Volume 4 - CH 60.3

Everything surrounding this Nightmare has also penetrated its way into Fei and Wu Jian’s information network; they were once Missiontakers who ascended from the bottom floor of the Tower, but they have not been to this particular Nightmare either.

Almost as soon as they’ve heard about it, they have connected many dots floating about their minds, and matched them with all those conspiracies──deductions──they’ve come up with.

So they almost immediately found a Missiontaker who achieved a Normal End, and through… satisfactorily effective means, extracted necessary information from him, and then hurriedly fell through Bad Ends to descend the Tower, and arrive on the bottom floor, and into this Nightmare.

When Baldie was explaining this Nightmare to the rest of the Missiontakers, among the six present, only Mu Jiashi and Collector actually knew nothing at all about this Nightmare.

Though, thanks to the path Baldie pointed the two of them through, they also managed to secure some rather interesting pieces of information from the amusement park themselves.

On that topic, after Collector called everyone over, he excitedly heads back for Mu Jiashi.

This ‘treasure trove,’ as formed after the large supermarket crumbled, has almost the entire southeast portion of the ruins covered. The initial destruction must have been of an unimaginable scale to end up scattering the food everywhere.

Collector clearly seems ready to hold up some imaginary popcorn, saying, “I knew it. The two of them hid things from us.”

Mu Jiashi just shakes his head.

Exposing Baldie and Biceps’ deception──According to Collector, who also set out this plan of action, right after they unintentionally stumbled into this area.

After they gave an arduously wide berth to the amusement park, their path has already largely deviated south. They decided to head due east after that, thinking about turning north later, when they saw survivors who seem to be holding something in their arms.

The survivors all looked exhausted and covered in dirt. It looks like they were just engaging in heavy manual labour.

When they saw Mu Jiashi and Collector, they were immediately wary and quickly slunk into obscure corners, disappearing out of sight.

So Mu Jiashi and Collector decided to head in the direction where the survivors came from for a bit, and then, Collector stumbled upon a piece of chewing gum by luck.

In exchange for that, he asked a survivor nearby about the general situation of the ruins. The survivor wasn’t willing to talk to them face-to-face, in private, but accepted the gum and yelled out information about this place from afar instead.

They learned about what was once the supermarket then, which the survivors also called the ‘Treasure Trove.’

And immediately, Collector understood Baldie’s bias against him.

If they actually made a detour via the north of the amusement park, or did not head due east after circling about the amusement park from the south, then they would not have passed through the Treasure Trove. Instead, Fei’s and Wu Jian’s path would have led them straight through it.

Assuming Baldie and Biceps knew about this area──Not that it seems likely they do not──And Fei and Wu Jian would have to have gone past here, then of the six Missiontakers here, only the two of them would have missed this place.

Missed what is a perfect place to look for food.

Add to that the animosity and xenophobia exuding from the amusement park, Collector realises the full extent of Baldie’s malice towards him.

He rubs his chin, sounding somewhat confused, “was it even necessary…?” Then, he smiles once more, adding, “oh, well, who cares if he found it necessary. I got set up, so I’ll set him up in turn.”

Mu Jiashi now understands that Collector bears grudges. He bears them hard.

Though what neither he nor Collector knows, is that as the Nightmare goes on, they would eventually forget about everything. Baldie knew, which was why he saw fit to give this guy he hated a hard time.

And also, have him scout the way for them.

He and Biceps didn’t know that much about the people in the amusement park either.

Both getting back at the guy that irked him, and gathering information──At least, Baldie was thinking that Mu Jiashi looked reliable enough to give him accurate information about their approaching the amusement park──killing two birds with one stone, classic.

And thus, the six Missiontakers present at the Treasure Trove, are all preoccupied with their own thoughts and intentions.

Mu Jiashi “…”

He just sighs wearily hearing Collector’s schemes.

He is seriously suspecting that since returning to the bottom floor of the Tower, all the Nightmares he entered have been cursed one way or another.

This must be malice from the Server’s part!

Mu Jiashi couldn’t care less what information Baldie did or did not reveal, because as the Nightmare went on, it would have become clear anyway. Partial truths? Men are selfish creatures. You must be delusional to count on a Missiontaker you just met for the first time to entrust you with everything.

As long as he’s not another of that lone wolf he met in that last Nightmare, who even conspires in factionalism and showers everyone equally with pure spite, then Mu Jiashi is thankful.

Though, even that lone wolf from back then, after they bust his cover and actions entirely, ended up agreeing to cooperate──With a snarky attitude attached, but cooperative nonetheless.

Suffice it to say, that on the bottom floor of the Tower, all Missiontakers in the Nightmares are natural allies for each other, regardless of their intent to work together.

Instead, he’s seeing… some kind of intense, impromptu rivalry between Baldie and Collector?

Mu Jiashi is seriously tired of these. He hates these Missiontakers in Nightmares the most; they cannot tell business from personal grudges. They do as they please. Just one of them is irritating enough, and now, great. There’s two of them.

Oh, great, so great! Even the Heavens will him to be a useless piece of trash. He’s decided now. He’ll be lazing about, super casual style, the entirety of this Nightmare!

But then, some clues for the Nightmare, in order to trade for information on that certain Tower resident… Next time, maybe.

Mu Jiashi, who is quietly resolving to laze about, would perhaps find a common ally in the past Xü Beijin.

The past Xü Beijin whose goal in life is to laze about in Nightmares. As long as Missiontakers do not bother him, he could blank out to the end of the universe in the Nightmare. Or at least, until ‘sunrise,’ when they are pulled out of the Nightmares.

After the streaming system barged into his life, though, that once simple, salted-fish-like life of his, seems to be nowhere in sight.

In fact, he is plotting along to intervene more actively in Nightmares.

He pulls the camera away from the Treasure Trove a bit to be able to see all the Missiontakers there at once.

The stream shows that they have each made some gains. Of course, because they can’t carry most of the food with them, they stop their efforts soon enough, and reassemble on the road between the building and the Treasure Trove. They start their discussion.

And what Mu Jiashi worried about plays out in all its glory.

Collector and Baldie are playing nice with each other like a Unionist cat plays nice with a Real IRA dog. Whenever Baldie says anything, Collector would definitely follow up with an eerie tone and a creepy smile; whenever Collector is sarcastically mocking Baldie, the man would immediately look close to blowing up, with bloodshot eyes and all his muscles on his upper arm visibly bulging.

A fight looks inevitable.

Right now, more than half an hour has already gone past since they entered the Nightmare.

Fei yells out all of a sudden, pointing to the building, “what is that?!”

The Missiontakers all turn their gaze in the direction she is pointing, even including the arguing Collector and Baldie.

They can see someone standing on the rooftop, with a person visible behind him.

The person in the front looks to have been pushed by the other one, and falls straight down from the rooftop of the building. Not a few seconds later, a splat, a scattering of blood, a few twitches, and then, silence.

The Missiontakers are looking at each other now, as their jaws drop onto the floor.

──Someone was pushed to their death from the rooftop of the building. He is dead.

However, the Nightmare is not restarting.