~~Unforeseen events~~

Lu Lanlan is the guide?

Chai Gang showed a clear look of disbelief.

After that arrogant Su Mo told him that their group had a guide in it, the first people that Chai Gang had suspected were Dai Xingzhang and Xiao Ya, he even went as far as to suspect Mark. The only person that he had overlooked was Lu Lanlan.

After all, this was understandable. Because when compared with the quiet and rational Su Mo, Lu Lanlan, who was always frightened out of her wits, was just too normal. From her behaviour this entire time, she would seem to just be a new player, that had suddenly accidently entered this terrifying world, and had lost her wits about her due to her panic.

If Su Mo hadn’t been the one to tell this bit of information to Chai Gang, then he would have probably thought that the person that was concealing themselves and deceiving everyone was Su Mo.

Lu Lanlan really wanted to continue acting innocent, however upon seeing Su Mo’s confident expression, she realised that it would be useless. The confusion on her face immediately vanished, and she returned to the calm and collected behaviour that only an official player could have.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Clapping three times, Lu Lanlan was slightly impressed, “When the games started, I had thought that you weren’t normal. You are so new, but it was like you were born for Dreamland Paradise…. Tell me, in the end, how did you see through me?”

Lu Lanlan thought that she had concealed herself very well. Her expression was in accordance with how a new person would have acted. However, clearly Su Mo had been sure of it for quite some time, so she would naturally be curious about how or what she had done to give herself away.

“Three reasons.”

Lu Lanlan’s eyes opened wide, “So many times? You’re lying. Was my acting really that bad?”

Su Mo calmly closed the door to the room. Glancing at Lu Lanlan, he slowly made his way towards the oil painting in the room until he stood next to it. Upon seeing this, a faint sign of panic flashed through Lu Lanlan’s eyes. However, neither Su Mo, who had his back turned towards her, nor Chai Gang, who had yet to recover from his state of shock, saw it.

“Fist reason: Lipstick. When we entered the game is was just before daybreak, yet you had lipstick in your pocket. That’s just plain odd.”

“Aiya! It’s in a girls’ nature to take care of their appearance, lipstick is our life, we will make sure that we look good even if we’re out in the middle of the night!” Lu Lanlan’s face showed she was unsatisfied with that answer.

Su Mo leaned against the wall and continued, “However, when everyone was going about looking for clues, you intentionally picking up the vanity mirror to freshen yourself up was already weird, nevermind taking into account the two other future occurances.”

In the entire room, the vanity was the only clue. How is it possible that with it being your first time entering the room, you were able to notice and bring all of their attentions to the mirror in the first place? How could it be merely a coicidence?

“Second reason: the newspaper. You painted yourself to be this timid and weak new person, but when the girl’s corpse had just left, you had the guts to get the newspaper on your own…. Of course the most important part is that you were able to immediately think of the newspaper, and get it in time. It was therefore clear, that even though you were sitting at the back of the minivan, you were still able to get a clear read on the entire car.”

Lu Lanlan suddenly understood that this really was her error.

But, would normal people usually look out for these things?

Eh, is Su Mo a normal person?

The last point is the key to how Su Mo was certain that Lu Lanlan was the hidden guide, “Thirdly, the black dots behind the metal gate were also discovered by you! Also, He Wanzhou is blind, so his sense of hearing is even more terrifying. Need I say more?”

At that time they had all been taken by surprise, however him and Lu Lanlan hid at the same time, even though at that time they weren’t yet aware of him being blind. Only the people in the family will know the family’s business, however Su Mo was very confident in himself and his ability, but Lu Lanlan? How can a university student that’s out of her mind with fright conceal themselves so well? This is quite unusual.

Su Mo even went as far as to think that even if he hadn’t shown his hand, Lu Lanlan would have used some other kind of method, that everyone would have reluctanly agreed to, to kill He Wanzhou —— Of course casualties would have been unavoidable.

Besides these three large points, there were still many other smaller points and details, but Su Mo wouldn’t say any more than what was necessary.

“Amazing! You are the most impressive new person that I have ever encountered!”

Lu Lanlan wasn’t the least bit stingy in praising him. As if she didn’t see Chai Gang’s face full of fury, she innocently explained, “Although I did lie to you all, my lies never caused you to come to any harm and I helped you with quite a lot of things…. So, can we talk about working together from now on?”

Even though Chai Gang was very angry, he also understood the importance of the guide.

