Surviving The Fourth Calamity

’Perfect Bald’ momentarily fixed his gaze on his tablet.

The overly bold statement made him shiver at first before slowly realizing the deep meaning behind the words... If he truly dared to play a game of one-piece Mahjong, then ’Xiao Liuliu’ would definitely raise the cleaver in her hand.

’Perfect Bald’ would have no choice but to flee through the back door.

His first reaction upon seeing these words was just that.

But he quickly realized that someone like him, hmm, a straightforward person, couldn’t possibly play at such stakes!

Everybody knows, even if he were pulled to that table, Baldy could simply drown himself in a bottle of wine and flip the table.

But this world doesn’t have a Mahjong game that costs one piece... Of course, it’s possible for someone to use 1 yuan to buy a stack of small notes as money substitutes.

But if they were playing that way, ’Xiao Liuliu’ wouldn’t mind at all. She might even serve them tea, given this is certainly a friend’s game.

At least friends who know what kind of person he, Baldy, is.

Therefore, the meaning behind these words is that the back door involves secrets tied to money, but they can’t be spoken directly, likely a one-time thing.

Even after figuring it out, ’Perfect Bald’ didn’t move.

The definition of ’one-time’ varies widely.

It’s very possible that if he went over, he couldn’t enter the hall for a while... That ’brother’ title wasn’t given in vain by the elder.

It’s a title reserved for major incidents.

It’s just a limited-time task; she wouldn’t go that far.

After all, this person rarely messages him; for routine matters, she usually seeks Liu Liu... Only official matters contact him.

Considering the sort of official tasks involving ’Old Age Striking King’, they wouldn’t be minor.

Hence, her messages fall under his ’Perfect Bald’ special alert category.

’Old Age Striking King’ knows about this matter himself.

There’s no need for her to send such a special alert again... Normally, it must be urgent enough to require immediate action.

But her words didn’t convey that level of urgency.

Therefore, ’brother’ serves as another kind of reminder.

In the Undead Tribe, the most common non-player ’brother’ generally refers to William.

She specifically mentioned ’Xiao Liuliu’... which indicates a relation to big sister-in-law.

Who else could be the big sister-in-law among all the Undead Tribe?

It must be Shaal’s handiwork.

Regarding this Lady of Darkness, the Undead Tribe, especially those among them with frequent interactions with the Night Cloak, have some understanding.

Her meticulousness... or simply put, her knack for mischief, far exceeds William’s limits.

William is just a soldier.

No matter how he pulls pranks or vexes people, his intentions are relatively positive.

But Shaal is different.

She loves to start from the negative aspects of human nature... Every time a task is received from her, it costs them a significant effort.

Yet Shaal’s tasks have an irresistible benefit: she almost never offers standalone tasks; they are all additional tasks completed in the course of other tasks.

In other words, this money is basically earned for free.

In reality, the Undead Tribe understands, though these task rewards seem unearned, materially, they still put in the work... But doubling their earnings for completing a single job is so tempting that no one considers the cost and reward within.

Thus, even when Shaal fills these tasks with pitfalls, everyone reassures themselves that it’ll be fine next time, so no one refuses to do them.

Only before undertaking them should one seriously investigate any limitations... Shaal’s tasks generally can only be taken once per day, with different tasks and rewards for each day.

Someone like ’Perfect Bald’ can perceive a hint of the ’manipulation’ psychology.

But whether from game website character introductions or forum stories covering general knowledge, they’ve all warned everyone that when dealing with her, caution is imperative.

She is inherently a deity in darkness, her charm notwithstanding, it doesn’t affect her desire to toy with people’s minds.

Then, the Undead Tribe must accept their fate... Everyone’s been warned; this is a side quest in the dark series, not affecting the main plot or any subplots. If you rush for that bit of money, don’t blame anyone for not warning you.

Moreover, failure means at most missing out on today’s additional task.

But, which Undead Tribe would abandon this easiest money to earn?

Even wealthy matrons wouldn’t give up.

It’s a human nature issue... The pleasant feeling of stooping to pick up money is something everyone treasures.

Especially when those who can’t earn it gaze at you with gritted teeth... truly, with a little money you can exude a wealth-rivaling aura.

It wasn’t spent money; it was earned.

Therefore, every time there’s a story related to Shaer, the Undead Tribe has to put all their spirit into it; nobody wants to be the one providing emotional value.

