Chapter 243: Who Is the Extra Person?
Chapter 243: Who Is the Extra Person?
A mission can be accepted by multiple people or a team, but it must be specified in the contract beforehand.
Qiao Sang didn't expect that a moment's inattention would lead her to accept a mission with a competitive relationship.
Team missions were manageable, as the participants were considered partners. However, multiple people accepting the same mission meant competition. If someone else completed it first, not only would you get a negative review, but the Beastmaster Central Task Platform would cancel your mission outright.
No wonder the mission didn't specify any particular requirements for Beastmasters and their familiars.
Qiao Sang sighed inwardly, finding it troublesome.
The knocking continued, and the man got up to turn the doorknob.
Qiao Sang turned her head and saw a man standing outside the door. He had an ordinary appearance, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a plaid shirt, the quintessential look of an IT guy.
"Come in", the man said, sizing up the Checkerboard Man before stepping aside to let him in.
Checkerboard Man took off his shoes and walked in, pausing when he saw Qiao Sang on the sofa.
"She also accepted the mission", the man explained.
"Hello", Checkerboard Man nodded in greeting.
"Hello", Qiao Sang responded.
Checkerboard Man sat down on the sofa and asked, "Mr. Gu, you said you were being followed. Do you know if you've offended anyone recently?"
"No", the man replied, crossing his legs.
Hearing the conversation, Qiao Sang looked at Checkerboard Man and asked, "Do you know him?"
"How do you know my last name is Gu?" the man narrowed his eyes and scrutinized him.
Checkerboard Man didn't flinch, answering, "I often go online and have seen your videos. I consider myself a fan."
Fan? The man was taken aback and silently uncrossed his legs.
Good grief, he had fans coming to his house while he was just sitting at home. Unlike her, who walked the streets every day and never ran into a single fan. For a moment, Qiao Sang felt that her 3 million fans were likely all bots.
"Can you think more carefully?" Checkerboard Man continued.
Seeing it was his fan, the man's attitude softened a bit. He pondered for a moment and said, "I get along well with people, and my social circle doesn't have any shady characters. If I've offended anyone, it's probably online, where I have a lot of enemies."
"But if you're my fan, you should know that my videos are controversial. Besides, no internet celebrity is universally praised. It's unlikely that someone who hates me would go to the trouble of finding where I live and then follow me."
"If that were the case, it would have to be someone with a lot of free time on their hands."
Checkerboard Man fell silent for a moment, then smiled, "True."
"Could it be a stalker fan?" Qiao Sang asked.
The man stroked his chin and said seriously, "I think that's very possible."
Hearing this, Checkerboard Man couldn't help but twitch his lips, then slowly said, "If that's the case, I think Mr. Gu should stay at home for the time being. I'll check the area for any suspicious people."
Before the man could respond, Qiao Sang interjected, "I disagree."
Checkerboard Man looked at her.
Qiao Sang met his gaze and said earnestly, "We can't be with him 24/7. If his address is already known, I think it's better to lure the snake out of its hole and resolve the issue quickly."
Checkerboard Man's lips curved into a smile, and he asked, "How do you plan to do that?"
"By having him go out more often", Qiao Sang replied.
"We don't know if the person following him is a Beastmaster or a regular person. If it's a Beastmaster, it could be very dangerous for him to go out casually", Checkerboard Man said, adjusting his posture.
"We're Beastmasters too", Qiao Sang pointed out.
Checkerboard Man narrowed his eyes.
The room fell silent, and the air in the living room seemed to turn heavy and still.
Knock, knock, knock.
Then, a knocking sound came from the door:
"Hello, is anyone there?"
The man didn't get up to open the door but instead furrowed his brow and raised his voice to ask, "Who is it?"
"I'm surnamed Pang, and I've accepted the mission", the person outside replied.
Qiao Sang: "???!"
Another one?!
The man's expression turned to shock, and he sprang to his feet, glancing at Qiao Sang and the Checkerboard Man. He took a deep breath and said, "I've only received notifications that two people have accepted the mission."
"Hey, hey, what do you mean by that?!"
Two people? There are three now, right? If there are only two, who's the extra person?!
Qiao Sang's heart raced, and she felt the atmosphere suddenly become terrifying.
The Checkerboard Man remained calm and spoke up, "If you don't trust us, you can check the specific information of the mission takers on the platform. If our information matches, the person outside is most likely the target of this mission."
"I'll check", the man said, frantically picking up his mobile phone from the coffee table and looking down at it.
Something felt off. This person seemed too calm. Qiao Sang glanced at the Checkerboard Man, who was staring at the man.
The Checkerboard Man noticed Qiao Sang's gaze, turned his head, and chuckled softly, "Why don't you just go to school instead of getting involved in this?"
Qiao Sang: "???!"
Before Qiao Sang could fully understand what he meant, the man's face changed as he looked at the information on his mobile phone. He turned and ran toward the front door.
"Kid! Get out of here! This person is a fake!"
Qiao Sang's heart skipped a beat. She immediately stood up, putting some distance between herself and the Checkerboard Man, and was about to form a hand seal.
At that moment, a purple creature with a large, elongated head and two indentations on the sides, wearing what looked like a robe, suddenly appeared in front of them.
Before Qiao Sang could react, her head started to spin, and she felt an uncontrollable urge to close her eyes.
I want to sleep...
Although Qiao Sang's consciousness was fading, a part of her subconscious knew she had to stay awake.
In a daze, she thought, What bad luck. I adjusted the Virtual Helmet's online time last night so I could get a good night's sleep. Now, Treasure Seeker won't be laughing in the middle of the night and waking me up, but it must have spent too much time learning skills in the Virtual Helmet and is still sleeping. That's why I put Treasure Seeker in the Beastmaster Codex before I left this morning.
If Treasure Seeker were here, I wouldn't have fallen for this.
Qiao Sang's consciousness grew increasingly hazy.
Suddenly, a voice seemed to come from far away:
"Hahaha, look at who you've brought! A kid with a backpack! This is so funny. Wait, why is the backpack moving?"
Backpack...
Aquariana...
That's right, Aquariana is in the backpack!
No! I have to wake up!!
The voice in her subconscious grew louder, and Qiao Sang's mind struggled intensely.
In the midst of the struggle, the Beastmaster Codex in her brain domain suddenly glowed and flipped through the pages rapidly.
Qiao Sang's eyes snapped open.
Her face was pale, and sweat trickled down her forehead.
"How did you wake up so quickly?!" the Checkerboard Man exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Qiao Sang followed the sound and saw the mission issuer lying on the ground, unable to move, looking at her with a mix of surprise and relief.
Standing next to him was the mysterious Checkerboard Man.
Qiao Sang took a deep breath, said nothing, and immediately formed a hand seal.
In the next second, a green Star Array glowed brightly on the ground.
(End of Chapter)
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