This Text Adventure Game is definitely poisonous
Chapter 667 - 354: All Villains_2

Chapter 667: Chapter 354: All Villains_2

Good lord!

Originally, Mu You thought that the rumors of people being screwed over on the forum were somewhat exaggerated but, he did not expect them to come true so swiftly. Just after he landed on the island, he fell prey to a scheme. He wasn’t pick-pocketed, but was infected with a Gu worm.

One HP per second was being sucked away, but it would stop automatically when his HP was too low. The effect of this thing wasn’t too strong, as any HP recovery item could easily counteract it.

However, thinking that there was a bug inside him crawling around made him feel queasy; he subconsciously wanted to remove it.

Yet forcefully removing the Gu worm would permanently reduce his HP maximum. Even though it’s only a negligible 100 points, it would still lessen his maximum HP, and once lost, it could never be regained. Plus, he could be infected with a Gu worm at any time, not just once. If every infection reduced his maximum HP, no matter how much HP he had, he would soon be drained.

It seems that once infected with the Gu worm, one could only go to the so-called ’Gu Removal Man’ to pay for the removal of this disaster.

It’s clear that forcibly infecting people with the Gu worm and then forcing them to spend money on a solution is a scam!

Mu You shook his head. At this point, he could backtrack to avoid being infected, but he wasn’t in a hurry. He decided to take advantage of this opportunity to gain a better understanding of the situation.

[You stopped a passing villager asking, "Where can I find the ’Gu Removal Man’?"]

[The villager warmly pointed you in the right direction, and personally took you to the nearest Gu Removal Man’s house.]

"Oh dear."

A twitch flitted in Mu You’s eye, beat by the fact that if you are not infected, no one will talk to you. So it is really such a blatant reality.

[You arrived at the house of the Gu Removal Man and asked, "What is your price for removing the Gu?"]

[The old man sweeping his eyes over you raised all five fingers on both hands: "For removing the Gu once, it costs ten years off your lifespan!"]

[Your choice is...]

[You chose to turn around and leave!]

Mu You thought it was a rip-off, but luckily, the Fool had the forum, a convenient communication tool.

The information that the pioneering team brought back yesterday was clearly displayed on the forum. Removing Gu costs five years per instance. To his surprise, when he came, the price has already doubled simply because of his good equipment. That won’t be that easy.

There are Gu Removal Men all over this ghost place, and the least to be afraid of is price fixing.

[Your decisive turnaround made the other party realize they have been exposed of ripping you-off. They hurriedly stopped you, correcting the removal price: 5 years per instance!]

The price was corrected, but it would still cost five years. He would not let his lifespan be spent in vain, so Mu You decided to ask a question in return.

[You agreed on the price for removing the Gu, but you raised a question. You stated that the transaction could proceed only if the other party answered.]

[Your question was: Where is the location of the Ghost Society?]

This was the main reason why Mu You came here: to find the Ghost Society, to find information about Ye Rumeng and the Shadow Ghost. As for the natives of this place, he couldn’t care less.

[The Gu remover’s face changed slightly when he heard your question. He hurriedly waved his hands, emphasizing that he just removed Gu and could not answer questions. The villagers here have specific roles and he only made money from his own work. However, you could ask the beggars in the village. They are the know-it-alls in this area. With a little reward, they would give you lots of information.]

"emmm..."

Mu You made a strange face. He didn’t expect this old, broken-down village to be so particular about only earning what you are due.

[The Gu Removal Man inserted a pair of fire tongs into your body. After a few seconds, he pulled them out with a bug with eight squirming legs clamped onto the tongs. Exposed to the air, the Gu worm died, withering to a burnt piece of charcoal under the tongs.]

[Your lifespan -5 years, the Gu worm inside you has been removed.]

Now that the Gu worm had been handled, Mu You immediately went out to find a beggar without wasting any more time on them.

But when he walked out the door, he found out that the previous Gu infection was just the tip of the iceberg here.

[You saw a shiny gold treasure chest placed by the road, unmanned.]

[Driven by greed, you approached and opened the chest but found it was empty.]

[Embedded in you when you open the chest, a bug crawls into your body through your fingers.]

