“Hello? A moving mannequin? Wait—I’m on my way!”
Finally, a cry for help where he could put his fists to work!
[Old Iron]’s eyes lit up instantly.
Up until now, he’d been stuck in the security room, giving directions to customers. And unless an employee called for backup, he wasn’t allowed to leave.
Sure, it was safe—but it was also boring as hell.
When he signed up to be security, he was ready to battle all kinds of monsters. Instead, all he got were side quests about being a good Samaritan.
Now, at last, the real action was starting. [Old Iron] reread the rules carefully, committing them to memory:
Security Code of Conduct – Supermarket No. 13
1.Security guards must wear a black employee uniform and ID badge during shifts. Do not leave the security room without an emergency call.
2.Security is responsible only to the manager and the supermarket. You have the authority to expel troublemakers and maintain order.
3.Red-uniformed staff do exist. If you see them talking to regular employees, remove them immediately and send the affected employee to the manager’s office.
4.Only respond to anomalies and red-uniform incidents. Decline unrelated requests.
5.The baton has two modes: keep it off for dealing with humans, and turn it on when facing anomalies. Do not let anyone touch your baton.
6.To encourage independence, you may only assist each employee once.
7.When your baton runs out of power, return to the security room. Your shift is over.
Memorizing every word, [Old Iron] grabbed his baton and strutted out of the room, confident and ready.
“I’m here—wait, what the hell happened to you?”
He bolted to the clothing section and immediately froze at the sight of [Zhao Qian Sun Li].
Even if he hadn’t remembered what the guy looked like before, [Old Iron] was sure he didn’t look like… this.
His skin had a plastery, gray-white texture. His expression was unnaturally stiff. And when he turned his head, [Old Iron] could hear the crunch of joints grinding together.
It wasn’t just the man. The whole clothing section looked off.
Mannequins surrounded [Zhao Qian Sun Li] in a circle, and the racks were filled with grotesque, utterly tasteless outfits that even [Old Iron]—who had no sense of style—found disturbing.
“You… came…” [Zhao Qian Sun Li] greeted him, his voice dragging like a scratched record.
“You okay?” [Old Iron] immediately regretted asking. Of course he wasn’t okay. Just look at him!
He’d sounded panicked on the phone, but still rational. Now… clearly, those mannequins were to blame.
[Old Iron] flicked on his baton and stormed forward.
“Hang in there—I’m getting you out!”
The baton, nearly a meter long, proved its worth. Like a whirlwind, he smashed through the creepy mannequins, sending limbs flying.
With each mannequin destroyed, [Zhao Qian Sun Li] seemed to regain a little clarity. He blinked slowly.
“Damn… you’re strong. You can even handle these freaky things.”
His voice was still sluggish, but at least it had emotion again.
Before [Old Iron] could reply, a teenager in bright red sneakers walked in.
“I’m here to shop… huh? Why’s it such a mess in here? Don’t tell me you haven’t cleaned up!”
Though dazed, [Zhao Qian Sun Li] instinctively knew a customer complaint meant trouble. He opened his mouth, trying to explain.
[Old Iron] stepped in.
“Hey kid, cut the attitude. He’s stocking shelves. You want clothes? Say so. That’s what staff are for.”
The teen smirked.
“Then I want him to help me. And you better not interfere. If you do, I’ll report him for being unfit for the job.”
Talk about unfair. In [Zhao Qian Sun Li]’s condition, he could barely stand, let alone help someone shop.
But [Old Iron] had just said it—he couldn’t help. And technically, it wasn’t his job to play sales assistant anyway.
He gave an apologetic shrug. [Zhao Qian Sun Li] gritted his teeth, forced himself to his feet, eyes unfocused, body swaying—but he still managed a polite smile.
“What… would you like to buy?”
The teen rattled off his request in one breath:
“A mint-green swim cap as a hat. Two kids’ red sneakers for earrings. Pants covered in eyeballs as a shirt. A skull-print top for pants. And for shoes—two pairs of Wei-Jin pattern socks.”
