Chapter 4: Factory Fright

The cement walls had been smoked black by abandoned smoke, dried-up spiders lay on them with slender limbs hunting, and the water-seeping ground attracted dense swarms of woodlice to nest.

In the corridor illuminated only by light seeping through window cracks, Xie De walked very slowly. He hung a wireless earbud on his ear. His face was void of any expression, but the voice in his heart was trembling slightly.

"Gibberish, quickly tell me the plot and the deadly traps of this scenario. Oh my god, can you modify my perception? Make the anomalies in my eyes turn into beautiful women, that way I might not be so scared."

Gibberish could hear what he was thinking and saying in his heart. Its mechanical voice was still very steady, "Host, take a deep breath, there is nothing to be afraid of here. Rest assured, I am here to accompany you."

Having spent at least three months together, even if Xie De couldn't perfectly read Gibberish's mind, he roughly understood its personality.

He couldn't help but gnash his teeth.

"If you don't know, just say you don't know. What's this about accompanying me? Where else can you go besides by my side? Give me the plot right now."

Gibberish played dead again.

Xie De was shocked, "Wait, don't tell me you really don't know the plot at all?"

Gibberish said slowly, "It's not like that. It's just that, the plot I know, it's not complete."

Gibberish!!

"You've used all your underhanded tricks on me, haven't you?!"

Xie De complained despairingly.

"Besides electrocuting me, what use are you exactly? In this dangerous place, you don't even know the plot! The two of us are finished. Let alone clearing the scenario, who knows if we can survive the first day?"

"Host, calm down!" Gibberish's fragmented data spun desperately, "I remember that the plot point here is that the protagonist discovers those workers disappeared voluntarily, and the prompt of this scenario’s system is that the boss wants us to take the initiative to work. He wants us to replace the workers who disappeared, not finding out the truth about the workers' disappearance."

Xie De asked hesitantly, "Knowing this, can we clear the scenario? What should I do next?"

"Uh, no, it seems like we still need to find something based on the clues. Hmm, what is it?" Gibberish fell into deep thought.

"So you really are unreliable."

With a headache, Xie De fished out a cigarette case from his overcoat, popped out a slim women's cigarette, held it in his mouth, and lit it. The taste of nicotine numbed his constantly trembling nerves. A little red spark devoured the white smoke in the dim environment, carrying a faint scent of cedar.

He held the cigarette between his fingers, appearing calm and unhurried in this eerie and bizarre environment. Only he himself knew that his heart was beating so hard it felt like it would shatter his ribcage.

‘Okay, okay, calm down.’

‘This place is just a bit cold, a bit dark, with a few too many bugs, there's really nothing to be afraid of.’

"Hello."

A gloomy voice came from behind. Xie De tremblingly put the cigarette into his mouth. It was hilarious, he didn't dare to turn his head at all.

Hu Wei watched the man's back from behind. The moonlight-soft silver hair made him look like an exquisitely crafted 3D model. He didn't seem to want to pay attention to her.

Hu Wei smiled indifferently and took the initiative to speak.

"I've finished searching the corridor next door. No one has gone to the second-floor office yet. The clues in the office are much more numerous than those on the first floor. Do you want to go with me? The two of us can cooperate."

The dangers on the second floor were also much more numerous than on the first floor.

There were currently 7 players in total. The system only asked them to solve the boss's troubles and didn't mandatorily require them to be together, so the players were currently scattered all over the factory.

Especially the protagonist, Wei Yanchi, who slipped into the darkness like a loach, leaving no trace behind.

The one with the slowest progress was Xie De; he hadn't even opened a single door yet.

In the earbud, Gibberish whispered.

"I recognize this girl. She is a big shot in the early part of the book, cold-blooded and ruthless, but she is considered one of the more loyal ones among the players. We can cooperate with her."

Xie De threw the cigarette on the ground and crushed it out.

"To think she's actually a big shot! Why would she look for us to cooperate? Isn't she afraid we'll drag her down?"

"Uh, she might just want a scapegoat, but right now, host, you don't dare to walk alone anyway, so you might as well just follow her."

Xie De felt that he was being underestimated by Gibberish, but what was more pathetic was that he actually couldn't refute it.

His dark green pupils looked at the harmless-looking girl in front of him. Xie De walked ahead indignantly, thinking that a grown man like himself couldn't possibly act weak and cowardly in front of a little girl.

Hu Wei received Xie De's signal of agreeing to cooperate with her. With a hint of pleasant surprise in her eyes, she quickly followed him.

The entire second floor of the factory was scattered with workers' dormitories, as well as the boss's office, and at the very end, there was a large public bathhouse.

There was a viscous substance on the floor emitting a strong, foul stench, enough to choke a person to death. Flies buzzed continuously. The moonlight from outside shone in, letting them see that the substance on the ground was dark red flesh and blood, with maggots wriggling on it.

"So disgusting."

Hu Wei tip-toed in disgust, walking in carefully. She looked back and found that Xie De was even more disgusted than she was, standing at the top of the stairs with his brows tightly furrowed.

Hu Wei said with amusement, "Hey, Mr. 39, it's just a little dirty. You wouldn't make me explore alone, would you?"

"Tsk."

The man finally condescended to walk over, took the initiative to open the door to the workers' dormitory, and walked in first.

Hu Wei followed closely behind. The inside was much cleaner than the outside. One dormitory had eight beds, all covered in dust.

Just as they were sizing it up, the door behind them slammed shut with a bang, and a gust of chilly wind blew the curtains like ghosts.

Xie De's whole body stiffened, and Hu Wei's gaze instantly became vigilant!

On the ceiling fan in front of them, a corpse appeared, hanging there with its eyes wide open in death.

Gibberish let out a scream before Xie De did, "WAAAAH— Oh my god, so scary!"

Gibberish was so stimulated that it subconsciously released an electric current, forcefully making the pain in Xie De's body surpass his fear, even transforming it into anger, making him want to curse.

"Gibberish! Who exactly is the coward between us?!"

"AHHH, quickly grab a chair and smash it, why is this corpse getting closer and closer to us?!"

Noisy!

Unable to beat up Gibberish, Xie De hardened his heart, gritted his teeth, lifted the wooden bench nearby, and smashed it fiercely at the ceiling fan above his head. With a crack, the fan shattered into pieces, and the corpse disappeared.

Hu Wei was startled. Turning her head to look over, she could still feel the coldness at the tips of the man's brows.

Okay, as expected, he’s very formidable.

With trembling hands, Xie De lit another cigarette for himself and said concisely, "Go find clues."

"Mn."

Hu Wei completely failed to notice the turbulence of Xie De's current mood. She calmly rushed over and rummaged through various remains. She focused intently on searching the beds and the tables. In the corner of her eye, she could see gloomy eyes staring at her from under the tables and beds, as well as withered hands crawling out.

The man behind her was casually smoking a cigarette. Hu Wei felt a sense of security. She directly ignored the withered hands and eyes, and continued searching.

Meanwhile, Xie De hadn't noticed those eyes and hands at all. He was still irritably comforting Gibberish.

"No, didn't you always say I was a coward? How come you're even more cowardly than me when you see these things? You are a system, you won't get hurt, and you won't die. I'm the one who will die, alright? What exactly are you screaming about?"

Gibberish remained silent, just blindly analyzing.

The data showed that when a face-saving coward is accompanied by someone even more cowardly, then this person will instead not be so cowardly.