LWGP - Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Get to the Point
The car headed toward Zhang Dongcheng's home in the city. Qi Jun thought Wang Jiu would ask more questions, but she didn't.
She remained silent, just tilting her head to watch the scenery flash by outside the car window.
At that moment, Wang Jiu asked the System two things.
One was about the three chances turning into one.
The other was whether someone who had died could come back.
System: "The method of three HP losses doesn't just apply to the number of instance attempts. There is another way: being attacked by a bloodthirsty-type monster…"
Wang Jiu frowned. "Bloodthirsty? As in blood-sucking? Or a monster that can directly devour HP?"
System: "The latter. Monsters that can directly attack and devour HP belong to the bloodthirsty category. They are special monsters and not common—at least at the current stage, the probability is one in a million."
"You mean the Old Lady had bad luck?"
"One in a million is beyond just bad luck. But considering the entire population of living beings, there will always be a group that encounters misfortune. Take the plane instance you experienced, for example. The probability was also extremely low, one in a hundred thousand, yet…"
"Yet the Old Lady died," Wang Jiu said softly.
System: "I can sense your hatred. This is normal. But I am a bit curious. Your hatred is not directed at this game's system. Why?"
As a program, it didn't understand human customs, but it possessed a vast and meticulous logical framework.
Wang Jiu was a little surprised by its extra question, which was outside the scope of the system and its instances.
Was it because she was exceptional that she was receiving special treatment?
Unlikely.
"Three reasons. 1, I believe every disaster has a reason for its existence. I don't even know where you came from or where you're going, so why should I let myself be consumed by hatred? 2, There's a difference between the strong and the weak. If an ant knows it's an ant, it won't express hatred toward a dinosaur. Of course, the dinosaur wouldn't see it anyway. 3, I'm wondering if there's still a chance to fix this. If there is, I can only rely on the System."
The System ignored Wang Jiu's probing and didn't mention whether the Old Lady could be saved. It only said: "Not expressing it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
Wang Jiu: "Do you care?"
System: "No. Any emotion not converted into strength is useless. Making threats before leaving is a low-level struggle employed only by low-intelligence beings."
Wang Jiu: "So you're asking me this to conduct a personality assessment? Is this also how you collect data?"
System: "It's just for the record. Only when you can make it onto any of the rankings after loading into the new world will you be qualified for me to create a file for you."
After a pause, it added emotionlessly: "Cannon fodder doesn't need a file."
It was unclear if Wang Jiu heard it or not. In any case, she didn't speak, because they had arrived.
Zhang Dongcheng had undergone repeated questioning from the school and the police, describing the terrifying experience over and over. After expressing his grief along with many of his fellow alumni, he was finally on his way home. His steps were sluggish, showing none of the joy of having escaped with his life, probably because everyone else had died.
They were all dead.
"Honey… I know. I'll let you pick up Beibei. I'll wait for you at home. It's okay, I survived. Everything will be okay from now on."
He looked up at his apartment building. Although it was in a low-end complex, in the capital where every inch of land was precious, it was still a considerable asset. But… he was renting.
He wasn't even qualified to take on a huge mortgage because he couldn't even scrape together the down payment.
What was the use of being a graduate student from a prestigious university?
He recalled his wife's daily complaints, both intentional and unintentional; he recalled her envy as she looked at other friends who had cars and houses; he recalled how, despite her complaints and envy, she was still willing to bear his children. His vision blurred.
He looked at the old apartment building before him as if it were a giant monster, opening its cavernous, bloody maw toward him.
It was as if the hell he had just experienced had reappeared before his eyes. Terrified, he quickly ducked his head and slipped into the hallway behind the door, only to find the elevator was broken.
Right, the world had changed. Everything was starting to fall apart. Thinking of that game, he felt on the verge of collapse, but he gritted his teeth and headed for the stairs, climbing step by step.
He lived on the thirteenth floor. For someone already so exhausted, the height of thirteen floors was terrifying.
Panting, he found it grew darker the higher he went. Son of a bitch, the hallway lights were broken too!
But this wasn't because the world was changing; it was because they had always been broken. The property management had long been slacking off, their efficiency abysmal.
