Bug Abuse? I Swear I'm Just Playing Normally!
Ch. 24 - I’m the Newbie, Liu Tong

Seeing the bloody knife in his own hand, Bai Wan thought the man lying on the floor was merely a setup—until the system prompt in his mind confirmed it: he had killed him.

[Dungeon Game: The Letter

Description: A gang of six robbers broke into Lin Yuan’s home intending to rob. When they met resistance, they chose to kill to silence him.

Objectives:

Bai Wan glanced over the system message and then at the six people in the room. The setup was pretty straightforward.

The six of them were presumably the robbers who had broken into Lin Yuan’s home. The dead man on the floor? Lin Yuan.

Sweeping his eyes across the other players, Bai Wan raised an eyebrow.

Three women, two men—one of them was Su Yuening.

He froze for a second, then broke into a small smile.

So it’s her. His newly minted good friend had entered the same dungeon as him. Did she use some kind of item just to join the same instance and help him out?

What a kind soul.

Su Yuening spotted Bai Wan too, though neither of them made any move to acknowledge each other openly. After all, Bai Wan was now on the Bounty Board. Revealing their connection might just invite danger.

Always better to keep a card hidden.

“Hey everyone, I’m Sun Qian. I run a small company in real life. This is my fourth dungeon. I suggest we all introduce ourselves. It’ll help us cooperate better.”

The speaker was a portly man wearing a thick gold chain. He gave off the typical “boss” energy—someone used to being the leader.

After him, a tall, cool-looking woman spoke up. “Xu Bing. Freelancer. Two dungeons completed.”

She didn’t seem like the talkative type.

Next to her were a couple holding hands—a man and a woman. Clearly dating.

“Hi everyone, I’m Wang Jian. Delivery rider. This is my second dungeon. The lady here is my girlfriend, Luo Ya.”

“Did I ask you to introduce me?” Luo Ya shot him a look. “Hi, I’m Luo Ya. Store manager.”

Wang Jian looked like he was used to taking heat from her. He quickly leaned in to apologize.

“Yaya, I didn’t mean anything, I just thought—”

“Alright, shut it.” Luo Ya sounded half-exasperated, half-indulgent.

Then Su Yuening spoke. “I’m Su Yuening. Student. This is my third dungeon.”

She deliberately omitted her affiliation with the authorities. Being an official player wasn’t much of a boon in a dungeon—if anything, it was a liability.

This wasn’t some newbie-friendly run like Liu Tong’s first. These folks weren’t fresh-faced. Most veteran players knew that once you obtained a paranormal ability, the temptation to go off the rails was real. Plenty of players had committed crimes and ended up fugitives.

Which meant if someone here was on the run, revealing that she was government-affiliated could turn her into a target.

She shot Bai Wan a quick glance, silently reminding him to keep his identity under wraps.

Bounty Board, ranked 48—he was a fat lamb waiting to be butchered.

But her worry was wasted.

Bai Wan suddenly wore a dazed, bewildered expression and muttered, “W-Where am I? Why am I here? I-I was just studying at the library and then I glanced at my phone... there was a message… asking if I wanted to know the meaning of life... if I wanted to truly live… I… I clicked it…”

Su Yuening: “…”

She stared at him, dumbfounded by this Oscar-worthy performance.

His eyes perfectly conveyed 30% confusion, 20% panic, and 50% helplessness. If she didn’t know this guy was the monstrous rookie known as “Family” on the bounty list, she might’ve believed he was a genuine newbie.

Everyone else looked stunned.

Sun Qian scratched his head. “Are you sure this is your first dungeon?”

“D-Dungeon? What’s that?” Bai Wan looked utterly terrified.

“…Guess it really is your first time,” Sun Qian said with a hint of sympathy. Entering The Letter as a beginner? Talk about bad luck.

“Man, that’s rough,” Luo Ya chimed in, suddenly in a much better mood. She’d been grumpy about ending up in an unsolvable dungeon, but seeing someone worse off always brightened her day.

Sun Qian began explaining how the paranormal game worked. Bai Wan listened like a deer in headlights. When the explanation ended, he staggered back a few steps, voice trembling.

“No way… the paranormal game is real? Th-this can’t be happening…”

“Better face reality. Denial will get you killed faster,” Luo Ya muttered, conveniently forgetting how she’d screamed for an hour during her first run.

“Just go with the flow, man,” Wang Jian added with a sigh. “None of us signed up for this, either.”

“Hey, little bro—what’s that framed photo on your back?” Sun Qian finally asked the question on everyone’s mind.

At the mention of it, Bai Wan’s face fell even further.

“…A month ago, my parents and grandfather were in a car crash. I…”

Everyone fell silent. The tragic tale of a grief-stricken son carrying his family's portraits with him played vividly in their minds.

Except… only Bai Wan could hear the chorus of cursing from the photo.

“Bai Wan! Watch your mouth! Who are you calling dead?!” came his mom Zhang Yan’s voice.

“Bullshit! Your grandpa’s the one who’s dead!! You ungrateful brat! I’ll knock you senseless!” That was grandpa Bai Ren.

Bai Tian, his father, hesitated before whispering to Grandpa, “Uh… Dad, you are the grandpa he’s talking about.”

Bai Ren: “…”

Back in the real world, the group looked at Bai Wan with renewed sympathy.

“Go ahead and introduce yourself, kid,” Sun Qian said gently.

Bai Wan nodded meekly, as if still in shock. “I’m… I’m a student. This is my first dungeon. My parents hoped I’d always be cheerful and stay young at heart… that’s why they named me Liu Tong.”

Su Yuening: “…”

“Liu Tong, huh? Nice name. Alright, Liu Tong, let’s start analyzing this dungeon together. Don’t give up hope—if we all work together, I’m sure we can beat it.”

“Yeah, Liu Tong, let’s survive this together.”

“Hang in there, Liu Tong.”

“It’s alright, Liu Tong. The worst is over.”

Listening to them all call him ‘Liu Tong', Su Yuening’s eyes twitched. 

Even in an unsolvable dungeon, he’s still repping Liu Tong. The man is really honored, Liu Tong would be so grateful.

Once the group had offered their support, the focus shifted to the dungeon itself.

“It says we just need to survive seven days, and not leave the house after 10 p.m.,” Xu Bing said quietly. “But the name of the dungeon is The Letter. So… where’s the letter?”

Everyone looked at each other.

Why was it called The Letter if no letter had shown up?

And right then—

Knock knock knock.

The sound echoed from the door.

Everyone jumped. The body was still lying on the ground—opening the door was clearly a bad idea.

Not to mention they had no clue whether the visitor was human or something else.

Knock knock knock.

The knocking continued.

After a few dozen seconds, it stopped. Then came the soft thunk of something falling outside.

“Did something just hit the ground?” Su Yuening asked.

“I heard it too,” Sun Qian nodded.

After waiting for a bit with no movement outside, he finally mustered the courage to approach. It was still daytime, and should be relatively safer.

Cracking the door open just a sliver, he peered out.

His face changed slightly.

There on the doorstep was a yellow envelope.

The Letter had arrived.