"This newcomer... is quite something. Why does he look at the corpse with such deep affection?"
"I've followed this streamer. He's handsome, eccentric, and has a weird personality. He's bound to become famous!"
After Lu Shi tore open his chest, he found exactly what he wanted.
A glass bottle stained with blood.
Carefully opening the bottle, which was only the size of a thumb, Lu Shi took out a yellowed piece of paper, clearly torn from that diary.
Just as Lu Shi was about to look at the contents, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside the corridor.
It's thick and heavy; it must have come from leather boots.
Someone's coming... Lu Shi's eyes darted around, and he suddenly gave a sinister smile with his back to the audience.
A moment later, Lu Shi pushed the body into a corner, clenched the page of the diary in his palm, and sat calmly behind the iron bars.
"Aww..."
The first thing Lu Shi saw was a ferocious dog covered in pus. It grinned, its sharp teeth dripping saliva, and its scarlet eyes stared at Lu Shi as if it were looking at food.
This is no ordinary dog. Lu Shi could tell that it had been infected by a poison, which would be quite dangerous for him, who was still an ordinary person.
The chain of the fierce dog was held tightly in the hand of a pale-faced, tall jailer.
"You pig, time to eat!"
A note from the author:
Pre-orders: "I Eloped from the Dungeon with the Boss" and "The Ancient Tree I Recognized Has Become a Spirit" are available for collection.
Chapter 2
☪ Plague Prison
When the jailer saw that Lu Shi did not react, he poured a bowl of mushy food on the ground, then stomped on it hard with his leather boots and ground it vigorously.
"Lick!" He lifted the sole of his shoe and stared at Lu Shi with disdain.
Clearly, the prisoners in this prison have no protection or dignity; they suffer greatly at the hands of the guards. If they are found to have any intention of escaping, they will even be put to death.
In the eyes of the prison guards, Lu Shi was no different from the other prisoners; they were all ants who needed to rely on him.
"My lord, may I bow my head? I have something I'd like to tell you." Lu Shi's words were very polite, but they only made the viewers in the live chat laugh again.
"This newcomer is getting too into character. Does he really believe he's from ancient times?"
Is it possible that he really is?
"How could that be! We've been here for so long, aren't we all just unlucky guys from the real world! I think he's just delusional!"
...
The fierce dog beside the jailer started barking again; it looked like it wanted to break free of its restraints and bite Lu Shi's neck off.
It has to be said that Lu Shi had not seen the sun for a long time and had just experienced a calamity, which made every inch of his skin exude a sickly, fragile beauty.
To a fierce dog, that would undoubtedly be a delicious meal.
Viewers who watched the live stream know that this guy is definitely not as fragile as he looks; he's probably a dangerous individual in real life.
Ninety-five pairs of eyes watched his every move as he landed. Some admired his good looks, some secretly cursed him, and some wanted to see him die a horrible death... Everyone wanted to know what he would do next.
Elephants are always merciful to ants, and the jailer didn't think Lu Shi could gain any advantage over him. On the contrary, he was even eager to find a suitable reason to drag Lu Shi into the dark room and ravage him.
"Stop yelling!" The jailer pulled hard on the chain, then squatted down in front of Lu Shi as instructed.
In an instant, the jailer's face, which had just been pale and mocking, was filled with pain and regret.
The deadly poison, like a flower of evil, bloomed on his chest and instantly devoured his life.
"It's so toxic."
Lu Shi lightly stood up, while the massive body that had just been standing collapsed to the ground like a mountain collapsing.
The only jarring element was the glass bottle stuck in his chest, which looked more like an ornament.
The fierce dog, having lost its owner, did not attack Lu Shi as he had expected. Instead, it paused for a moment, then quickly broke free of its chain and ran away.
"User yujn4369 gifted the streamer a set of 'last meal' (a traditional Chinese meal for the deceased), increasing the streamer's popularity by 50."
"User Red Spider gifted the streamer a red spider lily, increasing the streamer's popularity by 500!"
"Hehehe! In recognition of the streamer's outstanding performance, the streamer has been given a prominent position in the newcomer lobby! Don't be too smug, the higher you stand, the more spectacular your fall will be!"
A series of voices rang in Lu Shi's mind, but he had gotten used to it and even used his intelligence to decipher many words he had never heard before.
It seems that the secret realm he is in is open to the public, and there is a group of people like him who are called "streamers" watching.
The better he performs, the more gifts he receives, which translates into popularity.
However, Lu Shi had no idea what the purpose of this popularity would be.
"Thank you for your support." When Lu Shi raised his head again, he had that innocent, frail, and endearing smile.
However, the number of viewers in the live stream, which had skyrocketed to 356, had already seen through his true nature.
"What did the streamer do? The prison guard I was terrified of during my rookie days is just gone like that?"
