Free Web NovelChapter 9: Chapter 9: The Black Hand
The puppet writhed in the flames, struggling until it was finally reduced to ash.
All the while, it kept trying to threaten Duan Fei, but to no avail.
Duan Fei’s current Spirit Attribute was 75 points, a value seven times that of a normal person. The Spiritual Barrier he constructed made his Spirit Resistance as solid as steel.
According to Little Fatty’s explanation, a Tier Two Dungeon meant the monsters’ Primary Attribute was around 20. If it was a Mysterious Dungeon, then their Spirit Attribute would be around 20.
Combined with some Skills, the threat level of some paranormal entities could reach 40, and some elites might even reach 60, but they still couldn’t do anything to Duan Fei.
A person who was basically an officially certified glitch was just that broken.
’If the duration of [Spiritual Armor] were a little longer,’ Duan Fei felt, ’I could tear through this entire dungeon and make every paranormal entity understand just how powerful I am.’
All he had to do now was play the game by the book: gradually take out the attacking paranormal entities, open the safe, and then move on to the hidden quest.
After the puppet was completely burned away and the flames died down, Duan Fei noticed something had been left behind, now glowing even brighter from the intense heat.
Picking it up, Duan Fei saw that it was an asbestos mesh with several numbers engraved on it.
At the same time, the walkie-talkie crackled with static, and a man’s voice came through: "What are you waiting for? Open the safe and come see me!"
"Who is this?"
"You don’t need to know. Come see me."
Finding that the other party had abruptly ended the transmission, Duan Fei shrugged.
Of course, Duan Fei knew who it was: the guy who had just taken out the fake Little Fatty before threatening him.
But that didn’t stop Duan Fei from probing him verbally, trying to gauge his mental state and see if there were any weaknesses to exploit.
’If I’m not mistaken, he must be the final boss, and also the hidden element of this dungeon.’
He told Little Fatty about the situation, but Little Fatty searched the emergency manual for a long time before finally saying helplessly, "Sorry, there doesn’t seem to be any information about him in the manual."
"So there’s nothing... Then it’s definitely a hidden element. But how does he know the safe’s password? And it seems like he’s skipped all the steps and gone straight to the final battle. Did I trigger some kind of bug again?"
"It’s probably because he realized he couldn’t get any fear out of you. In fact, you’re the one scaring the paranormal entities."
"Makes sense." Duan Fei nodded. "So this boss has some advanced AI. That’ll make beating him up even more satisfying."
"Confidence is a good thing, but are you sure you can beat him?"
"Doesn’t matter. I’ll beat him up first and figure out the rest later."
’The enemy can directly control the byproduct of the puppet’s combustion, so he should be able to control other paranormal entities as well.’
Duan Fei had reason to believe the enemy had already stopped all the paranormal entities, making them lie in wait for him to appear.
’This final boss really has a few tricks up his sleeve, knowing how to dynamically adjust the difficulty.’
After entering the full password into the safe, Duan Fei opened all the remaining compartments. He discovered there wasn’t as much inside as he’d imagined.
Probably because he’d skipped some steps, some of the Rongge Company products he could have swiped didn’t appear, which left Duan Fei feeling disappointed.
’No freebies for me, then.’
Inside the safe was a pile of fragments that looked like a movie ticket, just torn into scattered pieces.
Seeing these fragments, Little Fatty, watching from the monitor, said excitedly, "Duan Someone, follow my lead! I’m an expert at jigsaw puzzles!"
"Oh."
With a nonchalant reply, Duan Fei took a screenshot of the fragments, opened an AI puzzle-solving app, and pieced the image together in five minutes. Then he said, "No need, thanks."
"...At least let me do something! This makes me feel like I haven’t contributed at all."
"At least you’re self-aware."
"...That’s it, you’re on my blacklist!"
Once the movie ticket was restored, all the tears on it vanished, replaced by a ticket stained with blood.
The name of the movie wasn’t on the ticket. Instead, it showed the start time and the theater number, and thoughtfully included directions to get there.
Following the directions to the third floor, Duan Fei found that all the theater doors were tightly shut, except for one, which was brightly lit from within.
Not a single person was in the theater. Silent ads played on the giant screen at the front, deepening the oppressive quiet.
Suddenly, the surrounding lights flickered violently, then immediately returned to normal.
In just that brief instant, the room was completely different.
Mannequins now sat in every seat. The spacious theater was packed, but because every member of the audience was a mannequin, the silence only deepened.
The surrounding lights dimmed, leaving only the projector aimed at the screen running, casting a black-and-white silent film onto it.
With every shift between black and white, the mannequins in the room would change.
As if they were alive, they began to talk and interact with each other. The strobing light made the mannequins’ movements look like a stop-motion film, causing Little Fatty, who was watching through the monitor, to panic all over again.
To Duan Fei, however, the scene was straight out of an anime.
One by one, scantily clad young ladies sat in their seats. With every flicker of light, their clothes and poses would change. Their slender figures and gorgeous outfits made Duan Fei feel like he had walked into an emperor’s harem. He couldn’t help but wonder, ’Can I really play this game for free?’
Especially the look in those young ladies’ eyes—a thirst showing through their youth, a seduction mixed with their innocence—made Duan Fei think it was a real shame the game’s artists weren’t working in the porn industry.
Finding his seat, Duan Fei had just sat down when the young ladies on both sides eagerly nestled up against him, resting their heads on his shoulders.
"Ladies, there are no shoulders to lean on up front. Please don’t bother me."
Pretty as they were, Duan Fei still didn’t like being touched by strangers.
And besides, while the two mannequins at his sides had been made beautiful, he could still feel their cold, uncomfortable touch.
[The mannequins are intimidated by your powerful aura. Their Spirit has been temporarily reduced by 5 points.]
After that, the mannequins on both his sides settled down completely.
Just then, the movie began.
The film was a paper-cut animation. Its black-and-white style had the feel of a dark fairy tale, and the exquisite craftsmanship was accompanied by a narration that explained the dungeon’s backstory to Duan Fei.
"Long, long ago, people discovered the existence of the Hole."
"On the other side of the Hole was a world of darkness. Death, despair, and fear would stimulate the darkness, causing it to erupt with unimaginable Energy."
"For the sake of this Energy, people threw sacrifices into the darkness, stimulating it, causing the Hole to continuously expand, the darkness to spread, and the darkness to produce more and more powerful Energy."
"Until one person appeared."
"He was sacrificed to the darkness, but he was not driven mad by the paranormal entities within it. On the contrary, his powerful Spirit attracted an Evil God from the darkness. He signed a contract with the Evil God and became its lackey."
"Holes began to appear all over the world, and paranormal phenomena began to invade daily life. Only then did humanity realize what a terrifying existence they had created, but it was too late."
"The expansion of the Holes could not be avoided; all efforts were in vain. The world was destined to sink into the Holes and become a part of the darkness."
After the last sentence, a person’s silhouette appeared on the screen.
Then, the silhouette stepped out of the screen and walked, step by step, onto the stage.
Bowing to Duan Fei, the young man in a white suit said politely, "We finally meet, fearless Warrior. My kind."
