Chapter 11: A Partner Who Was Never Real

After a moment of thought, Yu Ziyu’s expression turned faintly strange, his brow lifting as if in mild surprise.

This wasn’t the first time he’d been treated with an almost instinctive protectiveness because of his deceptively harmless appearance.

But when that familiar sensation overlapped with the present moment, it gave him a subtle illusion—as if he hadn’t truly left the game behind at all.

He did, in fact, know the person standing in front of him.

And at last, he remembered where the name “Lou Chen” rang a bell.

Back then, his psychologist had once asked how he’d managed to escape the game known as Hell Amusement Park.

Yu Ziyu’s answer had been simple:

“I deceived a player.”

That wasn’t wrong.

It was just unfortunate that the player he’d deceived… was the very man standing before him now.

About two years ago, Yu Ziyu had devised a way to deceive the game itself.

He altered his own stats, disguising himself as a player.

His original intention had merely been to find a disposable, short-term partner—a tool, really.

What he hadn’t expected was that the randomly chosen Lou Chen would possess absurdly high stat values.

From start to finish, Yu Ziyu barely had to lift a finger.

Inside the game, Lou Chen had protected him from every angle, without a single blind spot.

Yu Ziyu played the part of a frail, strategic “team brain,” lazily coasting all the way to the seventh layer.

But upon reaching the seventh layer, they’d had no choice but to part ways.

After all, even if Yu Ziyu had modified his player interface, he hadn’t forgotten his other identity—the boss of the seventh layer.

The details of the process weren’t worth recounting.

All that mattered was that, once everything was over, he erased Lou Chen’s memories.

At the time, Yu Ziyu had already prepared himself for the possibility that they would never meet again in the real world.

So he acted decisively, coldly deleting Lou Chen’s brief existence as a “player” without hesitation.

As a result, no one in Hell Amusement Park remembered that such a person had ever existed.

Including Lou Chen himself.

“What’s wrong?”

The man frowned slightly, clearly unsettled by Yu Ziyu’s scrutiny.

Yu Ziyu withdrew his gaze.

His expression shifted into quiet contemplation.

Before Lou Chen could voice his irritation again, Yu Ziyu had already stood up, moving at an unhurried pace until he came to a stop behind him.

His demeanor was almost leisurely, as though he were curious to see how strong his long-lost “former partner” had become.

If his memory served him right, Lou Chen had always been excellent with cold weapons—otherwise, there was no way he could have dragged two people through the levels all the way to the seventh floor, especially when Yu Ziyu had been deliberately slacking off.

And yet—

Lou Chen casually lifted his jacket, his expression icy as he drew the handgun strapped to his waist and disengaged the safety.

Yu Ziyu: “……”

Physical exorcism?

Just what on earth had this guy gone through in the past two years?

Perhaps provoked by Lou Chen’s movements, Gu Leyu—who had long since lost all remnants of human rationality—finally snapped.

Like a beast, it split its lips apart, baring sharp, jagged fangs as a shrill scream tore from its throat.

In an instant, its arms stretched dozens of feet, lashing out toward Lou Chen—the one it perceived as the most nourishing prey.

Even stripped of reason, the creature instinctively sensed something terrifying about Yu Ziyu.

Though he merely stood some distance behind Lou Chen, it dared not exert its full strength, fearful that its act of predation might offend him.

Yu Ziyu remained where he was.

Though he was a few centimeters shorter than Lou Chen, the shadow cast by his body under the light stretched unnaturally long—like a figure walking beneath a suspended moon, projecting a distorted, elongated nightmare that crept forward, threatening to swallow the entire world in black.

Standing behind Lou Chen, he was the most malevolent monster in the entire game—in this entire world.

And this human… was trying to protect him, completely unaware.

Yu Ziyu lowered his gaze, glancing at Lou Chen.

It was as though a false god had descended because of a devoted believer.

A lazy, inscrutable smile curved his lips, tinged with something cold and mocking.

He didn’t make a single move.

Yet the monster before them froze, cowed by that unreadable smile, trembling as its bleeding body shrank backward, too afraid to act rashly.

It shuddered instinctively.

Lou Chen had already tensed, fully prepared to counter the attack.

After all, the creature had been infected at the second level of Jealousy—by all rights, it should have been dangerous.

But instead—

For reasons unknown, its swollen power abruptly collapsed inward.

