Chapter 58: The Diary

With a guttural roar, the man opened his mouth wide, and enormous black tentacles surged out from within. He coughed up blood relentlessly, desperately reaching out to touch the security guard’s shoe, only to be kicked away again.

“Hurry up and hang him up. Let the janitor deal with it.”

As he spoke, one of the security guards grabbed the man and, with a forceful swing, tossed him onto an iron hook. The black tentacles, as if sentient, clung to the hook, securing him firmly in place.

Throughout the commotion, Linmo Ji remained motionless, waiting silently for them all to leave—he was planning his escape.

Thunderous noise erupted nearby—the raucous roar of a chainsaw came from somewhere unknown. Linmo Ji narrowed his eyes and saw an impossibly huge creature charging toward them, its head encased in a metal mask, body draped in a janitor’s coat, and wielding a golden chainsaw.

“It’s the janitor! The janitor’s here! Quick, back to Mall Zero!”

The security guards vanished once more.

The “merchandise” hanging from the iron hook became even more agitated, thrashing wildly in a frantic attempt to break free. But escape was impossible; the mass of black tentacles had fused with the hook, binding him tight.

“Defective…” the chainsaw-wielding janitor shouted, shuffling closer, a hoarse laugh rumbling from him. “This one… this one… and this one… all must be disposed of…”

As the janitor laughed, Linmo Ji caught the strong, metallic stench of blood radiating from him.

The chainsaw roared to life, and with a piercing, desperate scream, hot blood splattered over Linmo Ji, dousing him from head to toe.

Blood dripped down his cheeks. Linmo Ji opened his eyes just in time to see a grotesquely twisted, lifeless head fall from the ceiling and roll across the floor.

It was the man who had struggled moments before—his head and torso severed by the creature’s chainsaw.

“Defective… defective…” the chainsaw-wielding figure picked something up and swung it at the corpse. Teeth scattered to the ground like marbles.

The monster gleefully unhooked the body, grabbed it by the ankle, and dragged it away, leaving a deep, crimson trail in its wake.

“He seems to be gone now.”

Just as Linmo Ji’s nerves reached their breaking point, a voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Hearing the familiar tone, Linmo Ji turned to see a boy with peach blossom eyes, flashing a bright, toothy smile.

“Mr. Ji, what a coincidence! Are you searching Mall Zero too?”

Noticing Qin Feng, now stripped of his doctor’s coat, Linmo Ji turned his back once more, ignoring him.

But in that instant, he froze—his hand felt glued to the iron hook, unable to break free!

---

What was happening?

Linmo Ji looked up and saw a black, gelatinous substance smeared across the hook, binding his hand firmly. It was the same black tentacles that had grown from the previous man, splattered onto the iron.

“Mr. Ji, I’ve been stuck here for a while already. Congratulations on joining me,” Qin Feng said, grinning with schadenfreude.

Linmo Ji struggled to pull his hand free, but it was no use—he was thoroughly stuck.

“Qin Feng, get out your butterfly knife and see if you can cut this stuff off.”

“I can’t. My hands won’t move at all.”

Linmo Ji took a deep breath and looked around. He suddenly noticed a corpse hanging ahead, a pure gold knife protruding from its abdomen.

“Qin Feng! Try kicking me.”

Linmo Ji swung his body, trying to reach the knife in the corpse’s abdomen, but he was just out of reach. At that moment, Qin Feng kicked him in the back, and with that force, Linmo Ji managed to clamp the knife between his feet and pull it free.

Curling his body, Linmo Ji bent in mid-air, displaying impressive flexibility, and managed to seize the knife with his mouth.

“Impressive, Mr. Ji—like a circus act!” Qin Feng teased.

Linmo Ji had no time to retort. He bit down hard on the knife and began to saw at the black gel binding him to the hook. The jelly-like substance parted easily under the blade.

Once free, Linmo Ji dropped to the ground, leapt up again, grabbed another hook, and used the knife to cut Qin Feng’s hand loose.

“Mr. Ji, forget about me. The janitor seems to be coming back,” Qin Feng said, his expression sobering as he gazed into the distance.

Footsteps approached, growing louder, accompanied by the chainsaw’s growl.

Linmo Ji frowned. Just as he prepared to jump for another hook, a thought struck him. The black gel seemed to expand into a jelly-like mass when it came into contact with rusty iron, sealing things inside.

And the janitor’s iron mask was already deeply corroded.

Without hesitation, Linmo Ji scooped up a lump of the gel with the golden knife, ready to act.

“Defective, more defective…” the janitor muttered as he approached the row of hanging corpses.

In a flash, Linmo Ji hurled the knife.

Whizz—

The knife clanged against the metal mask and fell to the floor. Instantly, the gel began to spread across the mask like seaweed, rapidly engulfing it.

“I can’t see! I can’t see!” The hulking janitor clawed at his mask, trying in vain to tear it off, but it was too late. The gel solidified into a jelly-like substance, sealing his head inside.

---

“Guh… can’t… breathe…”

The janitor crashed into the wall, staggered, and collapsed.

“Who would have thought it’d be this easy…” Linmo Ji picked up the knife, helped Qin Feng down, and approached the janitor’s body.

[Janitor’s Uniform]
[Item Quality: Inferior]
[Description: A filthy uniform. Put it on, and you become the janitor.]

The sudden message triggered Linmo Ji’s realization. He stripped off the outfit and put it on.

In an instant, his vision changed.

[Player – Linmo Ji]
[Role: Janitor (No. 21)]
[Status: Poisoned]

Where before there had been nothing but darkness, now he saw a blood-soaked operating table.

Lying upon it was the man from Ward 1, lifeless, eyes wide open in death.

Thud.

A thin notebook fell from the man’s pocket. Curious, Linmo Ji picked it up.

[Anonymous Notebook]
[Item Quality: Inferior]
[Description: A diary as dull as bookkeeping—perhaps you should study how to write.]

“Qin Feng, can you see what I’m holding?” Linmo Ji raised the notebook toward him.

Qin Feng shook his head—Linmo Ji’s hands appeared empty to him.

It seemed that different roles revealed different scenes, and items acquired belonged solely to the current identity.

Linmo Ji opened the blood-soaked notebook. Each page was carefully filled out in neat, standard script.

But as he turned to the first page, he was stunned.

Drawn in clumsy pencil strokes was a rabbit. Beside it, however, a line was scrawled in blood:

Remember, this is not a rabbit! This is not a rabbit!