Mutual Redemption with the Villainous Boss [Infinite] - Chapter 4

“What words? The RM imitating Uncle Wang spoke too; was there something wrong with that?” Zhu Ci asked, puzzled. That monster, which had nonchalantly lifted its own head along with its helmet, had spoken to her for quite a while without any issues.

Xiao Chuang explained, “RMs are standard monsters in the game; they only follow the game’s preset programming. How could they possibly say something like ‘item card’?”

“Player, there is definitely something wrong with that RM. You must be careful.”

Just now, that RM had indeed mentioned the term “item card.” How could it have known she used an Enchantment Card?

Furthermore, it had told her to stay there and not leave. Was it setting a trap? Or was it going to bring back more monsters?

No, she couldn’t dwell on it. Zhu Ci looked at the transparent display on her sleeve—there were only 20 minutes left on the Sensory Vanisher.

She stuffed the papers into her bag. “Let’s go. We need to check the other rooms.”

Just as the words left her mouth, a box in the corner moved.

Zhu Ci focused her attention, but the box only shook, as if something trapped inside was struggling to get out.

It shook for a long time without anything crawling out. Her patience was limited, so she decided to go over and see for herself.

The corner of the room was too dark, and the light filtering in from the window was a crimson red. She turned on her phone’s flashlight and aimed it at the box.

The box was covered in a thick layer of dust. At a casual glance, it looked no different from the counters outside.

However, as the faint white light hit it, she noticed something off.

It seemed to be a box with a transparent lid; she could see inside through the cracks in the dust.

Zhu Ci took a tissue from her bag and wiped the dust off the lid.

As half of the top surface was revealed, she realized her initial assumption had been completely wrong.

It wasn’t a box at all; it was a dust-covered freezer.

Without the shroud of dust, the object shaking inside moved even faster, as if desperate for the person outside to discover it.

Zhu Ci pressed her flashlight against the freezer, tilting it to illuminate the interior.

Holding her breath, she quietly observed the things lying inside.

Two very small infants were tumbling and crawling within the freezer. Sometimes they lay on their backs, kicking their legs against the walls, their little mouths tightly shut, refusing to make a sound, only creating slight movements.

Suddenly, one of the infants sensed something. It looked up and locked eyes with the observing Zhu Ci.

Its tightly shut mouth opened, trembling incessantly, and then it burst into a loud wail!

The emotion of one infant infected the other, and both began to cry. The sound was so loud that Zhu Ci hurried to open the freezer to stop them from screaming.

But it was already too late.

A violent, mournful sound began to approach.

One wave after another—Zhu Ci couldn’t care about anything else. She shoved her phone into her bag and used both hands to pull at the freezer lid with all her might.

The freezer wouldn’t budge. She summoned her knife and struck it fiercely.

Xiao Chuang appeared anxious, but it couldn’t interrupt. If Zhu Ci was choosing to open the freezer instead of fleeing immediately, she must have thought of something or found a clue for escape.

If it interfered, it might cause trouble for the player.

The floor of the room began to bulge and protrude, shaking so violently that Zhu Ci couldn’t keep her balance and fell to the floor. A viscous liquid began to seep from the walls, and that foul, fishy stench returned. She felt her stomach churn.

There was no time!

Zhu Ci opened the Mall and found a one-time escape tool in the Enchantment section. Unfortunately, it cost 100 points.

She didn’t have that many. Even adding all her points together, she couldn’t afford even the cheapest escape tool.

Was this the end? She hadn’t even eaten the meal her father was supposed to cook tonight, hadn’t heard her mother’s voice, and then there was her brother… her brother had said he would bring his girlfriend home this year. She had been looking forward to it for so long…

The slime seeped in rapidly, enveloping the entire room. Screams and mournful wails echoed from the ceiling, and the red rain outside shrouded the entire world.

The ceiling was forcefully broken open. The kind of insects she had seen before crawled in from the gap, revealing the true form of the monster.

It was a giant, round-headed, thousand-legged insect with a face that uncannily resembled a human.

Terrified, Zhu Ci closed her eyes. This might be the last scene she would ever see before she died…

A hand grabbed her wrist.

A violent force pulled her. Before she could even look back, she felt herself being dragged into a cramped space. The lid above slid shut, blocking out the external noise, leaving only the sound of faint breathing.

There were still traces of dust she hadn’t finished wiping above her head. She realized she was likely inside that freezer.

She turned her head to look at the owner of the hand gripping her wrist.

An RM that looked exactly like her was breathing shallowly, looking up to observe the monster outside. Noticing Zhu Ci staring, it leaned in and made a shushing gesture.

The monster above poked its head through the ceiling, releasing its insects to search everywhere. The fishy slime dripped from the round-headed giant insect’s mouth as its twisted, braided head turned in every direction. Slime dripped all over the floor, with a few drops splashing onto the freezer.

After searching for a while, the monster failed to find its target. Its mournful wail turned into a piercing roar, a long shriek that was deafening.

Suddenly, the monster jerked its head up, smashed through the ceiling, and roared toward a distant direction before charging straight toward it.

