It was a coincidence that the login time for this year’s competition coincided with the anniversary of Lu Qingjia’s uncle’s death.
Lu Qingjia’s timing for entering the Game wasn’t ideal; in fact, it was somewhat late.
Logically, if he were to participate in the competition, he should have been in the next round. But who knew he would climb so quickly? In just half a year, he had already become an Advanced Player.
Thus, he gained the qualification to participate in this year’s competition. Moreover, considering his long-term goals and the tacit agreement with the Trickster, the Horror Game felt that if it didn’t accommodate him, he might just dig a hole for it next.
Players like Lu Qingjia were useful for cleaning up the messes in many instances, but they could be troublesome when they decided to cause trouble.
With Zhong Liyu’s pressure, threatening with the 999+ pieces of blackmail material he had, the Horror Game had no choice but to comply.
Fortunately, the Trickster also cooperated. Honestly, as a Game administrator and an Advanced Player with the qualifications of a Game administrator, neither the Horror Game nor the Infinite Game wanted to see the two fight to the death.
At least for now, as long as the Infinite Game didn’t intend to abandon the Trickster, the Horror Game wasn’t willing to give up on a potential player.
However, the Game knew its players well. Both the Trickster and Lu Qingjia were the type of extreme and obsessive individuals. Their patience was only temporary.
If they were forced to reconcile by the Game’s authority, either one of them could stir up trouble that would shake the heavens.
Early that morning, Lu Qingjia visited his uncle’s grave.
Although the ashes had been stolen by the Trickster, he was accustomed to paying his respects here over the years.
Standing in the morning dew until the sun rose, he returned home with Zhong Liyu.
The login time for the Game was at 4 PM, and it was still early.
Honestly, Lu Qingjia didn’t know what the outcome of this would be.
The Trickster’s methods were cunning and unpredictable. Even with Zhong Liyu insuring his life, if a player of the same level planned well, no insurance was absolute.
Zhong Liyu understood this too. He seemed extra cautious today, clearly prepared for any eventuality.
He had thought of countless ways to break through his abilities and had set up safeguards everywhere, appearing even more cautious than Lu Qingjia.
Lu Qingjia, however, said, “I feel that if the Trickster really keeps the appointment, then any extra preparations are meaningless.”
He had a hunch that although they were both cunning and sinister, if their styles were similar and they were evenly matched in certain aspects, they might revert to the simplest and most brutal mode.
Zhong Liyu couldn’t accept this. It was better to be safe than sorry, especially if the cost could be Lu Qingjia’s life.
He couldn’t afford to lose.
In the meantime, Lu Qingjia invited Fatty out for a meal.
It had been a long time since they last met, both busy—busy clearing the Game, busy adapting to their abilities, busy preparing for the final showdown. They hadn’t even called each other in a long time.
Fatty was now off the market, having started a relationship with the white-collar lady whose WeChat Lu Qingjia helped him get when he first became a Player and came to the city to have dinner with Fatty.
Today, Fatty brought her along for the meal, looking smug and radiant.
Clearly, he had been living a sweet life recently. Lu Qingjia hadn’t thought to call him, and Fatty hadn’t thought to call Lu Qingjia either.
As soon as they sat down, Fatty said triumphantly, “Oh, so you finally remembered your dad?”
“It’s almost Mid-Autumn Festival,” Lu Qingjia replied. “Just checking how my grandson is doing, whether his pocket money is enough.”
Fatty choked, “If I don’t have enough, will you give me some?”
“Puppy love doesn’t count!”
Fatty’s girlfriend giggled beside him.
Fatty glanced at Zhong Liyu, who was getting drinks, and whispered, “Buddy, tell me honestly, did you reconcile voluntarily, or were you forced at gunpoint?”
Lu Qingjia raised an eyebrow, and Fatty anxiously said, “Don’t play this game with me. I know you like to act cool when you feel embarrassed after messing up.”
“Your partner, I really suspect he’s from the underworld. When he came to my house chasing after you, that rocket launcher didn’t look like a plastic toy. Did you sacrifice and compromise for the safety of the whole village?”
As soon as he finished, Zhong Liyu returned. With his hearing, he could have heard Fatty from ten kilometers away if he wanted.
Sitting down, he looked at Fatty with a sinister gaze and said, “What? You want to advise him not to be swayed by others’ safety, to make choices he doesn’t want? To bravely resist and say no to all coercion?”
“I remember you still live with your parents in a community complex.”
Fatty put on a fearless expression and slammed the table with the spirit of a martyr blowing up a bunker—
“Hmph! You think you’re so great. If I didn’t believe my buddy wouldn’t make choices against his will, do you think I’d be scared of mere threats?”
With that, he raised a cup of tea, “No choice, the person my brother chose, even if I don’t agree with this marriage, I can only hold my nose and accept it. Drink this cup of tea, and take good care of my brother from now on.”
