Chapter 105
“Burned off? Doesn’t that make you a smooth little egg?” Lu Chuan perked up instantly, circling around Lilus. “Lil, don’t hide like that! Don’t be so shy — we just came back from the brink of death, everyone’s mood’s heavy. Let us have a laugh!”
Was that even something a human should say?
Lilus barely restrained the urge to punch Lu Chuan, replying coldly, “And you think you weren’t nearly killed? Why do you think I ended up like this!”
“All right, enough.” Xi Jiangyuan, seeing that not a single teammate was missing, smiled broadly. “Let’s all sit down and talk about what happened. Lil, you first — you’ve just broken the instance’s ‘certain-death’ rule.”
At that moment, Xi Jiangyuan looked at Lilus with eyes so gentle they were almost soft.
Lu Chuan clicked his tongue quietly, leaned against a wall, and listened to Lilus brag.
But his mind wandered back to the words that mysterious voice had left him.
A few tons of gold in its keeping?
He couldn’t bring himself to trust a strange voice — but what if it had told the truth?
A few tons of gold… that was a fortune.
And even if he hadn’t been their original owner, couldn’t he still become their future one?
He couldn’t let gold gather dust in hands unworthy of admiring it.
Meanwhile, Lilus was giving his tale of escape a bit of artistic flourish as he recounted everything.
“…When the whistle blew, Li Lu froze, no matter how I called her. But I, wrapped in those white arms, could move freely. That’s when I realized the instance was giving me a way out.
If it had really wanted to script-kill me, it wouldn’t have let me stay conscious or given me a chance to flee. On the contrary, this was my one way to survive. As long as I wasn’t completely caught by those arms before the whistle stopped, I could live.”
While speaking, Lilus deliberately glanced at Lu Chuan, looking smug.
Even through his sunglasses, Shen Li and Messiah picked up on his tiny gestures.
Seriously, these two…?
How old were they, still acting like squabbling kids?
Messiah smiled faintly, a thought surfacing: If Lil’s sister were here, he wouldn’t be acting so cheeky.
Huh?
Messiah blinked, puzzled by that thought.
Did Lilus even have a sister?
He thought he remembered something like that. He’d have to ask Lil later.
“I remembered the traces left by the two teammates who vanished before us — clear signs of struggling. They must’ve had weapons and tools, yet couldn’t escape those arms. Ordinary weapons and props don’t work well on them. So I thought — what about fire? In supernatural instances, fire often burns away filth. I didn’t hesitate: poured hot oil over myself and set myself ablaze. Sure enough, the arms began to peel away under the flames, and I could break free.”
“I didn’t dare stop because the whistle was still sounding. So I ran while controlling the fire on my body, worried that if it grew too fierce, I’d really die — but if it was too weak, I couldn’t burn through the arms. And that’s how I ended up like this. By the way, do you guys have anything for hair growth?”
Even Lilus wasn’t used to his current bald look; otherwise, he wouldn’t have wrapped himself up so thoroughly. This is too ugly.
“Pfft, nope,” Shen Li was the first to burst out laughing.
“Ahem, me neither. I’m not at risk of going bald anytime soon.”
“…I mean, I do have a shedding problem, but you don’t really look like you need to worry about that,” Vivian cut in mercilessly.
“At worst, you can rub on some ginger water. Or when we clear this dungeon, we’ll definitely find a proper item for it,” Xi Jiangyuan comforted Lilus a little, then praised without holding back: “Lil, you really surprised me. Whether it was staying calm before a life-or-death crisis, being decisive, or having the courage to act on yourself—it all proves you’re already a remarkably strong player.”
That was enough to qualify for the Master Ranking.
Even if he put himself in Lil’s place, Xi Jiangyuan doubted he could have done better.
He had thought his team was already impressive—but they were even stronger than he imagined.
“At least now we’ve got a fallback option,” Messiah added nearby. “Lil escaping successfully means we’ve found one path to survival. As long as we do the same in the next few whistle rounds, if we hold on through ten whistles, we’ll be able to leave this town together and clear the dungeon.”
“I can teach you all for free. I know exactly how far the fire will spread,” Lilus said, crossing his arms smugly.
“Alright, don’t get cocky,” Lu Chuan cut in, suppressing his own concerns for the moment before turning to Xi Jiangyuan. “Captain, since we already have a guaranteed way to pass, shouldn’t we start aiming to raise our dungeon evaluation? If we just crawl out alive, the best we’ll get is an A or maybe B+. To reach higher, we need to explore more. It’s not even the fourth day yet—why are we acting like it’s the end?”
It wasn’t like they only had a day or two left—that would be the time to play it safe.
But now, less than four days in, going conservative wasn’t acceptable.
Player growth came through risk. The cautious might live longer temporarily, but in later dungeons they usually died even faster. Who could guarantee one survival trick would work forever?
Xi Jiangyuan was silent for a while before speaking slowly: “It’s late. Let’s rest in shifts for now. We’ll explore in daylight.”
“Alright.”
No one here was the conservative type, so everyone agreed.
That night, none of them slept well.
They all dreamed—but by morning, most of the details were forgotten. Each woke with a faint look of confusion.
