What malicious intent could NPCs possibly have? C22.1

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Chp22. part1

Puppet Servant

Could he be suspecting she was an NPC?

If so, the temptation to catch her would be great. But without absolute certainty, he wouldn’t risk reporting her and losing his top rank on the leaderboard, especially with the penalty of losing Achievement Points.

Ning Ge wiped her face dry. “No need. I’m heading out soon. I have things to do.”

Pei Han, reflected in the mirror, indeed froze for a moment.

After a half-second pause, he nodded. “Alright.”

Someone knocked on the door outside. Owen went to open it and soon called out, “Pei Han, someone’s looking for you.”

Pei Han left the room, and the sound of several men’s voices drifted from the guest room door, as if they needed him for something urgent.

Ning Ge overheard one of them ask, “Why are you wearing that color wristband?”

“Oh, it was a gift,” Pei Han replied.

They teased, “Ooh—a gift—”

Is it really a gift? Ning Ge thought. You practically begged for it yourself.

After a long while, Pei Han returned. “I have something to take care of. Make yourselves at home. Call the front desk for food if you get hungry. I’ll be back soon.”

After he left, Ning Ge waited a few more minutes. When she was sure he was really gone, she turned to Owen and said, “I’m going out. Entertain yourself.”

“Leaving already?” Owen was surprised. “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Pei Han when he gets back?”

“Something urgent came up,” Ning Ge replied.

Leaving Pei Han’s suite, Ning Ge took the elevator straight down to the transit hall.

The hall was older and more chaotic, but the crowd put her at ease.

As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, Ning Ge spotted the “on-site lounge” the staff had mentioned last time.

After completing two Dungeon missions back-to-back, she really should have taken a nap.

But the transit station was too small. If Pei Han was already suspicious, it would be better to continue running Dungeon to keep him occupied and make him think she’d simply gone out.

Instead of entering the lounge, Ning Ge went straight to the lockers. She changed into the new shoes Jiang Jin had given her, locked her canvas sneakers in the locker, and headed to the departure area.

Since it had been less than seven days since her last Dungeon, she needed an Alpha to accompany her.

All the way there, Ning Ge mentally rehearsed various lines to persuade an Alpha to take her along.

As it turned out, she’d overthought it.

Though the departure area was crowded, Ning Ge nervously approached each person one by one. Not a single one was an Alpha.

The Alpha who had been loitering around her so often was actually such a rare species.

Come to think of it, Alphas should indeed be rare by proportion.

Ning Ge waited for a long time but didn’t find one. She sat down on a chair in the departure zone, mentally reviewed the number of people on the Alpha leaderboard, counted the crowd in the departure zone, and tried to calculate the proportion of Alphas in her head.

How many people enter the departure zone per minute? What’s the daily flow? Most people clear a Dungeon every seven days, and they usually spend one to two days inside…

The numbers fluttered in her mind like birds, impossible to catch or pin down. Just as she grasped one, the previous ones flapped away again. She couldn’t make sense of it at all.

Only then did Ning Ge realize how exhausted she was.

After running through two Dungeons back-to-back without rest, she sat there, and even with her eyes open, she began to drift into a hazy daze.

This state is absolutely not suitable for a Dungeon.

She’ll die.

No matter what, she must go to sleep first.

Ning Ge stood up and walked toward the lounge, fully aware that if she went there, Pei Han would definitely find her again.

The transit station was small, and he wasn’t stupid.

Pei Han’s reflection in the mirror flashed through Ning Ge’s mind.

Can she really trust this person? Ning Ge’s mind was hazy, completely unable to think clearly.

Whatever, she thought. The most important thing is to get some sleep. If she is going to die, she might as well die well-rested.

The lodging area was vast, filled with rows upon rows of white pods stacked like bunks. Six levels high, they were accessible by ladders. Swiping a wristband unlocked the door to each pod, revealing a bed inside.

The pods were pure white and spotlessly clean.

But the space was cramped—about two meters long, one meter wide, and one meter high. It resembled a modern coffin, completely sealed except for the light. Claustrophobes would surely hate it.

The main advantage was that it was free.

And most importantly, there was no management and no registration. Once the door closed, no one would know who was lying inside.

Ning Ge confidently closed the door and lay down. Only then did she feel her body come apart at the seams. She closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep.

She slept for an unknown duration before hunger jolted her awake, her stomach rumbling loudly.

Ning Ge struggled to sit up and examined the space more closely.

Besides the light and the storage shelves, there was a small screen on the wall with simple options for food and daily necessities. After studying them, she tapped a few items.

A moment later, a small door beside the screen popped open, revealing a bowl of instant noodles, already prepared.

The System’s design was consistent, mirroring the Mother’s Sphere method of supplying resources in the Dungeon.

Ning Ge devoured the noodles and broth in minutes. Full and satisfied, she collapsed back into sleep.

She slept like the dead.

When she finally woke up, her bracelet showed that nearly thirty hours had passed—the longest she had ever slept in her life. But she finally felt somewhat recovered.

Ning Ge crawled out of her cabin and headed to the restroom.

She hadn’t gone far when she was intercepted.

It wasn’t Pei Han.

A young man in a store uniform spotted her and his face lit up with delight. He rushed over in a few strides, as if afraid she might disappear.

“Miss Ning, Mr. Pei bought clothes at our store and asked me to deliver them.”