Zhong Liyu: “…”
Lu Qingjia: “… You really are unyielding.”
Fatty grabbed the menu to block his face, shielding himself from Zhong Liyu and his girlfriend’s gaze, and instantly revealed a terrified expression, whimpering softly to Lu Qingjia, “Brother, suffer for one, benefit thousands. I’ll help you check online for which brand of lubricant is good.”
Lu Qingjia: “…”
After lunch, they returned to the farmhouse by almost 3 PM.
Zhong Liyu suddenly said, “The Game suddenly summoned the administrators to the Absolute Territory for a meeting. Do you want to come with me?”
Lu Qingjia shook his head, “Why would I go? Isn’t that a place ordinary Players can’t enter?”
Zhong Liyu replied, “I’m not comfortable leaving you alone.”
After all, there was a history of the Trickster intruding, and no one could say if the other party might take this opportunity to strike unexpectedly.
Before the competition, many Games would routinely hold an administrator meeting. This wasn’t a hard-to-predict move, and what if the other party dared to gamble?
If based on the style of the other party as he had learned along the way, that guy was indeed quite a gambler.
Zhong Liyu said, “The Absolute Territory can exist in any form. This time for the meeting, it’s probably just a conference room. You can wait in my lounge next door.”
At this, Lu Qingjia was indeed a bit curious about what an administrator’s territory in the Absolute Territory looked like, so he nodded in agreement.
The next second, his vision shifted, and Lu Qingjia was brought by Zhong Liyu to a corridor.
The corridor was spacious, and its appearance was quite ordinary, with common tiles and walls, nothing special.
But behind them was a grand door wide open. Despite the door being open, with Lu Qingjia’s spiritual power, he couldn’t see the layout inside, only a blur.
“This is to prevent peeking. Only Players at the administrator level can see, hear, or sense what’s inside.”
Besides the grand door, there were several rooms on both sides of the corridor, with each administrator’s name on the doors.
Lu Qingjia glanced over, and the nearest door had the name 【Xie Yi】 carved on it.
Zhong Liyu said, “This is the Fake Taoist’s name.”
He then pointed to the other doors, matching the administrators’ code names with their real names.
Lu Qingjia smiled, “I thought, given the Game’s nature, it would directly hang your nicknames.”
Zhong Liyu’s expression fell, as if mentioning that incident still angered him, and he said to Lu Qingjia, “At first, it was nicknames.”
But what was Zhong Liyu’s nickname?
It certainly wasn’t something he wanted, and it probably ended in a fight.
At that moment, a black figure emerged from the open conference room—a sleek, majestic black leopard.
The leopard’s eyes were sharp, its green pupils fixed on Zhong Liyu. The atmosphere was tense, as if the two could start fighting any second.
Zhong Liyu sneered, “What? Want to get beaten again?”
Lu Qingjia heard the Horror Game’s voice coming from the leopard’s mouth. It snorted and gave a malicious smile, “You did it, and now you don’t want people talking about it?”
“It’s not me who got neutered. Oh, when everyone arrives, before the meeting starts, I think as the boss, it’s necessary to lighten the mood with a joke to relax everyone.”
Zhong Liyu looked at it with a sinister gaze, “I think if I perform a castration on the big cat right there, it would be more entertaining for everyone, ensuring even the laziest won’t doze off.”
“Hmph! Think I’m scared of you? Bring it on!” the leopard shouted arrogantly.
Lu Qingjia interjected, “Then can you not clench your hind legs?”
The leopard had noticed Lu Qingjia earlier and deliberately ignored him to show off its aloofness and authority as the Game’s boss.
If Lu Qingjia knew this thought, he would directly tell it ‘no need.’
As if this idiot had any dignified side left in his eyes.
On the contrary, even though he knew the creature’s true form was a leopard, seeing its majestic appearance that didn’t match its essence only made it more amusing and laughable.
The leopard glared at Lu Qingjia, “I don’t talk to bad guys who like to neuter cats.”
God knows, as a feline, when it saw Zhong Liyu’s foolish antics before, although it laughed, it also felt a chill between its legs.
Zhong Liyu directly grabbed the back of its neck and shook it, “What? Today the Mermaid isn’t here, so you’re not turning into the size of a palm to act pitiful and take advantage?”
Normally, as the competition was about to start, the Mermaid, now an administrator of another medium Game, should also be mobilizing her Players and might not come over at this time.
Perhaps that’s why the Horror Game’s current demeanor was to act cool, not the eye-watering, idiotic behavior that made administrators regret working under it.
But just as the words fell, footsteps came from the corridor.
A crisp and lively female voice sounded, “Oh, there’s a newcomer?”
Lu Qingjia turned around and saw several imposing administrator Players appearing not far away. The one with the strongest presence was a woman with a graceful figure, a powerful aura, and an aggressive beauty.
