Song Gui’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Why are you suddenly telling us this now?” he asked, then turned to look at Lu Chu, who appeared unfazed. It was clear that Lu Chu already knew Qi Li’s true identity.
With this revelation, Song Gui could roughly guess why Qi Li had been acting with them. It was simply for Lu Chu’s sake. Perhaps Qi Li had even helped Lu Chu escape from his original world.
Yuan Kejie wasn’t slow-witted either. After a moment of thought, she pieced together the relationships involved.
“I have a hunch,” Seven said, his deep, wolf-like eyes staring at the azure sky, “that we will soon know everything.”
Song Gui shrugged. “But this has little to do with you telling us your identity, doesn’t it?”
From Song Gui’s perspective, as long as Qi Li didn’t turn against them, his being a “Cleaner” wouldn’t affect their cooperative relationship. Given Qi Li’s combat prowess, if he truly wanted to harm them, they wouldn’t last long anyway.
Cleaners were once players too. Qi Li could have hidden his identity and continued doing missions with them. Their goal was survival, while Qi Li’s mission was to protect Lu Chu.
Seven’s answer was succinct: “Because I believe my identity can help us find the answer faster.”
Song Gui was momentarily stunned, then understood—according to Dai Chenggong and Zhang Xin, “Cleaners” could seemingly enter different “games” at will. Otherwise, it wouldn’t explain how the “Cleaner” could converse face-to-face with people from entirely different worlds.
If Qi Li was also a “Cleaner,” he should have the ability to traverse different “games.”
If that were true, it would indeed be a great help to them.
Since Seven had already revealed his identity, Lu Chu directly asked, “Do you know the Cleaner that Dai Chenggong and Zhang Xin mentioned?”
Seven shook his head. “Since I entered the ‘rules,’ I only knew of myself as a Cleaner.”
It made sense. The conditions to become a “Cleaner” were so stringent that few could clear all the single-player dungeons and survive. Seven’s name derived from the number of the rule he belonged to—”7″ was a very early number, indicating he was a veteran in this death game. If the other Cleaner was unknown to Seven, he might just be a newcomer.
“However, I think I’ve met him,” Seven corrected himself. “To be precise, I’ve sensed his presence.”
Lu Chu was surprised. “When?”
Seven reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind Lu Chu’s ear. “During the school tomb game.”
The others were confused.
Lu Chu’s eyes widened slightly. “The one where our actions were confined to the school?”
Seven nodded. “Yes. During that game, when we looked up at the experimental building, I felt someone on the fifth floor watching us.”
Lu Chu frowned in thought.
He soon recalled that he and Seven had indeed visited the experimental building during that game. It must have been then that Seven sensed someone on the fifth floor. However, a few days later, a murder occurred on the fifth floor, and the student died miserably. Seven probably assumed the gaze belonged to the killer.
“I was careless,” Seven continued. At that time, he sensed someone with the same dangerous aura as himself but didn’t think of a Cleaner, only assuming it was the killer scouting.
Song Gui, having understood the conversation, remarked, “So you’re saying that the Cleaner has been watching you for a while?”
Lu Chu nodded. “I think it’s very likely.”
“The enemy in the dark, us in the light.” Song Gui rubbed his chin. “That’s quite dangerous.”
Luo Qi crossed her arms. “What’s the use of thinking so much? If he dares to come, we’ll just fight him off.”
Qian Zhen was still processing the recent revelations, frowning as he tried to make sense of it all.
Yuan Kejie agreed with Luo Qi’s sentiment. “Since we know the enemy is hidden, we can only wait for his move and then counterattack.”
Song Gui sighed and looked at Seven. “In that case, your identity as a Cleaner becomes advantageous.”
Yuan Kejie was puzzled. “How so?”
“Since Cleaners’ tasks involve removing abnormal NPCs, Qi Li should know where these abnormal NPCs are. The other Cleaner will likely continue seeking NPCs like Zhang Xin, increasing our chances of encountering him,” Song Gui explained.
Yuan Kejie nodded in agreement.
Luo Qi frowned and interjected, “But our main problem now is finding the abnormal NPCs and ensuring we enter the same game.”
Song Gui chuckled. “We can handle both.” Unfortunately, Lu Chu’s identity wasn’t ready to be exposed yet.
