Beom In: ......

He didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t done enough charity in his everyday life, but now karma had come for him.

Why the h*ll did he have to run into him here?!

“Why are you still here?”

Lu Ce looked at the player who had caused him the “biggest headache” in the game, suddenly in the mood to talk a little more.

“I actually wanted to exit too, but my Exit Token was taken by you... I mean, you picked it up.”

Beom In looked helpless as he spoke, his voice getting smaller and smaller. By the end, he even corrected himself, afraid he might’ve said something that would anger the man in front of him.

Even though “Sin” looked calm and reasonable now, he’d seen what the guy was like when he went berserk. That was legit hell. Just thinking about it gave him chills.

“Oh? So you’re saying it’s my fault?”

Beom In: ?

“No, no, of course not!”

“It’s obviously all my fault! I shouldn’t have joined the game, I wasted your precious time...”

“Let’s talk this out, no need to pull a gun...”

Seeing the barrel of Hell Roar, Beom In’s survival instinct instantly kicked in. He launched into a flurry of words and quickly jumped to the side to dodge the aim, raising both hands high.

His will to live was just as strong as ever—dignity? Didn’t matter anymore.

Lu Ce considered him the only smart player in Da Han Mingguo.

“What are you doing?”

Beom In hesitated for a moment—he couldn’t exactly say he came out here looking for teammates.

Back when he got flagged as out and Lu Ce walked away, he had actually been a little happy—he didn’t have to exit and still got to keep his superpowers and everything.

After all, unless your life is really at risk, who’d want to exit?

But soon, he realized something was wrong.

He had become completely isolated. He had no idea what to do next.

The game had already marked him as “Exited,” meaning he couldn’t participate in any game-related events. No livestream, no way to contact teammates, nothing left to do.

He figured he’d just wait for the game to end and exit automatically. But the eerie atmosphere of the school made him uneasy, and he had no clue how far along the game had gotten.

Eventually, every second felt like a year. He couldn’t sit still and thought he’d try to find his teammates, at least to get some peace of mind.

But in the end, he got caught in the middle. His teammate didn’t trust him, and now he ran into this f***ing reaper...

Beom In was ready to cry.

He just wanted to stay alive—why was that so hard?!

Lu Ce stared at his “just-ate-s**t” expression, said nothing, and aimed the gun at him.

“Wait! I didn’t come to look for my teammates!”

Lu Ce: ...

Beom In: ....

The moment the words left his mouth, they both went silent.

Beom In realized he’d slipped and could only helplessly say:

“I’ve already been marked as out by the game. You heard it too.”

“I don’t know anything right now—not even if I can get out.”

“My teammates even thought I was you.”

“Oh right—if it helps, she went that way just now. Go after her, not me.”

Without a shred of guilt, Beom In sold out Ye Ah instantly. Better her than him—this gun was scary.

Lu Ce looked in the direction Beom In pointed, then listened to something in his earpiece and walked off without another word.

“Hey!” Beom In mustered his courage to shout, “Um, can you give me my Exit Token back? It’s useless to you anyway...”

“Give it back?” Lu Ce turned around, his tone sharp.

“No! I mean trade! I meant trade!” Beom In instantly caught on, ran up a couple steps, and started digging through his backpack.

He pulled out all kinds of random stuff—

Mostly medicine, plus some other things like Recharge Batteries.

【Recharge Battery: Can restore energy for any energy-consuming item produced within the Game.】

“This is all I have left. Total value... should definitely be worth more than one Exit Token.”

“All of it?” For the first time, a bit of surprise came from behind the Wrath Mask. The expression on the mask even looked a bit contemptuous. ≡(▔﹏▔)≡

That’s it?

“That’s a lot, okay? I’ve only cleared two levels. My only good stuff was my skill and the ‘Spirit’-boosting potion, and I already used those—couldn’t give them to you even if I wanted to.”

Beom In looked genuinely sincere. His pupils basically spelled out: Please believe me.

Lu Ce paused, stared at him for a moment, then nodded. “Alright.”

He scooped up everything, turned around, and walked off—disappearing around the hallway corner.

The whole move was so smooth that Beom In even felt pretty good about it.

At least having the Exit Token back would give him some peace of mind...

......

Wait a sec......

Something felt off. Slowly, it dawned on him.

Where’s my Exit Token?!

He didn’t give it back to me?!

He ran forward a few steps, but “Sin” was long gone.

Even if he caught up—what could he do...

Beom In was stunned.

Was I scammed?

Or... was I robbed?

......

Far away, Lu Ce was still talking with the other person on the earpiece.

“He’s actually a pretty nice guy. I forgot to loot him earlier, and he brought the stuff right to me.”

Xie Antong was laughing on the other end.

“It’s been like... over ten minutes.” Lu Ce stopped walking. “Why’ve you been making me run around in circles in the school?”

“What’s going on?”

He was starting to lose patience. His instincts hadn’t picked up on anything suspicious—the campus’ Horror Mysteries felt like they’d all been cleared.

“The last two Horror Mysteries are probably mobile—no fixed locations.”

“I wasn’t sure before, but now that you’ve looped the whole place and sensed nothing, I’m almost certain.”

“So?” Lu Ce spun the gun in his hand. As expected, the later Horror Mysteries were gonna be harder.

“So, we’re going to lure the snake out.”

Xie Antong spoke as she walked to the classroom door.

She opened her game interface, and right in front of her was a countdown. That was the latest restriction Park Bu Seong had placed on her—no staying in one scene too long.

Adding in the time she’d already spent, she had about five minutes left.

“Now, go to the direction that Beom In pointed you to. There’s a restroom closest to that room. Go in.”

“Once you’re inside, don’t do anything yet—stay in touch with me.”

“Oh, and...”

“Make sure you go into the women’s restroom!”