Chapter 139: Stop Playing, Save Him

Irene Group Headquarters, 3rd floor, at the end of the corridor.

Huang Yan sat cross-legged in the corner, propping his chin with one hand and tilting his head back. For a long time, he had been staring at the dried mud oozing from a narrow, thin crack on the white wall opposite him.

"Brother Sanhuo, I’ve finished sweeping another floor. Aside from a few low-level items dropped randomly, there’s nothing here. Have you found any leads on your end?"

Guo Xiaofu’s voice came through the real-time communication channel in his mind.

"Nothing," Huang Yan said, still staring at the oozing mud. "I haven't even seen a fly, let alone a person."

Guo Xiaofu, on the other end, was silent for a moment before asking, "Are you sure this 'waiting for the hare' strategy will work? A player already crashed into a wall on the 3rd-floor corridor; I doubt a second one will happen there. Why don't you come up and help me clear the map? Don't waste your time."

"No, this spot is too critical. I have to stay here," Huang Yan insisted.

"Alright then."

On his end, Guo Xiaofu had just ended the call when he heard a dull thumping sound coming from above. It was rapid and rhythmic. He paused, listening carefully; it sounded like someone upstairs was slamming a ball against the floor with great force. After a moment of thought, he headed upstairs. Upon reaching the room where the noise originated, he discovered it was the company’s gym.

Pushing the door open, he saw several men with inverted-triangle builds—the type who only train their arms and ignore their legs—busily pumping iron. Well, it wasn't strange to hear slamming sounds in a place like this.

"A new employee on your first day?" a man who looked like a trainer approached him. "Need a personal trainer? We have a free trial offer right now."

Guo Xiaofu waved his hands with a smile, "No, no, I'm fine."

The trainer didn't give up, though. He pulled out a brochure and shoved it into Guo Xiaofu's hand. "Just take a look. The discount is really great right now."

Guo Xiaofu had a soft personality and had never been good at refusing people. Even when facing an NPC, he couldn't be firm. Eventually, he was forced to stand there and listen to the sales pitch. Just as he was wondering how to make an escape, a loud crash erupted behind him.

Everyone in the gym turned toward the source of the sound. The door to an equipment storage room was shaking violently under heavy blows, and the lock on the side was clicking, clearly on the verge of breaking.

Guo Xiaofu’s heart tightened, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

This... he hadn't accidentally triggered some hidden plot, had he? Was a female ghost about to burst through the door? At this thought, his legs went weak. Just as he was about to bolt, the door burst open.

A figure rushed out from behind the door in a highly contorted posture.

"Z-zombie!"

Guo Xiaofu squeezed his eyes shut and turned to sprint out of the gym. Just as he cleared the doorway, he collided head-on with a man. He looked up, and upon seeing who it was, he let out a long sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness! Uncle Mingzhong!" Guo Xiaofu grabbed Yang Mingzhong’s arm and started pulling him away. "There’s... there’s danger back there, we need to leave immediately!"

Yang Mingzhong was dragged along for two steps. "What’s wrong?"

Guo Xiaofu panted as he described it: "In that gym, I think I triggered a hidden character. I couldn't see clearly, but the person’s flesh was all layered, like a braided trotter. The same for his face. The way he walked was terrifying..."

Hearing this description, Yang Mingzhong looked somewhat helpless. "Is it possible that’s the very person you’ve been looking for?"

At this reminder, Guo Xiaofu’s pace faltered. That... actually made sense, didn't it?

Yang Mingzhong pulled his sleeve out of the other man's grip. "Let’s go back and take a look."

When they returned to the gym, they found a group of NPCs gawking at a figure. The person was bound by invisible threads, his skin and flesh cinched into layers, struggling to crawl forward like a maggot. Seeing Yang Mingzhong and Guo Xiaofu enter, he became agitated, emitting muffled "woo-woo" cries through his stitched-shut mouth.

Guo Xiaofu looked to Yang Mingzhong for help. "It seems... it really is him?"

Yang Mingzhong crouched down and used two fingers to part a section of skin, carefully observing the fine threads embedded within, which were nearly invisible to the naked eye.

They were indeed Soul Threads. This must be a player in the "Inverted Heavens" state. However...

Yang Mingzhong looked back, and his gaze met the man's. The man immediately started making excited "woo-woo" sounds again, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

Why was this player's situation different from the others in the Inverted Heavens state? He was conscious and could communicate with them?

"Is this... a friend of yours?" the NPC clerk standing nearby asked tentatively.

Yang Mingzhong took a dagger from his pocket and tried to cut the Soul Threads stitching the man's lips shut, but unsurprisingly, he failed. Putting the dagger away, Yang Mingzhong nodded. "Yes, he is our friend. We need to take him with us."

Without waiting for a response from the surrounding NPCs, Yang Mingzhong hoisted the player over his shoulder and hurriedly left the gym.

...

...

Staff dormitory, spawn point.

Hu Jiayao crouched on the table, one hand behind his back, eyeing the man not far away with hostility. Gu Jinxing sat on the sofa directly in front of him, twirling a finger-length mechanical beetle in his hand, shaking his head with a touch of helplessness.

"Is it really necessary to be this defensive against me?"

Hu Jiayao’s brows furrowed deeply. "You wanted to use that beetle to shred a key item. You’re practically digging your own grave. If the classified document is actually destroyed by you, our subsequent main quest will be ruined. I definitely won't let you sabotage your teammates like that."

Gu Jinxing tucked the beetle into his pocket. "First of all, I wasn't planning on shredding the whole document; I just wanted to test a corner to see if it could actually cut through it.

"Secondly, I don't believe such a test would affect the upcoming main quest. While that classified document is a key item, it belongs to the previous main quest.

"Now, you have a document before you that can't be cut by blades or burned by fire, and a mechanical beetle that can slice through iron like mud. What do you think the system intended by having us find these two things separately?"

Hu Jiayao wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed; every time Gu Jinxing reasoned with him, he couldn't help but be led by the nose. This time was no exception. Upon hearing this, he subconsciously followed up: "What did it intend?"

Gu Jinxing adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. "If I told you that, according to my deduction, the next task will very likely require us to use the beetle in my hand to solve the medical crux in your hand, would you believe me?"

Hu Jiayao thought about it and was quickly convinced. He had always trusted Gu Jinxing.

Gu Jinxing held the mechanical beetle in his palm and moved it under Hu Jiayao’s nose. "So, do you want to try? Perhaps we can complete the next main quest ahead of time?"

Hu Jiayao slowly reached out his hand to take the beetle... but just as his fingertips were about to touch its antennae, a hand reached across and snatched the little bug away.

"Eh?"

Looking up, he saw Yang Mingzhong carrying a man on one shoulder, holding the beetle in his other hand. "Stop playing around. Come help save someone, it's urgent."