Volume 4 - CH 69.1

Mu Jiashi is staring at the book blankly.

A pen, and a paper with what appears to be bloodstains are all that is depicted on the cover.

… He snaps his head right back at Xü Beijin, quick as if he was electrocuted, only to once again, see the mysterious smile on Xü Beijin’s lips.

He is petrified.

In the silence, Xü Beijin is waiting awkwardly for a reaction from Mu Jiashi and the other Missiontakers.

Hello? Is anyone here? Don’t look like you’re lagging or something! This hint is like, obvious enough, right? Why are neither Mu Jiashi nor any other Missiontaker reacting at all?!

Finally, about five or six seconds later, when Xü Beijin has had enough of the depressing silence and is about to speak, Mu Jiashi finally reacts, with whatever bizarre thoughts that must have plagued his mind, as Xü Beijin can see how both his expression and even tone of voice is much more carefully calibrated.

He asks, “this book… would you… allow us, to borrow it temporarily?”

Xü Beijin sighs in relief inside, and then hands to book to Mu Jiashi, saying, “of course.”

Then he glances over at the stream, and just as expected, the viewers are amused and making witty remarks about how overcautious the Missiontakers are.

Of course, the viewers know Xü Beijin is a good person at heart, so they’re free to just rip the Missiontakers a new one, even though when they first saw Xü Beijin themselves, they were also slightly frightened of him because of his appearance.

Not that they could really say why it was, perhaps it was merely Xü Beijin’s cold, distant appearance, or that exhausted, uncaring expression.

And now, the Missiontakers are somewhat wary because of that hint of a smile on his face.

They’re more preoccupied with the book though.

Mu Jiashi takes the book and immediately starts flipping through it. The words are not scrambled, just as he thought.

He looks back at the title – ‘The Repeating Nightmare.’

… Was this the book Lin Qin borrowed from Xü Beijin’s bookstore? This is clearly an important item in this Nightmare though, why would it be in his bookstore in the Tower?

In fact, could it be that the clue to the Nightmare he once obtained in exchange for drinks, was also acquired through this means?

Recalling how the bookshelves in Xü Beijin’s bookstore reach all the way up to the ceiling, he can’t help but feel a chill down his spine.

… Who is this bookstore owner, really? Why would his bookstore have so many books related to Nightmares? Is every single book there representing another different Nightmare?

But… how could that even be possible? Why, would a bookstore on the bottom floor, have documentation on Nightmares of other Tower residents?

Could this bookstore owner, be the Server NE?!

Mu Jiashi has just came to conclude the absurd.

Of course, it cannot be possible.

Everybody knows that the Server NE is on the top floor of the Tower.

There have been Missiontakers who have been to the highest floor, but there were no rumours of whether he successfully left or not, but the person did manage to pass information on… Like the existence of NE.

Nobody knows what NE looks like, but all the Missiontakers of the Tower are all vaguely aware that the Server is on the top floor of the Tower, and that leaving the Tower must be something done through NE.

As for how that actually works, nobody really knows.

They say, just like Tower residents, NE also counts as an NPC in the Tower, which means, it also has a Nightmare——Not that anyone knows anything about what that Nightmare would be like.

Mu Jiashi is among those who have once heard about that rumour, and he has always been dismissive of the notion of an ‘Ultimate Nightmare’ here, because if the Tower really has to have an Ultimate Nightmare, he cannot imagine anyone but the Server NE possessing it.

Once, Xü Beijin’s Nightmare was speculated to be the Ultimate Nightmare by some Missiontakers on the bottom floor. While Mu Jiashi does agree that Xü Beijin may be hiding some secrets in there, but if his Nightmare really is the ‘Ultimate Nightmare’…

Then, what could the Nightmare of NE possibly be?

But then, when reminding himself of how it went down a few years back, he falls further into thought. He knew that one Missiontaker tried to invade Xü Beijin’s bookstore physically, but ended up being thrown out by Xü Beijin.

In that sense, perhaps the secret lies in his bookstore instead?

That said, when Mu Jiashi visited Xü Beijin in his bookstore, Xü Beijin didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, Lin Qin was borrowing books from him directly as well…

Wait, no no no, this cannot possibly be the same case. You know how Lin Qin and Xü Beijin are.

Mu Jiashi’s thoughts are digressing now, drifting to the rumours circulating between Lin Qin and Xü Beijin’s relationship.

He is distracted for so long that Baldie, impatient, asks, “what are you thinking about?” And he also looks slightly anxious when eyeing the book, commenting, “this is way too thick. How long will it take to read?”

“It’s a horror novel.”

Suddenly, Xü Beijin chimes in calmly from the side.

The Missiontakers all stop to look at him, as they suddenly realise, that of course, Xü Beijin is the owner of the bookstore, who is even hinting at them directly that this book is important. So it is reasonable to assume that he would be familiar with its contents as well.

Fei immediately asks, “can you please tell us what the book talks about?”

“As I said earlier,” Xü Beijin lightly chuckles again, saying, “I operate by the principle of equivalent exchange. I could be a storyteller, but what will you offer me in return?”

Mu Jiashi thinks for a second before gritting his teeth to say, “we are investigating the book… We suspect that its contents, are possibly, playing out right in these ruins.”

Xü Beijin seems surprised for a moment as he gives Mu Jiashi a meaningful glance.

In the stream, though, the viewers have lost it.

“look at you, you righteous looking boy, now trying to fish information out with nothing too!”

“speak the truth! did you learn it from Beibei?”

“Beibei, never do to others what they might do to you”

“and always do grab the leader before the band of thieves” (TL: Reference to a classic Chinese saying… I guess, I’m not too sure, though)

“…? slowly types out a question mark”

“my man, hello, the lord of rebuttals checking in, are we?”

Xü Beijin almost fails to maintain his poker face to break into laughter, but he manages to hold it in.

Then, using his Acting skills as befits an extra, he tells them with a flat, serious tone, “an interesting piece of information.”

His almost-failure in hiding his smile, though, in the Missiontakers eyes, merely add to the mystique of his character. Mu Jiashi is even nervous enough that he almost trembled.

But then, he convinces himself that, since the Server arranged for him to sit here in the bookstore, it must have intended for him to tell the Missiontakers something.

The ‘equivalent exchange’ thing might also have been put in place to confirm what clues the Missiontakers have thus far before deciding which information could be conveyed to them.

That is his educated guess, according to what he knew of Nightmares.

He also manages to calm down slightly with those idle thoughts.