Working Records in a Weird World - 15

 

| WRIAWW | I Really Like the Survivors | 15

No one expected that just as the D-level survivors were about to leave the villa, the weird domain would suddenly be triggered.

"What's going on?" Qin Ye's expression turned grave. "Why is the weird domain being activated now?"

They had been carrying out their mission in this villa for three whole days. The weird had been remarkably patient, maintaining complete calm over these three days, with nothing happening except for the deaths of a few NPCs.

Although it was common knowledge that S-level weird always possessed a weird domain, no one anticipated that after lying dormant for three days, it would choose this moment to suddenly erupt.

"It probably sensed the presence of fresh prey," Shu Xingwen reacted instantly as the weird domain enveloped them, positioning himself in a spot where he could both attack and retreat, the dark glow in his palm ready to strike.

"However, I didn't sense any signals from the weird indicating it was about to start hunting. It might still be in the brewing stage. It's like the preparations before dinner is served—there's always some appetizer to mark the beginning of the feast."

Not every activation of a weird domain immediately results in deaths. The higher the level of the weird, the more it tends to lay out its plans and brew its schemes.

The high-level survivors weren't surprised.

Not a single ordinary S-level survivor had entered this S-level mission; they were all top-tier elites from the leaderboard. Even among S-level survivors, they were undoubtedly the cream of the crop. 

So even as the weird's domain unfolded before their eyes, there wasn't a trace of panic on their faces. They didn't rashly use their abilities but instead calmly began discussing the weird's attributes.

In contrast, the D-level survivors all looked as if the sky had fallen.

"It's... it's over..."

Wang Lin's teeth chattered uncontrollably.

This wasn't child's play; this was a genuine S-level domain!

For these D-level survivors, the term "weird domain" was something far too distant, a term that was only supposed to appear in A-level missions and above. It was so distant that they had only seen it mentioned in survivor forums, let alone an S-level mission.

As everyone knew, the highest difficulty ?-level missions only generated once at the end of each dungeon, and only S-level dungeons and above would have them. So in the ?-level hierarchy, S-level missions dominated absolutely.

In a sense, S-level missions were the highest difficulty level. And this S-level mission was prefixed with the words "ultimate dungeon," instantly elevating it to hellish difficulty.

"Why didn't you move faster earlier?" Under immense pressure, even the previously harmonious team couldn't help but voice complaints. "If we had left earlier, we wouldn't have encountered this unwarranted disaster!"

"That's right."

"What do you mean 'right'? Weren't you just excitedly watching the big shots? Since you were watching, then don't shift the blame!"

"So what if I looked? Wouldn't you watch if you encountered a big shot on the leaderboard?"

Seeing everyone arguing, Zong Le quickly stepped in to mediate: "Everyone, let's not fight among ourselves. At a time like this, we should be harmonious and friendly, calm down, and think of a solution together."

He had acted as a peacemaker more than once or twice. In Guiyi City, a place rife with violence and malice, arguments, shouting matches, and brawls were commonplace. 

Thus, Zong Le, who was naturally peace-loving, was forced to master a fluent method of breaking up fights: first, he would bring up a more important matter to divert their attention.

Sure enough, after Zong Le finished speaking, the low-level survivors gradually calmed down.

Seeing this, Zong Le was quite pleased.

He rarely managed to stop a fight with just a few simple words. The last time he had intervened was when he saw two rival gangs fighting at a street corner, both sides were armed and had beaten each other bloody.

Unable to stand by and watch, fearing that someone might die within minutes, he secretly hid in a high, concealed spot and used a high-pressure water gun to drench both groups. He successfully angered both sides, causing them to put down their weapons and join forces to chase after him.

To prevent the two gangs from fighting again, Zong Le painstakingly led them on a game of hide-and-seek between several tall buildings, eventually luring them to the rooftop while he slipped away via the fire escape. 