She wore a low-cut, cool dress, her thick wavy hair swept to one side, looking charming and elegant, exuding charisma.
Even though Lu Qingjia had seen many beauties, he was still struck by such captivating charm, especially after hearing countless legends about her. Seeing her in person, he felt it was only fitting.
Behind her were two men and two women. One of the men was Ouyang Bai, and the other was likely the Mermaid’s husband, known by the nickname Sucker.
The ‘Sucker’ also had an excellent appearance, with an air of an otherworldly sage, the type of unattainable highland flower, which was somewhat different from Lu Qingjia’s expectation.
He was chatting with Ouyang Bai, who noticed Lu Qingjia and waved at him. The man politely followed the gaze and nodded.
The other two female Players were completely opposite in style—one was passionate like fire, the other cold as bamboo, two entirely contrasting types.
They didn’t seem to get along well either, bickering all the way over, exchanging sarcastic remarks.
Could they be the Fake Taoist and the Double-Headed Snake? Was the Fake Taoist a woman, or had he turned into a woman?
But he quickly dismissed this absurd thought.
Before he could speak, the leopard, still held by Zhong Liyu by the scruff of its neck, shrank to the size of a palm and escaped from his grasp.
Then, with lightning speed, it darted to the Mermaid, jumped into her arms, and landed precisely on her chest.
While rubbing against her chest, it complained like a bullied victim, “That Char Siu wants to hit me again, Yang Yang, that Char Siu wants to hit me again~~”
“Since you left, my life has been even harder. None of the subordinates respect me. I only have you now, wuwuwu~~”
The Mermaid’s face showed a look of accustomed calm, her hand rubbing the now miniature leopard’s head, mouthing perfunctory words, “Oh, poor thing, our leopard is so cute, how could someone bear to hit you?”
Though she said this, her actions showed no intention of standing up for it.
But fortunately, the Game’s goal wasn’t this. Lu Qingjia witnessed the beast, taking advantage of its current hamster-like size, nestled in her cleavage, looking like it had gone to heaven, being rubbed by the Mermaid into a puddle of jelly.
Zhong Liyu lowered his voice just enough for everyone to hear, “This thing is probably hard already.”
The highland flower type of handsome man asked Zhong Liyu, “How do you know so clearly?”
Ouyang Bai immediately sold Zhong Liyu out, “He’s played this trick before.”
Instantly, the administrators in the corridor looked at Zhong Liyu with subtle expressions.
Zhong Liyu, instead of being ashamed, took pride in it, showing no embarrassment, and even reminded the mini leopard still rubbing and cooing, “We still have a meeting. Why don’t you just sit on Zhu Yang’s chest? That way, we don’t waste time, and your little wish is fulfilled.”
The Horror Game was more than willing, nodding eagerly, “Okay, okay, but just to be clear, I’m not thinking dirty thoughts. It’s just that your idiot friend hit my butt before, and it still hurts. I need to sit on something soft.”
Then it looked up with watery green eyes at the Mermaid, “You understand, right?”
“Or should I sit on your lap?”
The mini leopard nodded, “That’s fine too, I’m not picky.”
After answering, it realized the last sentence was spoken by a man, in a sinister tone.
It stiffly looked up, and everyone saw a dark-faced handsome man standing behind the Mermaid.
Compared to the previous ethereal man who showed no reaction to the Game’s antics, this one fit the Sucker’s description better.
In terms of looks and temperament, he was the same type as Zhong Liyu—a handsome man who would stand out in a crowd at first glance.
But compared to Zhong Liyu, his demeanor was more ascetic.
Now, holding the leopard by the scruff of its neck, he sneered, “Your butt hurts, right? Don’t worry, Daddy will take care of you during the meeting.”
The Game let out a scream, “Weren’t you not notified? Why are you here?”
Zhong Liyu smiled brightly, “I notified him. As fellow administrators, how could he miss such an important meeting? I was afraid you’d forget to inform him again.”
The Game glared at Zhong Liyu, “You little bastard, you set me up.”
But before it could finish, the ‘Sucker’ slapped it onto his solid chest muscles, “Let’s go. Since you like humans so much and want to crawl into their chests, Daddy will satisfy you today.”
Then he complained to the Mermaid, “Why do you indulge this idiot in everything it does?”
The Mermaid shrugged, “If you keep a Teddy at home, it’ll hump your leg. If you keep a cat, it’ll knead your lap. Why bother with a pet?”
The Game nodded, “Yeah, yeah, why are you so angry?”
Everyone: “…”
The Mermaid was ruthless, already treating the Game as her pet, and the idiot was still happy about it.
The Sucker carried the Game and nodded to Zhong Liyu, leading the way into the conference room. The others followed.
