Non-Human Seeking Re-employment

(Eighteen Hells)

The innocent occupant bolted and vanished at the top of the flight of stairs.

Shen Dongqing scratched his nose, pushed open the door, and entered.

As soon as he came in, he was confronted with a murder scene.

Perhaps the resident did not have time to clean up after eating the takeout. Half an arm, which appeared to be quite fresh, remained on the sofa, while the floor under the sofa was awash with blood.

Shen Dongqing proceeded up the stairs, stepping carefully over the blood on the ground.

The wooden stairwell was built into the wall. He turned his head to see bloody hand-prints all over it, as if they had been left while fleeing in terror.

It was a classic haunted house, complete with heavy, tightly drawn curtains and low-voltage lighting.

Shen Dongqing stretched, making a decision: "We shall stay here today!"

Wu Jia was on tenterhooks: "Will it be bad?"

There was a primary owner for this house. God only knows where he was holed up. Wu Jia was scared about waking up the next day with missing body parts.

"Yup." Shen Dongqing nodded in response to Wu Jia's concerns.

Wu Jia assumed Shen Dongqing was going to abandon his plan to stay in the haunted house, but he altered his tune and stated, "It's time to say hello to the house owner."

Then he went upstairs.

Wu Jia turned to face Zhou Wenyan to know what he had to say.

Well, those two were a couple, and Zhou Wenyan resembled a bear parent who indulged his brat no matter what mayhem he caused.

The pair did, however, have the capital to wreak havoc.

Wu Jia's lips twitched as he reflected: Few players can make the game jump around in rage and vomit blood, right?

Tap, tap, tap—

Shen Dongqing took brisk steps up the stairs.

The lights on the second level were turned off, and heavy curtains covered all of the windows. The corridor was pitch black, with doors on both sides wide open. It was so deathly still that you could only hear your own breathing and heartbeat.

People's fears are infinitely amplified in such a closed and dark atmosphere, and they are terrified that a Sadako or something would suddenly leap out of a nook.

But the eerie atmosphere didn't last long as it was shattered by a barrage of yells.

"Hello? Are you there?" Shen Dongqing yelled from the second-floor corridor's mouth, fearful that the ghost would not notice him.

The passageway was completely silent.

Shen Dongqing fumbled around on the wall before pressing a power switch.

Click!

The wall lights flashed briefly before dimming.

Wu Jia, who was following behind, saw a distorted visage whiz past in that split second. Even though he had witnessed many such scenes, his first reaction was to feel terrified and withdraw.

He snapped out of it to see Shen Dongqing dash over and grab the pale grimacing face.

In retrospect, Wu Jia realized that the distorted face didn't appear to be scaring people, but was…scared.

He didn't know how many instances of the game Shen Dongqing had wrecked or how many ghosts he'd beaten up, but ghosts were frequently fooled by his innocent and kind appearance, and after being beaten up, they would cry bitter tears and regret it. It was unusual for the ghost to be scared stupid and extorted the instant he approached.

Shen Dongqing was holding down the hapless resident and greeting him pleasantly.

When he heard Shen Dongqing's voice, Mr. Resident shrank his neck, rolled his scarlet eyes nervously, and shuddered unconsciously. Judging from his appearance, he might have leaped from the second-floor window if he hadn't been unable to escape this small bungalow.

"Can we stay for one night?" Shen Dongqing asked politely.

"Kkkk…" chattered Mr. Resident's teeth. He couldn't say anything.

Shen Dongqing tilted his head: "?"

Shen Dongqing's look said it all: if you dare to say no, I'll dare to destroy you humanely on the spot.

Mr. Resident, who couldn't speak, was so frightened that he finally choked out a word: "Can… can!"

Shen Dongqing let go of his hand, patted Mr. Resident on the shoulder, and smiled, "Then we'll disturb you!"

The terrified Mr. Resident: …

So you've scared the crap out of me simply to spend the night here?

Shen Dongqing let Mr. Resident go, turned around, and proceeded to pick the room he wanted to stay in. He seemed to recollect something halfway through and asked, "Do you know me?"

Mr. Resident shook his head desperately.

