Inside the game.
Bai Liu lightly patted Tang Erda's shoulder: "Once we finish this match quickly, we can return to reality to deal with these problems."
"Mm." Tang Erda took a deep breath, stood up, and gripped the handle of his gun. "Don't worry. I won't let it affect my performance in the match."
Bai Liu shifted his gaze toward the other three people who were currently sleeping: "It's about time. Wake them up to switch shifts so we can rest."
Tang Erda nodded and looked at Bai Liu: "Actually, based on what I knew of your personality in the past, I thought you would choose a more direct and faster way to clear this dungeon."
Bai Liu smiled: "Captain Tang, did you think I would choose the method of slaughtering the buildings?"
"Yes, but not entirely." Tang Erda hesitated for a second. "I don't know if I misunderstood, but in this dungeon, the old buildings have homeowners, so the time cost of seizing them is indeed high. However, there are also new developments. The ownership of the new developments is in the hands of the proxy developers. So why not just kill the developer on the day the new building goes on sale and seize ownership of the new building directly?"
"For example, with this new development currently in District C, if you wanted it, it could be done."
The smile on Bai Liu's face remained unchanged: "Because that is not the correct game path."
Tang Erda was stunned: "Not the correct game path?"
"This is a horror game, Captain Tang." Bai Liu lifted his eyelids, a faint smile playing on his lips. "If you could win simply by killing people, wouldn't it be not scary at all?"
"If a path appears to be devoid of any horror elements while allowing one to complete the main quest, then that path is most likely not the correct one."
Bai Liu said with a beaming smile: "This should be considered something like a horror game design principle."
Tang Erda was drawn into the logic, his brows furrowing in deep thought: "But that path does seem feasible."
"Then there is only one possibility." Bai Liu smiled. "And that is that the horror elements of that path have not yet been unearthed."
—————————————————
District C, 3:00 AM.
Shi Qian and Yuan Guang hid among the crowd and followed Director C all the way. Shi Qian had even activated a small-range fog-type skill to hide their presence, trailing behind Director C while waiting for him to be alone.
Currently, they did not intend to conduct a large-scale sniper kill of NPCs. Once these NPCs died, they would turn into ghosts, and there was a possibility that they would draw aggro and follow them across the map. Therefore, it was best to cause as little injury as possible—precision sniping, killing only the target NPC. Even if this Director C turned into a ghost after death, there would only be one ghost.
One monster was easy to handle; a group of monsters, for a team-competition pair like them, would not be so easy to deal with.
By abandoning three teammates, they reduced the risk of personnel death, but simultaneously, the death risk borne by the two of them increased. They had to act even more cautiously.
After leaving the new development, Director C went to four or five celebration parties in a row. Not a single environment he was in had fewer than 100 people. Yuan Guang and Shi Qian trailed him for nearly three hours until their heads were spinning, finally seeing Director C head to the last venue before getting into a car to return to District C with a lingering sense of satisfaction.
Shi Qian, following behind, felt her spirits lift: "It looks like he's going home."
A bit of a smile appeared on Yuan Guang's face. He let out a long breath, staring fixedly at the luxury mansion entrance in District C: "This idiot fooled around all night; we've finally waited him out."
Upon arriving at the parking lot, the NPC Director C suddenly greeted the few bodyguards who had been following him and walked toward the parking lot restroom. At this moment, only one bodyguard remained with him.
Shi Qian and Yuan Guang exchanged a glance, both seeing the words [Best time to act] in each other's eyes. They then quickly split to two sides. Shi Qian silently trailed behind the bodyguard under the cover of her fog skill.
Yuan Guang bypassed from the rear, moving quickly against the wall. To be safe, he pulled down the hood of his hoodie to cover his face, and the utility knife in his hand was pushed out a notch.
After catching a glimpse of Shi Qian using her fog skill to take down the bodyguard cleanly and without a sound, Yuan Guang stepped out from the corner. With his head lowered, he bumped into Director C, who was just about to enter the restroom.
Director C had drunk quite a lot at various celebration banquets and was now in a daze. He couldn't even speak clearly: "You, you, why do you have three heads? Are you… are you a family coming to me to buy a house…"
Yuan Guang did not answer him. Keeping his head down, he reached out with the utility knife, hooked it around Director C's neck from behind, and slashed diagonally upward without needing to build up strength.
The thin utility knife erupted with immense attacking power in Yuan Guang's hand. Blood sprayed directly onto the mirror in front of the restroom. Director C had no strength to struggle at all; he clutched his neck and fell straight down.
[System Notification: Player Yuan Guang used skill weapon (Utility Knife) on NPC Director C]
[NPC Director C has been killed]
Shi Qian deactivated her fog skill and ran over quickly from a cloud of mist. She crouched down to loot the corpse, muttering as she went: "ID card, keychain, cigarettes, condoms… dammit!"
Shi Qian's eyes lit up as she looked up at Yuan Guang. She waved a stack of certificates in her hand: "The property ownership certificates for the new development!"
[System Notification: Congratulations to player Shi Qian for being the first to obtain ownership of an entire building in the District C new development!]
