Watching the wax museum owner’s family tremble in fear while his own companions sharpened their weapons, Lu Qingjia felt a bizarre sense of role reversal.
But somehow, it felt exhilarating, didn’t it?
Thus, the five Players instinctively entered villain mode, each pulling out their usual lethal Items or Abilities, standing behind Lu Qingjia with sinister smiles as they glared at the owner’s family.
The scene resembled a villainous boss and his henchmen.
The owner’s family wanted to fight back desperately, knowing that if captured, they would suffer the same fate as the owner.
From various rooms, countless wax figures emerged, each lifelike. Since they had only seen a few rooms upon entering, the group hadn’t anticipated the sheer number hidden throughout the villa.
In no time, the six Players were surrounded by the wax figures.
The owner’s family relaxed, sneering coldly, “Trying to rebel on our turf? You’re still too green.”
The wax figures now seemed alive, their eyes filled with emotion, sending shivers down everyone’s spines.
Despite their realistic appearance, their movements were distinct from humans—not stiff, but unnaturally flexible, unrestricted by joints.
In the dimly lit hall, the dense numbers and eerie movements made one’s back chill just from a glance.
“Hehe! Just become wax figures quietly. Struggling is useless; it’ll only make it worse.”
The group remained vigilant, but Lu Qingjia spoke up, “Indeed, what’s the point of struggling? It only brings unnecessary pain.”
Before the words even settled, he had already appeared behind the owner’s family, moving so fast it was almost imperceptible, slipping through the wax figures before they could react.
As his hands rested on the shoulders of the owner’s wife and mother, he said with a cheerful demeanor, “Got you.”
“Ah—”
The two women screamed in terror, their shrill cries startling the owner’s children.
Then, the group noticed the wax figures approaching them paused, some even stopping entirely.
Several, due to their forward-leaning postures, fell forward from the sudden halt, causing a chain reaction that toppled multiple wax figures.
“These wax figures are being controlled by them,” one Player exclaimed.
“Obviously, in the workshop, they used the wax figures to monitor our every move. They might even be wax figures themselves.”
Despite the talk, the experienced Players wasted no time exploiting this weakness.
As the wax figures’ movements became chaotic, they seized the opportunity to break free from the encirclement and subdued the owner’s remaining children.
Now, all four were under control.
The four were thrown into the workshop, where Lu Qingjia had them hung above the wax vat.
“You’re inhuman! Killing is one thing, but we’ve never done anything this cruel,” the owner’s family struggled.
Lu Qingjia turned to the fire-controlling Player, “Stoke the fire!”
The flames intensified, and the wax soon reached boiling point, bubbling and hissing, the rising heat scalding the family, making them scream in pain.
Lu Qingjia grinned, “Keep being stubborn. The flashpoint is near. The feeling of being slowly melted from the skin isn’t pleasant.”
The owner’s mother spat, “Even if we give in, we’re still doomed. Do you think we’re fools?”
Lu Qingjia nodded, “True, but a quick death is better than prolonged torture, isn’t it?”
“Besides, since you’re all going to die anyway, your abilities are useless to you. Hand them over for a peaceful end. I’d say it’s a fair trade.”
“We still have two to three hours before the delivery time. So, how about it? Tell me what you know, and I’ll toss you all into the vat for a quick end. Or shall I drip wax onto your skin, bit by bit, to wake up your brains?”
“Oh, and though our task is to deliver life-sized wax figures, it doesn’t stop me from having a little fun before delivery. Wax-covered skin becomes malleable. I could try making wax dogs, cats, snakes, or pigs.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you conscious. Out of humanity, I’ll keep your heads intact before delivery, so you can fully experience the malleability of your bodies.”
Even the Players felt their teeth ache at this.
What kind of torture was this?
Seeing the family’s stubbornness, Lu Qingjia sighed and lowered the owner’s daughter first, “Alright, time is limited. Ladies first.”
“Wait, why me? Go after my grandmother! She’s the one in charge. I didn’t want to turn you into a wax figure!”
Lu Qingjia smiled at her, “I don’t want to either. After all, you’re a lovely woman. Don’t worry, I’ll turn you into a beautiful mermaid.”
He pulled out a sharp scalpel, speaking in a gentle yet artistically fervent tone, “I’ll personally carve your scales, one by one, polishing each to ensure you’re incomparably beautiful.”