"Then why did you flee when you spotted me?" Shen Dongqing asked.

Mr. Resident was unable to explain it. If he had to say it, it would most likely be… the terror etched in his soul. Even though he couldn't recall anything, he was terrified owing to a conditioned reflex.

Shen Dongqing pondered it for a time. It was possible he didn't remember he'd ruined this game instance and turned Mr. Resident into a victim by accident.

"Then do you know where the ghost king's treasure is?" he changed the question.

Mr. Resident may have had a recurrence of Ghost King PTSD, and his condition appeared to be particularly serious. His eyes rolled to the back of his head when he heard these words, and he fainted on the spot.

Shen Dongqing: …

At this point, an excited voice outside the window shouted: "I found it—"

Shen Dongqing walked over, opened the curtains, and glanced out the window to see a bloodied player rushing out of a two-story house. He was holding something, but it was too far away to tell what it was.

The player had narrowly escaped and was far too excited. He was motioning to his teammates.

Then his teammates gave him a warm welcome, stabbed him directly, and snatched that thing away.

Things had only just begun, and the teammates hadn't even had a chance to flee when they heard a broadcast sound overhead.

"Congratulations—" The voice was exaggerated and artificial. First, there was a weird and sharp laughter, then the voice added, "A lucky friend has already gotten Ghost King's treasure, but I forgot to remind you that Ghost King is a benevolent monarch and his treasures… are many!"

"Dea ktlmt bcf lr Xtbra Blcu'r ojnbglaf?"

"Qf vbc'a xcbk flatfg, tjtjtjtj—"

"Vb, qifjrf olgra yglcu Xtbra Blcu'r agfjregf ab atf mlas'r abkfg obg jqqgjlrji."

"Qtja lo la'r atf kgbcu bcf?" bcf qijsfg defralbcfv.

"Xbbv defralbc!"

"Ktf gluta bcf klii fjgc sbe j gfkjgv, rb atf kgbcu bcf wera fjgc sbe j qeclrtwfca, ktlmt lr ojlg!"

The players fell silent as soon as they heard this.

This was pure fraud!

There were a total of 999 houses in the inner city, and there could be ghosts or treasures of the ghost king inside, but they were now informed that there were numerous treasures of the ghost king, but only one true treasure. They could die if they choose the wrong one. The possibility seemed too small!

One of the players wailed in anguish: "I won't play anymore—"

Shen Dongqing let go of the curtain and began to ponder this question: "What is the ghost king's treasure?"

He considered it for a while but couldn't come up with an answer. However, he had the distinct impression that this "treasure" was far from common. He didn't worry, instead tossing the issue to the back of his mind and preparing to rest first.

Shen Dongqing chose a room to stay in and changed into a suit of clothes after taking a shower, and the entire person was full of health and energy again.

He sat on the sofa cross-legged, undid the backpack, emptied half of it, and munched on the goodies.

Zhou Wenyan stepped out of the bathroom and sat beside Shen Dongqing, who had polished half a pack of potato chips. His skin was still damp, and he smelled faintly of shower gel. Shen Dongqing moved and leaned over because the aroma was strangely pleasant.

Water droplets flowed down Zhou Wenyan's hair and dropped on Shen Dongqing's cheeks. He leaned in to rub it off and then plunged into Zhou Wenyan's arms.

Zhou Wenyan was wiping his hair with a towel when he noticed this and adjusted his stance so that the person in his arms could relax more comfortably.

"Where could the ghost king's treasure be?" muttered Shen Dongqing, cracking his fingers.

"Well… I think it's quite likely in the center tower," Zhou Wenyan said.

Shen Dongqing: "Why?"

"Just now, the broadcast voice mentioned that they don't know which is the treasure of the ghost king, but they also asked us to go to the tower to get it appraised," Zhou Wenyan remarked, putting down the damp towel and kissing a certain someone.

"It's mutually contradictory. How are they going to appraise if they don't know? Unless they know where the treasure is and make certain that the players are not finding the genuine treasure."

Shen Dongqing raised both hands in applause.

Zhou Wenyan: "…that's what I guessed."