"I have to move out of here, move to a better complex, a big house," he muttered. Suddenly, from above… Bang!
A flowerpot fell from above, shattering on the ground. Soil and long-withered flowers scattered everywhere.
He jumped in fright, scrambling backward until his back was against the wall. Seemingly remembering something, his face changed drastically. He turned to run back down but suddenly heard a soft, panicked, and apologetic voice from above.
"Senior Brother Zhang, I'm so sorry. I heard a noise just now and was so happy to see it was you that I accidentally knocked over the small potted plant on the ledge. Did it hit you?"
Zhang Dongcheng saw the person above clearly and froze for a moment. A flash of panic crossed his face, but he quickly composed himself and said, "It's you, Ah Jiu. You scared me just now, I was wondering what was going on. It's fine, it was a bit far, it couldn't have hit me. What brings you here? Have you eaten? How about I take you out to a restaurant? Come on down."
"I've already eaten. It was such a climb to get up here. Aren't you going to invite me into your home for a bit, Senior Brother Zhang?"
Zhang Dongcheng hesitated for a moment, looking at Wang Jiu, who appeared particularly gentle and delicate shrouded in the faint, flickering light. "Okay, I'll be right there."
Sitting on the somewhat worn-out sofa, Wang Jiu took the glass of water Zhang Dongcheng handed her, took a sip, and surveyed the apartment. "Have you always lived here, Senior Brother Zhang?"
"Yes."
"It seems very inconvenient."
"It is, but there's nothing I can do. I'm not from here, and my family doesn't have much money."
"Does anyone else know you live here?"
"Ah, I don't think so. I was about to ask how you knew…"
"If someone is determined, they can always find out."
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine."
"I was talking about Young Master Yang, if he were determined…"
Zhang Dongcheng froze, tightening his grip on the identical glass of water in his hand. He looked confused. "Ah Jiu, what do you mean?"
"To go through a disaster together and survive together, you must have forged an extraordinary bond. Hasn't Young Master Yang contacted you?"
"No, I don't know him well. He's a young master…" As Zhang Dongcheng spoke, a look of guilt and pain appeared on his face. "But Professor Qin… she passed away. Ah Jiu, I know you must be devastated."
"When someone dies, some people feel grief, and others feel fear. Just now, Senior Brother Zhang, the moment you saw something fall, you turned and ran without a second thought. That's not like you at all. Normally, you'd go up to see what happened. If someone else caused it, you'd argue with them, or at least demand some compensation for emotional distress. But you seemed terrified. I thought you were worried someone was trying to silence you."
Zhang Dongcheng's expression changed. He seemed both confused and annoyed, as if he found her unreasonable. "Ah Jiu, I know you're grieving, but you keep speaking in riddles… I just barely escaped with my life. I can't just indulge your emotions without principle. You should go home now. We can talk about the specifics after you've calmed down."
He was about to stand up and forcibly show her out.
"Do you prefer it if I get to the point, Senior Brother Zhang?"
"You…"
Bang!
With a light punch, Wang Jiu smashed through the coffee table. The entire tabletop disintegrated, sending fragments flying everywhere.
My God! Zhang Dongcheng leaped up from the sofa in terror, turning to run for the door.
"Your wife, Chen Jiaqi, is an employee in the planning department of Huanyu Company. She gets off work at five-thirty every day, but since today is Saturday, she can leave two hours early."
Zhang Dongcheng froze and turned to look at her.
Wang Jiu picked up her glass again, leaned back against the sofa, and continued, "Your daughter, Zhang Duoduo, is a student in the senior class at Shijai Avenue's Little Sun Kindergarten. She gets out of school at four-thirty every day, which is right around the time your wife goes to pick her up."
Zhang Dongcheng's cheek twitched, his anger uncontrollable. "What do you mean by this? What are you planning to do to them!"
Wang Jiu: "The world outside is so dangerous. Can you bear to let them risk coming home alone, Senior Brother Zhang? As your junior, I couldn't stand it, so I had someone pick them up ahead of time. Isn't that better?"
Zhang Dongcheng was highly educated and certainly not a fool. He immediately took out his phone to call Chen Jiaqi, but no one answered. He panicked. Looking at Wang Jiu, then at the shattered coffee table, he asked with a grim face, "What do you want?"
