Chapter 1 The We_Scare! Ad

In the public areas of the Ghoul Electric Power Company, wall-mounted flat-screen TVs could be seen everywhere. These TVs played a company promotional video around the clock.

The content was roughly…

[Ghoul Electric Power Company, we are always reaching new heights! We power your cars, warm your homes, light up the cities you live in, and accompany you every day...] Accompanied by a voice-over, the promotional video also played various corresponding science diagrams. [We have the most outstanding scare employees in the entire monster kingdom. In the scare houses, humans who are teleported here will experience suffocating terror, and high-quality fear will be converted into continuous and stable energy for your use!]

[We know that humans' fear is weakening, and they are becoming bolder. But we are ready to accept the challenges of the future! Our company has the scariest employees, the best power generation equipment, and is already working on the research and development of new energy technologies. We... are Ghoul Electric Power Company! we_scare! because_we_care!]

In the break room of the company's security department, Ruoyu expressionlessly watched the above promotional video, which lasted several minutes.

"Basically, they used the setting of *Monsters, Inc.* (an animated film produced by Pixar)..." This was Ruoyu's after-viewing impression.

Buzz—

Just then, the door to the room opened.

A slender female monster walked in. Her body was humanoid, and she wore a neat black business suit. More than a dozen eyes of various sizes grew on her face. She had no ears or nose, but she did have a mouth...

"Hello, Madam." The multi-eyed monster displayed a professional and steady demeanor. She walked slowly to the tables and chairs in the break room, raised her hand, gestured to Ruoyu, and said, "Let's sit down and talk."

Ruoyu nodded slightly and silently walked over and sat down.

The multi-eyed monster sat opposite her and then said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Duomu, the manager of the security department."

"You can call me Siyu." Ruoyu replied in her usual tone.

"Okay, Ms. Siyu." Duomu said, "Let's get straight to the point..." Her eyes (all of them) changed slightly, and she continued, "You are a traveler from another world, aren't you?"

Ruoyu thought for a moment and replied, "That's right."

"Hmm... as expected." Duomu continued, "Our monster kingdom... has long had rumors about you, in a form similar to urban legends."

"A ghost with more than a dozen eyes is actually calling me an urban legend..." Ruoyu couldn't help but complain in her heart, but on the surface, she still replied calmly, "Then you must know something about us."

"We know some things, but rumors are just rumors, after all. Most of them are one-sided, and it's difficult to tell what's true from what's false." Duomu replied, "In the end... we're just an electric power company, not a law enforcement agency of the kingdom. So, I'm also considering... whether to transfer you to the relevant departments."

"No, you've already considered it." Ruoyu immediately cast a sharp look at the other party, "Or rather, your superiors have already made up their minds." She interlaced her fingers, rested her elbows on the table, leaned her upper body forward slightly, and put on an air of confidence (actually imitating Feng Bujue), staring at Duomu and said, "This exchange you're having with me at this moment is essentially a negotiation. You very much want to get information from me, but you don't know what conditions to offer in exchange. Therefore, you started with the point of 'whether to transfer me to the relevant departments,' which, to put it bluntly... is a threat to my personal freedom and safety." She snorted coldly, "Unfortunately... your negotiation strategy is wrong."

"Oh? Why?" Duomu asked, pretending to be calm.

"Because... if we wanted to, we could leave your world at any time." Suddenly, another voice came from inside the wall on one side of the room, "Death... is just another way to leave."

Before the voice faded, the upper half of that wall began to glow faintly and gradually faded until it became a transparent piece of glass.

On the other side of the glass was a dark room. At this moment, two people were standing side by side in the dark room, one was the boss of Ghoul Electric Power Company—Freddy Krueger (the classic villain from the *Nightmare on Elm Street* series), and the other was Feng Bujue.

"How did you get over there?" Ruoyu turned her head to look at Jue-ge and asked directly. She knew that the other party could hear her.

