The world has turned into Hell's Game, why should I stay human?
Chapter 136: The Graveside Takeout You Can’t Miss

Chapter 136: Chapter 136: The Graveside Takeout You Can’t Miss

"The task is to help the ’Red Witch’ board game café’s receptionist steal an inheritance. She gets forty percent, I get twenty, and you two split the remaining forty percent."

Liu Zheng said.

"We can take just thirty percent."

Nightingale shook her head.

"What do you mean?"

What’s with the reverse bargaining?

His charisma isn’t that off the charts, is it?

"But there’s a condition."

"Can you not huff and puff while you speak? What’s the condition?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"You have to come with us."

Nightingale said.

"Why?"

"We don’t trust her, and she surely doesn’t trust us either. If something unexpected happens, it could easily lead to conflict between us."

"With you there, this dreadful balance would have a buffer zone."

Nightingale said.

"Hmm..."

He fell into contemplation.

What this woman said wasn’t without sense.

Vampire Sister, sea girl, Nightingale—they were relatively important connections. It really would be a pity if things turned violent.

Though considering the power dynamics, Vampire Sister stood a higher chance of being taken out.

But on the Old Vampire’s home turf, there was the possibility of a counter-kill.

When Fisherman comes asking for people, that will be a problem for him.

With the three of them around this time, Liu Zheng’s risk would significantly decrease.

"Alright, let’s settle it like that. You sort out the timing among yourselves, and then call me for takeout."

After weighing his options, he said.

"Alright."

As for the cost of the takeout, naturally that was for the three of them to discuss.

"I’m really off this time."

Liu Zheng got to his feet again.

"You plan on leaving through the main door?"

Nightingale looked at him with a half-smile.

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

"I’d advise you to take a different route. You’ve made quite a few people angry just now."

Nightingale said.

"Is there another route?"

"Here it is, isn’t it?"

Nightingale nodded her head towards the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Sister, this is the 12th floor."

"What are you afraid of? It’s just a bit high, you won’t die from a fall."

Nightingale was indifferent.

"Fine."

He sighed and moved to the window.

It wasn’t his first time jumping from a building—last time was from even higher up.

It’s just that this time no one was there to score his landing.

Liu Zheng spread his four tentacles, faced the sun, took a deep breath, and leaped.

The strong wind that slapped against his face also whipped through his ears.

Still, he could hear Nightingale’s laugh, which was as resonant as a barbell.

"Is this woman trying to trick me?"

Amidst deep suspicion, Liu Zheng hit the ground.

Fortunately, the apartment building was surrounded by a ring of grass.

And since it was a lower floor, and he was more experienced, his injuries were much lighter than before.

It was just hemiplegia and some internal organ displacement.

After lying flat on the ground for a while, Liu Zheng struggled to his feet and walked outside the apartment complex.

"Young man, when you’re ready, come find me. Auntie’s door is always open for you."

A loud voice exploded behind him.

Liu Zheng shivered and looked back at the security room.

The auntie had stripped down to her purple lingerie, her massive shadow filling the entire security room, with a shriveled, tiny shadow lying beneath it.

"Hss!"

He sucked in a breath of cold air and, ignoring the pain all over his body, fled from the apartment area and sprinted towards the direction of the Bloody Restaurant.

-----------------

"Weren’t you supposed to be looking for a dalliance? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?"

Seeing the unsettled Liu Zheng, Niu Ma asked curiously.

"It’s a long story. Nightingale’s place is really running dry, so I referred Vampire Sister’s job to them."

"When we get the Old Vampire’s inheritance, I’ll keep thirty percent and give you, boss, ten percent."

He offered proactively.

"Hmm, good boy, getting it right. I’ll let you off this time."

Niu Ma said, satisfied.

Although ten percent wasn’t a large share, what comes without effort is always sweet.

"Boss, could you tell me more about the border?"

Liu Zheng returned to his seat and asked.

After all, he had nothing better to do.

Of course, his curiosity was merely that; he definitely wasn’t insane enough to consider sneaking across.

"What about it? I don’t know much myself,"

Niu Ma said.

"Since people from our city can get out, can people from other places come in as well?"

"Of course. According to the guy, many of our city’s races migrated from outside. But just like those who leave, once they come in, they forget everything about the outside."

Niu Ma replied.

"Which races are from outside?"

"Your humans came from outside and were among the earliest and most numerous arrivals. As for the others, I have no idea."

Niu Ma said.

"What about those who are allowed to leave? What do they do?"

"Some go for business, some are to look for suitable races to bring in; the rest, I don’t know."

Niu Ma said.

"Does the ocean count as inside or outside the border?"

Liu Zheng remembered the mermaid princess.

She had told him to come to the seaside to find her.

"Part of it counts as inside, but which part, I have no idea."

"Anyway, that kid once relayed something his relative said."

"What are you talking about?"

Liu Zheng asked cooperatively.

"The border is much larger than you imagine, and also much smaller than you imagine,"

Niu Ma said.

"I don’t understand."

"Neither do I, but it doesn’t matter. I haven’t even figured out this restaurant, so why should I care how big the border is?"

Niu Ma shrugged.

Indeed, Liu Zheng guessed that Niu Ma probably didn’t know about the branching paths in the delivery channel.

Of course, there was no need to mention it.