Later, he saw on TV that the two gangs had jointly issued a bounty for his arrest, with the host praising it as "the century's joint effort by two rival gangs."

Fortunately, he had remembered to wear a mask during this series of good deeds, or else he would have been done for.

Compared to the thrilling and dangerous intervention last time, this one was smooth and simple.

The survivors were easy to persuade, they were all so friendly, he really liked them!

Although the fight had stopped, the crisis was far from over.

The weird domain could seal off a certain area, making it impossible to leave until the domain was lifted. They could only wait for death.

Led by Wang Lin, the D-level survivors' faces grew increasingly fearful, with some even too scared to stand, collapsing to the ground.

"Are you all okay?"

Just as everyone felt the sky was falling, a pleasant voice rang out.

Joshua stood not far away, the light from the crystal chandelier casting a silver halo around him, making him appear particularly compassionate.

"There's no need to be afraid," the man's magnetic voice acted like sweet rain, quenching the thirst of the low-level survivors who were lost in the desert of fear.

"The level here isn't high, and so far, the weird domain doesn't seem to have any special abilities. As long as you stick close to us during the mission, there won't be any danger."

No one expected that the highest-level person present, the one in charge, would step in to help them. After all, the higher the level, the more they looked down on those of lower levels. 

So, when these words were spoken, the low-level survivors were deeply moved.

"Wuwuwu, as expected of Joshua, the kindest person in the infinite space!"

"I knew it! No one else would even glance at us, but Joshua would!"

"That's right, with the top three survivors in the infinite space here, what do we have to fear!"

Seeing the D-level survivors' tearful gratitude, Bai Shao snorted coldly, his expression full of disdain.

He initially chose to follow Joshua because of Joshua's indiscriminate kindness toward all living beings. When he was in dire straits, Joshua didn't hold his previous offenses against him but instead offered help.

From that moment on, he made up his mind to pledge his loyalty.

However, this didn't mean he respected the fawning behavior of these low-level survivors who would do anything to stay alive.

Bai Shao might feel a bit annoyed, but he couldn't oppose Joshua's decision.

As for the other two guild leaders, their status as leaders was at stake. If their refusal to help were to be seen, it wouldn't look good. Moreover, since 1st had already made their stance clear, even as guild leaders, they couldn't afford to offend this unaffiliated top-tier strategist.

Joshua had a massive following, almost like a brainwashing cult. Every time they formed a team to tackle a dungeon, even though they were the ones organizing it, the initiative always lay with Joshua, as if they had invited a father figure.

But there was no way around it—Joshua's status as the top healer in the Infinite Space carried that much weight.

Qin Ye, on the other hand, was originally a soldier. He often showed kindness during missions, so he naturally didn't object.

"I've said it before—if your level is low, don't linger in places like this. Just stay close."

Shu Xingwen remained silent, continuing to channel his spiritual medium abilities, closing his eyes to sense the entire villa.

With the top two on the leaderboard having made their stance clear, the other scattered S-levels who had been assigned here naturally didn't object. Thus, the matter of protecting these D-level mission participants while completing the task was reluctantly settled.

Throughout this, the villa's butler had been standing at a distance, watching them with a faint smile, indifferent to their discussions. Only after they had finished did he silently approach, bowing respectfully.

"The murderer is definitely still hiding in the villa. Before leaving, Madam instructed me to ensure you are all taken to a safe floor to rest." After saying this, the butler raised his dark eyes to look at Joshua. "As for the confession ritual Madam mentioned earlier..."

"Don't worry, I'll go when the time comes."

"That would be best. Madam dislikes deceit, even from those she favors." After leaving this meaningful remark, the butler gestured, "Please follow me."

Thus, the group followed his guidance, leaving the brightly lit hall and stepping onto the crimson, gold-trimmed wool carpet of the spiral staircase, ascending to the second floor of the villa.

