Chapter 190: Extreme Mimic
"A great kindness cannot be thanked with mere words!" Mao Yifan declared, turning around with his arms wide open, clearly intending to give Haruto a massive hug.
With a dark expression, Haruto immediately materialized the brick in his hand. After the man froze in his tracks, Haruto casually tossed the brick back into a gap.
As a Boundary Youkai of integrity, Haruto felt it was only proper that after swiping a few buckets of instant noodles from the counter, he also took a moment to help the Ghost Granny stitch her severed hand back on.
Once that small act of charity was complete, Haruto finally left the kiosk, with Kaguya and Youmu following closely behind.
Mao Yifan had originally wanted to swipe a few bags of biscuits for himself, but just as he reached for them, he saw the Ghost Granny's newly reattached finger twitch. A violent shudder ran through him. Forgetting the snacks entirely, he scrambled out of the kiosk and fled after Haruto's group.
One's stomach was precious, but one's life was infinitely more valuable.
"Here," Haruto said, unable to stand Mao Yifan's pitiful, sorrow-filled gaze any longer. He tossed a bowl of braised beef-flavored instant noodles to the man.
"As I said, a great kindness cannot be thanked with mere words!" Mao Yifan proclaimed, solemnly cupping his hands in a formal salute. He looked as if he were vowing to remember this act of generosity for all eternity.
Haruto led his group back to the canteen.
Mao Yifan had initially planned to blend into the crowd, but when he saw Haruto lead Kaguya and Youmu to a secluded table in the furthest corner, he hesitated for a brief moment before trotting over and plopping down in the seat next to Haruto.
Conveniently, a free hot water dispenser was located right beside their table.
After the noodles were steeped and ready, Kaguya took a delicate slurp and couldn't help but ask, "Didn't Ran prepare any food for you this time? I seem to recall you asking me to adjust the time flow for your meals not long ago."
"I have some," Haruto confirmed with a nod, offering no further explanation. He picked up a forkful of noodles, blew on them, and put them in his mouth. After chewing a few times and swallowing, he finally spoke, his tone laced with gloom. "I thought these instant noodles would be different from the normal ones. You know, like noodles made by ghosts. Turns out they're just ordinary instant noodles."
Kaguya's gaze immediately softened with a subtle understanding.
So, he had specifically gone to rob a creepy place like that kiosk just to see if its food tasted different from the real world's.
Alright, that was actually quite reasonable. If she were in his shoes, she probably would have eventually felt compelled to taste the ghosts' fast food sooner or later, too.
Just then, a familiar figure emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray.
It was Qin Chen.
Her tray held a standard employee meal—a portion of rice, some green vegetables, and a small serving of chicken stewed with mushrooms. Her eyes swept across the cafeteria, and when they landed on Haruto, a flicker of barely perceptible joy lit up her face.
She paused, however, not immediately approaching, as if hesitating over whether she should interrupt them.
Haruto noticed her gaze, looked up, and gave her a friendly wave.
A faint blush colored Qin Chen's cheeks, but her cheerful nature won out. Without much further hesitation, she walked over with her tray and sat down in the empty seat beside Haruto.
"What a coincidence, you're eating at this time too?" she greeted with a smile. Her eyes then fell upon the instant noodle bowls in front of them, widening in surprise.
Qin Chen looked from the four bowls of instant noodles to her own steaming employee meal, a confused expression on her face. Finally, she couldn't help but ask, "Um... why are you all eating instant noodles? The food in the cafeteria is free, you know. It doesn't cost anything."
With that, she started to stand up. "What would you like to eat? I can get two portions for you."
"No need!" Mao Yifan immediately waved his hand dismissively.
Haruto also refused. "We're good. And you... you'd probably be better off not eating that. I have extra instant noodles here."
Qin Chen was puzzled. Haruto simply pointed a thumb at Mao Yifan. "This guy snuck into your kitchen this morning. He saw that they don't even wash the pig intestines; they just give them a quick rinse before cooking."
Hearing this, Qin Chen looked down at her employee meal. Although it didn't contain any braised pig intestines, she still silently took the bowl of instant noodles Haruto handed her.
