Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 30

“Eight thousand points… how long can I make this last?”

Inside the F3 cafe, Chen Jian sat hugging his laptop, calculating away. He was clearly thrilled with the points he had earned this time, even going so far as to make a grand gesture by buying coffee for everyone.

“This dungeon only took three days. Considering that, it’s about our average speed for clearing one. What’s wrong with you, He Fanghui? You look miserable,” Yu Jiayi said, taking a sip of her latte as she looked at He Fanghui, who was slumped dejectedly over the table.

“My ribeye steak… my avocado salad… my Ecuadorian prawns…” she mumbled incoherently. Back in Peleconk, all food had to be purchased. High-quality ingredients cost a fortune in points, unlike in the dungeons where one could eat to their heart’s content.

Zhu Ci rested her forehead in her hand, lost in thought.

Watching the three of them—each preoccupied with their own concerns—Yu Jiayi sighed. Jiang He’s words were still echoing in her mind.

The future was bleak.

If they were looking for someone to place their hopes in, she truly hoped they hadn’t chosen the wrong person.

Chen Jian continued his muttering: “Eight thousand. If I spend three thousand, I can live for an entire year and still have five thousand left. If I tighten my belt and live on two thousand, I’ll have six thousand left…”

“Zhu Ci, how many points do you have now?”

“Hmm? Me?” Zhu Ci snapped out of her daze. She had been spacing out a lot lately. “Eight thousand six hundred.”

Chen Jian remarked, “Then you have less than me. Aside from the essentials, I’m going to save the rest for a rainy day.”

“Zhu Ci has been through fewer dungeons than us, right? Including the novice one, it should only be three?” Yu Jiayi asked.

Zhu Ci nodded.

“How did you end up entering the dungeons so late? With your skills, if you had started earlier, you’d probably be on the leaderboard by now.”

Zhu Ci waved off the compliment. “What skills? It was just luck. Besides, all the residents of the Common District went into the dungeons—including my neighbors—and not a single one has returned.”

She hadn’t seen that cute neighbor girl since.

In Peleconk, there was a large group of people who refused to enter the dungeons. Some simply starved to death in the commercial streets and were hauled away for “clearing.” Others used their manual skills to trade with players for points to scrap together a living.

Because robbery and theft were impossible—points being stored within the system—the number of people begging for food on the streets had increased. However, if they bothered passersby, they were dealt with according to Protocol One.

Some even wanted to be sent to the Quarantine Zone. According to He Fanghui, the Quarantine Zone provided food that wasn’t half bad. But if you were sent there too many times, you were “cleared.”

“So, the people on the leaderboard must be rich, right? Their points must be astronomical,” Chen Jian said with a hint of longing. “Especially the number one spot, that ‘Zhu Yuan.’ They’re in a league of their own, miles ahead of the person in second.”

Zhu Yuan… just what kind of person were they?

Zhu Ci wasn’t in the mood to research others. She was focused on something far more important.

The moment she had returned, she went straight to the Central District to find the Master God. She wanted clarity on the questions Xiao Chuang refused to answer.

Why do humans turn into RMs?

But the Master God’s static-filled screen only flickered, its gentle voice drifting out: “My child, humans do not turn into RMs. RMs are merely data.”

“I saw it with my own eyes. In that case, tell me: where did Duan Jingchuan go?” Zhu Ci demanded, facing the Master God’s deception.

“There is no such person in either Redwolfel or Peleconk.”

The Master God’s answer disappointed her deeply. This game didn’t just have massive loopholes; it was actively hiding the truth within its rules.

Seeing that she didn’t believe it, the Master God added: “My child, I promise you, the person you are looking for is absolutely not in these two places. I never lie.”

“What is Redwolfel?”

“It is the realm where all dungeons reside. You said you saw him turn into an RM in one of the dungeons. But I swear, he is not in the dungeons. If I have told a single lie, then the game ‘Genesis: Eerie Phobia’ shall cease to exist.”

Zhu Ci stuck her straw in her mouth and took a frustrated gulp.

Based on her intuition, the Master God’s oath seemed genuine.

While she didn’t believe much else it said, was it possible that Duan Jingchuan really wasn’t in those two places anymore?

Then where could he be?

“My black truffle mushroom soup!” He Fanghui wailed. Fortunately, they were the only ones in the cafe, otherwise, they would have drawn everyone’s stares.

“Stop howling. If you want it that badly, just buy a bowl,” Zhu Ci snapped back, finding her energy only when it was time to bicker with He Fanghui.

Chen Jian called out to her: “Zhu Ci, come here and help me look at this. I made a Voronoi diagram; check it for me.”

“I don’t understand that stuff. I studied Chinese Literature,” Zhu Ci said, giving it an unenthusiastic glance.

“Don’t overthink it,” Yu Jiayi said, sensing her distress. “The bastards who dragged us to this hellhole aren’t going to be kind enough to explain everything to us.”

Chen Jian spoke while tapping on his keyboard: “We aren’t some sort of saviors. If humanity is going to be saved, we’d be better off relying on the top rankers. Maybe they’ll escape and save us as a byproduct. Right now, the most important thing is figuring out how to survive the next dungeon—which one to pick and how to prepare.”