Shen Dongqing: "Oh, it's fine if you guess wrong; we'll find out when we go inside the tower and have a look."

Zhou Wenyan: "Alright."

The pair fell asleep after casually planning for the next day.

Shen Dongqing opened his eyes the next day to find it was midday, possibly because he hadn't slept well the previous two days on the island.

The room's windows were tightly drawn, not allowing even a sliver of light to pass through, leading Shen Dongqing to believe it was still dark and swiftly close his eyes to go back to sleep.

Zhou Wenyan leaned in and kissed his closed eyelids.

Shen Dongqing's eyelashes quivered slightly.

"It's time to get out of bed." Zhou Wenyan's voice was incredibly soft.

Shen Dongqing let out a stream of meaningless nasal sounds, as if acting like a spoiled child.

Zhou Wenyan: "Cough—"

I'm not sure what I'll do if he doesn't get up.

Shen Dongqing, fortunately, awoke just as he was about to cross the danger line.

With a look of regret on his face, Zhou Wenyan helped the dazed guy up, but he didn't do anything in the end.

The two stepped out of the room after a quick freshening up.

Wu Jia was clearly an ordinary person in comparison to the two bigshots. He didn't get much sleep at night and had been waiting downstairs since early in the morning. He sat for a while in a clean spot before hearing footsteps from upstairs.

When he stuck his head out to look, he discovered that it was Mr. Resident.

Wu Jia anticipated that Mr. Resident would take advantage of his isolation and rise in revolt. He sat alert for a long time, only to watch Mr. Resident crawl down the steps and hide in the corner like a thief.

Wu Jia: ?

What was he up to?

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan arrived downstairs after Mr. Resident had gone into hiding.

Wu Jia: "Will we be checking the houses today?"

Shen Dongqing: "No need. We'll head straight for the center tower."

"And do what?" Wu Jia inquired warily.

Wait there and rob whoever finds the treasure?

Even if it was horrible, it was something these two were capable of.

Zhou Wenyan: "Go in and have a look."

So saying, the trio walked out of the modest villa.

Shen Dongqing purposefully turned around before departing to say farewell to Mr. Resident: "I will return when I have the opportunity—"

Mr. Resident, who believed that hiding in the corner would reduce his sense of existence, hugged himself tightly and nearly shed two tears.

Receiving this kind of shock once is enough; please don't return. Ever.

They got a good night's sleep, but the players outside were not in the mood to sleep. Following a series of failures, the players temporarily set aside their grievances and collaborated to fully clean up all of the residences.

It goes without saying that the players who were able to enter the Ghost City game instance were all skilled. After a few sacrifices, they had gone through most of the houses by midday on the second day, and had collected so many of the ghost king's treasures that they were as high as a hill.

All kinds of worn-out dolls, endless music boxes, magnificent puppet theaters…

"Is the ghost king a little girl?" A player sneered and flung his newly obtained item.

The mound shook slightly, as if it couldn't support the weight, and one of the small items rolled down, directly at Shen Dongqing's feet.

Shen Dongqing looked down and saw that it was a toffee.

This toffee's packaging was a touch filthy, but you could see the multi-colored pattern on it.

Shen Dongqing felt an unfathomable familiarity and was about to lean over to pick it up when it was snatched away.

"These items are ours!" the man warned him.

Shen Dongqing took his hand back and turned to face the Treasure Hill.

The music box creaked as it turned, emitting jerky music.

Shen Dongqing stood there for a spell, watching as a few images flashed before his eyes. Before he could delve into it, something was placed against his lips, and he licked it subconsciously.

It was sweet.

Shen Dongqing's mouth was pressed with a peeled toffee. He dropped his head and bit it, the sweet flavor bursting in his mouth.

Shen Dongqing muttered, "As if I'm a glutton."

Zhou Wenyan withdrew his hand and rubbed the top of Shen Dongqing's head.

Shen Dongqing bit the toffee and said, "I see these things left behind by the ghost king are awfully familiar, I suppose I should…" He paused before adding, "I should have known the ghost king before."

He felt that this reasoning was correct and nodded, saying, "Our relationship must be pretty good."