In the short distance of a few dozen meters, the D-level survivors clung tightly to each other, constantly looking around, terrified of triggering some bizarre murder rule. Bai Shao, who was responsible for covering the rear, couldn't help but feel exasperated.

"Can you stop swaying around? Do you really think so many S-levels can't protect a few lives?"

Han Yueyue, who was already trembling with fear, had to hold onto the railing to move. Startled by Bai Shao's sudden remark, she nearly bumped into the Roman column decoration ahead. Fortunately, Zong Le reacted quickly, grabbing her by the hood like a chick and pulling her back to the ground, preventing a tragic fall down the stairs.

"Th-thank you," Han Yueyue stammered, her eyes red as she repeatedly expressed her gratitude.

"It's no problem."

Bai Shao stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Instead of wasting time being polite here, why don’t we just walk faster? Not to mention that the weird domain hasn’t even shown its aggressive side yet, can’t you all feel the surrounding weird energy? Honestly, a bunch of country bumpkins who’ve never even seen a weird domain."

As he spoke, he began to grumble again.

"Ahhh, this is so annoying! If it weren’t for the Patriarch's kindness and generosity, who’d want to bother helping you lot!"

Seeing Bai Shao’s poor attitude, Zong Le signaled with his eyes for Han Yueyue to walk ahead of him, while he deliberately fell behind her by a step, positioning himself between the two to absorb some of the tension.

"You just scared her."

Bai Shao was momentarily stunned before realizing that this D-level was actually speaking up for someone else.

As a S-level at the top of the pyramid, this was the first time he’d been contradicted by someone of a lower level. However, unlike other S-levels who would fly into a rage when defied, he instead became intrigued.

"Oh, quite the gentleman. I hope you can be this brave when we encounter the weird later. Don’t end up pissing your pants in fear."

"Why would I piss my pants?" Zong Le asked, puzzled.

Bai Shao glanced at him sideways. "Oh? You’re not scared?"

Only after being questioned like this did Zong Le realize something.

He glanced around at the trembling, quail-like low-level survivors and suddenly became aware of an important issue.

Wait, why do my companions all look so scared?

No, he can’t stand out.

So Zong Le adjusted his strategy and spoke up.

"Me? I’m pretty scared too."

Bai Shao: "......"

He couldn’t help but detect a hint of sarcasm in the response, especially since he genuinely couldn’t see any trace of fear in this person. The woman earlier had been so scared her voice was trembling, gasping for breath, while this black-haired guy spoke as calmly as if he were a fake human.

"Heh."

Bai Shao didn’t bother wasting more words, but he secretly decided to make things a bit harder for him later.

After all, the Patriarch had only instructed them to ensure the group’s safety, he didn't say he had protect them in every aspect. As long as they stayed alive, that was enough. Besides, it was only natural for a D-level survivor to get hurt when they overestimated their abilities and barged into an S-level mission range.

Zong Le, completely unaware of the malice directed at him, thought he had successfully bluffed his way through and quietly sighed in relief.

And so, the group continued forward in this strange atmosphere.

The second floor of the villa was a seemingly endless white corridor, decorated in the same palace-like retro style, though the lighting was slightly dim.

The only discordant note was the corpse lying on the floor outside the corridor.

"No need to fear, this is the work of the 'killer,'" the butler said nonchalantly. "We’ve already called the morgue from Guiyi City’s crematorium, and they’ll come to collect the body later."

Clearly, this was one of the deaths that had occurred in the past three days, as mentioned earlier by Shu Xingwen and Qin Ye. Seeing this, the more timid low-level survivors in the group couldn’t help but close their eyes, trembling as they moved past the corpse, practically hugging the wall.

The butler led them to the reception room, thoughtfully serving each of them a cup of hot black tea.

Unfortunately, the scalding tea did little to soothe the psychological scars of the D-level survivors.

Because in the reception room, there was another corpse—one that looked even more gruesome.

