Chapter 14: The Map Has Updated

Xiao Zhang waited anxiously in the waiting room, clutching his briefcase.

Although he was now wearing a crisp suit and looked particularly sharp, only he knew that underneath the suit shirt, he was still wearing the pajamas he hadn’t had time to take off.

They clung wrinkled to his skin, much like his heart, which was currently twisted into a knot.

A few hours ago, when he received the call in the middle of the night, he had been full of anger.

But when he grabbed his phone, answered it, and clearly heard what had happened, his whole body petrified.

The terror of this call was no less than The Ring.

“…Could you say that again?”

“What department?

The Supernatural Management Bureau?”

He knew he sounded like an idiot, but he couldn’t control his urge to scream.

He asked painfully, “This isn’t really some new type of scam, is it?”

Whatever the person on the other end of the line said made it impossible for him not to believe it—this was real.

Teacher Ziyu had attended a gathering and been taken to the police station… no, to the Supernatural Management Bureau.

It involved some kind of supernatural incident.

And from the sound of it, Teacher Ziyu’s position within that group of cult members seemed pretty core.

Damn.

After a long moment, he tremblingly hung up the phone.

The air was silent for a few seconds.

He didn’t know how long passed before he finally snapped out of it.

He quickly scrambled out of bed, still in his pajamas, and frantically called every lawyer he knew.

He asked them to find out exactly what this government department was responsible for and who the current director was.

Wearing only slippers, he paced anxiously back and forth in his apartment, going crazy.

Why why why?!

Why is Teacher Ziyu really connected to those monsters??

Xiao Zhang’s worldview came crashing down.

But before he completely fell apart, he had to find a way to get his photographer out.

Summarizing all the intelligence, he finally came to one conclusion.

This department was very mysterious, and it wasn’t a gathering place for scammers.

There was no current director, but everyone acknowledged a person named “Lou Chen.”

If he hadn’t refused the position, logically, he should be the one to hold it.

“…”

He paused.

From the sound of it, this guy seems pretty difficult to deal with.

Xiao Zhang had braced himself for the worst, expecting this matter to end badly.

But instead, he saw Yu Ziyu being escorted out by two people.

He was draped in a black cloak, walking between them.

The young man at the front had a tall and straight stature.

He wasn’t wearing a police uniform, but simply a vintage-style jacket and black fingerless gloves.

“Hello.”

Xiao Zhang quickly stood up and walked over. “I’m Teacher Ziyu’s agent.”

“Hello,” the other man replied, sizing him up discreetly as he shook his hand.

“Lou Chen.”

Xiao Zhang: “…”

Isn’t this the would-be director of the Supernatural Management Bureau…??

He opened his mouth, but found he didn’t know what to say.

Although Lou Chen’s manner was friendly and approachable, he exuded a powerful, oppressive aura.

Intuition told Xiao Zhang that every word he said needed to be carefully weighed.

But then, Lou Chen was suddenly shoved aside, revealing Yu Ziyu’s impatient face behind him.

“What are you doing here?”

Yu Ziyu asked expressionlessly.

Xiao Zhang immediately snapped back to reality, speaking incoherently: “I, uh, I got a call.

I’ll handle all these troubles.

I am your agent, after all…”

“Oh.”

Yu Ziyu said, “Well, it’s fine now.

Conveniently, you drove here.”

Behind him, Lou Chen gazed at Yu Ziyu, not minding his action.

“I hope you’ll seriously consider my invitation.”

“Sorry, your words have already been thrown into my mental trash can.

And I’m quite sure I’m not the person you’re looking for.”

“You are the one who can save everything.”

“Right.

You’re really suited to being a novelist.

When’s your fantasy work being published?”

Lou Chen: “…I won’t give up.”

Because of Yu Ziyu’s strange brand of humor, He Yu snickered, but Yu Ziyu shot him a cold glare, so he had no choice but to look at the sky and pretend he didn’t exist on the sidelines.

“Then keep it up.”

Yu Ziyu said perfunctorily, quickly putting distance between them.

“If you don’t want to be annoying, you’d better just forget about this.”

If this guy ever finds out my real identity, I wonder if he’ll regret making this proposal.

…Become the core force for humanity to solve supernatural monsters?

This was even more laughable than the most ridiculous things he’d ever heard.

He hadn’t even been interested in being the Demon King, let alone playing the savior.

So why did both sides have to come looking for him, this slacker, forcibly dragging him into the fray?

Anyway, he wasn’t going to help either side.

Just treat him like a transparent person.

The confrontational aura between the two made Xiao Zhang nearly tear his checkbook.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

As expected of my photographer, he never holds back any of his temper.

But seeing Teacher Ziyu’s as always arrogant and cocky attitude, he actually felt a strange sense of reassurance.

It meant things weren’t as terrifying as he’d thought, and it didn’t seem too serious… after all, Teacher Ziyu was still in the mood to cleverly insult people.

So, as he passed by Lou Chen, who seemed slightly dazed for some reason, Xiao Zhang let out a dry laugh and explained, “Don’t take it to heart.

