“We are going to the housing section.” Xing Yun announced her plan, which was truly earth-shattering.
Yu Yan, however, did not care at all; she even raised her hand with a smile and agreed, “Sounds good.”
Xing Yun nodded, calculating in her mind: every area except the housing section had been combed through. The only thing left that could possibly relate to the “she” the Boss mentioned was the woman with long fingernails who had grabbed her leg.
Originally, Xing Yun had assumed that whenever an employee turned into a skeleton, the woman would emerge from the employee’s blood, but observation showed this did not seem to be the case. The appearance of the woman had no direct connection to the employees. Currently, the woman had only appeared in the housing section. To get to the bottom of this key clue, Xing Yun intended to explore that area.
Yu Xi looked twisted with panic: “You are crazy. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is there?”
Xu Lang also felt that Xing Yun was tired of living.
Yu Yan, on the other hand, was even more excited: “Just the thought of it is interesting.” She shouted, “Everyone is coming with me.”
“I give up,” Yu Xi said. “A madwoman.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a hand suddenly opened up in front of Yu Xi. Yu Yan hooked her fingers, then pointed to the earpiece on Yu Xi’s ear, acting completely entitled. Her meaning was clear: give the item to her. Yu Xi, of course, was unwilling to grant Yu Yan’s wish.
What they argued about in the end, Xing Yun did not know. By the time she noticed, Yu Yan had already taken the communication equipment, and Yu Xi’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
The group headed toward the only lit area: the housing section.
Xing Yun was not afraid of entering the housing section as long as she was within the Boss’s range of observation. As long as they were in the area where the Boss existed, all aggressive NPCs would give Xing Yun a wide berth. The difficulty lay in escaping the Boss’s gaze while surviving the siege of the employees, all while searching for the mysterious woman.
Xing Yun arrived at the room next to where she had encountered the long-fingernailed woman. She wiped the dust off the mirror and began to reshape her features. She had a special passion for performance; not only could she change her appearance, but she could also disguise her voice and posture. This was her unique secret technique, which helped her stand out in the cosplay community and gain numerous fans.
She had discovered that the Boss could not only communicate but also negotiate, so they reached a strange agreement: the Boss was not allowed to enter the room when Xing Yun was inside. The Boss had not objected and even seemed to look forward to it, as if specially waiting to see what she would come up with.
“When I go to take action, I will separate from you all, but I will make the Boss think I am still here. This will keep this room safe.”
Xing Yun did not make this plan to protect herself, but to protect Yu Yan and the others.
Yu Xi looked at Xing Yun, who had completely transformed into a different person, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets: “You actually have skills like this?”
Xing Yun: “If conditions allowed, I could even make fake human skin, more exquisite than this.” She waved her hand dismissively. Although she was not a researcher, she was always willing to study things she loved, and over time, she had gained quite a bit of knowledge.
Under Xing Yun’s arrangement, this room became a short-term safe house. With the Boss’s protection outside, the group was able to get a brief moment of respite. Inside the room, the three of them fell silent. Although they had escaped the severe weather, the cumulonimbus clouds seemed to follow them, and the air pressure in the room was suffocatingly low.
Xing Yun stretched her body, making the final preparations before the operation. She desperately needed a way to break the deadlock; waiting around would only mean staying in this instance until she died. She needed to act.
The music in the hotel continued to play intermittently eerie and terrifying sometimes emitting static noises, other times suddenly becoming high-pitched. Outside the window was thick white fog, making it impossible to distinguish the time of day, and outside the room, the Boss was observing every movement of the door. No matter what, she could not exit through the front door.
Yu Yan was beside Xing Yun, silently encouraging her. Since this was just a ragtag team they had thrown together, Xing Yun’s specific plan was simply written on the table with water for Yu Yan to see.
Seeing that Xing Yun had not moved for a long time, Xu Lang mocked her: “So, now what? How do you plan to see that woman with red nails? It is not like she is going to walk in here.”
Xing Yun pondered, then looked at the fog outside the window and shot a glance at Xu Lang: “Watch closely; this is how.” She climbed straight out the window and disappeared into the white fog.
Yu Yan and the others were completely stunned. Yu Xi asked, “Is she completely insane?”
Of course, Xing Yun was not insane. She stepped on the bricks protruding from the exterior wall of the room, moved carefully, and finally climbed into the room on the other side. Although it was risky, this was the method she had devised to protect Yu Yan and the others while successfully escaping the Boss’s control.
Despite feeling dizzy and nauseated in the fog, she forced herself to endure it. She used the remote communication device in her ear to report her safety to Yu Yan. She clearly heard the chaos erupting on the other end; Yu Xi and the others were breaking into a cold sweat over her behavior of deceiving the Boss.
Xing Yun originally thought it would be nearly over at this stage, but she did not expect the real test to begin now. Without the Boss’s protection, she was just an ordinary player with no strength to bind a chicken. Lacking powerful weapons, she faced nothing but murderous NPCs and players.
She discovered a skeleton employee approaching shakily; its body was not large, but it dragged a blade twice its size. A single, light swing could reach Xing Yun. She was squeezed into a corner, and a few strands of her hair were sliced off. Originally, she thought she could avoid the skeleton since it moved slowly, but the skeleton seemed to have mind-reading abilities, no matter where she dodged, it captured her movements with precision.
