"Yin Ai—!"
"Sir Xuelao...!"
... Xuelao...?
The young lady ran up to Wei, calling him by a different name.
She had long, pitch-black hair tied back in a ponytail, and her eyes were sunset-colored.
She seemed to also have been panicking.
Her face was matted with sweat, as loose strands of hair stuck to her cheeks.
Despite that, her outfit displayed dominance, much like Wei's.
A white blouse underneath and a slick black coat on the outside, paired with similar pants and footwear.
Not to mention the silver emblem on her coat that was identical to the one Wei had.
Wei immediately pounced on her for answers.
"Yin Ai, your brooch- where is it?"
"My brooch...? It..."
She trailed off.
"... Wait, how do you know about that brooch?"
Her eyes wandered down to Wei's hands, finally seeing the two brooches he held.
I could barely make out her eye twitching.
"That's... why do you have that?... Sir Xuelao..."
"I'll tell you when we're out of this, got it? Right now... hah, we have to find Churan."
"Find Churan...? What do you mean, find? Aren't you the rescue group?"
"..."
"... Xuelao?"
"I don't think rescue is coming."
"What?"
The men behind them started to murmur as panic set in.
"I was watching your mission from afar, and I was going to step in, but that's when Churan seemed to get ready to go inside the Zeng Meng. I planned on going in a couple of minutes after she did, but then the Zeng Meng started to expand."
"... Expand...? So what ranking is this Zeng Meng right now?!"
"Likely an A Rank."
She held her head in her hands, groaning.
"... Please, continue."
"Churan and some squad members were caught up, and I wasn't able to reach them in time. From how rapidly the Zeng Meng was expanding, I doubt any of the soldiers made it out to call for help."
My head swirled.
Expanding Zeng Meng? So it wasn't this large originally?
Multiple thoughts plagued my mind.
How Churan was caught up in this, and this lady here who seemed to be of similar rank to Wei and Churan.
But one horrifying idea stuck out.
That the Zeng Meng wasn't originally this size.
There's a difference between summoning a Zeng Meng unnaturally and making an already naturally existing Zeng Meng more dangerous.
There are very specific requirements for expanding a Zeng Meng.
Either the Boss Èmó of the Zeng Meng was given a power-up, or a Li-Liang user summoned a higher-rank Zeng Meng before swapping the Zeng Mengs with one another.
Considering the Zeng Meng expanded rapidly, the original Zeng Meng must've been small, and it's impossible for a Boss Èmó to obtain such a huge power-up... leaving only the latter option.
Only one set of Li-Liang users could swap Zeng Mengs...
... The Li-Liang users of The Twelve Houses.
Hanzhi was the introduction to the player of the other houses.
He was a stepping stone for his sister, Wen Shouyi, House of Judgement and Order, and the main character, House of Loyalty and Duty, to connect.
But we would later learn that not all houses were as grand as they appeared to be.
Why are they already starting to move...?
The real game hasn't even begun yet... don't I still have a month?
Even then, they didn't appear until later in the game.
Wei and Yin Ai had exchanged more words, alongside giving out new orders to the troops, but I wasn't listening.
I was only pulled out of my thoughts by a flashing purple screen in front of me.
[Mr. Octopus — Rank A]
[Status: One minute left until exposure]
Shit—!
Amidst the chaos, I had forgotten about the timer.
I planned to go and hide before the timer ran out, but what would happen once it did?
I'll become visible again, not just physically, but my presence may become obvious to high Li-Liang users like Wei if I stick this close.
I would have to hide much farther away than I wanted to.
But what other choice did I have?
If Wei or Yin Ai sees me... I'm screwed...
I quickly tiptoed out of the room, into the teal hall, back to the ragged tunnels where Wei and I were before.
As if on signal, I felt the brooch's effect wear off.
My body became heavier, and the cold air hit me.
I slumped against a wall, slowly lowering myself to the ground using the rocks as support.
... Dammit, I didn't know it'd be this bad...
The Li-Liang that I could once feel pulsing through me was weak, just barely holding on.
It was the price I paid for using Li-Liang for ten minutes straight.
... I... need...
I fumbled for the healing potions in my bag.
Popping the cork, I hastily poured it down my throat, seemingly missing my mouth at times as I felt the liquid drip down my chin to my neck.
