Having witnessed 7’s violent way of hitting people, Wang Heng, standing nearby, was utterly petrified.
As for Li Yiming and Wang Yiming, the moment Song Gui and Qian Zhen suddenly pressed Sun Haoran down the stairs to find Lu Chu, they were already in a state of complete bewilderment. Although they didn’t know the reason for Qi Li’s confrontation with Sun Haoran, they still considered whether to step in and break up the fight. However, the moment this thought crossed their minds, they were scared stiff by 7’s fierce gaze, not daring to move.
7’s blows were ruthless, but he maintained his strength within a range that caused extreme pain without easily killing the opponent.
For a long time, Sun Haoran remained motionless after having his head pressed into the floor, appearing close to death, before suddenly letting out a few muffled laughs. The dull sound came from the floor: “As expected of the first man to become a ‘Cleaner,’ your strength is formidable.”
Although he had already heard about this man from his own “Rule,” he still harbored the notion that as fellow Cleaners, even if there was a disparity in strength, it might only be slight, and he would still stand a chance. However, he didn’t expect that this formidable man would use simple combat techniques to render him completely defenseless.
Lu Chu frowned upon hearing this: “So, you are a Cleaner too.”
Sun Haoran continued to laugh sinisterly: “Yes.”
“So, during the ‘School Tomb’ game, it was you watching me?”
Lu Chu remembered 7 telling him that during the experiment building game, he had sensed the threat of another Cleaner on the fifth floor.
Knowing Lu Chu needed to have an important conversation with Sun Haoran, 7 lifted Sun Haoran by the collar, pulling his head out of the floor. Sun Haoran, beaten badly, looked extremely disheveled, his face bruised, covered in dust, and blood trickling from his nose and mouth.
Unconcerned about his miserable appearance, Sun Haoran nodded generously: “It was me.”
Lu Chu grew more wary: “Reason?”
Sun Haoran, his eyes piercing through his messy bangs, looked directly at Lu Chu and smiled: “What reason?”
“Don’t play dumb,” Lu Chu’s expression turned serious, “you know what I’m talking about.”
Song Gui, standing nearby, also said: “You must have a reason for following Lu Xiaochu, so what is your motive?”
Sun Haoran licked his cracked lips wickedly: “Isn’t the reason obvious? Of course, it’s because—I took a fancy to him.”
As soon as he finished speaking, 7 picked him up entirely and slammed him against the wall.
7’s force was immense, causing the wall to crack, with fragments and bricks breaking off. Sun Haoran was embedded deeply into the wall, then slid to the floor, curling up in pain, coughing violently as if trying to expel his heart and lungs.
Song Gui and the others instinctively disliked this person.
Despite the excruciating pain, Sun Haoran curled up on the floor, laughing madly: “Hahaha, very good, very good…cough cough…you are very good…”
Lu Chu thought this person must be a lunatic.
In this pathological game, lunatics were the least scarce around them.
It seemed like Sun Haoran was deliberately provoking 7.
Lu Chu walked towards the curled-up Sun Haoran: “How many Cleaners like you are there?”
“How could I know that,” Sun Haoran, accustomed to the pain, still looked nonchalantly at 7, saying, “Look at this man before you, as the first Cleaner, doesn’t even he know how many Cleaners are in this game?”
7’s ignorance was for reasons different than what Sun Haoran thought. As the first Cleaner, he had experienced far more life-and-death situations than the subsequent Cleaners, thus earning the opportunity to become the first Cleaner. He had long forgotten many things: his name, life, and emotions. Although Sun Haoran had also undergone many worlds’ trials, they were far from as harsh and unbearable as what 7 had endured.
“Let me rephrase,” Lu Chu said, “have you ever seen a third Cleaner?”
Sun Haoran stared at him and smiled: “Yes, but unfortunately, he later died.”
Lu Chu was puzzled: “Died?”
“Died horribly.” Sun Haoran licked his lips. “His legs were crushed into a pulp, and then he was buried alive in cement while still conscious.”
Song Gui and others frowned, while Wang Heng and the three participants were already bewildered by the current developments. Hearing Sun Haoran’s words, even though they didn’t understand what “Cleaners” meant, they were still terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.
Legs crushed into pulp? Buried alive in cement while still conscious?
