Chapter 13
When Lu Chuan woke the next day, his room was empty.
Opening the door, he found the paper was still stuck there, untouched.
He shook the room’s bell furiously. Only after a long wait did servants arrive one after another.
“What’s the meaning of this? Is this how you treat guests? I’ve been ringing for ages before you bothered to come.” Lu Chuan scolded first, striking preemptively at the NPCs.
“P-please, honored guest, don’t be angry. We only went ahead to fetch things for you. Yes, everyone, bring in the tableware and ornaments.” The lead servant bowed, while the others began replacing the furnishings.
Lu Chuan watched as a stream of servants carried in golden ornaments and tableware, and he felt a dangerous desire stir.
Ah, how he wanted to pack all of this up and take it with him.
As expected of a high-level dungeon—it was much easier to make money than in newbie ones.
“Honored guest, your golden bed is also being prepared,” one servant whispered. “Butler Lucas will visit you shortly. Please wash and have breakfast first.”
So soon?
Perhaps his requests had indeed been a bit much.
But what could he do? Lucas himself had bragged they could “fulfill all guest requests.”
And his demands were only a teeny tiny bit extravagant, right?
“Understood.” Lu Chuan nodded slowly, feigning restraint. “Then let me first test the purity of your golden tableware.”
Inwardly, he asked the system: “Hey, System, I should be able to use the Eye of Wealth to appraise this gold now, right?”
[Host, please, I’m begging you, don’t waste such a precious skill on this!] #888 was nearly in tears.
“Relax, I’m just saying. These gold items are such a devilish temptation—it’s normal for me to falter a little.” Lu Chuan picked up a golden fork and knife, stabbed a piece of meat, and even pretended to be dissatisfied: “Next time, prepare a full imperial banquet. I’m not used to this stuff.”
The servants silently watched the guest who “wasn’t used to this stuff” polish off every single bite of breakfast.
Heh… this guest was truly troublesome.
Not long after he finished eating, Lucas arrived.
He seemed genuinely eager.
“How should I address you, honored guest?” Lucas asked with a smile.
“My surname is Jin,” Lu Chuan replied with a smile of his own.
“So, Mr. Jin.” Lucas looked him over carefully. “Mr. Jin, may I sit and speak with you?”
“Go ahead.” Lu Chuan nodded slightly.
Lucas studied him longer this time. Just from the way he seized the initiative, it was clear Mr. Jin wasn’t easy to handle.
Was he truly capable—or simply reckless?
Either way, caution was wise.
Lucas knew more than most. He was aware that some “guests” possessed terrifying abilities, and nothing they did would surprise him. Until he uncovered Mr. Jin’s background, he would watch carefully.
“Last night, Mr. Jin made some requests,” Lucas began bluntly. “I must apologize—some of those demands are unreasonable, and I cannot grant them.”
“Oh? So when you said this castle could satisfy any request, that was just empty boasting?” Lu Chuan shot back, as though he hadn’t caught Lucas’s veiled threat, latching instead onto his earlier words. “Before I came here, everyone spoke of how wonderful, how grand this castle was. And now I see it’s nothing special.”
The veins on Lucas’s forehead bulged, and anger flickered across his face.
Lu Chuan didn’t flinch and locked eyes with Lucas, staring him down.
Who’s afraid of who?
Could this high-level NPC really dare suddenly strike and kill him?
That wouldn’t fit the rules of a dungeon.
In the real world, Lu Chuan hadn’t slacked off on research—he’d crammed all the knowledge he could about Infinite World’s dungeons.
In a dungeon, a player could be killed under two main conditions:
One was a plot kill—for example, when a player triggered a key sub-dungeon or obtained a crucial clue, it could start a fight with an NPC. At that moment, the NPC could bypass dungeon restrictions to eliminate a player deemed a threat.
The other was a rule kill—when a dungeon or NPC explicitly forbade something, and the player deliberately did it anyway, they could be erased by the rules.
Other than these two, both players and NPCs were bound by dungeon restrictions.
If there were no limits at all, how could ordinary players ever stand against the NPCs inside?
Lu Chuan understood this very clearly.
From start to finish, he hadn’t even stepped outside the main hall doors. No plot had been triggered, no rules had been broken. Even if an NPC wanted to attack, they couldn’t. Only in the later stages, when dungeon restrictions weakened, could NPCs ignore the rules and kill him. But right now the dungeon had only just begun—the restrictions were at their strongest. Lucas couldn’t do a thing to him.
“Mr. Butler seems a bit angry,” Lu Chuan sighed. “Sigh, it’s pointless talking with you. If you want to refute what I’ve said, you’ll need solid evidence—or better yet, have someone who truly holds authority here speak with me. Otherwise, once I leave your castle, who knows what I might say outside?”
Lucas caught the meaning in Lu Chuan’s words. With a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, he said, “If Mr. Jin wishes to meet my master, perhaps you should take a walk around the castle. You may just encounter him somewhere. And if you’re unfamiliar with the way, I can have servants guide you.”
