Underworld Player-Chapter 9: Crossed Wires

"It's been a while since I met someone so warm-hearted..."

After sending off Mr. Chen, Bai Zhi cast an approving look at the sparkling clean room and his completed homework. Suddenly, he couldn't help feeling moved.

Whatever Mr. Chen was, Bai Zhi was sure he wasn't human. Most likely, it was like something out of the recent explosion of urban legends—a supernatural entity. Who in their right mind would travel from far away to personally deliver some money, help do someone's homework, and clean their room, all without any promise of a reward?

They would need to be as selfless as Mother Teresa herself!

If everyone in the world could be just like "Mr. Chen". By sharing just a little bit of love, what a wonderful world this would be.

Bai Zhi peeked into the envelope at the stack of cash within, and said wistfully, "I wonder if Mr. Chen will ever come back..."

All the problems plaguing him in the beginning had been handily resolved, and he momentarily forgot all the suspicion he had toward this world. Hallelujah!

Every city had the odd urban legend, brought up in idle conversation now and then to tickle the imagination. However, three months ago, the internet began to explode with a host of urban legends, rumors and reports of strange activity.

Ever since witnessing the Scuttle Crab in real life, Bai Zhi had been preparing himself for a close encounter with the creatures from such stories, but he never expected that his first encounter with a supernatural entity would turn out quite like this.

Although he did not know how or why "Mr. Chen" had been the one he saw, the encounter had left him with solid clues as to the traits and powers of the entity he had just met.

Supernatural entities could be fearsome, of course, but that did not make them invincible. Most operated under a specific set of conditions unique to them. Once you knew what they were, surviving an encounter with such bizarre creatures was none too difficult.

If every encounter with such entities was inevitably fatal, then there would never be any stories online about such encounters. Dead men told no tales, after all.

As for the entity Bai Zhi had encountered today, its flawless performance would have fooled anyone, even Bai Zhi, if he had not suspected its true identity from the very start.

If his deduction proved correct, the supernatural entity he had encountered had needed something from him, and that thing was fear. Even as the creature helped to tidy up and solve his homework problems, it had constantly seemed to be trying to do something to catch him off guard and scare him...

"Well... at this rate, it's not unlikely that it will try to ambush me again, though what is unlikely is for it to come as "Mr. Chen"... Does that mean I have to keep my guard up around everyone close to me?"

Bai Zhi sat on a chair with his chin propped up on his hands, deep in thought.

"The creature seems to have some mind-reading ability, which explains why it turned into a person that could not exist in this world... I also possess the memories of the Bai Zhi from this world, so the one most important to him would be... the campus belle?"

Bai Zhi tapped his fingers against his forehead as he felt a headache building up.

"Going by the usual tropes for such a creature, the next thing that will happen is the campus belle starts pursuing me or something similar," he muttered to himself. "Of course, it's not quite logical for the campus belle, who used to detest me so thoroughly, to change her tune overnight, but… logic is not that important here. After all, all it needed was to inspire fear in me. I can't let it go on forever—I must stop it before it wears down my defenses. I need a surefire solution... then again, can the thing even be killed? Perhaps. There may even exist a secret organization that specializes in handling such entities..."

That night, Bai Zhi drifted off to sleep thinking of a certain someone.

The next morning, Bai Zhi woke up unusually early—at least, compared to the other Bai Zhi's habits.

Mysterious things roamed this world, but normies were still quite well-insulated from them, so something extraordinary must be keeping an eye on such things.

He had some ideas about how to deal with these supernatural entities, but all things considered, it had only been a day since he transmigrated, so worrying needlessly accomplished nothing. Since he did not possess any expertise in this area, he might as well stick to the original plan.

No matter what that bizarre thing was, before nuclear power, all lives were equal! If he had the ability to make a nuclear weapon, what was there to be afraid of? Dealing with them would be child's play...

"Hmm... I should take a few weeks to do some actual studying, then..."

"Good morning!"

Just as Bai Zhi was planning his next move at a nearby café, he heard a voice, and a gorgeous figure promptly sat herself down next to him as if it were completely natural.

I knew it...

As he realized that the person now next to him, flashing him a brilliant smile, was the campus belle, Bai Zhi made a wry smile.

It was obvious—this was a person who had always clearly expressed disgust at "his" previous attentions, and who, just yesterday at the cafeteria, blocked his way, embarrassing him, which made him only too eager to put a mile between them. Yet today, she was greeting him bright and early with a sweet smile and even sitting next to him... Anyone with half a brain cell would spot a major problem here!

Sigh. Supernatural entities aren't the sharpest tool in the shed...

Bai Zhi suddenly experienced a sense of intellectual superiority.

"Hey, what's up? I thought we had an understanding at the cafeteria yesterday?"

Bai Zhi gave her a lukewarm attitude as he shifted his seat a few paces away.

"We're done now, there's nothing more I have to give, can't you bother someone else?

("Bro, I see through your disguise, why don't you find a different victim?")

"Hey~ There's no need to be so cold~ Weren't you the one who was all fired up before?"

("The way you used to pursue me was just too passionate, I was so flattered I didn't know what to do.")

Holding her left arm with her right, Lin XiaoYi looked at the young man before her with sparkling eyes. "You can drop the act; I figured out your secret, you know?"

"My secret..." Bai Zhi's face turned gloomy at that.

True, Since Mr. Chen never existed in this world, a simple search would reveal that fact... This supernatural entity seems quite intelligent after all... Did it already find out I'm not from this world?

"Whatever you say," said Bai Zhi. "You can try blabbing, see if anyone believes you. I doubt anyone would take such wild fantasies seriously, do you? Just forget it. Shall we part ways, once and for all?"

Ending with a note of finality, he turned his back to her and strode directly out of the café.

He had no way to control the creature's actions, after all. The best course of action was to get as far away as possible.

Supernatural entities were... such a pain in the neck.