But it’s almost impossible for them not to feel envious and jealous.

In the end, everyone still ends up muttering while vying for Shaer’s additional tasks.

However, in their Proud Sky Alliance, ”Snow Cloud Peak” has always been supportive of them playing this game with Shaer.

He even specifically gathered all the managers of the Youth Journey of the Wenjian World... basically the student coordinators of all universities on Academy Star... to push them to take on tasks like those from Shaer.

”Perfect Bald” could somewhat sense Snow Old Dog’s thoughts.

Shaer would never set up any real-world traps like the pranks that Lansendel and Hill made so obvious.

She always manipulates human psychology repeatedly... especially using the rules of exploiting reverse psychology, leading the Undead Tribe to fall into pitfalls on their own, ultimately finding the task access point only to watch someone else take it.

As for himself, he had relinquished his rights right from the initial choice... and by the time he realized his mistake, he could only hope for tomorrow.

However, if not careful enough, even remembering today’s mistakes could lead to new ones tomorrow.

Would you say these mistakes are inevitable?

No, they’re not.

They’re common errors.

Just by carefully considering every influencing factor before starting, things would be much easier.

If these students can learn even a bit from tasks like those from Shaer before entering society, they’d really have it a lot easier.

Really, when students first start working, no one expects them to make huge contributions; the highest hope is that they make fewer mistakes. Those who make none are basically fought over by every department... truly sharp and clever!

”Perfect Bald” himself is a small business owner. Although he’s always been very tolerant towards his juniors, willing to teach them from scratch... but if someone really came along who could read the room, understand the nuances, and think things through carefully before acting, he would be overjoyed, feeling like he hit the jackpot.

”Snow Cloud Peak”, this guy, always has a strange sense of social responsibility, really different from those of them who, despite being sympathetic, only donate money or supplies.

This is probably why he’s always willing to follow Snow Old Dog... though Old Dog is indeed a jerk, his character is not despicable.

”Perfect Bald” contemplated for a while... even if he admired many aspects of ”Snow Cloud Peak”, it didn’t stop him from enjoying the spoils alone.

Slowly, he crossed his little legs and surveyed the terrifying line in the hall back and forth.

Hill’s folded space was perfect, with a clear foreground and visible walls in the distance, but the middle, naturally a visual blind spot, gave no hint of how many people there actually were.

This folded space... would be wonderful if it could be used in reality.

Unfortunately.

”Perfect Bald” shook his head slightly regretfully, sighing.

”What are you looking at?” As he expected, the Young Master was always very sensitive to sounds.

”If only our world could have folded space too.” ”Perfect Bald” said without blinking.

”Are you sick?” the ”Young Master” asked in bewilderment, ”This isn’t the first time this thing has appeared in the game.

Which game doesn’t have a space pouch?”

”What do you know?” ”Perfect Bald” rolled his eyes, ”Can a space ring be compared with architecture like this?”

”Hmm?” ”Young Master” couldn’t help but tilt his head, ”Isn’t it just stacking however you want?”

”It’s pointless talking to you...” ”Perfect Bald” muttered, raising the tablet in his hand, ”When you were learning those Little Fairy epics with Vila, why didn’t you say the game tunes made by AI lacked emotion?

Didn’t you always say that before?”

”How is that the same!” ”Young Master” instantly broke down... then quickly turned his head, ignoring Baldy.

This was his eternal pain.

Knowing each other for so long has this downside; even when you want to forget past boasts and nonsense, there’s always someone to bring it up.

”Perfect Bald” pouted disdainfully, ”I don’t want to talk to you either, only those who understand me would get it!”

He lowered his head and started tapping fiercely on the tablet.

”Young Master” gently turned his head, using his farsight blessed by the Little Fairy to glance: ”Perfect Bald” was indeed discussing architectural issues with clan members on the family channel.

As someone who can’t move his feet or shut his mouth when it comes to music, ”Young Master” could understand that occupational hazard.

But he absolutely didn’t want to partake in discussions of other professions.

So he swiftly turned his head... after all, ”Perfect Bald” didn’t even have a screensaver on, so he probably wasn’t discussing anything important.

His reaction, of course, was caught by two people who were observing them in the most natural manner.

Zhu Meili tilted her head slightly and gestured with her eyes at the person one row over from him... in front of this person stood a Black Rose holding a tablet.