The dizziness faded. Yan Jing opened his eyes to find himself back in the Rotten Vegetable Market.
Just like last time, the players spawned together in a clearing at the center of the Rotten Vegetable Market.
Compared to their first arrival, however, the crowd was noticeably thinner.
Yan Jing summoned his Inner World System Panel. The objectives displayed basically matched the previously announced Stage B tasks.
One was to survive for 24 hours, and the other was to submit relevant clues.
The only difference was a note beneath the clue submission requirement: if the submitted clues were of high quality, the Order Management Bureau would provide a reward.
He opened his status bar:
[Player Name: Yan Jing]
[Player Title: None]
[Player Level: Zeroth Tier, Experience (60%/100%)][Ritual: Not yet unlocked]
[Mental Immunity Value: 70]
[Eerie Coins: 8632]
A Mental Immunity Value of 70.
Yan Jing's gaze remained calm. Given the Disguiser's methods, if they truly intended to go on a killing spree, a lot of people would probably die this time.
But for now, that possibility seemed low, considering "he" had already been caught.
If the killer acted prematurely and chose beating the grass to scare the snake now, it would only help clear Yan Jing's name.
"Attention, all humans!"
A voice echoed from a distance. Yan Jing looked toward the sound and once again spotted the woman from the Order Management Bureau and her Youth deputy.
Seeing that the players were all looking his way, the Youth cleared his throat. Gripping a megaphone shaped like massive red lips with his uninjured hand, he shouted:
"Due to certain circumstances, Rotten Vegetable Village is currently under an S-level alert. In accordance with the Rotten Vegetable Village Security Management Regulations, the Order Management Bureau is enlisting your help to resolve this crisis."
"Therefore, the Order Management Bureau has drafted the following document..."
"..."
"If you wish to submit a clue, directly shout, 'I want to submit a clue.' We will arrive within five minutes."
"That is the entirety of the document."
A serial killer? Hearing this news, almost all the players were stunned, and a murmur of discussion rippled through the crowd.
But the Youth coughed twice into the megaphone. The sound broadcast through the red lips, overpowering the chatter.
"In addition to the aforementioned document, to apprehend this heinous murderer, the Order Management Bureau has partnered with the mayor of Sleepland and the ward chief of Solitude Lane's Thirty-Second District to establish three rewards for the three humans who provide the most critical clues."
"For the person providing the third-highest-ranked clue, the reward is a specially customized Order Badge. Quality: Yellow. Tier requirement: None."
As he spoke, the Youth pointed to the purple-gold triangular badge on his own chest.
"For the second-highest-ranked clue, the reward is the Pillow Slept On by the Sleepy Village Deputy Chief in His Youth. Quality: Green transitioning to Yellow. Tier requirement: None."
An Order Management Bureau officer stepped forward, carrying a pillow covered in swirling, vortex-like patterns.
The pillow looked impossibly soft; just looking at it stirred an overwhelming urge to lie down and go to sleep.
"For the highest-ranked clue, the reward is the head of Solitude Lane's former-former Thirty-Third District ward chief. Quality: Yellow. Tier requirement: None."
On the other side, another officer stepped forward and opened a wooden box.
Inside rested the severed head of a young boy, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
A single black horn, about a chi long, grew from the boy's forehead.
All three were extremely rare, high-quality items. Most importantly, the Tier requirement was 'None,' meaning they could be used as the 'sacrifice' for the Day Selection Ritual.
Looking at these rewards, some people in the crowd could hardly sit still.
The man in the dinosaur sleepwear looked bleary-eyed; ever since the pillow had been revealed, he had been yawning continuously.
Even so, he didn't doze off while standing as he usually did, but kept his eyes locked firmly on the pillow.
Elsewhere, Mu Wan, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, spoke to the muscular man beside her:
"Let's aim for the badge. It barely fits the path I've mapped out for you, but its quality is indeed high."
"Yellow-quality items with no Tier requirement are very rare. Coming to this Dungeon was the right choice."
In a corner of the crowd, Lin Mian, shrouded in his Black Robe, stared at the boy's head. He could barely suppress the corners of his mouth from turning up.
Using a yellow-quality item for the Day Selection Ritual would naturally grant one more ability than a white- or green-quality Day Selection Ritual. This was a qualitative leap, not to mention its attributes were extremely compatible.
This meant that once he obtained it, he would firmly join the ranks of geniuses, completely suppressing his peers within the Clan.
Even the geniuses of the previous generation would eventually become his stepping stones.
To think that a yellow-quality item would actually appear in this Dungeon!
Excited to the extreme, his entire body began to itch again, and he hurriedly reached out to scratch wildly at his skin.
With his movements, large clumps of black hair rustled and fell from beneath the Black Robe.
Looking at the black hair, Lin Mian's face twisted severely. It was all because of that damned Yan Jing that he had ended up in this state.
Even the First Matriarch of the Clan had said there was no cure after examining him, and that it might plague him for the rest of his life.
At the thought, intense killing intent surged in his eyes.
Once this Dungeon ended, he would definitely make Yan Jing pay the price and regret everything he had done.
Beside him, An Ranran—who was also shrouded in a Black Robe—radiated an even stronger killing intent.
For a young girl, knowing that this black hair could not be eradicated made her almost want to die.