Zhu Ci still couldn’t find her motivation. Yu Jiayi suggested: “How about we go check the Team Leaderboard tonight? After this dungeon, we might have actually made the list.”

The Central District was largely empty at night, save for players who had sold their homes because they had no points. They slept outside in their clothes, shivering and emaciated.

“They look so pitiful,” Yu Jiayi remarked, giving ten points to a player lying nearby. The man was so grateful he began kowtowing to her repeatedly.

“Yu Jiayi, don’t let your sympathy run wild,” He Fanghui pulled her away as other players nearby began to swarm them, begging for handouts. “You can save them for a moment, but can you save them for a lifetime? We can barely save ourselves.”

As more players gathered, the four of them dodged away, running toward a less crowded area.

Everyone understood this reality, including Zhu Ci. But whenever she thought about how her parents, her brother, or her friends could be among these people, she felt a pang of misery.

The four of them fell silent.

Except for He Fanghui, who was naturally solitary and unbothered, the other three all had families.

But in this game, no one knew when—or if—they would ever see them again.

He Fanghui hated the heavy atmosphere. She scrolled through the leaderboard and suddenly pointed excitedly: “Look! We really are on the list!”

As team sizes increase, the corresponding difficulty of the dungeons goes up. Often, it’s easier for people to just agree to enter the same dungeon rather than form an official team, so there weren’t many teams on the list.

Their team, Qi Ming, was ranked in the lower-middle section of the board.

The shift in topic worked; everyone’s mood lifted slightly.

Yu Jiayi said, “I didn’t expect to climb the ranks after just one dungeon. It seems our team’s skill level isn’t low.”

“Hmph, with me around, that’s a given,” He Fanghui said arrogantly.

They chatted and laughed for a while. Zhu Ci thought back to how she had forgotten to ask Chen Liangyi for his team’s name. Ye Qingqing had said they were on the list, but now, they were likely gone.

Chen Jian asked, “Do you think people who die in the dungeons get graves?”

“Like Chen Liangyi’s coffin?” Yu Jiayi pondered.

“No, no… I mean, something like a place where souls are kept…” Chen Jian tried to visualize it.

Did such a place actually exist?

“Of course it does.”

A different voice broke into their conversation. The once-familiar tone exploded in Zhu Ci’s mind like a sudden clearing of fog.

She whipped her head around.

The man was tall and upright, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Beneath his neatly cropped hair were thick, slightly upturned eyebrows and a pair of deep, soul-piercing eyes.

His features looked as if they had been cast from the same mold as Zhu Ci’s.

“Ah!” He Fanghui cried out. “A—a male Zhu Ci!”

Zhu Ci’s mouth hung open.

“Brother.”

They returned to the cafe.

Even though it was night, Peleconk remained as bright as ever. The man sat alone on one side of the largest table, while the four of them squeezed together on the opposite side, facing him.

“Zhu Ci, this guy is your brother?” Chen Jian whispered, leaning close to her. “He said he was that guy from the last dungeon. Are you sure he isn’t some psycho pretending to be your brother? You know, like He Fanghui, who kills for fun?”

“For the last time, killing isn’t a hobby. And I only kill men,” He Fanghui hissed, glaring at him across the table.

Chen Jian shivered and shrank back toward Yu Jiayi.

Zhu Ci was certain. This man was her brother—Zhu Yuan. His appearance, his habits, even her own intuition—nothing could deny his true identity.

“Why did you do it?” she heard herself ask.

“Zhu Ci, long time no see. You’ve grown up,” Zhu Yuan said, ignoring her question and pivoting to something trivial.

“What is wrong with you?” Chen Jian, filled with a sense of justice, slammed his hand on the table. “You did all that in the dungeon—you even shocked your own sister! Aren’t you going to explain yourself?”

Zhu Yuan arched an eyebrow. “I am speaking to my sister. This is a family matter.”

“Please answer me,” Zhu Ci’s voice turned cold.

“You really have become much steadier. I remember seeing you a year ago; you used to cling to me, calling me ‘Brother’ and waiting for the gifts I’d bring home.”

BANG! The table rattled violently. He Fanghui slammed a foot onto the table, her high heel puncturing a hole in the surface. “Listen, brat. You’d better not test the limits of my patience.”

“Fighting is forbidden in Peleconk. Do you want to be sent to the Quarantine Zone again, He Fanghui?”

Zhu Yuan spoke her name accurately and even knew about the Quarantine Zone. Enraged, He Fanghui moved to climb over the table to hit him, but Yu Jiayi held her back.

“He’s right. You can’t afford another trip to the Quarantine Zone.”

“Keep him out of my next dungeon, or I swear I’ll kill him.”

Irritation bubbled up inside Zhu Ci. She felt like she never got the answers she wanted, but she kept her composure. She simply stated, “If you don’t want to talk, then fine. Knowing you’re alive is enough. Remember to look for Mom and Dad. Let’s go.”

“Mom and Dad…”

Zhu Ci had already stood up to leave, but she froze at those words.

“Mom and Dad are both dead.”

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