The Nightclub Girl finally found someone willing to listen to her.
She was very happy.
“Let me tell you, since you’ve been exposed, it’s only a matter of time before they find this place. We can’t let our guard down like the others. Our Leader is very thorough—setting things up in advance increases our chances of winning.”
As a slacker in the team, the Nightclub Girl’s words weren’t exactly pleasant.
She first shifted the blame a little, implying the pressure on slackers like her was too much because others were too reckless, then tried to pull the other party into her camp.
Although, in the eyes of the others, the Photographer was only a bit better than the Nightclub Girl—a bigger slacker, really—but when two slackers joined forces, didn’t that make them stronger?
That was how the Nightclub Girl thought.
To increase her survival rate in battle, she couldn’t wait to rope the Photographer in.
“By the way, why are you still wearing that outfit? If a fight breaks out, it’s inconvenient. Go change your clothes quickly.”
At that moment, the long-haired man known as Photographer raised his head, his eyes vacant yet filled with menace, making her heart skip a beat.
“Why are you glaring at me? It’s not like I’m the one who told them to come, Leader—”
Before she could finish, the long-haired man suddenly reached out and grabbed her throat.
“Ah!”
The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.
The Members who were working still held Stickers in their hands, staring blankly as the long-haired man choked the Nightclub Girl, his grip tightening.
The Rubik’s Cube Guy with glasses stood dazed for a moment, finally snapping back to reality and attempting to persuade his two teammates.
“What are you doing? With a powerful enemy at hand, can’t you put aside your grudges for now?”
He only dared to persuade from a distance, not daring to approach, since both of them were taller than him.
Besides…he hadn’t heard of any previous grudges between the two.
By the time he sensed something was wrong, realizing the Photographer might be controlled, it was too late to stop the chaos—
The Nightclub Girl, oxygen-deprived, raised the Prism Card high in a desperate bid for survival.
The next second, prism light flooded the entire hall.
The ordinary Members couldn’t figure out what was happening—why the big Mafia upstairs had suddenly started fighting.
But as they struggled, terrifying phenomena began to appear around them.
Black smoke spread.
Skulls rose into the air.
A Weeping Woman’s Face appeared above everyone’s head, making even Souls tremble at a glance.
“Ghost…ghost!”
Now the scene grew even more chaotic.
Who cared about their work now, let alone helping?
Even the instruction signs they’d arranged earlier were abandoned as everyone thought only of escape.
But the Mirage’s illusion filled the entire hall, making it impossible to find the way out.
Soon, people crashed into each other or even straight into the walls.
It was chaos.
Complete and utter chaos.
“Don’t panic, don’t run, everyone calm down! It’s an illusion, not real!”
Only the Rubik’s Cube Guy with glasses remained calm.
It was clear he was a core member of the team—fundamentally different from the slackers.
But soon he remembered something else.
His face changed instantly.
No longer caring about the terrified and frenzied Members in the hall, he turned to the relatively calm Assistant.
“Quick! Turn on the Speaker!”
There were seven or eight Speakers in the hall.
Some were plugged into the wall, some embedded and running on internal circuits, others connected by Bluetooth or controlled via 2.4 USB interface, all to prevent them from being taken down at once.
Then, a powerful wave of Death Metal rock music blasted out, making even the Tables vibrate.
Amid the deafening noise, people inside went mad, dancing like demons to the hellish Death Metal.
The Rubik’s Cube Guy couldn’t stay another second.
As for the others, he decided he couldn’t save them and chose to abandon them, opting to regroup elsewhere.
***
“Sigh.”
Listening to the deafening Death Metal from the next-door Restaurant, Su Qingyu sighed and quietly put the Magic Flute away.
Of course, playing music externally could interfere with the Magic Flute’s power—it was just too loud compared to earphones, but safer.
“They’re well-defended, but does it matter?”
Su Qingyu puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
“They still got caught, didn’t they?”
Though it wasn’t her trap, that’s the power of teamwork—using her own presence to create opportunities for her teammates.
Bai Xia circled the corner, peering at the Restaurant Window and falling into thought.
The chaos had the intended effect, but it worked a little too well.
Now everything inside was a mess, making it hard for them to get in.
Bai Xiaoya also leaned over to take a look.
“How could they be fooled by an illusion like that? I thought they’d calm down after a while. After all…they should’ve known that thing was on their side, right?”
Looking from outside into the Restaurant, she could only see the chaotic crowd.
Nothing else.
Because the Mirage affected the senses directly—only those inside its range could be affected.
“They probably couldn’t think straight.”
Su Qingyu explained.
“Mirage…as an item, it’s essentially a weapon of mental attack.”
Bai Xiaoya looked inside again.
People were screaming at empty air and running wild—seemingly without end.
“How will this end for them?”
It was a good question.
Su Qingyu shrugged.
“It ends when they collapse. Either they pass out from exhaustion…or the caster collapses.”
Soon after she finished, out of sight of the three girls, the Nightclub Girl’s eyes rolled back as she was choked, her breathing slowing to a stop.
The Prism Card dimmed and fell from her hand to the floor.
“Ghost…gh…ghost?”
The illusion vanished.
The people in the hall finally escaped from their personal hell.
Though the Death Metal still battered their eardrums, the madness was gone.
Except for those trampled or concussed during the chaos, the other Members gradually came to their senses, piecing together what had happened.
But there was one thing no one could figure out.
“Photographer-sama, why did you…?”
The Photographer stood there, dazed.
He stared at his surroundings—and at the Nightclub Girl he’d just strangled to death.
Yes.
Why?
Did I betray them?
Someone noticed something else.
“Where’s Rubik’s Cube-sama?”
“He was just here.”
“We’ve been abandoned!”
Earlier, everyone was terrified by the illusion.
Now, reality filled them with dread.
“Run! Don’t stay here!”
A roar echoed through the Death Metal, and several people rushed deeper into the Restaurant.
They didn’t dare go outside—obviously, the intruders were waiting out there.
“Hurry and find the others!”
The ordinary Members scrambled inside, leaving the Photographer alone in a daze.
Until a Blonde Loli walked in.
“Yes, you betrayed us. So now—tell me, where are the others hiding?”