The Split-Mouth let out a dry, forced chuckle at the sight, thinking that this colleague of his was damn humorous.
In the past, whenever another weird interrupted his enjoyment of chasing prey, regardless of whether it was a colleague or not, he would slaughter them all without hesitation.
But today, this one…
The Split-Mouth’s rationality had not yet been completely overtaken by his mad bloodlust. A sense of vigilance timely surged up, and he felt that this colleague who seemed as weak as a newborn lamb might have something going on.
No!
He definitely had something going on!
Otherwise, how had he come down here?
Harboring some suspicion, the Split-Mouth ignored the prey cowering in fear in the corner. Instead, he hesitantly pushed his hand forward in a subtle manner.
The instant he felt that invisible barrier, a sensation like being hit with electric shock therapy coursed through his entire body, making his weird hairs stand on end in pain.
This was also the main reason why his No. 39 prey had stopped struggling after running here.
Thus, the nighttime stairwell forbidden zone had not failed.
The Split-Mouth looked at this scheming weird on the opposite staircase. He stood in the forbidden zone yet pretended to be completely ignorant and clueless.
In a flash, unexpectedly, he recalled a horror story his mother had once told him when he was little.
Legend had it that there existed in this world some particularly insidious and shameless scheming weirds. They clearly possessed considerable strength but always enjoyed disguising themselves as easily killable weaklings, luring unprotected little weirds into foolishly challenging them.
Then!
That shameless weird would grab the little weirds who approached, and in places where their mothers couldn’t see, steam them and eat, boil them and eat, roast them and eat, turn them into stools, turn them into sofas, turn them into tables…
The captured little weirds would never see their dear mothers again.
“Don’t move from there!” the Split-Mouth warned. “I’m not some weak, naive little guy. I advise you not to challenge my axe lightly!”
“Although the recording is pretty much done now, there are still cameras up there!”
Su Ximu, who had only demonstrated coming down but actually hadn’t moved a step: …
He was no longer afraid at all.
Because when a colleague with scary special effects makeup turned around and instead looked like he had been scared by you, it was time to realize he was probably a drama queen.
Hearing the second-floor colleague’s emphasis, Su Ximu thought that it really was a show being recorded.
He recalled a talent show episode he had watched with Wu Yang back in the previous world. That show had a similar segment, where unsuspecting contestants were taken to a pitch-black room, and staff dressed as terrifying ghosts scared them so badly they left afterimages on the screen.
According to Wu Yang, that single dark room prank segment alone had contributed countless iconic moments to the entire episode.
However…
The youth stood on the stairs and glanced lightly downward, touching his own mouth. “Excuse me, is this something only you have?”
Didn’t he have one?
A young person’s courage was an unknown variable, mainly depending on how much curiosity and interest it sparked in him.
Although he had been scared in a haunted house before, if one day a haunted house invited him to play the ghost, he might feel a little tempted.
The Split-Mouth watched the scheming weird’s action above and snorted heavily through his nostrils.
The Split-Mouth’s greatest insecurity was his mouth.
That was from the year his dad and mom fought, when mom had cut it for him with broken glass.
The Split-Mouth loved his mother dearly, but that didn’t stop him from hating all the weirds and humans who mocked his mouth.
He had sworn to give every piece of prey and every mocking weird a matching mouth.
“You…”
His rationality was finally swallowed by rage. He wanted to say, “Come over, and I can give you my mouth,” but before the words could leave his mouth, a wisp of pale red mist drifted lazily and wrapped around the handle of the axe in his hand.
The instant the mist wrapped around it, he could only watch helplessly as his body no longer belonged to him.
He felt himself put on an unprecedented polite smile, casually set down the axe in his hand, and explain in a slow, gentle voice: “The special effects makeup takes a long time. Everyone’s tired today, so when the production team was looking for someone to take on the side job of scaring trainees, I took it myself.”
“If you’re interested in this temp gig too, you can go find the logistics staff for the makeup props.”
Pah!
This voice gave him goosebumps all over!
While the Split-Mouth explained, Su Ximu, who hadn’t moved a step on the stairs earlier, now lifted his foot and slowly closed the distance with his colleague downstairs.
“Is your mouth painted on yourself too?” he asked curiously.
The Split-Mouth nodded and casually wiped a streak of bright red “paint” from his lips.
“Impressive,” Su Ximu sincerely praised.
As he passed the No. 39 trainee still slumped in the corner and unable to get up, he even helped the trainee to their feet.
Looking at the No. 39 trainee’s traumatized expression and face pale without a trace of blood, Su Ximu hesitated a bit. Without deliberately avoiding the cameras, he couldn’t help asking: “Um, I wanted to ask, does the production team consider the trainees’ physical and mental conditions when selecting who gets scared?”
