, the initial Mental Immunity Value will be reduced to 70 when the next stage begins.]
[Task 2: I Have a Clue]
[Task Description:
The Order Management Bureau has decided to rally the strength of the players to resolve this dangerous incident. The relevant plans have been drafted.
According to the drafted plans, during Stage B, every player will have one opportunity to submit a clue regarding the dangerous incident to the Order Management Bureau.
The Order Management Bureau will evaluate and rank the clues. Please provide at least an E-Rank clue or higher; otherwise, you will receive no rewards for clearing this run.
Note: This task carries no penalties.]
[Note: Stage B tasks are subject to change. The actual tasks will depend on the circumstances when Stage B begins.]
[Stage B will officially begin in one day.]
[Dungeon Exit Countdown: 00:05:00]
With five minutes left until exiting the Dungeon, the street-clearing operation had concluded. The surviving players emerged from their rooms one after another, using this brief window to search for clues for the next stage's tasks.
Yan Jing, however, looked at his Stage A rewards with flickering eyes. He then stepped out the door, took a few detours, and buried the Key in a secluded corner.
Having done all this, he exited the Dungeon early.
Upon returning to his familiar home, he didn't relax in the slightest. He immediately turned on his computer, entered the player forums, and started a search.
Only this time, he didn't choose the forum for the Rotten Vegetable Village area; instead, he switched to a different region.
He selected advanced search, set the timeframe to the past five years, and typed in the keyword: "serial killer."
For the location, he chose: "Sleepland."
The place where the "serial killer" had committed his crimes a few years ago.