Chapter 8

For a moment, virtual bitter tea was flying all over the livestream—everyone was excited.

What kind of visual beauty attack was this?!

【Jiejie, look at me, I’m available!】

【Wuwuwu, jiejie is so beautiful, I’m in love—taking my number for love!】

【Okay, with a goddess like this, it’s honestly not hard to understand why the master of Rose Castle would be a simp.】

At this point, Housekeeper Tang could no longer deny it.

No one could resist Shi Jian at full charm—not even a ghost.

The love of beauty is instinctive.

To boost her credibility, Shi Jian even made an effort to elaborate.

“He likes me. He likes me to the point of madness.”

“Look, the castle’s window bars are black. My clothes are black too.”

Shi Jian pointed to the black window bars—they were all the same color throughout Rose Castle—then tugged on her black pajamas.

Forced connection, but whatever.

Housekeeper Tang: “……”

After showing off her beauty, Shi Jian even pretended to feel regret. “If your signal weren’t so bad and you could get through, you could call your master and confirm with him.”

“What a shame. Now it makes me look like someone who just randomly makes things up.”

Shi Jian was gambling—that Housekeeper Tang wouldn’t make the call. He’d already said before that he couldn’t reach the master of Rose Castle.

But then she thought, even if he could get through—maybe that would be a good thing?

If she could contact the master of Rose Castle, maybe she could leave this place, maybe even clear the level?

Housekeeper Tang and the livestream viewers all had the same reaction to her last sentence—

Aren’t you exactly that kind of person?

Housekeeper Tang had basically hoisted himself by his own petard, and his expression grew uglier. Earlier, when Shi Jian asked him to call the master, he said it couldn’t be done.

But after some silent thought, Housekeeper Tang reluctantly accepted the idea that his master might be a hopeless simp—and didn’t attempt to contact the master.

He had now completely reverted to a normal appearance. He even gave Shi Jian a calm and courteous smile.

“My apologies, Miss Shi. I didn’t know you were someone the master favored. I was rude. You may stay in this room.”

“If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I wish you a pleasant night.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”

Housekeeper Tang meant he was giving up—at least for now—on trying to eat Shi Jian. She was safe.

Shi Jian quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Then she thought of something and called out to Housekeeper Tang, “Wait a moment.”

Housekeeper Tang: ???He felt he could no longer figure out this little snack in front of him—it was endless. He had already let her go, yet she wouldn’t even let him leave?

Shi Jian said, “Do you have any late-night snacks?” She was hungry.

Shi Jian nearly cursed—damn, it had been so long since she’d eaten anything.

It was the fifth morning since arriving at the castle, and her celebrity stomach had completely given out. Didn’t he say to contact him at any time if there was a problem?

Shi Jian didn’t hold back and now fully treated him like a proper butler.

Housekeeper Tang: “……”

……

Housekeeper Tang accepted the task Shi Jian gave him and told her, “Please wait a moment. I’ll soon arrange a hearty breakfast for you.”

He stressed the word hearty.

Shi Jian sensed he was about to pull something and reacted quickly.

“No need. I’m managing my figure. Just bring me fifty raw eggs—I’ll just have a taste.”

Shi Jian’s logic was to ask for raw ingredients to avoid anything like brains or cerebral goo. Meat was also off the table—she hadn’t seen any normal meat in days.

By comparison, raw eggs felt safer.

As for why fifty—it was because Shi Jian thought of her fellow players in the instance; everyone was starving.

Housekeeper Tang: Fifty eggs? Taste your ass!

But just as Shi Jian had predicted, even though Housekeeper Tang looked reluctant, he still fulfilled her request.

The eggs were real, normal eggs—none cracked open to reveal giant eyeballs. Shi Jian still remembered the hot spring in the castle.

Perfect timing—it could be used now.

Shi Jian elegantly carried the little egg basket downstairs.

Hot spring eggs—let’s go!

So early in the morning, after confirming there was no danger, Shi Jian woke everyone up. The group, dizzy with hunger, finally got their first warm and normal bite of food since entering the instance—

Shi Jian’s version of lovingly made hot spring eggs.

……

“These are the best eggs I’ve ever eaten.”

“I honestly thought I was going to starve to death here…”

Everyone held their eggs and, once they came to their senses, felt a wave of lingering fear.

Even the livestream viewers had thought most of these new streamers were going to starve to death. Now, a rare lighthearted atmosphere had appeared in Rose Castle.

The longtime viewers who had witnessed Shi Jian’s confrontation with Housekeeper Tang the night before couldn’t wait to tell the newcomers in the chat about the thrilling events.

Everyone’s attention had shifted to Shi Jian.

And the one who caused this change—was Shi Jian."Thank you, my name is Li Anle, just call me Lele."

The girl with an apple-shaped face who had shyly leaned toward Shi Jian hesitated for a moment but still introduced herself. Propping her chin in her hand, she looked at Shi Jian and sincerely complimented her.

"You’re so beautiful. I was stunned watching you earlier. Were you an entertainer before coming here...?"

"I didn’t mean anything else by that. If it’s inconvenient to answer, forget I asked."