The real strength that came with the guide was one that did not need to be doubted. The most important thing now, was that the guide currently had within their grasp important information that the they didn’t currently know. That’s why, even though her identity had been revealed, Lu Lanlan still felt secure in the fact that she had a strong backing.(In that she was safe from any harm because of the title, information and experience she held)

After all, the information that was held within her grasp, was the key that would allow them to leave this abandoned residence!

Only thing is… will Su Mo work together with her?

Anyone that came to know Su Mo knew that he was a person of few principles, and therefore did not have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

By his point of view, there were two types of people in the world: strangers and enemies.

Unfortunately, Lu Lanlan belonged to the latter group.

Just now when he had revealed Lu Lanlan’s identity, Su Mo had just said one thing: Dai Xingzhang was killed by her.

Since he knew, yet didn’t mention it, Lu Lanlan was able to cause Dai Xingzhang’s death, and there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t have caused anyone else’s death as well. It’s a good thing that they had managed to keep these two seperate, otherwise it was certain that Su Mo would probably have killed her in the cradle.^[1]Nipped the situation in the bud; as in gotten rid of the situation as early as possible.

Obviously Lu Lanlan had the key to the next clue within her grasp, so Su Mo naturally wouldn’t be stupid enough to tear into her at this time.^[2]The phrase they used is 撕破脸 which means to scratch at each others faces

Feeling in no rush to answer her, Su Mo rather had his attention focused to the oil painting on the wall.

Lu Lanlan’s eye’s once more flashed with a look of agitation, which she quickly concealed with a smiling expression. “What? Are you interested in the painting?”

Su Mo was knodding his head without answering, when a silver dagger suddenly appeared in his hand!

Seeing the silver dagger in that split second, Lu Lanlan’s eyes grew wide, as she accidently yelled out, “Don’t!”

To late!

The painting showed a woman, a beautiful woman that had been crucified. And at this moment, she had a silver dagger stabbed into her abdomen!

The instant that the dagger was plunged into her abdomen, the lady suddenly ‘came alive’, and started to shrash around wildly!

Releasing a silent scream, while struggling desperately, causing Chai Gang to backed away in fear.

As if not seeing the woman in the painting’s struggle, Su Mo casually turned towards Lu Lanlan, “Okay, now we can discuss working together.”

Lu Lanlan’s face had become incredibly ugly, “When did you figure it out?”

Figure what out?

Looking at the living oil painting, then looking at Su Mo and Lu Lanlan, Chai Gang was dumbfounded.

“This is He Bei’s room.”

Su Mo’s eyes casually swept over the layout of the room, “You covered it up quite well, only it’s a pity….”

Su Mo didn’t continue to explain what was a pity and Lu Lanlan also didn’t ask.

Right, this really is the older sister, He Bei’s room. Lu Lanlan had managed to hide all of the things that symbolised He Bei before the two had come back down. It’s just a pity that the farse was seen through by Su Mo.

“Okay.” Having no choice, Lu Lanlan shrugged her shoulders, and in an innocent manner retorted, “But it was just to be safe rather than sorry, after all, there are two of you and I’m just a weak girl…”

“What do you want?” Su Mo immediately interrupted her from speaking any more nonsense.

“Enough rubbish!”

Even though she had been interrupted, Lu Lanlan didn’t show even the slightest bit of discontent, but rather just frankly revealed, “I want the diary and photograph!”

So obvious. She obviously also knew that the diary and the photograph were the keys to getting through the scenario.

“One or the other.”

At this point both parties had given up all pretenses of cordiality and knew there was no chance of them co-operating. Lu Lanlan also realised this fact and after hesitating for a short moment, she quickly yelled out, “I want the photo!”

Chai Gang’s heart gave a nervous thump, “Su Ge^[3]I will now be saying “Ge” instead of brother as it just flows better. Ge is a form of address for a male who is older than you and also shows respect…”

“Give her the photo!”

Turning his head to look at Chai Gang, Su Mo spoke with a cold tone of voice.

Chai Gang stared blankly; The photograph wasn’t with him….

“Wait! Wait!”

Lu Lanlan gave a smile, “I changed my mind, I want the diary!”

The ‘key’ was either the photograph or the diary. Su Mo understood this clearly and so did Lu Lanlan, however she wasn’t entirely sure which one was the actual key.

However, Su Mo’s intelligence and cold personality left her with a deep impression of him. Surely if the photograph was the key to passing, he wouldn’t feel that it is safe to be kept on Chai Gang’s person?

So, the most probable conclusion would be that it is the diary, that is within his possession!

“Are you sure?”

Su Mo was very good at managing his facial expressions. So no matter how hard she tried, she could not seem to be able to get a read on what he was thinking.

