Chapter 33 Part 1: The Master’s Table

“Having fun?

The banquet should have started by now.”

In a vast expanse of white mist, a figure emerged.

He gradually approached Yu Ziyu, looking down at him.

Yu Ziyu sat up, supporting himself on the ground.

With a look of disgust, he picked off the petals scattered on his head, brushed the wax stains from his windbreaker, and looked up to find Sloth kneeling on one knee, cheek resting on his hand, just staring at him blankly.

“You’re so beautiful.”

Sloth didn’t seem to realize he was speaking unconsciously.

His lips were slightly parted.

“I don’t like people talking to me like this.”

Yu Ziyu said expressionlessly.

“And I know.”

Sloth wasn’t here, of course.

He didn’t dare show his face in front of Yu Ziyu after making a mistake.

This was just the spiritual ocean; Sloth had slipped in while he was zoning out.

“Outside, something bad has happened,” he murmured, reaching out to touch the black hair by Yu Ziyu’s cheek.

“On the day the game started collapsing…

I should have realized he would eventually go back on his word.

He was never our ally.”

Yu Ziyu frowned.

Although he didn’t speak, he was considering the meaning of these words.

“You had an alliance…?”

Sloth’s dazed gaze refocused, landing on Yu Ziyu.

His tense expression softened.

He gently grabbed Yu Ziyu’s open hand, rubbed his cheek against his palm like a homeless stray cat, then tamely looked up at Yu Ziyu.

From this angle, Sloth’s emerald green eyes were wide open.

Somewhat hollow, yet also strangely cute.

“So, can you call me by my name?” he asked.

“If you’re satisfied with my remedial plan?”

Yu Ziyu frowned.

“My name.”

Sloth repeated, taking a deep breath as if intoxicated by Yu Ziyu’s scent.

He casually corrected Yu Ziyu’s words.

“You know, we aren’t really called Sloth, Gluttony, and stuff… we have names.

It’s just that you think this way won’t get us mixed up.”

Throughout his words, Yu Ziyu maintained an expressionless face.

Sloth looked at Yu Ziyu’s expression for a while, confused, then suddenly let out a choked sound.

“Oh, you didn’t know.

I remembered wrong.”

Sloth seemed to suddenly realize this.

His face paled, and he shrank back a little.

But then, he didn’t have a chance to retreat further.

Because Yu Ziyu grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him directly back.

Sloth, who always appeared lazy in front of others, now widened his eyes.

He held his breath, not daring to make a rash move, allowing Yu Ziyu to scrutinize the depths of his eyes up close.

“Should I know?”

Yu Ziyu asked coldly.

Sloth stared at his lips, as if forgetting what he wanted to say: “Um…”

“Hmm.”

Yu Ziyu looked thoughtful, releasing Sloth.

“Indeed, I feel something’s off.

First, I don’t believe you guys found a way to come out at will.

Because I haven’t seen too many monsters from the Land of Desire Amusement Park appear, only you—and the players—returned to reality.”

His initial guess was that the Land of Desire Amusement Park had collapsed, and the game system took the opportunity to merge reality and hell.

But so far, he hadn’t seen many native monsters from the park appear.

Most of what he encountered were new mutated creatures infected by the several bosses.

If it were a simple merge, this world fundamentally couldn’t be so “peaceful.”

After all, besides these bosses stirring up the situation, most other monsters had no reason, only knowing to act according to the game’s rules, dragging anyone they could catch into instances to torture them.

But this didn’t happen.

To be honest, Yu Ziyu didn’t really care about these matters.

If the suddenly resurrected game system hadn’t provided point earning missions, he wouldn’t even have been interested in contacting these bosses.

If this alliance hadn’t interfered with his plans, he actually couldn’t be bothered to care what they were doing.

Sloth was still looking at him, as if nervously awaiting his judgment.

“We’ll talk about these issues later.

Now is not the time.”

Yu Ziyu said casually.

He straightened his windbreaker, played with the dagger stuck in his heart, and simply lay back down.

“I can’t be absent for too long.

You’d better come quickly too.”

This was an order.

Sloth slowly nodded.

The white mist gathered and dispersed behind him, as if the master of this illusion was in an indecisive, distracted state.

“I will.”

