Artifact Report

Chapter 329 Jin Xueli · Jin... Xue... Li...

Jin Xueli's Escape Plan One:

Immediately close and lock the door, block it with the corpse, and then sneak out through the bathroom window to escape.

Jin Xueli stood behind the door, which was slightly ajar, one hand still gripping the doorknob. An idea struck her, and she immediately perked up, turning around to scan the room—

Great, there are no windows in the restroom.

Option 1 has reached its end.

Jin Xueli's Escape Plan Two:
He grabbed the bar stool, rushed out, smashed it over the resident's head, and then fled the convenience store without stopping.

Option two was a bit too exciting, but that wasn't the main reason Jin Xueli rejected it: even if she could beat the resident, what if the resident opened their mouth and shouted?

According to the notice behind the door, as long as a resident calls, the regulars in the neighborhood will gather to hunt down the hunter... I only have two legs for now, how far can I run?

Even if they manage to escape, they can't stand being chased by a string of residents.

Most importantly, she hasn't even received the original solution yet.

Jin Xueli's Escape Plan Three:
Lock the door from the inside, hide, and don't answer the residents' calls. Pretend there's no one inside, and go out on your own after they leave.

This scheme has so many flaws that if you use it as a fishing net, you might not catch a single fish.

No, it's less of a plan and more of a wish.

Jin Xueli's Escape Plan Four:
Nothing.

She stared at the narrow crack in the door, beads of sweat crawling down her back like insects.

What to do, what to do, what to do—the voices of the residents were practically echoing in her head, but no matter how many times she repeated them, she could never become a resident.

Why isn't there anything opposite to "breath freshening candy"?
It's so unfair! Why can residents disguise themselves as humans, but humans can't?

……Um?

Jin Xueli suddenly paused.

Residents have ways to disguise themselves as humans...

Why can't she be "a human being disguised as a resident"?
"Hello?" the resident outside spoke again, each word like a drop of oil floating in the air. "Are you in the toilet? Why aren't you answering me?"

Jin Xueli's Escape Plan Five:
Pretend to be a resident.

She knew that the idea seemed naive and absurd at first glance—but upon closer inspection, it was actually even more naive and absurd.

But besides these, are there any other ways to save your life?

Let's install it for a while. If we really can't install it anymore, then we can switch to Plan Two...maybe we'll still have time.

But how can she disguise it?

To impersonate a human resident, one needs at least some evidence—

She subconsciously glanced back at the shop assistant, and suddenly an idea struck her.

"Wait a moment!"

As soon as Jin Xueli shouted, she slammed the door shut and locked it from the inside.

Through the door, she heard a resident mumble a "hmm?"

She rushed back to the shop assistant's body and, under its wide-open eyes, flipped it over—the high chair, as it turned, also fell to the ground. Just as it was about to hit the tiles, she quickly stretched out her arm. Although it hurt terribly when it hit her, she managed to stop it without making a sound.

Jin Xueli reclined the chair, and the shop assistant turned around, revealing a face that was red from being pressed against the back of her head; this face hadn't changed its style, with teeth on her lips, treating her lips as gums.

If you want to continue to be a sane person, you absolutely cannot watch too much.

Fortunately, the murder of the residents did not result in widespread bloodshed.

This means that as long as Kim Seol-ri takes off the vest from the store clerk and puts it on herself, she can pretend to be a convenience store clerk of "Nest Persistence" - it is inevitable to feel disgusted and resistant to wearing civilian clothes, but if you mind this, you can't become a hunter in the first place.

She put on her vest, called out "Coming!", and just as she was about to open the door, she suddenly realized something, quickly pulled off the shop assistant's name tag, and stuffed it into her pocket.

She left the hammer and backpack behind the checkout counter; residents shouldn't see them unless they go inside...

Jin Xueli lowered her head and straightened her clothes, feeling that there were no flaws except for herself. Only then did she exhale a trembling breath and open the bathroom door.

A person was pressed against the crack in the door, staring intently at Jin Xueli with wide eyes.

She swallowed back a scream, but held her ground, standing behind the door crack, using herself to shield herself from the corpses behind her.

