Playing the Foolish Beauty in a Deadly Game - Chapter 89

After Player Di Qian finished speaking, her stomach growled loudly.

She took the crumbled biscuits from Lin Qiao’s hand and began to eat voraciously.

As she ate, she observed that the male NPC beside Lin Qiao was actually reaching out to rub Lin Qiao’s waist. Lin Qiao, however, seemed completely unaware and even leaned back on purpose.

Di Qian deduced Lin Qiao’s player skills and personality traits, gradually forming a hypothesis in her mind. She asked, “What about you? Do you have any clues?”

Lin Qiao sighed. He was aware of the inability to exchange currency and the absence of an orphanage. Nevertheless, he “innocently” revealed, “I found an item related to the plot—it’s a bottle of mummy powder.”

Player Di Qian frowned deeply. “You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”

Aren’t mummies from ancient Greece? This game doesn’t seem Greek at all. Besides, the game is called “The Orphanage in the Fog.” How could the clues be related to mummies instead of an orphanage?

Lin Qiao shook his head, embarrassed. “I’m not lying. My skill is charm.”

Lin Qiao deliberately portrayed himself as a support-type player who needed to cling to teammates to survive.

“I’ve never encountered a game like this before. It’s great to team up with you. I’d never be able to clear the game alone.”

Lin Qiao spoke sincerely, his tone neither flattering nor insincere, but filled with delight. His smile, enhanced by his cross-dressing, made him appear particularly harmless.

Moreover, his obliviousness to the NPC’s advances made it clear that he was the type of player who would trade physical favors to progress in the game.

Di Qian’s expression indeed became distant. She thought that Lin Qiao, assigned the role of a prostitute by the horror game, seemed to be in his element. She probed, “How many games have you played?”

Lin Qiao held nothing back: “Three. The previous games were so terrifying.”

Di Qian fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled contentedly.

The system in Lin Qiao’s mind, which had always been silent, spoke up: [She used a reconnaissance item on you.]

This meant that Di Qian’s silence had been to verify whether Lin Qiao was lying and if he was truly a new player who had cleared the game twice.

After confirming, Di Qian, as an experienced player, said, “This is a two-star difficult mode game. The difficulty lies in the fact that players have to find clues on their own.”

“There’s no time limit, which sounds good, but it’s actually the hardest to clear. If you can’t find the clues, you’ll be stuck here, hunted by the monsters in the game.”

While she spoke of cooperation, the information she revealed was quite superficial. Even without her saying it, any player who interacted with the game world would quickly understand everything.

Lin Qiao pondered to himself. He had unlocked a third type of game.

The first type was like “Airplane Escape,” where the game took place in a fixed location and reset after each session, and he was assigned the role of an NPC.

The second type was like “Miaomiao Sect and Wangwang Sect,” where the game world continued to develop, the NPCs knew the players’ identities, and his status was undetermined. The third type was the current one, a puzzle-solving game where failure to find clues would trap players until they were killed, and his status was that of a player, constrained by the player role.

Player Di Qian, half negotiating and half complaining, suggested, “Since you’re a charming player, you should continue to stay in the brothel and gather information. I’ll move around outside and scout.”

“Being a prostitute in this game is too disadvantageous for me as a girl. I’m an experienced player who has played similar games before. I promise I can help you clear the game sooner.”

Lin Qiao smiled and said, “Okay.”

To dispel Di Qian’s doubts, Lin Qiao revealed more clues: “There’s a mummy party coming up soon. It should have lots of clues. If you go out next, be sure to pay attention.”

Di Qian affirmed, “Of course.”

“But to infiltrate the party and move around outside, we definitely need money.”

“Since this is just a game and it’s not real life for us, if you get any money in the future, give it to me.”

“You’ll be limited here. If you need anything, just tell me, and I’ll buy it for you.”

Di Qian had already prepared for Lin Qiao to refuse or give her only part of the money. However, Lin Qiao directly took out the reward he had received today and handed it all to Di Qian.

The NPC Sweet, who was nearby, stared wide-eyed. His temper was as explosive as his fiery red hair: “What are you doing?”

The system would alter the dialogue that NPCs heard. So in Sweet’s ears, the woman named Di Qian had just talked Di Qiao out of all his savings with a few words.

Lin Qiao had the system show him what the NPCs heard. It said that after Di Qian ran out, she found a sickly child on the street, a little girl who was about to die. So she wanted to leave the brothel to help the girl and asked Lin Qiao for some money.

Di Qian also knew what the NPCs heard from her system. She quickly took the five shillings in her hand: “What business is it of yours what we two do?”

Sweet was almost furious: “Qiao, how could you give all your money to her? She’s deceiving you!”

Di Qian’s fingers tightened nervously, and sweat appeared on her forehead.

Lin Qiao stopped the impulsive Sweet: “I want to help that child and Di Qian. I’ll earn more shillings in the future.”

