Huh? Isn't This A Galgame?
Chapter 142 - 139: Stop Playing, Save People

Erin Group Headquarters Building, 3rd floor, end of the corridor.

Huang Yan sat cross-legged in the corner, resting his chin on one hand, looking up and staring at a thin, narrow crack in the white wall opposite him, from which dried mud had flowed out. He watched for a long time.

"Brother Sanhuo, I've swept another floor. Apart from a few randomly dropped low-level items, there's nothing. Do you have any clues on your end?"

In his mind, Guo Xiaofu's voice came from the account in real-time communication mode.

"No," Huang Yan still stared at the oozing mud, "Not even a shadow of a person, let alone a fly."

Guo Xiaofu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Guarding a tree stump, waiting for a rabbit to bump into it, does this really work? There's already been a player bumping into a wall in the 3rd-floor corridor. It doesn't seem likely to happen again. How about you come up and help me sweep the area? Don't waste your time there."

"No, this place is too critical. I must guard it." Huang Yan insisted.

"Alright then."

Guo Xiaofu, on the other end, had just hung up the call when he immediately heard a series of rapid and rhythmic thumping sounds coming from above.

He stopped and listened carefully. The sound was like someone upstairs was throwing a ball hard against the floor.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to head upstairs and reached the room from which the sounds emanated, only to find it was a company gym.

Upon opening the door, he saw several men with inverted triangle physiques who only worked on their arms, panting as they lifted weights.

Well, it's no wonder those sounds of pounding the floor came from here.

"First day on the job, new employee?" A man who looked like a coach approached, "Need a personal trainer? There's a free trial offer right now."

Guo Xiaofu smiled and waved his hand, "No, no need."

But the coach wasn't giving up, and he shoved a brochure into Guo Xiaofu's hand, "Check it out. It's a great deal right now."

Guo Xiaofu, being good-natured, always found it hard to refuse others. Even when faced with NPCs, he couldn't bring himself to be firm, and he was eventually forced to stand there listening to the salesman pitch.

Just as he was thinking about how to get away, there was a sudden loud noise behind him.

Everyone in the gym turned toward the source of the noise—the door of an equipment room was being forcefully thumped, with the side lock making "click-clack" sounds as if it was about to break.

Guo Xiaofu's heart tightened, and cold sweat ran down his back.

Could it be...?

Had he triggered some hidden storyline, and was a female ghost about to burst through the door?

Thinking of this, his legs felt weak, and just as he was planning to flee the scene, at that moment—

Bam!

The door was slammed open.

A figure, in a very twisted posture, rushed out from behind the door.

"Zombie!"

Guo Xiaofu was so frightened that he shut his eyes tight and turned his head to rush out the door.

Just as he ran out, he bumped into a man head-on. Upon seeing who it was, Guo Xiaofu let out a sigh of relief.

"Great! Uncle Mingzhong!" Guo Xiaofu said, grabbing Yang Mingzhong's arm and running outside, "There's danger behind us, let's leave here quickly!"

Yang Mingzhong was pulled along for a couple of steps, "What's wrong?"

Guo Xiaofu panted as he described, "In that gym, it seems I triggered a hidden character. I didn't see clearly, but the person had layers of flesh, like ham hocks, even their face, and they walked very creepily..."

Hearing the description, Yang Mingzhong seemed a bit resigned, "Isn't there a possibility that it's the person you've been looking for?"

The reminder brought Guo Xiaofu to a halt.

That... makes sense?

Yang Mingzhong had already pulled his sleeve from him, "Let's go back and take a look."

Returning to the gym, they saw a group of NPCs gawking at a figure—this person was entirely bound by invisible threads, their skin and flesh cut into layers, struggling to wriggle out like a larva.

When he saw Yang Mingzhong and Guo Xiaofu entering, he became very agitated, his sewn-up mouth constantly making "mm-mm" sounds.

Guo Xiaofu looked at Yang Mingzhong for help, "It seems... it's really him?"

Yang Mingzhong squatted down, using two fingers to pry open a bit of skin and carefully observe the nearly imperceptible fine threads embedded inside.

Indeed, they were soul threads.

This should be a player in the reversed Tiangang state.

However...

Yang Mingzhong turned back, his gaze unexpectedly meeting the man's, which made the man begin to "mm-mm" agitatedly again, tears welling up at the corners of his eyes.

How come this player's condition is different from the other reversed Tiangang state players? He is conscious and able to communicate with them?

"Is this... your friend?" asked an NPC staff member standing nearby, trying a question.

Yang Mingzhong took out a dagger from his pocket, attempting to cut the soul threads sewn on the man's lips, but unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

Putting the dagger away, Yang Mingzhong nodded, "Yes, he is our friend, and we need to take him away."

Without waiting for any response from the surrounding NPCs, Yang Mingzhong directly carried the player out of the gym hurriedly.

...

...

Employee dormitory, spawn point.

Hu Jiayao squatted on the table, one hand behind him, glaring at the man not far away.

Gu Jinxing sat on the sofa directly in front of him, fiddling with the finger-long Mr. Jiao, and shook his head helplessly,

"Is it necessary to guard against me like this?"

Hu Jiayao frowned with his brow knitted into a "川" shape,

"You want to tear apart the key item with Mr. Jiao, basically digging your own grave. If those secret documents are really destroyed by you, our main quest will be completely ruined. I definitely won't let you sabotage the team like this."

Gu Jinxing put Mr. Jiao into his pocket,

"Firstly, I didn't plan to tear that document apart, I just wanted to try a page corner to see if it could really be cut.

Secondly, I don't think such an attempt will affect the subsequent main quest. That confidential document is a key item, but it was already from the previous main quest.

Presently, you have a document that can't be cut or burned and a beetle that cuts through iron like mud. What do you think the system intends for us to do after finding both of these items?"

Hu Jiayao's mind wasn't very quick-witted, and whenever Gu Jinxing reasoned with him, he couldn't help but get led by the nose.

This time was no exception, and after hearing the other's words, he reflexively asked, "What for?"

Gu Jinxing adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, "If I tell you, based on my deduction, the next mission will very likely literally require us to use Mr. Jiao in my hand to address that conundrum on your side, do you believe it?"

Hu Jiayao thought about it and was soon convinced by him.

He always trusted Gu Jinxing very much.

Gu Jinxing held the mechanical beetle on his palm and brought it to Hu Jiayao's nose, "Do you want to try it? Maybe it will allow you to complete the next main quest ahead of time?"

Hu Jiayao slowly raised his hand to take Mr. Jiao...

But right when his fingertip was about to touch the antenna, a hand reached over and snatched the small bug away.

"Eh?"

Looking up, he saw Yang Mingzhong carrying a man on one shoulder and holding Mr. Jiao with the other hand, "Stop messing around, come and save people quickly."

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