Chapter Eight: The Ocean Cruise, Part Seven

If anyone else saw this, who knows how they would react—only Zhao Jinchu was completely absorbed in studying this lousy fairy tale.

Qi Yan was angry, a shadow of gloom darkening his striking face. “When you were with me, you said you’d treat me well. You didn’t keep your word.”

Zhao Jinchu was taken aback by the scolding and looked up at him.

She sat up, puzzled. “Why are you... so angry?”

Qi Yan stared at her.

It had been three days already. Every day, she only looked at those worthless papers or chatted with that Qin Chuan. She had completely ignored him.

Seeing her bewildered expression, the gloom on Qi Yan’s face deepened.

He fixed his gaze on her and pointed at the papers in her hand. “If I fell into the water with these things, who would you save?”

Zhao Jinchu: ?

She hesitated only a moment before Qi Yan lost his temper.

His expression was almost vicious as he stared at those papers, then looked up at Zhao Jinchu, speaking word by word: “If you don’t buy them for me, there are plenty of people who will. If you don’t treat me well, there are plenty of people who will. You think these worthless scraps are more important. Only you are unappreciative, clutching a pile of junk as if it were treasure.”

The moment he finished speaking, Zhao Jinchu was angered too, answering seriously, “You can’t accept things from others. They’re all bad people with ulterior motives.”

Zhao Jinchu sat while Qi Yan stood, his presence somehow imposing. He raised a finger: “You’re the bad one.”

Zhao Jinchu said firmly, “I am not.”

When she finished, Qi Yan’s eyes darkened with a deeper, bitter resentment, almost venomous.

This woman, after everything, still wouldn’t pounce on him? Still had no plans to scheme against him?

He remembered how much she used to like him, how easily he could have captivated her completely.

Qi Yan waited for a long time, growing angrier by the minute, finally shooting a hateful glance at the torn papers in her hand.

Suddenly, he spun around, opened the door, and stormed out.

At first, Zhao Jinchu didn’t realize he had left in anger. After a long while with no sign of him returning, she sensed something was wrong and immediately ran out to look for him.

At midnight that same night.

All the workers received an urgent notification from the system.

An alarm sounded abruptly.

[Beep, an NPC of level & has appeared.]

[Beep, reminder: Due to uncontrollable factors, the difficulty of this round’s instance has increased. The difficulty level has risen from Level One (Easy) to Level Three (Hard). Participants, please prepare yourselves for the challenges ahead.]

[To ensure fairness, a warning for workers: The NPC employs mental illusion attacks. All workers must remain vigilant and protect themselves.]

[To enhance worker safety, the system will issue warnings whenever the NPC poses a threat.]

...

When the system’s voice sounded, Li Juanjuan and two others were still gathered, discussing their situation.

They had found some clues but couldn’t piece everything together, feeling something was missing.

The system’s announcement interrupted their rhythm.

Li Juanjuan glanced at the girl beside her. “Zhao Meila, what do you think? What’s going on with this NPC?”

Zhao Meila, her hair tied in a ponytail, leaned against the sofa. “No idea. I’m going out for some fresh air.”

She stepped out of the room. At midnight, the corridor was empty.

To be precise, on the entire second floor, apart from the nine of them, no one else was staying.

Only during the day would people come to the deck for recreation.

Her name was Zhao Meila. What the others didn’t know was... this was her third mission.

She didn’t trust Li Juanjuan or the others; she only trusted herself.

Technically, aside from the nine of them, everyone else was an NPC.

This was the first time the system had specifically emphasized the appearance of an NPC.