CHAPTER 268: CHAPTER 268: ENCOUNTERING A BUG

The final boss on the ninth day—Ren Suo couldn’t even tell if it was a demon, a ghost, or some other kind of creature.

He had no choice but to ask Red Armor to drag the body over and then had the female store owner examine the corpse by touch:

"Target Type: Primate Order Adult Male"

"Meal Plan: None"

"Status: Deceased"

"Cause of Death: Psychic Aggregate Explosion"

A Psychic Aggregate Explosion? Ren Suo looked at the back of the corpse’s head. Was there a bomb hidden there? But how could it have exploded just when this person was about to eat?

At that moment, Red Armor said, "Mysterious methods. I can feel remnants of Spiritual Energy at the back of his head. Could it be that someone killed him from a distance?"

But then he shook his head. "Impossible."

"In this space where Your Excellency resides, all external interferences are blocked. I cannot sense anything from the outside world, and likewise, nothing from the outside can interfere with what’s inside. Here, there is light, yet no brilliance, and sound, yet no true noise."

Hm? So this ’barrier to ensure the smooth progress of the game’ works like this in the game?

Ren Suo had an epiphany: perhaps the reason Red Armor immediately believed the story of the Fairy Palace Food God, aside from Zack’s endorsement, was more likely because he himself had realized just how powerful the Ghost Stall’s barrier was.

"It must be some kind of Yin Yang Technique," Red Armor analyzed. "Someone hid a Spiritual Qi Talisman at the back of his head, keeping it under remote control to be detonated at any moment. Furthermore, this isn’t a typical triggered detonation. It’s designed so that if the talisman loses connection with the spellcaster, it detonates, leading to his death."

Ren Suo understood. A remote-controlled bomb is meant to kill. This kind of bomb, however, is designed for situations where there’s a fear the target *might not* die. It completely cuts off any chance of survival. If the bomb were to encounter any accidents, such as entering a signal-blocking area like the Ghost Stall, it would automatically detonate.

This man, holding a giant, bloodied meat cleaver, obviously wasn’t up to any good. But why not kill him directly, instead of installing such a bomb in his head? Clearly, the spellcaster knew how dangerous this man was, which is why they installed a bomb that guaranteed death, leaving no other possibility.

"Red Armor, not bad with the analysis," praised the female store owner.

Red Armor nodded slightly. "I have seen similar Yin Yang Techniques in the Martial Spirit Squad. And through educational movies, I have diligently studied elementary school detectives, acquiring advanced thinking skills."

So the people of Flourishing Sakura use cartoons to educate ’Strange Creatures’ like Red Armor, who are as naive as newborns? And can one really extract any significant insights from the methods of an elementary school detective?

Then the female store owner felt around on the body and actually found an arm-sized doll dressed in a dark red maid outfit:

"Doll Girl (Mascot): The killer’s only attachment. Holding the doll allows for a dream encounter? Reduces the sensitivity of demonic customers to the taste of food."

Huh? As expected of the second-ranked city boss, Ren Suo thought. Even though this item only appeared now, its extremely high value was undiminished: reducing sensitivity was equivalent to expanding the acceptable range for Ren Suo’s seasoning.

Like the ’Little Nine-Tailed Fox’ mascot, it had a significant suppressive effect on certain types of customers.

Although the Tokyo boss, the Crow Tengu’s ’Tengu Mask,’ is also a mascot, its function is to reduce the appearance rate of weaker Demon Species customers—because among Demon Species, the Crow Tengu is akin to a police figure.

With the matter resolved, the female store owner packed up Red Armor and left, closing the stall.

The ninth day ended. Ren Suo checked his current status:

"Desire Collection Amount: 118,320"

"Health Points: 9,350"

"Attack: 1,210"

"Props: 287 items"

"Mascots: 6 pieces"

Ren Suo then looked at the cities where he had previously engaged in Ghost Walking. The Concealment Concentration in those areas had substantially decreased, indicating that his customers were primarily top figures among Demons and Ghosts. Once their desires were satisfied, they stopped causing trouble. Instead, they began contributing to society or embraced a more secluded, Zen-like lifestyle, thus no longer needing to ’conceal’ themselves.

