Volume 3 - CH 52.1

When Muscular just entered Room 807, everything was normal.

The apartment was quiet. Everything was where it was. It did not help him realise that, it was not just the facilities of the apartment, but even all the electronic devices in the apartments, that have gone wrong.

Before, in his own apartment unit, he could feel a gaze, but there was no danger. While this time, with his mind wholly muddled by the valuables that were the utility cards and Lin Qin’s private life, he has gone completely ignorant of what was happening in the Nightmare itself.

It would be hard to pin it down on whether it was his own inherent carelessness and hubris, or the amplified stubbornness and arrogance from the effect of the utility card ‘The Devil’s Mask,’ but the result was that he was completely reckless when going through Room 807, trying to find at least one utility card.

He was sure it was hidden in this apartment unit somewhere.

A few minutes later, nothing has turned up, and the apartment was in complete chaos. He didn’t care to be cautious, unlike when Jiang Shuangjie was when she was searching for her missing utility cards at his apartment, where she was extra careful when touching anything because of wariness for the sentient electronic devices; instead, he wished he could just upend everything.

Wardrobes? Opened wide. Pans and bowls and utensils? Throw them all away, on the ground or wherever, the noises not even fazing him the slightest. The sofa was pushed aside and, when he found nothing, he kicked at the walls and doors and tables and chairs in his rage.

At this point, several shapeless eyes seemed to have opened up in the apartment unit, but Muscular didn’t notice them at all.

All until he walked next to the sofa, when the curtains suddenly latched onto his throat.

It took all he had just to finally untangle the curtain, but he knocked the router over as well… When, he discovered that, the curtains suddenly stopped acting up.

Muscular is currently standing there with jaws agape, looking at the router, and back at the curtains that were going mad just a mere second ago.

Even if he were retarded he could still figure out the connection between them.

Meanwhile, in the stream, the comment barrage are at it again.

“!!! oh fuck me! its the internet!”

Then the conversation gets back on track.

“oh right, so Beibei’s bookstore really is a safehouse, there’s no internet [laugh_cry emoji]”

“that means the devices cant reach their sentient claws here… I say, didnt that elevator say there were the good and the bad among them?”

“howd you even tell? no other furniture can talk besides elevators anyway”

“also, there’s no time for players to look for each electronic one by one in such a big nightmare, who knows how many runs it’d even take”

“hey… if the root cause is the internet, what if they just cut the internet off? would the nightmare end?”

“!! nice!”

“I suggest just going to the electrical room and shutting it down instead”

“[laugh_cry emoji] are we playing smartass questions right now?”

Xü Beijin also can’t help but try to think along the lines of the simple, drastic solutions proposed by the viewers of the stream, and then concludes that this… might actually work?

It’s definitely not how the True End can be achieved, though. A Normal End is more like it.

Would the Missiontakers be happy with a Normal End?

Xü Beijin rubs his chin, and thinks that Thin and the teenage girl would probably be happy with that.

Since, just like Lin Qin, they stumbled into this Nightmare by accident.

The two of them were apparently snooping outside of his bookstore too, who knows if someone might have sent them… Xü Beijin is annoyed just thinking about that.

He’s not sure about the others. Going after a True End would be the logical aspiration when one enters a Nightmare… Or not, perhaps, for people like Muscular.

Xü Beijin just sighs and makes a tired yawn. He’s a bit drowsy again. Maybe he should go for a walk again, he thinks. He felt more energetic the first two runs; maybe it has to do with his bubble tea.

Almost dozing off, he snaps back to reality when he sees someone enter and spook him awake. He focuses his gaze and sees, yup, it’s a Lin Qin alright.

Lin Qin greets him and hands him a can of drink. Xü Beijin thanks him and takes a few sips. He feels much better.

… Then, he finally finds the astonishment he should have felt when this streamlined course of actions was taking place.

What are they doing? Lin Qin is, feeding him drinks?

He looks down to examine this can of… apple juice.

Xü Beijin “…”

He is quiet for a moment before asking Lin Qin, “where did you get this?”

Lin Qin looks at the drink in his hand and answers, “I went to the tuck shop and the owner gave it to me,” he then looks up at Xü Beijin, asking, “not sleepy anymore?”

Xü Beijin takes another sip quietly before replying, “I’m better now.”

Lin Qin goes ‘oh.’

Xü Beijin is looking at him, and can’t help but ask, “did you know that…”

Lin Qin tilts his head at him.

Xü Beijin continues, “your name…?”

“Oh…” Lin Qin gives another glance at the apple juice in his hand, and tells him, “I don’t mind.”

Xü Beijin “…”

What, he thinks he cared that way about this when he asked him the question?!

Xü Beijin, who actually didn’t mind, is now actively aware of this because of Lin Qin’s answer.

… So what if he was drinking apple juice! What, you’ve got a problem with him drinking apple juice?!

Xü Beijin is speechless.

Lin Qin then adds, ” I really don’t,” then he furrows his brows and asks, “why are you overthinking this?”

Xü Beijin “… I’m not.”

Lin Qin examines him from top to bottom, asking, “really?”

Xü Beijin looks like he’s going to blow any time soon.

Lin Qin says, “just drink it. Though I’m an apple, you’re not actually eating me.”

Xü Beijin is quiet for a moment before repeating, word for word, “you, are, an, apple…”

“Yeah, I am an apple,” Lin Qin takes a seat at the chair next to the bookstore entrance, telling him, “if you’re willing to fight with me, I’ll be anything. Apple, grape, pear, pineapple, orange…”

As if he’s listing ingredients for a salad, he lists a whole bunch of fruit.

Then he asks Xü Beijin, “which one do you like? I’ll give you fruit juice of that flavour later.”

Xü Beijin “…”

He feels like Lin Qin has gone weird.

Really weird.

… He was mocking Lin Qin just now! He wasn’t praising him!!!