His emerald green eyes flickered. “Also, I’ll bring another guest.”

***

Inside the theater, it was dead silent.

Oppressive black shadows gradually rose from the lowest level.

The dome of the sky was pressing down bit by bit, as if some huge ancient creature had passed over the vast theater, causing it to never seem so suffocating.

The smell of rot rose from the skin of every silently present person.

The scent of blood lingered in the air, composing a hidden mime.

Lou Chen kept watching Yu Ziyu’s figure.

Tick tock.

The sound of the clock collided everywhere on the walls, finally falling into the center, converging into an annoying, chaotic noise.

He didn’t know what had happened.

The moment Yu Ziyu plunged the dagger into his heart, Lou Chen had almost crawled up from the floor.

But there was no way.

In the face of this power, how fragile being human was…

The next moment, all sound disappeared from his ears.

Tearing pain simultaneously emerged from his head and chest.

An uncontrollable trembling moan escaped from his mouth.

Tinnitus.

For a moment, he couldn’t tell if the entire theater was really this quiet, or if his eardrums were dominated by a metallic, piercing scream.

Yu Ziyu was still for a few minutes… maybe ten minutes?

Lou Chen had lost all sense of time.

The clock gradually twisted and deformed in his vision.

The only thing he knew was—Yu Ziyu had done this.

Too quiet, yet too noisy.

The audience in the theater seats also seemed to become restless from this silent waiting.

Whispers, like the flapping wings of crows, circled above Lou Chen’s head, causing his body to tremble unconsciously.

It was as if, simply as if, these stares were making the air thin.

“Yu Ziyu…”

Lou Chen murmured.

“Why do I never know what your next move is going to be?”

Yet, his attitude towards him inadvertently revealed familiarity.

Perhaps before Lou Chen could figure out the butterflies in his stomach, Yu Ziyu already understood him better than anyone.

Lou Chen was a very strange person; he realized this.

If he were Yu Ziyu, he would hate this sudden, inexplicable attention focused on him.

But he didn’t.

What?

A voice in Lou Chen’s mind spoke.

Had Yu Ziyu actually been indulging him from the very beginning?

Wasn’t this some kind of dislike, rejection?

Maybe now wasn’t the time to think about this.

Lou Chen felt an unfamiliar joy he had never experienced before explode in his chest.

But then, this feeling quickly dissipated, turning into deep frustration and helplessness.

Yet this intuitive doubt hadn’t disappeared; it was just hidden.

Do something.

Lou Chen said to himself.

Break free from this.

Do something.

Then, he suddenly stood up from the floor.

This force didn’t have a chance to stop him, couldn’t do it.

The color of Lou Chen’s eyes deepened due to the turmoil of emotion.

Strange anger burned in his stomach.

He thought of that partner completely forgotten by others.

Then he thought of Yu Ziyu, now bewitched…

Pride.

The grudge between him and it further erupted.

Lou Chen quickly ran towards the platform.

His fingers, clad in fingerless gloves, clenched tightly, turning white from excessive force.

Just as he was about to reach Yu Ziyu, something unexpected happened.

With a bang, suddenly, all of this came to an abrupt halt.

Lou Chen could clearly feel the ground trembling beneath his soles, and the world shaking.

The crystal chandelier above was startled, emitting a clattering sound.

Crystal pendants collided and tangled together.

A faint sound of explosion came from the air.

A vast force swept up from the ground like a violent whirlwind.

The light trembled along with the ground.

Exclamations sounded all around.

Lou Chen’s ears regained their hearing.

These tremendous sounds, like oppressed water, rapidly poured into his mind.

He quickly realized what had suddenly changed all this—Yu Ziyu had sat up.

“You…”

All the commotion stopped.

Because the next moment, he opened his eyes.

Lou Chen was stunned.

These were a pair of never-before-seen scarlet eyes.

They made Yu Ziyu’s complexion even paler, emitting a soft, pearly fluorescence under the light.

His black hair was slightly messy from just lying down and sitting up, like the black lines Lou Chen had once sketched, lazily falling on his delicate cheeks.

Just as many people’s impression of Yu Ziyu was—

Possessing an absolutely beautiful exterior, but beneath the skin and flesh lived an ugly, evil soul.

And now it had indeed come true.

