As a player, can you be normal?

Chapter 748 These Higher-Dimensional Creatures
boom!
Suddenly, thunder roared in the sky.

It was as if the heavens were affirming the folklorist's conclusion.

One of the space hunters said somewhat irritably, "Stop talking nonsense, we have weapons."

Continue on your way.

Not far away, they saw a long, thin shadow running away. It was a long, thin ghost, a native of this place.

As the Star Hunter raised his gun to fire, Slender Ghost shouted, but the bullet had already pierced through its body, purifying it.

At this moment, someone left a message in the live stream chat: "I am a ghost from the planet Li Gui. Just now, that thin, ghostly figure was shouting, 'Run! Don't go any further! That's hell!'"

Folklorists and space hunters don't really care; the former have professional ethics, and the latter aren't afraid of ghosts and monsters.

It doesn't matter to the mentally challenged guy; he's mentally challenged anyway.

Puff puff puff puff Luo saw the shadow of a large flow of people. Although he was scared, he was even more excited. Could it be that he could really see hell?

Guided by the radar carried by the folklorists, they continued their exploration without hindrance until they spotted the police station in the woods.

"This is the Cairo Police Station's Naoguixing branch."

The blond policeman, dressed smartly and wearing a police hat, came out of the station.

“I am the only policeman on this planet, and you lot…”

The Star Hunters showed no sign of lowering their guns. They were experienced; the Cairo police were a bunch of negligent bastards. On this godforsaken, haunted planet, even if there were a police station, there shouldn't be any police.

The police returned to the house, searched for a moment, and then showed their police identification.

"Milo."

Officer Milo leaned against the wall of the house and shrugged.

"Another group of adventurers? A whole bunch of people have come this week, and not a single one has gone back."

A folklorist stepped forward and asked, "Are you familiar with the evil spirits imprisoned in the hospital?"

Milo: "Follow this path."

He pointed to a location.

As everyone looked in that direction, someone commented in Pupupupapuluo's live stream: "There's something wrong with the aura on this policeman. He might not be human."

When they turned around, the police station was still there, but Milo was gone. He had vanished without a trace. The Star Hunters found a grave in the police station with Milo's name on the tombstone.

A typical ghost story indicates that something is about to happen.

They continue on their way.

Half an hour later, they encountered a man huddled under a tree in the woods.

In human eyes, this person is incredibly handsome.

In the eyes of the Cairo aliens, this person is too ugly to be alive.

"You can just call me handsome."

The handsome man patted his cheeks.

"Wait a minute... Let me gather my emotions... Huff... Ah—! Ahead, ahead is a forbidden zone, no, no more going forward... There, there is an evil god!"

A brick flew out of the woods and knocked the handsome man unconscious.

Just as the Star Hunter hesitated and raised his gun, a man dressed in the black robes of a priest stepped out in front of him.

A folklorist wondered to himself, "Is there a pope here?"
"Idiot... You're in charge of the North District, this is the South District..." The priest muttered as he walked over, grabbed the handsome man's leg, looked at the group with dead fish eyes, and said, "Ah, you guys are here to explore the Horror Hospital too, right? This way."

The Star Hunter sensed something was amiss and raised his gun at the uninvited guest.

"who are you?"

The priest turned his head to the side, the shadows outlining the contours of his profile, creating a sense of oppression that made one feel as if their breath had stopped.

“I’m just someone trapped here… a pitiful person. Anyway, you can shoot me, but I don’t need to explain anything to you. We’re all stuck here anyway.”

The priest dragged the handsome man into the woods.

Have you seen that policeman?

He was referring to the vanished Milo.

“That policeman is a ghost. When we saw him, he said that no one who came here ever went back, including me. But don’t worry, I’ll pretend I’m a person, so please cooperate with me. I want to go home.”

The priest's voice trembled, and the scar on his left eye stood out starkly against the backdrop of the dark forest.

The mentally challenged boy, standing to the side, looked at them with some fear and asked, "Is there an evil god in the hospital?"

The priest picked up the [Holy Cross] hanging around his neck and said, "Why don't you ask it?"

At this moment, Pupupupapuluo stopped and said to everyone, "Let's talk about the evil god. Some people in my live stream chat like to watch it. This is the key to getting traffic. I'm filming a mockumentary, you know, this part is very necessary."

“I’ve been researching beliefs about evil gods.” The folklorist took off his backpack and took out a notebook with yellowed pages covered in clippings. “I can talk about it, but everyone should be prepared that after hearing these things, you may never be able to go back.”

