Volume 4 - CH 62.1

… How could someone come to that illogical conclusion?

The viewers of the stream are already rolling on the floor, laughing.

Who could have guessed that Xü Beijin’s indirect attempt to clear his suspicions for murdering people without giving up his image would end up backfiring so badly?

“Beibei, just never mind”

“Beibei, oh… well, that’s life”

“Beibei, your looks, you know”

“Beibei, look at the poor, frightened peoples in front of you”

Xü Beijin “…”

Still reeling from Baldie’s senselessness, the viewers successfully pummel him down some more.

After a bit of time entertaining themselves ripping on Xü Beijin, the viewers go back to serious mode.

“poor Beibei, they all think hes the murderer already, so explaining wont do anything”

“… and Beibei has his natural antagonistic face too…”

“oi! I love antagonists! these players have no eye for aesthetic at all!”

“though that said, im more curious where the murderer actually went”

Xü Beijin is also wondering, yeah, the murderer──Where is he?

Anyway, he’s at least managed to calm down by now, but now he notices that the Missiontakers have all been taken aback by what Baldie yelled out.

They’re not interested in talking to Xü Beijin for now, and instead, are pressuring Baldie to spill the beans about what ‘rooftop’ he’s talking about.

The main person fanning the flames is, you guess it, Collector.

Baldie is absolutely furious at the weird and accusatory tone of Collector. He grits his teeth hard as he tells everyone else what he talked about with Xü Beijin earlier.

Then the Missiontakers all fall into thought at the content of the conversation.

“The rooftop and… bookstore?” Wu Jian turns to glance at Xü Beijin, but quickly turn his head away when he notices the hint of the smile on Xü Beijin’s lips, and asks, “I get the bookstore, I guess, but why… the rooftop?”

They are now standing right there judging the bookstore in front of Xü Beijin himself.

Somehow, no matter the scariness in the appearance or identity of the Tower residents, the Missiontakers still only see them as Tower residents, that are mere NPCs.

Mu Jiashi, while he does treat Xü Beijin with slightly more tact and reservation, is also too deep in thought over what Baldie told him right now.

After a period of thought, though, he seems to realise something and turns to Xü Beijin to ask, “you knew someone would die?”

Xü Beijin is relieved that he finally got part of what he wanted them to think; though the inferred accusatory attitude for just letting someone die is an unwelcome side effect.

He couldn’t possibly have done someone would die! It’s his first time Acting in this Nightmare, for goodness sake!

He is even digging through his memories thoroughly, and yes, it is his first time in this Nightmare.

Baldie suddenly interjects, though, saying, “the last time we went into this Nightmare, we didn’t see him,” he points towards Xü Beijin, and, as if noticing that oddity for the first time, says, “we don’t know why.”

Fei asks, “could it be, that someone is bound to happen that would see him leave?”

Xü Beijin is blanking out a little.

While the Missiontakers are talking about him, but only Mu Jiashi is showing some awareness of him being next to their conversation. The rest of them have completely ignored his presence.

He tells Mu Jiashi, “I did not know for certain that someone was going to die, but, the rooftop is somewhere worth checking out, that I guarantee,” then he turns to the rest of the Missiontakers, saying, “if you’re not here to buy anything, then I would ask you to leave.”

The Missiontakers look shocked that Xü Beijin is chasing them away.

Xü Beijin is feeling a bit more sleepy than usual. He narrows his eyes slightly, smiling, and says, “I’ll be waiting here if you need me.”

What he wants to say is just simply, that he isn’t in the mood to entertain guests right now, come back later, since he’ll be staying here the entire time anyway; he’s sleepy, too, and these people are being really noisy and inconvenient in his bookstore.

He would rather look at them through the streaming system from afar.

However, his words come out subtly different to how he probably intended it.

The Missiontakers seem hesitant, save for Baldie, who looks like he’s in a hurry to leave instead.

That is when Collector chimes in, with a slightly intrigued tone, “I remember you just said that you do equivalent exchanges? So, can we trade information right now?”

This is quite the slap in the face for Baldie, and a pretty intentional at that.

Baldie stops in place, and is giving the guy a death glare. Although Biceps doesn’t want such a frequent, fiery conflict between his partner and the rest of the Missiontakers, he’s not sure what to do.

Really… He’s not even sure why Baldie is behaving so aggressively. Is there a benefit to instigating and prolonging a personal conflict with Collector? Is he going after him merely because he didn’t like his first impressions?

Biceps is feeling odd.

Xü Beijin doesn’t pay much attention to the subtle undercurrents between the Missiontakers, and just answers, “certainly.”

… Although he is still tired from their conversation before.

Collector gives it a thought and says, “not long ago, in the centre of the ruins, we found where an amusement park was. There is a group of people there, and they seem to hold some secret.”

Xü Beijin then asks with an unenergetic tone, “and what would that be?”

Collector answers, “that is the information I want to trade for,” he shrugs, and maintains his smile as he explains, “I do not know what the secret is, but I know there is a secret; like a treasure map, nobody knows what the treasure might be, but you cannot say the treasure map is worthless because of that, right?”

Xü Beijin smiles and answers, “inside the amusement park is a man dressed in a black robe. He knows what the secret is.”

He pits Collector’s own tactic against him.

“Aw…” Collector claps his hands together in defeat, but is still smiling when he asks, “you know it, don’t you──What that secret actually is?”

Xü Beijin merely yawns in response, exhausted.

… This is why he likes interacting with simple, straightforward people like Lin Qin more. What is the point, even, chatting with some riddler whose every sentence turns into a garden path?

He might as well just ask what price it would take for Xü Beijin to divulge that secret.

Yet, Collector does not ask.

This young man with the permanent, fixed smile and a restless personality, looks more like he is doing so to keep up a cover, over all his thoughts and whatnot.

So Xü Beijin just coldly says, “if you really want to know, trade for it, with your own secret.”

“… Huh?”

Collector seems surprised.

Xü Beijin’s piercing gaze almost looks like it is burning right through the deepest corners of his mind as he says, “a treasure map for a treasure map. A secret for a secret. That is what equivalent exchange means.”

Collector opens his mouth, but cannot produce a word.

His secret… What secret?

Thinking so, he ends up digging up a certain scene from a certain Nightmare in his mind.

An apocalypse… Collector’s gaze turns outside the window. The young man is silently immersed in his own thoughts for once.

Fei just impatiently says, “stop wasting our time!” Her gaze glances over Collector and Baldie as she continues, “I couldn’t care less about your fighting, but please understanding that we are in a Nightmare right now, and not some childcare nursery!”

Nursery…

Mu Jiashi’s lips are twitching a little.

He looks at the woman, and thinks, great, he can idle around for sure.