Li Ran’s heart skipped a beat.
In front of him was a face pale and bloodless, pupils dim and lifeless—that was no longer the face of a living person.
“Rainy day, the weather turning cold, make sure to keep warm.”
Li Ran didn’t answer Yang Ping’s words directly, instead replying with concern.
Yang Ping turned her gaze toward the mirror in the elevator. It was still blurry and unclear, but she smiled and responded, “Thank you.”
The elevator jerked and shook before finally arriving at the 17th floor.
Yang Ping smiled at Li Ran, then walked out of the elevator to deliver food.
Li Ran waited in the elevator for a while before Yang Ping came back.
“You haven’t left yet?”
Yang Ping looked at Li Ran in surprise.
“I’m not in a hurry. But you—I heard everything just now.” Li Ran pointed toward the place where Yang Ping had delivered food. He had heard the customer yelling at her.
“That order wasn’t picked up by anyone at first. By the time I accepted it, it was already thirty minutes overdue. Add the rainy weather and the other orders I had, I just couldn’t make it in time. It’s normal not to be understood. Honestly, I’m just glad they didn’t give me a bad review.” Yang Ping said with a smile.
“You’ve got such a good attitude. If it were me, I would’ve just smeared the food in their face,” Li Ran said.
“If only I could be as reckless as you.” Yang Ping said while pressing the button for the 1st floor.
“Sister, I need to go to the East District later. You seem really tired—do you have any other deliveries in this building? I can help you drop one off on the way.” Li Ran looked at the other food bag in Yang Ping’s hand.
The golden finger prompted that helping Yang Ping deliver one remaining order would yield an unexpected reward.
Just a simple food delivery and there’s a reward—what a sweet deal.
“Oh, how could I let you do that?” Yang Ping looked at Li Ran in surprise. The fatigue on her face seemed to ease a little, but she didn’t want to trouble anyone. After all, food delivery was her job.
“Sister, it’s really nothing. I promise I’ll hand it straight to the customer.” Li Ran patted his chest and guaranteed.
In this short interaction, judging from how Li Ran had treated her earlier and his attitude toward that bratty kid, she felt this young man in front of her was trustworthy and reliable.
Besides, today had really worn her out. That delivery for the neighboring building was a pre-scheduled order—they specifically asked for it to be delivered at a precise time. Delivering it too early or too late would result in a bad review. With so many orders in hand, she just didn’t have the energy to time it perfectly and wait there.
“Alright then, I’ll trouble you.” Yang Ping handed the food to Li Ran, then took a card out of her pocket and passed it to him. “Sister can’t let you run for nothing, and I don’t have anything good to give you. This is a card my son likes to play with. I’ll give it to you.”
[Task Triggered: Deliver the Takeout]
[Task Description: This is a scheduled takeout delivery. Please deliver it between 12:25 and 12:30 PM.]
[Task Reward: +50 Eerie Power, +500 Points]
[Special Card will activate after task completion.]
[Task Failure: Death!]
The moment Li Ran took the card, the task was triggered.
The card in his hand was a dull gray color. It would only show its true colors after activation. Just by looking at it, one couldn’t tell what it did.
Failure means death?
Could delivering takeout really be life-threatening?
Li Ran arrived at the building’s lobby and said goodbye to Yang Ping.
He didn’t go down to the B2 level—that ghostly place, he would never go again.
“It’s not raining outside?” Li Ran noticed the sky outside was gloomy but there was no rain.
He recalled how Yang Ping had appeared drenched when she came up from B2.
(That day, a sudden downpour hit. Orders skyrocketed. To avoid being late, she sped through the rain, and a tragic accident took her life.)
Recalling that warning about Yang Ping, Li Ran suddenly came to his senses.
Yang Ping’s memory had remained stuck on the day she died.
“So that means…the Dark Palace really is a place for the dead?”
Thinking this, Li Ran couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. Thank goodness he hadn’t gone into the Dark Palace out of curiosity.
Li Ran checked the time—it was 12:20 PM.
“The rooftop lunatic can wait till after this delivery. There’s less than five minutes left.”
This takeout must be delivered within that time window. Failing the task meant death.
He wasn’t going to risk that just to deal with some lunatic.
Li Ran picked up the food and looked at the address on the order.
“Building 5, Unit 2, Room 104.”
Li Ran suddenly recalled the girl he saw through the window on the first floor earlier.
“Was she the one who ordered the takeout?”
A line of text appeared above the takeout bag.
(Hint: Please first purchase any Mental Potion in the store. Using another potion during the effect period will render all effects invalid.)
“Uh?”
…
…
“Yingzhi, the doctor said your head injury caused temporary memory loss. Mommy’s been hoping every day that you’d get your memory back.”
Zhao Yingzhi looked at the woman before her. The woman’s face was full of worry, and tears kept falling from the corners of her eyes.
“Mom?” Zhao Yingzhi said.
“Daughter, I’m your dad. Don’t you remember?” said a bespectacled, honest-looking middle-aged man with concern.
“No… I don’t remember. My head hurts so much…” Zhao Yingzhi clutched her head in pain.
“Little sis, I’m your brother.” said a handsome young man.
Zhao Yingzhi shook her head, looking at the three people who claimed to be her family, thinking to herself: If I hadn’t woken up early, I’d have been fooled by them. Dad, mom, brother? All lies.
Her memory had already returned.
She came from Earth and was one of the twenty-five players selected for the Strange World. The world she was in was called “Happy Home.” On the surface, she worked as a real estate agent, but her true identity was that of an assassin with amnesia.
On the first day she entered the world, she was already in this house and had triggered a guide mission.
[Special Mission Triggered: Never Admit (Time Limit: 6 Days)]
[Mission Description: During a mission, you killed your target's entire family. While escaping, an accident caused a head injury that resulted in memory loss. You were arrested by the police, who identified you as the murderer but had no solid evidence. The police administered a memory-erasing drug and are now reconstructing the crime scene in hopes of restoring your memory. They will use a truth serum to extract your confession and uncover the organization behind you. If you fail, you’ll be executed!]
[The longer you survive, the greater the reward. Points are doubled!]
She finally remembered. From the first day she entered the Strange World, she had been given a memory-erasing drug by her “family.” Every day’s memory was a blank slate.
The so-called “family” were all actors hired by the police. The three people in front of her, including herself, were playing a family of four.
She played the role of the youngest sister.
It was worth noting that the makeup of this family was the exact same as the one Zhao Yingzhi had originally wiped out.
Today, the scene was going to replay again according to the planned reenactment.
Between 12:25 and 12:30 PM, a woman in a red raincoat would deliver takeout.
This deliverywoman plays the role of a killer, that is, Zhao Yingzhi before she lost her memory.
What should have been a warm family lunch would turn into chaos because of one sentence from the “brother”: “She looks like a dead person.”
The red raincoat delivery woman would lose control and “kill” everyone present. Just before killing Zhao Yingzhi, the police would break in and apprehend her.
The “family” members that were killed by the delivery person would reappear the next day before Zhao Yingzhi, just like now.
The “family” in front of her was reenacting the scene for the sixth time.
At this moment, in Zhao Yingzhi’s eyes, their acting couldn’t have been worse.
(End of Chapter)