Zhou Wenyan: "Hmm…"

Shen Dongqing: "Perhaps if I see the ghost king, I'll be able to get back my old memories."

Zhou Wenyan: "Actually…"

But before he could finish speaking, Shen Dongqing yanked him away.

Ghost City's inner ring was vast, enclosed by a high wall, and the buildings were constructed in a maze-like pattern. Shen Dongqing walked ahead to lead the way, but got lost. He didn't feel anything and only reacted after returning to the original point.

"Am I lost?" Shen Dongqing scratched his hair, his expression puzzled.

"You should go to the right," Zhou Wenyan advised him.

Shen Dongqing was silent for a few seconds: "…why didn't you tell me?"

Zhou Wenyan held back his smile: "Because you were walking too seriously."

And that serious look is so cute that I couldn't stop staring at it.

Shen Dongqing puffed his cheeks and walked in the direction indicated by Zhou Wenyan.

After a while of navigating the tricky path, they finally saw the central tower standing tall. They obviously started first, but other players arrived faster, and they were already lined up for the appraisal.

To avoid infighting, the players used the lot system, in which one person drew an item for appraisal. It was all luck, whether the appraisal succeeded or failed, and no one else could be blamed.

Shen Dongqing never broke the law or violated discipline, so he and Zhou Wenyan naturally stood at the rear of the line.

Wu Jia couldn't help but say, "We don't have anything, so we can't get it appraised."

Shen Dongqing: "Appraise? Why do you need to appraise?"

Wu Jia and Shen Dongqing exchanged puzzled glances, realizing they were not on the same frequency.

Wu Jia felt a little dizzy: "These people are queuing up to appraise the ghost king's treasure, you…"

Understanding struck Shen Dongqing, and he waved his hand: "We're not here to appraise; we're going in directly."

Then he patted the player in front of him and politely said, "Excuse me, excuse me—"

The player was stunned and forced to get out of the way.

The trio proceeded to the front of the line in this manner.

The door to the tower was tightly shut, and the players did not enter, instead standing outside for evaluation. The appraiser was a pitch-black crow, not a human.

The crow perched on a one-person-high railing, looking down on the player: "Caw—no—"

The player's face paled, and the object in his grasp fell to the ground.

The ground where the player was standing loosened and sank into a deep pit once the crow finished assessing, and a ghoul with corpse spots and stink crawled out. It lunged on the player with dull eyes.

Fortunately, the player had a prop in his hands, so he shook off the ghoul and dashed outside.

The ghoul appeared to move slowly, but it stayed close behind the player. One person and one ghost enjoyed parkour in a friendly competition.

The crow cawed happily at the sight, fluttering its wings and motioning for the next player to step forward.

Then it noticed two people approaching, one of whom was especially familiar.

Crow: …

Its laughter ceased.

The crow adjusted its mood, flapped its wings, and inquired, "Where's the stuff?"

Shen Dongqing: "Don't have it."

"Oh, don't have, don't have—" The crow's eyes widened and it fixed its gaze on the man below.

Then what are you doing here?

Perhaps the crow's expression was too obvious. Shen Dongqing heard its soul cry and pointed at the door behind it: "We want to go in."

"Caw?" said the crow, tilting its head.

"We can't?" asked Shen Dongqing, cocking his head as well.

The crow felt that its little head fell short.

According to the settings, it didn't appear like it couldn't let others in, but…

Shen Dongqing: "Then we'll go in."

Crow: "Caw, caw! No way!"

It hopped energetically, blocking Shen Dongqing's advance.

Shen Dongqing came to a halt, his lips slightly raised: "Are you sure?"

Crow: "Caw—you can't—"

The crow's high tercet echoed near the tower three seconds later, accompanied by flying feathers. It simply saddened those who heard it and made those who watched it cry.

The crow finally got out of his clutches, and stood aside sobbing: "Go in, just go in."

Shen Dongqing let go of his grip, and small feathers fell to the ground. "Wouldn't it be finished if you said so earlier?" he dusted his hands, still smiling.

Crow: I regret it!

It took two silent steps back to avoid this awful human.

An iron gate sealed shut the tower.