The daughter knew that wax-covered skin retained its sensitivity as long as the person was alive. The polishing he described would be more painful than dismemberment.
She broke down crying, “I’ll talk! We’re just completing a task. Hindering your wax figure task earns one Point, turning you into a wax figure earns two, while letting you complete the task deducts Points. We’re just trying to avoid punishment.”
“Oh? What’s the use of these Points?” Lu Qingjia asked, running his thumb along the scalpel.
“With enough Points, you can return to reality.”
Lu Qingjia chuckled, “So, you’re Players too.”
He had suspected as much. Given the controller’s capabilities, creating NPCs with independent thinking and adaptability was beyond them.
Honestly, even the Game might struggle with that. While the Game often refers to instance characters as NPCs, except for some special instances, most are real worlds, just of a lower dimension than reality.
Creating intelligent beings from scratch would require a deity transcending the Game’s rules.
If they were merely NPCs mechanically completing tasks, they wouldn’t have responded so vividly and cunningly to Lu Qingjia’s earlier probes, nor would they be so authentically foolish.
Thus, Lu Qingjia had guessed their origins early on. They weren’t Players on a mission, nor had they forgotten their Player identities to become NPCs.
The most likely scenario was that they were either NPCs stolen from another world by the instance’s controller or Players who had lost their Game qualifications but retained their memories.
The daughter trembled, “We betrayed our teammates, snatching a ticket from them, which is why we weren’t stripped of our Abilities or memories.”
“But to return, we must obey that entity and accumulate enough Points to go back.”
Lu Qingjia nodded, “How many like you are in this instance?”
“Unknown,” she shook her head, “We can’t leave our designated areas. That entity assigned us roles, and we must play them out.”
“But there must be many like us. From previous Players’ conversations, the city seems to be growing, though still sparse. When we first arrived, it was empty everywhere.”
After confirming they were Players, Lu Qingjia freely used his mental prowess to extract information.
Having gathered what he needed, he said, “Alright, now hand over your Abilities.”
The four hesitated, “How do we do that?”
Lu Qingjia smiled, “Not Abilities? Then other rewards will do.”
“Don’t tell me a trap-filled instance like this has no rewards. Cheating still follows basic rules.”
Before they could respond, Lu Qingjia heard a system prompt in his head, delivered in its usual reluctant mechanical tone—
[Player Lu Qingjia has broken the Terror Wax Museum, rewarded with Wax Figure Projection and Wax Figure Control skills.]
Lu Qingjia nodded in satisfaction, whether to the family or the system, “Next time, be more proactive with rewards.”
“Otherwise, you’ll seem like a stingy small-time boss. Who’d want to work here then?”
He felt a resentful emotion but ignored it, waving his hand, “Throw them into the vat.”
As the four were about to be submerged, the owner’s mother suddenly let out a sinister laugh—
“You fools, still listening to him?”
“His wax figure is already done. Our family’s volume only makes five wax figures. What about the sixth? You’ll have to fight over it, hehehe!”
Her words visibly alarmed the Players.
Some had noticed this earlier, but Lu Qingjia’s overwhelming competence had made them assume he could handle it.
But since the old woman brought it up, things might not be as optimistic as they thought.
One Player quickly said, “You idiots! There are so many wax figures in the house. Just melt two, and it’ll be enough.”
“Hehehe…” The old woman cackled, “Try it and see.”
A Player scooped wax and poured it over a nearby wax figure. Strangely, as it melted, the workshop filled with a foul stench.
The once creamy wax turned charred, unable to solidify, the wax seemingly gaining a life of its own, scurrying across the floor.
Lu Qingjia controlled it with a gesture, not angry but rather delighted, “This melted wax seems quite aggressive.”
He added, “But it’s obvious. Otherwise, why would wax figures sweat?”
It was likely using the unnoticed liquefaction to ambush Players. Seeing the fire-controlling Player attempt to burn the wax, fearing rapid melting would cause chaos, they timed their screams to divert attention to the murder scene.
Lu Qingjia smiled at the old woman’s ferociousexpression, “It’s been hard on you, worrying about our task even in death.”
He then proceeded to push her into the vat.
