Chapter 24 What Time Is It?

“What time is it now?”

Mule asked such a simple question.

The prepared paper wasn’t just filled with directions like east, south, west, and north, or answers like yes and no, but also the twenty-four letters of the alphabet and ten numbers.

Mule had already tested it.

When she asked where this was, she could clearly feel another invisible force guiding the pen she held, moving the tip across the paper, spelling out “dolphinhotel, 0408” one letter and number at a time.

In other words, the entity could perceive the outside world and respond.

But when Mule asked what time it was,

the invisible force surrounding the pen inexplicably went berserk,

dragging Mule’s hand and moving it frantically across the paper.

Mule’s hand was stuck to the pen. She tried to regain control of her arm,

but was shocked to find she couldn’t compete with the entity’s power.

The result of her resistance was a dislocated right arm, her forearm bending backward at a painful angle.

Of course, that was nothing. Players' physiques were far beyond ordinary people, and they were generally trained to endure pain.

The pain of a dislocated arm wasn't as unbearable as a bamboo skewer inserted into a fingertip, or appendicitis.

The real problem was that the force surrounding the pen started trying to control Mule’s body in reverse.

She wasn’t smiling, but a stiff grin appeared on her face.

She wasn’t moving, but veins popped out on her arms.

Mysterious deep wounds appeared on her body, constantly leaking blood, dripping onto the ground and being absorbed by the carpet.

What was going on?

Was asking the time a forbidden phrase? Or was the memo designed like this?

As long as you participated, players would inevitably have their bodies controlled?

The dizziness brought on by blood loss attacked her brain. Mule's mind raced, desperately searching for a way out.

The information broker could feel the icy sensation spreading along her right arm and throughout her body, gradually making her body stiff and numb.

Only the left half of her body was still functioning normally…

Mule gritted her teeth. Just as she was about to use her trump card,

she seemed to notice something and turned her head with all her might towards the doorway.

One of the skills carried by the information broker

was the ability to set up a virtual, non-physical eyeball, fixed at a location not far from the user, to conduct reconnaissance like a surveillance camera,

and transmit the images to Mule’s brain in real-time.

This skill was called [Fake Eye Technique], clearly a parody of Gaara’s [Sand Eye Technique] from *Naruto*.

Although the skill name was a gag, the effect was still very reliable and practical.

The summoned eyeball had no physical form, was extremely stealthy, and could be closed at any time.

In theory, it was safe and reliable.

With the help of [Fake Eye Technique],

Mule could clearly see that the indicator needle above the elevator stopped moving and pointed to the fourth floor.

Ding-dong.

The elevator doors opened to both sides, revealing two figures inside.

Hei Shengzi and Li Ang.

Hei Shengzi was still wearing the same clothes he had on the day he teleported into the game world, silently standing in the corner of the elevator.

Li Ang, on the other hand, was holding a piece of white paper nearly a meter wide, with two lines of text written on it.

The top line was in larger font:

[PLAYERS ENCOUNTERING ABNORMAL EVENTS SHOULDN’T PANIC. LOUDLY SAY THESE THREE WORDS AND MAKE THE ANOMALY CALL YOU AN EXPERT!]

The bottom line was slightly smaller:

[IF YOU ENCOUNTER TROUBLE, DON'T SAY "THESE THREE WORDS." PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR AND I WILL HELP.]

Without a doubt, Hei Shengzi and Li Ang, who had just come down from the fifth floor, were the patrolmen for tonight.

Mule's heart skipped a beat. As an information broker, she was well aware of Hei Shengzi's identity as the young master of the Bi’an Organization.

The Bi’an Organization was not a good thing.

Hei Shengzi was not a kind person either.

There was considerable evidence proving that before he became a player, he abused his status, committed many sins, and acted recklessly.

In fact, Mule strongly suspected Hei Shengzi's motive for voluntarily applying to be a patrolman tonight—he didn’t seem like the kind of person who cared about his subordinates, who would risk his life to go out and investigate the situation for the sake of his subordinate's death.

However, Li Ang could be trusted.

The handwriting on the white paper he was holding was very much in his personal style and shouldn't be a fake.

In a split second, Mule weighed the pros and cons.

She tried her best to twist her waist, and swung her left arm, which was still under her control, backward, releasing the skill [Mage Hand],

releasing an invisible hand from a distance to turn the doorknob and push the door open.

“Hmm?”

Li Ang in the elevator raised an eyebrow. With the help of the light in the corridor, he could see Mule in the dimly lit room with disheveled hair, covered in blood, and contorted into a strange shape.

Was she doing yoga?

But her yoga posture was too non-standard.

It was even more rigid than a corpse twelve hours after death, exhibiting signs of rigor mortis.

(If Chai Da Xiaojie were here, she would definitely be mocking Li Ang's mental activities.)

Despite his thoughts, he couldn't abandon a teammate in trouble.

Li Ang bent his knees slightly and stepped on the floor of the elevator. He shot out of the elevator like an arrow, crossed the corridor, and rushed into room 0408.

Mule's situation was not optimistic. New deep wounds were constantly appearing on her right arm, which was tightly clutching the pen, and the left half of her body was stiffening at a steady rate.

“My memo was about playing a paranormal game. I chose the Ouija board,”

Mule said quickly while she could still speak freely, “Everything was normal at first, until I asked what time it was…”

Perhaps because the paranormal entity had discovered Li Ang, an intruder,

the negative energy surrounding the pen suddenly accelerated its rate of invasion.

Mule felt her lips numb from right to left. When she tried to speak again, she could only utter muffled, unintelligible sounds.

Tap tap tap.

Hei Shengzi had also rushed into room 0408 at this time.

Since Li Ang had left the absolutely safe elevator again to help other players,

Hei Shengzi, who had vowed to become a patrolman during the day, naturally had no reason to stand idly by.

His feet appeared on the bloodstained carpet of room 0408.

To prevent the elevator doors from closing and trapping players on the fourth floor,

Hei Shengzi had specifically found a heavy object from his backpack and wedged it between the two elevator doors.

This way, whenever the elevator doors tried to close automatically, they would be blocked by the heavy object, preventing them from closing and keeping the elevator stuck on the fourth-floor corridor.

“He’s…”

Hei Shengzi looked at Mule, who was sitting stiffly on the chair, frowned, and asked in a deep voice, “Trapped by an anomaly?”

“Seems like it.”

Li Ang glanced at Mule's memo and the records she had written with her left hand. He narrowed his eyes, and reached out to pry Mule's hand off the pen,

only to find that Mule's arm was as unyielding as cast iron. Forcing it might break Mule’s fingers.

Li Ang thought for less than half a second, and immediately made a decision.

If they broke, they broke. He could heal them anyway.

Mule, hang in there. I'm here to save you.