Chapter 12

Despite the online uproar accusing him of opening too late and closing too early, Tong Yu remained steadfast in his business hours.

Money needs to be earned, but so does living life, unless, of course, you're not making any money… ahem!

After his usual routine of breakfast, sunbathing, and exercise, Tong Yu logged into the virtual world. With yesterday's experience under his belt, he logged directly into his shop today.

Yesterday, Tong Yu had selected players based on the order of their reservations, so there weren't many players in the shop today. They knew that arriving early wouldn't guarantee them a spot and might even block the owner from entering.

Incidentally, the fact that the Escape Room owner was blocked outside by eager customers made it onto the trending list yesterday.

Tong Yu first arranged for the initial group of players to enter, then began hiring staff. He initially considered hiring real people, but upon reflection, he realized that the Escape Room game only required staff to explain the plot, let people in, and escort them out. It wasn't complicated, and hiring virtual NPCs would suffice. Moreover, virtual characters had the added benefit of having their appearance customized to his liking.

Tong Yu even thought about assigning a special guide NPC to each Dungeon Instance. For example, in the Ghost Bride instance, he set the task character as the Ghost Bride's husband, Li Lang. He thought that having Li Lang as the guide NPC might create a unique effect.

So, after the first group of players finished, Tong Yu arranged for Li Lang to handle the next group. The players today had all watched the live stream, so they recognized Li Lang. Even though they knew he was a virtual NPC, they couldn't resist chatting with him.

“Li Lang?”

“I am Li Chunsheng, a scholar from Jianglin.”

“So you're the one who deceived the Ghost Bride? Cheating her out of money and love, and even killing her entire family, are you even human?”

“I merely made the mistake that all men make.”

“Is it okay if all men want to punch you?”

“The shop's rules: hitting an NPC costs 200 star coins per punch, 500 per kick.”

“Wow, this must be the owner's way of making money, it's outrageous.”

This was the friendly interaction between the players and Li Lang before they entered.

Three hours later.

The eight players who had just entered emerged from the Secret Room, trembling. Upon seeing Li Lang in his moon-white scholar's robe again, their eyes turned red with anger.

Li Lang asked considerately, “Are you all right?”

“All right, my foot!!”

“Is all your wrongdoing being avenged on us?”

“You scoundrel, how could you treat the Ghost Bride like that?”

“Ugh, how can you still smile?”

Li Lang continued to smile, “Please don't be impulsive. The shop's rules: hitting an NPC costs 200 star coins per punch, 500 per kick.”

“It's just 500 star coins, right? Here, I'll start with 10,000 star coins.”

“Me too, I'll put in 10,000.”

Thus, Li Lang's “getting beaten” business earned several thousand star coins each round, something Tong Yu hadn't anticipated. It only strengthened his resolve to hire virtual NPCs, as a virtual NPC could earn a month's salary from just one beating.

With virtual NPCs in place, Tong Yu was completely freed up. He spent the morning setting over a hundred different small details in the Ghost Bride instance. For example, he created ten different entrance modes for the Ghost Bride and added conditions for sealing her with the Soul Locking Nail, like nailing it in a specific pattern on the coffin. He came up with dozens of patterns. Before each game, a few random settings would be selected, ensuring that while the main plot remained unchanged, the subplots varied, offering small surprises in every game.

After finishing these adjustments, Tong Yu felt much more relaxed. With nothing much to do in the shop, he couldn't bear to watch Li Lang getting beaten, even though he was the one who had Li Lang earn that “conscience-less” money.

In the end, Tong Yu, whose conscience hadn't completely disappeared, went out for a stroll, bought a bunch of virtual food, and returned to his little house. He planned to spend some time remodeling it to resemble his home on Earth. If possible, he wanted to renovate his real-world house too, but since it belonged to Sheng Jing, he didn't feel right about making changes. He planned to buy a new house and decorate it himself after the divorce.

Actually, he could start looking now. He wondered if interstellar real estate was expensive.

No, buying now would make it marital property, wouldn't that benefit Sheng Jing?

Then again, as long as they're not divorced, the money he earns is still marital property, so it would still benefit Sheng Jing.

Forget it, consider it repaying him for saving my life.

“Master, you have an unread message.” As soon as he entered, the Little Fatty robot rolled over.

“Who left the message?” Tong Yu asked, sitting on the sofa and starting to eat the dark cuisine he bought on the way.

With each bite, he frowned, feeling uncomfortable as his Energy Value plummeted. He couldn't help but suspect that interstellar food wasn't terrible due to a cultural gap, but rather to deplete Energy Value.

“Mr. Li Zong.”

It's him again. Ever since Tong Yu entered the virtual world, this Li Zong had been calling the original owner daily. Now that he realized Tong Yu wasn't answering, he switched to leaving messages?

Tong Yu avoided answering calls to prevent exposure to acquaintances, but messages posed no such risk. He could even gather some information about the original owner without revealing himself.

“Play the message,” Tong Yu instructed Little Fatty.

A moment later, a deep male voice resonated in the room: “Mr. Tong, you haven't come for treatment in over half a month. I'm very concerned about your mental state. Based on my previous assessment, your mental condition is on the brink of collapse. You must seek treatment urgently, or it could harm both you and others. Please contact me upon receiving this message. I won't give up on you!”

Tong Yu was stunned for a moment after hearing the message.

This sounded like something a psychologist would say to a patient. Was the original owner seeing a psychologist?

“Little Fatty, do you know who this Li Zong is?” Tong Yu finally remembered to ask.

