How to Easily Capture a Long Aotian [Quick Transmigration] 7

Chapter 7: The Cannon Fodder Roommate of the Unlimited Flow Male Lead (Part 7)

The only useful clue at the front desk was a list with a name that matched the little ghost’s.

Yu Lin lowered his eyes, looking at the pleasant-sounding name.

Chen Nianqiu, fourteen years old, a second-year student at Yucai Middle School. His grades were average, and he had an ordinary presence. The final exams had just ended not long ago.

Chen Nianqiu’s social circle was simple. His family’s financial situation wasn’t great. He always wore a faded white school uniform and had a father with violent tendencies.

This was all the information Yu Lin had gathered from the internet cafe and his dream. After piecing it together, he searched some more but found nothing else.

Seeing him bustling about, meticulously collecting clues, Su Huai watched without stopping him, simply following him around.

Later, seeing him holding the list and staring at the computer with a troubled expression, Su Huai walked over, tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and pulled up the internet cafe’s transaction records for the past month for him.

He even managed to lock onto the fixed QQ account that Chen Nianqiu used.

“…” Yu Lin was suddenly reminded that in the real world, the male lead was also a bigshot in the computer science department.

Yu Lin had spent most of his time in ancient martial arts planes. His reflexes were fast, but he wasn’t particularly skilled with modern technology. This skill was indeed a great help to him.

He put down the list, looked up at Su Huai, and was just about to thank him. “I…”

Su Huai looked at him and suddenly reached out, his fingers landing on his cheek.

Su Huai picked off a strand of hair that had accidentally stuck to his cheek and said, “No need.”

After a pause, he crossed his arms, turned his head slightly, and added, “…If you really want to thank me, how about we have a meal together when we get back?”

“…”

Dongqing, who had sneakily crept over to eavesdrop on the clues, rolled her eyes upon hearing this.

Yu Lin looked at him, his expression frozen. He wasn’t particularly sensitive, but he wasn’t particularly slow either.

The male lead, he seemed to…

Yu Lin’s eyelashes fluttered, but after a moment’s hesitation, he still nodded lightly. “Okay.”

Su Huai looked at him, grunted “en,” and watched as he lowered his head, his ears slowly turning red. The corners of his lips curled up almost imperceptibly.

With Su Huai’s help, Yu Lin quickly compared the frequency of the name “Chen Nianqiu” using the QQ account at the internet cafe.

The records proved that throughout the summer vacation, Chen Nianqiu had come to the internet cafe very frequently, almost living and eating here. Only on Wednesdays would he briefly leave for two hours at five in the afternoon.

And during his time at the internet cafe, he spent most of his time playing a game called “Qiongqi.”

The activity here attracted Dongqing’s attention. Dongqing had always cleared dungeons by directly fighting the boss. Seeing this, she was a bit lost. “…Can you tell anything from this?”

“En.” Yu Lin searched some more, showed her the page information, and explained, ” ‘Qiongqi’ was an extremely popular online game twenty years ago that led the trend at the time.”

“They even held competitions of different scales in different cities,” the boy next to Dongqing suddenly added, looking at the screen.

Seeing the others look over, he scratched his hair. “…Just call me Donggua. It’s no secret. Anyone who plays games basically knows this, because it was the earliest form of competitive gaming.”

At that time, the esports industry was not well-developed. It was because of these events that, even many years later, “Qiongqi” was a milestone in the field of esports.

The environment twenty years ago was harsh. Because of what Donggua said, Yu Lin couldn’t help but think a little more.

…Could it be a conflict between a middle school student who loves games and a parent who is prejudiced against them?

But recalling the extremely violent man from his dream, Yu Lin felt that wasn’t likely.

Next, Yu Lin searched for the few competitions held by “Qiongqi” and found Chen Nianqiu’s name in one of the internet cafe-based competitions. The prize money was two hundred.

Yu Lin put down the mouse. For a moment, he had a judgment. He looked up at Su Huai, who happened to be looking over, and was just about to speak when the faint sound of other players’ voices came from the corridor.

Unlike the two bigshots at the top of the leaderboards who could steamroll bosses, the remaining players cautiously waited until the bell stopped ringing before coming down from the dormitory building one after another.

The internet cafe, which had been quiet all morning, instantly became lively.

A night had passed. The customers who had been tapping on keyboards in the internet cafe had all disappeared, as if they had evaporated into thin air. The entire internet cafe was left with only rows of old-fashioned computers.

The morning light fell, simulating the effect of sunlight, making the internet cafe look spacious, bright, quiet, and tidy. There were even a few plants on the desks.

