Chapter 5: Begging for Mercy

“Hehe, big brother, which floor are you going to?”
“For every floor the elevator ascends, I’ll take one organ, or a part of your body, from each of you riding it.”
—The “head” revealed its true form: a little boy hanging upside down, feet hooked on the top of the elevator.

“Sorry, I’m not taking the elevator.”
Just as Ji Linmo was about to turn away, Zhu Jun suddenly shoved him, and together with another man, blocked his path like two solid city walls, preventing him from leaving.

“What do you mean by this?”
Ji Linmo’s brows drew together, his face turning icy cold.

“Big brother, we don’t mean anything else.”
Wang Dazhi, dark-skinned and burly, scratched his head.
“It’s just that, because of you, Liu Bi’s arm got bitten off by the ghost. At the very least, you should tell him how to get underworld coins, right?”

“Tell you? Are you kidding me? Kill him, kill him! He made me lose an arm!”
Clutching his bloody stump, Liu Bi glared at Ji Linmo, eyes bulging with rage.

Just as he finished speaking, Ji Linmo noticed Liu Bi’s hand fiddling inside his pocket.

A weapon!

“He started this, so I’m under no obligation to tell you anything.”
Ji Linmo raised his eyebrows.

Swish!

A sharp knife suddenly slashed toward Ji Linmo’s cheek.

“Don’t push your luck! You’ve gone too far!”
While Liu Bi ranted, Ji Linmo’s expression remained unmoved. With a flick of his wrist, a deep purple whip materialized in his hand.

A blinding flash of lightning raced down the whip and, in the blink of an eye, knocked the knife from Liu Bi’s grasp.

“Don’t be scared, everyone! It’s just an electrified whip. What’s the worst that can happen? Let me—”

Liu Bi’s eyes widened, his words catching in his throat as terror overtook him.

“A-an S-rank dungeon item?”

The whip before them was unmistakably an S-rank dungeon item.

[Lightning Whip — Demon’s Kiss]
[Item Quality: High (S-rank)]
[Item Description: A whip kissed by a demon. Perhaps pain is another form of love?]
[Effect: Each swing generates an electric attack. If it strikes an opponent, they suffer hallucinations, dizziness, and paralysis.]
[Special Note: When the player is in a state of extreme anger, strikes have a chance to deal a critical blow and summon a demon.]

—In the world of horrors, dungeons range from S to D in difficulty.
After clearing each dungeon, players draw for a reward item corresponding to its level of difficulty.
To possess such a powerful item meant this player had cleared countless S-rank dungeons!

...

“Um… big brother, actually I…”
Liu Bi trembled as he tried to back away, but the man before him fixed him with an icy stare, winding the whip around his hand.

Crack!

With a flick of Ji Linmo’s wrist, the fierce whip sliced through the air, trailing blinding lightning like a dragon’s roar.

The flash illuminated Liu Bi’s eyes, and in the face of that cutting sound, he was too paralyzed by fear to move, forced to watch as the blinding whip wound tightly around his neck.

“P-please…”

Liu Bi clawed desperately at the whip, his face reddening from lack of air.

—Ji Linmo had always lived by the principle: do not offend unless offended.

“You all—just now, you wanted to kill me, didn’t you?”
Ji Linmo turned his head, looking at Zhu Jun and Wang Dazhi.

Wang Dazhi was frozen with fear, unable to speak, staring dumbly at Zhu Jun.
Zhu Jun’s face had turned deathly pale, and he stammered that it was all a misunderstanding, terrified of implicating himself.

“So, it was only his idea?”
Ji Linmo’s gaze turned icy as he looked at Liu Bi, tightening the whip. Liu Bi’s eyes rolled back, his throat letting out strangled gasps as his legs kicked helplessly.

“Ji—cough… big brother, spare me! I’m a complete idiot, I’m really sorry!”

Face flushed from oxygen deprivation, Liu Bi gasped out an apology.

“I didn’t hear you.”

Staring at Ji Linmo, who seemed like a demon from the depths of hell, Liu Bi raised his head in a daze, tears streaming down his face in terror.

“I’m begging you, I’m sorry, please, I’ll never mess with you again!”

With a snap, the whip in Ji Linmo’s hand vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared.

Liu Bi collapsed to the ground, gulping in fresh air, sobbing as he breathed.

Ji Linmo glanced coldly at the rest, who were all visibly shaken.

“I’ll say this once: don’t provoke me.”

Zhu Jun and Liu Bi nodded frantically, bobbing their heads like pecking hens.

Ji Linmo said nothing more, casting a casual glance at the girl who had been cowering in fear, then walked over.

“You—”

“Aaah! Don’t come near me! Stay away!”

Ji Linmo lowered his hand and pulled the girl, who had collapsed in the elevator, to her feet.
Terrified out of her mind by Ji Linmo’s earlier actions, she screamed hysterically as he dragged her out of the elevator and toward the main entrance.

“Let’s go. We’ll discuss things at the main entrance.”

As Ji Linmo walked away, Zhu Jun’s eyes, still filled with fear, suddenly flashed with malice and calculation.

...

He tilted his head, whispering something into Liu Bi’s ear.

A glint appeared in Liu Bi’s eyes, and he grinned, showing his white teeth.

No one could resist the temptation of a genuine S-rank item.

After all, dungeon rewards weren’t bound to their first users; whoever claimed them owned them!

Everyone composed themselves and gathered at the first-floor entrance.

“Big brother, may I ask your name?”

“Ji Linmo,”
Ji Linmo replied coldly, casting a chilly glance at Zhu Jun.

“Everyone, although things got a little tense just now, we have to work together if we want to clear this dungeon. Did any of you notice any clues?”

Zhu Jun, eager to take the lead, spoke first. He scanned the group, his tone sincere.

“Two things. I noticed two things.”
Ji Linmo brushed dust from his clothes and spoke coldly.

“First, the elevator ghost is also bound by the rules and cannot attack others at will.

Second, the ghost said that to ride the elevator, it needs to take an organ. But it never said the organ has to come from the person riding the elevator.”

With these words, everyone but Ji Linmo widened their eyes in sudden realization.

They understood what he was implying.

They could use someone else’s organ to ride the elevator!

Panic flashed across Zhu Jun’s face. With Ji Linmo’s strength, if he decided to kill him for his organs...

“Let Zhang Lanlan go! I’ve cleared several A-rank dungeons, I’d be more useful in an S-rank. Zhang Lanlan is new, so why not let her take the risk?”
Zhu Jun smiled at the only newcomer in the group, the young girl.

“An organ, that’s all. Maybe a tooth would be enough.”

Faced with the group’s predatory stares, the girl broke down in tears. Her nerves, only just steadied, collapsed again, and she tried to scramble away.

In an instant, Liu Bi pinned her down. The girl’s wails and screams tore through the air, begging to quit and go home.

“So, Brother Ji, which organ do you want?”

Liu Bi, holding the girl like a sack of meat, dragged her in front of Ji Linmo, eager to please.

He had seen Ji Linmo dragging her earlier, surely intending to make her the sacrifice.

Wang Dazhi stood aside, not daring to say a word.

It seemed everyone was waiting for Ji Linmo’s decision.

—Kill the girl.