"Ah... I only arrived a few minutes earlier than you." Feng Bujue replied with a smile.

As he spoke, he raised his hands. Only then did Ruoyu realize that Jue-ge's wrists were bound by a pair of handcuffs.

"Mr. Feng, I only allowed you to eavesdrop with me in the observation room because you promised not to interfere with their conversation." Freddy turned his head to look at Jue-ge and said, "Why are you breaking your promise?"

"The negotiation is already over, can't you see that?" Feng Bujue tilted his head and replied with a look of mockery, "My companion has seen through your strategy from the very beginning and exposed your bottom line. And you still know nothing about her, nor will she tell you anything... Therefore, continuing is just a waste of time."

"Ha..." Freddy sighed deeply upon hearing this. The next second, he waved his hand, and the wall between the two rooms disappeared in a flash of green light.

"Are you okay?" Ruoyu stood up immediately when she saw the wall disappear and walked towards Feng Bujue.

"Don't worry." Jue-ge replied with a smile and immediately raised his hand and tugged. The next second, the iron handcuffs on his wrist snapped in response.

Seeing this scene, Ruoyu felt relieved and dispelled the idea of ​​rescuing him by force.

When Freddy and Duomu saw this, their expressions changed. The former even took two steps back nervously, widened the distance between himself and Feng Bujue, and then said, "Mr. Feng... it seems you're a man of hidden talents..."

"Heh..." Feng Bujue smiled at the other party, "I didn't resist when I was handcuffed, just to express my sincerity in cooperation." He paused, a hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes, "Now, breaking them off is to tell you that if you want to resort to force, I'm willing to play along."

"I see..." Freddy muttered in a deep voice, "Sorry, I was a little rude just now."

As a highly intelligent horror movie villain, Freddy almost instinctively sensed danger from Jue-ge. This unknown traveler from another world was moody, had unfathomable strength, and had not shown the slightest panic or fear from beginning to end, as if everything was under his control... Facing such an opponent, Freddy naturally did not dare to be careless in the slightest.

"It's okay." Feng Bujue spread his hands and replied easily, "At least... from this moment on, we can discuss cooperation in a more equal way."

"The cooperation you are referring to is..." Freddy asked tentatively.

"You, everyone at Ghoul Electric Power Company... cooperate with my team." Feng Bujue replied, "To deal with the 'real invaders' together."

"And what is that?" Freddy asked again.

"That is your doom..." Feng Bujue instantly put on a solemn expression, "I have reliable information that at this very moment, a very powerful humanoid life form that is half a dimension higher than you has come to this universe, and... is lurking in your company." He looked at Freddy for two seconds, observing the changes in the other party's expression, "I don't know his or her gender and name yet, but... I can tell you that his or her race is called 'Derivatives', a very dangerous group. For you, they have abilities close to those of gods..." As Jue-ge spoke, he raised his finger to point at Duomu, "For example, this Ms. Duomu, with her strength..." Several strands of black data flow flashed quickly in his eyes, "...it is very possible that she could be directly controlled by a Derivative and become an obedient puppet."

"You'd better have some basis for what you're saying!" Duomu immediately retorted in an agitated tone. This was normal for monsters; anyone would be annoyed to hear such words.

"Hehe... I'm just giving an example." Feng Bujue's face changed faster than flipping a book, and in the blink of an eye, he changed back to a warm and gentle smile, "Please don't mind."

On the other side, Freddy thought for a while, then stroked his festering chin and asked, "Do you have any evidence... that can corroborate your statement?"

"Not yet, but..." Feng Bujue replied, "By the time you get concrete evidence, I'm afraid it will be too late..."

"Then excuse me for being blunt, Mr. Feng." Freddy continued, "I can't completely trust you."

"It's okay if you don't trust me for the time being." Feng Bujue had already predicted this outcome, "I happen to have another thing to do right now. If you can allow it, then through this matter, I can further express my sincerity."

"Oh?" Freddy asked suspiciously, "What is it?"