Even [Old Iron] was stunned.
“What kind of twisted outfit is that?”
The teen ignored him, eyes fixed on the shop assistant.
“Put it all on a mannequin so I can see how it looks. Or wear it yourself. I don’t mind.”
This wasn’t reverse psychology like with Su Shisan earlier—this guy meant it.
With [Zhao Qian Sun Li]’s contamination level now at 80, even a small emotional trigger could push him past the point of no return.
And this—this was the perfect storm.
In his right mind, [Zhao Qian Sun Li] would’ve refused. But now, he could barely think, much less argue.
[Old Iron], unaware of the context, found it weird but not alarming. So he didn’t stop it.
Soon, contamination climbed to 90. The teen nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave.
Just moments later, [Old Iron] received another call—this time from [Mimi].
“Can I get help now? I can’t reach the manager! The food here… it’s attacking me! It’s horrible! Help!!”
“Hang tight—I’m on my way!”
[Old Iron] turned sheepishly to [Zhao Qian Sun Li].
“Bro, uh…”
The man forced a bitter smile.
“Go ahead. There’s no saving me now. And it’s not even noon yet… just leave me here to rot.”
He wanted to say more—something important. But his mind was blank.
He waved weakly. [Old Iron] didn’t argue. He knew the guy was right. It was still early in the game.
If he was already this far gone, there was no way he’d survive to the end.
Help the strong, not the hopeless.
He rushed to the food section—and immediately froze.
What the hell… why is [Mimi] in such bad shape too?
Her pupils were dilated to fill her whole eye sockets. Her face was ghostly pale, yet her cheeks were flushed an unnatural red.
“You’re here,” she said, breathless.
“…What happened to you?” [Old Iron] cautiously looked around.
“Where are the things that attacked you?”
The place looked like a battlefield, but she didn’t look like someone who could take on monsters—especially since she’d just called for help.
[Mimi] sat slumped on the ground, bruised and scratched.
“Maybe they went to recharge. They disappear after a bit. Twice already. Stay, just in case. Maybe you can take them all out in one go.”
Music to his ears. [Old Iron] grinned and patted his baton.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they don’t come back!”
She eyed his baton curiously.
“That the security weapon? Can I take a look?”
“Sure thing.” He held it out, but didn’t let go—he remembered the rule about keeping others from touching it.
Seeing he wouldn’t release it, she backed off politely.
“So, does it spark? Can it shock things?”
“Yup—off for humans, on for anomalies,” he explained proudly.
[Mimi] nodded thoughtfully and handed him an apple.
“You’ve been working all morning, right? Here, snack break.”
“This safe to eat?”
“Of course. Staff benefit.”
With her reassurance, he took a bite. The moment he swallowed—everything around them started to twitch.
Cute in theory. In person?
Nightmarish.
Food products hopped toward them—each with a gaping, fang-filled mouth, their teeth grinding with a chilling clack-clack-clack.
“It’s starting,” [Mimi] said calmly, standing up.
“Good luck.”
[Old Iron] fired up the baton and went wild, swinging at everything in sight. The surge of power, the rush—it was pure catharsis.
But then—he felt a presence behind him. [Mimi], suddenly, was diving at him.
Instincts kicked in. He spun around and crack!—smacked her with the baton.
It wasn’t until after he struck that he realized—
He’d just hit a teammate.
“Mmhahaha… hahahaha…”
[Mimi] trembled, laughing like a broken doll, her face colorless as paper.
“Your baton’s out of juice, isn’t it?”
He looked down in horror. The baton, once glowing with blue arcs, was now dull black—dead.
Sporadic sparks popped from it like a dying firefly.
“What did you do to it?” he snapped.
“No way it’s dead after two uses!”
But then he looked at her again—and recoiled.
She lay crumpled on the ground, barely breathing. Dying.
Just moments ago she’d seemed halfway normal—at least more normal than [Zhao Qian Sun Li]. What changed so fast?
“Turn off the power when dealing with troublemakers.”