The Star Hunter took out a glow stick and stuck it into the grass, creating a semi-circular protective shield to protect them.

Aside from Pupupupapuluo, everyone wanted to know about this planet. Obviously, they hadn't taken it too seriously before coming here.

"Our universe has countless planets. Where there is life, civilization can flourish, and where there is civilization, faith will inevitably emerge."

"Old man, that's concise and to the point."

The Star Hunters urged them on; they were a bunch of roughnecks, impatient with lectures.

"Cults... use methods to bewitch people. Cult promoters are charlatans. Some cults really have evil gods. Do you know 'Cthulhu'?"

“Ancient gods? I know a unit that’s been fighting the Ancient gods.” The Star Hunter who spoke used to be a mercenary in the military. He said, “There are a lot of Ancient gods in this universe that are similar to Cthulhu, or evil gods, but apart from some particularly terrifying things, most of the summoned demon gods can’t withstand a burst of bullets.”

Cairo is a world of comedy, but it's also a bizarre world where cutting-edge technology is rampant.

The folklorist continued, “Some evils have no physical form; they only exist in legends. How can you destroy such things with bullets? Okay, enough of the preamble. The person who told me there was an evil god here told me I must never approach this place. But I’m a folklorist, and after investigating, I found a name: Marger… Following the clues, I found the legends related to him.”

"Is Marger the doctor?" The Star Hunter felt the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it at a Cairo Grand Prix, but he just assumed it was a coincidence.

A folklorist said, "It's that doctor who disappeared."

He opened his notebook and showed the strange stories he had recorded.

First, in a small village on the "Planet of Harmony and Happiness," there was a custom that offered sacrifices of flesh and blood to ensure good weather and abundant harvests. The village was as if possessed, worshipping a deity called "Spirit of the Dead" for generations. It wasn't until this matter became connected with a powerful figure and a crackdown on cults was launched that it was discovered that the village had killed hundreds of people in order to worship Spirit of the Dead.

Second, a horrific sacrificial case occurred in a large city on a planet. Initially, the police did nothing, and the culprit behind the case successfully summoned the gods, almost destroying half the city and completing the sacrifice of malice.

Third, there was a reckless college student who found a stone that could summon an evil god because of a cult incident involving robots. He tried it at home, and half the world was wiped out as a result. Later, someone investigated the matter and found that what wiped out that world was a poisonous magical aura. In this world, there is something similar called "magic element". The conclusion was that the college student did not summon any god, but only summoned a little bit of the "aura" of the evil god behind the cult, which led to the end of the world.

The three incidents mentioned above are the most representative, but similar incidents are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

"Behind them all is a name from a higher-dimensional world."

The folklorist turned the pages of the book, and on that page was written a name.

"The Soul of Steel".

Everyone is unfamiliar with this name.

"Whether it's the missionaries behind the sacrifices, the creators behind the summoning spells, or the malicious individuals who sent the cult's robots in, all of these people behind the scenes have mentioned that they come from a cult called 'Soul of Steel,' and they believe in an evil god who reveres freedom."

A folklorist found a news clipping that reported capturing a higher-dimensional being known as the "Soul of Steel" hundreds of years ago.

"This incident even mobilized the universe's number one exorcism military force. That cultist was like a god, shouting 'Explosion Magic,' and single-handedly defeated most of the army. It was 'Mr. War God' who finally took care of him."

When the God of War is mentioned, Star Hunters know it refers to Halico.

"Later, we performed a mind dissection on that higher-dimensional life form and discovered the name 'Malje.' But a name alone is meaningless. The universe is so vast, and there are too many people named Malje. But think about it, what is a Malje who can control hundreds or thousands of higher-dimensional life forms, a Malje who can destroy a world simply by leaking his aura?"

Everyone fell silent.

“Evil god…” said the mentally challenged man.

The folklorist nodded helplessly: "So when I learned that Marger was a doctor at that hospital, and that there was an evil god at that hospital, I understood that this must be the headquarters of cult lunatics."

A more insane idea lingered in his mind: perhaps this place wasn't just their headquarters, but even the origin of a cult, existing within the timeline.

Suddenly, everyone noticed that the priest looked unwell.

The mentally challenged boy: "What's wrong with you?"

The priest turned his face away: "I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..."

A discerning person could tell that he wasn't apologizing for himself, but rather for something around him.

The priest immediately said, "I am apologizing to my missing compatriots."