…………

Five minutes later, the company's underground garage.

"I've already told you everything I know! Don't do this! I just want to go home!" Edward, who was kneeling on the ground, had already confessed his birthdate and almost exposed the black history of lifting girls' skirts when he was in elementary school, but the three players still showed no sign of letting him go.

"How is it?" Juanmeng Huan looked at Xiaoling and asked. For some reason, he seemed to regard Xiaoling as the person in charge here.

"Hmm... it seems there's really nothing more to ask." Xiaoling muttered thoughtfully.

It had only been a little over ten minutes from capturing Edward until now. In this period of time, Xiaoling had already very systematically asked him all the valuable information he knew, successfully grasping some basic worldviews of the monster kingdom.

"But there's still something... very strange." Tanlang said.

"Yeah..." Xiaoling also nodded, muttering, "Why hasn't the main quest been triggered yet..."

[Ahem, hello~ Can you hear me?] Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from the parking lot's broadcast.

In fact, it wasn't just the parking lot... Feng Bujue's voice rang out throughout the entire Ghoul Electric Power Company.

[I'm Feng Bujue, and I'm with Siyu right now. Everyone in Hell Front, and... Juanmeng Huan, Tanlang, the two of you, listen up.] Jue-ge said through the broadcast, [Please go find a security guard nearby immediately and have them take you to the company's security department.] He paused for two seconds and then said, [You should have noticed it too, the main quest hasn't been refreshed until now. I can tell you clearly that this is caused by the Derivative.] This latter half of his words was completely different content to the npCs, because it had been shielded and converted by the system, [Do you all still remember the core content of the v1.10 patch—in the new version, whenever you enter a nightmare difficulty team scenario with six people, there will be a 0.2% chance of encountering a Derivative. Right now, we've encountered one.]

At this point, the players who heard this broadcast basically confirmed that this was not a trap. Because... it was possible for the npCs in the scenario to impersonate players and make broadcasts, but they would never be able to say lines like the v1.10 patch. Furthermore... Feng Bujue's unique tone was indeed difficult to imitate.

[The scenario has been running for less than half an hour, and the Derivative's data is probably still not fully formed. However... I can already determine that we've encountered a very powerful character, so much so that the plot of the scenario itself has been affected.] Jue-ge's words continued, [If I'm not mistaken, when the Derivative's complete body is generated, the main quest prompt will sound, and it will definitely be a quest that is directly related to that Derivative.] He sighed, [Simply put... the system is also waiting now, preparing to make arrangements depending on the situation. So... we'd better seize the time and prepare early.]

Having said this, he felt that it was about time, so he added one last sentence, [In short, please come as soon as possible. We can talk about the specifics when we meet.]

…………

At the same time, the security department, the main control room.

"Okay, I'm done talking." Feng Bujue turned off the microphone button and said to Freddy.

"Then... let's wait and see." Freddy crossed his arms and looked at the many monitoring screens in front of him.

"Bujue." At this time, Ruoyu, who had been standing in the back and remained silent, suddenly spoke to Jue-ge, "Xiao Tan might not be able to come."

"Huh? What's wrong?" When Feng Bujue answered, he had already glanced at the game menu, "He's clearly still alive?"

"I don't know about others, but he definitely didn't hear the broadcast." Ruoyu replied.

"How do you know?" Jue-ge asked.

"Sigh..." Ruoyu sighed, raised her right hand, and pointed at her right side with her index finger.

Feng Bujue followed the direction of her finger, and his gaze quickly stopped on a small screen in the corner of the room.

At this moment, the screen was playing such a scene... There was a square room, and in one corner of the room, there was a dressing table and a chair. On the chair sat a woman in red, slowly combing her hair in front of the mirror. And in the other corner of the room, there was a man (Xiao Tan). He was squatting in the corner, hugging his knees with his arms, staring at the woman combing her hair with a sweaty face, not even daring to breathe loudly.