Isn’t money good?

Chapter 49

[??? Holy shit.]

[Hahahahaha, what the hell is this KPI thing!]

[Low damage but maximum insult. One second I’m screaming in fear, the next I’m laughing my head off. Yan Shiqiu’s comedian persona is unbeatable. I love watching him on variety shows too much.]

[Sister, let me shake your hand. I’m still rewatching clips of him interacting with the big goose in “Each Grain is Hard-earned.” It really makes my day!]

The bullet comments were all filled with laughter, instantly reducing the horror atmosphere to zero.

At the filming site, the female ghost was clearly speechless at Yan Shiqiu’s obviously perfunctory attitude. She turned to leave, but Yan Shiqiu quickly grabbed her with lightning reflexes.

Female ghost: “???”

Production team: ???

Yan Shiqiu grabbed the female ghost’s wrist through her wide, long sleeves and said with a smile, “Wait, you have to finish answering my questions before you can leave.”

Female ghost: “…?”

[They’re playing scary BGM but the content is too funny. It’s impossible to be scared hahahaha.]

[Female ghost: What the fuck is this bullshit.]

Yan Shiqiu didn’t care whether the female ghost agreed or not and directly asked, “Since you have KPIs, do we lose life points if we get scared by you? How many times before points start getting deducted?”

Female ghost: “You’re cheating.”

Yan Shiqiu said righteously, “How is this cheating? I’m not afraid of you, and I caught you. You’re my prisoner now, so of course you have to answer my questions.”

Someone in the production crew asked the head director, “Should she answer or not?”

The head director stroked his chin and chuckled, “Catching a ghost to understand the town’s rules, that’s reasonable. Have her answer.”

The female ghost received instructions through her earpiece and finally answered reluctantly, “Points start getting deducted from the second time, five points each time.”

Fu Baiqing was shocked, “That much?!”

Yan Shiqiu patted his shoulder with his other hand, “So next time hold it in, don’t scream.”

Fu Baiqing coughed once to save face, “That was just instinct. I’m still not afraid of ghosts.”

Yan Shiqiu looked at him with a smile.

“…” Fu Baiqing pouted, “Fine, I’ll cover my mouth next time.”

Yan Shiqiu said, “Good boy.”

[Fu Yan CP, taking a polite sip.] ¹T/N: Fu Yan in Chinese means Perfunctory

[…Sister, that CP name is indeed quite perfunctory.]

[Y1S1, anyone would have been scared by that just now, right? Yan Yan is the exception. By the way, did anyone notice? Even the cameraman’s hands shook twice.]

Yan Shiqiu’s gaze returned to the female ghost, “If we catch you, can we earn life points?”

The female ghost twitched her lips, “No.”

“Alright.” Yan Shiqiu expressed regret but quickly switched to another question, “How can we earn life points?”

Female ghost: “…”

Yan Shiqiu smiled with curved eyebrows, “If you could answer the previous question, it means you can answer this one too.”

[So clever hahaha.]

[This show really just gives you one main mission at the start, everything else depends on the guests discovering it themselves. In previous episodes with solo missions, I kept seeing people get screwed over and die. Wonder what life-gaining gameplay they’ll have this episode with full team cooperation.]

[Previous episodes had guests interrogating NPCs about rules too, but damn, this is the first time I’ve seen someone interrogate a ghost.]

The female ghost resigned herself to answering: “Protect the 18 players from being killed. In each round of hide-and-seek, if all players survive, everyone gets 10 points; if one player dies, no points added or deducted; if two players die, everyone loses 5 points; three deaths lose 10 points, four deaths lose 15 points, and so on. Find the town’s truth, everyone gets 20 points; find the murderer in the murder case, everyone gets 30 points; find the ‘ghost’ among the players, everyone gets 30 points.”

Fu Baiqing raised his hand and asked like a good student, “Everything is team-based points, no individual missions?”

The female ghost grinned at him, which looked particularly scary with her makeup, “No.”

Fu Baiqing was startled by her smile and quietly moved behind Yan Shiqiu.

Female ghost: “Can I leave now?”

“Yes.” Yan Shiqiu released her hand and showed a brilliant smile, “Want me to scream a couple times to show my thanks?”

“…” The female ghost didn’t want to talk and turned to run, looking like Yan Shiqiu and the others were the real ghosts.

[Ghost sister runs so fast.]

[Laughing to death, who’s really the ghost here.]

After the female ghost ran away, the dry ice on the street also completely dissipated, and the eerie funeral procession had vanished without a trace.

Fu Baiqing looked left and right, then asked, “Which way do we go now?”

“Oh right.” He pulled out a walkie-talkie from his bag and placed it in Yan Shiqiu’s arms, “Here’s one for you. If we get separated, use this to contact each other.”

Yan Shiqiu stuffed the walkie-talkie into his bag, “Okay.”

He continued, “Let’s find high ground first.”

Fu Baiqing was puzzled, “What do we need high ground for?”

