Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 32

Ever since Zhu Ci proposed her idea, Peng Lingshan expressed that she could create a rough blueprint first, and any issues could be refined later.

It just so happened that Ye Qingqing’s communication card was still with her, so they invited her team as well. Ye Qingqing agreed without hesitation.

Zhu Yuan was extremely happy about the reboot of START. Recently, he had been busy running around doing publicity and recruitment, leaving only one communication card for Zhu Ci.

This communication card looked no different from any other on the outside, but it had a hidden protrusion inside. When pressed, it would reveal a transparent screen capable of video calls.

According to Zhu Yuan, it was very expensive, and he had only bought one, so Zhu Ci accepted it slowly and carefully.

That day, Zhu Yuan had mentioned joining Qiming and needing to go to the Main God for verification, but in all the busyness, the matter had been forgotten.

Originally, everyone had enough points to wait a while before entering a new dungeon. After all, with Zhu Yuan joining, even the most difficult tasks would become simple.

However, three days later, Zhu Ci’s neighbor returned.

Zhu Ci discovered this as she was leaving Zhu Yuan’s house. She had teleported from the Luxury District to the Common District and was walking briskly toward her home.

Before entering her own door, she noticed the neighbor’s door was open.

The door creaked as it swayed in the wind, left slightly ajar.

Zhu Ci found it strange. She observed for a moment before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

“Tong Lexi, is that you? Are you back?”

She called out as she walked. The apartment was small, with the same layout as her own just one bedroom and a living room. The lights weren’t on, and the only illumination came from the faint light filtering through the windows, leaving the interior visible at a glance.

Is no one here?

Zhu Ci walked around twice. The appliances were in their proper places, but the floor was a mess, covered in discarded clothes and even item cards.

The wardrobe was shaking.

“Tong Lexi?” She walked toward the wardrobe.

She pulled hard.

It didn’t open fully, only revealing a gap a gap about the width of a finger.

She asked again, “Tong Lexi, is it you?”

The gap was pitch black. Someone was definitely pulling the door shut from the other side, but there was no handle inside the wardrobe; how was she doing it?

Zhu Ci immediately summoned her blade, pointing the tip at the crack.

“Come out.”

She counted to three in her mind.

One.

The wardrobe door opened.

Tong Lexi was curled up in the corner of the wardrobe, her face covered in tears. She held her head with both hands, muttering incessantly, “Save me, save me…”

A wrench lay beside her. It seemed she had used it to hook the frame from the bottom, which was why the door wouldn’t budge.

“You’re already out of the dungeon, it’s okay,” Zhu Ci said, thinking she had lost herself because the dungeon was too terrifying. She patted her shoulder to comfort her.

“No!” Tong Lexi suddenly grabbed her arm, her expression filled with pure terror. “No! I haven’t come out yet!”

It took a long time to force Tong Lexi to calm down. She remained squatting in the wardrobe, hugging her knees, her whole body shaking with sobs.

Zhu Ci squatted down while leaning against the wardrobe, looking up at her. “What exactly happened?”

Through her sobs, Tong Lexi finished telling the whole story.

When she first went to select a dungeon, she chose a Difficult one to save time and earn more points.

In a Difficult dungeon, simply escaping would grant ten thousand points. If one explored the entire main storyline, the rewards would far exceed that.

So, she hadn’t hesitated much.

Having found the novice dungeon relatively easy, she didn’t realize what was waiting for her.

The dungeon was titled “Red Gu in the Deep Mountains.” It was a Difficult (SR) multi-player dungeon set in a modern background. According to Tong Lexi, it involved a geography exploration group led by an NPC instructor that accidentally wandered into a deep mountain range. The mountain people still practiced a matrilineal clan system, and some of them used a form of sorcery called “Red Gu.” The dungeon requirement was simply to successfully escape the mountain.

At first, she laughed and chatted with the others as if they were on a tour, feeling that it wasn’t a big deal. The mountain people were very friendly toward women, and she had received a lot of preferential treatment.

She thought that once the heavy rain stopped, they could simply leave.

But things were not that simple.

Tong Lexi wept, her tears smearing onto Zhu Ci’s arm, her words becoming illogical. “I thought it was so simple, how could this be called a Difficult dungeon? I planned to leave once the rain stopped, but when it did, they wouldn’t let me go. They said something about… karma, and that I could only leave after the cycle was finished. We didn’t believe them and went straight down the mountain, but after wandering for a whole day, we ended up right back in the village.”

Zhu Ci pulled a tissue to wipe her tears. “And then?”

“Then… then they went crazy!” She blew her nose hard, calming her emotions slightly. “The players… they started killing. They killed everyone, even the villagers. Everyone was so scared they went into hiding. Since they couldn’t get out, they started killing each other. The NPC instructor died first. I hid. The villagers wouldn’t let me hide in their homes, so I lay in the mud on the mountain, smearing mud on my face, for days and nights without food or water.”