“He's a psychologist. You used to see Mr. Li Zong for counseling every three days. Have you forgotten?”

It was true.

Tong Yu suddenly had an idea. This was the virtual world, where everything was recorded. Perhaps the counseling sessions were recorded too?

“Little Fatty, are there records of my previous counseling sessions?”

“Yes, would you like me to find them for you?”

“Yes!” This was the fastest and most direct way to understand the original owner.

Quickly, Little Fatty pulled up a bunch of videos. Tong Yu skimmed through them, finding over fifty. According to Little Fatty, with sessions every three days, it meant the original owner had been seeing a psychologist for the past six months.

Curious, Tong Yu clicked on the first video.

In the video, the original owner calmly described his situation: “I love my husband, but he doesn't want to touch me or even talk to me.”

Tong Yu cursed Sheng Jing under his breath, wondering why he married if he didn't like him.

Li Zong asked, “How are you handling this situation?”

The original owner replied, “I have to make him like me, so I told him if he wants me to help stabilize his agitated Mental Sea, he must like me.”

Tong Yu was shocked.

As a psychologist, Li Zong was evidently more composed than Tong Yu and continued, “And how did that work out?”

The original owner looked pitiful, “He hates me even more.”

Tong Yu thought, no surprise there!

After watching the first video, Tong Yu continued with a few more. The first seven or eight videos were similar until the ninth one, which had some new content.

The original owner said, “Doctor, what should I do? He found out my secret.”

Li Zong asked, “What secret?”

The original owner confessed, “When I married him, it wasn't because I liked him. I just wanted to use the marriage to leave the small town. I like big cities.”

Li Zong asked, “If you don't like him, why do you want him to touch you?”

The original owner replied, "Because he's outstanding, handsome, smart, and a researcher at the Research Institute. He's involved in the development of interstellar battleships. He's so excellent, I'm afraid someone else will take him away. Besides, he's my husband, and sleeping with me is his duty."

Li Zong advised, "If you want him to like you, you shouldn't threaten him. You should be kind to him and help him. Have you helped him?"

The original owner said, "Of course I have. Less than two months after we got married, he asked for Mental Cleansing. It was so painful. I almost lost my life for him."

Li Zong explained, "Mental Cleansing is a Contractor's duty, isn't it?"

The original owner protested, "But he almost killed me. He owes me for life."

Li Zong suggested, "Have you considered breaking the contract?"

The original owner replied, "Break the contract? Then can I still stay in Dragon City? But if the Mental Contract is broken, it won't hurt anymore. But we can't divorce, definitely not. I'll go tell him."

Tong Yu thought, wow, you want all the benefits without any of the downsides, what nerve.

He continued to the next video.

Li Zong remarked, "You don't look well today."

The original owner said, "I just attempted suicide by slitting my wrist. I knew he wouldn't let me die. To keep me alive, he'll agree to anything, hehe…"

What a psychopath!

Indeed, the original owner discovered that self-harm made Sheng Jing relent. From then on, he escalated, repeating this behavior over and over. Sometimes he would cry and say, "I don't want to be like this, but why doesn't he love me? If he loved me, I wouldn't do this."

Tong Yu clicked on the last video.

Li Zong said, "Mr. Tong, your consistent attendance for therapy shows you realize your behavior is inappropriate. You care too much about your husband. Why not try a different approach? Leave your husband for a while and find yourself."

Tong Yu protested, "No, we've been contracted for almost a year. He just called to say he wants to break the contract and divorce. I don't want that, I don't."

Li Zong urged, "Mr. Tong, please calm down."

Tong Yu insisted, "Breaking the contract is fine, but we can't divorce, we can't. What should I do, what should I do? I know, when he comes back, I'll jump off the building in front of him, land at his feet, and he'll definitely compromise. Then I'll make him sleep with me. Once we've slept together, he'll have to take responsibility and won't dare to divorce. I can also have our parents condemn him, and he'll never leave me. Yes, that's it, that's it…"

Li Zong warned, "Mr. Tong, your thoughts are dangerous, please calm down…"

Before Li Zong could finish, the video abruptly ended.

After watching all the videos, Tong Yu was drenched in sweat, feeling a chill down his spine. "This plot could make for a psychological abuse-themed Escape Room."

No doubt, the reason he ended up here was because of that jump to force Sheng Jing into bed.

This reason for reincarnation was somewhat undignified.

But regardless, Sheng Jing, handsome guy, I misunderstood you. I used to think you were a big jerk, but it turns out you're just a pure victim. To not only watch this mental case die but also save him, spending a year on it, you're really a good-hearted person.

The genuinely good-hearted Sheng Jing was currently in his dorm, reading, planning to delay going home until tomorrow.

Bai Sheng, the administrative head of the Research Institute, came by and handed him a card.

Sheng Jing was puzzled, "What's this?"

Bai Sheng replied, "A gift for the Contractor."

Sheng Jing was confused.

Bai Sheng explained, "It's a benefit from the Research Institute. Each month, the Contractor with the highest Energy Value consumption receives a virtual pod developed by the institute. This month's top spot goes to Tong Yu."

Sheng Jing had never paid attention to this, but now he was a bit shocked. Only he knew that Tong Yu had only "worked" for a week, yet in that week, he surpassed the Contractors of other Awakened at the Research Institute?

Bai Sheng patted his shoulder, "Go home early, he's definitely waiting for you to keep him company."

Sheng Jing didn't want to go back, but he had benefited from Tong Yu's convenience. His work had gone smoothly this week. After a moment's hesitation, Sheng Jing boarded the hovercar home ahead of schedule.