Chapter 46: A Call from the Landlord

In reality, Beast sat a little dazed on his bed. After a moment, he finally removed his helmet and stared blankly at his hands. To be honest, his mind was still lingering in that endless space of white light. He only remembered stepping into the mirror, and by the time he came to his senses, he had already found himself logged out of the game.

Beast remained silent for a while, then picked up the helmet to try logging in again. However, the system promptly informed him that there was an issue with the game and entry was temporarily unavailable.

Had Beast a computer at hand, he would have seen countless posts flooding the digital monster company’s official game forum, with people asking what had happened. This time, it seemed it wasn’t just him—there truly was a problem with the game.

“What exactly happened in the game?” Beast muttered, setting the helmet aside as he stood by the bed with a complicated expression.

To say the matter had nothing to do with him—he simply couldn't believe it. Yet, whatever had happened, he had no memory of it. Perhaps the watch might know something, but outside the game, Beast had no idea how to reach it.

“Oh well…” He sighed, tidied himself up, and prepared to go out. Though he’d bought a computer and fitness equipment, he’d made the purchase right before the game’s maintenance yesterday. No matter how efficient the country’s delivery system was, it wouldn’t arrive this quickly.

Just then, his phone rang—it was specifically the phone belonging to Wang Jie.

Beast glanced at the screen and saw the contact marked as “Landlady,” and immediately the image of last night’s landlady floated to mind. He wasn’t sure why she was calling, but to avoid any issues with his lodging, he answered the call directly.

“Hello.”

“Um… are you in your room?” The landlady’s voice sounded a bit nervous and tentative.

“I am. What do you need?” Beast replied stiffly.

The landlady hesitated, “It’s like this. To thank you for your help last night, I’d like to treat you to lunch today. Also, about what you mentioned yesterday, we can deal with that as well.”

“Where?” Beast asked after a pause.

“If you don’t mind, you can come out now. I’m in the car at the same place as last night,” the landlady replied.

“All right.” Beast hung up, then checked the time on his phone—it was already half past ten. Not quite early, not quite late; just about right for lunch.

After another glance at the clock, Beast went out. A few steps later, he spotted the landlady’s car nearby, got in, and sat in the passenger seat.

The landlady, seeing him approach, let her gaze drift—perhaps unintentionally—to his bandaged hand, a hint of concern flickering in her eyes. “By the way, is your hand okay?”

Beast glanced at her. “Just a minor injury, nothing serious. Aren’t we going to lunch? Or do you want to discuss things here?”

She nodded, “All right, let’s go eat first.”

With that, she started the car and headed toward the city center. The drive took almost fifty minutes before she finally parked in a lot.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she turned to him, “Let’s go. Today we’re having Five Poisons Soup.”

Beast nodded silently and followed her out of the car without a word.

They were on the basement level, but the restaurant was on the eighteenth floor. With such a high floor, taking the stairs was out of the question—otherwise, people would be exhausted before even eating.

“What exactly is Five Poisons Soup?” Beast asked in the elevator, sounding a bit bored, or perhaps simply making conversation in the cramped space.

“As the name suggests, it’s a soup made by stewing five kinds of poisonous creatures together,” the landlady replied, winking at him with a light laugh. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what the Five Poisons are?”

He shook his head. “No idea…”

He really didn’t know. He had only researched general knowledge about this world, never anything about the Five Poisons.

Beast wasn’t a god—just an ordinary digital monster. Well, perhaps a powerful digital monster, but not omniscient. There were plenty of things he simply didn’t know.

“The Five Poisons are, of course—” The landlady began, but the elevator stopped and the doors slid open, cutting her off. With other people around, it wasn’t appropriate to continue the conversation.

The elevator wasn’t private; anyone could use it. As more people boarded, the space became even more cramped. With the crowd, some of the other men were pressed toward the landlady, though she clearly didn’t want that. By shifting back and forth, she managed to keep her distance from the strangers but ended up right next to Beast.

Fortunately, the elevator was fast, and since it was already full, people on other floors didn’t get in. Soon, they arrived at the eighteenth floor.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, a waft of delicious aromas greeted them. Beast wasn’t especially interested in human cuisine, but Wang Jie’s body protested at just the right moment—from somewhere between his head and his feet.

This floor seemed to house many restaurants, and several other people from the elevator were there for food as well. In a flash, the elevator emptied out, including Beast and the landlady.