116. The Path to the Otherworld

Chen Entropy narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this.

The voice from the voice recorder continued:

"Fine, believe it or not, it is real, because I have been there... God, that damn hallucination is coming back! They want to crawl into my brain, into my eyes, and into my soul! I am going out of my mind! I should have just died there in the first place!"

After a burst of static, the man on the recording spoke again, his voice even weaker than before—so weak that Chen Entropy even considered whether he should dial an emergency number:

"I cannot reveal the specifics to you, otherwise my body and soul will perish in the most miserable of ways... But since you ordered this product... perhaps this is the last item of my life... it proves that you have encountered a situation similar to mine."

"When you take up the Dice of Fate, remember to put on this glove before casting your destiny; it will bring you good luck... That is it, that is all I can tell you."

After the man finished speaking in a faint, listless tone, the audio cut off abruptly.

Curiously, however, the progress bar on the recorder continued to advance, suggesting the recording had not finished.

Chen Entropy waited for half a minute before a new voice emerged from the recorder. It was not the man’s voice, but that of a young woman:

"Hello? Hello there, customer who received this product! The apprentice who made these gloves passed away a month ago. Suicide. He was a very talented craftsman, but ever since he went there to gather materials, he became obsessed and paranoid, talking about life and death all day long..."

"He told us that this item would likely be bought by another customer who had the same experience as him; he had a premonition... Anyway, good luck to you~"

This time, the audio ceased completely.

Chen Entropy clutched the recorder, his mood somewhat complicated.

It was this weapon manufacturer again, but compared to the last two times, the instructions for this item were far too strange.

*—This doesn't explain the item's function at all! What is the point of this manual?!*

Chen Entropy tried putting on the glove and flexing his fingers. The sound of the mechanical joints turning was quite pleasant, giving him a soothing, nerve-calming sensation.

Although he did not know the purpose of this glove, he decided to carry it with him just in case.

He pulled out the small map he had hidden on his person and examined it carefully.

Once his week-long date with Chiyo was over, Chen Entropy planned to head to that location to investigate.

But this time, he had to remain absolutely cautious, as even he, the "Planner," had no idea how things would develop.

......

Throughout the week, Chen Entropy spent his mornings at school and his afternoons accompanying Chiyo on dates, not returning home until eight or nine in the evening.

At the same time, Chen Entropy used various methods to investigate the "Velvet Alchemy Workshop."

Chen Entropy had never heard of this workshop before and assumed it had only appeared as part of the game world’s self-evolution.

However, since the people at this workshop were involved with the "Otherworld," Chen Entropy felt he could not afford to ignore this lead.

Yet, to his frustration, most of the results he obtained were "No record found," and even the omnipotent hacker Black Calis gave him no response.

He even confronted the Core of Collapse directly, but the only response he received was a deathly silence.

With no other choice, Chen Entropy had to temporarily abandon this line of inquiry.

The final day of their "dates" ended, as usual, with Chen Entropy accompanying Chiyo for combat training. Chen Entropy wiped the sweat from his brow and prepared to leave the Tokugawa Society.

"Are you not coming back tomorrow?" Chiyo asked suddenly before he left.

"In a couple of days," Chen Entropy said casually.

That said, Chen Entropy would have loved to stop by Chiyo’s place every single day.

Chiyo was something of a wealthy heiress, occasionally giving him pocket money and item gifts; such generous loot could not be easily harvested from anyone else.

Moreover, Chiyo was currently the only "bug-tier" romanceable character who felt genuine disgust toward Xu Qing and yet remained stubbornly fixated on Chen Entropy, so he naturally had to pay close attention to her.

"Mm." Chiyo nodded, a faint smile appearing on her face.

It was almost December now, and even the night breeze had turned cold.

Chen Entropy wrapped his coat tighter and made a call to an acquaintance.

......

After school the next day, Chen Entropy left the campus early. After confirming he was not being followed, he boarded the train to the Wasteland Refining District alone.

The Wasteland Refining District was located on the outermost perimeter of the eastern side of Night Hub City.

The Eastern Wasteland was infested with large numbers of mutated beasts that frequently invaded the city. As the path these beasts had to take during their incursions, the district naturally became the city's buffer zone for repelling them.

It was frequently raided by beasts, and even the authorities couldn't be bothered to send troops to manage it. Houses were built, demolished, and built again, until eventually, the residents began constructing their homes from the bones of beasts and the dead.

However, if there was any advantage to the place, it was that the housing prices were incredibly low. As long as you had the nerve, you could move right in without paying a cent.

Passing through the security checkpoint, Chen Entropy entered the Wasteland Refining District and met up with his two Undead teammates who had been waiting for a long time.

"Planner, long time no see!"

White Fox was very affectionate, hugging him like a puppy and rubbing her hair against his cheek.

After her explosive constitution was cured, she no longer needed to wear her specialized tight leather suit. Today, she wore a simple white shirt and jeans—an outfit so common it was everywhere, yet she carried it with a sense of youthful vitality.

"My body doesn't hurt anymore, and I won't just explode at random!" White Fox held onto Chen Entropy, boasting, "It’s all thanks to you, Planner!"

Chen Entropy nodded, not surprised. After all, only with the genetic repair serum could White Fox be considered a complete "Explosive Agent."

Her explosive genes had stabilized, transforming her from an uncontrollable walking dynamite pack into a perfectly controlled, walking arsenal. As long as she detached certain body parts and threw them, they could be used as grenades.

"Long time no see, Mr. Chen." Chu Jianlai stood silently in the back, waiting for White Fox to finish her antics before speaking:

"Where are we heading this time?"

"Honestly, I’m not entirely sure," Chen Entropy said, uncharacteristically vague. "But I have made full preparations. You just need to step in and help me if there is danger."

"A piece of cake." Chu Jianlai nodded.

Having helped Chen Entropy complete several missions to hunt down corporate pursuers, Chu Jianlai’s favorability rating had risen above 50. He didn't care if Chen Entropy was using him; after all, they were both like-minded people with the same goal.

"Don't worry! No matter what danger there is, I’ll blow it away for you!" White Fox added with a spirited smile, puffing out her chest and placing her hands on her hips.

Chen Entropy took out the small map and began using his positioning device to search for the coordinates.

If previous adventures were games played with thorough walkthroughs, this was venturing into an unknown territory completely blind.

To be safe, he had bought plenty of items and weapons from the priest in White Chapel District and had even called his two Undead friends along to minimize the chance of failure or death.

Following the coordinates on the map, the three of them arrived in front of a dilapidated building.

It looked like it had once been a bar, though opening a bar in such a place was clearly not a wise choice.

The roof of the bar appeared to have been torn off by a giant creature, and the interior was visible from the outside. The bar counter and tables were covered in moss, clearly abandoned for a long time.

Chen Entropy could hardly imagine that the place he was looking for was an abandoned bar. If he had come to investigate without this map, he would have likely dismissed this ruin as just another piece of debris.

But since he was here, Chen Entropy walked to the front door of the bar and said to his two Undead friends, "This is it. Let's go in and investigate."

With that, Chen Entropy pushed open the bar doors and stepped inside.

The moment Chen Entropy crossed the threshold, a large ripple of spatial distortion appeared before the door.

A moment later, he vanished from their sight as if swallowed by the space in front of him.