Chapter 22: Transaction

Xing Ye pondered but didn’t agree yet, instead asking: “Does it have to be your head? Since you said that my head’s also fine, if I can’t find your head within the next three days, can I bring you somebody else’s head?”

Cao Qian and Wu Yu had originally thought that the mission was already revealed: to find the girl’s missing head and give it to the female ghost NPC. Who would’ve thought that Xing Ye would actually go and ask that?

The human head seemed to have been confused by Xing Ye’s question as it jumped upside-down, slamming on the floor a few times until blood streamed out from its eyes before answering: “Some blood got into my brain just now so I couldn’t think clearly, but now it’s fine. No, you promised, so of course it’s your head I should get.”

Xing Ye lifted the trembling Boys A and C before continuing to negotiate with the head: “But look, you already have a human head but it doesn’t seem to be your own. Doesn’t this mean that you need to have your head? Even if you take mine, there’s no point. How about we make a deal: if I can’t find your head three days later, then I’ll bring somebody else’s head for another three day’s time. I’ll bring a new head every three days until I find your original head.”

”Huh?” The human head looked confused again. This was the first time she met a person like Xing Ye, who would bargain with her.

”Let’s look at which one of these two plans are more beneficial for you. Your plan is to kill me if I don’t find your head in three days. This means, after I’m dead, nobody can help you. My plan is that three days later, I won’t die so there will always be somebody to help you look for your head. The second plan is obviously a win-win situation, anybody with eyes would know which option is better.” If he had a computer, Xing Ye definitely would’ve typed out a full comparison analysis for the human head.

The head seemed to have been dazed by his words, only replying sluggishly a long while later: “It seems… reasonable.”

”Furthermore, you shouldn’t just use me alone,” Xing Ye continued, “Look, there’s five of us. If you make a deal with all of us, you’ll have five helpers. Wouldn’t that be very profitable?”

”Profitable!” This time, the human head reacted very fast, slapping noises echoing through the hall as she jumped to Cao Qian and Wu Yu. Her eyes were red as she stared at them unwaveringly: “I’ll remember you five.”

Cao Qian and Wu Yu were itching to kill Xing Ye, but Xing Ye still hadn’t finished his negotiations: “Since there’s five of us, I would like to propose that if three days later, we don’t find your head, we’ll still only have to give you one head every three days.”

”No way!” Miss Human Head hopped back to Xing ye, “One person, one head! I want five!”

”It is five. On the 3rd day, I’ll give you one, on the 6th, Wu Yu, on the 9th, Cao Qian, and so on.” Xing Ye said, his tone neither too slow or too fast.

Without fingers to count, Miss Human Head had to think for a long time before understanding: “No, I want five at once.”

”Okay, you can have five at once too, but what’s the point of having so many human heads?” Xing Ye asked again.

”Jumping around is fun~” Miss Human Head suddenly started jumping happily, going higher and higher with each jump, until all five of them were covered in blood.

”Then if you can control human heads to jump, can you control all five of them?”

”Just one at a time, the rest can be stored for later.” Miss Human Head looked really happy, as if she were about to get a lot of pretty clothes.

”But human heads tend to rot,” Xing Ye advised again, “If you want five heads at once, they’ll surely rot. Wouldn’t one every three days keep it fresh?”

Miss Human Head was very confused. Xing Ye pointed at her head and asked: “How long have you been using this head?”

His tone was very calm, as if he was just asking how long she had been wearing that piece of clothing.

”Two days… probably… only my own head wouldn’t rot…” Miss Human Head said with uncertainty.

”It’s already starting to turn putrid,” Xing Ye shook his head, “Three days will be its limit.”

”Then… just one head at a time is fine.” The human head finally lowered her requirements.

Although Xing Ye appeared very calm, he was actually also quite nervous inside. He wasn’t sure if he could actually talk things over with the ghost and just wanted to test it. Luckily, her IQ wasn’t too high and actually agreed.

”Alright, deal.” Xing Ye said, “Then what does your head look like? You should also tell me what your name was before you died. It’d be best if I can find it before the three days are up.”

”Hehehe, I’m not telling you~ Jumping is really fun~”

Miss Human Head started to jump upside down again, splashing blood into Xing Ye’s eyes. When his sight was recovered, the five had already returned to the illuminated halls of the original female dormitory. It was still 12 o’clock midnight and time finally began ticking again.

Xing Ye had just let out a small sigh of relief when Boys A and C beside him suddenly let out squeals like a pig being slaughtered: “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! We’re back!!”

Xing Ye: “...”

Cao Qian furiously walked up and gave boys A and C a slap, berating: “Shut up! This is the female dormitory, do you want to be caught and expelled?”

Those two slaps of hers really were ruthless, sobering the two boys up a little as they went to huddle by Xing Ye, fear in their eyes as they looked at Cao Qian.

Cao Qian then glared daggers at Xing Ye, her face filled with suspicion as she asked: “Who are you?”

Xing Ye thought back to his reputation and arrogantly said: “You actually don't know who i am? The newly built library was donated by my dad!”

