Gamers Are Fierce
Chapter 71: The Latecomer

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: The Latecomer

"Phew, that was really dangerous."

Li Ang listened carefully for a while, ensuring the ghost had completely descended the escalator before he finally relaxed.

Fortunately, this monster followed a pattern of flipping through the pages of the brochure as its mode of operation. Otherwise, it would have been truly difficult to handle.

He shook the spine of the book. This time, without any hindrance, a yellow paper slipped from between the pages and landed in Li Ang’s hand.

"The fourth talisman, got it."

Li Ang informed his companions of this news in the WeChat group. Although the others were surprised and puzzled, they didn’t say much; after all, they hadn’t witnessed Li Ang’s elaborate ghost exorcism.

"Everyone, I’m quite confident that all the ghosts in this mall have certain behavioral patterns," Li Ang typed. "So far, among the ghosts I’ve encountered, there’s ’the little girl who must play with a ball’ and ’the suit ghost who goes away as long as you flip book pages.’ You can also try to summarize the ghosts’ behavioral patterns. As long as we figure out these rules, we won’t be in life-threatening danger, and we might even be able to get through this without any injuries."

No injuries throughout...

The other teammates couldn’t help but feel invigorated. In this terrifying and bizarre scenario, teammates willing to share successful experiences always brought some peace of mind.

Having dealt with two ghosts, Li Ang quickly finished searching the fourth floor. Good news also came from Ao Yong, who had found a talisman in a crevice of a corridor seat on the third floor.

Li Ang had found three talismans, the Plague Doctor had found one, and Ao Yong had found one. By this count, only one last talisman was needed to achieve the mission goal.

Seeing they were about to complete their task, and with a relatively comfortable hour still left before the mission deadline, the remaining four players searched every nook and cranny with high spirits.

Liu Wu Dai, carrying her bow and arrows, was searching for talismans in the coffee shop when her phone vibrated imperceptibly in her pocket. She unlocked it to find a private message from Li Ang.

"If you find the last talisman, don’t rush to copy it. Tell me first."

Liu Wu Dai looked at the dimly lit phone screen, frowned slightly, and after pondering for a moment, replied with a concise and direct, "Okay."

She trusted this teammate—who seemed to have a broad range of creative, if somewhat erratic, thoughts—to be reliable, or at least not to set a trap for her.

Liu Wu Dai didn’t ask Li Ang why. Instead, he sent a smiling emoji and asked, "The ghost that chased you on the fourth floor earlier, was it male or female?"

"?"

Liu Wu Dai sent a question mark. She bit her lip and, after pondering with narrowed eyes, typed, "It should be a male."

"Why?"

"Because when my Arrow hit him, he let out a man’s piercing scream."

"Hmm..." Li Ang continued typing, "This is interesting... This mission isn’t going to be that simple. If you have any backup plans for this mall, you should tell me in advance."

Liu Wu Dai was taken aback. She looked around to make sure no one was nearby and then typed her reply, "...It isn’t going to be that simple... What do you mean?"

"The number of ghosts doesn’t add up."

Li Ang cradled his phone, his thumbs flying over the keyboard. "Look, in this mall, there have been a total of five unnatural deaths over the past decade, meaning five victims: the engineer who fell from a height; the elderly scavenger who died of a heart attack after being driven out; the little girl and her mother who fell down the escalator; and the innocent passerby killed by a falling billboard while passing the shopping center.

"The Plague Doctor, in the underground control room, encountered the elderly scavenger who had possessed the Lost Airship, and a ghost that could manipulate the mall’s power and surveillance systems. Let’s assume that ghost was the engineer. That’s two monsters.

"When I was on the fourth floor, I encountered the little girl and then a ghost in dress pants. The one in dress pants obviously couldn’t be the little girl’s mother. So, by process of elimination, it could only be the innocent passerby crushed by the billboard. But you also encountered a male ghost on the fourth floor. So, if we add the Ghost Mama who hasn’t shown up yet, does that make six ghosts?"

"Not necessarily. It’s possible the ghost you ran into was the same one I encountered."

"Unlikely," Li Ang replied. "A Ghost’s behavior pattern isn’t likely to change so drastically. The Ghost I met tried to climb the escalator by flipping pages, while the one you met could float automatically to pursue its target. According to common knowledge in the Ghost world, the difference in behavioral patterns between these two is as significant as that between a giant panda and a pig."

This so-called common knowledge of the Ghost world was simply the view of Chai Cuiqiao, a very much alive Fierce Ghost.

Most Fierce Ghosts have a very singular method of killing. Sadako only likes to crawl out of a TV to scare people to death, while Nie Xiaoqian only sucks people’s life force by kissing. Rarely do monsters have two or more behavioral patterns.

Liu Wu Dai asked, "Could there be other unnatural deaths in the shopping center that weren’t recorded in the official System?"

"Longheng Shopping Center is considered a high-end place even in Yin City," Li Ang answered. "All unnatural deaths here, even natural ones, would be in Yin City’s official records. I don’t think the mall’s owners are influential enough to erase all traces of a death incident."

Besides the Ghost Mama, who exactly is the sixth male Fierce Ghost?

Hearing Li Ang’s analysis, Liu Wu Dai also felt uncertain. If external calls weren’t impossible during the killing game scenario and regular communication with the outside world was cut off, she would have likely already called her secretary for consultation or directly questioned the Yin City owner of Longheng Shopping Center.

The unseen Ghost Mama, replaced by a sixth male Fierce Ghost... When things are this out of the ordinary, something sinister is definitely at play.

A shadow crossed Liu Wu Dai’s heart. She was about to tell Li Ang her backup plan when she felt her phone vibrate.

Ao Yong @everyone in the WeChat group: "I found the last talisman on a trash can lid on the second floor! But my Cinnabar Pen is broken. I’m not sure it can still be used. One of you had better come down to the second floor and help me draw it. As soon as we copy this one, we’ll have cleared the game!"

After tagging @everyone, Ao Yong also posted a picture.

The photo showed a brush lying on a beige limestone floor. Its bamboo shaft was broken, and the cinnabar paint on its tip looked faded and extremely dim. The wolf hair at the tip was also dry and stiff, with no elasticity or softness whatsoever.

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