“Yes. For these behind-the-scenes footage recordings, they prioritize bold trainees.” The Split-Mouth casually pointed to a dorm room in the hallway. “There’s a trainee in that room who said during the island arrival interview that he couldn’t handle horror games because he’s timid and might literally scare himself to death.”
Su Ximu nodded. “I see.”
He had indeed overthought it. With so many staff around, the production team surely considered the trainees’ safety.
Sure enough, in the short time he spoke with his second-floor colleague while supporting the trainee—who had been trembling uncontrollably moments ago—the trembling had now stopped.
The No. 39 trainee stood motionless beside him, appearing remarkably bold and steady.
Under the moonlight, the two chatted a couple more sentences. Feeling he shouldn’t disturb his colleague too much, Su Ximu bid farewell.
The Split-Mouth watched him head upstairs. Once the youth’s figure vanished around the stairwell corner, his entire weird body stiffened as he turned around. He ignored his prey and didn’t pick up his axe again.
The No. 39 trainee, having escaped death, only glanced up at the third floor before stumbling dazedly back to their dorm.
The trainee lacked even the strength to climb into bed and fainted on the spot with eyes rolled back.
After that horrifying night in the dorm, the third-floor trainees, remembering the dorm rules, all left early the next day. There was no need for the now-awake Supervisor Su to provide wake-up service.
This left the third-floor dorm entirely empty. After attending a staff meeting in the conference room, Su Ximu returned and prepared to start his second task.
Cleaning.
Everyone was responsible for dorm cleanliness.
The trainees handled the inside of the dorms, as stated in the trainee dorm rules.
The outside, naturally, fell to him as the supervisor.
Su Ximu took a dry towel from his suitcase and walked to the hallway window.
There were two windows in the hallway, each with four large panes of glass.
He remembered seeing a bit of dust on each pane last night.
Recalling this, Su Ximu walked to the window and raised his hand.
?
How was the window that had been a bit dirty last night so clean today?
To describe the window before him as clean was an understatement; it was spotless.
Compared to the window glass, the dry towel in his hand seemed dirtier, as it might shed lint.
With one window this clean, he couldn’t help walking to the other one. In a daze, he noticed his shadow faintly reflected on the dorm hallway floor.
He had rushed to the meeting that morning without looking closely, but now he suddenly noticed it. It was hard to imagine how the faux-stone floor had been polished to a mirror shine, something it had never been like in his life.
Su Ximu vaguely understood something. He skipped the second window and continued forward.
At the hallway’s end were a storage room and a laundry room. Cleaning tools could be rinsed with water in the laundry room.
Leaving the storage room aside, the laundry room also needed cleaning.
Su Ximu stood at the laundry room door and slowly pushed it open. The sight made him shield his eyes with his hand.
The gleaming faucet reflected the sunlight, dazzling him.
The laundry room had two large windows too, clean to the point of ultimate transparency in the sunlight.
What he thought would take hours with a small towel turned out to be a non-issue; he went out, came back, without picking up a speck of dust.
Back in his dorm, the youth sat on a small stool pondering for a while before taking out his phone and solemnly sending a text: 【Blue 242 Leader, do you know where the supermarket on Bizarre Island is?】
The reply came fast. Within seconds, his dorm windowsill was knocked twice by the drying rack.
Su Ximu turned his head. Blue 242 Leader, also in the dorm, mouthed at him: “I’m free now. I’ll take you.”
The trainees knew that every rule in the dungeon was trying its hardest to dig pits for the players.
One dorm rule stated that body management was something every qualified trainee must always keep in mind. The dorm was equipped with an electronic scale; please monitor your weight at all times.
Veteran players didn’t hesitate to assume the worst of the weirds’ morals, even suspecting this so-called body management was calculated to the gram.
So after a morning of practice, everyone silently calculated on the way to the cafeteria how much food was appropriate for lunch given their exercise.
But unexpectedly, the real pit was in the cafeteria.
Cafeteria rule one: 【Wasting food is unforgivable.】
Cafeteria rule two: 【Do not share food with others to avoid cross-contamination.】
Under these two rules, the cafeteria offered a dazzling array of meals for the trainees.
Crystal-clear sauce coated perfectly sized ribs, and the aroma of sweet-and-sour spare ribs was enough to awaken everyone’s appetite.
Coffee soaked into freshly baked finger biscuits, with mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder as the soul of this tiramisu dessert.
Freshly squeezed juice, with the option to add ice cubes. The perfect palate cleanser.
In the rice bucket, the grains glistened invitingly, a carb temptation.
The cafeteria lady had a foul temper and preferred one-stop service. Upon taking a trainee’s tray, she portioned out the dishes and staple food in exact amounts.
If a trainee begged for less, she would scowl and snap: “Diet, diet, always dieting. You young people are throwing away your blessings!”
