novelraw Chapter 238: A scam? Extortion?
Chapter 238: A scam? Extortion?
"Warning! Warning! You are about to leave Mingzhu Apartments. Once you exit the loop, the mist system’s identity-concealing effect will be nullified. Without an item to transform your identity, you will become an outsider in Cangshan City. Hell Warriors patrol Cangshan City; any outsiders discovered will be hunted city-wide."
"The Cangshan City Instance boat will arrive in fifteen days. Please return to Mingzhu Apartments before then."
As the mechanical voice echoed in their ears, Alexander, Selena, and Edward promptly left the area.
The streets were bustling with cars and pedestrians. At first glance, it appeared to be a scene devoid of any surreal elements. But a closer look would reveal its strangeness.
Right before their eyes, a large truck brutally collided with a small sedan. Following vehicles, unable to halt in time, crashed into them as well.
A crowd quickly gathered around the accident; some dialed emergency numbers while others whispered sympathetic words to those next to them.
From the truck, a bloodied young man burst out, rushing to check on the sedan’s driver before collapsing to the ground in despair. From a distance, it seemed like nothing more than a routine traffic accident.
However, a wider look at the street would reveal an unsettling sight. Aside from the area near the accident, other pedestrians acted as if nothing had occurred. Cars occasionally passed by—some stopped, while others continued without interruption.
The street seemed bifurcated, with one half centered around the accident, and the other half, extending for about a kilometer, belonging to an entirely separate realm.
After an indeterminate amount of time, a faint mist began to spread across the accident zone. It seemed as if the mist emanated from the bodies of those who had perished in the crash, gradually expanding outwards. As the mist thinned and finally became almost imperceptible, everything within it—the people, the cars—vanished into thin air.
Among those who had gathered to witness the event were two individuals who had rushed over from their fruit stall. Astonishingly, as the mist dissipated, they reappeared behind their stall as if they had never left.
The cycle had restarted!
Witnessing the loop’s renewal left the trio dumbfounded—it was unfathomably eerie. The white mist must be the enigmatic fog shrouding the surroundings.
Could it be that this is the birth process of the mist? That this forbidding, or rather, taboo force actually originates from the people who die in this recurring loop?
Alexander’s eyes were clouded with confusion. No matter how much he racked his brain, he could not make sense of the bizarre relationship between these elements.
"Young man, could you assist an old lady?"
At that moment, a voice broke through his thoughts. Not far away, an elderly woman, shaky and frail, looked at them expectantly.
"Of course!" Instinctively, Alexander stepped forward. It was only as he moved that he remembered where he was. Having already given his word, backing out now could make the old lady suspect something amiss.
Her aura emitted a soldier-level fluctuation—trivial to Alexander, perhaps, but in this fog instance, the ghosts carried the taboo forces.
Alexander had encountered the white mist when the Hell Warriors passed by; it had no effect on him. However, no one knew if that peculiar sense of familiarity would persist in Cangshan City. In the end, Alexander went ahead and helped the old woman to the side of the road.
"You’re such a good person! You look unfamiliar; where are you from?" Grasping Alexander’s hand, the old lady’s face was a portrait of gratitude.
"We’re not from here; we’re outsiders," Alexander cautiously replied, wary of mentioning his previous disguise at Mingzhu Apartments.
After leaving the apartment, his appearance and clothing had reverted to their original state. What if this old woman happened to know that Draven?
"You’re not locals?" The old lady seemed exceptionally thrilled upon hearing this. Alexander sensed something amiss. He attempted to pull away, but his hand was gripped firmly in the vice-like grasp of the old woman.
Edward and Selena looked ready to intervene, but Alexander subtly shook his head, signaling them to stay put.
"Grandmother, what is the meaning of this?" he inquired.
The reason for restraining his companions was that, although the old woman’s eyes gleamed with excitement, she did not seem to be in the berserk state encountered in those they had met previously.
