Chapter 10#
Chapter 10#
Treasure
Even as those two trash crawled, they still kept calling out, “Quest, quest.” Beyond frustrated, Yu Qing demanded, “How do I do it?”
In between shrieks, ThreeKings shouted, “Tap it! Tap it! Tap the quest! These things surely won’t go away until we complete—AAAAH!”
JustRude’s trousers were grabbed by a discoloured arm. He kicked like a mad hare and cried, “Hang on! Didn’t you say you were a coward! Why are we the ones screaming?”
“Which rude guy spread that rumour?” Yu Qing said coldly.
JustRude: “?”
Yu Qing pulled out his card, swiped it, and unlocked the door. Dodging the frenzied limbs, he booted his scrambling teammates into the room. “Get in!”
The door slammed shut. The mangled limbs lunged at the door, clawing and pounding at it while wailing shrilly.
ThreeKings and JustRude crawled on a little longer out of instinct until it finally sank in that they were safe for now. They dropped to the floor, gasping for breath, but those wails continued to make them flinch and shudder.
Following their instructions, he tapped on the quest called < His Treasure >, pulling up more details.
Luo Yao was one of the earliest and youngest merchants to develop seaside tourism on Rose Island. By the age of thirty, he was already a millionaire, and he built the first resort, Blue Bay Hotel, on the ship wharf. Although Blue Bay is now considered shabby, famed more for being haunted, it was once the city’s pride and joy. Handsome and distinguished, with a picture-perfect family to match, Luo Yao used to feature regularly in the business section ofThe Daily Rose.
Yet his final appearance in the press was as the headline story about a family of five, who met their ends in that very hotel, their bodies cast into the ocean that they had so often gazed upon.
Guests claim they can hear the restless ghosts wail and a lament that someone is after his treasure. Please find Luo Yao’s treasure.
< Submit Quest Items >
Yu Qing tapped on ‘Submit’ and a frame with neon borders appeared out of nowhere. It appeared that all he had to do was to submit the so-called treasure he had found. In his peripheral vision, the countdown was still ticking. 07:13… 07:09…
ThreeKings and JustRude were also reading the quest details, but the countdown made them unable to think straight. “The treasure! Where is the treasure!”
“Wait!” JustRude shouted. “Wasn’t that family going to return to their room? Which door were they standing in front of?”
ThreeKings jolted. “I think it’s the room we’re in now!”
“Then let’s search the room!”
Yu Qing wore his displeasure on his face. “This is my room.”
“What?”
“Besides, who would leave their treasure in a hotel room?” Yu Qing pointed out icily.
“You mean…” ThreeKings looked more and more aghast. “It’s still on them? We have to open the door and ask them for it?!”
He was right on the money. As soon as the words left his mouth, Yu Qing flung the door open, and the severed limbs pounced at once.
Yu Qing hauled the two trash muffins out into the corridor and, while they stared in despair, shut the room in their faces. One severed hand immediately plastered itself on ThreeKings’s face, gripping so tightly that he swore his skin would tear.
“Perfect,” Yu Qing said. “Grab the hand you’re wrestling with and drag it into that ugly frame.”
ThreeKings: “…” Perfect? In what way?!
He struggled to bring up the item submission, and the neon frame reappeared. Thanks to its glow, he then spotted the ring and the watch on the hand trying to tear him apart.
The countdown was still ticking. 05:53… 05:50…
Screw fear. Wrestling with the hand, ThreeKings tumbled into the frame. The neon glow blinked out, and a hologram popped up: < The item is damaged beyond recognition. Please submit a whole item within the time limit! >
ThreeKings: “…”
You damn well could have appeared in a more presentable state!!!
“The nerve to say that the item is too damaged!” ThreeKings was so outraged that he momentarily forgot his fear. Rage got to his head, and he tried to snatch the ring and watch from the severed hand.
But then Yu Qing said, “The ring and watch are intact. It’s the hand that is not whole.”
Something about the composure in his voice, in the current atmosphere, was even more disturbing than the severed limbs. ThreeKings shivered, unwilling to dwell on the dreadful implications.
“You’re saying the treasure is the man himself?” JustRude was flabbergasted. “His body? Life? Heart? But he is already chopped apart! How are we supposed to make him whole?”
A sigh echoed eerily down the long, gloomy corridor.
JustRude instantly quietened down. The demeanour of the man who was always irked by dirt and disorder, bossing him and ThreeKings around, suddenly changed—seizing the frenzied hand, he closed his eyes and moved his lips soundlessly.
At once, the blood gushing through the corridor began to flow backwards. The wailing grew louder, heart-rending and shrill, piercing their eardrums. From his fingertips, wisps of shimmering viridescent dust spread like the patterns on a butterfly’s wings, enveloping the severed hand and more. Everywhere the dust touched, skin and flesh peeled away, leaving bare bones.
The smoke continued to creep like a scroll being unfurled, sketching the silhouette of a man before he was dismembered.
