The Cost of Knowledge

“Do you want to run?”

The man stared intently at Ye Shengge. The black mask he wore was carved with an eerie, ghastly skull pattern, which, combined with that hollow, spectral tone, instantly brought the horror atmosphere to its peak.

Even without seeing the expression behind the mask, it wasn’t hard to guess from his tone alone that he was in a very foul mood.

The kind of foul mood that couldn’t handle the slightest provocation.

Under these circumstances, even if Ye Shengge truly had thought about fleeing for a split second, he absolutely could not let the other party know.

At this thought, the youth suddenly became very still. His gaze remained locked on the man standing not far away, his eyes filled with a wariness he hadn’t even noticed himself.

The air seemed to freeze.

Failing to get an answer and instead sensing the youth’s rejection and caution, the man felt an increasing agitation in his heart.

He could no longer control himself. He took a step, walking toward the youth one pace at a time. His bloodshot eyes were terrifying to behold.

Watched by such a frightening gaze, the youth was scared into taking another small step back.

This small step took him directly outside the dormitory door.

If he took just two more steps back, he could successfully reach the stairwell and flee down the steps.

But that incredibly naive thought vanished quickly.

Ye Shengge had self-awareness; he knew that even if he ran down the stairs, he would 100% fail to outrun the long-legged dungeon boss chasing him.

It was better to act as if nothing was wrong and see if he could fish in troubled waters.

However, even if he successfully controlled his legs and didn’t flee on the spot, those two instinctive retreats from a moment ago were enough to poke at the man’s sore spot.

The man in the chilling skull mask let out a cold laugh. Approaching him unhurriedly, he asked in a bizarre tone, “Want to run? Where do you think you can go? Hmm?”

Ye Shengge felt it—the man’s current state was very wrong. He was like a final boss in a game who had entered a ‘berserk’ state—manic, irritable, and prone to accidentally hurting others out of impulse.

Right now, there was no one here besides the man and himself. He was highly likely to become that “other person” who got hurt.

What should he do?

The beautiful youth, who had never encountered such a situation, stood frozen with a panicked expression, looking utterly helpless.

Just as the man was only half a step away from him, a cold mechanical voice suddenly rang out.

[Just say a few nice things. Coax him a little.]

It was the system.

Ye Shengge instantly found a support and hurriedly asked: [What nice things should I say?]

He had never coaxed anyone before and had no experience in this area. If he accidentally said the wrong thing and it backfired, it would be bad.

[Anything. Just do it quickly.] Although the system’s tone sounded devoid of emotion, it was actually pacing in circles in its space with anxiety.

Previously, it was certain that a conscious dungeon boss wouldn’t have the heart to do anything to Ye Shengge, at most just skimming some “oil” in secret.

But now, they were facing a dungeon boss who had been provoked by something and had fallen into a state of backlash, mania, and extreme insecurity.

In the boss’s heart, any tiny emotional change at this moment would be magnified countless times…

Even the system couldn’t guarantee that the boss wouldn’t do something terrible to the defenseless host right now.

But trapped in the system space, it could do nothing but urge the host to speak up, to coax the insecure boss and temporarily stabilize his emotions.

Ye Shengge hesitated: [But…]

He wanted to bargain with the system and ask for more specific lines, but the expression in the man’s visible eyes suddenly changed. He abruptly reached out his hand, intending to grab him.

In the next second, the youth—who thought he was clumsy and didn’t know what to say, and who had been trying to bargain—became a natural master. He swiftly reached out and hugged the arm the man had extended to grab him. His voice was soft and sweet: “Could you please not be like this? I’m a little scared.”

The system, which was frantically searching for “coaxing quotes” for its host: […]

Who could possibly withstand this?

Catching the faint, sweet scent emanating from the youth, the man’s body instantly stiffened. He allowed the youth to softly hug his arm, his eyes filled with daze.

He hadn’t expected the youth to suddenly act spoiled.

But it had to be said, the youth using this trick on him was incredibly effective.

Yet the person saying it was completely unaware of his power.

Feeling the dungeon boss go stiff, Ye Shengge thought this trick—which he used to deal with his brother after getting into trouble—wasn’t working at all. He even wondered if he had misunderstood the system’s meaning.

But for a moment, he couldn’t think of any other coaxing words, so he decided to go all the way and continue treating the man like his brother.

The hands circling the man’s arm tightened slightly. The youth looked up, explaining with a piteous look: “I never thought about running away. It’s just that you looked so scary just now, so I stepped back.”

Regardless of the truth, going along with the other person’s words was never the wrong move.

In the past, no matter what wrong he did, as long as he used this trick, his iron-hearted brother would stop being angry and wouldn’t have the heart to punish him.

After using this move, Ye Shengge was pleasantly surprised to find that the gaze the man fixed on him slowly softened, no longer as eerie and frightening as before.

“Don’t be afraid. I didn’t actually intend to hit him.” Realizing his violent actions had scared the youth, the man felt a wave of regret, and his loathing for Zhou Yue intensified.

If it weren’t for that person named Zhou Yue intentionally stalling for time by saying the youth was interested in him and would definitely leave this place, he wouldn’t have broken his rule and hit someone. He would have treated him like the other dying people, letting their “creditors” do the job themselves.

Furthermore, he truly hadn’t expected that the habitually timid and delicate youth would actually have the courage to run over here.

If he had known the youth was coming, he would never have done something so low-class.

Thinking of this, the man quickly added a sentence, hoping to reverse the bad impression the youth had of him: “I controlled my strength. He just fainted. His face just looks a bit unpleasant.”

This wasn’t a lie, although the reason he showed mercy was that he wanted to leave the opportunity for the kill to the original creditor with whom he had made a deal.

But with the Luck King and Zhang Ming’s suicide fresh in his mind, Ye Shengge didn’t believe a word of it.

Even if there was no evidence to prove that these deaths were carried out by the man himself, he was certain they were inextricably linked to him.

“Then can you tell me… why you are here?” Ye Shengge gathered his courage and asked, sensing the other party had no intention of hurting him.

The man frowned, saying with some difficulty, “I can, but what do you want to exchange with me?”

This time, it was Ye Shengge’s turn to look bewildered.

“I help others achieve their wishes, but it requires a price,” the man explained patiently.

Even this death game he initiated was a mutually beneficial transaction signed with a “creditor.” Once the game ended and all those who had done wrong were punished, he would get what he wanted.

However, right now, he had something he wanted even more.

If the youth was willing, the man felt he could tell him everything related to the game. After all, he truly liked this youth whose soul was as pure, white, and sweet as a marshmallow.

In return, the youth would have to stay here forever to accompany him, rather than leaving entirely with that annoying presence.

But even if the youth was unwilling to make a trade, in a few more days, he could get everything he wanted by his own means.

This, of course, included the youth who originally didn’t belong here.

The man didn’t consider whether the youth was willing to stay. To him, the moment the youth entered this world, he already belonged to him.