The score had just come out, and not many people knew yet. Walking along the street, passersby came and went around them — not a single one paying them any attention.

Nik led Bai Youwei, Shen Mo, and Ada onto a public bus.

The driver was a puppet. There weren’t many passengers aboard. After a few stops, only the four of them remained.

Ada asked Nik: “This bus doesn’t seem to go to Gran Avenue — where are we headed?”

“Wait until we get there and you’ll see.”

Nik kept his eyes on the scenery outside the window and didn’t answer directly.

Everyone had just come out of a dungeon and was exhausted. Ada couldn’t be bothered to keep asking, so he headed straight to the back of the bus, claimed the entire last row of seats, and lay down flat.

Bai Youwei and Shen Mo chose the window seats for two, sat down, and rested.

Nik was tired too.

But he didn’t want to rest. He didn’t even want to close his eyes. Though his body was weary, his mind was buzzing with energy. The “999” on the leaderboard kept flashing through his head — he was so excited he could barely contain himself.

999 points!

Back when he’d worked so hard to grind Demon Island up to 935, he’d even lost several squad members in the process — and then, in the most infuriating possible outcome, someone had overtaken his record by a mere two points, leaving him with nothing to show for it.

And now — 999 points! No one would ever top that!

And after this, only 16 dungeons remained uncompleted!

This year’s slot was his!

The public bus pulled to a stop. Nik woke Ada and called over the lovey-dovey couple to disembark together.

They seemed to have left the city center far behind. Getting off the bus, the surroundings were desolate — not a car or pedestrian in sight along the road, just a single gas station and a convenience-store-style service station standing alone in the middle of nowhere.

Ada surveyed the environment and joked: “What’s going on? Dragging us all the way out here — you’re not thinking of making us disappear, are you?”

“Could I even take on all three of you?” Nik scoffed, and led them walking further ahead.

They didn’t go far — after turning a corner at an intersection, they could see a two-story building not far off, completely without a surrounding wall, standing awkwardly at the side of the road. Nothing but a utility pole for company.

Nik said: “We’re not going back to Gran Avenue tonight. We’re staying there. It looks a little run-down, but it’s safe.”

As he spoke, he turned and flashed a smile at the other three. “You know what I mean.”

Ada: “……”

He suspected Nik was making an indirect dig about Yuri and Natasha’s incident at their own front door.

Shen Mo asked: “Is the house yours?”

“Mmm.” Nik walked as he spoke. “A fox has three burrows. Me? Well, I don’t have that many — just seven or eight places like this.”

“Pretty well off,” Ada whistled.

Real estate prices in the competitive district weren’t that high, but when everyone was spending heavily to stockpile weapons, buying property was still a significant burden.

Especially buying seven or eight buildings — the points required must have been considerable.

“If you don’t buy in the city center, the price is actually manageable……” Nik arrived at the front door, pulled out a ring of keys, sorted through them, and inserted one into the lock — only to find it didn’t work.

“The only downside of living here is that it’s too far from the subway station.” He tried another key. This time it was right — a gentle turn and the door swung open.

The interior smelled of dust.

The living room was large and wide, furnished with some simple wooden furniture.

Nothing like the lavish villas on Gran Avenue — each of those came with hardworking butlers and maids, ready at any hour with hot water, clean clothes, and nourishing meals.

This place was just a house — nothing more.

Nik probably knew the conditions here were lacking. He smiled pleasantly and said: “At least it’s safe enough.”

Bai Youwei looked around curiously, then walked up the stairs.

Nik watched Shen Mo follow her up, and called out with a cheerful smile: “The second room on the second floor has a double bed.”

—