"Heh heh..." The old lady suddenly broke into an unsettling smile and leaned in to whisper, "Young man, apologies, but I need to borrow something from you."
As she spoke, she slowly lay down on the ground, feigning agony. "I’ve been hit! Oh dear! You should watch where you’re going; you’ve nearly killed me!"
Well, well, well.
Alexander and his companions were flabbergasted.
What was happening? A scam? Extortion? Were these antics popular even in a mist instance? What happened to the basic trust between people?
"Mom! Are you alright?" Just as they stood there stupefied, a burly man sprang forth from a nearby flower bed.
He charged at Alexander and grabbed his wrist, "Young man, you think you can just run after hitting my mother? You owe us 20,000 ghost coins!"
Alexander was dumbstruck, and so was Edward. For a moment, neither knew what to do.
To Alexander at this point, 20,000 ghost coins were not a huge amount, but they were within a mist instance—a realm of endless cycles.
No one could predict whether paying now would immediately end this cycle and initiate a new one. And when the loop begins anew, what’s to stop the old woman from extorting him again?
It was an unending trap.
"Refusing to pay? You hit my mom and think you can get away without paying?" The burly man holding Alexander’s wrist roared and swung his fist toward Alexander.
Instinctively, Alexander launched a kick. Even though he didn’t put much force behind it, he sent the man tumbling to the ground.
"Impossible! I’m a fitness trainer and a black belt in Taekwondo! How could you knock me down with one kick? Something’s off about you!" The man on the ground said, his eyes growing sharp as a dark aura began to envelop him.
About to go berserk!
Who would’ve thought that this man was actually a Taekwondo expert with a physique much stronger than the average person? It’s no wonder he felt something was off when Alexander managed to knock him down with a single kick.
"Taekwondo black belt? Hardly worth mentioning," Alexander retorted.
A smirk crossed his lips as he assumed a stance reminiscent of classic Hong Kong martial arts movies—right hand forward, left hand back—and disdainfully declared, "I am Bruce Lee! Ten of you wouldn’t be a match for me."
"Bruce Lee? Never heard of him." Now it was the man’s turn to be puzzled, looking somewhat at a loss.
"You’re truly uninformed. I’m a martial arts enthusiast from another city. Your Taekwondo skills are far from refined. In our world of martial arts, speed and finesse trump brute strength!"
Though Alexander was no martial artist, he had watched enough action films in his previous life to bluff his way through. His words struck a chord with the man who had devoted his life to Taekwondo. It dawned on him that Alexander spoke of martial arts philosophies he had never considered.
In that moment, his affinity for Alexander drastically changed—from zero to ten points in an instant.
Alexander sighed in relief.
Here, things operated differently than in the horror world Alexander was familiar with. While there were good will points, everyone started at a universal zero—no exceptions, not even for the young man in the apartment who had a good relationship with Draven.
Moreover, these good will points didn’t need to dip; one minor slip-up and people would go berserk. Their good will toward you would still display as zero, but they would come at you full force.
Thankfully, Alexander’s social prowess had paid off.
Just as he was contemplating how to increase his good will points and discern their effects in this realm compared to others, a painful groan broke his train of thought.
The elderly woman, who had been playing the victim, had ceased her wailing once her son appeared. Now, however, her body began to convulse, her hand clutching her chest, and her forehead veins bulging as she howled in agony.
Is she really committed to this act? Just when I managed to sway your son!
Annoyed, Alexander soon realized that something was genuinely wrong. The elderly woman’s act was a little too convincing: forehead veins bulging, body drenched in sweat, lips quickly paling, and even her fingertips trembling.
This doesn’t seem like an act at all!
"Mom, are you okay?" The man rushed to the old woman’s side, fumbling to get a pill bottle from his pocket and hastily administering a pill.
"I fear that I might..."
After taking the pill, the elderly woman seemed to ease a bit and opened her mouth as if to say something.
