The Seventh Day.
"Eh, up so early today?"
As soon as Li Ran got up in the morning, he saw that Su Bingyao had already started cleaning the house.
And it wasn't just a simple tidy-up—white sheets were draped over everything.
"Wife, what's going on?"
"A deep clean. I’m having someone come over today to do a thorough cleaning, so no breakfast this morning. Just grab something on your way to work, make do with it," Su Bingyao said.
Li Ran had two things to deal with today. One was teaming up with Zhao Yingzhi for a mission, and the other was helping the police in the afternoon while disguised as a con artist. His schedule was incredibly tight.
Glancing around the living room suspiciously, Li Ran said to Su Bingyao, "I’ll head downstairs and pack some breakfast for you and our son."
"No need, hubby, go handle your business. I already ordered delivery," Su Bingyao replied quickly.
"Alright then. Call me if anything happens," Li Ran said.
As soon as he stepped outside, Li Ran’s expression darkened.
"If this keeps up, I’ll owe my wife more and more... and it just has to happen at midnight!"
Li Ran could tell at a glance that Su Bingyao was lying.
His golden finger had revealed the reason.
That little ghost from midnight had come out to cause trouble again. Su Bingyao and Li Ziyang stayed up all night to protect him and even cleaned the house in the middle of the night to avoid arousing Li Ran’s suspicion.
Back when Teacher Zhang delivered the little ghost to them, Li Ran had already sensed something was off. Later, when he searched the house, the ghost had mysteriously vanished.
Even Li Ziyang was puzzled—he had clearly left the jar containing the ghost on the bookshelf in the study, but now the jar was gone too.
For the first few nights, everything had been peaceful.
But over the last couple of nights, the vanished ghost had started showing up and causing havoc.
He’d been so smug, boasting about how he would protect the mother and child. In the end, they were the ones protecting him.
Li Ran felt deeply distressed for Su Bingyao and Li Ziyang.
What shocked him even more was that Su Bingyao and Li Ziyang consciously chose to protect him.
It reminded him of the girl Lu Zhaohui liked—Meng Ge.
They both seemed to have become aware that they were monsters.
If they hadn’t realized that, they wouldn’t have been trying to protect him at midnight.
And they’d even crafted kind lies to cover up the truth.
In a way, that was a good thing—it meant their human consciousness was still in control, not the virus.
With that thought, Li Ran used Shadowstep and dashed downstairs.
He had to strengthen himself quickly so he could protect his wife and son.
He couldn't let them keep losing sleep just to protect him.
---
Five minutes later.
Community gathering point.
“Brother Ran, here—500 points transferred to your account,” Lu Zhaohui said.
To Li Ran, who only had 100 points left, these 500 points were like fuel in a snowstorm.
Li Ran noticed that Lu Zhaohui actually looked pretty good. He didn't seem drained at all—on the contrary, he was practically glowing, face full of joy.
“I went with her to deliver breakfast to her mom this morning,” Lu Zhaohui said, barely able to hide the smug delight in his smile.
Day two of making single guys jealous.
About ten minutes later, Zhao Yingzhi finally arrived.
And once again, Song Linjia was absent.
Calls, Feixin messages, texts—no response, no matter how much they tried.
The odds were she hadn’t made it.
After Zhao Yingzhi got the lowdown on Lu Zhaohui, she expressed genuine surprise that he’d made it to Day Seven.
“Alright, let’s skip the small talk. I’ll go over my mission,” Zhao Yingzhi said, direct and clear-headed, knowing exactly what she had to do.
“I need you to protect me,” she said, looking seriously at Li Ran.
Li Ran and Lu Zhaohui exchanged glances, each seeing the surprise in the other's eyes.
“Someone’s trying to kill you?” Li Ran asked.
Zhao Yingzhi nodded and explained the newly triggered mission to Li Ran.
[Mission Triggered: Survival (Team)]
[Mission Description: The organization believes your identity has been exposed. A purge has been initiated. You will be hunted by the organization.]
[Mission Reward: +200 Eerie Power, +2000 Points, 2 Special Equipment]
[Eerie Power, Points, Equipment, and Items can be freely distributed among the team.]
[Mission Failure: Death]
“You’re being hunted?” Lu Zhaohui exclaimed in shock.
“If it’s a team mission, then it’s definitely not going to be easy. You might be facing more than one assassin,” Li Ran analyzed quickly.
Zhao Yingzhi’s original self was an assassin. She had lost her memory during a mission and then disappeared for six days. The assassin organization had every reason to suspect she had either defected or was captured by the police. Issuing a kill order made perfect sense.
“The problem now is that you’re out in the open while the enemy is in the shadows. You don’t know when they’ll strike. The real challenge is figuring out how to defend yourself and stay alive,” Li Ran said.
“This mission’s pretty straightforward—just stay alive and defend myself. Right now, my Eerie Power is low, I don’t have any skills, and the 4000 points I spent only got me some stat-boosting gear. My Eerie Power barely reaches 700, and I seriously lack combat experience.”
“If the assassin’s strength is equal to mine, I’m confident I could kill them one-on-one. But if I’m facing a group, and they’re more like undead monsters than humans, I’ll have no choice but to run. If I get surrounded...” Zhao Yingzhi voiced her concern.
Li Ran agreed—she was likely to face wave after wave of assassins.
Who they were, where they were hiding, and when they’d attack—one slip-up could mean death.
“I’m not getting involved. I know my limits,” said Lu Zhaohui.
After finishing the Dream Pigeon mission, Lu Zhaohui’s Eerie Power had reached 150—but he still couldn’t even beat Li Ziyang. At least he had enough self-awareness.
Maybe that’s exactly why he was still alive.
Li Ran still had concerns about the team mission. He told Zhao Yingzhi, “Let me make one thing clear. I’ll protect you—but only if the situation allows it. I’ll be hiding in the shadows. If things go south, and we face something overwhelming, I’ll run immediately. Don’t accuse me of betrayal later.”
There were too many unknowns in this bizarre world. Even with his ability to receive prompts, Li Ran had to be ready for anything.
“Naturally. If our roles were reversed, I’d do the same,” Zhao Yingzhi said.
And with that, they agreed to team up and split the rewards evenly upon mission completion.
Li Ran’s job was to stay hidden and protect Zhao Yingzhi from the shadows.
---
Noon.
“You sit at the café by the entrance. The police station is right across the street. Maybe just being nearby will deter them a little.”
They ultimately chose a café across from the police station as their defense point.
Going into the station wasn’t practical—there was barely anyone there, and it would be suspicious to loiter without official business. Plus, Zhao Yingzhi had just gotten out from under police watch. Returning might attract unwanted attention.
Li Ran used Shadowstep to hide in the dark while Zhao Yingzhi disguised herself, ordered lunch, and sat inside the café.
There were two staff members in the café. Li Ran checked them, but no mission was triggered.
After surviving so many days, Li Ran had discovered a pattern.
Native residents who could trigger missions were all dangerous. Those who couldn’t seemed normal—though that might change at night.
The two communicated through concealed earpieces.
Li Ran scaled a tall building using Shadowstep. Putting on his X-ray goggles, he activated the passive skill Lookout.
His vision instantly covered the entire area. Everything happening inside the buildings became visible.
“Didn’t expect so many native residents to be living in this complex,” he murmured after a sweep. The number of residents was on par with reality—though they rarely came out during the day.
Suddenly, a few figures appeared in his vision—ones whose auras felt completely different from normal people.
“Wait... what’s that?”
---
Please keep reading. Whether this book survives depends on it.
(End of Chapter)