Chapter 5: Death Acrobatic Troupe 05 Part 1

Finally, Qin Yihan mustered his courage and slowly turned his head.

Jian Bumian was still behind him.

Jian Bumian’s stamina wasn’t particularly great. The run had completely worn him out. His cheeks were flushed red, the corners of his eyes glistened, and he was panting heavily, utterly unable to respond to Qin Yihan’s words.

【Too stupid. Practically a deadweight teammate. Curious how he survived three instances before.】

【Done for. The NPCs must be laughing like crazy right now. Meat delivered right to their doorstep for free.】

【Hahahahaha, runs fast alright, too bad he ran in the wrong direction. Getting closer and closer to the ghost.】

【Wuwu, poor wifey. Getting closer and closer to danger.】

Qin Yihan felt a dangerous aura permeating their surroundings.

Perhaps they had already run right beside the NPC and could lose their lives at any second.

He asked Jian Bumian, stammering: “Jian, Jian Bumian, I ran in the wrong direction… What do we do now?”

Jian Bumian didn’t answer his question, his voice calm: “Look behind you.”

Qin Yihan stiffly turned his head.

There was no place to continue running behind him now. It was no longer the dormitory Hallway.

Instead, it was a wide-open door.

They could see outside the door, which also meant gazes originating from outside the door could focus on them.

Jian Bumian stood behind Qin Yihan, narrowing his eyes.

He inexplicably recalled the first part of the third rule.

After 11:30 PM, it was maintenance time for the Acrobatic Troupe’s training equipment, and at that time there would be ‘Staff’ performing equipment maintenance…

How did they maintain the training equipment?

And what exactly were these Staff members?

Could the training equipment actually be the Acrobats?

Jian Bumian cast his gaze beyond the door.

Outside was the main Circus Hall where they had gathered during the day.

Now, the hall was, unbeknownst to them, filled with many pieces of equipment—the very ones they used for acrobatic practice.

Every piece of equipment was stained dark with blood, coated with strands of flesh, gently swaying in the darkness, awaiting cleanup.

So the rule did mean “equipment maintenance time”? It really was just maintaining equipment?

But, Jian Bumian still hadn’t seen the Staff responsible for the maintenance.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Hide!” Jian Bumian pulled Qin Yihan, and the two of them ducked under a table in the Hallway.

According to the third survival rule, after 11:30 PM, leaving the dormitory was absolutely forbidden.

They had left the dormitory and had no idea what dangers they might face.

If an NPC discovered them now, death was certain.

The NPC could deal with the rule-breaking Acrobat in any way it chose.

Jian Bumian and Qin Yihan huddled under the table.

Jian Bumian glanced at the countdown for his conquest mission.

【Countdown: 93 hours.】

A crisp notification suddenly chimed in his mind.

【Ding!】

【System detected that your conquest mission has had no new progress for an extended period. The System has decided to arrange a ‘Sub-task’ for you, to help you advance the progress of the conquest mission!】

“Sub-task?” Jian Bumian frowned, feeling this couldn’t be anything good.

【Sub-task 001: Please obtain one item tainted with the target NPC’s aura. (Items such as the target NPC’s personal belongings, used objects, etc.)】

【Countdown: Ten minutes (If the Sub-task is not completed after ten minutes, the Player will be Erased on the spot. Time is life!)】

As soon as the Sub-task was announced, Jian Bumian’s livestream room erupted.

【Aura? Doesn’t that just mean scent? The wording is a bit suggestive.】

【Fuck (WTF), this old System Player here has never heard of Sub-tasks before??】

【Ten minutes??? How is that possible!! Haven’t even seen a hair of the target yet. Done for. Mianmian is definitely doomed!!】

【Same old wish: hope the little beauty, Mianmian, can at least die looking pretty. Leave us an intact corpse.】

【Now’s not the time to be nervous! Other NPCs are coming! Mianmian, hiding under the table, might be discovered!】

The viewers in the livestream room had, in the past, watched the streams of other players bound to Strategy Systems.

Those players, from the very start of the mission, were like chased, headless rats, frantically, anxiously, pathetically searching for their target NPC, terrified of failing.

In the end, all of them still died on the very first mission.

But a player like Jian Bumian—completely unhurried, slow and deliberate, even only checking the countdown once a day—they had never seen before.

The System had probably never encountered a player like this either.

That was why it specifically issued this Sub-task to push the progress of the conquest mission.

But…

The Sub-task was limited to just ten minutes.

Right now, Jian Bumian hadn’t even determined who the target NPC was.

Moreover, he had already violated the survival rules within the Acrobatic Troupe and faced life-threatening danger at any moment.

And now, the Staff NPC was approaching the table step by step.

If Jian Bumian left the table now, within ten minutes, to complete the Sub-task, he would be discovered by the Staff NPC and most likely killed.

If he remained hidden under the table, evading the Staff NPC’s search.

But that would certainly delay the completion of the Sub-task.

Once the ten minutes were up, Jian Bumian would be Erased on the spot.

This was a complete dilemma!

Why did the Sub-task have to be issued right now?! Jian Bumian’s luck was truly terrible!

In the viewers’ eyes, Jian Bumian had been pushed to the very edge of death’s cliff.

In the blink of an eye, another minute passed. Now Jian Bumian only had nine minutes left.

Making a choice now was pointless.

Better to think about which death was more aesthetically pleasing—dying at the hands of the Staff NPC or being Erased by the System.

However, unexpectedly.

Jian Bumian showed no sign of panic, as if he had never known about the Sub-task.