The old woman screeched, “You can’t say you made your wax figure early just to secure a spot!”
“Poor fools, picking up your scraps and still grateful. Don’t think a little cleverness will get you through. This Game is designed so that even if you solve the puzzles, in the end, there’s always more Players than resources. Suspicion and conflict among teammates will forever prevent you from clearing it.”
“I’ll wait for you to become NPCs or like us, hahaha…”
Lu Qingjia sensed the Players’ wavering trust. In an instance filled with traps and countless Players trapped without escape, trust in teammates was overshadowed by wariness of the rules.
Many showed signs of anxiety, the atmosphere subtly shifting, an unspoken barrier forming between Players.
Lu Qingjia, however, smiled, seemingly unfazed by the old woman’s words, instead asking her, “Can we leave here before completing the task?”
The old woman laughed even more triumphantly, “Hahaha, no, you can’t! I know what you’re thinking—trying to grab a Player or NPC from the street as a scapegoat. Hehehe, we’ve already thought of that. You can’t find a replacement before delivery. To complete the task, someone must die.”
Lu Qingjia, as if relieved, smiled, “Good, thank you for confirming we’re not in a hopeless situation.”
“What?”
“Is it hard to understand?” Lu Qingjia said, “Since we can’t leave, then when the time comes, someone will come to collect, right?”
“Don’t tell me that at delivery time, these things just magically appear at the millionaire’s house. That’s hardly in line with the rules.”
The old woman’s laughter abruptly stopped, staring at Lu Qingjia in horror, “You’re planning to use the driver—”
“Mm-hmm! Your concerns are resolved. Now you can rest in peace, right?”
With that, he pressed the struggling, unwilling old woman into the vat, ignoring her muffled cries, turning the “family” into wax.
“Alright, who’s first?”
“Me, me!” The earth-controlling Player, skilled in molding, quickly raised his hand.
The others cursed his quickness but dared not show too much in front of Lu Qingjia.
After all, at this point in the Game, it was almost entirely Lu Qingjia leading the charge. The rest were just fortunate not to be dragging the team down.
Lu Qingjia had provided a solution. Judging by the old woman’s final expression, his guess was likely correct—someone would indeed come to collect, so the issue of missing material for one figure was moot.
But to be safe, it was still better to make their own wax figures first.
The female Player, however, was the most generous, “Alright, you guys go first. I’ll use the collector’s for mine.”
She looked at Lu Qingjia, “I trust Jiajia’s judgment.”
Lu Qingjia wasn’t interested in fostering true trust with temporary teammates, but when he encountered Players he admired, like Yang Qian, he didn’t mind lending a hand.
According to the family, the Game’s biggest trap might lie in Player trust. Those who went solo from the start might never trigger the real task or clear the instance, with countless traps serving this logic.
Lu Qingjia didn’t hold high expectations for this round’s Players but firmly believed that under the rules, there were no dead ends.
He smiled reassuringly at the female Player, “It’s fine. Even in the worst case, we can just fail this round and try again tomorrow. With today’s experience, we’ll be better prepared.”
The group realized that Lu Qingjia had returned to A City with no hints, yet led the team to the real task stage. If there was an objective obstacle, giving him a second chance would only result in a more perfect preparation.
Moreover, from the old woman’s words, it seemed later stages would require teamwork. Even those who didn’t trust Lu Qingjia had to trust his intellect—he wouldn’t be quick to abandon teammates.
With everyone’s wax figures done except the female Player’s, there was still an hour before delivery.
Lu Qingjia used Sludge to make a mold for her, then said, “Now, start leaving clues for tomorrow’s selves.”
“I guess the next refresh point will be during the handover.”
Busy all day, the group had nearly forgotten this and hastily began making hints for themselves—applying wax, taking workshop tools, hiding blueprints.
They noticed Lu Qingjia quietly writing something.
Someone asked, “Lu, what are you doing?”
“Hm? I’m writing down today’s events.”
No one had thought of such a straightforward method, leaving them stunned.
“But, is that possible? If it’s so easy to connect two days’ events, what’s the point of the Game’s save points?”
“Besides, why didn’t you write it down yesterday?”
Lu Qingjia smiled, “Yesterday was an emergency. I didn’t have time.”
“Besides, it’s worth a try.”