Wang Jiu reached out and patted the sofa next to her. "Sit back down. Let's have a proper chat."
Suddenly, he felt that this junior of his—once so outstanding, praised by everyone, and practically flawless—was a complete stranger.
"I don't understand why you're looking for me. Since you have so much power, you should know that this is all the game's fault. It has nothing to do with me."
Wang Jiu paid no mind to the complex emotions in his words—the sense of being wronged, the detachment, the guilt, the anxiety, the desire not to get involved.
"I'm not asking you to say anything. I came to you to make a deal."
Zhang Dongcheng was taken aback. A deal?
"Sell me the video of your newbie instance. Ten copper coins."
"If you don't understand, ask your system."
Wang Jiu glanced at her watch. "I'll give you five minutes."
Zhang Dongcheng naturally asked. When he learned the use of copper coins, his eyes flickered.
"This price…"
"Why do you think you're in a position to bargain with me?"
In truth, one copper coin would have been enough; he would have accepted it in the end. But she didn't want to prolong the time he spent struggling.
If a small price could get her the truth sooner, she wouldn't be stingy.
"…"
In the end, Zhang Dongcheng agreed. He exported his instance video and, under the System's guidance, selected Wang Jiu to trade with. The trade window had two inventory slots for each person, but he could only see his own slots, not the buyer's on the other side.
He entered the price. The deal was done.
The video arrived in Wang Jiu's inventory, and ten copper coins were automatically deducted. She paid no mind to her diminished wealth. She took out the video directly, and as soon as it was in her hand, it transformed into a virtual tablet, light as a feather. She tapped it to play.
From the panic of the group at the start of the instance to the Old Lady's composure after her initial shock. Then to her figuring out the instance's pattern, guessing that their survival condition was to last eight hours while being hunted by that terrifying monster.
Then she discovered the monster was repulsed by the smell of garlic, so she led people to hide in a cellar filled with farm vegetables. And then…
Yang Yu, who loved games the most, wanted to get a high score. He wanted to lead people out to find clues and kill the monster. The Old Lady couldn't stop him and could only watch them go out to take the risk. However, she discovered a basement within the cellar and found a necklace that could suppress the monster. Just then, the others returned, most of them dead or injured, but they exposed their presence. They were discovered.
And so, the slaughter began!
At that time, Yang Yu was heavily injured and had collapsed in front of the Old Lady. Although the Old Lady disliked him greatly, she couldn't bear to watch a living person die before her eyes. So she took out the necklace and suppressed the monster. Just as it seemed the instance would end like that… Yang Yu got up from behind her, snatched the necklace, and pushed the Old Lady toward the monster.
Torn apart alive, eaten alive, a tragic death.
After the monster finished eating, it targeted the others. Yang Yu, protected by the necklace, didn't shelter everyone as the Old Lady had. He chose to evade, watching coldly as the monster feasted, until only Zhang Dongcheng was left.
Just then, time was up.
Listening to the screams coming from the video, Zhang Dongcheng closed his eyes. His lips and palms were trembling.
Right after they left the instance, Yang Yu had said a few things to him. The meaning boiled down to two things.
"Do you want a big house?"
"Speak carefully."
He was scared. He was terrified. So he chose to speak carefully.
He had thought he wouldn't regret it, especially when he saw his apartment complex on his way home. He thought, how many people in this world could truly claim to be a perfectly good person?
But he wasn't a bad person, either.
He was just an ordinary person, forced by a bad person into a position where he couldn't be a good one.
But now, he realized that there were truly no absolute secrets in this world.
Wang Jiu had come to his door and was sitting on the sofa next to him, watching the video.
As he watched her watch…
Zhang Dongcheng's emotions gradually shifted from pain and guilt.
He felt fear, so much that his scalp tingled.
Because he noticed Wang Jiu was repeatedly dragging the progress bar, silently watching the part where the Old Lady was caught and eaten alive by the monster over and over. A strand of hair fell forward, slightly obscuring her eyes.
Only the sound repeated, again, and again, and again.
He felt the entire cramped apartment was filled with a terrifying, oppressive, and twisted atmosphere.
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