However, she only managed five words before convulsing and clutching her chest again. This time, in a matter of breaths, the convulsions ceased entirely, and she lay still, lifeless.
"Mom!"
The man shook the old woman’s shoulders vigorously, checked for breath, and then broke into hysterical wails. Wisps of pale mist started to emanate from the old woman’s lifeless body.
"A new cycle is about to begin," Edward whispered into Alexander’s ear.
Nodding, Alexander gazed at the spreading mist and the corpse, sinking into deep thought. As the last wisp of mist detached from the old woman, both she and her wailing son seemed to freeze in place.
Then, in a shocking moment, they exploded—or more accurately, their bodies transformed into pure, ethereal mist, which rapidly dissipated. From a distance, it seemed as if they had vanished into thin air.
"Let’s move to the side and see what happens next," Alexander suggested to Edward and Selena. They retreated to a flower bed at the side of the road, positioning themselves in a blind spot to observe.
Minutes later, the figures of the old woman and her son reappeared. The man hid behind the flower bed in front of Alexander, while the old woman stood on the road, scanning her surroundings as if looking for her next victim.
This time, Alexander didn’t intervene. Unable to find anyone to scam, the old woman clutched her chest and convulsed violently before collapsing onto the road. The man rushed over, and like a macabre replay, both figures turned into mist and vanished once more.
"So, the cycle didn’t reset the original people, did it?" Alexander mumbled, a frown creasing his forehead.
"What should we do now? This cycle seems pretty straightforward to break. Maybe if we just let her succeed in her scam, the cycle will be complete," Edward suggested. "A single soldier-level ghost crystal doesn’t mean much to me, but it might be a good reward for you. Give it a try. Such a simple cycle is rare in instances like this."
"It’s worth a try, but not to break the cycle," Alexander’s eyes glinted with a particular radiance. If any of the unfortunate ghosts from Undead Street could see his current demeanor, they would turn tail and run.
When the old woman appeared for the second time, Alexander approached her willingly.
"Ma’am, allow me to help you cross the road."
On the road, Alexander reached out to support the wobbly old woman. A glint of surprise flickered through her eyes as she stammered, "Young man, you are a good person indeed! Where are you from?"
"Ma’am, I’m from outside this place. What brings you here all alone? Any hardships? I’m the type who enjoys helping others," Alexander claimed, a veneer of kindness coating his words.
"Thank you, young man, you’re truly kind-hearted!" The old woman hesitated for a second, pondering her options. "Just help me cross the road, that will be enough."
"No rush, Ma’am. Why don’t you share your troubles with me? Maybe I can assist," Alexander insisted as they slowly proceeded.
Although surprised to encounter someone as enthusiastic as Alexander, the old woman still shook her head. "You can’t help me. Just taking me across is enough."
"Is it a matter of money? Just tell me, I might be able to help," Alexander persisted.
"You really want to help?" Having reached the roadside, a familiar grin spread across the old woman’s face before she suddenly collapsed.
Then, a man burst out of the flower bed. "Hey, kid, you think you can just walk away after bumping into my mother? You owe us 20,000 ghost coins..."
"20,000 it is," interrupted Alexander, pulling out the amount without a second thought and handing it over.
The man was stunned. Since when did extortion become this easy? Expecting at most 3,000, he was blindsided when Alexander preemptively handed over the full 20,000.
Just as the man opened his mouth to speak, the old woman convulsed on the ground. Due to the extra time spent aiding her earlier, her illness struck. A repeating scene unfolded: upon the woman’s death, he clung to her body and sobbed.
After a brief moment, a pale mist began to emanate from the old woman’s body once again.
Alexander’s eyes locked onto her corpse, awaiting the critical moment. As the last wisp of mist left her body, he pointed towards the sky dramatically, "Quick, look! What’s that?"
Distracted, the sobbing man glanced upwards.
Seizing the opportunity, Alexander aimed his other hand at the old woman’s corpse.
Ghost Culinary Skill: Transform!