Then another standard scoop of rice would land in the tray.
When Rao Fei and his group arrived at the cafeteria, to be safe, not all five went to line up. Only Rao Fei went to the window.
Once Rao Fei returned with his tray and sat down, Wang Xingxing clicked his tongue. These weirds were truly malicious, trying to fatten them to death!
These portions had no effect on Rao Fei, Peng Jia, or Peng Xu. One was a veteran Strange Talk Game player, the other two Central Bureau elites. Their physiques had long been enhanced; they could easily burn off the extra calories if they wanted.
But not Bureau Chief Lin or him.
Especially Bureau Chief Lin. Though also a veteran player, using that weird item had taken a heavy toll, severely limiting his strength. Objectively, Wang Xingxing thought Lin Lan’s physical condition was only slightly better than an ordinary person’s.
Lin Lan had played it safe since entering the dungeon yesterday: listen and obey.
Now, he looked at Rao Fei and the others. “What do we do? Should I eat this rice or not?”
Rao Fei pondered.
Wang Xingxing offered a suggestion: “It’s best not to eat it. Just go hungry for one meal. I remember the recording venue for this kind of idol selection show always has a supermarket inside. It should sell some low-calorie stuff.”
If every rule in this dungeon referred to the real world, then for trainees and idols, being a bit fat was much more serious than being thin. There should also be a supermarket.
Seeing that Rao Fei and the others had no objections, Lin Lan nodded and watched Rao Fei and the other three eat alongside Wang Xingxing.
Because the cafeteria was not the dorm, they were not allowed to lie on the table to rest. Of course, the dorms did not allow it either.
Finally, after enduring until Rao Fei and the three finished their meal, the five of them left the cafeteria together.
Wang Xingxing handed Lin Lan a piece of paper: “Bureau Chief Lin, wipe.”
Lin Lan belatedly took the paper, calmly wiped his mouth, pocketed the paper, and then asked with a composed expression: “Xingxing, based on your experience, which direction do you think the supermarket is in?”
Wang Xingxing: “It must be not far from the dorm!”
Lin Lan: “I believe you! Let’s go.”
Ten minutes later, the two smoothly found the supermarket. They stood at the entrance of the somewhat deserted Su’s Supermarket, where cooing sounds rose and fell one after another.
A sign stood at the supermarket entrance:
【This store accepts cash, transfers, popularity value redemption, and credit purchases.】
Lin Lan looked toward Rao Fei.
Rao Fei nodded: “I brought some money. Let’s go in and take a look.”
It was the special currency for the Weird World that Bureau Chief Zhao had approved for him before entering the dungeon.
Wang Xingxing cheered at those words, grabbed Bureau Chief Lin’s arm, and dragged him inside.
The supermarket clerk, seeing customers enter, immediately greeted them enthusiastically: “Hello, what would you like?”
Rao Fei glanced around, pulled a large bill from his pocket, and placed it on the counter: “Give me two big packs of sugar-free coarse grain compressed biscuits.”
The smile on the clerk’s face visibly faded as he looked at the money on the counter: “Sorry, big packs of sugar-free coarse grain compressed biscuits are three bucks a pack. That’s six for two.”
Rao Fei pushed his bill forward again: “That’s why your supermarket’s business sucks. Haven’t you heard that one business secret?”
The clerk curiously tilted his head.
Rao Fei pointed at the biscuits, then at his five bucks: “You gotta pitch it like this: three bucks a pack, five for two packs. Cheap deal~”
“You have to make the customer feel like they’re getting a bargain. Got it?”
The clerk instantly turned sour-faced again: “Customer, if you’re not buying anything, please leave.”
Rao Fei still wanted to haggle.
He had glanced at the warm reminder sign inside the supermarket earlier, and it did not say 【No haggling】.
At that moment, footsteps approached from inside the supermarket.
Su Ximu had just finished selecting snacks with another clerk at the back of the store. The clerk now diligently pushed out a large cart loaded up. Su Ximu and Blue 242 followed behind.
And that was not all. As they reached the counter again, the boy—whose pockets bulged from wages paid a couple days ago—said: “Hello, give me ten packs of this instant corn, and two boxes of each flavor of energy bars. Also the salads and yogurt from the cold storage in the back. Can you deliver?”
The prices here were genuinely cheap.
The clerk behind the counter immediately beamed like a flower again: “Of course, anywhere on the island. Would you like to check out these coarse grain compressed biscuits? New product—great taste and healthy food. Only three bucks for a big pack!”
Great taste?
Healthy food?
Su Ximu tallied his balance: “Give me ten packs. Thanks.”
Clerk: “Right away. I’ll pack them up for you.”
With that, he shoved Rao Fei—who was still standing at the counter with his five bucks—to the side.
Poor bastard, get lost. No sense at all.