Ning Ge sidestepped him. “You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

The clerk’s smile remained fixed. “Mr. Pei said you’d definitely claim you were mistaken. But look at this.”

He pulled a printed photograph from his pocket—a picture of Ning Ge that Pei Han had taken with his bracelet last time.

The photograph showed Ning Ge staring coldly at the camera, that classic expression of annoyance all candidly photographed girls wear.

The bizarre part was what lay below her neck. The red dress she’d been wearing had been covered up with white correction fluid, hastily altered to resemble an old man’s white undershirt. It had to be Pei Han’s doing.

Ning Ge: “……”

“Mr. Pei said to wait here with these clothes. You can’t stay in your cabin forever.”

The shop assistant handed over several bags he was carrying.

“He also said to tell you, Miss Ning, that this shop doesn’t accept returns. If you don’t want them, you can just throw them away.”

Mr. Pei was quite talkative.

Ning Ge glanced at the assistant. “Is that all Mr. Pei had to say?”

The assistant chuckled nervously. “…Yes, that’s all.”

“Good. Give them to me.” Ning Ge took the bags.

The assistant froze for a moment, surprised she’d accepted so readily. He quickly handed over the bags and fled as if afraid she might change her mind.

So he had found her after all.

Back in her cabin, Ning Ge opened the bags. Inside were several sets of practical tops and trousers.

Among the items was a T-shirt, a deep crimson, the exact same shade as Ning Ge’s red dress.

Ning Ge took out the red T-shirt, picked out a pair of cargo pants to change into, and slipped on the black high-top boots Jiang Jin had given her. She walked back to the spot where she’d met the store clerk earlier.

As expected, Pei Han was there, hands shoved in his pockets, a sliver of pink wristband peeking out from under his sleeve. He stood waiting for her.

“I figured you wouldn’t have left,” he said directly.

Fine, I know you’re clever, Ning Ge thought.

“But I didn’t want to go knocking on every cabin door.”

Even he felt awkward sometimes.

He looked like he had something to say, and Ning Ge waited quietly.

Pei Han pursed his lips, as if searching for the right words.

He cut to the chase. “I know you’re special. You can’t leave this place.”

Though she’d guessed he knew, hearing him say it aloud still made her heart skip a beat.

Just as she was about to speak, he asked, “Are you a near-death patient?”

Ning Ge: ???

What the hell was that?

Ning Ge, naturally expressionless, remained perfectly still, her face impassive as she watched him, waiting to see what else he would say.

When she didn’t respond, he continued, “Or… is it that you’re an escaped criminal from the outside?”

This time, Ning Ge understood.

He knew she couldn’t leave the System, so she assumed he thought she was an escaped criminal who would be arrested and imprisoned if she did, or someone on the verge of death who could only survive within the System.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, his gaze fixed on her. “No one here cares who you are outside. If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask.”

Pei Han looked at Ning Ge.

“I’ve run so many Dungeons, and I’ve never met a partner as ideal as you. They say the difficulty of recent Dungeons has increased. I don’t want any slip-ups in this final month. We’re about to run another Dungeon today, so I was wondering… would you be willing to… well… what do you think?”

His hands were clenched in his pockets, and though his expression was composed, Ning Ge could still detect a hint of desperately concealed awkwardness.

It didn’t feel like he was looking for a teammate; it felt more like he was asking her out.

Ning Ge carefully observed his expression, trying to gauge his sincerity.

If it was all an act, his acting skills were truly exceptional.

Ning Ge extended her hand.

Pei Han paused for a moment before immediately reaching out and shaking her hand.

She accepted his handshake calmly, and in doing so, he also took her in.

Ning Ge was also looking for a suitable Dungeon to stay in. With her paper-thin skin and low HP, she desperately needed someone with both high offense and defense to help her and take the hits for her.

As long as Pei Han didn’t have any ulterior motives, he would be an ideal candidate.

This person could be temporarily placed in the “Question Mark” area for further observation.

Pei Han’s other hand, which had been clenched in his pocket, relaxed. He smiled. “There’s no need to stay here. My place is empty anyway—feel free to stay there.”

“I don’t want to stay in a stranger’s room,” Ning Ge replied.

“Stranger? Haven’t we shared a hotel room before?”

His nonsensical remark signaled that he had returned to his normal self.

“I’ll be leaving soon. Why don’t you come over to my place first?” He glanced at the sleeping pod behind Ning Ge and added, “Or we could go to your place—I don’t mind either way.”

Imagine being crammed into a two-meter-long, one-meter-wide, one-meter-high cabin with him…

Ning Ge’s heart gave a violent shudder as she followed him upstairs.

Owen was there too.

He heard Ning Ge enter and turned his head, but his eyes remained fixed on the game on the TV screen, slow to follow.

“You’re here too?” Ning Ge greeted him.

“Someone insisted I stay and… Owen said, pausing mid-kill to lift a hand holding the controller and make a gesture of a lightbulb suddenly lighting up above his head.

Unable to resist the allure of the luxurious bathroom, Ning Ge borrowed it to wash her hair.

Once she was inside, Owen turned to Pei Han. “Finally found her? If we don’t run this Dungeon soon, that eternal second-place guy will overtake us. She’s just hiding in the rest cabin?”

Pei Han hummed in agreement.