"Speaking of which, you are also a clergyman. What deity do you worship?" the folklorist asked.

"The goddess of nature, and also the goddess of succubi and pleasure." The priest's beliefs resembled those of a true cult.

They shared some food and continued on their way. The next area was the most dangerous, so the priest placed the handsome man by the bushes.

"Why is the signal so bad?" Luo shook his phone, trying to find the faint signal in the air.

"You idiot, don't you know how to be nervous?" the interstellar hunter asked curiously, as the Cairo aliens were known for their timidity.

“Because I have more important things to do,” Pupupupapuluo said. “In my country, there are no good jobs because of the war. My family is waiting for me to earn money. If I can make this documentary and sell it on dark websites, I can help them find a safer place to live.”

Everyone walked forward in silence.

This world, though it may seem absurd to outsiders, has caused countless deaths and tragedies... only God knows.

Too much sweetness turns to bitterness, and excessive humor leads to a series of tragedies. After walking on and off for a few minutes, we arrived at an open lawn.

The priest who had led the way turned around and asked the folklorist, "Do you think that Soul of Steel really exists?"

A folklorist said, "In some corners of the world, there are gods who worship the soul of steel, and there is a story behind this."

He was about to turn the page when he said that.

The priest stopped him, saying, "I am one of the Steel Souls."

The folklorist felt a chill run down his spine, and the book slipped from his hands and fell onto the grass.

The Star Hunter suddenly raised his gun and pointed it at him, and the dim-witted guy and Pupupupapulu hurriedly tried to stop him.

Suddenly, a portal appeared on the ground, teleporting everyone away.

When they opened their eyes again, they were already in a dark room.

There was a smell of formaldehyde, so they went to the hospital.

Pupupupapuluo looked at the comments in the live stream. There was a message: This should be the hospital, right? I'm a three-eyed alien, I can see the shadow of a hospital. Hey, Pupupupapuluo, look at the entrance, it's at the ten o'clock direction, there seems to be someone there.

The Cairo aliens are very timid; Puff Puff Puff Puff and the mentally challenged guy have already started trembling.

The Star Hunter walked over with his gun, his searchlight illuminating a figure in the dark corner—a white-haired girl.

A folklorist walked over and said, "There's no sense of danger about this girl... Don't make a move yet."

At that moment, Pupupupapuluo raised his phone to take a picture. In the video, the folklorist and the space hunter stood next to the girl, whose back was to them. Her shoulders trembled, and she let out a murmur.

"Damn it... the portal's endpoint is in the wrong place..."

The Star Hunter's ears twitched: "What?"

The girl turned around, revealing a delicate and pretty face beneath her silver-white hair. She pulled a booklet out of thin air, glanced at it, and read aloud, "At this time, we should... well, do it this way."

After saying that, she gouged out her own eyeballs: "It hurts so much, can any of you give me an eyeball?"

Her tone was robotic, the kind of person who would be considered completely devoid of acting skills even in a movie, but the fact that she would gouge out her own eyes in such a dark environment was truly terrifying.

Pupupupapuluo's live stream popularity soared, and it retreated in fear, pulling the mentally challenged guy along as they ran away.

"Ghost!"

Gunshots rang out behind me.

The Star Hunters pulled the trigger the moment they saw the strange phenomenon. Their prized exorcism bullets only kicked up some dust when they hit the girl, without even damaging her clothes.

The frantically fleeing Pupupupa heard a shrill roar.

"It's those two Space Hunters! Were they eaten by that female ghost?!"

The mentally challenged guy isn't mentally challenged anymore.

A dark figure flashed past them. Upon closer inspection, it was a folklorist. This guy ran faster than anyone else, pushed open a door, and rushed inside.

The folklorist closed the door, locking the two Cairo aliens outside. Knocking and cries for help came through the crack in the door, but the guy just blocked it. He was terrified. The cult that only existed in legends was actually real. The best interstellar hunter was killed instantly. There was no safety here anymore. The selfishness of human nature was magnified countless times by the darkness here.

The sounds outside the door gradually faded, the sound of high heels echoing in the dark hospital, eerily sending chills down the spine of the folklorist.

Snapped.

The lights in the room suddenly turned on.

A man wearing glasses looked at him with a frown.

"Why did 2B open the portal in the wrong place..."

The folklorist was taken aback: "Idiot?"

The man with glasses picked up a walkie-talkie from the table, said something as if assigning a task, and then grabbed a chair and walked over.

"You should get some sleep first."