Anyone seeing these eyes wouldn’t think they were eyes a human should have.

Just meeting their gaze was a terrible torment.

And it sat on the platform, coldly surveying the entire theater.

Although those black-robed people all wore masks, they still lowered their heads in panic under this gaze, their bodies trembling violently.

At this moment, no one would mistake the existence before them.

A voice screamed danger in everyone’s mind, because it had arrived.

—The master of the Land of Desire Amusement Park, the legendary bug-level boss, Pride.

“Meeting again.”

In Lou Chen’s line of sight, it slid down from the platform and casually picked up a lit candle.

Its grease slipped from the hollow wick due to the movement, sliding down, dripping onto the hands that had once issued the invitation, leaving sizzling, smoking, red burn marks.

Noticing this detail, Lou Chen took a deep breath.

His eyes were filled with anger.

That wasn’t Pride’s body.

Of course, it wouldn’t matter if it got hurt.

He kept telling himself this in his heart, ignoring Pride’s words.

“I don’t know how much you remember.”

Yu Ziyu raised an eyebrow, turned around, and threw the candle onto the previously torn red curtain.

It immediately ignited.

He just watched the greedy tongue of the raging fire quickly lick the soft silk, letting the red flames illuminate his expressionless, delicate profile.

“I dare not forget anything.”

Lou Chen looked up and said coldly.

“I remember we made a deal, but I’ve completely forgotten what the deal was.

So from the very beginning, this wasn’t a fair deal.

And now what are you doing?

Reminiscing with me?”

This was something Lou Chen had never mentioned to anyone.

He had indeed fallen unconscious before leaving the Land of Desire Amusement Park.

But before that, he must have seen Pride.

In his memory, they seemed to have briefly spoken.

Then, the memory was wiped, and he was thrown in front of a glowing door.

Lou Chen walked out and returned to the real world.

He believed Pride remembered this too.

Otherwise, Lou Chen couldn’t find a reason why he wasn’t immediately torn apart, but instead placed among the heretics.

“You talk too much.”

Yu Ziyu turned his head and glanced at him, his tone slowly suggesting:

“Consider where you’re standing and who you’re talking to now.

Shouldn’t you try to behave a little more obediently?

Or do you want to recall what your companion did?”

Lou Chen looked at him with hatred.

Yu Ziyu was satisfied to see this gaze return.

Perhaps this was the look suitable for the two of them.

The originally silent theater finally came alive at this moment.

The audience emerged one by one from the darkness.

Perhaps because they hadn’t received a hint before, or perhaps they had been holding their breath, waiting for Pride’s arrival.

As Yu Ziyu emitted a mocking nasal sound, the whispers grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, the entire theater echoed with bursts of noisy laughter.

Obviously, they were snickering at Lou Chen’s current predicament.

The feeling of emptiness disappeared, quickly replaced by a feeling of crowding.

The suddenly lit lights exposed the entire theater to harsh light.

Before this, Lou Chen hadn’t realized there were so many people present.

Within a dozen meter radius, they formed a black ocean.

Behind the densely packed masks, pupils of varying degrees of dilation were revealed.

Such harsh light, however, didn’t add to the theater’s liveliness.

Instead, it cast the shadows of countless people.

The room was as gloomy as if a flock of crows was resting indoors.

Elongated shadows stacked layer upon layer, forming the projection of a huge, misshapen monster.

Lou Chen’s boots moved.

“Stand still.”

Yu Ziyu didn’t look at him, just lifted the corner of his mouth in a cold smile.

“Just stand there and watch.

If you dare move, I can’t guarantee something won’t happen to Yu Ziyu.

After all, now it’s his turn to be in my mind.”

“Although I’ve only communicated with Yu Ziyu intermittently before this, I quite like him.

You don’t want me to do something we’ll both regret, do you?”

He deliberately threw out a foreshadowing.

Sure enough, he immediately saw Lou Chen fall silent, standing still.

A thoughtful expression appeared on Lou Chen’s face.

Obviously, he was as smart as Yu Ziyu thought; otherwise, he wouldn’t have easily placed him in this position.

Although Yu Ziyu liked revenge, he would absolutely never do something that harmed both himself and others with no return.

The next moment, the room suddenly turned cold.

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