Volume 3 - CH 45.1

Five minutes later, Jiang Shuangjie has arrived on the ground floor of the Luoke Apartment.

She immediately spies the tall and muscular Missiontaker, and grits her teeth, rushes over to tell him off, “you damned Carddealer! Fuck off from this Nightmare!”

The rest of the Missiontakers present all seem shocked and pause, instinctively moving away from the muscular man.

The man in question makes a blank expression, asking, “wh… what Carddealer?”

“You stole my utility card!” Jiang Shuangjie yells out, “in the last run, on the fourth floor, you stole my utility card!”

The man furrows his brows saying, “what are you saying…? I haven’t even seen you the last run of the Nightmare.”

So positively irate, Jiang Shuangjie can only point her trembling fingers at Muscular here, not so much as managing to utter another word.

Haven’t seen?! This guy dare say he didn’t see her?! Are all Carddealers so shameless?!

And… the explicit denial from the muscular man makes Jiang Shuangjie stuck.

She has no definitive proof even if she knows that this guy is the thief. Nobody knew about their meeting in the last run of the Nightmare.

How… how shameless of this man just to deny it!

Jiang Shuangjie takes a deep breath then says, “your apartment is Room 408. This at least proves we have seen each other in the last run of the Nightmare!”

Muscular stares at her, then shows her a dismissive smirk.

Thin then interjects tentatively, explaining, “um… we actually found the occupancy records, with the rooms we are in written there. We don’t know if you’ve seen this the last run or…”

“I saw the inside of your apartment unit as well,” Jiang Shuangjie cuts him off, and glares at him, continuing, “if it weren’t…”

Muscular shrugs to say, “everyone has the exact same unit.”

Jiang Shuangjie just blurts out, “I’ll pat you down!” She yells out, “you stole my utility card! Don’t try to bluff out of it!”

“Pat me down?” The man then retorts with this surprised expression, “what’s wrong with you? I brought utility cards here, so if you find them, you’re going to treat them as yours?!”

Jiang Shuangjie is so angry she’s shivering. Her gaze is vicious. Her lips are trembling. She looks like she really wants to kill this man.

“You madman,” Muscular just stares right back at her, even revealing a victorious smile, “you’re not just trying to bluff me because you just carelessly lost your own card? Why me instead of literally anybody else?”

He then cracks his knuckles and shows off his muscles, saying, “I’m no pushover. I suggest you choose another person to play your trick on instead.”

Jiang Shuangjie couldn’t say anything else.

The rest of the Missiontakers are looking at the both of them with suspicion. They do not believe either of them. They do not dare to dismiss either of them.

They have to both believe, for now, that the muscular man really is a Carddealer, and also that Jiang Shuangjie is a madwoman who tries to rob other’s cards in broad daylight. Both situations could compromise them.

So they can only take a step back and hand the stage over to these two persons.

Muscular is gloating inside right now.

He did steal Jiang Shuangjie’s utility card, of course, but she cannot prove it, because he can never possibly accept being stripped and searched——Nor can any Missiontaker accept that, ever.

Besides… those cards he stole aren’t even on him. He only brought the cards with him that he originally brought along. The stolen ones are stowed away back in Room 408.

If the Nightmare now restarts, naturally, they will return to him; if they achieve an Ending in the second run, then even better, the spoils return to the Tower with him.

These are things Muscular only learned after much experience as a Carddealer.

In this current situation, even if somehow the victim forced a frisk search on him, they could still never find the missing utility card. Even more unfortunately for them, Room 408 cannot be entered right now, because it only recognises his fingerprint.

Backup keys, you say?

Ha, they’d have to confirm the utility card isn’t on him, first. Besides, he could still always pull some tricks to force a restart of the Nightmare before the door is opened.

All in all, it was such a blessing to have accidentally run into Jiang Shuangjie the last run.

He’s got his eyes on the sisters for a long time now.

As a Carddealer, he would occasionally visit the raves of the Missiontakers, and enjoy himself sometimes. The sisters are pretty well-known there, given they’re twins.

Muscular has once heard second-hand that after intoxication, the sisters once boasted about how many utility cards they’ve accumulated over the years. He became interested, though unfortunately, the sisters weren’t planning to return to any Nightmares soon.

Yet it all changed with that rumour that someone managed to leave the Tower. Countless Missiontakers that have faded into obscurity over time are growing restless, and Muscular believed the twin sisters would definitely be interested as well.

So he spied on their home. Not a few days passed when, one night, the sisters left their home and he tailed them, to see them enter a Nightmare of some Tower resident for the first time in a very long time.

Muscular isn’t even interested in achieving any good Endings here at all. He’s here for their utility cards… he didn’t expect either that his plan went so smoothly!

He is almost unable to hold back his glee from his face. His muscles are twitching on his face already. It almost resembles a wicked smile.

Jiang Shuangjie grips her fists tight, and threatens him with a “you’ll pay for this.”

She cannot physically win against him. Also, after that reverse accusation from Muscular, no other Missiontaker will possibly back her up to demand a strip search of Muscular either.

And she’s only become duller, not dumb. She knows he might not actually be carrying her utility card on him. If nothing turned up when she forced the issue further, it would make her claim of being a victim even shakier than it is now.

Instead, she has to concede. She will have to deal with this later.

Jiang Shuangjie glares at Muscular, and slowly, gradually, shows him her most vicious, murderous smile.

In the stream, after witnessing that drama, the viewers are all in shock, typing their fury into the comments.

“wow damn! even games are so society and dark?!”

“im impressed with the balls it takes to lie so convincingly”

“poor girl”

“Beibeibeibei! aren’t the utility cards bound?”

Xü Beijin answers the question, saying, “They aren’t. The Tower is a rather… realistic game world. The ‘utility cards’ are actually just a little card that physically exist, and of course, can physically be stolen away from wherever you put them on your body.”

“… i tried picturing the rare card i just won with luck for once and it was stolen by someone who is then all confident and accusing me back…”

“!!! I feel like killing!”

“fuck, I want this thief to know what is the real darkness of humanity!!”

Xü Beijin is amused by the comment barrage, but then, the smile fades. He casts a neutral gaze at the disdainfully smirking muscular man on the stream.

The way he laundered facts is as familiar as ever, huh.

In fact, Xü Beijin really didn’t remember that man that once accused him of being an Outsider outside of his bookstore well. After the man slinked off in shame, and after the crowd that kept bugging him gradually dispersed.

He had put that period of memory away already.

Though for Tower residents and the Missiontakers both, it really was a chaotic, absurd period of time. Everyone was rushing for the higher floors. Everyone was rushing to get out of the Tower.

Now… That is no longer the case. Let’s put it this way. A few years ago, the Tower was like a raging fire. The Tower right now, are the ashes remaining.

People have become hopeless and withdrawn. They resemble more corpses on legs, and… There is no more aspiration.

It’s hard for Xü Beijin to recall how it was in that past when the current looks nothing like that.

Though fate really is fickle if nothing else. He once again came across Mu Jiashi, and also… once again, came to see this unlikeable guy.

So he’s turned into a Carddealer now, huh? Hmm, perhaps he could…

Xü Beijin falls into thought holding his bubble tea.