Chapter 66

In fact, this scene was somewhat terrifying.
A mannequin that should have been confined to a display window suddenly transformed into a flesh-and-blood human right before her eyes. What's more, this person had silently, without drawing any attention from passersby, passed through the window and walked up to Gu Yi'an.
If Gu Yi'an hadn't known this person was the notebook, and if she weren't someone who kept her composure, she might have already pulled out a tool to deal with him.
It took Gu Yi'an a moment to process what he had just said.
A date?
What was Lu Zize thinking?
The newcomer looked at her with a smile in his eyes, as if patiently waiting for her response with great good humor.
Why had he suddenly brought up a date?
Gu Yi'an averted her gaze and silently looked at the notebook still floating in mid-air.
The notebook showed no movement, but a voice reached Gu Yi'an's ears.
"You don't like my new appearance?"
The voice was clear and gentle, just like his tone when he had proposed the date, both times, he was seeking her opinion.
The fluorescent lights in the mall were always on, leaving almost no darkness and making those in this environment feel there was no escape.
Gu Yi'an's gaze fell on the notebook's pages, unsure how to respond.
The deity had always had numerous alternate identities.
Each identity had a different appearance.
The one He was using now, the mannequin's form, was handsome and dashing, with sharp facial features and a powerful aura in every gesture, as if he had stepped out of a legal drama as a top-tier lawyer.
But to Gu Yi'an, it felt somewhat unfamiliar.
Still, no matter which identity it was, it was still the deity.
He had no need to care about her thoughts.
As Gu Yi'an remained silent, new text suddenly appeared on the notebook.
Her gaze had been fixed on the notebook, so she saw the words on the page immediately.
"Look at me again."
Gu Yi'an instinctively looked up.
This time, the person who appeared before her was young and handsome, with a gentle expression. He still carried a bit of youthful spirit, looking to be in his early twenties, but his figure already filled out the suit well.
It was Lu Zize.
Gu Yi’an recognized him.
The deity had returned to Lu Zize’s form.
Lu Zize looked at her, the smile in his eyes not diminishing in the slightest.
Gu Yi’an avoided his gaze and turned her attention to the notebook.
At that moment, however, the notebook closed on its own.
Under Gu Yi’an’s watchful eyes, it fell into Lu Zize’s hands.
Lu Zize made no attempt to hide his intentions, stating gently, “You can communicate with me.”
Without the notebook, Gu Yi’an had no choice but to converse with Lu Zize in his human form.
He had suddenly taken on human shape.
Gu Yi’an was momentarily unsure how to interact with him.
She glanced at the shop across the way. The employees inside were completely unaware that their mannequin had left. Even if their eyes inadvertently swept over the spot where the mannequin had been, they would still overlook it, as if there had never been a mannequin there in the first place.
Gu Yi’an then looked at the other mannequins.
Their clothes had been carefully ironed by the staff to showcase the most perfect display effect, drawing attention immediately to the garments.
Gu Yi’an didn’t focus on their clothes but instead looked at other parts of them.
Some had no hair, some had no shoes.
Shoes?
Lu Zize had shoes.
He had just walked up to her.
Where did this guy get the shoes from?
Wait, this guy had even taken the body.
Gu Yi’an spoke to him as casually as she would to a friend, asking, “Did you pay for the shoes, the clothes, and all that?”
This was the first sentence she said to Lu Zize in his human form.
Lu Zize blinked.
He hadn’t expected Gu Yi’an’s first words to him to be about this.
Lu Zize smiled and said, “Of course.”
His voice was the one Gu Yi’an remembered, warm and pleasant.
“Really?”
Perhaps the game where she had encountered Lu Zize had left a deep psychological scar on Gu Yi’an.
She always maintained a skeptical attitude toward his words.
This guy loved to lie.
Hearing this, Lu Zize smiled good-naturedly.
He said, “I told you, I won’t lie to you.”
Gu Yi’an fell silent for a few seconds.
That statement itself was a lie.
“Haven’t you lied enough already?”
This guy is always lying to her.
Whatever, let him be.
Gu Yi'an realized her attitude had become too familiar. She stood up and changed the subject, "Your current outfit isn't convenient for moving around."