Huddled under the table, his lips were pressed tight, his eyes half-closed, listening intently to the footsteps of the Staff NPC.

The footsteps were somewhat muffled, not like a ghost walking normally on two feet.

Jian Bumian’s calm focus sent chills down the viewers’ spines.

Thump, thump, thump.

The sound suddenly stopped.

Jian Bumian’s breath hitched.

A twisted, eerie voice abruptly rang out!

“Eh? Why are there two things hiding under the table?”

Discovered!

Jian Bumian opened his half-closed eyes and suddenly saw a ferocious, terrifying ghost face.

The upper part of the ghost’s head was caved in, clearly caused by prolonged friction against the ground.

This NPC… actually walked on its hands!

Miscalculated.

Jian Bumian simply walked out from under the table, standing before this NPC.

Qin Yihan, legs trembling, followed behind Jian Bumian.

The Handstand Ghost cackled a few times.

“Are you new Staff members?”

Qin Yihan was stunned.

What was going on?!

The frantic Bullet Comments guessing Jian Bumian’s manner of death suddenly froze too.

Neither Qin Yihan nor the viewers had seen the gentle, beautiful caramel color of Jian Bumian’s eyes shimmer with a faint blue Light. Like brilliant, twinkling specks of starlight in the night sky, it rapidly filled his eyes.

Just like when he devoured the Skeleton Doctor.

Jian Bumian calmly said to the Handstand Ghost: “Yes, I’m a new Staff member. I was just now wiping down the underside of the table.”

【Player Jian Bumian, you have used the prop ‘Make NPCs Unable to Recognize You as a Player’.】

【Duration: Twenty minutes.】

【Uses: 1 (Consumed)】

The prop usage was very successful.

“Mm…” The Handstand Ghost didn’t notice anything amiss about Jian Bumian.

In the next second, it moved its gaze to Qin Yihan.

The young man with grey-streaked hair was pale, his pupils constricted, his legs shaking.

The Handstand Ghost suddenly flipped its upside-down body right-side up. It bared a bloody, gaping mouth, its twisted voice thick with fury!

“You! You’re an Acrobat! How dare you violate the rules and run out of the dormitory!”

Qin Yihan: “…”

If they hadn’t left the dormitory, they would have been crushed alive inside.

The Handstand Ghost stretched out a withered, bluish hand, reaching towards Qin Yihan’s neck: “I’ll just twist your head off and stick it onto your foot! So you walk upside-down like me!”

Qin Yihan was petrified, watching helplessly as that hand neared his neck.

Sharp, hard fingernails, stained with the blood and gore of other Acrobats, carved a red trail across his neck.

Was he going to die?

He hadn’t graduated from university yet, hadn’t gone on his graduation trip, hadn’t gotten to raise his cat…

“Wait.”

Jian Bumian spoke calmly: “Leave him to me. I’ll make sure he dies a very miserable, very painful death, made an example of in front of all the other Acrobats.”

Qin Yihan looked up, caught completely off guard, a gaze begging for salvation turned towards Jian Bumian.

The Handstand Ghost glanced at Qin Yihan, pondered for a moment, then said to Jian Bumian: “Then you deal with this disobedient Acrobat later. Right, we’re maintaining equipment. Help me keep an eye on this acrobatic equipment for a moment.”

Jian Bumian nodded: “Okay.”

The viewers in the livestream room hadn’t seen the flash of blue Light in Jian Bumian’s eyes nor understood why Jian Bumian couldn’t be recognized by the Staff NPC.

But only a small fraction of viewers were hung up on this.

More viewers were panicking—why, with a Sub-task active, was Jian Bumian doing completely unrelated things to the conquest target—even helping a Staff NPC with equipment maintenance?!

This would get him Erased on the spot!

Was this player not afraid of death, or too powerful to care?!

The zero completed instance experience in Jian Bumian’s profile was telling the viewers clearly he was not the latter.

Jian Bumian really was dancing on the edge of death.

【Countdown: Six minutes (If the Sub-task is not completed after six minutes, the Player will be Erased on the spot. Time is life!)】

The Handstand Ghost raised its hand, producing a long Sword from thin air.

The Sword’s hilt was rusted, the blade a shiny silver.

“This is the prop the Acrobats will use in the ‘Sword Swallowing’ acrobatic act tomorrow. I don’t know if this Sword is long enough to go from a person’s throat all the way down to their stomach. If it’s too short, the Acrobats won’t get the desired training effect…”

It handed the Sword to Jian Bumian and chuckled harshly:

“Swallow this Sword and test if it can reach your stomach. Testing the performance of acrobatic props in advance is also a Staff responsibility. Besides, you’re a dead person like me, you can’t feel pain, right?”

Jian Bumian: “…”

Hearing the Handstand Ghost’s words, Qin Yihan’s mind went blank with one thought—It’s over. Jian Bumian is definitely done for.

The Bullet Comments boiled over.

【?? The length of this sword could pierce right through Mianmian’s belly.】

【Finished. If Mianmian doesn’t swallow the Sword, the NPC will discover he’s alive and kill him. But if he swallows the Sword, Mianmian dies even faster.】

【Either choice is death!! If it were me, I’d just lie flat and choose Erasure by the Strategy System! At least it’s painless and quick!】

【Hehe, suddenly want to see this Sword go in through Mianmian’s mouth and poke out somewhere else!】

Jian Bumian’s expression didn’t change. He took the Sword hilt in his hand.

The Handstand Ghost, seeing Jian Bumian’s hesitation, couldn’t help but feel something was off and shrieked: “Swallow it! If you don’t swallow it, I’ll help you!”