Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Hidden Room in the Sewer

Without waiting for Su Yuelong to recover from her bewilderment, she was dragged onto the bed.

Whoosh!

"Wait, hold on... I..." Before Su Yuelong could prepare herself, her body was sucked directly into a pipe.

She entered head-first, hanging upside down. She glided rapidly through the pipe, gathering speed with every passing second. As she slid, she screamed:

"Wait, just a second!!!"
"I wouldn't even dare ride a rollercoaster at an amusement park!!!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"

Her once beautiful, neat white hair became disheveled. After gliding through the sewage pipe for a full ten seconds, she finally reached the bottom. Pale-faced, Su Yuelong scrambled to her feet, feeling as though her heart were about to jump out of her chest.

"Wh-where is this?"

She was completely stunned. How could there be a hole in the bed?

"Come on, you'll know once you go in," Bai Wan said with a smile, crawling out of the pipe.

Su Yuelong hesitated for a moment before following him out. When she saw the scene inside, she was shocked. Familiar-looking bricks floated in mid-air, and above them, many gold coins hovered in space, making her doubt her own eyes.

This... isn't this Mario?

She had played it when she was a child and remembered the scenes clearly.

"What exactly is your character ability?" Su Yuelong’s curiosity had reached its peak.

It was absurd! First, he summoned plants from Plants vs. Zombies, and now even Mario was here... This ability was far too chaotic.

"Can you help me bump these coins? The time we can spend in the sewer is limited," Bai Wan said to the bewildered Su Yuelong.

"Huh? Bu-bump coins??" Su Yuelong watched blankly as Bai Wan walked beneath a brick and jumped upward with force.

Bang!

Then, to Su Yuelong’s amazement, after Bai Wan’s head hit the brick, a gold coin popped out. Her mouth hung slightly open, her expression as vacant as the large nut at the door earlier.

Th-this works too??

"What are you standing there for? Come over and bump with me."
"Sigh, I... do I have to do it too?"
"Of course, you're my best friend."

"Ah... right." Su Yuelong walked over hesitantly, wondering if she should find an opportunity to cut ties with Bai Wan; she had a feeling that being his friend wouldn't end well.

She stood beneath a brick and tentatively gave it a bump.

Thump.

Thankfully, it didn't hurt much. A gold coin was knocked out. It felt quite peculiar. After bumping a few more times, the two of them collected all the coins from the bricks. Then, Bai Wan set his sights on the coins higher up.

"How about you jump off my back?" Because the coins above were a bit high, Bai Wan suggested.

"Fine, I'll give it a try," Su Yuelong nodded.

Bai Wan bent over slightly, his back to her. Su Yuelong walked over cautiously; she was wearing white sneakers and stepped lightly onto his shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she pushed off with force, leaping high into the air, aiming for the platform at the very top.

Suddenly, with a bang, Su Yuelong was knocked back to the ground.

"Ouch!" She collided with Bai Wan, and both of them fell.

They looked up at the air in confusion; Su Yuelong had hit something out of thin air. There, where she had collided, a hidden brick had appeared, and on top of that brick was a large door.

"Is this a hidden room?" Bai Wan was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected his coin room to hide such a place, but then again, Mario games always hid surprises in various spots.

"Shall we go up and see what it is?" Su Yuelong was also curious. Thanks to the brick that had appeared out of nowhere, they could now step on it to reach the higher ground.

They jumped onto the brick and curiously pushed the door open. Bai Wan entered first. Su Yuelong followed, but as she reached the space in front, she passed right through it. It seemed this hidden location was only accessible to Bai Wan.

Su Yuelong stayed outside to wait.

Looking into the pitch-black space, Bai Wan walked inside, and the scene within exceeded his expectations. Inside the door was a dark night, with stars twinkling in the sky. Steps made of bricks rose from low to high, appearing like a bridge connecting the ground to the starry sky. Along the path, there were platforms of various sizes, each with a cluster of starlight shimmering upon it.

The nearest platform was about ten meters above him, and he could see a beautiful, exquisite blue hammer encased in blue starlight. Bai Wan’s eyes lit up. There were treasures hidden within the starlight on every brick step. However, due to the distance, he could only see the hammer; the others remained blurred.

Bai Wan wanted to go further, but a system prompt suddenly appeared:

[Mario Sewer level is insufficient. You can only enter the special reward room, the Starlight Room, after reaching level 3.]

Bai Wan retreated in disappointment. Currently, the Mario Sewer was only level 2. After leaving this instance, he would have to wait until he reached level 3 to enter the tempting, hidden Starlight Room.

Seeing Bai Wan come out, Su Yuelong didn't ask what was inside; after all, this was his ace in the hole, or perhaps his secret. Bai Wan, seeing how well-behaved she was, decided that if he ever got something good in there, he would gift her one. After all, she was his best friend.

"Let’s go, we can head out. The ghost should be gone by now," Bai Wan led Su Yuelong back to her room. Sure enough, the ghost had vanished.

"Your ability is just too useful," Su Yuelong said with a hint of envy. To be able to hide in a sewer so freely was a skill many players would envy, not to mention the hidden rooms and coins inside. Although she didn't know what the coins were for yet, her intuition told her this ability was far from simple.

Su Yuelong returned to her room, and Bai Wan returned to his. The ghost was nowhere to be found; it had already appeared several times tonight and would likely not show itself again. Indeed, it remained quiet until dawn.

In the morning, everyone gathered, looking listless. Since there were ghosts at night, no one dared to sleep. Wang Jian, in particular, was pale, having nearly died the previous night. He told everyone about his experience, and they all broke into a cold sweat. The idea of a ghost imitating a human to knock on the door was terrifying.

After hearing Wang Jian’s account, Bai Wan frowned. Something didn't feel right...

Before he could ponder it, a sound came from outside the door—first a knock, then the sound of something hitting the ground.

Knock, knock, knock!
Thud.

Everyone tensed, their eyes fixed nervously on the door. The response from the Ghost Woman had arrived... He wondered if the excuse in yesterday's letter had deceived her...

Hoo...

Sun Qian opened the door, picked up the letter, and opened it with trembling hands.