"Damn, that's so satisfying! I only swore at a prison guard once, and he dragged me into a solitary confinement cell and beat me up. I never thought this thing could kill?"
"Are all the people in this live stream naive? He's not the only one who killed a prison guard. Back in the day, Lady Nightingale snapped a prison guard's neck!"
"Comparing our anchor to the Nightingale is a compliment!"
"So, has anyone figured out how he killed him?"
"Hey, did you notice? Red Spider gave him a gift!"
Aside from the person who sent the gift being able to send a comment that Lu Shi could see, Lu Shi couldn't see any of the other discussions.
Red Spider only left one sentence: "Keep it up."
He thought for a moment and then explained to the unseen audience: "The corpses in the cells have residual venom on their chests, which is easily visible."
“We happened to have a bottle on hand, so it was very easy for us to think of using the bottle to put the poison.”
"The jailer still has the key to open the door. If we want to escape, we have no choice but to kill the jailer."
"I wanted to test if the poison would work, and to my surprise, it worked."
After explaining, Lu Shi reached out of the cell and took the bunch of keys from the jailer.
There are many anchors like Lu Shi who explain things to the audience, but he is the first newcomer like him.
You should know that five of the new recruits from his batch have already died, and the rest are still trembling in fear at the sight of the corpses.
At this moment, a woman wearing high heels and a mask stood in the bridal hall, watching the landing performance with great interest.
"Interesting, I haven't seen such an interesting newcomer in a long time."
"You look so delicious, I really want to eat you up."
Those nearby shuddered and automatically backed away; Red Spider's use of "eat" was no metaphor.
The comments section was still buzzing with discussion, but compared to the previous abundance of praise for Lu Shi, there were now many more malicious remarks.
"Oh dear, is this newcomer about to be released from prison? Oh no, this is making things harder for me!"
"That's why the prison is the hardest of the five newbie dungeons. Smart people die faster!"
"Isn't the most shameless thing that this dungeon has a hidden dungeon?!"
"I've been annoyed with this streamer for a long time. His ancient persona is ridiculously idiotic, and he talks so pretentiously! I really hope to see him get bitten to death by plague dogs!"
"Thank goodness the comments section can't spoil the plot, otherwise a bunch of idiots who only care about looks would definitely send him gifts to tell him the ending!"
Lu Shi truly hadn't expected that the Plague Prison, as a newbie dungeon, was actually quite simple.
All you need to do is overcome your fear of corpses, move the body, find the diary, and the hole you dug.
A look at the diary reveals that their cell was directly connected to the sewers.
If you just keep digging by hand for six hours, you will definitely be able to find the sewer.
Then, you can escape from prison by enduring the stench and the rats that occasionally come out to bite you.
This is also the method used by 99% of players to complete the game.
“This is a map of the prison.” Lu Shi pulled out the torn page from the diary, shook it, and quickly saw the whole picture.
This prison has three floors: one floor for the prison, one floor for the prison guards' quarters, and one floor at the very top for research.
Lu Shi stared at the research room on the top floor, pausing noticeably for a few seconds.
Is there anything worth studying in prison?
Then, thinking of the seemingly possessed ferocious dogs around the prison guards, Lu Shi had a bold guess.
However, uncovering the secrets of the prison did not seem to be the key to his departure.
The voice-over just reminded him that all he had to do was leave the prison.
Looking at the map again, Lu Shi could easily discover the mystery of the cell where he was located.
"Do we have to dig it out again?" Lu Shi looked at his jade-like fingers with heartache: "I haven't done any rough work in a long time, never mind."
Yes, even as the Demon Lord Lu Shi, he still has a bit of a germaphobia. If he had to dig a tunnel for six hours and then crawl out through the sewers, the Demon Lord would rather perish together with the monsters in the prison.
Undoubtedly, Lu Shi's words have sparked a lot of controversy, with more and more people believing that he is forcing a persona, and some even reporting his live stream.
While Lu Shi was still pondering his strategy for clearing the level, he heard the voice-over again. This time, the other person seemed quite happy, even laughing as they spoke.
"Hehe, due to multiple reports to the live stream, the streamer has been removed from the center position! Thank you for entertaining the audience with your stupidity, streamer. Keep it up and entertain to the death!"
The number of viewers instantly dropped from over 500 to below 300, but Red Spider didn't leave; instead, he continued to stare at the screen.
What choice will he make? Red Spider was very curious.
With a click, Lu Shi opened the cell door with his key.
"Awooo!" The fierce dog arrived as expected. Just as Lu Shi had predicted, it did not run away, but hid in the shadows, ready to launch a sneak attack at any moment.
When the ferocious dog pounced, it opened its mouth, revealing fangs that were deadly enough to kill Lu Shi in his current state.
The barrage of comments, which had been building up, immediately erupted: "Hahaha! Good riddance!"