Xing Yun tried to divert its attention, for instance by throwing a stone, but it failed to distract the skeleton at all, scaring her until her legs turned to jelly. She was horrified that every dodge could be seen through; she could only move along the wall to stretch the distance between her and the skeleton. But she knew that continuing like this, being killed was only a matter of time.
She grabbed a large wool blanket to use as equipment to reduce damage, her body tense and her hair standing on end. She realized that not only the Boss, but even the NPCs enjoyed playing cat-and-mouse. The inescapable instance and the elusive woman with red nails were pushing her to the brink of a mental breakdown. Moreover, the scenes of other players dying were too much of a shock for her; if she had not been a bit thick-skinned by nature, she would have gone mad like some of the other newcomers.
Less than a minute had passed, yet she already had several cuts on her body. The rest of the hotel had completely lost power, with only the housing section retaining a faint light. Just as Xing Yun was pinned to the wall by a blade through her shoulder, the woman she had been bitterly waiting for finally appeared.
When she appeared, Xing Yun realized what she had missed: the woman emerged from the blood flowing from her wounds. Blood was the necessary condition for the woman to appear.
The woman again revealed only one hand, grabbing the leg Xing Yun had previously injured, causing Xing Yun to gasp in pain.
“Be careful!” At this moment, Yu Yan appeared at the doorway, which was like an adrenaline shot for Xing Yun. The skeleton had already been dealt with by Yu Yan. After pulling the blade out of Xing Yun’s body, she fired shots at the woman. Although she only shot around her, it was surprisingly effective, successfully making the woman release her grip on Xing Yun.
Xing Yun did not stay idle; with a flash of inspiration, she grabbed the woman and managed to snatch an armband off her. Xing Yun was ecstatic to have obtained a clue.
Yu Yan gently helped her up, wiping the sweat oozing from her forehead: “I am so glad you are okay.”
The distance between the two was too close; their exhaled breath felt scorching. Xing Yun was stunned, and almost instinctively, she slapped Yu Yan. This slap carried the wind of a heavy blow.
However, it did not land; it did not even touch a single strand of hair. Yu Yan dodged it effortlessly, but the entire hotel shook three times as if impacted.
How could this be? Unless…
In a flash of realization, a thought raced through Xing Yun’s mind. Her gaze suddenly turned sharp, and she stared at Yu Yan, taking a defensive stance: “Wait, who exactly are you? Yu Yan’s gun should have had no effect on that woman at all.”
Yu Yan was taken aback, then smiled and did not refute. She suddenly faded into the darkness, and when she emerged, she had clearly transformed into the Boss’s face that gentle countenance that lacked any deterrent force.
The Boss looked very aggrieved, to the point where the red corners of her eyes looked like flowing blood tears: “You snuck away and changed your appearance; I thought you liked role-playing.”
“You knew what I was doing the whole time?” Xing Yun was horrified.
The Boss shook her head and pointed to her leg: “I remember the scent of your blood; I could smell you moving.”
Suddenly, she came over, grabbed Xing Yun’s arms, twisted them behind her back, and pressed her against the wall: “Your leg… your wounds… what would you do without me?” Between her words, she suddenly kissed Xing Yun’s neck, giving Xing Yun goosebumps.
Xing Yun tried hard to struggle and break free from the shackles, but the next instant, she stiffened. She realized the Boss was not just touching her with her lips; she was using her tongue to lick, bringing a shivering sensation with every touch, accompanied by a lingering itch.
“Let me go!”
Hearing this, the Boss laughed low, her eyes curving into crescents: “I do not want to.”
Xing Yun writhed: “Are you sick or what?!”
The Boss shook her head slightly: “No.”
She ignored Xing Yun’s futile struggles and continued to peck at her gently, as if treating a piece of treasure. When she reached her hand under the hem of Xing Yun’s shirt, Xing Yun finally could not take it anymore. Like a startled fox, she lifted her leg and twisted her body to deliver a flying kick, but it was easily caught by the Boss by the ankle. Xing Yun felt her center of gravity shift, muttered a curse, and fell to the ground.
The Boss wore a smile at the corner of her mouth, appearing completely unbothered; she even untied the crude cloth strips Xing Yun had wrapped around her leg, frowned at the injury, and then kissed it again.
“Go to hell!” Xing Yun kicked fiercely, hitting the Boss on the chin. The momentum was grand, but the attack power was practically zero. Instead, her leg was hoisted onto the Boss’s shoulder.
Xing Yun roared: “Did we not agree that you would not leave the room door?!”
The Boss was confused: “Did I agree to anything with you?”
Xing Yun: “…”
It seemed she really had not.
Yu Yan had originally been unable to wait any longer and was prepared to see how Xing Yun was doing. But as soon as she opened the door, she saw her pinned down by the Boss. She could not see the Boss’s face, only a humanoid black mist shrouding the better part of Xing Yun’s body.
Xing Yun was lying on the floor, her cheeks flushed, and there were no wounds on her body. Even the injury on her leg had almost completely healed. Her smooth lower leg was resting on the Boss, trembling slightly.
“What is the meaning of this?” Yu Yan was bewildered. “You should have said so earlier; I could have done that, too.”