Cursing in her head, Lu Lanlan gritted her teeth, “Right, I want the diary!”

Even if the diary isn’t the key to pass the scenario, she can just do as she has always done and steal the photograph!

A cold gleam flashed across Lu Lanlan’s eyes upon seeing Su Mo take the diary out from his chest area. Seeing this she showed a smiling expression, revealing her dimples, “How are you sure that I won’t trick you?”

Su Mo stared straight into Lu Lanlan’s eyes, the corner of his mouth giving a slight upward twitch, “I’ll take my chances.”

Getting the diary Lu Lanlan spoke out, “The darkness before the dawn is death and birth… When I entered the scenario, this is the hint that I got.”

Lu Lanlan was telling the truth.

In order to ‘cure his illness’, Su Mo had previously studied psychology, and at the very least he could see within her eyes that she was not lying to him.

Only thing is…

“I really admire you. You are the calmest person I’ve ever seen, also the wisest, to the point that even compared to many other older players you are quite outstanding! It’s just a pity…”

Lu Lanlan didn’t divulge further as to what was a pity, but instead showed it with her actions.

Aiming a black muzzle of a gun towards Su Mo’s chest. The smile on her face was now gone leaving her with an vicious expression, “It’s just a pity that you’re still too naïve!”

Bang!!!

Lu Lanlan didn’t give Su Mo any leeway to dodge, allowing the cold bullet to take his life….

“You, you….”

Chai Gang was stunned. Never in a million years could he have imagined that Lu Lanlan would actually kill Su Mo!

“Next, it’s your turn.”

As the muzzle was pointed towards Chai Gang, Lu Lanlan revealed a dazzling smile on her face, “Give me the photo and I’ll make it quick for you!”

Right, Lu Lanlan had never planned to let them off. She was going to get the photo and the diary!

“Why? Why do you have to do this!”

Shouting angrily, Chai Gang’s eyes were red, filled with the look of confusion and anger.

The guide is meant to be the most trustworthy person to the preparatory players. But not only did Lu Lanlan not help them in the least, but she was also killing them off! This will cause the guide more of a disadvantage than an advantage!

“There’s already enough players in Dreamland’s Paradise, we don’t need new people to join.”

Lu Lanlan’s face only showed a cold sneer.

The more reserve players that were killed in the scenario, the more the guide would be harmed. However, Lu Lanlan thought that this ‘trivial’ amount of pain was nothing compared to the reward that she would get from the ‘organisation’.

If it hadn’t been for Su Mo, she wouldn’t have needed to take the situation into her own hands and could have kept the damage sustained to a minimum.

Having a gun pointed at himself, Chai Gang was feigning a calm expression, but the photograph… his gaze subconsciously fell on Su Mo who was lying in a pool of blood. He saw that Su Mo’s corpse was actually disintegrating into a glittering light!

Along with Su Mo, the silver dagger that was stabbed into the oil painting was also disappearing!

Rumble!

The ground started to shake with an earthquake!!

The two people stood still as they looked towards the oil painting unable to fathom the situation before them.

At that moment, the hole that had been cut into the stomach of the girl in the painting began to grow larger and larger, when suddenly…. an innumerable amount of red eyed rats began to surge out of the open cut!

The chang of events had occured too suddenly. When the two of them finally recovered from the shock, they had already been seperated by hundreds of rats!

“That evil Su Mo, even in death he causes trouble!”

The rats turned and ran to clamour onto Lu Lanlan who was closest to them. His heart full of dispair, Chai Gang froze in place not knowing what he should do.

Just then, his arm was grabbed by a very strong hand!

Turning around, Chai Gang’s face was full of pleasant surprise, “Dai DaGe?^[4]DaGe is a polite way to address a man who is about your age. Dai being his surname, ie Dai Xingzhang Are you alive?!”

~~~~~~

Author has something to say:

Stupid author: Su Mo has died, the end…..[covers head and scurries away]
Uncle Chu: Don’t I have a 40 meter long sword?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Smol Aries: Okay, let me be honest with you guys. I’ve been on holiday. But I myself am so obsessed with reading, that I constantly get distracted reading other people’s books… but then they also give me the “oomf” to translate as well.
Anyways, when I read the other people’s books the translators often talk and give their opinion at the bottom, but I have never been one to voice my opinions and feelings, but to connect with you all better, I will begin to do so. 🙂

So… I don’t know about you guys but the imagery of the hole tearing from the lady’s stomach and then hundreds of rats running out just kind of grossed me out… bleh.