Meanwhile, the Yan Jing they were so fixated on was still anticipating what reward the Youth would announce for directly identifying the murderer.
Finally, the Youth paused for a moment and spoke again:
"Lastly, if someone directly identifies the murderer, then this person..."
"...will directly claim all three rewards, and also receive an Order Promissory Note."
"With this note, you can have our Order Management Bureau fulfill a single request that does not violate the order established by the Order Management Bureau."
As his voice faded, the crowd completely erupted.
An Order Promissory Note! According to the player forums, that was a purple-quality item. Although it had a First Tier requirement, it meant that the 'sacrifice' for the next Ritual, the Calming Rite, was secured.
By then, a yellow-quality Day Selection Ritual paired with a purple-quality Calming Rite—such a combination would be considered genius anywhere, enough to look down on all their peers.
At the very least, any faction within the cities of the Surface World Fifth Ring Domain would scramble to recruit them.
Without hesitation, the crowd immediately scattered, throwing themselves into a frantic search for clues.
Meanwhile, from a stall somewhere in the Rotten Vegetable Market, two pairs of eyes took in everything that happened, secretly sneering.
These idiots in the Order Management Bureau hadn't changed their tactics at all. Even after so many years, they still prioritized evidence before taking action—pedantic and rigid.
Fortunately, it was exactly because of this that he had managed to evade capture for so many years.
It was just a shame about all those exquisite items; falling into the hands of the Order Management Bureau meant they were merely gathering dust.
Such excellent items should rightfully be in his hands instead.
And these humans—all stupid and pitiful. They didn't even realize they were being used as tools, yet some of them actually had lovely voices.
A total waste of a good voice.
Creatures like humans shouldn't have voices at all, let alone beautiful ones!
It was sickening. He truly wanted to slit all their throats!
And those Inner World Residents were the same! Did they deserve to have better voices than his?!!
Inwardly, the owner of the two pairs of eyes was practically trembling and bleeding, wishing he could grind everyone around him to ash, but on the surface, he maintained a warm, smiling expression as he attended to the customer in front of him.
After so many years, his acting skills had reached a point where he could perform effortlessly.
Because of this, he had been able to see through the ambush set by those three people over half an hour ago and escape.
Thinking of the three bastards who had injured him, his heart quivered even more violently.
His heart felt as if it were constantly twisting and writhing inside his body, urging him to slaughter those damned wretches before it would rest.
"Hello, I'd like a bowl of malatang."
A mild and calm voice came from in front of him.
Almost instantly, he snapped out of his jealous hatred and threw himself back into his performance.
"Sure, pick whatever you want."
His voice was very soft, allowing him to conceal his unique vocal tone.
However, paired with a gesture, it wouldn't make anyone suspicious; at most, they would just think he was rather shy.
"You have a really nice voice."
The male human standing before him, whose face was mostly hidden by a hoodie, spoke. The words were very much to his liking—no, they were exceptionally to his liking.
"Thank you."
He could barely suppress the volume of his voice.
For this praise, he was willing to give the man before him a larger portion of malatang—made from the good ingredients, of course.
Right now, the human players were all busy searching everywhere for clues, and hardly anyone would patronize a stall, so this man was the only customer in front of him.
"Not only do you sound nice, but you're also very pretty."
The male human seemed very good at praising people, and he specifically pointed to both sides of his neck:
"Both faces are outstanding."
"Thank you."
His hands trembled even more violently; even though he was an excellent actor, the man seemed to know exactly where his weak spot lay.
He decided that if it truly came down to a point where he had to start killing to escape, he would let this male human off the hook.
Even though this man had a very nice voice, and the small portion of his face visible was quite handsome.
A target like this would normally be his first choice to hunt, but he decided to make an exception now, all for the sake of these compliments.
Only, to his surprise, the male human's praise wasn't finished.
The person before him leaned down, looked through the bottom of the stall, and smiled:
"Your legs are also really pale."
"Thank you."
He didn't care much for this comment, because he was a man.
It was difficult for a man to be interested in such praise.
But regardless, he still decided to be lenient toward the man in front of him, if he really had to start killing and escaping later.
A portion of malatang was quickly prepared and handed to the man.
The man took the malatang, but didn't taste it directly, nor did he turn to leave; he just lowered his head and sniffed it:
"It smells very fragrant."
He immediately smiled and said:
"You can try it. The taste is just as good—"
"It's a pity I didn't get to eat any on the afternoon of the day before yesterday."
As the man's words fell, his smile nearly faltered for a moment.
The man in front of him continued to speak to himself while holding the malatang:
"I wanted to buy some on the afternoon of the day before yesterday, but unfortunately, it seemed you weren't here then. Did you take the day off the day before yesterday?"
"Yes, I took the day off the day before yesterday."
He smiled, turning around to pick up a rag and start wiping down the stall:
"I haven't been feeling very well these past few days. I originally wanted to come and see if there were any customers today, but it seems there aren't many patrons, so I'll probably pack up early."
"Oh, I see."
Yan Jing nodded. Then, smiling at the "woman" in front of him—who sported a young girl's head and a mature woman's head—he said:
"Indeed, everyone must be looking for clues about that killer, with no time to buy food."
"By the way, regarding that murder from the day before yesterday, do you have any clues you can provide?"