There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Target: Hidden Task

Little Fatty quietly considered what Duan Fei had said. The more he thought, the more his blood ran cold.

Looking back, he realized that Duan Fei had grasped their entire situation after just a single video call and had committed it all to memory.

Then, when it was time to gather clues, he’d instantly recalled that information, made the right connections, and deduced the correct conclusion.

Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Little Fatty sat down in front of the monitors. He brought the walkie-talkie to his lips and said, "Duan Someone, may I ask... just who in the world are you?"

"Just your average, run-of-the-mill game-freak."

"Okay, Mr. Game-freak, I have a question then. If our ultimate fate is death, how can that still be considered a victory for us?"

"That must be a hidden condition in the mission objectives. Based on the note I found earlier, we know we’re all sacrifices. And based on what the Female Little Demon... no, the Shadow People said, we can confirm that despair, death, and fear can all open the hole below. So that raises a question: Who locked us in here? And what’s their goal?"

Little Fatty swallowed hard and asked nervously, "What have you figured out now?"

"First, we have to establish one thing: the ones who sent us in here are none other than the Rongge Company. And just in case you’ve forgotten, I’ll remind you—that’s the company that manufactured those tools."

"How could you know that!" Little Fatty cried out.

"Because it’s the only organization name that’s come up so far. Besides, think about it. If an organization needs to use people as sacrifices—using the fragile souls of humans to resist an invasion by some indescribable creature—then they must have some understanding of these indescribable things. And if that’s the case, they’d surely be able to create items specifically designed to counter them. Who else could it be?"

Little Fatty sighed in amazement. "Duan Someone, don’t block me after this. I’m starting to think playing games with you is fun again."

"Standard procedure. Don’t worry about it. If you really want, I can give you an autograph."

"So, do you know why they sent us in here?"

As Little Fatty watched nervously, Duan Fei shook his head. "I don’t know. There’s some information missing, so I can’t figure out their motive. But that doesn’t affect our ability to complete the hidden objective. You saw it yourself just now. The condition for completing the hidden task is to open every single compartment in the safe and find all the contents inside. That’s how we get the key to go to where the hole is."

"So we need to open all the compartments?"

"Exactly. The compartments can’t be opened right away. We probably have to discover certain anomalies before each one can be unlocked. So, all we have to do is trigger all the anomalies, and then we can open the compartments. Since a normal clear isn’t the true ending anyway, we might as well go for the real one."

As he said this, Little Fatty noticed that Duan Fei’s tone was flat, but his eyes were gleaming.

It was the look of a true gamer—the look one gets after discovering an alternate clear route.

Letting out a long sigh, Little Fatty said, "Alright, you win. What’s the plan?"

After discussing the specific details with Little Fatty, Duan Fei turned off the light and said to the Shadow People still on the bed, "Alright, you can go now."

"Huh? You’re just letting me go?"

"What else? You’re of no more use to me. Get dressed, get lost, and go jump in that hole. Don’t let me see you again."

The Shadow People stared daggers at Duan Fei as she backed away to the door. Then, without a backward glance, she left, vanishing without a trace.

’I’ve already squeezed every bit of intel out of that little demon. Keeping her around would just be a distraction. Better to just get rid of her.’

’Besides, her tricks are amateurish, and my Spiritual Power Attribute is a whopping 75. There’s no way I’d be scared of her.’

With a couple of smug chuckles, Duan Fei felt like this dungeon was as familiar as his own backyard. He could go wherever he pleased. Any new horrors that showed up would just be more spicy material for his collection. No problem at all.

Suddenly, Little Fatty’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie. "Duan Someone, there’s an anomaly at the movie theater. You’d better be careful."

"Relax, it’s nothing major. I’m heading over to deal with it now."

"Okay. I trust you."

Holding his Crowbar and humming a little tune, Duan Fei had just reached the movie theater entrance on the second floor when he saw a child’s tricycle appear at the top of the stairs.

On the tricycle sat a pale-faced, hideous puppet. It opened its mouth and spoke in a monotone voice, "Duan Someone, I want to play a game!"

"How about you play with this!"

Stepping forward, Duan Fei expertly swung his Crowbar. The puppet’s head went flying and landed in a nearby trash can.

While the headless puppet flailed about in confusion, Duan Fei rushed forward and kicked the tricycle. He watched as it tumbled all the way down the stairs, smashing the rest of the puppet to smithereens in the process.

"Done."

Little Fatty, who was looking up information, saw this and completely lost it again.

"That actually worked?!"

"It worked, didn’t it? No harm in trying, so I tried."

"You’ve completely gone off the rails!"

"Hey, we’re just playing a game. The most important thing is to have fun, right?"

Looking down, Little Fatty found the protocol for this situation. He then said with a wry smile, "You actually did the right thing. That’s a situation where you just need to go all out. The guide says to charge it the moment it starts talking. Well done. You can go to the security room and open one of the safe compartments. Take the puppet’s head with you; there are items inside to eliminate it."

Walking over to the trash can, Duan Fei pulled the puppet’s head out and saw that it was glaring at him, its teeth gritted in rage.

"I’ll kill you-you-you!"

Tossing the head into the air, Duan Fei gripped his Crowbar and expertly batted it away, yelling, "Home run!"

"Another home run!"

"A third home run!"

"Duan Someone has gone Super God!"

After batting the puppet’s head all the way back to the security room, Duan Fei used the password from Little Fatty to open the safe compartment. Inside, he found a lighter and a can of solution.

Beside them was a small pamphlet, which was the instruction manual for the two items.

"Puppet Cleanser, the latest product from the Rongge Company.

Are you still at your wit’s end, tormented by those pesky Cursed Puppets? Still losing sleep over Miss Mary’s late-night phone calls?

What’s the deal with those dolls from Japan whose hair keeps growing? And what’s up with that puppet that moves behind your back the second you’re not looking!

Well, your savior is here! With Puppet Cleanser, just douse the puppet, light it up, and all your troubles will go up in smoke. Order now for just nine-ninety-nine! Comes with a free, super-slick windproof lighter. Call now while supplies last!"

He silently put down the manual and opened the can.

After catching a whiff of the contents, Duan Fei had only one thought.

’Isn’t this just gasoline?!’