“When all the players were dead, the Great Priestess of the mountain told me that my karma cycle wasn’t finished yet. She told me to finish it before coming back. When I woke up, I found myself standing at my own front door.”

As she spoke, Tong Lexi vomited. She vomited all over the floor and the wardrobe, but she still refused to come out, sitting right in the middle of the mess.

“Zhu Ci, am I going back? I stayed there for a month. I don’t want to go back. Zhu Ci, save me, please save me!”

The two struggled for a long time until Tong Lexi finally exhausted herself and fell asleep against the edge of the wardrobe. Only then did Zhu Ci get a moment of rest. She sighed and went home to get a mop to clean the room; otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to stand the smell herself.

She carried Tong Lexi to the bed and changed her clothes. Only after finishing all this did she return to her own apartment.

However, the next morning, before 4:00 AM, the doorbell of Zhu Ci’s apartment was rung frantically. Someone was pounding on the door urgently.

As soon as she opened the door, a figure lunged at her, knocking her straight to the floor.

“Zhu Ci, Zhu Ci! Where did you go!” Tong Lexi hugged her neck and wailed, her tears soaking a patch of Zhu Ci’s shoulder.

“Don’t leave me, I beg you! I’m going to die!”

“You’re not going to die,” Zhu Ci said, pushing her forehead back to create some distance. “This is outside the dungeon; you’ll be fine.”

“That’s not true! Look!” She suddenly hiked up her long sleeve.

Snaking around her arm were several deep black marks, stretching from her wrist to her shoulder, forming a strange pattern—more like a curse or a talisman.

“This is the Red Gu! I’m going to die, I’m doomed. The priestess told me I must return within three days…” Tong Lexi collapsed weakly onto the floor.

Zhu Ci grabbed her wrist to examine it closely.

The Red Gu was long and wide, covering her entire left arm and half of her torso. There was a faint black glow within the lines, flickering slightly.

It looked… alive.

Zhu Ci asked, “What exactly did the Great Priestess tell you?”

Tong Lexi remained limp, her head tilted, eyes darting toward the upper right as she recalled. “Um… the Priestess said that within three days, I have to complete the karma, because those who flee must return. One person from the previous batch escaped, so I was released too, but I have to follow the next group back. Otherwise, if the karma is unfinished, the Red Gu will not dissipate.”

“So you’re saying you have to choose this dungeon and go back? But there are rules for dungeon selection; a person can usually only choose a dungeon once.”

“That’s what I said!” she screamed, as if remembering a key point. “But she said… she said it doesn’t matter. I can choose it because the record of my first choice has been erased.”

Tong Lexi crawled toward Zhu Ci on her knees and grabbed her lower leg. “Zhu Ci, help me, okay? I know I was wrong. As long as I can get rid of this mark, I swear I’ll never go to a Difficult dungeon again. I beg you, help me. I only know you here. I know you’ve been to many dungeons. Please come with me, otherwise I’ll definitely die! Waaah!”

She cried sincerely for a long time, so long that she thought Zhu Ci would surely refuse, until she heard a voice from above: “Fine. Wait for me to prepare.”

“Really? You’re coming with me? Truly?” She sat up and wiped away her tears.

“Let’s get one thing straight: I’ve never been to a Difficult dungeon before, so don’t count on me too much. I’m not helping you because you’re pitiful; I’m helping because I’ve realized something. If I only rely on others and walk forward timidly, I will never get close to the truth of this world, and I will never get the Resurrection Card to save my parents.”

Zhu Ci’s words left Tong Lexi stunned for a moment.

The person across from her simply stood up with indifferent eyes and continued, “Pack your things. We leave now. We’ll go and come back quickly.”

Before leaving, Zhu Ci tried to call Yu Jiayi’s communication card, but the other side must have been busy with the START reboot tasks and didn’t pick up.

She thought for a moment and considered using her brother’s card.

Ultimately, she put it down.

She would deal with it once they were inside. If she called now and he tried to stop her or insisted on coming along, it wouldn’t be good.

Tong Lexi was carrying a large backpack stuffed with clothes. Zhu Ci was truly speechless. “Do you think this is an outing? Why are you bringing so many clothes? We’ll be there for ten days at most.”

“But… I need to change over ten days…” She carried the large bag, looking slightly hesitant.

“How many item cards do you have?”

“Ah,” she rummaged through her bag, looking like she wanted to throw all her clothes out. “Four. I got them in the dungeon. One weapon, three enchantments.”

“Store them in your sleeve armguard, otherwise you’ll lose them.”

Tong Lexi nodded vigorously.

Zhu Ci massaged her temples. Then actually do it.

It took a full minute for Tong Lexi to react and absorb the item cards into her sleeve.

Once finished, she looked at Zhu Ci with bright, expectant eyes.

For a moment, Zhu Ci felt a twinge of regret regarding her decision.

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