If Teacher Ziyu really disliked someone, he wouldn’t even speak to them, and that person would just disappear from his social circle…”

“Zhang Yining.”

Yu Ziyu, who had reached the door, glanced coldly back and suddenly called his full government name.

As if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on his head in the dead of winter, Xiao Zhang jolted as if electrocuted.

Yu Ziyu rarely called him by his name, which meant he was in danger.

So, he quickly made a zipping-his-lips motion towards his photographer and hurried after Yu Ziyu’s retreating figure out of the special department’s hall.

“I’ll wait for your answer.”

Behind him came Lou Chen’s persistent voice.

But the person whose name was called didn’t look back, merely waving his hand dismissively behind him as he directly walked out.

He Yu looked sympathetically at his captain, who had been thoroughly verbally abused.

But he found Lou Chen standing with his hands in his pockets, actually looking at Yu Ziyu’s figure with a faint smile on his face.

He was instantly silent.

***

Late night.

Yu Ziyu stretched lazily.

Then, he opened his computer.

The desktop background was a photo he had taken a while ago, titled Falling.

Everyone speculated about how he captured that sense of falling weightlessness and suffocation.

They analyzed his shooting methods like a textbook case.

But Yu Ziyu never responded to questions about his technique.

Because he never “shot” anything; he merely “captured” it.

The email page was already open.

Half an hour ago, Yu Ziyu had forwarded it to the official email address they had given him.

His fingers tapped on the desktop.

But he didn’t close the email.

Instead, he rested his cheek on his hand and stared at the recipient field.

Originally, he hadn’t paid any attention to who sent the email.

But now he had a slight interest, because the emergence of the so-called forum suggested—there was someone else behind it.

The sender’s name was a string of gibberish.

Rather than implying meaning, it looked like random typing.

Just as Yu Ziyu was silently staring at that line of letters, a groan of someone waking up sounded from the sofa opposite him.

He looked over coldly.

It was his long-suffering photography agent, Xiao Zhang, who was temporarily staying overnight at his villa because it was so late.

He was curled up sleeping on the sofa in an extremely uncomfortable position, completely unaware of the danger before him.

[X] had somehow slipped out of Yu Ziyu’s coat.

It nimbly crawled onto Xiao Zhang’s body, hissing as it flicked its forked tongue.

It was an extremely dangerous snake.

Before launching an attack, it adopted an assessing posture, as if considering where to start.

Xiao Zhang used his hand to push away the approaching snake head, muttering groggily, “Let me sleep a little longer…”

Yu Ziyu said lightly, “Sleep any longer, and you’ll lose your life.”

Hearing that voice from his nightmares, Xiao Zhang was jolted awake with a start, instantly awake from his dream.

He struggled, finding his chest heavy and hard to breathe.

Only then did he notice something lying on top of him.

His eyes flew open with a scream as he tumbled off the sofa.

“Wh-what is that…”

He scrambled backward.

“[X].”

Yu Ziyu said with amusement, beckoning to it with his finger.

It immediately slid over, nuzzling against his finger affectionately.

“No, I mean, Teacher Ziyu, aren’t all your snakes kept in glass tanks?”

Xiao Zhang barely got up, still shaken.

“I know you really like snakes, but just letting them roam free is too terrifying…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence, because Yu Ziyu gave him a cold look.

“You, uh, whatever makes you happy, Teacher.”

Xiao Zhang shrank back.

Yu Ziyu didn’t know what was going through his head, but he could guess that right now, in his mind, his image was probably associated with wizards, black magic, and the like.

He couldn’t be bothered to correct the wild ideas running through this guy’s head.

Besides, his trembling expression was much more pleasant to look at than usual.

Quite amusing.

“Um, I have a question,” Xiao Zhang mustered up courage, asking cautiously, “it’s just…”

“Ding dong.”

Before he could finish, Yu Ziyu heard a faint sound in his mind.

He frowned sensitively.

Xiao Zhang, who had been watching his expression closely, immediately fell silent.

Outside the window, the night was still deep.

This long night was not yet over, yet it already hinted at the faint light of dawn.

Yu Ziyu’s heart stirred.

A strong premonition made him pull up the game interface.

Since he had arrived in the real world, it had been out of commission for a long time, so all the buttons were gray.

It represented that the Land of Desire Amusement Park was far from his life.

But now…

They were lighting up, little by little.

Like eerie green ghost fires igniting one by one in a pitch-black tunnel.

Contrasting with the gradually brightening sky outside the window, they descended.

On the game panel, several lines of bleeding small text slowly illuminated.

[The Land of Desire Amusement Park has successfully upgraded]

[The prolonged absence of the Seventh Floor Lord “Pride” has worried his loyal servants.

They have come to the new world to find their great master.

But here, they realize one human poses the greatest threat to them—he is the savior recognized by the only game player who cleared the game…]

[Their lives are intertwined, representing two sides of a coin, determining the direction of the world]

[Horror map updated.

Congratulations to all players.

Please enjoy your journey of death.]

Yu Ziyu: “…………”