Before it could even enter Lou Chen’s calculated kill zone, it retreated again and again.

Lou Chen: “……？”

He didn’t believe the creature was afraid of him.

Nor did it seem to have seen through his intentions.

So why?

To explain this, one had to mention the classification system of the Supernatural Management Department.

High-level supernatural entities could disrupt magnetic fields, triggering incidents that should never occur—much like powerful infection sources that twisted death into grotesque rebirth.

Thus, their ranking system was built upon these beings.

At the very top stood a single existence.

There was no official designation for him.

His name itself was an unspeakable taboo—

The boss of the seventh layer.

Pride.

It was said that he was the origin of everything.

All supernatural phenomena stemmed from him.

Wherever he walked, riots and anomalies inevitably followed.

An omen of calamity at the progenitor level.

The other layer bosses were his servants.

More than one player had heard them call him “Master,” implying direct infection at his hands.

Below that were the S-ranks—six in total.

They were the remaining bosses of Hell Amusement Park.

Those directly “embraced” by S-rank entities were classified as A-rank.

The term was borrowed straight from vampire lore, and in a sense, it was fitting—these were conscious, intentional infections that preserved the victim’s sanity.

Below them were the so-called “Descent Infections,” classified as B, C, and lower.

These resulted from magnetic disturbances caused by S- or A-rank entities and were graded based on proximity to the descent point.

The closer the distance, the higher the rank.

They possessed no rationality.

Gu Leyu’s corpse had been closest to the manifestation of Jealousy.

She should have been a B-rank infection.

And yet… this monster was retreating.

As if it had seen something that terrified it—something it still feared, even after death.

A strange intuition stirred within Lou Chen.

He turned his head, glancing back at Yu Ziyu.

Under his gaze, Yu Ziyu pressed his lips together.

Framed by the pitch-black cloak, his complexion appeared unnaturally pale, evoking an intense urge to protect him.

Clutching the hem of Lou Chen’s clothes, he lowered his voice.

“Why is it backing away?”

“I don’t know,” Lou Chen replied after a brief pause.

“But something here is clearly frightening her.”

His sharpness surprised Yu Ziyu.

Lou Chen’s gaze swept rapidly across the room before settling on the box placed on the steps.

Something inside it seemed restless, causing the container to tremble faintly.

He frowned.

Having retreated, the corpse shifted its target.

Drawn by fresh flesh, it lunged toward an unconscious man nearby.

The moment it extended its arm again—

Bang—!

Lou Chen fired without even looking.

His aim was frighteningly precise.

Even such a casual shot pierced straight through the monster’s head, the explosive crack echoing sharply through the air.

The force sent its body staggering.

Green, infected blood sprayed outward as smoke curled from the hole in its skull.

It convulsed, shrieking in agony—like a vampire nailed to a wall, being mercilessly burned by sunlight.

Seconds later, it collapsed to the ground, disintegrating into a pile of black ash.

A one-shot kill.

Those who witnessed it—robed figures all—stood frozen in stunned silence.

Lou Chen didn’t spare the remains a glance.

He holstered the handgun at his waist.

“Taken care of?”

“Taken care of,” Lou Chen replied, stepping toward the box.

It really was far more convenient than cold weapons.

But still—

Yu Ziyu stared at the ashes, his gaze darkening.

“…What kind of bullet was that?”

“Designed specifically for supernatural entities,” Lou Chen said succinctly while inspecting the box.

“Don’t worry.

If it hits a human, it’ll only cause a surface wound.”

Fortunately, Gu Leyu had only been a Descent Infection.

Those weren’t difficult to deal with.

“Oh.”

Yu Ziyu responded.

Lou Chen lowered his head slightly, tracing the patterns etched into the box with long fingers.

He closed his eyes, as if trying to sense what lay inside.

“I was present the entire time they held their gathering.”

A voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Lou Chen paused, then turned around.

“I know what’s inside that box,” Yu Ziyu said calmly.

“If this is what you’re interested in—how it appeared, what form it took, and who the true culprit is—I can tell you everything.”

Behind him, there was only Yu Ziyu.

“Of course,” Yu Ziyu added, pointing lazily at the handgun as he blinked, “that’s assuming you’re willing to fire that bullet at me.”

“Don’t worry,” he smiled faintly.

“I’m just… a little curious.”