The thought of such a death was horrifying and made them feel sick.
Wang Heng looked at these supposed “classmates” of his and suddenly doubted their identities.
He even doubted his own identity.
Are they really classmates? What was their purpose for gathering initially? Why can’t he remember anything…
On the other side, Yuan Kejie couldn’t hold back any longer and asked Sun Haoran: “How can a ‘Cleaner’ die?”
Sun Haoran smirked: “Little girl, don’t be naive. Even as a Cleaner, there’s still a risk of dying while on a cleaning mission. The ‘Rule’ protects us, but the dangers in the ‘Game’ are no joke. Did you think following the ‘Rule’ and serving it would guarantee a long life?”
“Ah, no, at first I did think so,” Sun Haoran said, not waiting for anyone to answer, then laughed at himself, muttering, “I thought becoming a Cleaner meant being invulnerable, able to control the lives of those in the Game. I didn’t expect it to just be risking our lives working for the ‘Rule’ for free.”
Song Gui laughed: “It seems you’ve had a hard time, hence the laments.”
Sun Haoran cast a sinister look at Song Gui.
Song Gui responded with a provocative smile.
Lu Chu pondered over why Sun Haoran would target him. The only reason could be that Sun Haoran knew he was a participant in the game. Otherwise, with countless “Rules” and even more players in those Rules, there was no reason for Sun Haoran to take an interest in him, an ordinary player without special abilities.
Lu Chu then said to Sun Haoran: “You know my identity.”
The tone was certain.
Sun Haoran smirked, his eyes sharp: “Of course, Lu Chu, you are different, unlike any other participant I’ve seen who deviated from the original trajectory.”
Yuan Kejie, Luo Qi, and Qian Zhen were shocked, all looking at Lu Chu in astonishment.
Yuan Kejie asked in surprise: “Lu Xiaochu, you…you…”
“Yes, that’s right,” Lu Chu nodded, not denying it. “I will explain this in detail to you all later. Let’s solve the current problem first.”
Seeing his direct admission and promise of a detailed explanation later, Yuan Kejie and the others didn’t press further—trust among teammates is fundamental to maintaining the team’s cohesion and combat effectiveness.
Lu Chu then looked at Sun Haoran: “How did you know my identity?”
Sun Haoran licked his lips: “The task of cleaning up anomalies in the Game isn’t assigned to just one Cleaner.”
Song Gui raised an eyebrow, intrigued: “You have rules for task assignments?”
Lu Chu looked at 7, who after a moment of thought, shook his head—he didn’t know about this. He always received tasks from his Rule, then silently and decisively entered the respective Game, killing the target person or creature, and then returned to the vast emptiness of the Rule.
By then, he had become a humanoid weapon, devoid of fatigue, pain, or thought.
Sun Haoran sat up from the ground, leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, and smiled: “At least I can see every anomaly in each Game.”
Saying this, Sun Haoran turned his gaze to Lu Chu: “Back then, my Rule also issued a task to kill you. But since the first Cleaner had already gone, I didn’t go. However, I didn’t expect that later, when I checked the task again, the information had changed. ‘Lu Chu’ had successfully escaped the game as a player, and a name appeared among the deceased—”
Sun Haoran looked at 7: “It was you, 7.”
Song Gui was stunned at hearing “7,” then speculated that this number, like “Qi Li,” was merely a code name for this powerful man. As for his real name, it seemed forgotten.
While they were still interrogating Sun Haoran, Lu Chu’s ears perked up as he suddenly heard other faint sounds.
Lu Chu raised his index finger: “Shh—”
Everyone fell silent.
Lu Chu listened carefully for a moment, then said gravely to the others: “‘It’s’ here again.” Yuan Kejie and the others widened their eyes: “Hide?” With so many people now, there was no more room in the room to hide.
“No need,” 7 said calmly, “when it comes, kill it.”
Hearing this, the others felt reassured. If Qi Li said so, their safety was ensured.
Soon, everyone except Lu Chu heard the footsteps.
“Thud—thud—thud—thud—”
The sound grew closer.
Moments later, the door lock turned, the door opened, and a huge figure almost completely blocked the doorway.
They looked towards the door, and to their astonishment, the slow-walking, heavy-footed figure was a giant teddy bear.