[You’ve been infected with the ’Money-Grubber Gu’; an additional day of life span will be reduced daily.]

"Rewind!"

...

[While walking, suddenly you saw a kindly old lady standing at a junction, with a basket of food in her hands.]

[An old woman saw you, beckoning you over with a warm smile. As you drew near, she reaches into her food basket and handed you a delicious-looking pastry, "Child, you must be hungry from your journey. Have something to eat."]

[You accepted the pastry and took a bite, HP +1 point.]

[You didn’t notice that a parasitic creature was mixed in the dessert, swallowed by you unknowingly. You have been infested with the ’Gluttonous Gu’, doubling your hunger rate.]

[Confronting the old woman, she looked at you ’apologetically’, claiming to have forgotten to wash her hands when making the pastries at noon and accidentally mixing in the Gu. But not to worry, she knows a cheap Gu Removal Man. It will only cost you 3 years of lifespan...]

"Backtrack!"

...

[You noticed a man sneakily following you, seemingly intending to steal from you. You stopped and turned around, directly exposing him.]

[Unexpectedly, the man was enraged into attacking, charging at you to rob you. You decided to...]

[You chose to fight back, casting several magic spells, killing him on the spot.]

[You killed the ’Gu Breeder’, gaining +1 lifespan, but you are infected with the Rage Gu, causing you to be impulsive and quick to anger.]

[Gu Breeders: In their bodies are all kinds of Gu bred since they were young. Whoever kills them will randomly receive one type of gu from their bodies.]

"Backtrack!"

...

[You saw a young woman by the street well, asking anxiously for your help, claiming that her elder had accidentally fallen into the well. She begs you to help save them, promising to devote herself to you if you succeed.]

[You stepped forward to help, peering into the well only to find it empty. It was a dried up well with no one inside.]

[Suddenly, you felt a push from behind. You were shoved into the well, and a Gu burrowed into you.]

[You have been infected by the Poisonous Gu. Your damage taken from poisoning will double.]

"Backtrack..."

...

Mu You didn’t expect that his task of locating a beggar would be fraught with countless pitfalls, fully exposing the extent of this place’s hostility towards outsiders.

Of course, some of the signs were rather obvious. But Mu You, relying on his pocket watch, deliberately fell into all these traps so he could provide information to the strategy team, sparing others from falling for the same tricks.

Mu You initially thought that bringing the population of an entire city here would make the locals fear or despise him. But it seems he was wrong. In the eyes of the locals, he brought a city full of lambs to slaughter.

No matter how chaotic the other cities in the Star Spirit World, at least most regular residents uphold a certain level of order. But this place is full of villains!

Of course, the Fourth Cataclysm is not to be messed with. Players are good at finding bugs, and once they spot one, they milk it to their heart’s content.

All he’s saying is, the people here better pray he doesn’t find any bugs. The enthusiasm of tens of millions of players can easily exploit the backwardness of their social system to the point of collapse!

[You see a beggar at the edge of the village.]

[The beggar spots you and rushes over eagerly, acting servile and promising to tell you anything you want to know. He’s been begging all over this island since he was young and is very familiar with the area. A little tip is all it would take for him to spill the beans!]

Like the Scarecrow in the Anning Village, this beggar probably sells information about the current map.

First, Mu You made sure this was an NPC and not another player in disguise. Only then did he start interacting.

[Affluent adventurer, what would you like to know? Due to village rules, each beggar can only answer one question per day. After all, we have to leave some work for our colleagues.]

[1. Ask why there are no shadows beneath the feet of the locals. This will cost you 30 years of lifespan.]

[2. Ask why there are no children visible anywhere. This will cost you 15 years of lifespan.]

[3. Ask about permanent ways to prevent Gu infections. This will cost you 100 years of lifespan.]

[4. I’m not interested in any of the above options; I want to pay for other information.]

Upon reading the text, Mu You froze. The locals... don’t have shadows?

He hadn’t noticed that before, probably because the place was covered in clouds and shadows were not distinct. Besides, previous event texts hadn’t pointed it out.

Thinking of shadows instantly reminded him of the Shadow Ghosts. They seemed to be born out of shadows. Could it be possible that all the shadows here were used to create Shadow Ghosts?