“Enough talking! We’re running out of time. We’ll discuss this next time we meet!” Yuan Kejie suddenly shouted, seeing the door in front of them turning transparent.
Pressed for time, they had to pause their conversation and enter the door one after another.
Lu Chu was the last to go. He smiled warmly at Seven. “See you later.”
Seven’s eyes were filled with hidden affection. “See you later.”
.
After stepping through the door, Lu Chu found himself in a pure white space in a flash.
This was Lu Chu’s second multiplayer dungeon. He remembered that the last time he did a multiplayer mission, his wristband’s free activity time had increased by 65 minutes. This time, he immediately checked his wristband upon returning to the rules—204’59”.
Another 65 minutes had been added.
Perhaps each multiplayer mission added a fixed amount of time? As Lu Chu pondered this, he began organizing the information he had gathered.
Time passed quickly, and as Lu Chu pondered, the familiar door to the illusion appeared again, and his wristband showed 199’59”.
Lu Chu stretched his stiff body and entered the illusion.
This time, Luo Qi had entered the illusion before Lu Chu and was waiting, arms crossed.
Strangely, the illusion world this time was indoors. Lu Chu stood in a luxurious hotel lobby. Looking up, he saw a massive crystal chandelier hanging about three floors above him. In the center of the lobby was an artificial fountain, with vibrant plants and a few koi swimming in the pool. Beyond the fountain was the reception desk. In the distance were glass stairs spiraling upwards and two elevators on the other side.
After observing the illusion, Lu Chu stood near the door as usual, waiting with Luo Qi for the others to appear.
It wasn’t long before everyone arrived.
Yuan Kejie exclaimed as she stepped out of the door, “Wow, is this a five-star hotel?”
She ran to the artificial fountain. “Who would’ve thought a simple, hard-working office worker like me would ever enjoy a five-star hotel! Let’s go check out the presidential suite!”
Song Gui grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back. “Calm down.”
Yuan Kejie laughed sheepishly. “I’m just excited. What if the presidential suite is already taken? Lu Xiaochu, have you seen anyone else come out besides us?”
Lu Chu thought for a moment. “Three people, two men and one woman, took the elevator upstairs.”
Yuan Kejie was shocked. “They went upstairs?! My presidential suite…”
“Your obsession with the presidential suite runs deep,” Luo Qi remarked.
Yuan Kejie felt a bit embarrassed. “It’s just that I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Song Gui found a keycard at the reception desk, held it up for everyone to see, and said, “Let’s go, to the presidential suite.”
They took the elevator to the top floor.
The hotel’s corridors were luxurious, with intricate patterns and reflective cleanliness. The deep brown classical floor tiles showed a faint reflection of their figures.
Yuan Kejie remarked, “If someone wore a skirt here, they’d be exposed.”
Lu Chu: “…”
Song Gui laughed. “Don’t worry, even if you wore a skirt, none of us would look.”
Qian Zhen kept his eyes forward.
Yuan Kejie: “…You’re impressive.”
In their conversation, they reached the door of the presidential suite. Song Gui swiped the keycard and opened the door, making a gentlemanly gesture.
Luo Qi passed by him, muttering, “Pretentious.”
The presidential suite was spacious and comfortable, with beige sofas, a 65-inch LCD TV, and elegant vases. Unfortunately, the huge panoramic windows only showed darkness and chaos outside.
They found places to sit, and Lu Chu briefly recounted what happened after Yuan Kejie died.
After hearing this, Yuan Kejie pondered for a moment and then asked, “By the way, how much time did you guys get this time?”
Everyone replied, “65 minutes.”
“I only got 30 minutes,” Yuan Kejie noted. “It seems our scores aren’t fixed; dying midway affects the final score.”
During the conversation, Qian Zhen, who had been quiet, finally asked a question that had been bugging him. “Do you know why Qi Li helps us?”
Considering Qi Li’s formidable abilities and his identity as a Cleaner, why would he help them?
Hearing this, Song Gui and Yuan Kejie immediately looked at Lu Chu, while Luo Qi was clueless.
Lu Chu was initially surprised by the question, then smiled gently. “Because he’s my boyfriend.”
