Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - Chapter 246

Chapter 246

Some of the girls who were close to that group of boys also came to Hot Spring Mansion to work part-time.

They deliberately targeted Xiaoyu and bullied her. They wrote on her school uniform, threw her backpack into the water, gave her nasty nicknames…

Then those boys would make their entrance, playing the role of heroes saving a damsel in distress.

Xiaoyu didn’t fall for it at all.

She called the police right away, but the students’ families quickly smoothed everything over.

After that, she reported the matter to the school, but the school did not take it seriously.

Those people only got worse.

Xiaoyu was left covered in injuries.

An Qiushui stopped there.

Gu Huaiwei asked, “Where should I look for Xiaoyu’s deskmate?”

“I thought you’d ask me how Xiaoyu died.” An Qiushui had not continued because, for the moment, this was all the information she had managed to uncover.

She hoped Gu Huaiwei would follow this lead and keep helping her investigate.

Instead, Gu Huaiwei did not care about that at all.

Gu Huaiwei shrugged.

“Xiaoyu’s cause of death is related to the pollution in this Instance. What I need is the Instance Item: Diet Pill. For now, I have no interest in removing the pollution.”

“But if you’re going to take me to the Sanatorium, the prerequisite is getting me out of the Instance,” An Qiushui said with a frown. “If you don’t understand all this, how are you going to get me out?”

“Don’t try to fool me. Finding the source of the pollution is for the S-rank Clear Method.

“I never agreed to help you clear it at the highest rank.”

Gu Huaiwei had gradually figured out the pattern of this Dimension.

Clear methods like removing the pollution from an Instance generally corresponded to the highest rank, S-rank. They awarded more Lifespan and were safer.

The simplest B-rank Clear Method, on the other hand, only guaranteed that a Trial-taker could leave the Instance. The reward was small, and it might even send the Trial-taker into another Instance.

After finally running into Gu Huaiwei, An Qiushui naturally wanted to aim for the S-rank Clear Method and make a huge profit.

“But…” An Qiushui still wanted to say something.

Gu Huaiwei cut her off. “Just use the B-rank Clear Method.”

“If I choose the B-rank Clear Method, I’ll be taken to the Gray Mist University Instance.”

Gu Huaiwei’s tone was light. “Then don’t go.”

“Huh?” An Qiushui wiped her face, somewhat incredulous.

“I’ll drive over and pick you up at the entrance. You don’t have to go.”

“How can I just not go?”

“Of course you can. Those Instance spaces can’t win against me when it comes to snatching people.”

“…” That worked too?

An Qiushui was not satisfied with that. She wanted the higher-level clear reward.

When they signed the contract earlier, An Qiushui had factored the S-Rank Clear reward from this Instance into it.

If she could not get that reward, she would have to make up the difference with her own Lifespan.

“But you have the ability to resolve the pollution in this Instance. With great power comes great responsibility. Why won’t you do it?”

An Qiushui tried to persuade Gu Huaiwei.

“Mm… You can understand it as: doing that doesn’t align with my current main mission,” Gu Huaiwei said. She was an extremely goal-oriented person.

Her position was the shop she operated.

If the Sanatorium wanted her to invite those few Anomaly into the shop at this stage, then she would not waste time removing the pollution in the Instance.

She was a third party.

She stood neither with humans nor with Anomaly.

She had no desire to save the world. Everything she had done from the beginning was merely to find her older sister. Anyone who placed too much expectation on her was destined to be disappointed.

“But… but…” An Qiushui’s original plan had been disrupted, and she was a little irritated.

“No more buts. If you want an S-Rank Clear, I won’t stop you. Just rely on yourself. If I get any new information, I’ll be more than happy to share it with you.”
But as a friendly reminder, you’d better get to the Sanatorium entrance with that white-haired old man and wait for me there. I’m very busy. The car won’t wait at the gate for long.”

“No, you have to help me!” An Qiushui’s tone suddenly turned forceful. “The additional clause in the contract we just signed clearly states that you must personally take me to the Sanatorium. Now I’m demanding an S-Rank Clear. If you don’t help me, I’ll drag things out inside the Instance so you won’t be able to leave either.”

“Haha, threatening me? Your expressions are even livelier than before.” Hearing this, Gu Huaiwei laughed in delight.

How annoying. She had run into another ambitious one. It was stirring up her nasty little hobby again.

“I did agree to take you to the Sanatorium, but the contract never specified whether I had to take you there alive or dead.”

Bringing a corpse back to be buried counted as keeping her promise too.

An Qiushui immediately realized the trap in the wording of the contract. She looked up in disbelief. “You tricked me?”

“Not really. Your comprehension was just lacking.” Gu Huaiwei was a businesswoman. She was sensitive to every single word in a contract.

An Qiushui was still too green to nitpick wording with her.

“You…” An Qiushui, who had dropped her disguise too soon, felt a chill run down her back and was struck by a wave of lingering fear.

“Don’t be scared. It’s not like I’m blaming you.” Gu Huaiwei gracefully brushed the marks on her wrist, her gaze slowly sweeping over the somewhat tense An Qiushui. “Be good and go wait for me at the Sanatorium entrance. Compared to a dead you, a living you is a little more valuable to me.”

“You’re not angry?”

“Not particularly. I don’t get mad at customers.”

“I was threatening you just now.”

“Yes.” Gu Huaiwei patted her on the shoulder. “You’re so bad. You even know how to threaten people.”

“…” An Qiushui pressed her lips together.

Gu Huaiwei kept smiling.

An Qiushui suddenly realized that the girl before her treated her the same way she treated Anomalies. That relaxed air of hers came from her effortless control over the situation. An Qiushui was never going to be her match.

This so-called battle of wits had only been wishful thinking on her part.

This girl was even more unfathomable than an Anomaly!

Only after Gu Huaiwei left the room did An Qiushui realize her back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Gu Huaiwei had actually wanted to play with An Qiushui for a while.

Unfortunately, she had proper business to attend to.

She first went to the entrance of Hot Spring Mansion, grabbed Fat Cook just as he was entering the convenience store, then pinned him down on a chopping board and shaved the fat off his body.

Fat Cook howled and screamed, crying for his brother to save him the whole time.

But the chunks of flesh that had been shaved off simply grew back again.

“What a pain.” Gu Huaiwei let go of Fat Cook.

Fat Cook scrambled and crawled into the convenience store, pulled down the rolling shutter, and announced to the outside world that the shop was closed.

It seemed physical weight loss didn’t work.

She would still have to do as An Qiushui had said and find Xiaoyu’s deskmate for the diet pills.

If she wanted to find Xiaoyu’s deskmate, she could just ask Xiaoyu directly.

Gu Huaiwei led Bai Miemie back to the basement.

This time, the Anomalies in the basement were much better behaved.

Even the front door opened on its own.

It was utterly quiet inside. Even the scarlet water in the hot spring pool had stopped bubbling.

“Miemie, the last time you soaked in the hot spring, did someone touch your feet from inside?”

“Yes. It was so ticklish.”

“Then I’ll fish around for it.”

Gu Huaiwei took off her coat and had Bai Miemie hold it. Then she rolled up her pant legs, stepped barefoot into the hot spring, bent over, and began feeling around.

As she searched, her hand brushed against something slippery.

That thing yanked Gu Huaiwei violently down into the water.