Compared to the gray, bizarre, and eerie atmosphere of the night, the internet cafe during the day looked very lively, as if a customer would walk in at any moment and start browsing the internet as usual.

“Day and night, it’s like two different worlds,” someone said softly as they walked in, but they quickly fell silent, knowing that things wouldn’t be that simple.

Sure enough, another hypnotic bell chime rang out. Everyone covered their ears. After the bell passed, the burnt internet cafe owner, with a cold face, came hopping down the stairs with a thud.

He was particularly wretched today, his arm twisted, his face covered in blood, and his entire body reeked of resentment, as if he had been severely beaten.

He hopped down gloomily, his black-hole-like eyes scanning the room. The burnt parts of his body continuously emitted the foul smell of burnt leather.

His face was grim, his features blurry, looking extremely terrifying. But a moment later, he grinned with his blood-drenched mouth. “The guests have arrived?”

Yu Lin, sitting at the front desk, heard the voice and tilted his head slightly. For a moment, he inexplicably felt that he looked familiar.

Even though he was a tall adult man, and his features were burnt beyond recognition.

However, both his silhouette and his voice could actually overlap with the image of a certain little ghost from his dream…

“…”

Yu Lin looked away. As his fingers gradually grew cold, he tried to think about the connection.

He is Chen Nianqiu? Why did he become like this?

Just as he was thinking, his fingers were taken and covered by a warm force.

Yu Lin’s eyelashes lifted slightly. He saw Su Huai sitting on the edge of the desk in front of him, his long legs slightly bent, holding his fingers in his palm to warm them.

Yu Lin said softly, “Thank you.”

Su Huai reached out and ruffled his hair. “I told you, no need.”

Yu Lin looked up. Under his deep gaze, he couldn’t help but blink and nod. “Okay.”

The internet cafe owner stood on the stairs, looking over coldly. He didn’t know that his disguise had been seen through, or perhaps he didn’t care.

He lifted his finger, tapped on the wall beside him, and said eerily, “Since the guests have already passed the first night, then today, please begin helping us check for safety hazards.”

He reminded them, “Please complete the work within three days. Our employees are very hungry.”

In other words, if they couldn’t find all the safety hazards within three days, the ghosts in the dungeon would break free of their restrictions and go on a killing spree.

Understanding the subtext, the players downstairs’ faces changed. However, he didn’t care at all. After speaking, he hopped away with a thud.

The moment he disappeared around the corner of the stairs, the internet cafe instantly became lively again. People playing games, arguing, and calling friends to team up—the people who had disappeared from the internet cafe yesterday appeared out of thin air.

The players still in the internet cafe were in the midst of it all, their expressions instantly numb.

Because they didn’t know each other, the players were all wary of one another and not very close. They were also secretive when looking for clues.

For the entire day, Yu Lin was led around the internet cafe by Su Huai. Whenever they encountered other players, their expressions were either cold or fearful, which was very strange.

Logically speaking, a bigshot of the male lead’s level… in the dungeon world, shouldn’t he just have to wave his hand and countless underlings would flock to him, vying to latch onto his coattails?

That’s how the plot was written.

But in the end, only Dongqing was willing to talk to him, and she even liked to tease him.

“…” Yu Lin fell into deep thought.

So, while Su Huai was checking the electrical wires, he couldn’t help but move a little closer. While taking the tool from Su Huai’s hand, he leaned in and asked in a very small voice, “I heard… how did it end up like this?”

In this kind of world, cooperating seemed to have a higher survival rate than acting alone.

Bigshot, underlings, latching onto coattails.

Hearing these words, Su Huai’s movements stopped. He was silent for a long time.

They were close. As Yu Lin spoke, his warm breath tickled his ear, and the cool strands of his hair brushed against his earlobe. There was also a very light scent, like the smell of plants growing after the rain.

Su Huai put down the wire in his hand, his movements pausing.

He turned his head, took the greasy tool from Yu Lin’s hand, and then took out a piece of paper to wipe Yu Lin’s palm.

He said in a low voice, “I don’t like people getting too close to me. As for the others… in the first few rounds, some players liked to use their teammates as shields.”

After a pause, he said, “I don’t trust them. So, don’t stray too far from me.”

Yu Lin: “…”

Yu Lin was stunned for a moment, then silently lowered his eyes, giving up the idea of pulling his hand back.

Walking around and around in the internet cafe, and having to communicate with the bizarre NPCs from time to time to check for hazards, was a very tedious task.

Also, there were many possible causes for the fire, and the internet cafe was too big, making it very difficult to find them.

They searched until evening, dinnertime. A group of people sat down in the front lobby, panting, their expressions solemn.

