Chapter 37: Qiu Yinong

"Why are you still as dense as you were in college? Wait, don't tell me you forgot about me?" the woman chided playfully when she saw him stay silent.

Chen Ran got a clear look at the woman's face, a look of pleasant surprise flashing through his eyes. But just as he was about to speak, the woman transformed into a burly man.

"You are Qiu Yinong!"

Realizing something was wrong, Chen Ran wanted to take back his words, but it was too late. The burly man's Liar-Slayer was already pressed against his forehead, a playful glint in his eyes.

"Newbie, didn't anyone tell you that in the 18th Level, you can't trust anyone or anything you see?"

With that, the burly man pulled a piece of paper from behind his waist and tossed it in front of Chen Ran, acting like a lofty master bestowing a favor upon a servant. "Sign it and work like a dog for me, and I might consider sparing your life."

Chen Ran's face turned ashen. He picked up the paper from the ground and quickly scanned its contents.

The restrictions were extremely harsh. Not only did he have to become the man's Death Row prisoner, but he also had to hand over all his Points after every Instance ended.

He was forbidden from walking upright or sitting down to eat, and he had to wear an iron chain whenever he went out, among other things.

Chen Ran knew this was the master-servant Common Sense mentioned in the Booklet. Once signed, any violation of these terms would result in Self-immolation.

This was a common method Veteran Players used to control Newbies. Chen Ran just had not expected to encounter it so soon.

"Impossible!"

"Kid, only the living have infinite possibilities. Once you are dead, you have nothing. I will give you one more chance. Are you going to sign it or not?" The burly man narrowed his eyes, his killing intent fully exposed.

"I have a question," Chen Ran said, seemingly softening his stance. "That was your Liar Hunter Skill just now, right? As far as I know, the prerequisite for using a Liar Hunter Skill is sacrificing a Guaranteed Judgment opportunity. If you are not a Ghost Whisperer, and we just met, where did you get a Guaranteed Judgment opportunity to sacrifice?"

Twirling the pistol around his index finger, the burly man took on the tone of an educator. "In the 18th Level, as long as the person who lied is not dead, the Judgment opportunity remains valid until they die. Because of this, an entire supply chain for selling Judgment opportunities has emerged on the Black Market. It involves enslaved Newbies telling a lie right in front of the buyer, while their slave master ensures the Newbie won't die anytime soon. That way, the Judgment opportunity is preserved."

As he spoke, the burly man looked Chen Ran up and down, sizing up the Newbie as if examining a piece of merchandise.

"I see."

Chen Ran continued to ask, "Just now, you disguised yourself as Qiu Yinong to trick me into talking, but there was a flaw in what you said. Does this mean you also lied just now?"

"Hahaha." The burly man burst into laughter at Chen Ran's words. No wonder this kid had a rather-die-than-submit attitude; it turned out he thought he had a sliver of hope.

Just as he opened his mouth, he suddenly remembered the Common Sense of the 18th Level: one could not casually reveal their Liar Hunter Skill. Realizing that the Newbie had deliberately dug a trap for him, his expression darkened.

He snapped harshly, "If you do not sign within thirty seconds, I will use Judgment on you!"

"I am not going to sign it."

"Fine, then go to hell." With that, the burly man uttered the Slayer Command:

"You lied."

He immediately pulled the trigger, but the expected spark of a bullet leaving the chamber never appeared.

The bullet...

Jammed!

"How is this possible..." The burly man was both terrified and confused. He was absolutely certain he had reverted to his original appearance before the Newbie said, 'You are Qiu Yinong.' How could the Newbie not be lying?!

Chen Ran lit a cigarette and said calmly, "Do you think there is a possibility that I was speaking to the person behind you?"

Hearing this, the man whipped his head around, only to see a beautiful woman with cold eyes standing right behind him. He had no idea when she had arrived.

"You are... Qiu Yinong?"

Qiu Yinong did not answer. Instead, she raised her arm, uttered the Slayer Command, and fired a fatal shot.

The man's corpse collapsed to the ground, and a Point Card appeared above his body. Expressionless, Qiu Yinong picked up the Point Card, stepped over the corpse, and walked right past Chen Ran, heading upstairs.

Halfway up the stairs, she stopped in her tracks. "The Liar-Slayer Alliance is the biggest information broker around. The Form you filled out appeared on the information trading market almost immediately. So, why did you fill it out?"

Chen Ran was not surprised. He glanced at the Embroidered Shoe and the red lanterns in the stairwell, frowning. "This is not the place to talk."

...

Chen Ran arrived at his rented apartment. It was completely empty, completely devoid of furnishings.

The two sat on the floor.

"How did you die?"

A heavy look settled on Qiu Yinong's face. "Honestly, I don't even know how I died. I just went to sleep and woke up in a Secret Room. In all likelihood, I was murdered in my sleep."

"How did you die?"

Chen Ran wore a strange expression. "I was hit by a truck. It seems we must have offended someone when we were alive, but that doesn't matter anymore."

In life, Qiu Yinong had been the boss of a gaming company.

A month ago, she had reached out to her former college classmate, the web novel author Chen Ran, for help.

She had wanted to create a virtual reality game that could overlay the real world. For this, she needed Chen Ran, a web novelist, to provide creative ideas and write the story's background lore.

That project had inexplicably led to both of their deaths.

Who would have thought that their next reunion would be in Hell? It was truly a tragedy worth sighing over.

"What are your plans?" she asked.

"My Liar Hunter Skill might be a bit unique, which will probably cause a lot of trouble in the future. I plan to dive into an Instance to lay low for a while. For the next six months to a year, I'll likely be grinding through Instances like crazy."

Qiu Yinong gave Chen Ran a profound look, then pulled her own Liar-Slayer from her waist. It was a completely black pistol, but the black was distinct, shimmering with the iridescent darkness of a raven's feathers.

"My Liar Hunter Skill might be a bit unique too. When I went to the Alliance Ancient Tower earlier, they offered me 1000 Points to sign a contract stating I wouldn't leave the Liar-Slayer Alliance for two years. After thinking it over, I turned them down. I'll probably run into trouble later, too."

'1000 Points?'

'Does that mean the Liar-Slayer Alliance has most likely determined that Qiu Yinong's skill is the legendary True Self Skill?'

'What exactly is her skill?'

Seeing that she had laid her cards on the table, Chen Ran did not act coy. "Wanna team up?"

"Alright," Qiu Yinong nodded.

Sometimes, things just worked out this way; plans could never keep up with changes. One second, Chen Ran was planning to run Instances completely solo, and the next, he had teamed up with someone. Such was the impermanence of fate.

However, the two of them tacitly agreed not to reveal the rank of their respective Liar Hunter Skills.

Chen Ran felt that he had never been an exceptionally evil or wicked person in his past life. He had only ended up in Hell because an accident led to the deaths of thousands of tadpoles capable of evolving.

Qiu Yinong also felt that she wasn't a terrible or vicious villain either. It was just capitalism—who didn't exploit people?

There were no good people in Hell.

Even between college classmates who had known each other for years, they still held things back. One could never let their guard down against others.

"Who will be the captain?" Chen Ran asked.