It was the fifth rule. Batons drained rapidly when used on humans.
[Mimi] recited it like scripture.
[Old Iron] finally got it. He swore under his breath, but still asked, bewildered:
“Why? Why sabotage me? Are you a traitor in this game?”
Her voice was faint but firm.
“I’m helping you. The red-uniformed ones… they’re the good guys. That baton? It’ll hurt them. It’ll hurt all of us.”
“You—!”
He stopped mid-curse as the door creaked open.
“She’s right,” came a cheery voice.
“We had such a lovely chat, didn’t we?”
A woman in a red uniform stood at the entrance.
[Old Iron] turned pale.
“You tricked her—what are you planning?!”
Su Shisan tilted her head, confused.
“Plan? Oh, it’s simple. You’re all going to make a beautiful offering to the god we serve.”
She said it with a smile. No shame, no fear.
[Old Iron] gritted his teeth and raised his baton.
“I may be out of power for monsters, but for you? I don’t need electricity.”
And he was right. Su Shisan, as a Corrupted, was still flesh and blood.
If he hit her hard enough—she’d bleed. She’d die.
But since she dared to show up, she was clearly well-prepared.
With a snap of her fingers, the previously quiet food items suddenly came alive again.
Rows of apples, slabs of glistening meat, and glimmering fish all sprang forward with gaping maws, their razor-sharp teeth “rubbing their hands in anticipation” as they lunged at the man.
And that wasn’t all. At some point, the bottle caps on the beverages had popped open, and now a torrent of sugary liquid was gushing out, blasting straight at him.
By the time he wiped the sticky water from his face and turned his head, Su Shisan—who had just been at the entrance—had already vanished.
Leaving the food section behind, Su Shisan headed straight for the final area: the household goods section.
The player at the checkout counter was as good as dead.
Zhen Jin had made multiple purchases while disguised as a “Contaminated Customer,” racking up enough cursed coins to cost the cashier their life several times over.
As for the warehouse keeper?
He was a lost cause. Ever since being warped by that sinister mirror, he hadn’t even realized something was wrong. He’d been strictly following the rules, just like before.
The thing was, there weren’t many chances to break the rules inside the warehouse, so he’d continued following protocol—and in doing so, the contamination only deepened.
Originally, in Su Shisan’s design, the warehouse keeper was supposed to fall into crisis only after a player had died.
But everything progressed too quickly—before any players even perished, the keeper had already gone down.
Of course, they hadn’t completely abandoned him. [Mimosa Pudica]’s battlefield was the warehouse. In the design of the instance, the storage warehouse played a vital role in the supermarket’s operations.
Naturally, the store manager needed to ensure its safety. If necessary, sacrificing the warehouse keeper was an acceptable cost.
At the start of the instance, the warehouse was safe enough. As long as the keeper kept everything neatly in order, no anomalies would spawn.
The real danger began after his first patrol—when he brought back contaminated items from outside. At that point, both the manager and the security guards were supposed to intervene to protect him.
But this guy had failed to tidy the place from the beginning, giving [Mimosa Pudica] a perfect excuse to abandon him early.
After [Simple Minds, Simple Luck] completed their first patrol and saw the keeper’s state, [Mimosa] had coldly severed all communications to the warehouse, leaving him to rot.
Of course, that was the official story—perfectly in line with the instance lore.
Behind the scenes, however, as an NPC whose true goal was to get the players killed, [Mimosa Pudica] had been manipulating the anomalies within the warehouse to relentlessly attack [Simple Minds, Simple Luck], hoping to force a quick game over.
Back to the others.
The security guard was no longer worth bothering with. The electricity in his stun baton acted as a consumable—similar to SAN value—that allowed him to combat the paranormal.
Every time he used it, it drained that resource.
So the rule stated: once the baton was drained, the guard had to return immediately to the security office and take no further missions.
But naturally, Su Shisan wasn’t so kind as to leave him a retreat path.
Even if [Old Iron] tried to return now, Su Shisan had already lined the way with a gauntlet of anomalies.
