Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - Chapter 192

Chapter 192

Gu Huaiwei decisively descended from the attic.

The wooden ladder was hot to the touch. Gu Huaiwei paused and looked down to see the entire sixth floor transformed into a raging sea of fire.

“Sister Gu, it looks like there’s a fire here.” Bai Miemie was the first to leap into the flames. She reached her hands upward, eyes sparkling, making a gesture as if asking for a hug. “This fire isn’t hot. Do you want to try, Sister? I can catch you.”

Gu Huaiwei pulled out her mirror.

The mirror did not reflect the flames.

The scene before her was no longer the original sixth floor of the Library.

Instead, it was a stretch of scorched earth.

The mirror her sister had given her could see through all illusions.

Gu Huaiwei was an existence independent of the Instance, and perhaps even independent of this Dimension.

The illusory sea of fire could not block her path.

Gu Huaiwei jumped down.

She could feel the searing temperature of the flames, yet they seemed unable to harm her.

She had to find Fang Zhao and make him fulfill the silence.

On the way, Gu Huaiwei suddenly stopped.

Not far away, a dark-skinned girl was sprawled on the ground, rolling in agony, letting out heart-wrenching wails.

This girl was one of the Trial-takers.

Through the mirror, Gu Huaiwei could see that there were no real flames around the girl. However, her skin was covered in scorch marks, as if she truly were being burned by a fierce blaze.

“Save me… help me…” Xia Wenxing, the Sports Committee Member, murmured in pain.

Gu Huaiwei frowned slightly.

Xia Wenxin had failed to find Bella in the attic in time. She had violated the Rules and was now being tortured by the flames.

The fire burned so intensely that she could barely open her eyes.

In her desperation, she lifted her head and caught a blurry glimpse of a figure slowly approaching through the sea of fire at the end of the Corridor.

Was it a teammate or an Anomaly?

Survival instinct overrode her fear. Xia Wenxin reached out both hands, crying out to Gu Huaiwei, “Save me… please, save me!”

Gu Huaiwei stood before her and reminded her, “These fires are all just hallucinations.”

But Xia Wenxin was in too much pain to think. Her voice was frantic. “It hurts too much… take me to… the Toy Room… The Rules say… if you listen for the sound of marbles… you can find the Toy Room.”

“Fine. This is a favor, and you’ll need to pay it back once you’re better,” Gu Huaiwei said. She leaned down and lifted Xia Wenxin in a bridal carry.

As the Sports Committee Member, Xia Wenxin was tall and sturdy with firm muscles, weighing far more than Gu Huaiwei. However, Gu Huaiwei was incredibly strong and carried her effortlessly, moving as if she were holding nothing more than a feather.

In Gu Huaiwei’s arms, Xia Wenxin continued to burn.

Gu Huaiwei’s palms were already covered in flakes of charred skin.

She had to move fast.

Otherwise, this person would burn to death in her arms.

Gu Huaiwei focused her mind and listened for the sound of glass marbles.

“Dongdong-”

“Dongdong-”

She heard it!

Following the sound, Gu Huaiwei ran quickly toward the easternmost side of the sixth floor.

To enter the Toy Room, one had to crawl through a Dog Hole.

Gu Huaiwei first stuffed the still-burning Xia Wenxin inside, then squeezed through the Dog Hole decorated with cartoon drawings herself.

As soon as Xia Wenxin entered the Toy Room, the flames burning her body extinguished.

Fang Zhao was hiding inside a giant teddy bear.

He had hollowed out the stuffing from the bear’s body and climbed inside.

He believed his hiding spot was flawless.

But upon hearing a noise in the Toy Room, Fang Zhao grew tense.

He absolutely could not be found.

If Bella found him, he was dead.
The Toy Room had old wooden floors.

With every step Gu Huaiwei took, the floorboards let out a faint creak, as if she were treading directly on Fang Zhao’s heart.

Xia Wenxin’s burns were severe, but fortunately, she still had a breath of life left in her.

She was barely hanging on, her breathing shallow and ragged.

Gu Huaiwei pulled out an Inhibitor and some skin-regeneration medicine she had brought from the Wasteland World, deciding to treat her as a last resort.

“I hope this works.”

She gave Xia Wenxin a shot of the Inhibitor and fed her a bit of a Magnetic Beverage. Soon, Xia Wenxin’s breathing smoothed out. Her charred flesh began to throb, and then new, pink granulation tissue started to grow.

“Fang Zhao, I brought your teammate back.”

Having treated Xia Wenxin, Gu Huaiwei called out Fang Zhao’s name.

Fang Zhao was curled up inside the body of a giant teddy bear, not daring to make a sound.

He heard Gu Huaiwei’s voice.

But he didn’t dare respond.

He knew that an Anomaly could mimic the voices of others.

“Hey, stop hiding. I can hear you breathing,” Gu Huaiwei called out a few more times. When there was no response, she walked straight to the teddy bear and shook its head. “You’re pretty good at hiding.”

Inside, it didn’t feel like cotton; it felt like a human head.

“Come on out. I found you.”

Looking pale and sickly, Fang Zhao was hauled out by Gu Huaiwei, shaking like a leaf.

“Go check on your teammate,” Gu Huaiwei said, pointing at Xia Wenxin.

“You… you…” Fang Zhao stammered, incoherent.

“Me what?”

Fang Zhao had thought he was going to die, but Gu Huaiwei really was just helping him, and she hadn’t demanded any price for it.

Who exactly was this girl?

In the world of an Instance, could there really be a friendly Anomaly?

Impossible.

An Anomaly only existed to lure humans into the traps of the Rules.

“The Bell Toll has already sounded. How did you manage to find your way into the Toy Room at a time like this?” Fang Zhao stared at Gu Huaiwei, who shouldn’t have been there at all. His gaze was on the verge of collapse.

“I just followed the Marble Sound and found my way in.”

“That’s impossible… it makes no sense…”

Fang Zhao realized that Bella might still be outside. He broke free from Gu Huaiwei’s grip, scrambled across the floor to pick up a piece of old wood, and with trembling hands, blocked the Dog Hole that served as the entrance to the Toy Room.

After blocking the hole, he knelt beside Xia Wenxin.

Charred marks still remained on Xia Wenxin’s face, but the wounds were healing at an eerie speed.

Fang Zhao reached out to check her breathing. Feeling a faint breath, he let out a sigh of relief.

“She’s alive…” he muttered to himself, his voice hoarse. Then, he slowly looked up, his gaze falling on Gu Huaiwei standing nearby.

“You…” Fang Zhao’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke with a voice full of confusion. “Why did you save Xia Wenxin? Are you really… human?”

Gu Huaiwei sighed. “How many times do I have to say it before you’ll believe me?”

She had clearly acted with goodwill. She had helped that boy who wet his pants at the start, then helped Fang Zhao solve the Hide-and-Seek Puzzle, and now she had saved this girl from being burned to death.

Gu Huaiwei felt she had shown more than enough sincerity.

“Then how did you enter this Instance?” He gritted his teeth, as if unable to accept the fact that Gu Huaiwei was an ordinary human. “Why are you unharmed even after violating the Rules? How did you manage to save Xia Wenxin? And how did you escape from Bella?!”

The questions shot out like a machine gun. He was almost growling as he spoke: “Just who… what kind of person are you?!”