Chapter 19: Society Really Is Treacherous

After the recent effort, the mysterious persona Bai Fu had envisioned was finally solidified in the Player’s mind, and the negative mark of being a Wildfire Gang member in the abandoned Cooling Plant was replaced by her identity as an undercover.

From now on, she only needed to refine this mysterious persona slowly, based on the Player’s discussions in the forum and her own plans for the future.

Bai Fu’s actual gains were more than just that.

For her, the most valuable thing at this stage was the Player’s guilt toward her.

Because of guilt, to the Player she would no longer be just a “vase”; because of guilt, she could more easily boss the Player around.2

That performance was truly worth it.

Bai Fu returned home in high spirits, actually still clutching several devastating moves she hadn’t used.

How to quickly shape a role that people find impressive and likable?

Apart from infinitely boosting the character’s aura, the simplest trick was to manufacture misunderstanding and sacrifice!3

For example.

In games, there was a female character, mysterious and beautiful, but from the moment she appeared, all sorts of intel hinted that she was a villain.

As the plot deepened and the Player fell into a desperate situation, she used the most gorgeous and grand self‑sacrifice to clear the path for the Player’s final victory.25

On that basis, if you added some detailed characterization, the final presentation would absolutely cut like a blazing fireblade, every strike hitting the Player’s heart and the developer’s pride; it’d be hard not to be deeply impressed.

But just now Bai Fu thought, her strength wasn’t enough to mess around randomly like that.1

“Anya, come out for dinner.”

“Ah, boss, really don’t need to deal with those outsiders and the ones calling them over?”

“It’s fine, they’ll help us take care of it. Let’s eat first.”1

……

Nine o’clock at night.

Beside a ruined huge water storage tank, a man in a white undershirt raised his hand and looked at a rather aged wristwatch.

“Is it really this late already? If everything goes smoothly, Bai Fu should already be dead.”

This time the Boss gave him two thousand bucks; he thought he’d need to work hard, but unexpectedly spent only five hundred to successfully bribe an outsider—raking in fifteen hundred in a single profit spike; he was totally thrilled.

Gotta say, those outsiders really were stupidly cute.

They dared to take any job and cooperate with any person.

Didn’t they worry about being wiped out after completing their mission?

Kid, today I’ll teach you a lesson about how vicious society really is!2

White‑undershirt guy shook his leg cheerfully.

After a few minutes, “Converts to My Fu” appeared in his view.

Back already? Those outsiders really are as trustworthy as rumors said.

White‑undershirt guy walked over smilingly, but after a few steps he sensed something was off.

Converts to My Fu wasn’t alone—four outsiders followed him, each radiating murderous intent, as if someone owed them a million.

“What do you want to do?”

White‑undershirt suddenly clenched his butt, feeling that something was seriously wrong.

“What do you think I want to do?” Converts to My Fu sneered. “No need to hold back with these scumbags—everyone, attack together!”3

He rushed forward and threw a handful of lime dust.

Watch closely, this is Fu Fu’s tactic!

Before White‑undershirt could react, the Calamity Dragon had thrown a hastily woven net over him.

“Take him down!”

At Party Big Star’s shout, everyone raised their clubs and started pounding hard.

One strike, two strikes, three strikes—the intense pain flushed White‑undershirt’s entire body red and hot.

“You stinking beggar-outsiders, how dare you ambush me? I’ll kill you all!”11

He struggled fiercely to break free from the net, eyes wide in terror, looking like a man-eating demon.

But before he could finish his arrogance, Excavation‑Princess slapped and released the chili powder she had hidden.

Cough cough cough… A nearby Player started coughing violently. “Excavator, aim better—some of it hit me too.”

Excavation‑Princess quickly waved her hands: “Next time for sure, next time for sure.”

They still had the leisure to chat, but the man in the white tank top was about to mentally explode.

His eyes hadn’t even recovered from the lime attack, and now someone had thrown chili powder in his face—were these outsiders going to sprinkle some salt and pepper next?

He had already lost the will to keep fighting.

He staggered and stumbled as he tried to run back; given how familiar he was with the area, he still had a good chance of escaping.

After running for a bit, the man in the white tank top turned back to threaten them.

“You damn gatekeepers just wait, sooner or later I’ll—”

Mid-sentence, a miserable scream suddenly erupted from his throat.

“Holy shit, who the hell scattered nails on the ground?”

The sharp pain from his foot caused him to lose his balance, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

As he saw several other Players emerge from the darkness through his blurry vision, he began to understand everything.

No doubt about it—those nails had been secretly scattered by these outsiders.

Damn it, this world was vicious!

Weren’t outsiders supposed to value contracts deeply?

Weren’t they supposed to be fully committed to completing a mission once they accepted it?

Why didn’t that apply to him?

He hadn’t even made a move yet, and these outsiders were already doing this to him—what grudge did they even have?

He had seen many birth scenarios in this game, but this kind of ruthless setup was a first.

If all outsiders were this kind of monster, then the future of the abandoned Cooling Plant looked bleak!

“What the hell do you guys want?” the man in the white tank top struggled to get up.

Convert to My Fu stepped forward and kicked him: “Speak. Who ordered you to commission me for an assassination?”

A man may be killed, but never humiliated!

That was what the man in the white tank top originally wanted to say—but when he saw the lime in Convert to My Fu’s hand, he immediately surrendered.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk, just don’t hit me anymore! It was Cao Wenliang, the Minister of Logistics from the Wildfire Gang! He forced me to do it!”

While Convert to My Fu was interrogating the man in the white tank top, Party Big Star didn’t say a word the entire time—his eyes just sparkled nonstop.

These methods were pretty underhanded, but they actually worked!

If they had fought this Elite Mob the normal way, at least a few of their ten-man team would’ve died, maybe even suffered a full wipe if luck went bad.

But look at now—they’d only taken some superficial damage.

Was this the real way to play this game?

Earlier, he had been worrying about which Main Class to pick, which leveling guide to follow—all that thinking had been limited by the games he’d played before.

A free game should be played with the freest methods!

In that moment, something seemed to awaken deep inside Party Big Star’s heart.

...

Late at night, in the office of the Wildfire Gang’s Logistics Department, a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in.”

The door was pushed open, and a person ran in nervously.

Cao Wenliang set down his water cup: “Bai Fu is dead?”

The newcomer quickly shook his head: “No, not dead. It was our man who died. Someone saw him getting beaten to death by a bunch of outsiders.”

“What?” Cao Wenliang shot to his feet, his square face brimming with menacing aura. “How did he provoke those outsiders?”

The newcomer trembled as he replied: “I don’t know.”

“Useless. Useless trash. You can’t even handle such a trivial matter—what’s the point of keeping you around?”

Cao Wenliang smashed the cup with one punch and stormed out in fury.

“Minister, you’re going to…”

“I’m going to the boss. Damn it, I want those outsiders dead!”

Cao Wenliang was fuming with rage.

He didn’t understand why these outsiders had suddenly become so ruthless, but he had thought of another plan.

Since hiring outsiders to kill Bai Fu had failed, then he’d just send Bai Fu directly to fight those outsiders.

If I can’t kill you, I’ll take your name!