[Main Quest (Own Five Buildings) Completion Progress (1/5)]
Crouching to the side, Yuan Guang finally relaxed completely. He helped Shi Qian up: "Let's retreat and find the next proxy developer."
But before the smiles could fully set on their faces, they heard the system notifications one after another:
[System Notification: Currently, the new building owned by the two players is under development and requires a continuous injection of funds to maintain ownership. According to the current market price of the building, the two of them need to prepare 60 billion in funds within one hour. Otherwise, the new building will suffer a broken capital chain and stop construction, becoming an—]
[—Unfinished building.]
The smiles on Shi Qian's and Yuan Guang's faces froze.
[Countdown starts: 59:59]
Shi Qian quickly regained her composure and went to a nearby ATM to check the cash on Director C's ID card. Her expression quickly darkened: "The balance is less than 300 million."
Yuan Guang took a deep breath: "People like them definitely have other cash channels; they wouldn't put it all on an ID card."
"An NPC living on the top floor like Director C only has 300 million on his ID card." When Shi Qian heard the words "unfinished building," her nerves spasmed several times. She tried to take two deep breaths and said at a rapid pace: "If we want to collect 60 billion in an hour, we'd have to rob at least two hundred top-floor NPCs even if we were just mugging them."
Yuan Guang, however, recognized reality faster than she did. He held that blood-stained utility knife, blood dripping from the tip. He spoke with a raspy voice: "We can't collect it."
"In reality, in that better environment, we couldn't even collect 10 billion in three years. In Sunshine City, how could we possibly collect 60 billion in one hour?"
Shi Qian squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She gripped the ownership certificates in her hand: "The building is stuck in our hands now; we can't run. Even if we can't collect it, we have to try. We can't give up."
The two of them stood in silence, facing each other without a word.
Yuan Guang exhaled a breath of turbid air and looked up, his eyes a bit red: "I was being emotional. You're right. Let's go; we'll find a way."
Shi Qian nodded, and the two left the parking lot.
Behind them, the corpse of Director C, lying in a pool of blood on the ground, twitched. A finger moved, and a purple suction cup grew out from the fingertip.
Director C's corpse squirmed and stood up. He became bloated, and his arms extended into giant, limb-like tentacles, over three meters long. At the tips of the tentacles were slimy suction cups like those of an octopus, with rings upon rings of teeth visible inside.
His body began to expand, layers of fat wrapping around his neck, belly, and legs. At a glance, he looked like a Michelin tire man sculpted out of human flesh. The skin was shiny from being stretched tight, looking like a giant blister grown on skin after a burn; it felt as though a single needle prick would cause a spray of pale yellow serum to burst out.
[System Notification: Dead NPC corpse mutation complete, transformed into monster (Hungry Developer)]
[System Notification: This monster will roam within the floors it developed, attacking everyone who enters the floors, eating their flesh and drinking their marrow.]
Director C's eyes and nose were buried under layers of fat, becoming three invisible slits. Only the mouth had become exceptionally large, with serrated teeth that were incredibly sharp. Saliva constantly dripped from them, and a strange, murky sound came from the throat:
"My delicious tenants…"
It extended an impossibly long tongue and licked its lips, a red light flashing from the slits where its eyes were: "Where are they?"
—————————————————
District C New Development.
Even though it was the middle of the night, the place remained brightly lit. The residents waiting for the transaction results to come out were waiting anxiously outside the sales office.
In Sunshine City, buyers first take out loans from a lending institution under the developer to get the money. After handing the money over to the developer, they have to wait six or seven hours. Once the developer has audited the amount of money and the buyer's qualifications, they gradually begin to issue the real estate certificates.
But today's waiting process was exceptionally long. It was almost 4:00 AM, and not a single person's real estate certificate qualification had come through.
People grew increasingly anxious. The vast majority of them could not afford to buy a house in full; they had all taken out loans to buy. Before the house was even in their hands, they already owed decades of debt. This several-hour gap, where the money was given but the house was not yet received, was agonizing for everyone.
They looked up at the giant black shadow of steel and concrete in the night. An advertising banner decorated with a ring of LED bulbs hung fluttering above, reading: [Sunshine Home, the Place Where Happiness Resides].
Seeing this slogan, the anxiety in their eyes was suppressed, replaced by a sense of longing and hope—that was the new development in District C, their future home.
Someone looked down at their watch and couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "It's almost 4:00 AM. Is the paperwork being processed this slowly today?"
Just as he muttered those words, a giant red countdown light projection appeared on that building.
[00:10]
[00:09]
The people waiting below looked at the giant light and shadow, starting to discuss among themselves in confusion:
"What is that?"
"Is it a light show prepared for the new development?"
When the countdown jumped to [00:01], it turned into a giant symbol: [Rotten].
Inside the sales office, Xiao Dong pushed open the door. Her face was deathly pale as she forced a smile and bowed to everyone in apology: "I'm very sorry. Some issues have occurred with our building, and it needs to be temporarily shut down. Everyone, please come tomorrow to collect your certificates."