However, the matter of the border was quite important to him.

Since Hell’s Game could bring him to this eerie city, it should also be able to take him outside of this city.

The world of the next instance might very well be outside the eerie city.

If that were the case, the connections Liu Zheng had built up in the eerie city might come in handy.

Take Si Xue, for example, with the status of the Bloody Restaurant, she should have the authority to go outside the border to purchase ingredients.

It’s just uncertain whether he could still contact this bunch of guys from the eerie city when the time came.

Of course, all of this was based on the assumption that his next instance was in the same world as the eerie city.

If all of Liu Zheng’s guesses were wrong, then all his planning would be for naught.

So, when it comes to crucial moments, he would still use his connections.

"If you’re really that bored, you can join me for a game of chess,"

Niu Ma pulled out a Go board and said.

"Huh?"

Liu Zheng was more shocked than if he had seen a rooster lay an egg.

Could Niu Ma, who could fall asleep in a second reading Sudoku magazines, actually play chess, and Go at that?

"What are you looking at? I can play lots of things,"

Niu Ma said proudly.

"Then why didn’t you bring it out before?"

Liu Zheng said speechlessly.

If Niu Ma had taken it out earlier, he wouldn’t have had to stare at it dumbfounded.

"Who knew how long you’d last? What if you went out for delivery and never came back before we even finished a game? That would annoy the hell out of me,"

Niu Ma declared confidently.

He opened his mouth but found himself unable to retort.

Especially since Go could easily take several hours for a single game, making Niu Ma’s scenario quite plausible.

Imagine you’re ready to capture a giant dragon in ten moves in a masterful game, and your opponent suddenly kicks the bucket; that would indeed be maddening.

"Now, well, you seem pretty sprightly, so you probably won’t die from another game or two,"

Niu Ma commented, its praise unclear.

"Fine then. So, big boss, you going first?"

Liu Zheng approached Niu Ma, seated on a stool.

In the rules of Go, the one with the black stones goes first.

"I’m the boss, of course I’m first,"

Niu Ma insisted.

"How many points of komi?"

The black stones have a strategic advantage in laying out the game, so they have to give the white stones some points at the end when determining the winner, which is called komi.

Depending on the country, the amount of komi varies.

"What komi?"

Niu Ma asked back.

"Uh, never mind. Please, continue,"

Seeing the genuine confusion in Niu Ma’s eyes, Liu Zheng had an ominous premonition.

"Kid, today you’ll witness the power of my Niu Ma’s move,"

Niu Ma dipped a hoof in ink and slammed a black stone onto the board.

The force was so great that the entire resting room shook.

Thankfully, the Go board seemed to be no ordinary item, as it didn’t crack right then and there.

But Liu Zheng was internally shattered.

Because Niu Ma’s move was Tianyuan.

How do you explain this move to someone who doesn’t know Go?

It’s like making the first move in Chinese chess with your generals, hitting the black eight ball on your first shot in pool, or leading with a rocket in a game of Fight the Landlord.

Bold indeed, and stinky it was indeed.

"Boss, if I may ask, where did you learn Go?"

He asked tactfully.

"Self-taught with a children’s book, why?"

"Nothing, that’s great,"

Looking at its innocent and clueless eyes, Liu Zheng replied, struggling.

He braced himself, anticipating this would be the most difficult game of Go he’d ever played.

Playing in such a way as to subtly lose to a beginner who starts with Tianyuan was not just a test of skill.

Despite Liu Zheng’s best efforts to underestimate Niu Ma’s abilities, Niu Ma still surprised him.

Even though he almost turned Go into Gomoku, he still lost three out of six games to Niu Ma.

This resulted in Niu Ma being full of fighting spirit, while Liu Zheng felt devoid of love for the game,

The Go marathon went on until eight at night, Niu Ma didn’t even go for the staff meal, urging him to eat up and get back to the game instead.

Of course, the two staff meals weren’t that great, just temporarily boosting his constitution and strength a little.

The drinks, however, were good stuff: a bottle of exceptional-quality fruit wine and a cup of exceptional-quality milk tea.

Liu Zheng drank the milk tea himself, which gave a slight healing effect when consuming dairy products.

He saved the fruit wine for the French Plane Tree.

It wasn’t until Ghost Hand slapped a delivery note inside that Niu Ma reluctantly put away the game board.

"Come back and continue, tonight I want to fight it out with you till dawn,"

It shouted.

"When I come back it might already be dawn, next time, definitely next time,"

Liu Zheng hurriedly replied.

"Alright then, go do your delivery, I’m going to sleep,"

Niu Ma pulled out a Sudoku magazine and lay down on a pile of hay, immediately starting to snore.

"Phew, I finally escaped disaster,"

He was in tears.

If he continued playing, his skill in Go would regress to that of a kindergarten level.

Picking up the delivery note, sure enough, it was Vampire Sister and their order.

"Meal: A large portion of fried fries"

"Address: Cemetery Tombstone No. 18703."

"Ordering Party: Nightingale"

"Time Limit: Three hours"

"Hmm..."

Looking at the delivery address, Liu Zheng felt an urge to rant, but didn’t know where to start.

All he could say was, disco at a wake is just a clumsy act in the real world, while cemetery delivery is the true cultural confidence of the eerie city.