What malicious intent could NPCs possibly have? C28.2

Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. 🙂

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Chp28. part2

That was it.

Not a task, but a task hint.

“What’s your wish?” Ning Ge asked Little Husky.

Little Husky counted on his fingers. “Mom, my wish is to find the three medals I lost before I broke them.”

“Medals? Okay.” Ning Ge began searching for clues. “What did they look like? Where did you go before you broke them?”

“Ning Ge.”

Pei Han gently tugged her arm.

He murmured, “We’ve been doing tasks nonstop since entering the Dungeon. It’s time for a break. The Dungeon only gave us a hint, not a task, so it’s probably giving players time to rest.”

Ning Ge only then realized a faint, gray dawn was filtering through the window. After working all night, the sky was nearly bright.

Pei Han gestured for her to look at the others.

Owen was yawning one after another. Teacher Su and the Delivery Man were slumped over the table, their eyes glazed over, lost in thought.

Engineer Zheng, the oldest, was barely holding on. His eyes were half-closed, but he forced himself to stay alert without making a sound.

Pei Han, being experienced, was right. Little Husky immediately collapsed onto the workbench with a thud.

“I’ve been busy all night. I’m tired. I’m going to sleep. We’ll look for the medal after ten hours.”

Even a Wooden Puppet could get tired.

Ning Ge: “……”

Everyone else was exhausted from the frantic search and the efforts to repair Little Husky. Little Husky was probably exhausted from causing all the trouble.

Little Husky didn’t seem bothered by the room full of puppet parts. Having spent so long in the parts warehouse, it was used to it. It closed its eyes and fell asleep as soon as it collapsed.

Owen yawned again, stood up, and rummaged through a cabinet for several soft cloths used to wrap parts. He draped them over Little Husky.

“Alright, let’s all get some sleep first.”

The cross-dressing guy asked curiously, “It actually gave us ten hours of sleep? Ten hours? I haven’t slept a full ten hours since graduating from elementary school.”

Ning Ge knew why.

The living conditions in this Dungeon were SSS-class, naturally allowing everyone to get plenty of rest.

They decided to return to their rooms to sleep. In nine hours, they would gather in Ning Ge’s room to get the next task from Little Husky.

Pei Han fell back a step and said to Ning Ge, “I can’t go back to the sewing workshop. I know they’ll have me up at dawn to start working.”

Owen yawned and chimed in, “I help out in the Painting Studio, so no one bothers me there. I do have a small room, but it’s got… uh…”

He glanced at Pei Han’s expression and jolted awake.

“…a really narrow single bed, absolutely no room for you. Sorry about that.”

The cross-dressing guy left with the Delivery Man and the Social Bro, saying his suite had a bed and a sofa, and they could all share.

Pei Han naturally followed behind Ning Ge, with Iris trailing after them. The two of them, along with the puppet servant, went downstairs to the Viscountess’s room.

As soon as they entered, Pei Han said, “I’ll sleep on the sofa in the outer room, you take the bed inside.”

“Otherwise?”

Ning Ge walked into the inner room with her eyes half-closed. “Iris, get him a pillow and blanket. Do whatever he asks. But if he tries anything with me, beat him up.”

With that, she collapsed onto the bed.

Iris bowed his head and answered meekly, “Yes.”

Pei Han: “……”

With a strong and obedient Puppet Servant like Iris, there was nothing to worry about.

The SSS-class luxury wasn’t just for show. This bed was also SSS-class, and Ning Ge had never felt so comfortable on one before.

The mattress was just the right firmness, the quilt soft and warm, the sheets smooth and delicate, and there was even a faint, sun-dried fragrance.

Ever since entering this Dungeon, she had been running for her life. Especially after dancing for hours, rummaging through boxes, climbing shelves of the store heads, her body felt as if it had been beaten up.

Sleepiness washed over her.

Lying on the bed, which felt like a haven, Ning Ge thought: This Dungeon is truly paradise, but it’s a pity I can’t stay.

She didn’t need to ask Pei Han; she knew it was a story-driven Role-Playing Dungeon. Every time a new batch of players entered, the Dungeon would surely reset.

Resets posed a grave threat to Ning Ge, an Awakened NPC. She needed to find a transitional Dungeon instead.

As she pondered, Ning Ge drifted off to sleep.

In a daze, Ning Ge felt someone gently turn her over, remove her shoes, and move her to the center of the bed. Someone smoothed her hair and tucked her in.

The movements were incredibly gentle and considerate, as if they were afraid of disturbing her.

It must be Puppet Servant Iris, she thought. This meticulous care is also SSS-class.

After sleeping through the darkness, Ning Ge eventually heard hushed voices. Quite a few people seemed to be present.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment, then remembered she was still in a Dungeon.

Everyone else seemed to have arrived.

The cross-dressing guy’s voice came in a low tone, “I can’t sleep at all. My body’s exhausted, but my mind’s racing and wide awake.”

Social Bro chimed in, “I only managed a short nap. We’ve got a mission that could get someone killed at any moment. Who can sleep through that?”

Owen chuckled. “The one in the room can. I bet if we didn’t wake her, she’d sleep through the entire Dungeon.”

The delivery man asked, “Where’s Brother Pei?”

Owen replied, “I saw the note he left. He went out with Iris.”

He should definitely bring Iris with him, Ning Ge thought. Pei Han’s a man; he shouldn’t be wandering around the Royal Palace alone.

Owen continued, “He left a note saying he was going to try taking on a task himself, to get it done so she could keep sleeping.”

Ning Ge felt a surge of emotion.

Anyone willing to let someone else sleep peacefully is a good person.

Suddenly, Ning Ge realized her bracelet wasn’t on her wrist. It had been removed and placed on the bedside table.

He must have taken it off before he left, she realized. He was afraid the bracelet would vibrate and wake her up while he was on the task.

Ning Ge picked up the bracelet and found several new messages.

[Task: Retrieve the Bronze Medal lost by Little Husky in the Royal Palace Garden.]

[Description: Complete within three hours.]

[Failure Penalty: Random player execution.]

[Not bad. Give the Bronze Medal to Little Husky.]

[Reward: Draw for Sprint Time.]

No one had clicked the draw button yet.

Pei Han had completed the first Bronze Medal retrieval task all by himself.

Someone entered the room, and Pei Han’s voice rang out.

He was back.

“I only managed to do a little on my own and found a Bronze Medal,” he said. “The system refused to give me the next part of the mission, insisting we all go together.”

Ning Ge put on her bracelet, ran her fingers through her hair in front of the mirror, and opened the door.

“You’re awake?” Pei Han smiled at her and handed her the Bronze Medal he was holding. “Come here and look at this.”

He’d called her over specifically to look at it, so there must be a reason.

Ning Ge took the medal.

It was a shiny brass medal with a wide ribbon. The medal was embossed with a marionette, and below it, a semicircular arc of small text.

Ning Ge examined it closely. It read: “Puppet Servant, The Most Loyal Assistant, A Masterpiece of the World.”

She couldn’t help but notice that the upright marionette, the strings above it, and the curved arc of text below its feet formed a very distinctive shape.