Chapter 2: Death Acrobatic Troupe 02 Part 3

Jian Bumian noticed the only color in the dormitory—a picture printed on the wall.

—It was a Little Girl practicing acrobatics.

She was riding a Unicycle, balancing a ball on her head.

But her head wasn’t facing Jian Bumian; it was twisted 180 degrees around, showing only the back of her head with two braids tied with pigtails.

Despite this, she looked vividly drawn, as if real. The slightly curled strands of hair, the blood-red hair ties were all clearly visible.

As if pressed alive into the wall.

At the bottom left corner of the Little Girl’s picture was a line of blood-red script.

【Everyone must practice acrobatics hard today too! Or else you’ll be eliminated! Being eliminated means you can’t perform a wonderful acrobatic show for the Distinguished Guest!】

This picture and this line faced his bed directly, looking incredibly eerie.

Jian Bumian: “…”

The thought of being watched by a strange little girl while he slept tonight… felt a bit embarrassing.

Even though she was looking at him with the back of her head.

Jian Bumian burrowed under the covers, tucking himself in tightly.

Just as he wanted to fall asleep, he suddenly remembered something and called out softly:

“System 001?”

【Here.】

Jian Bumian closed his eyes and asked the System in the darkness: “I’ve passed the First Selection Round in the instance. Can I learn more about your existence now?”

The System began explaining to Jian Bumian.

—Systems, Players, and NPCs were all parts of the Infinite World.

Every time a batch of new Players entered a game.

The System would choose one Player as its host and then assign them missions.

This type of Player was called a “System Player” in the Infinite World.

The survival difficulty for System Players was considerably harder than for ordinary Players.

They not only had to survive within the instance but also complete System tasks. Failure meant Erasure by the System.

Jian Bumian’s expression remained calm, his voice soft and devoid of emotion: “Then what mission are you going to assign me?”

In Jian Bumian’s mind, a string of blood-red large characters promptly popped up.

【Player Jian Bumian:

Your first mission in Strategy System 001 is—Find the target Malicious Ghost NPC and have a thrilling, romantic mutual death confession with it!】

【Mission Details: Say “I love you” to the target Malicious Ghost NPC, and receive the response “I love you” from it as well. Any means of confession allowed.

(Note: If you only say “I love you” to it, without making it also say “I love you,” the mission is considered failed! Player will be Erased!

Time limit: 125 hours (Five days)】

Looking at the mission details, Jian Bumian curled his lips.

If this mission only had the first half, it would be very dull.

Find the target Malicious Ghost, throw an “I love you” at it, and regardless of the target’s reaction, the mission would be complete.

But having the second half made it intriguing.

The Player needed to make the Malicious Ghost also say “I love you” to the Player, by any means necessary.

After all, this mission was a “mutual confession.”

But right now, the Player couldn’t even determine what the target NPC was.

What if it turned out to be a monster that couldn’t even speak human language? Then wouldn’t he have to teach it to speak human language step by step?

And besides, why would an NPC say a romantic thing like “I love you” to a Player as weak as an ant?

It would already be good enough not to kill the Player outright.

The System’s voice was cheerful:

【Mm… As a meeting gift, I’ll give you a small little Item.】

Jian Bumian: “A prop? What is it?”

【Giving you a small prop. In critical moments, you can use this prop to make NPCs unable to recognize you as a Player. However, it’s limited to twenty minutes, with one use only.】

A bar similar to an inventory slot appeared in Jian Bumian’s mind.

In the item slot was a small Backpack.

A blue card written with “Makes NPC unable to recognize you are a Player. Duration: 20 minutes. Uses: 1” swayed in his mind.

Then it floated into the Backpack.

【Use anytime when needed. Only one use available.】

Right—

Jian Bumian raised an eyebrow and asked:

“How powerful will the target NPC I need to conquer be?”

It cackled: 【Rest assured, the target NPC in each instance is a very powerful and terrifying existence. Guaranteed to give you a thrilling and splendid experience. Dying in the hands of the target NPC while completing the mission is also a very good choice.】

Listening to the System’s words, Jian Bumian didn’t show the fearful expression the System imagined.

He was actually very much looking forward to it.

The lower the level of an NPC, the worse it tasted.

Conversely, the more powerful an NPC was, the more delicious and tempting it became. At the same time, one could draw powerful energy from it and become stronger.

Jian Bumian had originally thought he would have to subsist on low-level NPCs that stank and rotted from now on.

He hadn’t expected.

That this broken System he bound himself to would proactively offer him delicious food.