Although I had taken most of the potion, its effects weren't going to kick in right away, especially because of its lower quality compared to Grandma Guanhuai's potions.
My train of thought came to a halt as my eyelids grew heavy.
The last thing I remembered was lying my head down and using my suitcase as a headrest.
***
I was jerked awake by an awful sound.
It was like a horrible gurgle of someone gasping for air, except instead, they breathed in some liquid.
I swiftly sat up, but my vision was still blurry, and I could only see a blue light that seemed to be emanating directly from... me.
It created a see-through aura that circled my entire body.
Intuitively, I looked up.
Holy shit—!
The blue glow just barely lit up what was in front of me.
It was an Èmó.
Its humanoid body was pressed against the barrier of blue light as it excreted a cyan liquid from the spikes around it.
This liquid sat outside the barrier, sizzling.
Seeing an Aqua Èmó in real life- all the details on it the game couldn't replicate, it sent chills down my spine.
I looked down at my hands, where the silver bracelet I'd previously put on glowed brightly.
It had sensed the danger around me and promptly activated by itself.
I thanked my past self for putting the B Rank bracelet on before entering the Zeng Meng, yet I couldn't breathe a sigh of relief whilst looking at such a hideous monster in front of me.
Watching the bracelet glow brightly, I saw it still had plenty of Li-Liang loaded in the gem, not to mention, this type of Èmó was of a low to medium level.
I wouldn't have to worry about the barrier deactivating anytime soon.
With this newfound confidence, I briskly stood up, patted any dust off of me, and picked up my...
... my... my bag...?
W-what—?
Where's my bag?!
With only the slight glow of the barrier to see a couple of feet in front of me, I was basically trapped in the dark without a phone light.
The Èmó didn't take it, did it?
No, I was lying on top of the briefcase; it should've been inside the barrier... and looking at the Èmó, it doesn't have it either.
... You've got to be kidding me...
And I don't even know how long I've been out for...
... But...
My body felt better, not as refreshing as this morning, but better nonetheless.
So, off of that, I've been out for maybe two to three hours?
If the boss Èmó is dead, then all smaller monsters would also disappear... of course, the very much alive Èmó in front of me meant Wei and his organization didn't kill the Boss Èmó, which also meant they didn't clear the Zeng Meng.
Given that the Zeng Meng isn't cleared, that means there's no exit open yet... hah...
On one hand, this means I can spy on Wei longer, but on the other... the situation isn't great.
My briefcase that held all my things was gone.
The Stingray, health potions, and phone... gone... only Mr. Octopus remained, pinned to my shirt (and, of course, the bracelet).
But my bag couldn't have gone that far, right? Maybe I dropped it somewhere? But then why did I hallucinate using it as a headrest?
The Zeng Meng is still closed, and my bag has to be somewhere in the Zeng Meng.
I was now well adjusted to the darkness and could see a little more in front of me.
My mind cleared up, and so, thinking about what I should do next, I decided that taking out the Èmó in front of me was first on the to-do list.
After all, the gurgling sound it kept making could alert other Èmós, and its attacks on the barrier seemed to get more erratic as time went on.
I breathed in and out.
Okay, this should be... um... simple. I hope.
I've done it before; I'm sure I can do it again.
I recalled the information I'd read on my phone the morning after I had used my powers that day on Wei.
Closing my eyes, I stretched out my hand and concentrated my mind on holding a gavel, trying to tune out the Èmó's attempts to reach me.
When I finally opened them, red smoke filled the area as the tunnel morphed into an open courtroom.
The faceless people made of the deep red smoke surrounded the Èmó and me.
My hand felt heavy, and looking down, the gavel had appeared in my stretched-out hand.
The Scales of Punishment stood before me, towering over everything as its deep-colored wood and golden scales commanded everyone's attention.
On one side stood the chained Èmó, desperately trying to undo the golden chains that bound it.
On the other side sat a golden revolver, propped up by a delicate wooden stand.
My body felt rejuvenated, and I couldn't help but smile at being back in this domain.
I'd forgotten all the perks of being here.
[THE SCALES HAVE SHIFTED; ALL WORLDLY KARMA NOW FALLS UNDER THE PURVIEW OF THE HONORABLE JUDGE WEN.]