“To draw a terrain map. The female ghost just said we’d be playing hide-and-seek. If we’re not familiar with the village, we’ll be at a disadvantage. Plus, high ground gives us better visibility to find people.”

Fu Baiqing had a moment of realization, then looked surprised, “You can draw?”

“Mm.” Yan Shiqiu nodded.

They quickly found a six-story building and climbed the stairs.

On the third floor, they encountered another male ghost who suddenly jumped out to scare them, but when he saw Yan Shiqiu, his expression changed and he immediately turned and ran.

Fu Baiqing looked completely bewildered: “???”

[Did the female ghost sister group-message everyone to run when they see Yan Shiqiu hahahahahaha.]

[Male ghost: Isn’t Yan Shiqiu scarier than ghosts?]

[Male ghost: Forget this KPI.]

No more ghosts appeared after that. They climbed to the rooftop and took in the entire village’s scenery.

Yan Shiqiu took out paper and pen from his backpack, drawing while observing. He drew quickly. The village’s roads, what buildings were beside them, how many floors each building had, everything was marked in detail.

Fu Baiqing originally thought drawing so fast would surely be sloppy, but when he looked over, it was very clear and concise that even he could understand it.

He couldn’t help but give a thumbs up: “Amazing, little Qiuqiu.”

[My baby really is amazing.]

[I love this hand-drawn map, so clear.]

[Lu Qian next door got scared and screamed again. I’m so anxious. When will you all meet up? If you don’t hurry and tell Lu Qian the rules, she’s going to lose life points!]

Yan Shiqiu focused on drawing without looking up, “Don’t just stand there, quickly look for where the others are.”

“Oh.” Fu Baiqing hurriedly pulled out binoculars from his bag.

The building was high enough and the village wasn’t particularly large, so after a while, Fu Baiqing spotted Lu Qian and Lin Moxuan, not too far from them.

Fu Baiqing took a deep breath, cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, and shouted loudly while raising his arms and waving.

Lu Qian had just nearly been scared to tears and was clutching Lin Moxuan’s sleeve tightly, feeling uneasy.

They heard the voice and searched around for a long time before finally looking up and noticing Fu Baiqing and Yan Shiqiu on the rooftop.

They quickly walked over.

When Lu Qian and the others reached the building’s base, Fu Baiqing leaned over the railing and greeted them, reminding: “There’s a ghost on the third floor that scares people, be careful when you come up.”

Lu Qian’s feet immediately froze, her expression panicked, “Maybe we shouldn’t come up after all?”

Lin Moxuan thought for a moment and looked up: “What are you doing up there?”

“Little Qiuqiu is drawing a map.” Fu Baiqing ran over to Yan Shiqiu to check, then ran back, “Almost done. Wait for us, we’ll come down soon.”

“Do you know where He Ming and Lin Zhixin are?”

Lin Moxuan shook his head: “Don’t know.”

Five minutes later, Yan Shiqiu finished the last stroke and went downstairs with Fu Baiqing. On the third floor, they encountered the male ghost again, who once more ran faster than a rabbit.

Yan Shiqiu remained calm.

Fu Baiqing, hugging his golden thigh, was also calm.

Once they exited the building, all four finally reunited.

Yan Shiqiu briefly explained the rules for losing and gaining life points that he’d learned from interrogating the ghost. After hearing this, Lu Qian completely lost it.

“The production team made this rule specifically to target me!!!” She had a breakdown on the spot.

Yan Shiqiu saw she was about to cry from anger and pulled out a mint candy from his pocket, “Want one?”

Lu Qian channeled her grief and anger into appetite: “Yes!”

“Speaking of which, how did you find all this out?” Lin Moxuan asked curiously.

Fu Baiqing said excitedly, “Little Qiuqiu directly grabbed a ghost and interrogated it, and now ghosts run super fast when they see him hahaha.”

“Grab a ghost… and interrogate it?” Lin Moxuan looked at Yan Shiqiu in shock, “You’re that fierce?”

Yan Shiqiu was modest, “Not really.”

Lu Qian quickly ran to his side, clasping her hands together with starry eyes looking at him, “Boss, do I look suitable to be your accessory?”

Fu Baiqing snatched Yan Shiqiu away, “First come, first served. Little Qiuqiu is taking me.”

Lu Qian looked puzzled: “Aren’t you not afraid of ghosts?”

“This has nothing to do with being afraid of ghosts or not. The production team is twisted. They suddenly jump out to scare people. Even knowing they’re not real ghosts, you’d still get startled.”

Lu Qian deeply agreed and nodded like a pecking chicken, “Exactly, exactly.”

Lin Moxuan spoke to Yan Shiqiu, “Can I see the map you drew?”

“Sure.” Yan Shiqiu handed over his notebook.

Lu Qian also came over to look.

Lin Moxuan pointed to several locations, “These places are good for hiding people, but what does hide-and-seek mean? How do we play? Why do we play? And where are the 18 players?”