She paused, then said, "I'll take you to buy some casual clothes."
Lu Zize's eyes lit up as he asked, "And then go on a date?"
"And then go to work."
Gu Yi'an remained completely unaffected by Lu Zize's antics.
She hadn't forgotten that her real business was to clear the game.
It just so happened that Lu Zize had taken human form, and he had the identity of a hacker in this world. Later, he should be able to take responsibility for pushing the footage they captured from the pinhole cameras across the entire internet.
Gu Yi'an inquired, "Can you manage to push the video across the entire internet?"
Lu Zize looked somewhat disappointed.
However, he would never refuse Gu Yi'an's requests.
Lu Zize said, "As long as you ask, I can accomplish anything for you."
His voice was gentle and smooth, and no matter what the content of his words, it never made the listener feel awkward. On the contrary, it made people feel he was speaking sincerely.
The scary part was that he might actually mean it seriously.
Gu Yi'an fell silent for a moment, and ultimately, she said something she herself felt was rather heartless.
She said, "...You can stop talking."
If Lu Zize continued saying things like that, she planned to turn around and leave immediately.
Lu Zize could see what Gu Yi'an was thinking.
He stood still, sighed softly, and then glanced at Gu Yi'an, his gaze carrying a hint of grievance.
Gu Yi'an avoided his gaze.
"Okay."
Lu Zize agreed.
He stepped forward to help Gu Yi'an carry the shopping bags she had placed beside the bench, saying, "Then from now on, I won't say anything. I'll leave it to Yi'an to help me pick out some clothes."
Hearing the movement, Gu Yi'an turned her gaze back and belatedly realized she didn't need to carry anything anymore.
She looked at Lu Zize, then at the passersby nearby.
The people coming and going completely ignored Gu Yi'an and Lu Zize.
They seemed unable to see the two of them, yet they deliberately detoured around the area where they were standing.
Gu Yi'an could see couples passing by, the men taking on the task of carrying bags, chatting and laughing with their partners as they walked past.
She looked at Lu Zize again.
Lu Zize was watching the couples passing by them, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Was this guy learning from how other boyfriends acted?
Gu Yi'an was somewhat suspicious.
Lu Zize noticed Gu Yi'an's gaze and immediately looked at her.
His eyes appeared clear and innocent, especially deceptive.
Gu Yi'an said calmly, "Let's go."
She turned and walked ahead, casually suggesting, "Shopping is quite tiring. Let's go to a milk tea shop first."
Her cool, detached voice gradually faded into the air.
The area around the bench had already lost any trace of the two.
Meanwhile, in the clothing store opposite the bench, the cashier took a moment during her busy work to tally the day's revenue.
"Why is there an extra transaction?"
The cashier tried hard to recall when she had made such a large sale.
She vaguely remembered someone buying a set of clothes and also taking away a mannequin.
Huh?
A mannequin?
The cashier shook her head and looked at her computer screen.
What was she supposed to be doing again?
Ah, right, sorting out the clothes customers had tried on.
The cashier left the counter.
Similar scenes played out in several other stores as well.
The clerk looked at the extra money and didn’t think too much about it.
After all, it wasn’t like the money was short.
Who would complain about having more money?
Dai Qi and the female player Xiao Ling were in a double private room at an internet cafe.
Dai Qi stared at the notification that popped up on his browser.
He narrowed his eyes. "Was this done by Little Gu and the others?"
Xiao Ling, who was nearby, overheard Dai Qi’s remark.
She glanced at the same notification on her own computer screen and cautiously observed Dai Qi’s expression.
His face gave away no hint of his current emotions.
Xiao Ling couldn’t tell whether Dai Qi intended to target Senior Gu or was simply curious about who had created the online video push.
Hesitating for a moment, she finally said, "Brother Dai, it should be Senior Gu and the others. Only our phones had those videos."
Dai Qi chuckled lightly. "How is she so capable?"
Xiao Ling detected a faint mix of admiration and envy in his tone.
She breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
It seemed Dai Qi was on their side after all, also aiming to take down the forces behind the hotel.
When they had parted ways at noon, Xiao Ling had sensed the subtle attitudes of the two veteran players toward Dai Qi.