The rice balls in their mouths were dry and tasteless. Everyone had a grim face and said nothing.

Of the nine players remaining from last night, one named Li He, the one who had spoken at the beginning, had gone missing this morning. Now there were eight left.

This corresponded perfectly to the four professions the internet cafe owner had mentioned: police, teacher, fire department, and construction worker.

The eight people were evenly distributed. Su Huai and Dongqing were playing as police officers, while Yu Lin and a player named Chen Jian were teachers.

Donggua was in much better shape. He introduced himself as Donggua. He and the young player named Mu Guang were both playing as firefighters. The remaining two players were from the construction team, one named Chenguang and one named Aihao.

“…” The moment they announced their names, the others silently looked up at them.

The two seemed to know each other. They held their rice balls and chuckled. Chenguang was young and had small canine teeth. Aihao was a bit older and wore gold-rimmed glasses, looking at him speechlessly.

The group had been searching for nearly a day, from seven in the morning to six in the evening, and had only found a few problems like aging wiring and overloaded electrical appliances.

This was very frustrating because they felt it wouldn’t be that simple. Seeing that the hypnotic bell was about to ring and a precious day was about to pass, everyone was in a bad mood.

Mu Guang walked to the front desk, took out a rice ball, and collapsed into a seat.

He waved his hand. “I can’t do it anymore. I’ve checked everything. I can’t see any major problems. It should be about right, right? Maybe it’s just that simple?”

Aihao was an old player. Hearing this, he shot him a glance and said coolly with his arms crossed, “You think it’s that simple?”

Mu Guang was choked for a moment, thought about it, and said dejectedly, “Not really. It’s just that I always feel that there’s something hidden behind this instance. Because although there are many traps, the boss doesn’t seem to want to kill us that much…”

As his words fell, the space at the front desk fell silent, except for the NPCs.

Su Huai was opening the microwave to heat a rice ball. Yu Lin stood beside him and looked over.

Mu Guang had sharp instincts. He muttered to himself, “Really, don’t you believe me? The first round I entered, that ghost hotel, damn, the monsters inside had no consciousness. They just stared at me, trying to find a way to eat me.”

“But this one…” He frowned. “As long as you don’t trigger any prohibitions, I always feel like the boss is just playing with us. At least for now, he seems to have his own purpose and doesn’t care whether he kills me or not…”

Since the Main God game descended, the ghosts and players had been in a state of opposition. Although Mu Guang was a second-round player, he had browsed many forum posts.

He pondered, “I’m sure this dungeon is different from the previous ones.”

Chenguang was an academic type. Hearing this, he was also stunned and muttered to himself, “That seems to be the case. I’m in my third round. Before, I just relied on hoarding items to push through. I’ve never encountered something like this…”

Including Dongqing, in an instant, everyone subconsciously turned their gaze to Su Huai.

Dongqing crossed her arms and said, “I’m in my fourth round. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anything like this before either. 01, what do you think about this dungeon…”

The microwave suddenly dinged, announcing that its work was done.

The sweet smell of corn and cheese filled the front desk. Su Huai’s expression was unchanged as he opened the door and took out the rice ball.

While unwrapping the rice ball, he turned around, his voice cold. “It’s developed a mind.”

As the players’ levels continued to rise, the dungeon ghosts also became more difficult to deal with, even developing minds. This meant they could set up more dangerous traps. Everyone’s face turned pale.

Mu Guang, collapsed on the ground, shivered, his face pale. “…Actually, I had a dream last night. A child was screaming in a sea of fire, but the fire was too big, and I couldn’t get in to save him.”

After saying it, he felt a little bad. A look of self-blame appeared on his handsome face.

Donggua looked at him upon hearing this, pressed his lips together, and nodded with a pale face. “Me too. The fire was too big.”

“Huh? How…” Chenguang stood by with his arms crossed and muttered in a low voice, “I dreamed of it too.”

Aihao grunted in agreement, his expression solemn. “Not only that, I also received a report letter, reporting that one of my subordinates was cutting corners and had a bad character, asking me to call the police and arrest this person.”

He frowned. “But I investigated. There’s too little information in the dream. It’s a bit baffling.”

The internet cafe instantly fell silent.

“I…” Chen Jian, who was also playing as a teacher like Yu Lin, was in his thirties, with a simple and honest appearance and a kind face, looking like a good old man. He shook his head. “I dreamed of a student who was constantly arguing with his parents…”

As he spoke, he suddenly looked over at Yu Lin. Although he was smiling, there was an almost imperceptible probing look in his eyes.

