Chapter 13: Surviving

Flames danced wildly around them, bearing terrifying, malicious faces. The matter consumed by the fire resembled flickering ghosts one after another. The workers stared at them with vicious greed, clearly impatient to drag them into absolute despair together.

Hu Wei was nervous, and Xie De finished taking the last drag of his cigarette; everyone present was unusually quiet.

But the scenario system's next question delayed in falling, hanging overhead like the Sword of Damocles [1].

Until with a dong, the striking of a church bell rang out from afar, echoing in their ears, ancient and distant.

The blazing fire inside the factory slowly vanished. The torrential rain outside battered the windows fiercely, pitter-patter. Thick bolts of lightning slashed down, illuminating everyone's faces so they looked like grimacing ghosts.

Were the questions over?

Was the scenario system silent?

Gibberish connected to the new Bluetooth earphone, and its cold mechanical voice said with extreme chuunibyou flair.

"The Q&A segment should be over. I feel my own terrifying power right now."

"Hold it." Xie De stopped Gibberish's impending grand speech.

"Just keep it steady and don't get a big head."

Yue Xiamo squinted at them a few times, a knife gleaming coldly at her waist. She walked over with large strides but didn't say anything, simply standing there with a very strong presence.

Hu Wei first looked at Xie De's expression before taking the initiative to ask.

"Are you also here to seek cooperation?"

Yue Xiamo let out a cold snort and said arrogantly.

"I only cooperate with powerhouses who can convince me. I have absolutely no interest in newcomers. I only came over to exchange clues with Wei Yanchi."

"...Heh." Hu Wei replied with a sneer.

Wei Yanchi blinked, politely nodded to Xie De, and smoothed things over.

"Yue Xiamo's temper has never been very good, please forgive her. Wait for me a moment, I'll be right back."

Wei Yanchi followed Yue Xiamo to the side.

Xie De heard Hu Wei muttering beside him, "I absolutely hate these veteran players who look down on people. Just because they've survived a few more scenarios, they think they can underestimate others."

Soon, Hu Wei boldly said to Xie De.

"It's because she lacks experience. If she knew how powerful you were, Mr. 39, she definitely wouldn't use such an attitude!"

Uh... maybe.

Gibberish chimed in, "But if Yue Xiamo finds out you're actually a coward, she's guaranteed to mock you relentlessly!"

"Gibberish, you don't need to join in the fun."

People naturally admire the strong, especially the strong who will only submit to those even stronger.

Listening to Hu Wei's words, a long-standing suspicion in Xie De's brain finally connected. He guessed it might be because of Gibberish, coupled with an outward appearance that completely mismatched his inner self, which accidentally caused these big shots to mistake him for an equally powerful peer.

His heart couldn't help but sink.

Being treated as a peer brought him zero benefits, aside from making it easier to pose.

If this group of big shots found out their partner wasn't a powerhouse at all, wouldn't they 100% kill him out of shame and anger?!

Xie De still remembered the exact same evaluation Gibberish and Hu Wei gave the protagonist: the protagonist was a madman you couldn't afford to provoke.

He was doomed.

Why did his head suddenly start hurting?

Looking at Hu Wei's adoring eyes, Xie De wept rivers of tears in his heart as he complained, "Gibberish, your appearance modification plan has really screwed me over."

Gibberish was bewildered, guessing what he was thinking, and said in an exasperated tone.

"What do you mean 'screwed you over'? If I didn't modify your appearance, do you believe that the very second you entered the scenario, you'd be used as cannon fodder by these veteran players? The veteran players in this scenario are all desperate outlaws. They don't show a single ounce of mercy to newcomers, and you know the people here worship the strong, so you have to at least pretend to be one!"

"Alright, stop talking. The more you speak, the more I feel like my life is miserable."

Just as Xie De threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, he met a pair of seemingly smiling, yet unconsciously ferocious eyes.

Lao You slowly walked up to them, his glasses reflecting their faint silhouettes.