They approached Zhong Liyu and Lu Qingjia, “Oh, so this is the one? We’ve heard so much about you.”
The Game had spilled Zhong Liyu’s dark history, and none of the administrators were unaware that he had been scammed. Given his demeanor, it was unlikely he’d fall for someone else. Bringing Lu Qingjia here clearly indicated he was the main character in that incident.
The Mermaid sized up Lu Qingjia, whistled, and handed him a business card, “Come play in my Game sometime.”
Her tone was certain, as if stating a fact that would inevitably happen.
If it were an ordinary person, they might interpret it as a beautiful woman’s confidence in her charm. But as the former administrator of one of the three major Games, and now the Game itself, every word she spoke could be analyzed for deeper meaning.
It seemed he might at least not die in this competition.
Lu Qingjia smiled at her, “Certainly.”
The Mermaid seemed to see through Lu Qingjia’s instant analysis, smiled at Zhong Liyu, “I like him. You have good taste.”
Zhong Liyu was about to bask in the compliment when she added, “Being scammed wasn’t undeserved.”
“…”
After the Mermaid entered the conference room, the other two beauties approached. One was pure and gentle, the other alluring and enchanting.
They greeted Lu Qingjia warmly, but he noticed a hint of temptation in their eyes.
From the greeting to the handshake, subtle movements and hints in their eyes and brows displayed their feminine charm.
Lu Qingjia’s eyes flickered, smiling at the two, “I’ve always heard of the Double-Headed Snake, but I didn’t expect it to be two such outstanding beauties. Truly, seeing is believing.”
The two exchanged glances, instantly losing interest, the allure they exuded disappearing.
The red-dressed beauty clicked her tongue, “Sly and good at flattering women, my least favorite type.”
The white-dressed beauty nodded, “If we can’t fool him, it’s no fun.”
After saying this, they were no longer as enthusiastic, calmly turning to enter the conference room.
The Double-Headed Snake was the codename for one of the administrator seats, but it wasn’t held by one person, but a pair of twin beauties.
Although their temperaments were vastly different, and their styles and outfits were completely opposite, they were actually almost identical in appearance. However, their personal styles were so strong that most people wouldn’t notice their resemblance at first glance, just as Lu Qingjia initially didn’t.
According to the Game’s earlier words, the Double-Headed Snake had a grudge with Zhong Liyu. When his being scammed was exposed, they had a fight, and the Double-Headed Snake hadn’t won physically, always wanting to regain face.
Zhong Liyu said, “These two are like spider spirits from the Spiders’ Den. The men they’ve dumped in the Game could circle the Earth.”
These experienced heartbreakers had their own ways of recognizing men.
Just from the greeting, they knew Lu Qingjia wasn’t the type they could manipulate. From their eye contact, they could see a match in their heartless nature, and thus lost interest in provoking Zhong Liyu this way.
Then the remaining highland flower type of handsome man must be the Fake Taoist. According to Zhong Liyu, this guy in reality went around taking jobs, but how many ghosts were there in the real world? Mostly just putting on a show.
The key was, he was afraid of ghosts, running faster than anyone at the sight of one. It was a miracle he had come this far.
But due to his ethereal, otherworldly demeanor, people believed he had real skills just by looking at him.
In short, he was quite the swindler.
Zhong Liyu settled Lu Qingjia in his own lounge and then headed to the conference hall.
That conference hall was the manifestation of the Absolute Territory and the residence of the Horror Game.
Lu Qingjia looked around the lounge that belonged to Zhong Liyu, noting that it could also change according to the owner’s will.
To ensure Lu Qingjia had a comfortable experience, Zhong Liyu had transformed the room into a replica of their bedroom.
By the time Zhong Liyu returned, it was almost time to log into the Game.
Zhong Liyu said, “It’s been agreed that this time, each of the three major Games will only allow two administrators to participate. On our side, I and Ouyang Bai will accompany you inside. As for the Infinite Game, if the Trickster truly keeps his word, aside from him and his impostor, the remaining one is likely someone aligned with his interests.”
“We need to be prepared to face three administrator-level Players simultaneously. But don’t worry, in terms of combat power alone, even if he brings three more, it wouldn’t be an issue.”
Lu Qingjia smiled, “But administrators can’t attack other Players, right?”
Zhong Liyu wasn’t surprised that he figured it out. Indeed, to ensure fairness in the competition, the rivalry between administrators is also at the administrator level.
An unwritten rule of the competition is to avoid taking lives unless absolutely necessary. The instance is filled with rare treasures, and the rewards based on post-event performance rankings are astonishing.
This is a rare instance with low risk and high rewards, and no one wants to break this rule.
By choosing this as their battleground, Lu Qingjia and the Trickster have minimized the possibility of other Players getting involved.
“Then, let’s enter the Game,” Lu Qingjia said.