The iron gate was as tall as a person, with all kinds of ghosts engraved on both sides and a giant ghost mouth covered in fangs in the center, as if waiting for food to be brought to the mouth.

Crow: "Humph, humph! The door can't be opened at all, you can't get in—"

It was Shen Dongqing's favorite "opening the door" moment again.

He extended his hand to test the strength of the iron door, but before he could touch the door knocker, the iron door slowly opened on its own.

Shen Dongqing returned the crow's stare, his expression filled with questions.

Crow: ?

The face-slapping came so swiftly that it was difficult to accept. It silently covered its face with its wings after snorting twice.

Gee, it hurts a little.

The iron door hadn't been opened in a long time, and the gears were rusty, and the sound it made as it opened gave people toothaches.

The door entirely opened, revealing the dense blackness behind it. Wisps of smoke escaped from it that tried to wrap around Shen Dongqing's fingers.

Zhou Wenyan drew Shen Dongqing away from the smoke.

Shen Dongqing: "It's fine."

He understood for some reason that the black fog was not dangerous.

Zhou Wenyan let go of his hand after ascertaining that there was no threat.

Shen Dongqing took a step forward, a wisp of black mist cleverly wrapping around his fingers and rubbing them like a pet.

"I'm sure I get along well with Ghost King!" While feeling the black mist, Shen Dongqing said.

For a brief moment, Zhou Wenyan remained silent: "…You don't think you're the ghost king?"

Shen Dongqing froze: "Huh?"

Shen Dongqing had never thought that he might be the ghost king since, in his mind, his role should be a thousand-year-old ghost who picked up a body that had just died. Except for the fact that they were both ghosts, there were no similarities between him and the ghost king.

So when he sensed he recognized Ghost City, the only explanation he could come up with was that he was friends with the ghost king.

"It shouldn't be…" Shen Dongqing was a little uncertain, "I don't even remember."

He used to think he had existed for too long and couldn't recall what had happened in the past. Now it appeared that this was not the case. It was impossible for him to forget his own identity, no matter how terrible his memory was!

Something must have happened to him, or someone must have done something to him.

Zhou Wenyan: "We'll know once we go in and see."

The remaining players were not fools. Once they entered the tower, the players no longer played the appraisal game with the crow. After some time of waiting and watching, the brave ones followed them in.

The tower was entirely dark from the outside, but as you walked in, a little light began to appear.

Shen Dongqing was just getting used to it and rubbing his eyes when he came face to face with a mountain of flesh in front of him.

The mountain of flesh was the height of a person. When he looked closer, he noticed that it was made up of a tongue. The tongue was incessantly crawling away from the body that was screaming pitifully.

Behind the heap of tongue was a wall with murals painted on it, the first of which depicted an imp tearing apart a woman's mouth and another imp using iron pliers to rip out her tongue. The woman's tongue was not ripped out all at once, but she was tormented slowly, her tongue being pulled out at a regular pace, and the pulled out tongue seemed to be longer than a meter.

The woman's eyes were bloodshot, and she was making "wuwu" sounds, gazing at everyone who came in from the outside with desperation and resentment.

Shen Dongqing looked at her for a moment before commenting, "The elasticity of this tongue is too good."

The woman whose tongue was pulled out: …

The player who was trailing behind and happened to overhear this line: …

"I still don't think I'm Ghost King," Shen Dongqing then stated.

"Did you recall anything?" Zhou Wenyan asked.

"No," Shen Dongqing shook his head. "I just don't believe my taste is this bad. I will not, under any circumstances, allow my home to look like this. When I look at it, I lose my appetite!"

Wu Jia cautioned quietly: "I checked from outside. The tower should be eighteen stories tall. It's a replica of the Eighteen Hells, and this is the first, Tongue-pulling Hell." He thought of something, "Each layer of hell represents a different crime. You will be trapped in this layer of hell if you commit this sin."

He seemed a little agitated. Was there anyone on this planet who did not do something immoral?

Shen Dongqing sighed faintly, not thinking so deeply: "It's far too tasteless. Can only imitate and not innovate."

Then he stated unequivocally, "I'm definitely not the ghost king."