“Ow!” Starry Shasha cried out.
Everyone tensed instantly, thinking an enemy had come.
“I’m fine!” Shasha said quickly. “Just scraped myself on the mirror handle, don’t be so nervous.”
They exhaled in relief.
But when Shasha stood up, her feet twisted oddly and she fell straight onto the ground—where a sharp stone happened to be.
“Shasha!” Shen Li lunged to catch her.
Shasha instinctively lifted her head to look at him, and by doing so, avoided hitting the stone.
Aside from a painful fall, she was completely unhurt.
“First thing in the morning and you’re already this unlucky,” Shen Li said, half-laughing, helping her up. “Good thing it turned out fine—you nearly scared us to death.”
Shasha didn’t know how to respond. “I just feel like my luck’s off today…”
Messiah, washing his face, also noticed something strange.
Wait.
Weren’t his eyes single-lidded yesterday? Why were they double-lidded now? And his nose looked sharper too.
Vivian quietly touched her fangs without a word.
Lilus looked gloomily at his right hand—why were his nails growing so fast, but his hair wasn’t growing at all?
As time passed, each teammate began showing subtle changes.
Xi Jiangyuan remained unaware.
After everyone rested, they regrouped and decided—
They should explore the town further to find more clues. Besides, their dreams revealed that the vanished townsfolk were buried right beneath them. That hidden danger needed to be dealt with somehow.
Lilus flatly refused to team with Lu Chuan, so he swapped with Edith.
Thus, Edith went with Lu Chuan, while Lilus paired with the mild-tempered Messiah.
Lu Chuan didn’t mind. Edith was much more obedient than Lilus anyway.
“Don’t linger in fights, and come back as soon as you can,” Xi Jiangyuan warned. “We don’t know if the whistle schedule will change, or if it might blow in daylight. But as time passes, dungeon restrictions will only loosen. Protect yourselves, understand?”
“Understood.”
Lu Chuan took Edith to the bank again.
The place was quiet—hardly anyone queued, only two or three tellers.
He walked straight up to a counter without waiting. “Hello, I’d like to ask about taking out a loan.”
“Of course! Our loans are very convenient, as long as—” The teller, delighted to have business so soon after starting her shift, launched into a long pitch about low interest and numerous perks.
“This is the only bank in town, right? With so few people, do you have enough funds? I’m planning something big—I used to work in another city, but everyone told me our local bank has plenty of money and low rates. That’s why I came here.”
“Absolutely! We’re very well-funded, no problem at all. In fact, other banks sometimes don’t have enough and borrow from us,” she replied cheerfully. “Funny, isn’t it? Not many people in town, yet deposits are huge.”
Because all the depositors disappeared, Lu Chuan thought grimly.
Out loud, he asked casually, “Where’s your lobby manager? Haven’t seen them.”
“Lobby manager?” The teller blinked. “We don’t have one.”
So the woman who had chatted with him last time had vanished too.
And only he could still remember her.
After some more small talk, Lu Chuan excused himself, saying he’d forgotten his ID, and left the bank.
“Edith—oh, right, you weren’t with me last time.” He had wanted to ask if she remembered the manager, but since it had been Lilus with him then, he let it go.
“Last time I came, I was helped by a lobby manager. She was nice, but now she’s gone—and her coworkers don’t remember her at all,” he sighed. “But why can I still remember? When our teammate disappeared, none of us could recall him.”
“Maybe it’s because we survived the whistle yesterday,” Edith suggested uncertainly. “Or maybe something else. Lu Chuan, I dreamed of a strange man last night, but I felt like he was you. I also dreamed of the others—Lilus, Messiah, Brother Shen, Shasha—but… I never dreamed of the captain.”
Her head ached. She didn’t understand why she dreamed these things, and feared she’d been affected somehow.
“Oh?” Lu Chuan recalled that vanishing voice from the dream. “And in your dream, what were you?”
“A paladin, I think.” She gave a wry smile. “But I’m definitely not one. Maybe it’s just my subconscious wishing I was.”
“They say Paladins, under the Swordbearer branch, sit between Clerics and Swordsmen. Their minds and bodies are far beyond average, so they naturally resist certain influences. Maybe you really are a Paladin—you just don’t know it yet.”
Player abilities weren’t fixed. They shifted depending on the dungeon and on one’s constitution.
Lu Chuan looked down at himself.
Since morning, he had felt unfamiliar with his own body.
His true ability was [Regression].
But these past days, he hadn’t used it even once—as if he were rejecting it himself.
“Lil, sorry if this is awkward, but… do you have an older sister?” Messiah, seeing Lilus unusually quiet and clearly unhappy with his condition, tried to start a conversation.
Lilus froze mid-step.
“Sorry, I don’t know why,” Messiah admitted, rubbing his temples. “I just keep feeling like you should have a sister. I don’t even know where the thought comes from. Don’t be mad.”
“Older sister…?” Lilus murmured, but didn’t immediately deny it.
Lil.
Who… who’s calling me?
Lil, don’t worry. Big sister will definitely protect you.
Lilus clutched his head, seeing that his right arm seemed to be undergoing some strange change.
