Ch 21: I Run a Food Shop in an Escape Game

Hot Spring Bathhouse (9)

The “Y” standing before them had clearly inherited not only Yi Han’s fake name, but also his habit of throwing hands the moment words failed.

Seeing Yi Han looking at him like he was an idiot and having no intention of speaking, the “fake Yi Han” immediately swung his pot and charged at both him and the male teammate Yi Han was holding by the collar.

Yi Han turned his body and casually used the teammate as a human shield in front of himself.

Then came a loud clang.

The bottom of fake Yi Han’s pot landed squarely on the male teammate’s skull.

“Ow!!”

The boyfriend cried out miserably, clutching his head as he collapsed to the floor.

The woman beside him hurried over in panic to drag him away, and together they retreated from the battlefield.

“This guy doesn’t seem to be on the couple’s side… Looks like he received simultaneous missions targeting both the human players and the ghost players, similar to the troublemaking woman from the beginner stage boss fight.”

Seeing that the fake Yi Han showed absolutely no mercy toward his “coworkers,” Yi Han instantly realized this.

The other party gave him no additional time to analyze.

Lifting the pot again, he charged at Yi Han once more.

Yi Han met him head-on, and the two immediately began fighting.

It was as though this battle had become a signal flare.

Not far away, the dead family of three, faces pale blue and full of killing intent, immediately lunged toward the two best friends behind Yi Han.

The two girls got up and ran at once.

The family did not chase them too fiercely at first. Instead, they suddenly turned around and began chasing the ghost couple instead.

The couple, as “ghost players,” were obviously shocked.

No longer bothering to hide their identities, they shouted while fleeing:

“We’re on the same side! Are you insane?!”

But the woman from the family of three had, in a sense, died because of this couple.

Even after becoming a ghost, she clearly had no intention of caring about any so-called coworker relationship…

And so they halfheartedly chased the best friends while genuinely trying to murder the ghost couple.

Meanwhile, the couple fled while simultaneously sabotaging the best friends, all while looking for opportunities to interfere with the battle between the real and fake Yi Han.

As for the pair of best friends, while desperately running for their lives, they were still worried about Yi Han’s condition, afraid he would lose in a group beating, so they tried hard to attract the attention of the other factions…

For a moment, everyone present suddenly became overwhelmingly busy and completely overwhelmed.

Screams rose and fell continuously throughout the hall, mixed occasionally with shouts of fighting and killing.

After exchanging only a few moves with his opponent, Yi Han suddenly realized…

He had somehow become the least busy person in the room.

The moment he clashed with fake Yi Han, he had already discovered the truth.

The guy was nothing more than a paper tiger.

Even though he had inherited Yi Han’s appearance, personality, and a small fraction of his fighting instincts through the fake name…

There was absolutely no way he could replicate the S-rank iron pot in Yi Han’s hand.

Yi Han casually exchanged a few fake blows with him, probing his limits.

Once he figured him out, he swiftly grabbed the man’s wrist.

With a twist of force, the fake pot immediately flew out of his hand and crashed to the floor.

Fake Yi Han was instantly subdued.

His disguise disappeared as well.

Without wasting time on anything else, Yi Han first dislocated his joints, threw him onto the ground, kicked the fake pot far away, then turned back to examine the chaotic battle behind him.

And discovered…

That tangled mass of people was still chasing each other in complete disorder.

The situation was so chaotic that at first glance, Yi Han could not even tell who was fighting whom, who was allied with whom, or who held grudges against whom…

After sorting through it for a moment, he realized the family of three was currently surrounding the pair of best friends, apparently close to succeeding.

The situation looked dangerous.

The two girls also seemed to have finally become angry from being chased around so much.

Any player capable of clearing several one-star instances would naturally possess at least some life-saving tools.

Expressions furious, they activated some sort of item.

Yi Han watched as the movements of the ghost family froze midair.

Their fingertips slowed abruptly just before touching their targets…

Unfortunately, the girls’ item appeared capable only of slowing enemies, lacking any offensive ability.

They could only continue running.

Meanwhile, the ghost couple continued causing trouble nearby, mocking the family of three while sabotaging the best friends at the same time.

Yi Han developed a headache just looking at it and hurriedly joined the battle.

With a few swift blows, he flattened the restored ghost family.

Then he smashed down the ghost couple, who had been spitting at the family and pulling at the girls.