"Hello there. I heard you killed Fang Jueshan and Li Luohan. You've got quite the skills."

Xie De remembered this person. When Hu Wei was introducing everyone, she mentioned in passing that Lao You was very slick and smooth in dealing with people, and rumored to be a gangster in the real world.

Great, it seemed he had provoked another one.

Xie De asked Gibberish resignedly, "How do I pretend to be a big shot?"

Gibberish replied just as resignedly: "Just act like you did before. Be casual, and don't overthink it."

Fine then.

Despite saying this, Xie De still overcompensated. His deep, dark green eyes sized up Lao You like a top-tier predator. Sticking to his principle of 'the more you speak, the more mistakes you make', he planned to let the other party state their intentions first.

Lao You smiled grimly, looking very vicious. He held up three fingers and said in a low voice.

"Young man, I could tell at a glance you're not an ordinary person. Are you also from the underworld? That kid Wei Yanchi can't be trusted too deeply. But if you can guarantee my safety and get me out of this scenario, I'll give you this number."

"300,000?" Hu Wei asked curiously. "Isn't that a bit low?"

"3 million." Lao You pulled out two small gold bars from his clothes and casually tossed them into Hu Wei's arms.

"Once we're out, the 3 million will be the final payment."

He stared intently at Xie De.

"I, Lao You, am no piece of trash either. Think of this transaction as me opening a tab for you. What do you say, young man?"

"Holy shit, Gibberish! Three million, three million! Is this real? Hearing it in my own ears, why does it feel a bit unreal?" Xie De screamed loudly in his heart, while outwardly he slightly lowered his eyes.

Before Gibberish could speak, Xie De nodded the next second.

"I accept your deal."

Lao You pulled a grim smile, bent his back slightly toward him, and said with an underworld flair.

"Then, a pleasure cooperating with you."

Gibberish choked.

"Host, what are you doing? You're a noob pretending to be a big shot, what do you think you're doing?!"

Xie De was also a bit despairing with himself.

"I've never seen so much money in my life. I got temporarily blinded by greed. Hearing that number, I felt like Lao You right in front of me looked a lot more pleasing to the eye."

Gibberish was speechless.

"Look at your cheap, worthless appearance! Lao You has actual power in the real world. If you take his money, won't your address and identity be exposed? When the time comes, he'll have you completely in his grasp!"

"Fuck, I didn't think of that."

Xie De swallowed hard.

"Now we're screwed. My thought was, I'll protect him if I can, and if I can't and he dies, then he dies. Doesn't matter to me either way."

Gibberish said, heartbroken.

"Now let's see how you clean up this mess. Have you ever considered that if you want to pretend to be a big shot, you have to show actual strength to keep Lao You alive? Because if Lao You lives and gets out of the scenario, he'll definitely come looking to pay you."

One wave hadn't subsided before another rose.

Xie De was numb.

Right at that moment, the protagonist's side finished discussing clues. Yue Xiamo dodged into the darkness in a flash, and Wei Yanchi walked over, looking down at Lao You with a slight frown.

Then he smiled at Xie De and said, "the clues Yue Xiamo found are mostly the same as ours, but she had one extra. In this factory, there were actually six supervisors, and there was a traitor among them."

Six supervisors?

So another supervisor actually died in this factory.

A traitor among the supervisors. Does that mean the person who set the factory on fire and then fled? Or does it mean someone who united with the workers to accuse the boss, a betrayal through acts like a strike?

And who exactly set the factory on fire?

What is the deal with that dead supervisor? What was the relationship between this supervisor and the boss? Why didn't the other six people call him/her when they escaped? Why didn't his/her name appear like the others?

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[1] Sword of Damocle - The Sword of Damocles is a classic metaphor for imminent, ever-present peril, particularly for those in high-stakes positions of power or luxury. Originating from a Roman moral anecdote, it signifies that with great success comes the constant, precarious threat of sudden disaster, often depicted as a sword hanging by a single hair.