Pupupupapuluo and the mentally challenged man in the hallway heard the folklorist's screams.

The two were running around aimlessly when a fair hand reached out and gently patted the mentally challenged boy on the head.

They looked over.

A girl with a ponytail peeked out: "Here."

Pupupupapuluo's live stream encouraged it to go over, but at that moment, the girl with the ponytail suddenly took off her head and said to them, "Come and bowl."

The two Cairo aliens were so terrified that they forgot they could also remove their own heads; their screams echoed down the corridor.

The pinhole camera recorded it all.

At the end of the camera's connection, in the hospital's operating room, Marger is installing the "Leather Swallow Staff Badge" on the "staff member" lying on the hospital bed.

[Piyanzi Staff Badge]

[Type: Corridor Management Tool]

[Effect: Each corridor has a registration tool for staff. This is a management tool specifically for the "Redemption Corridor." It makes staff think there's a bomb hidden in the swallows, preventing them from being too reckless.]

Brief description: None (There are no staff members specifically tasked with creating brief descriptions)

There was a pop.

Marger got his hand splattered with mosaic blood.

Surgery completed.

He took off his gloves, walked to the table, picked up the coffee on the table, and sipped it while observing the room full of patients (staff).

"Hmph, what a disaster."

By using the gimmick of this being a haunted planet to post related information online, they attract a group of "explorers" to come and film things. Then, they screen out the Cairo aliens, scare them, and then get them to sign work contracts. They then arrange for hemorrhoid surgery to stuff "staff badges" into their skin swallows. These Cairo aliens who haven't returned yet, along with humans from other excluded planets, will escalate the whole incident, eventually creating a bigger online sensation. The footage from the pinhole cameras in the hospital will be deliberately leaked to unspeakable websites, allowing them to make money with underground film and television companies. In the future, they might be able to collaborate and do business with large corporations in the Cairo world, creating a sustainable circular industry that benefits the native inhabitants and contributes to the future resource system of the corridor.

The door of the operating room was opened.

Xiao Wu pushed the cart, bringing the unconscious Pupu Pupa Puluo and the mentally challenged Jun.

“These two little guys were terrified of me and have already signed a ‘work contract’ to pay for their mistake of trespassing into the cult’s headquarters.”

Xiao Wu said this, took out a walkie-talkie, and heard Nanami's shouts coming from it.

"Xiao Wu! Come to the South District quickly! A powerful being has appeared here! It seems to be a descendant of 'Majin Buu' left behind in this world!"

"I'm coming!"

Xiao Wu swung her ponytail and ran off in a flash.

Marger glanced back at the monitor; Cha Bai, Li Nuo, and everyone else were having a great time.

If ordinary people knew that the higher-dimensional beings they feared were such a group of things, how desperate they would be... As Marge grumbled to himself, the panel popped up.

[The number of staff has reached three times the number of players, so the salary system can be enabled.]

The job of a manager is troublesome.

Marger still enjoys the feeling of being in the limelight.

The staff's salaries are paid by the World Tree and paid out in the form of gold coins. These gold coins actually have a deeper meaning than they seem. Only those who become managers can understand these meanings.

In the salary section, Marger saw something interesting.

[Manager Black Card]

[Quality: Garbage]

[Effect: Loan, unlimited amount, but the gold coins must be repaid within a certain period of time. Can only be used after administrator approval.]

[Note: Failure to secure a loan is considered a serious violation and will result in severe penalties for the administrator.]

Marger took the all-black card out of the panel.

"It can be used..."

"Don't use this thing carelessly."

An unfamiliar voice emerged from the body of the mentally challenged man.

Marger looked over.

A hand emerged from the mouth of the unconscious, mentally challenged man, and a non-humanoid creature crawled out.

Right under Marger's nose, the creature's body swelled and deformed, and a few seconds later, it transformed into a man with long white hair and wearing a black woolen overcoat.

"Demon God..."

Marger's eyes widened in surprise.

The demon residing in the body of the mentally challenged man stretched his shoulders and neck and said, "Don't be so surprised. I need a medium to come from us. The bodies of these comical creatures in your world just happen to fit the concept of infinite space teleportation."

We are all managers, there's no need to be afraid.

Malger took out a cigarette case from his pocket and handed it over.

The demon god didn't answer, but said, "I have something to discuss with you about the next script."

Marger flicked out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and said, "Kill the judge?"

Demon God: "Your interpretation is also acceptable."

(End of this chapter)