Yeah right—guide me straight to my grave.
As if I’d fall for that crap.
Lu Chuan pressed harder. “Looks like we’re at an impasse. Fine then, Mr. Butler, I don’t want to make things difficult for you. If you truly can’t fulfill my requests, then please escort me out of the castle. We’ll both go our separate ways without trouble. How about that?”
“Absolutely not!” Lucas blurted out instinctively.
Oh?
A sly glint flashed in Lu Chuan’s eyes.
So leaving the castle held special significance to Lucas. Maybe it wasn’t that he couldn’t make it happen—maybe he could, but it would have negative consequences for him personally.
At least today’s probing had yielded something.
But Lu Chuan didn’t know when to quit. “If you can’t send me out, Mr. Lucas, and can’t fulfill my demands either, then I’ve nothing more to say. I’ll just have to tell the other guests about my situation. Sigh.”
If only one person made a fuss, Lucas might find a way to contain him.
But if all the guests began to cause trouble together, Lucas as butler wouldn’t be able to hold it down. No matter whether the castle’s master wished it or not, they would have to show their face.
In the newbie dungeon, Lu Chuan had exploited NPC greed, playing the role of a spoiled young master.
But in this dungeon, he leaned on NPCs’ sense of duty, playing the rascal instead.
There was no helping it—many things in this world were distributed based on how much noise you made.
If you behaved honestly and dutifully, it only meant you’d accept oppression without resisting. Even if everyone praised you as a good person, what would that change?
But if you were a troublemaker, disobedient and stubborn, as long as you stood on the moral high ground, you could remain unassailable. Even if others badmouthed you or resented you, they’d just have to swallow it.
This was a rule Lu Chuan knew all too well from real life.
And it applied equally well in dungeons.
Lucas couldn’t afford to let every player stir up trouble—especially not when Lu Chuan had nailed down the point that “the castle can’t satisfy their demands.”
If that happened, it would trigger a key dungeon event.
That was absolutely unacceptable for Lucas.
As an NPC, it was his duty to play his role and uphold the dungeon’s rules.
“Mr. Jin, it seems we can’t reach a conclusion today.” Lucas rose and gave a slight bow. “Allow me to report to my master and relay your words to him. I will return with a reply.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right here in my room waiting.” Lu Chuan stressed the words in my room, making it crystal clear he wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Lucas realized he had run into a tough opponent and hurriedly excused himself.
In another room on the same floor:
“See? The butler stormed off in a huff. Looks like he took quite the beating. Whoever that guy is across the hall, he’s definitely a heavyweight. No way someone would dare act like that otherwise.” If #888 had still been peeking, he would have recognized the speaker as the player from last night. And the woman now sitting in his room was clearly his teammate.
“Indeed. Lucas is a key figure, but it seems even he suffered a setback with that player. No matter what, that person must hold information we don’t know.” The woman nodded in agreement. “We should find a way to approach him—maybe we can ride his coattails through this dungeon.”
“Which guild do you think he belongs to? I don’t recall seeing him before.”
“Maybe he used an item to disguise himself. Not recognizing him would be normal.” The woman continued, “You’re his neighbor. Try approaching him. If he bears us no malice, I’ll reveal myself to him and propose an alliance. If he does, I can use my skill to pull you back instantly.”
“It’s times like this I know your skill is a perfect match for mine.” The player couldn’t help but sigh.
His skill, Lamp-bearer, allowed him to scout for clues, but it also easily triggered plot events and potential plot kills. His partner’s class skill, however, was Demon–Shadowfiend.
[Shadowfiend] allowed her to become a shadow and merge into any object’s shadow.
A derived skill even allowed her to link two players’ shadows. In a crisis, she could instantly pull the linked player into the shadow’s location. Though limited by time and distance, it was still incredibly powerful.
Together, one probing for intel and the other saving lives, they made an unstoppable pair. In just a year, they had climbed their way into B-rank dungeons. Even if their performance wasn’t stellar, it was solid.
“I wonder what skill that bigshot has?”
“Most likely a Swordsman-type. Those players usually have the confidence—their attack power is stronger.”
That night, Lu Chuan stayed true to his word: he never left his room.
Even when servants tried every trick to coax him out for a walk around the castle, Lu Chuan flatly refused.
[Host, are we really just going to sit here? Not advancing the dungeon at all isn’t great, is it?] #888 was baffled.
Yes, it was safe—but safety also meant zero progress.
“What’s there to worry about? I’m not in a hurry. Someone else will be.” Lu Chuan neatly lined up the golden knives and forks on the table, admiring them. “After the ruckus I made, the other players are bound to take notice. They’re higher level than me, with better items and stronger skills. I won’t need to go looking—they’ll come knocking themselves.”
So, last dungeon he toyed with the NPCs. This time he was planning to toy with the players, huh?
Host, you really are something.
888 wasn’t worried the players would fall for it.
It was laughable—even the NPCs couldn’t resist Lu Chuan’s manipulations. How could the players stand a chance?