The group gathered around, seeing he had written more than one letter. The first was a straightforward account anyone could understand.
The second was in Morse code, which those familiar could decipher. The third was purely numbers, leaving everyone clueless.
As Lu Qingjia began a fourth, they asked, “How many are you planning to write?”
“Just testing how far we can prepare before a memory wipe and save point. By the way, I’ve recorded today’s events, but most likely, the recordings will be lost.”
If it were that easy, so many wouldn’t be trapped here.
“What are the later letters about?”
Lu Qingjia didn’t mind sharing, “The first is a letter, the second Morse code, the third page numbers from a book. Combined, they’ll reveal what I mean.”
“What book?”
“A book I love and have memorized. The Game won’t always have situations where we can’t speak openly. Having a personal reference isn’t just useful now but for future emergencies.”
“I’ll memorize a book once I’m out,” the fire-controlling Player said.
“The later letters? Various codes, but with one condition—these codes can instantly translate into specific meanings in my mind. If the rules limit me from leaving obvious written clues, these might all be lost.”
“So, I prepared this.” Lu Qingjia held something that flashed briefly before he stored it in his Game backpack.
“What’s that?”
“Before opening it, I don’t know what it is. But if the Game limits clues based on subjectivity, this might bypass it.”
The group didn’t press further, feeling their own preparations paled in comparison.
As they finished, a delivery truck arrived, honking twice outside the villa.
The Players went out, seeing a chubby driver step down, looking puzzled at the unfamiliar faces.
Before he could speak, the Players overwhelmed him, tying him up.
“What are you doing? I’m just here to collect. Without me, you can’t deliver.”
Lu Qingjia took the driver’s pass, sneering, “The millionaire’s mansion isn’t hard to find. Rest easy; we’ll deliver the goods for you.”
The driver was then pushed into the wax vat, melted, and poured into the female Player’s mold, just in time for 4 PM.
The group finally fully trusted Lu Qingjia, “Indeed, the instance doesn’t leave dead ends.”
“Shall we head to the banquet now?”
Lu Qingjia nodded, “After all this work, we should see who the benefactor is.”
Together, they loaded the wax figures onto the truck, with a Player skilled in appearance-changing disguised as the driver, heading toward the millionaire’s mansion.
The mansion’s security was relatively tight, but with several Players working together, their combined Abilities were quite comprehensive.
Lu Qingjia had a space Ability that allowed him to hide everyone in a pool of water, bypassing the crate inspection. There was also a Player in the team with a stealth Ability to avoid detection, so these issues were manageable.
As the truck entered the warehouse and the wax figures were unloaded, the staff preparing for the banquet came over to move them to the main hall.
Lu Qingjia and his team suddenly appeared, knocked out a few service personnel, and changed into their uniforms. They then hid the unconscious staff in Lu Qingjia’s Sludge space.
When the wax figures were finally moved to the main hall, they discovered that the banquet’s decorations were eerily strange. A giant Halloween pumpkin with candle flames flickering like eyes, a blood-red lacquered cross-shaped coffin emitting a metallic smell, a bleeding mummy, and snake-shaped candies hanging from the ceiling.
In the middle of summer, it felt more like a Halloween party.
A person in uniform clapped their hands near the preparation area: “Hurry up, the billionaire has arrived. He’ll be here to inspect in half an hour. Don’t mess this up.”
“Oh, and put on your masks.”
The service staff’s masks were uniformly black bat-shaped eye masks. Seeing everyone else put theirs on, Lu Qingjia turned to the female Player closest to him and said, “Stay here for now. I’ll go explore elsewhere.”
The female Player quickly caught on: “You want to meet the billionaire?”
Lu Qingjia smiled and nodded. “Being passive all the time isn’t the way. With the conditions arranged like this, it’d be a waste not to take advantage of their careful preparation.”
“But how will you get there?”
“I have a way.”
Using the excuse of going to the restroom, Lu Qingjia entered the bathroom and took out a transformation dress he had bought in a previous instance but hadn’t used yet.
As soon as he put it on, his height reduced slightly, and his bone structure and physique transformed into that of a woman’s. His hair grew long, cascading loosely down to his waist.
When he stepped out of the restroom, he was a stunningly beautiful woman.
This is the moment Zhong Liyu has been waiting for 🤣🤣