The swarm of insects retreated. The fluids on the floor hissed, corroding the entire floorboard.

After waiting for a few minutes to ensure the insects had all crawled away, the RM opened the freezer door and pulled Zhu Ci out.

Blood-colored water from outside dripped through the broken ceiling. Once they were standing steady, the RM asked, “How much time is left on your item card?”

Zhu Ci glanced at the screen on her sleeve. Two minutes left.

“It’s no use even though you saved me. If I’m not killed by that thing, I’ll soon die of pain right here.”

The RM understood. It reached into the freezer, rummaged for a moment, and pulled out an infant. The infant was crying heart-wrenchingly, its legs curled up, but its hands were clenched into tight fists.

Without a trace of pity, the RM forced open the infant’s clenched hand and took out a damp little card.

“Here.”

It was a faintly shimmering Enchantment Card. She hesitated for a moment as the time on her sleeve ticked down to one minute.

Steeling her heart, Zhu Ci took it and snapped it into the third slot.

A flash of light came from her bag. She pulled out her phone to see the screen lit up, displaying only three words:

“Please take a photo.”

Was she supposed to take a photo of herself? Zhu Ci opened the camera, took a selfie, and even flashed a peace sign next to her face.

Nothing happened.

The RM simply watched her with a calm gaze. Time ran out; the final minute reached its end.

The imagined pain did not arrive. Her body was still covered in slightly congealed blood, sticky and gross, but nothing happened.

The text on the phone changed, becoming a line of words: “Town Twins” Dungeon Limited SR-grade Enchantment Card — Tears Like Rain.

The “Sensory Vanisher” and her watermelon knife from before were only R-cards. This one was actually an SR. Zhu Ci felt she had obtained something good.

“Does this have any other use besides stopping the pain from the red rain?” Zhu Ci asked curiously, studying the line of text.

The RM shook its head and looked at her gently. It spoke: “I have to go. Remember, the rooms on the second floor can see a large tree, but the infant’s bed must be viewed from different angles.”

Having said its piece, it turned away without lingering. It walked to the window, opened it easily, and flipped out, never looking back.

It left so quickly that Zhu Ci didn’t even have time to say thank you.

Thank it for saving her life.

“Player, you’ve obtained a limited item and found a clue! Success isn’t far off. You’re amazing; I knew I didn’t pick the wrong person!” Xiao Chuang flew up and down happily, shaking some sparkling stardust from its wings.

“Why doesn’t this limited Enchantment Card show a duration or cooldown?” Zhu Ci turned the phone over and over, confirming there was only that one line of text.

“It might not have one, or it might be hidden, requiring a trigger condition to show up,” Xiao Chuang’s blue eyes reflected the crimson of the rain, its golden hair shimmering. “But this is a novice world dungeon; it won’t be that hard. It should be available for unrestricted use.”

Zhu Ci nodded and decided to put her phone away first to check the second floor. The words the RM said before leaving sounded like a hint; perhaps that was the clue to escape.

Zhu Ci walked toward the door, not noticing Xiao Chuang following behind her. Its eyes, reflected red, swirled into an intense, pitch black.

An RM that gives hints? That is definitely a BUG. I need to report this to the GM.

The aging stairs of the second floor creaked. The hole in the ceiling was still letting in rain. The master bedroom seemed to have been half-smashed by the monster, but the room at the far left end was perfectly intact.

She pushed the door open. There was even more dust here, as if it hadn’t been cleaned in centuries. It was stifling.

The window in this room was very large and wide. A small crib stood there, enclosed by wooden bars. A few stray stuffed toys hung from the top, along with a wind chime that moved without wind but could no longer make a sound.

She walked forward. The inside of the bed was empty, but strange lines were drawn on the bedboard outside the bars. They looked like a child’s random scribbles.

The rain outside blocked part of the view, but she could vaguely see a two-story-tall tree out there, its leaves rustling as they were battered by the red rain.

“It said the crib must be viewed from different angles. Xiao Chuang, I’ve decided to climb that tree.”

Xiao Chuang clapped incessantly, praising her cleverness.

Zhu Ci went downstairs and stood before the blood-water for a moment. Then, she resolutely reached her hand out. The expected pain did not occur.

Only then did she feel relieved and rushed into the blood-rain.

She circled to the base of the large tree. She had never climbed a tree before, so she summoned her knife, stabbed it into the tree, and climbed up using both hands and feet.

Because she was looking up, the water easily got into her eyes. She could only squint, grabbing branches and kicking off the trunk until she barely reached the top.

Adjusting her posture, she looked toward the small building, peering at the nursery. She still couldn’t understand what the lines on the bed represented.

The wind chime on the crib hung slightly to the left, swaying. Zhu Ci had a sudden inspiration. She plucked a leaf to block the left side of the bed separated by the wind chime, then leaned her head toward the right, using her other hand to steady herself against a branch.

The lines separated and combined. She then reordered them in her mind.

“917”

September 17th?

She tossed the leaf aside and pulled the papers from her bag, finding the same date.

On the first page of Uncle Li’s notes, the twins were discovered during a check-up on September 17th.

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