Only then did this absurdly chaotic battle finally come to an end.

The system rapidly sent notification after notification.

NPC eliminated rewards obtained: 75 points total.

“Thank you… huff…”

The pair of best friends were exhausted now and no longer cared about appearances, sitting directly on the floor while panting their thanks toward him.

Yi Han waved a hand dismissively.

Only then did he finally have time to turn back toward the fake version of himself.

The person who had impersonated Yi Han had now revealed his true form.

He was actually a skinny monkey-like male NPC, short in stature and seemingly utterly lacking in combat ability.

Without Yi Han’s shell covering him, his strength appeared even weaker than that of an ordinary man.

At the moment, he was wriggling around on the floor trying to reach his weapon.

Yi Han mercilessly kicked the fake pot even farther away.

Then he crouched down and asked:

“Your ability copies a target’s appearance and abilities. So why were you so weak after copying me?”

Yi Han had just obtained an item that could bind pets and turn them into personal henchmen, so he was currently very interested in ghosts with unusual abilities…

It was just that this ghost was truly too weak.

And ugly too.

Yi Han was honestly dissatisfied.

Still, if this disguise ability were used properly, perhaps it could produce unique effects.

So Yi Han decided to understand him better first.

“Bah! That’s because you left a fake name!”

The monkey-like NPC saw the blatant disgust on Yi Han’s face.

Although he could not understand why a mere player was entitled to despise him, a ghost, that did not stop him from becoming furious.

“If you’d left your real name, I’d have beaten you so badly even your mother wouldn’t recognize you!”

Yi Han pondered this.

“So if you know someone’s real name, you can perfectly copy all their abilities?”

Although he strongly suspected the guy was exaggerating, and even if true the ability still did not seem especially useful to him…

Still, something was better than nothing.

With a “might as well try it” mentality, Yi Han took out the 【Pet Collar + Leash Set】 he had just acquired.

But during the binding process, the system notified him:

The target is not your pet.

Yi Han raised an eyebrow.

Only then did he realize the item required the other party to willingly acknowledge their identity as his pet.

That, however, was not difficult.

Yi Han did not even bother asking the two girls behind him to look away.

Right there on the spot, he demonstrated what true “hands-on ability” really meant.

Under the horrified gazes of the female teammates, amidst a storm of punches, kicks, screams, and pleas for mercy, the monkey-like NPC finally gave in.

“…I am your pet.”

Bruised and swollen, he admitted it in humiliation.

“Call me Master,” Yi Han said.

“…”

Forced by violence, the NPC resentfully called him Master.

Then Yi Han received a system notification.

【You are now officially a pet owner.】

【Pet Collar binding in progress… 10, 9, 8…】

At this point, Yi Han could already view the detailed information of this pet.

He opened the profile page and glanced through it.

Pet ID: *****

Pet Nickname: *****

Age: 31

Species: Ghost

Ability: Bluffing (Can perfectly imitate the target’s appearance, carried items, and behavior patterns. Duration of disguise depends on level of understanding regarding the target’s personal information. Please note: any unstable condition may cause the disguise to fail, including being beaten, verbally abused, having hair yanked, sneezing, stomachache…)

Current Status: Restricted movement, emotionally depressed

Loyalty: -100000000 (Loyalty dangerously low. Please note there is a high risk of pet escape.)

Yi Han: …

Too weak.

Seriously far too weak.

So this guy could not copy combat strength at all.

All his earlier bravado had just been empty trash talk.

And the restrictions on his disguise ability were not only numerous, but bizarre.

Yi Han’s face filled openly with disgust.

He declared himself unable to accept this pet’s appearance, abilities, or character.

【Binding not yet complete. Are you sure you want to abandon your pet?】

【Confirm.】

Thus the monkey-like NPC, still sprawled on the floor and emotionally collapsing after receiving the “You are now this person’s pet” notification, immediately received another system message:

“We regret to inform you that you have been abandoned by your owner. You are now a poor little stray nobody wants. But life still holds hope. Even without an owner’s care, please continue trying your best.”

Monkey NPC: …?????

…Why did this somehow feel infuriating even though he should technically be happy?

Why the hell was he being rejected with such blatant disgust?!

If you didn’t want a pet, then don’t bring one home in the first place!

So angry!!!

── ⋆⋅🖤⋅⋆ ──