Sucking in a sharp breath, ThreeKings and JustRude backed away as the bones on the floor kept increasing in number. Only when they had nowhere left to retreat did they realise that the smoke was weaving a brand-new skin.
They watched wide-eyed as Yu Qing, shrouded by the nimbus, shed his former form and in the blink of an eye, donned another skin.
He bore an uncanny resemblance to the father of the family of five, looking sharp in his suit, carrying himself with dignity, yet his entire being exuded an unnerving, unnatural aura. Once the dust settled, the white cat let out a long meow and leapt onto his shoulder.
ThreeKings and JustRude, who had witnessed everything, nearly fell into a dead faint.
Ignoring their reactions, Yu Qing simply tapped on the item submission, and the frame appeared once more. He strode into it.
Ding!A hologram appeared.
Congratulations! Your search has yielded some results. Quest Items: 1/5. Please collect and submit the rest of < His Treasure >.
Hurry. Time is running out.
The countdown continued. 03:06… 03:02…
The ding announcing the successful item submission jolted the two teammates, whose eyes had rolled back into their heads, back to life.
“It actually worked!” JustRude blurted out, only to go mute when Yu Qing looked over.
Even though his brain had stopped working, processing nothing, he couldn’t forget the scene he had just witnessed.
Heaps of bleached bones and live skinning…
However, his terror was pointless, for Yu Qing had already set his sights on him. Their eyes met. In the depths of those eyes, a ghostly green smouldered like will-o’-the-wisps on a dark night.
“Wh-what’s wrong?” JustRude asked, his voice shaky.
Yu Qing tilted his head slightly, yet remained poker-faced. “Didn’t you read the instructions? We’re still four short.”
Since submitting one person counted as one out of five, it was conceivable what the remaining four were.
“So what???” JustRude had a foreboding feeling. But before he could run, Yu Qing caught his wrist. JustRude: “…”
Seconds later, he was treated to an immersive, surround-sound rerun of the horror movie they’d just watched. Unlike before, theinscrutableteammate held him in place in front of the bones while a brand-new skin was being slipped over his head.(unfathomable to gods and ghosts)
“Make haste,” that teammate snapped. “Don’t you know how to get dressed?!”
JustRude sobbed while putting on the skin. What a terrifying man, saying such terrifying things. Once dressed, he stared at his reflection in a window along the corridor. He had transformed into the likeness of the grandmother.
JustRude gave up struggling. He pointed straight towards ThreeKings and ratted him out, “He’s over there! Crawling like mad!”
ThreeKings had been trying to escape ever since JustRude had been caught, to no avail. Within thirty seconds, he had become one of the twin girls. He covered his mouth, choking with sobs.
His only consolation was that, just as he was crying soundlessly—too afraid to make a peep—the lift chimed.
A uniformed bellboy stepped out of the lift, carrying several articles of clean clothing. Not protected in dust bags, they were clearly a suit and a shirt. The bellboy was about to turn that way when he saw the floor littered with bones and the walls covered in blood.
He shrieked, dropped the clothes in fright, and tried to run, only to be grabbed by Yu Qing, who stuffed him into a skin.
By now, ThreeKings had a grasp of the situation.
Not even a passing dog would escape the devil’s clutches.
However, their family of five was still short of one member. The husband, wife, grandmother, and one girl were ready, but the other twin was still absent, and they were down to the last minute. 00:49… 00:47… Even if they were to leap down from the eighteenth floor now to press-gang someone from reception, it would likely be too late.
The countdown had turned red. The entire corridor seemed to be counting down as well, blood gushing down, the phones vibrating even more alarmingly than their racing hearts.
“What do we do?” ThreeKings asked hoarsely.
Yu Qing stood still, deep in thought. Then, he unlocked and yanked open the door, hauling ThreeKings into the room. Ignoring their bewildered stares, he pressed the speakerphone button and dialled 1811.
Brrring.Brrring.The wait was agonising. The countdown continued. 00:21… 00:18…
Finally, the call connected.
Mi Xiaobai’s voice came through. “There are suddenly a few more people in the room. Did you drag them in?”
Yu Qing glanced at ThreeKings’s current appearance and asked, “Is there a young girl with twin ponytails among them?”
“Uh-huh.”
They were down to their final moments. 00:11… 00:09… Yu Qing said in a low voice, “Tap on the annoying ‘Submit Quest Item’, grab that girl, and put her in the frame.”
Mi Xiaobai chuckled, then playfully replied, “Your wish is my command. I’ll get on it right away.”
With just two seconds left on the clock, five figures stepped into the glowing neon frame.Ding.A hologram popped up.
Congratulations! All items successfully submitted. Timed quest < His Treasure > complete, unlocking a hidden achievement. Your actions have influenced the dungeon ending.
Claim Exclusive Rewards.
Escape From Rose Island(Chapter 10)
Translated by 🎏luckykoi
Please do not repost or re-translate.