Ah, life was looking up.

~

Jian Bumian’s livestream room had gradually gained quite a few viewers. In the blink of an eye, there were fifty.

When they heard the mission the System assigned Jian Bumian, they all unanimously grew excited.

As expected of Strategy System 001, the System that had wiped out the most hosts, every task was so challenging!

They turned their gazes towards Jian Bumian, wanting to see the pitiful, fearful, delicate look on the youth when he received the mission.

But they didn’t see it.

Jian Bumian narrowed his eyes, his gaze revealing a hint of delight. The corners of his beautiful lips curled up, faint dimples visible, a suppressed, gentle laughter sounding low.

…Like a child spotting a candy he’d long been craving.

【?? Why isn’t this Player following the script?? Shouldn’t he be scared to tears in this situation?】

【This little beauty seems a bit different, at least his personality contrasts heavily with his appearance. Followed.】

【Wanna know if he’s really not scared, or just scared silly? How come he’s smiling? But the laugh is really nice, more more more.】

Jian Bumian’s reaction made the viewers’ eyes light up, and they eagerly clicked the follow button.

【Wow! Congratulations Player Jian Bumian! Your livestream room has gained 100 new followers! You’ve made it onto the Novice Streamer Popularity Chart! Look forward to more viewers joining!】

Jian Bumian slept until 6 AM.

He found a new countdown had appeared in his mind.

【Conquest Mission Countdown: 117 hours】

If this countdown ended and he still hadn’t completed the conquest mission, he would be Erased.

However, Jian Bumian wasn’t in a hurry. After a simple wash-up, he slowly followed the crowd to gather in the hall.

He discovered the Acrobatic Troupe was surprisingly considerate, actually providing breakfast for the players.

Hot breakfasts were packed in lunchboxes, laid out on the table for the Acrobats to collect.

Although this kind of living person’s food couldn’t fill Jian Bumian’s Soul, no point in refusing a free meal.

Jian Bumian’s breakfast was a cup of hot milk, a piece of steak sprinkled with black pepper, and perfectly golden, slightly charred toast.

The milky-white milk was served in a glass, emanating wafts of hot, fragrant steam.

The toast and steak were both wrapped in thick newspaper.

Besides the newspaper, the steak was also wrapped in a plastic bag, preventing the juices and aroma from escaping.

Jian Bumian unwrapped the plastic and newspaper and took a bite of the steak.

In the next moment, however, he frowned.

The steak was completely raw. When bitten, it oozed blood with a strong gamey taste. His mouth was momentarily filled with viscous, fishy liquid.

Just as disgustingly difficult to eat as the Skeleton Doctor from yesterday.

He immediately put the steak down and rinsed his mouth with the milk.

In the end, Jian Bumian didn’t eat the steak, eating half a piece of toast instead. The toast tasted decent, with a faint scent of wheat flour and milky flavor.

~

Everyone was eating breakfast.

Since they were going to practice acrobatics next, they definitely needed to eat to maintain their strength. The previous night’s terror and running had drained too much energy.

Furthermore, this might be their last meal. No one wanted to die on an empty stomach.

After the players finished their breakfast, a staff member of the Acrobatic Troupe carried out a wooden bucket. Inside the bucket were many folded little paper balls.

“All Acrobats, please line up to draw today’s training content.”

Everyone’s faces turned ashen. They quickly formed a long line. Having learned the lesson from last night, they didn’t dare dawdle anymore, though their hearts were even more afraid.

The difficulty of the “training content” drawn would likely decide life or death.

Jian Bumian was in the middle of the line, and soon it was his turn.

He casually picked a small paper ball and clenched it in his palm.

He walked to an empty spot and opened the paper ball.

The front of the paper ball had a string of words written on it.

【Underwater Cage】

These four words were just written with fresh blood; Jian Bumian could smell the fresh scent of blood.

The blood hadn’t yet coagulated. The blood forming the word “Cage” (Prison) dripped down, turning the line into 【Water Corpse Cage】.

“Water Corpse Cage?” Jian Bumian’s lips curved. “Interesting.”

He flipped the paper to the back and saw the detailed training content for this acrobatic act.

【Underwater, Restraint, Suffocation.】

【The Acrobat is bound with both hands tied, thrown into a glass box filled with water, and certain obstacles are placed inside the glass water tank.】

The Acrobat must leave the glass water tank within ten minutes. During this time, the Acrobat must free themselves from the restraints, overcome the obstacles, and manage their breathing.

If the Acrobat fails to leave the glass water tank within ten minutes, they will be Erased.