And the security office wasn’t safe either. That guy had given directions to customers multiple times before, which subtly weakened the defenses of the office.
Now that the entire supermarket was falling apart, what hope did the office have?
Which left only one: [Jenny Textile Machine]. But she wasn’t doing great either.
The radio that had been blaring nonstop was steadily eroding her sanity—like a constant -1 -1 -1 SAN drain.
The problem was, the process was too slow. While the other players had nearly maxed out at 90% contamination, she was only at 70.
Su Shisan’s visit now was to deliver the finishing blow.
“Hi there.” The girl in the red employee vest, hair tied in a high ponytail, beamed at the blue-uniformed clerk.
But her cheerful greeting was met with no warmth. [Jenny Textile Machine]’s eyes darted left and right—sky, floor, shelves—anywhere but at her.
Unlike [Mimi], she hadn’t received any “suggestions” during an emotional breakdown, so her vigilance toward red-uniformed staff was much higher.
She likely wouldn’t be so easily seduced by Su Shisan.
“Then how about this?” Su Shisan took off the red vest entirely, revealing a simple red shirt underneath—now posing as an ordinary customer.
“So tell me, how will you deal with this?”
[Jenny Textile Machine] was stunned. She hadn’t expected this fake employee to shapeshift into a customer.
That raised a major dilemma—should she treat the woman as an employee or a shopper?
But the answer came to her quickly. She put on a polite smile and said, “Hello, customer. How may I help you today?”
Rule number one: employees must always wear their uniform and badge—identity proof was crucial.
Now that the other party had neither, she could no longer be considered staff.
So [Jenny Textile Machine] decided to treat her as a customer.
Undoubtedly the right decision.
But tragically useless—it would only delay the inevitable. Su Shisan calmly said, “The music playing here is lovely. I’d like to buy every radio broadcasting it.”
“…Of course.” [Jenny Textile Machine] wasn’t sure what was happening, but she couldn’t deny a customer’s purchase request. She gathered the radios one by one.
While she was hauling them over, Su Shisan added, “And grab me a megaphone, please. Thanks.”
At that moment, [Jenny Textile Machine] realized exactly what Su Shisan intended.
Radios, megaphones—clearly, she was trying to amplify the broadcast music across the entire store, as described in the rules.
She had suspected something was wrong with that rule from the start. Now it was clear—very wrong.
What should she do?
How could she refuse a customer’s request?
As a clerk, she didn’t have that kind of authority. If she dared say no, maybe the others would survive—but she’d be doomed for sure.
After hesitating for a moment, she stuffed cotton balls into both ears while handing over the megaphone. If someone’s gotta die, it won’t be me.
It was a smart move. Su Shisan’s eyes flashed with admiration. For ordinary music, blocking the ears might’ve worked.
Unfortunately, this was no ordinary tune. It was pure contamination. Earplugs couldn’t protect you from that.
Soon, the graceful, enchanting music filled every corner of the supermarket.
All the players who heard it wore looks of pure bliss, as if they were melting into the melody.
And in truth, they were.
One by one, their feet began to dissolve into blood. Slowly, inch by inch, their bodies liquefied—and they felt nothing. No pain. Only rapture.
The only one with a sliver of sanity left was [Jenny Textile Machine].
She watched in horror as her body melted, unable to feel the pain—but the sight alone was terrifying enough.
“Help me! Please, someone help!” she screamed, convinced she was the only one affected, praying the others would come rescue her.
But no one came.
The others weren’t just helpless—they were completely gone, fully lost in the music. Compared to them, she might’ve been the lucky one.
Then again, who’s to say whether awareness was a blessing or a curse?
As blood pooled and the last of the bodies dissolved, the supermarket fell quiet.
Only the hauntingly beautiful music lingered in the air.
Just like last time, the system’s cheerful voice rang out amidst the overwhelming stench of blood:
“Ding! Congratulations, Builder, for completing E-level instance. Achievement unlocked—‘Total Party Kill Combo.’ Congratulations, Builder! You’re amazing!”
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