Cao Qian endured the impulse to slap Xing Ye and vaguely said: “I’m asking if you’re the same as Wu Yu and I.”

”The same?” Xing Ye kicked aside Boys A and C who were hugging his thigh before tidying up his clothes, pointing at his 500,000 yuan shoes before saying cockily: “Can’t you see my designer-brand sportswear and shoes? How could we possibly be the same? Do I look that poor to you?”

Cao Qian: “...”

Wu Yu asked: “If you aren’t the same as us, where did you get the courage to negotiate with that female ghost?”

”I’ve gone to business dinners with my Dad and watched him bargain with those old foxes since I was young, how could you guys possibly compare to me?” Xing Ye said proudly. “Good thing all the blood disappeared after we returned, or I’d really feel a bit bad about my shoes.”

His acting was too good. No matter how long Cao Qian and Wu Yu scrutinized him, no holes could be found in his act.

Xing Ye didn’t want to talk to them anymore as he turned to Boys A and C: “Stop crying, let’s go back and sleep. Let’s find the human head tomorrow; if we can’t find it, I’ll use your heads to pay up!”

At the same time, he glared at Wu Yu: “Damn traitor, you’d better stay far away from us later. Furthermore, you’d better spill all the information you have about whatever players and mission space. We still need to find that human head together.”

After spitting in disdain, Xing Ye led Boys A and C to climb out of the dormitory. Wu Yu talked with Cao Qian for a while before leaving five minutes later.

Even though they caused quite a ruckus in the girl’s dormitory, nobody came to investigate. It was almost like the whole floor was dead.

Xing Ye and the rest returned to the dorms. He had a luxurious single bedroom with its own bathroom. After shaking off his two lackeys, Xing Ye went to wash up in the bathroom before going to lie on his bed to think.

The mirror was in Xing Ye’s pocket the whole time, and could only come out now.

The little compact mirror rolled a few circles around the bed before angrily rolling back to Xing Ye and opening with a ‘pa!’. A childish, young man’s voice sounded from it: “You almost smothered me to death!”

Xing Ye ignored him as he continued to ponder over where that girl’s head might be.

The mirror continued, refusing to be ignored: “Aren’t you a little too brave? You only have 200 points, aren’t you afraid of those two plays suspecting you? Also, if that head suddenly decided to kill you, you’d be finished.”

Xing Ye held the mirror, thinking as he spoke: “I actually, I didn’t think the third floor would be very dangerous. Ordinary people would think a floor covered in blood’s very frightening, but in fact, an actual dangerous place would have it all hidden to lower the player’s guard first.

Furthermore, when that human head attacked my classmate just now, there was no way an ordinary person would be able to dodge if she actually had the intent to kill. Her behaviour and attitude seemed more like she was there to provide clues. She should be the plot’s NPC designated by the system.”

”But she didn’t tell you where to find her head and only gave you three day’s time.” The mirror said worriedly.

”She kept jumping upside down and said jumping was very fun, so tomorrow, I’ll go check the school records to see if there was a student who died from jumping off a roof. I think there should be a lead there. Furthermore, there’s also two floors in the female dormitory that we haven’t explored yet. There’s probably still other things, and the human head might not be the final mission.” Xing Ye analyzed.

”Then the other two players…”

Xing Ye sensed what the mirror was concerned about and did a rare, gentle motion, softly wiping the mirror with the towel: “So what if they suspect me? My identity is too conspicuous so even if they want to kill me, they wouldn’t dare to do it openly. From the players’ points of view, they don’t want their true identities revealed. The quieter their actions, the better. When I start openly dragging Boys A and C around to investigate, the hidden players probably won’t believe I’m actually a player.”

The mirror realized that Xing Ye had already calculated everything. He wasn’t useful at all, making his mood a little low.  

He was a high level player who basically insta-cleared the newbie and melee worlds. He originally wanted to let Xing Ye choose among his special QR codes to protect him from the system’s control and use his own experiences to aid Xing Ye to pay him back.

However, his own experiences were completely useless to Xing Ye. The way Xing Ye cleared the worlds made it look like the mirror was just an idiot who stumbled his way though by relying on his luck.

Xing Ye continued: “But because of tonight, I realized that I’m at a huge disadvantage. Winning will be very hard, but not impossible.”

The mirror was stunned: “Then do you have a way to win? Don’t forget, there’s still four players hiding away.”

”I have an idea, but I can’t do it like I am now.” Xing Ye said, “I need special abilities. Didn’t you mention that there are special QR codes hidden in the game worlds? I need two, no, just one is enough.”

The mirror said: “There are. There’s seven players in this melee world, and with how complex the mission is, there should be quite a few QR codes. There are at least seven, one for every player.”

”I’m bad at finding things and my luck isn’t great either. Can you help me find a QR code?” Xing Ye asked.

The mirror immediately turned happy: “Hmpth, even though you’re still strong, you still need me to help.”

”Yeah, I need you.” Xing Ye let him win this time.

Mirror: “Since you set me free, you don’t have to beg me this time. But next time, you have to!”
“We’ll see about that.” Xing Ye said nonchalantly.