Zong Le took a closer look and noticed that the corpse's abdomen had been completely torn open by something with ferocious claws, its intestines yanked out and strewn across the ground. Some of the internal organs were missing, with clear signs of having been gnawed on.

In short, it didn’t seem like the work of a human but rather some large beast.

This wasn’t the first time Zong Le had faced a corpse killed by a weird. He had seen similar scenes on the subway before, but the brutality of this particular case still made him frown deeply.

"Madam Xue is calling me with the summoning bell. Please excuse me."

After saying this, the butler turned and left, leaving only the survivors in the reception room.

With space to talk, the S-level survivors began discussing their next steps.

Shu Xingwen got straight to the point: "This S-level weird isn’t particularly strong, but it’s excellent at concealing its presence. Moreover, the previous victims all died in the dark. Even when I used my ability to communicate with their souls, I couldn’t determine the cause of death."

"Your intel this time seems rather disappointing, Great Medium."

"It's so easy for you to talk when you haven't lifted a finger. If you’re so capable, why don’t you give it a try? I doubt even you, a combat idiot, could find where the weird is hiding."

At this, Shu Xingwen’s expression grew visibly more irritated.

As a top-tier medium, his ability specialized in spiritual power, allowing him to detect and sense weirds. More advanced mediums could even converse with the dead to gather information. In previous missions, this ability had been unstoppable and easily crushed simpler tasks.

Yet, in this ultimate dungeon, it had failed.

Ultimately, it was because the NPCs in this ultimate dungeon were just too absurd.

"Don’t blame him. Before entering the ultimate dungeon, we already knew that the NPCs here carry a mild aura of a weird."

Seeing the leaders of the two major guilds about to clash again, Joshua had to intervene.

The aura of a weird corrodes the mind and alters personalities. What’s even more absurd about the ultimate dungeon is that even living humans who are around weirds carry this aura, meaning the NPCs’ personalities become uncontrollable. 

Even after death, their spirits retain their temperaments from when they were alive, which is why Shu Xingwen couldn’t get any answers.

"Besides, eliminating the weird isn’t urgent. Our main purpose in teaming up for the ultimate dungeon is to test the difficulty of this mission, It's not necessary to complete it so quickly. So, under the right circumstances, waiting isn’t necessarily a bad thing."

That made sense.

"In that case, let’s not waste any more time. Staying here won’t help. Since the enemy is hiding, we might as well take the initiative."

The group exchanged glances, all understanding that the key to this mission undoubtedly lay with "Madam Xue."

"Agreed," Joshua nodded. "I should also start preparing for the confession ritual."

Seeing the top-tier veterans about to leave, Wang Lin panicked: "Boss, where are you going? Can we come too?"

The other D-level survivors quickly nodded in agreement. No one was foolish—at this critical juncture, clinging to the veterans was their only hope of survival.

"We will do the mission. You guys stay here."

However, Qin Ye and the others had no intention of bringing along these deadweights.

High-level weirds have the ability to enhance themselves by consuming the flesh and blood of living humans. If a real fight broke out later, they might not remember to take care of these D-level individuals, and it would be bad if the weirds ended up using them strengthen itself.

"Bai Shao, you stay here and protect them."

When Joshua gave the order, Bai Shao naturally complied: "Yes, sir."

The D-level survivors were frantic with anxiety but didn’t dare to say anything. They could only watch helplessly as the big shots left.

Assigned to stay behind and protect this group of useless people, Bai Shao was already displeased, and seeing this scene only made him even angrier. He ignored the disemboweled corpse on the floor and strode directly to the center of the living room, where a large red satin-backed chair stood. 

He sat down with his legs crossed, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"What, you’re not satisfied that an S-level like me has been sent down to protect you?"

Usually, even the highest-ranking merchants could only hire A-level survivors as bodyguards for missions. As an S-level, he had every right to say something, yet these people were actually being picky. Where did they get the nerve?!