Uncle Wu was clearly wary of him, Dai Qi seemed to have issues with Senior Gu, and Senior Gu herself stayed completely detached, focused solely on clearing the game.
From the attitudes of those two veteran players, Xiao Ling could tell there was something off about Dai Qi. But since she was currently following him, she didn’t dare make any moves and could only stick with him obediently.
"Brother Dai, what about our videos…"
"No need to post them," Dai Qi said.
He watched as the top search keywords on the browser were all related to the hotel from his memories.
"Little Gu and the others have done too well. There’s nothing left for me, you, or Uncle Wu to do."
Xiao Ling hesitated. "Brother Dai, we could join their team, blend in with the netizens, and keep an eye on public opinion."
Dai Qi shook his head. "No need. All we have to do now is wait."
Xiao Ling sounded uncertain. "But, Brother Dai, we haven’t done anything yet. The videos we posted were all taken down."
She remembered what Senior Gu and the others had implied, that they needed to contribute a certain amount to the effort of taking down the forces behind the hotel in order to clear the game in the end.
Dai Qi said, "Because we have more important things to do now."
Xiao Ling felt a sense of foreboding and looked at Dai Qi warily.
"Brother Dai, we're companions."
Dai Qi was amused by her words. "What are you thinking? Of course, I wouldn’t lay a hand on my own companion. Have you forgotten? That hotel has ghosts."
"If we act, their retaliation will come. Do you know why past players could only choose to stay silent? If they didn’t, they would die."
Dai Qi continued, "All we need to do now is survive."
"Buzz."
The phone on the table vibrated.
Xiao Ling glanced at it.
Dai Qi picked it up and checked the message.
"It’s a text from Little Gu. Did you get one too?"
Xiao Ling was startled and looked down at her own phone, which was on silent.
She had also received a message.
"Yes. Senior Gu warned us to be careful, there might be ghosts around us."
Xiao Ling tentatively asked Dai Qi, "Brother Dai, that senior monk removed the marks the ghosts left on us. The hotel shouldn’t be able to track us down so quickly, right?"
Dai Qi looked at his phone and said, "Because we forgot one thing."
Xiao Ling couldn’t figure out what it was.
Dai Qi didn’t keep her in suspense. "Our phones might have been tampered with."
Gu Yi'an had said something similar.
"There might be tracking devices in our phones."
She was on a call with a novice male player.
The novice male player asked, "Senior, if I throw my phone away now, will that work?"
"It’s too late. The moment we tried to expose the hotel’s secrets online, the ghosts latched onto us again."
Throwing away the phone now would mean buying a new one, which was troublesome, so Gu Yi'an didn’t recommend it.
The novice male player on the other end of the call sounded on the verge of tears.
"Are we going to encounter ghosts again? I don’t want to! Senior, have you already run into one?"
Gu Yi'an was surprised by his sharp intuition this time. "Yes. After I pushed the message online, it came for me. But my companion has already dealt with it."
As she spoke, she glanced at a transparent glass jar that Lu Zize had deliberately placed in front of her. Inside the jar, the number of red spheres had increased from one to two, with ants crawling all over them.
Unaware of the scene on Gu Yi'an’s end, the novice male player asked curiously, "Senior, where are you now? Can I come to you for protection?"
Gu Yi'an fell silent for a moment before replying, "You won’t be able to reach me anytime soon."
"Senior, are you on the east side of the city while I’m on the west?"
"No. I’m in another province."
A gentle sea breeze swept by.
Gu Yi'an looked toward the distant beach. The sun was setting, and the number of people on the shore had dwindled.
She was currently at a seaside restaurant with outdoor seating, allowing guests to enjoy the ocean view.
Shifting her gaze away from the so-called "ant factory," she looked at a cup of ice cream beside her.
A little girl sat perched on the top of the spoon, digging into the ice cream with effort.
Noticing Gu Yi'an’s gaze, she asked, "An’an, do you want some?"
Gu Yi'an shook her head.
The little girl happily continued eating the ice cream by herself.
Gu Yi'an watched her, taking in her blissful and content expression.
She was pondering why she had ended up in this place.
Shouldn't she be directing others online to release evidence step by step?
How did she suddenly wind up on a seaside vacation?