Su Huai sensed it, lifted his eyelids, and shot a placid glance at him. He quickly looked away.

Yu Lin raised his hand, his fingers lightly resting on Su Huai’s wrist.

He had originally wanted to voice his own guess, perhaps the effective information could be integrated. But for some reason, looking at Chen Jian, he had an uncomfortable feeling.

In the end, Yu Lin didn’t say much, just nodded and said softly, “Something like that. I dreamed that a student and his parents had some conflicts.”

Chen Jian listened, nodded, and turned his head away thoughtfully.

After everyone had spoken, they all looked at Dongqing and Su Huai in unison, wanting to urge them but not daring to.

Dongqing took her long legs off the table and waved her hand. “Police. In my dream, a little ghost called the police, but ended up leading me to my death. I beat him up and threw him away.”

She said it casually, but it was actually quite dangerous. The others showed expressions of lingering fear, glad that they weren’t the ones playing such a hands-on role.

At the front desk, Su Huai had finished unwrapping the rice ball and unhurriedly placed it in Yu Lin’s hand. His eyelids lifted slightly as he replied succinctly, “Didn’t sleep.”

“…”

“It seems these are the clues the dungeon is giving us. It seems this boss is very cunning.” Chen Jian smiled good-naturedly and suddenly said, “I’ll go ask the NPCs again. Maybe it can increase our survival rate.”

He seemed very anxious. Without even bothering to eat, he took the lead and walked towards the NPCs in the internet cafe. After making a choice, he walked towards the students with backpacks who were playing games.

His faint voice could be heard. “Classmate? Don’t be nervous. Teacher won’t hurt you. I’m a teacher, you see. Oh, and I’m not here to check if you’re surfing the internet. Teacher just wants to ask you a few questions…”

“…Hiss.” Donggua, who had been listless by Dongqing’s leg, suddenly looked up.

Although he was an adult male, at this moment, a clear, foolish look, far younger than his appearance, appeared in Donggua’s eyes.

He frowned, sitting on the ground, his shoulders shaking a few times. “This teacher is so weird…”

“…” Yu Lin’s fingers were resting on Su Huai’s wrist. Hearing this, he unconsciously looked over.

After watching for a few seconds, he silently gave Chen Jian’s role-playing performance a negative score.

***

The first day passed quietly. Even after returning to the dormitory, washing up, and getting into bed, nothing special happened.

It wasn’t until the middle of the night that the walls inexplicably became scorching hot. At the same time as the burning sensation, a pungent smell with no apparent source wafted in.

The smell was somewhat like the stench of burnt leather, and somewhat like the charred smell of meat that had been repeatedly roasted. Because the temperature was too high, it made one feel particularly uncomfortable.

Yu Lin frowned slightly. Suddenly, his fingers felt a chill. He opened his eyes and found someone sitting beside him.

Su Huai was sitting on the edge of his bed, bending over to look at him. His fingers were slightly raised, his expression hesitant, as if he was contemplating whether to wake him up.

He was wearing a black uniform. Because he was looking down, his black hair fell over his forehead, and the cold buttons hung down, pressing against the side of Yu Lin’s hand—that was what Yu Lin had just touched.

Yu Lin looked up at him in the darkness, his heart stirring slightly.

A moment later, Yu Lin sat up, glanced at the door, and asked softly, “What happened?”

Screams began to come from the corridor, both male and female, extremely tragic. Amidst the screams, the tinkling of bells was spinning wildly.

A player shouted through the wall, “What’s going on outside?”

It sounded like Chenguang’s voice.

No one replied.

Su Huai frowned, glanced outside, and said in a low voice, “It’s on fire. Let’s go out and see.”

He stood up and held out his hand to Yu Lin.

Yu Lin nodded and placed his fingers in his palm. Su Huai gently pulled, helping him to stand up.

As they pushed the door open, he explained, “The attack range of ghosts in the dungeon world will expand over time. Unless you have a special item, you can’t just hide.”

Yu Lin nodded. “En.”

Su Huai turned around, looked down at him, and said reassuringly, “It’ll be fine.”

He said it lightly, but the fingers holding his squeezed gently, conveying a promise of security.

Yu Lin was stunned for a moment, only then realizing that he was in much better shape than the day before.

Although his fingers were still cold, even when facing the faint glow of the fire spreading from downstairs at night, he didn’t have the suffocating feeling he had at the beginning.

The fire was huge, as if it would spread from the stairs in the next second. The flames could already be seen bursting at the entrance of the corridor.

Su Huai led him forward. As they passed a fire hydrant, he suddenly said, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t go far.”

Yu Lin followed him, paused, and said softly, “I know.”