But as soon as he finished speaking, the lights in the living room flickered twice and then suddenly went out.

Almost the moment as the abnormality occurred, Bai Shao stood up from his seat.

After carrying out missions in the villa for three days, the S-level survivors had long since figured out the pattern of this weird's killing method—it required a dark environment to launch its attack.

Bai Shao seemed to be complaining, but in reality, he had been on guard the entire time.

He specialized in agility, but S-level survivors rarely had significant weaknesses in their abilities. So, when that weird, sinister force quietly slipped into the living room, he sensed it immediately.

"Ah—"

But the D-level survivors didn’t know any of this. Seeing the lights go out—a classic horror movie trope—they were terrified out of their wits. Those with special tools quickly brought them out, while those without simply crouched down and hugged themselves.

Thud!

Bai Shao clashed with the weird in the darkness, and the moment they made contact, he immediately sensed something was wrong.

This surge of power... was stronger that what they have previously felt before!

Caught off guard, he hadn't used his full strength, but he could still feel a faint sting in his arm.

In just a moment, Bai Shao realized that this time, it was likely the true form of an S-level weird!

The instant Bai Shao realized this, he activated his advanced ability, Flash Step, to retreat swiftly.

As for why the S-level weird attacked at this moment, the reason was quite obvious.

For three days, the weird had deliberately avoided them. After all, just taking Joshua from their team as an example, after being baptized during the anointing ceremony as the successor to the Patriarch of the Temple, he exuded an incredibly powerful aura of light.

Ordinary weirds wouldn't dare approach him easily, and even powerful ones would think twice before acting.

Besides, the great medium Shu Xingwen and the top solo fighter Qin Ye each had their own deterrent power. Over the many years since the Infinite Space opened, due to the enmity between the Watchtower Guild and the Spiritual Guild, these two had never teamed up. If it weren't for the ultimate dungeon, they wouldn't have formed such a galactic battleship of a team.

Under such circumstances, if a weird dared to appear, it would be exposed in seconds.

But now, things were different. These people had left the reception room.

The higher the level of the weird, the higher its intelligence. The weird must have noticed this and hurried over, aiming to pick on the weak.

A mere S-level weird wasn't fatal to an S-level survivor.

However, facing the aggressive S-level weird, Bai Shao could at best ensure the safety of himself and one or two others around him, he was unable to protect everyone.

Fortunately, he remembered the position of the floor lamp in the reception room. As his arm was chilled to the bone by the weird energy, he rolled directly toward it.

The weird's obvious weakness was light. With light, its power could be weakened.

But no one expected that the weird would also retreat at the same time.

It turned out it had the same idea as him—to attack from the east.

'That black-haired guy is probably going to suffer a bit, but it's necessary for a sacrifice.'

Bai Shao's mind flashed to the positions of everyone earlier and noticed that Zong Le was standing right in the path.

Although he had indeed thought about giving Zong Le a hard time before, he hadn't expected such a coincidence.

Almost at the same moment, a loud bang came from the seven o'clock direction.

Bang—

Amidst the chaos and screams, Bai Shao's hand landed on the switch.

In an instant, warm light flooded the room.

Even after being processed by the weird domain's "color blindness," the light was like timely rain, showering everyone's hearts with relief.

"The lights are on!"

"Thank goodness!"

As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, Bai Shao looked up.

To his surprise, Zong Le was still standing there unharmed.

Not only was he unscathed, not even a strand of his hair was out of place, standing out among the disheveled crowd.

The black-haired young man himself maintained a raised hand gesture, the back of his hand was slightly red.

Along with the shattered glass scattered at his feet, the toppled bookshelf, the fluttering pages, and the large hole in the window beside him, the scene didn't look like a weird attack but more like he was swatting away some annoying insect.

"Don't worry, it's safe now."

Feeling the gazes of everyone, Zong Le awkwardly retracted his arm. "That thing has already been driven away by me."

The others: "...?"

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