The four looked at each other. None of them knew.

“The plot hasn’t been revealed yet, we only half-understand the rules. Let’s find Lin Zhixin and He Ming first.” Yan Shiqiu said.

The other three had no objections.

Since the ghosts this episode all had KPIs and getting scared twice would deduct life points, and Lu Qian was the most afraid of ghosts among them, the three put her in the middle.

Lu Qian clutched the golden Buddha pendant hanging around her neck, nervously looking around.

Suddenly, continuous screaming came from ahead. Yan Shiqiu and Lin Moxuan looked at each other and ran toward the source of the sound.

[Where are my protective bullet comments!!!]

[Damn production team is so evil. You’re walking along and suddenly there’s a ghost missing half its head right next to you. Tell me you wouldn’t be scared.]

[The ghost even asks you: I like your head, can you trade with me?]

[…I screamed loud enough to shake the heavens. Good thing I live somewhere remote, or the neighbors would’ve called the police.]

At a corner intersection, they ran straight into Lin Zhixin, who was running with her eyes closed and head down.

“Ahh—” Lin Zhixin thought it was a ghost and screamed again.

Lin Moxuan steadied her and said, “Sister Xin, it’s us.”

Lin Zhixin paused, opened her eyes, saw them, and relaxed completely, “Oh my god, you scared me to death.”

Yan Shiqiu asked with concern, “How many times have you been scared?”

“Twice.” Lin Zhixin was confused, “Why?”

She continued, “Oh right, my life points mysteriously dropped by five for some reason. Did any of yours drop?”

“Ours didn’t drop. Yours dropped because you were scared by ghosts twice.” Yan Shiqiu explained to her.

Lin Zhixin: “…”

Could this show get any worse!

Lu Qian arrived panting and immediately brightened when she saw Lin Zhixin. After all, she was a girl, and if they really encountered a ghost that suddenly jumped out to scare them, it would be so awkward to hug the guys nearby.

Lu Qian asked, “Where did He Ming go?”

“Should we find him first?” Lin Zhixin also asked.

“Yes.” Yan Shiqiu said, “Hide-and-seek hasn’t started yet, we don’t know how to play or how to protect the players. If two players die, we all lose five points.

What if he’s like you and also got scared by ghosts twice? Then he’d only have five life points left.”

Fu Baiqing continued, “Through the college entrance exam side quest, we can only get two resurrection potions, which means at most only two of us can die.”

Lu Qian wrinkled her face, “Forget the college entrance exam side quest, it’s a nightmare. All are real exam questions, who knows how to do those? That’s an impossible mission.”

“What’s that ahead?” Lin Moxuan suddenly said.

As his words fell, a funeral procession appeared at the end of the street. It was exactly the same one Yan Shiqiu and Fu Baiqing had seen before. And sneakily following behind the procession was none other than He Ming.

He Ming obviously saw them too and abandoned the funeral procession to run toward them.

“You’re all here!” Finally finding his group, he was extremely excited.

“What were you doing following the funeral procession?” Lu Qian tightly hugged one of Lin Zhixin’s arms, “They’re so creepy, weren’t you scared?”

He Ming said nonchalantly, “They’re just ghosts.”

Lu Qian: “!!!”

He Ming continued, “I was looking everywhere for you guys and couldn’t find you, then I saw this funeral procession. I figured the production team wouldn’t arrange them to appear for no reason, so I followed them to look for clues.”

Lin Zhixin nodded, “I think He Ming makes sense. Should we follow them and take a look?”

Since none of them had any clues, after some discussion, they agreed to follow the funeral procession.

The procession walked and walked, eventually circling back to the same street where Yan Shiqiu and Fu Baiqing had first encountered them. Dry ice appeared again, making the street foggy, and with the occasional gusts of cold wind, Lu Qian was almost in tears from fear.

Yan Shiqiu gave everyone a heads up: “Be careful, a female ghost might suddenly appear to scare us.”

The female ghost hiding in the tree: No thanks, no thanks.

The production team specifically showed the female ghost’s expression.

[Hahahahahahaha, the female ghost squatting in the tree looking dead inside.]

[The production team suddenly let loose. What happened to focusing on the horror atmosphere!]

The funeral procession walked at a leisurely pace with Yan Shiqiu’s group following. Before long, they followed them to a small villa.

From a distance, this villa didn’t look much different from other houses in the village, but up close you could tell it was new, the weeds in the yard had been cleared to create a path, and you could hear human voices.

“Should we go in?” Lu Qian swallowed hard, her legs trembling.

“Go in.”

Yan Shiqiu turned to Lu Qian and Lin Zhixin: “You two walk in the middle.”

“Okay.” Lin Zhixin agreed.

The moment they stepped into the yard, everyone heard a voice in their earpieces: “First hide-and-seek mission begins. Please protect the 18 players from being killed by ghosts within the half-hour game time. Please note that ghosts can also kill you, so do not let the ghosts find you.“