“Di Qian and I are from the same slum. I’m willing to help her.”

“If Sweet needs money, I’ll give it to you without hesitation.”

Sweet was almost mad with anger and wanted to lose his temper, but Lin Qiao was clearly scared and pleaded in a low voice, “Sweet, I’m scared. Please don’t be like this.”

Sweet could only bare his teeth at Di Qian and took Lin Qiao away. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, Lin Qiao would be deceived out of everything.

Di Qian, holding the money in the back, thought that Lin Qiao, as a charming player, really had some skills. Look, the NPC was already completely under his control.

Sweet scolded Lin Qiao and told the other supervisors to keep an eye on Di Qian.

Sweet drooped his eyelids: “If Lady Claurus finds out you helped her escape, you’ll be punished.”

Lin Qiao whispered, “Di Qian wanted to help that sick child…”

“Oh, only you think so,” Sweet’s voice rose several octaves, “She just wanted to run away but had no money, so she deceived you out of your money! Are you stupid? That’s five shillings! Your first night…”

Lin Qiao’s current body was cute and androgynous, with long hair and dressed in a dress. After being scolded, he tugged at Sweet’s sleeve: “I’m not stupid. Look, I still kept two shillings. I can buy you coffee.”

Sweet was both angry and amused: “Who wants your coffee!”

Lin Qiao coaxed again: “These two silver coins are for you to keep.”

Sweet frowned: “I don’t want them. Save them up. You will grow up eventually, and then no more customers will…”

Sweet looked at Lin Qiao’s beautiful and delicate face, thinking that Lin Qiao would be even more charming when he grew up.

Lin Qiao placed the silver shilling in Sweet’s palm: “As you said, this is my first night. I want you to keep it.”

Sweet’s ears suddenly turned red, and then he took the shilling and put it in his pocket.

Even though Sweet wanted to stop Di Qian, she was not an NPC girl but a player. When Lady Claurus returned in her carriage, she was informed that Di Qian had escaped. Of course, no one revealed to Lady Claurus that Lin Qiao had provided the funds.

When Di Qian ran away, she stole a set of clothes for herself and went to the prearranged location. She had lied. She didn’t return to the brothel because she had nowhere else to go, but because she wanted to steal from it.

During the time she was out, she not only obtained two clues but also learned that the poor would be sent to the poorhouse, where poor families would be separated. Children would be raised together, and men and women would be detained separately. It was called relief, but it was more like a prison.

Of course, the poorhouse wouldn’t set itself up like an orphanage because taking care of very young children was troublesome. They would disperse the children to poorhouse branches, which were essentially family-style orphanages that anyone could run. Families would take in a few children and receive subsidies from the poorhouse every year. Whether the subsidies would feed the children was naturally impossible.

Even if some communities were more generous, the willingness of certain families to care for children was not out of kindness but for profit. Each child earned six pence a week, and it was the charity of the foster home if even one penny was spent on the child.

Moreover, when the resilient children survived on the most inferior and scarce food, most foster homes would dread the children’s appetites. As a result, eight out of ten would “have accidents” and die. Either they would catch a disease and die, drown while playing in the water, or hit their heads on a stone after falling.

There were even cases of drowning while bathing, choking while eating, and dying of excitement. Di Qian, out of curiosity, approached a foster home and immediately triggered the main quest: [Establish Your Own Orphanage].

To Di Qian’s delight, she was one of the four players who had triggered the main quest and had obtained the names and professions of the other main quest players. The other three were:

[Yatagarasu], a thug who had become a gang leader.

[Zhong Minglang], a thief who had become an intern at the poorhouse.

[Dao Zhang], a down-and-out painter who had not changed professions.

During her escape, Di Qian had already contacted the player named Zhong Minglang.

As long as she could get enough money, she could open her own orphanage.

This was why she took the risk of returning to the brothel to steal.

She didn’t expect to meet Lin Qiao. Although she didn’t succeed in stealing anything but a dress, she at least managed to deceive a lot of money from Lin Qiao.

Di Qian had wanted to find a job, but this game was extremely hostile to women.

The hardships of being a female worker were too much for Di Qian to bear, and other industries were full of discrimination and trouble.

Di Qian took the opportunity to observe for a while and the more she watched, the more she felt that Lin Qiao could definitely support her.

In just a few days, Claurus Cleaning Company had become well-known. After receiving Deladen, he couldn’t forget Lin Qiao and came to take him for the night within three days.

Deladen was full of praise, but his hesitant and secretive attitude completely aroused the curiosity of the others in his circle.

In fact, Deladen wanted to show off, but because of the props, he couldn’t speak.

Moreover, when Lin Qiao saved the children in the water, many people saw his appearance and took notice of him.

Lady Claurus finally decided to make Lin Qiao a “high-end” product, not just anyone could meet.