Shi Jian was open and gracious, not feeling like there was anything inconvenient about answering.

Here we go—showtime.

She flashed a perfect smile and spoke quickly, almost in one breath, “Yes, I was an entertainer. Mainly an actress, but I also crossed over into singing and modeling. In my debut year, I won Best Newcomer and have repeatedly won the Most Popular Actress award. I’ve starred in over twenty film and television projects.”

“All as the female lead.” She added pointedly.

With her long neck raised like a proud black swan, Shi Jian was holding back—barely.

For example, she didn’t mention her Weibo followers numbering over a hundred million, or that she had never let any male actor outrank her in female-led dramas.

Even when they were huge stars—it didn’t matter.

Shi Jian enjoyed being the center of attention. But once again, she felt bitter—why had they all come from different places? All those years of effort, wasted.

Though... being seen by fans in such a disheveled state, fleeing for her life, didn’t seem quite right either. Then again, she could shine anywhere.

Shi Jian could only comfort herself with that.

Everyone: wow~

Shi Jian's longtime fans in the livestream: Looks like they’ve found out—she really is a dazzling superstar.

【So the Mirror Woman looking different from her is just some washed-up wannabe trying to copy her.】

【And that tricky angle—she has to look good on camera. Even Housekeeper Tang gets slapped for messing up her screen presence?】

【Damn, her self-introduction is so adorably confident.】

【Adorable +1.】

……

After Li Anle gave her thanks, the rest of the people who had eaten Shi Jian’s hot spring eggs also chimed in one after another.

Zhang Dong looked at Shi Jian with unconcealed admiration in his eyes.

After disobeying the “stay in your room” rule twice in a row, Shi Jian not only stood here completely unharmed, but also managed to get food. Even though she wasn’t the martial arts master Zhang Dong had imagined, the fact that she was a celebrity—wasn’t that even more impressive?

Zhang Dong’s face was full of heartfelt admiration: You. Are. My. Goddess!

He cut to the chase, “What happened last night? Didn’t Housekeeper Tang come for you?”

Having finished showing herself off, and now that everyone was full and rested, Shi Jian agreed it was time to talk about something related to clearing the instance.

She nodded. “He did.”

Everyone else: ??? He did and you’re still sitting here? How?!

Shi Jian gave a rough account of what happened last night—but of course, she left out any details about her fear.After everyone finished listening, they couldn’t help but feel deep respect for Shi Jian.

She was way too bold—she actually bluffed a ghost!

Shi Jian offered her speculation, “Housekeeper Tang didn’t lay a hand on me, maybe because he has to follow his set character and can’t do anything that goes against it.”

Li Anle chimed in, “Like, since he’s a housekeeper, he has to serve the guests.”

Housekeeper Tang had indeed said many times that they could ask him for help if they needed anything—but who would dare?

Except Shi Jian, who actually did it.

Zhang Dong also felt that this finally made some sense, “Otherwise, this newbie instance would be way too terrifying. But if Housekeeper Tang has to act within his role, then there might be…”

Zhang Dong got stuck, unable to find the right words.

Shi Jian helped him finish, “Loopholes to exploit?”

Zhang Dong: That’s probably what I meant, but something feels off. (?)

Shi Jian also shared another of her observations: there’s strength in numbers. “Housekeeper Tang would rather admit that I’m someone the castle master is pursuing than call the master directly. So, does that mean if we can get in touch with the castle master, we might be able to leave?”

Everyone thought that was very likely.

……

But they circled back to the same problem—they couldn’t contact the castle master, and Housekeeper Tang had no intention of doing so.

Zhang Dong said, “Let’s focus on staying alive first. The rest can come later.” If they died, then there was no hope at all.

Another young man came running over. After hearing Shi Jian’s story, he’d been inspired and left for a while. Now he was back.

“I also went to ask the housekeeper for raw eggs just now. He refused and told me to eat meals on time instead.”

He was speechless—he’d actually been lectured by a monster. The kicker was, what exactly was he supposed to eat at mealtime?

Shi Jian raised an eyebrow internally at this.

They were both guests—why did she get eggs while he didn’t?

Zhang Dong slapped his thigh and speculated, “Maybe it’s because of their connection to the castle master? Even the guests have ranks?”

“Have you ever played games? A player’s intimacy level with an NPC also affects the NPC’s behavior.” A man in a plaid shirt suddenly spoke. When everyone turned to look at him, he introduced himself.

“I’m a programmer, work at a game company.”

Shi Jian looked at his thinning hair with newfound respect.

This was clearly one of the smart ones.

According to the programmer, “If it’s related to that, then it makes perfect sense why Shi Jian could get eggs and others couldn’t. She already has a role and a chance of becoming the future lady of the castle.”

But the rest of them were just ordinary guests.

“Housekeeper Tang’s attitude toward guests is tied to their relationship with the castle master.”

He explained it plainly, and Shi Jian understood immediately.

Shi Jian suggested, “In that case, everyone should quickly find a fitting identity for themselves, raise your status, and get better chances at survival.”Everybody, start making things up!

Shi Jian kicked off a trend where everyone started fabricating stories to fool Housekeeper Tang—they began tricking ghosts.