Concealment specifically refers to potential Demons and Ghosts who try to cause trouble and harm society. It’s like how a criminal hiding their true identity can be called ’in hiding.’ Ordinary people don’t need to hide their names; after all, who would know them anyway?

A law-abiding monster who doesn’t reveal its identity or use its powers for illicit gain, but instead lives diligently—that’s not called Concealment. That’s called answering the nation’s call to be a ’Four Haves’ citizen.

We’ve finally reached this point...

「The tenth day begins!」

In the serenely quiet park, warm yellow streetlights dispelled the darkness. String lights hanging from the trees flickered with cheap, colorful light, reflecting on murky puddles of accumulated water. In the distance, small amusement facilities like a Ferris wheel, a carousel, and a bungee jumping platform were visible. Under the dim moonlight, the overlapping shadows of the Ferris wheel and the bungee jumping platform looked like a tombstone.

This was a very ordinary public park, yet Ren Suo recognized it at a glance—Cultural Park.

There were countless such parks across the country, but only one in Lotus River City, and it wasn’t very far from Heavenly Lotus Academy—just seven kilometers away.

A few days ago, when Ren Suo went out to buy late-night snacks, he had also visited several well-known parks in the city to familiarize himself with them.

The female store owner pushed her food stall into the silent park, while Ren Suo took the opportunity to switch viewing angles, looking for anything nearby that might display the date.

There was nothing. The game seemed well-prepared in this aspect. Ren Suo had once asked Red Armor for the current date, but Red Armor’s response had unequivocally been a jumble of garbled data and noise.

After setting up her food stall and preparing a bowl of ’Bone Ash Mixed Rice’ to summon Red Armor, the female store owner began the final day of her stall-tending journey.

The first customer was a middle school student. He was delicate-looking, slightly short but very skinny. He was troubled because he was being ostracized in class. Once, when his friend got injured during a run, he took out a tissue to help wipe the blood, which led to classmates teasing him, saying he was gay and liked his friend.

Eventually, the nickname became popular in his class, and friends grew distant. During P.E. class, no one wanted him to join their basketball game. Instead, they jeered, telling him to hang out with the girls, and roared with laughter.

Once, when a friend from another class came to his classroom looking for him, students near the window shouted, "Hey, f*g, someone’s here for you!"

He had told them many times not to call him that, but no one listened.

He dreaded going back to school because the sight of his classmates made him want to smash their damn heads in.

So, Ren Suo served him the largest portion of ’Bravery,’ along with ’Rebellion,’ ’Anger,’ ’Temperance,’ and ’Pride.’ The middle school student left satisfied. It seemed he would now be able to smash the heads of his bullies, hopefully within safe limits.

The second customer...

The third customer...

Time slipped by. Before he knew it, more than an hour had passed. The Ghost Stall had served over thirty customers without a single fight erupting, as most of them weren’t particularly picky.

While Ren Suo was seasoning a dish for a programmer—middle-aged, balding, and clearly going through a midlife crisis—he suddenly saw swaying human figures in the distant part of the park visible on screen.

How many people? Unclear. Male or female? Unclear.

Just as Ren Suo tried to get a clearer look, the screen suddenly made a sound, the light and shadow condensed into a single line, and then the TV went black.

Huh?

Ren Suo blinked, wondering if the dormitory’s TV was on its last legs... Then the TV turned back on.

The displayed screen was—the main menu.

An ominous feeling crept into Ren Suo’s mind. He hurriedly re-entered ’Midnight Walker’ to continue playing the tenth day.

Another hour of game time passed. He was still serving the same customer: the balding, potbellied programmer in the checkered shirt.

The swaying human figures appeared in the distance again.

SNAP.

The screen went black again.

Suddenly encountering a bug now!?