Chapter 31: If You Were Me, You Would Be Even More Ruthless Than I Am

"To get someone to serve you better, intimidation alone isn't enough; you must also provide them with sufficient benefits."

"Only by balancing both grace and authority can one keep their subordinates obedient."

"That is why striking with a stick and then offering a sweet date is essential."

"Then why did the Host give her that scalpel instead of the spiked club?"

Hearing the system's disgruntled mutterings, Xie Yunjun glanced at her with a smile. "What? Is that thing of any use to you?"

Seeing Xie Yunjun questioning her, the system muttered another word, but it was too soft for Xie Yunjun to catch clearly. However, she could roughly guess what the system was grumbling about. "What? Are you jealous?"

The system did not answer but turned around in mid-air, huffily leaving Xie Yunjun with nothing but a cold back.

Xie Yunjun chuckled silently and reached out, pulling the sulking little system in front of her. "Why be angry at an outsider? Come on now."

"Don't I have over ten thousand Ghost Coins now? I have no use for them at the moment."

"You keep the change, and take the ten thousand. How about that? Besides, I didn't give Zhang Yurou the scalpel on a whim. That heavy spiked club simply doesn't suit her."

"Zhang Yurou is slender; her strengths lie in agility and reconnaissance. If I gave her a club, not only would she be unable to utilize her natural advantages, but it would also weigh her down. Wouldn't that defeat our original purpose?"

"Furthermore, if my subordinates are too useless, wouldn't that make me look incompetent as well?"

"Yingying, you must understand: subordinates are just subordinates, but you—you are my friend. You are my only system!"

"So those people are nowhere near as important as you, and they aren't even qualified to be compared to you!"

"Now that everything is out in the open, are you still angry?"

"If you're still upset, shall I give you a kiss?"

"I don't want that! Hmph! I'm not angry anymore!"

As she said this, the system struggled out of Xie Yunjun's grasp and dove back into her own system space. However, Xie Yunjun still caught sight of the system’s silvery-white body slowly flushing a soft pink. Knowing the system was embarrassed, Xie Yunjun laughed out loud in the office alone. She mentally checked her system panel and watched as the number of Ghost Coins dropped by ten thousand.

***

Xie Yunjun closed her eyes and smiled as she saw this—this system, honestly.

Having killed too many at once, the side effects were beginning to manifest. She was struggling to control her instincts—the urge to turn into a phantom and slaughter every living thing in sight. To alleviate these side effects, she sat by the window, staring blankly outside, letting the sunlight wash over her.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yurou wasn't idle. Under Xie Yunjun's subtle suggestion, she began searching the hospital for Chen Wanchong. But Chen Wanchong was too good at hiding; even when Zhang Yurou used her supernatural powers to sweep the area, she found no trace of him. It was as if he had evaporated into thin air.

However, with only half an hour left before the end of the instance, Chen Wanchong emerged from his hiding spot. Seeing Zhang Yurou walking alone in the hallway, he hurried to catch up. After dodging a sharp elbow strike from her, he quickly spoke up.

"It's me."

Seeing Chen Wanchong’s disheveled state, Zhang Yurou raised an eyebrow, masking her inner excitement. She looked at him with feigned wariness. "How did you end up like this?"

"Don't even ask! It's that Doctor Xie! She didn't just set those zombie-like things on me; she even kicked me! What about you? Why is your face so pale?"

"Same, but she didn't kick me," Zhang Yurou replied, spreading her hands.

Hearing this, Chen Wanchong nodded, feeling slightly more balanced. "We're leaving the instance soon. Why haven't we seen any other ghosts?"

Seeing him ask, Zhang Yurou deliberately widened her eyes and questioned him with a confused look. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" Chen Wanchong was baffled. He leaned closer to Zhang Yurou and whispered, "Sister Zhang, what happened? I've been feigning death in the storage room for the last two days to hide from that ghost surnamed Xie, so I have no idea what went on outside. Won't you tell me?"

Zhang Yurou raised an eyebrow, feigning disbelief. "Really? You have no idea?"

Seeing him nod, she finally relented. "The ghosts had an internal conflict yesterday. If they hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to escape from that ghost surnamed Xie. But no matter how they fought, it doesn't matter to us anymore. We're about to leave the instance."

"Look, who is that? Was he among the players who entered with us?" Zhang Yurou pointed directly behind Chen Wanchong.

Chen Wanchong was confused by her sudden movement and instinctively looked over his shoulder. "Sister Zhang, there's no one behind me. Are you..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhang Yurou drove the scalpel into his chest.

"Sister Zhang, what are you doing?"

"Can't you see? I'm killing you! Old Chen, I'm sorry!"

"I want to survive, too. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for coming to this instance!"

"Sister Zhang, you!" Whether from pain or shock, Chen Wanchong was unable to utter another word.

"Chen Wanchong, who told you to be so unlucky? If you were in my shoes, I'm sure you would have been even more ruthless, wouldn't you?" As she spoke, Zhang Yurou twisted the scalpel buried in his body, shredding his heart. She then kicked his stomach, sending the gravely wounded man tumbling backward several times.

"Well done!"

The sudden voice startled Zhang Yurou. She looked around warily, and upon seeing that it was Xie Yunjun, she relaxed. Internally, however, she grumbled: *Startling me like that—she's like a ghost.*

Wait, she *is* a ghost...

"It seems you're cursing me in your heart?"

Zhang Yurou wouldn't dare admit it; she shook her head vehemently to deny it.

"Time's up. Hurry and go."

"If you're late, you really won't be able to leave!"

Zhang Yurou glanced at the open hospital gate and nodded at Xie Yunjun. However, just as she was about to dash out of the Chongshan Mental Hospital, she succumbed to an impulse and looked back. She saw Xie Yunjun picking up Chen Wanchong's severed head, looking up at her, and mouthing a final message:

"Don't forget to finish the job next time~"