Chapter 2: Class B Yellow, Shopping Mall (2)

The hostess stared intently at her. "Are you hurt?"

The wounds were all beneath her clothes, and Xu Yiliu’s bleeding was minimal; from the outside, only the torn clothing was visible.

She must have caught the scent of blood.

Xu Yiliu’s expression remained unchanged as she softly replied, "I lost my cane and stumbled on the way."

The hostess seemed momentarily stunned. "A cane?"

Xu Yiliu sighed, lowering her voice with a hint of vulnerability. "Is there an umbrella here? A long-handled one—I want to use it as a cane… If the mall doesn’t allow it, then forget it."

At the end, she added, "I asked because I thought the service here was good; sorry if that was inappropriate..."

The hostess’s smile faltered for a moment, yet her grin didn’t fade. She suddenly stepped close to Xu Yiliu, her face nearly touching hers, eyes full of anticipation as she observed her.

The proximity was close enough for Xu Yiliu to hear the hostess’s strange swallowing sounds.

Unfortunately, Xu Yiliu showed no sign of discomfort.

Her hollow eyes revealed no emotion. Clinging tightly to her persona, she awkwardly asked, "Are you still there?"

The hostess’s smile abruptly vanished, malice flashing across her delicate features. She stood beside Xu Yiliu, hooking her arm gently yet firmly, her tone still soft but her expression no longer carefully managed.

"I’ll get you an umbrella. Please wait here at the front desk for a moment, alright?"

The so-called front desk was actually the reception area near the entrance, furnished with two chairs for the greeters to rest.

After sitting down, Xu Yiliu looked like a rabbit without a shred of security, pleading, "Could you come back quickly? I really need an umbrella."

The hostess replied gently, "No problem."

Xu Yiliu smiled sincerely and said, "You’re truly a kind person."

It seemed the hostess didn’t hear her and left.

Xu Yiliu sat upright in the chair, ignoring the “people” who passed by, sneaking glances at her.

Since she claimed she couldn’t see, these figures, like the hostess, abandoned all efforts to manage their expressions. What caught Xu Yiliu’s attention most was that they still played their original roles.

There had to be a hidden set of rules—such as never breaking character under normal circumstances.

But under abnormal circumstances, judging from the hostess’s deliberate attempt to scare her, it likely related to the behavior of hosts like Xu Yiliu herself.

Xu Yiliu brushed a stray lock of hair aside, a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

That trick to scare others might work on some, but not on her.

She had worked as an extra and taken on minor roles on various sets since childhood to earn money, even earning recognition and WeChat contacts from a few directors. If not for some special reasons, she would have become an actor in the 208 troupe long ago.

Such a level of stunt was far from enough to throw Xu Yiliu out of character…

Wait.

Out of character?

Her little habit to flesh out her persona was to pick at her fingers. Now she was genuinely picking at them.

Because the system, she instinctively thought, had rules outside of which hosts like her operated—they just entered this grand stage to complete missions, and the rules were meant to restrain the “people” and protect the hosts.

But what if those who cannot break character included not only these “people” but also hosts like her?

That must be why the hostess tried to frighten her.

At first, her persona at the entrance was assigned for this mission—as a guest. If her behavior during the hostess’s inquiry didn’t align with the guest identity, she would likely have broken the rules.

Later, she added the blind person persona to explain the wounds on her body, and simultaneously, she couldn’t violate that persona.

Xu Yiliu shared these speculations with the system, asking if they were correct.

System: [Please explore the mission area yourself.]

Xu Yiliu pondered. [Does this mean the rules differ in each mission area?]

System: […Yes.]

Xu Yiliu grumbled, [Why didn’t you tell me this? What use are you then?]

System: [Rules discovered by the host during missions will be collected after each task. The system is responsible for providing data and contaminant identification functions.]

The mechanical voice was grating. Xu Yiliu complained while instructing the system to display her so-called status panel.

Time was pressing; the hostess would be back soon.

[Host: Xu Yiliu
Height: 173 cm (tall, cannot be improved)
Strength: 52 (average, can be improved)
Agility: 78 (nimble, can be improved)
Stamina: 85 (strong, can be improved)
Explosiveness: 87 (formidable, cannot be improved)
Overall Combat Ability: 76 (skilled, influenced by the above four stats)
Intelligence: 81 (smart, cannot be improved)
Health: 65 (suboptimal, needs self-improvement)
Emotional Stability: 98 (calm, fluctuates constantly)
Other Notes: Lacking sleep and nutrition, recommended to improve diet and rest.]

The displayed stats matched Xu Yiliu’s guesses quite well. The areas that couldn’t be improved were actually her strengths, which pleased her greatly.

“Here’s your umbrella.”

Though she spoke thus, the hostess’s hand slid slightly to the right. Her fading smile returned, eyes darting back and forth vividly.

Xu Yiliu looked around in confusion. “Huh?”

The hostess’s expression changed swiftly as she shoved the umbrella toward her. “Here.”

Xu Yiliu thanked her a few times. “…I think I’ll browse around on my own.”

Using the umbrella as a cane, she explored forward, feeling the burning gaze on her back.

Such enthusiasm.

Bidding farewell to the charming hostess, Xu Yiliu leisurely strolled through the first floor, entering store after store as if truly shopping.

Watching the “people” perform their poor acting, she couldn’t help but deeply despise the loose rule enforcement.

System: […]

While she softly chatted with shop assistants and searched for contaminants, suddenly, a loud bang echoed from above the atrium, followed by a chaotic rush of footsteps.

Xu Yiliu didn’t forget to maintain her acting spirit, biting her lip with concern, silently developing a strong disdain for the teammate she had yet to meet.

Such a commotion was truly troublesome.

She shifted her gaze toward the sound, feigning interest, and just happened to make eye contact with a young man cornered near the railing on the third floor.

The man was momentarily stunned, then glanced at the umbrella in her hand. Before his confusion could surface, the “people” pursuing him behind had already spotted him.

He frantically searched for an escape route, only to find himself nearly surrounded.

Xu Yiliu watched as he decisively climbed over the railing, grabbing onto a massive advertising board in the atrium and sliding down.

She averted her eyes and nervously asked a shop assistant, “What’s happening?”

The phone store clerk chuckled uneasily. “There’s a thief—we’re trying to catch him.”

Xu Yiliu immediately clutched her pocket. “Oh no, my bag…”

She hurried out of the shop. “I need to find my bag.”

Ignoring the clerk’s gaze, she tapped the floor with her umbrella and stepped out of the phone store.

The man dashed desperately, constantly seeking ways to break free.

Looking up, he saw the woman—likely a host—walking toward him at a leisurely pace.

He was stunned, beginning to doubt his assumptions.

Could she not be a host? Otherwise, why head toward danger?

Yet she did not transform like the “people” chasing him…

Reflected in the floor tiles, the pursuers’ bodies swelled grotesquely, four long writhing tentacles sprouting from their backs, saliva dripping madly onto the ground as they charged.

Had he been slower, his fate would have been sealed.

As he pondered whether to knock Xu Yiliu aside, she suddenly stopped, looking around with a puzzled expression.

Blind?

As the two brushed past each other, the man suddenly heard a soft voice whisper in his ear:

“Get out.”