"Please move aside so I can get out," Jin Xueli said, trying to sound casual. Whether her tone was natural or not, she didn't know; but her face twitched slightly.

The "person" blinked its two eyes, one after the other, at different frequencies.

It seemed a little unsure of the situation for a moment, muttering to itself, "Human? Human? Hunter?", before instinctively opening a mouth hole towards Jin Xueli.

"What are you doing?" Jin Xueli asked.

"……Um?"

It was puzzled by the question, paused to think, its eyes hovering above the wide black hole as it looked at Jin Xueli for a few seconds, before finally taking a few steps back to make way for her.

Jin Xueli squeezed through the crack in the door and immediately closed it.

“I’m not human,” she said, insulting herself first, “I’m a new employee.”

The resident sized her up and down a few times—putting everything else aside, ignoring the resident's appearance already took all of Jin Xueli's acting skills.

"Are you new here?"

Listening to it speak up close is quite unpleasant: every word is cloying and slippery, and once it enters your ear, it immediately and uncontrollably slides into the depths of your ear canal, like a living slug.

“Today is my first day at work,” Kim Seol-ri said, turning around and locking the bathroom door with her key. “Are you going to buy something?”

The resident glanced at the keys in her hand with one eye, while keeping the other eye on her face.

It uttered a syllable that no human could pronounce, which seemed to be a name: "...Where did you go?"

Could it be referring to the murdered shop assistant?

Jin Xueli shrugged, said nothing—mainly because she had nothing to say—and seemed completely unconcerned about the resident following her, as she walked toward the cashier.

"You're not human? You're really not human?"

Its first sentence had already slid down its throat like phlegm, and more and more words were about to slide in; Jin Xueli suppressed the urge to cough and vomit, and the hairs on her body stood on end.

"I put a lot of effort into disguising it,"

She recalled the notice behind the restroom door and said, "You know, right? There have been hunters around here lately. They hired me because I can perfectly disguise myself as a human, so those hunters might lower their guard when they see me."

She had no idea whether the residents would believe her.

The resident ran his fingers through the long black hair on its cheek.

That strand of smooth, black hair grew out from the apple cheeks below her eyes and hung down to her chin.

“That makes perfect sense,” the resident said. “Even I feel an urge to tear you apart completely when I see you…”

"That won't work."

Jin Xueli tried her best to make her voice sound flat. Across the cashier's counter, she slowly hooked her backpack with her toes so that she could easily reach the hammer by bending down.

Being stuck behind the cashier was like being trapped in a city of sorrow... She couldn't just pick up her backpack and swagger towards the door; the only thing she could do now was to get the residents out of there as soon as possible.

"what are you looking for?"

The resident slowly straightened up from its hind legs—only then did Jin Xueli realize that although it walked upright on two legs, those legs could bend backward like a dog's legs.

It was sitting on its folded hind legs, about the same height as Jin Xueli; now, standing up, its head almost touched the ceiling.

Fortunately, it was wearing a black robe, so its body structure was not clearly visible; otherwise, Jin Xueli couldn't guarantee that her expression wouldn't betray her.

"How...how did you do that? The greed, craving, hurt, and desire in you...it's so realistic, so multi-layered..."

It raised its nose—and its nose even sat up off its face—and sniffed hard in the direction of Jin Xueli.

"...The rich aftertaste of indifference and passion is contradictory, still faintly exuding the main scent of lust, appetite, money and exploration... Hmm, amazing, incredible! Is this some kind of human scent spray? Who made it? What's the purpose of making this? What other use does it have besides seducing us? Humans can't smell it."

Jin Xueli felt her face twitch again.

If you can't answer a question, then naturally you shouldn't answer it.

She was about to ask again, "What do you want to buy?" when she glanced at the cash register out of the corner of her eye and stopped herself in time.

What if she can't accept the other party's "money"? What if it's not a tangible material thing?
What if the other party asks for a receipt?
The residents quietly made their way to the cashier and looked down at Jin Xueli.

It opened its mouth.

“Gold…” it said. “Snow…pear…”

(End of this chapter)