Just as Qin Chen finished pouring hot water into her bowl, Haruto slurped down the last of his own noodles. He didn't leave, however. Instead, he rested his elbows on the table, cupped his chin in his hands, and watched her with his unblinking black eyes.
Qin Chen clearly noticed his stare and immediately grew nervous again.
She really couldn't understand why Haruto always looked at her like that. She was somewhat self-aware about her appearance; while pretty, she knew she was considerably less striking than the two otherworldly beauties sitting beside him.
'Could it be that little bit of help I gave him last night made him… develop feelings for me?'Qin Chen's thoughts raced.'No, no! That would be taking advantage of someone's kindness…'
She suddenly raised a hand and patted her cheek, her pretty face flushing a delicate pink, a gesture that left the other three looking utterly bewildered.
Haruto was just as confused. Not wanting to wait for her to finish eating, he cut straight to the chase. "Are you a player, too?"
Qin Chen started, not quite processing the question.
"Are you a player?" Haruto repeated, beginning to wonder if her perception had been altered somehow.
Qin Chen didn't answer with words. Instead, she silently buried her face in her arms on the table and gave a weak nod, a faint blush creeping up to the tips of her ears.
"You can't speak?" Haruto raised an eyebrow.
Still hiding her face, Qin Chen nodded again, just as gently.
"Then how long have you been in this instance?"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She tapped the table with her fingertips, making a soft, rhythmic sound.
"Three days?" Haruto mused aloud. He recalled that she had disappeared even before the Mermaid Instance had concluded. This left only three possibilities. One, she wasn't teleported into this instance at the same time as him. Two, she had been here for much longer than three days, but her memories from before that point had been erased, or the instance had reset. Or three, this was a chained instance; she had failed to completely clear the novice world but hadn't died, instead arriving at the Circus through some other means.
"Is this your first instance, or did you come here from somewhere else? Nod for the first, shake your head for the second," Haruto continued his questioning.
Qin Chen gently shook her head.
Haruto breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He really hadn't wanted it to be the second possibility, which would have been far more troublesome than the third. If that was the case, then all he needed to do now was help her clear this instance while completing his own tasks.
"You have your own mission, right? Can you tell us what it is?"
Qin Chen shook her head.
"Where is your mission location? We can help you."
"I can handle it myself. You should focus on completing your part first," Qin Chen suddenly said, her voice soft but clear.
"Alright." Haruto didn't insist. He stood up, and with Kaguya and Youmu in tow, he left the cafeteria. Seeing Mao Yifan still trailing behind them, he said with a helpless sigh, "Don't you have teammates?"
Mao Yifan nodded earnestly.
Haruto's eyelid twitched almost imperceptibly. "Then why aren't you with them? Why are you always following us?"
"Because you're interesting," Mao Yifan said, spreading his hands. "My intuition tells me that exciting things will happen if I follow you."
He was about to take another step forward, but the sight of Haruto pulling out a brick sent him bolting in the opposite direction.
Mao Yifan eventually arrived at a desolate area where several other tents were pitched. Three people were already waiting there, and they didn't look happy.
One of them, a tall and powerfully built woman, glared at him with a dark expression. "Where did you run off to, kid? You made this old lady wait for ages!"
Mao Yifan just spread his hands. "You guys don't pay me, so I have to feed myself, right? Luckily, I ran into some kind people. And let me tell you, those three kind people I met are not simple at all."
...
Meanwhile, Haruto had brought Kaguya and Youmu to a large, sparsely populated tent.
While the entrances of the other tents were packed with players, this one was the complete opposite. Only two or three scattered teams stood outside, their faces etched with hesitation.
Curious, Haruto peered inside.
Through the open tent flap, he could see rows upon rows of mirrors. A prominent sign hung at the entrance.
[Extreme Mimic]
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me!
Want to read ahead on our official home, or unlock 50 advanced chapters (plus an Ad-Free experience) to feed your addiction? Help keep this shameless translator alive here:
(P.S. Replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
🌐 Official Website: elysianreads[.]com
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters & Ad-Free): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]