Ben was waiting at the same location An Yuan had left him to. They waited on the road and played with his bike to pass time. They rode a bike from the library to this place when suddenly his bike was blocked on the road by Henry’s car. His face turned pale when he saw that it was Henry and his troops, who suddenly appeared before him. He wanted to pedal his bike fast as he wanted to run away from them but sadly, he was too slow and still got caught in the end.

“Damn! It’s Henry!” cursed Ben.

Henry yells, “Stupid Fatty! Found you porky!”

“No. LET GO!” said Ben.

Henry grabbed his collar and cornered him by the road fences while his friends surrounded Ben preventing him from escaping.

Manager Gui cannot be seen by anyone aside from the players and the targets within the game world. He flew the moment a few NPC appeared.

Henry spoke, “Damn porky! Did you think you could hide for long? You are a new guy that isn’t welcomed here. But let this Good Big boss welcome you with a gift from me. Hehehe~ I will engrave my name on your skin, pig!”

He suddenly pulled out a folding knife from his pocket and gestured for his minions to hold his limbs of Ben. They pulled up his shirt and Ben looked at them in fear.

Ben pleads as he stutters in fear, “No. No. Please stop! STOP… Ah!”

The psychopathic Henry unhesitatingly used the tip of the knife to carve the letters of his name onto the stomach of Ben. Each slice left a bleeding mark on his skin making him scream in pain.

AHHH!

Manager Gui floated in front of Ben and passed him the talismans An Yuan had given to him.

Ben. BEN! Wake up. Use the Thunder Talismans on them!

The pain blurred Ben’s sight but he could hear An Yuan and System Gui’s words lingering in his ears. Not far from them An Yuan was shocked by the scene happening to Ben. He never expected that after leaving the boy temporarily, he would be attacked by the other NPC instead of the NPC boss of this dungeon.

An Yuan calls, “Ben, use the talisman!”

Ben put on some force in his arms to force the people holding down away and break free. It was freed only for a few seconds but that was enough to throw the talismans at Henry and his group. Once the yellow slip of paper sticks to their bodies electricity had spread all over their vessel making them tremble in pain and let out agonizing screams.

AAHH AHHH AHHHH!!

The thunder talisman only lasts for 10 seconds at most but these last ten seconds were already hell for Henry and his goons. They fainted as expected and were even twitching in their dreams.

Ben was shocked by the result but he was more amazed by how effective those yellow papers are.

“Wow~ it’s so powerful!” said Ben. He even forgot that he was injured in his stomach. “Ouch. Ouch!! Hiss!!!”

An Yuan worried looked at his stomach and saw the bleeding knife wounds on it. The knife wounds weren’t that deep but it was cut neat enough to see his white and pinkish flesh hidden beyond the skin.

“This is too much. Are children at this age this aggressive!?” said An Yuan.

Han Ya took over his job and helped Ben with cleaning his wound. 𝒷𝓭ℴ𝓋𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶

“I will need to clean your wound to avoid infections. Bear the pain,” said Han Ya to Ben who nodded his head as he prepared for the pain.

An Yuan pulled out a first aid kit from his inventory and gave it to Han Ya. It would be faster to use healing props but these props aren’t that effective towards NPCs inside this dungeon. As for why the only real being in this place is that clown while the rest are just ghosts imprisoned in his game to play a role

Ben was panting in pain as his wounds were cleaned up and wrapped in bandages. Han Ya might not be as professional as Lan She who was a doctor but temporary aid would be useful. At least they had to stop the bleeding.

Han Ya asked, “Finished. Can you stand?”

Ben tried his best to move his body as he bears the pain trying to stand up. With the help of An Yuan and Han Ya, Ben was able to stand up in the end.

An Yuan said, “In this condition, you wouldn’t be able to walk towards the river. Thankfully I asked Brother Lan for some Teleportation Talisman. Hold on to me. I will use it to bring us to where everyone is.”

A Teleportation Talisman was held by An Yuan. Han Ya carried him in his arms while Ben was told to hold on to Han Ya’s sleeves. Manager Gui landed gently on the top of his player’s head. Once everyone is ready, An Yuan tears the Teleportation Talisman to activate the runes on it. In a blink of an eye, they were teleported to the riverside where the rest are.

Bill and the rest were having a barbecue with Chu Mo and others. Since most of them were saved by this group of players, the targets were too friendly towards them. Even Beverly, who was the only girl, was having fun with the group of voices.

She didn’t feel out of place as there is someone in the group who is a lot cuter than she is.

When Ben arrives with An Yuan and the rest, Beverly instantly recognizes him. He was the new kid in class that she had approached on her way home yesterday when she noticed everyone was ignoring him.

Beverly spoke, “It is you. The new kid, Ben. Welcome to this group of misfits!”

“Un! For some reason I feel this name really fits us well,” said Richie.

He had heard what happened to his friends and didn’t believe it at the beginning as he didn’t experience anything scary yesterday. He had even played all day at the game machine on his own the whole time. It was until he met Chu Mo and the rest that he believed them.

After all, he tried asking someone outside their group if they could see them. To his surprise aside from the 7 of them, no one else could see the group of players like Lan She and the rest.

Beverly asked worriedly when he saw the blood on Ben’s clothes, “Hey! There’s blood on you. You’re injured?”

“What h-happened?” asked Bill.

Ben replies with a bit of reluctance. “W-Well… Henry and his goons caught me by the road.”

“You’re unlucky, Dude,” commented Richie.

Stanley advises, “Better ask Brother Lan to check your wounds. He is a doctor.”

“I will check it after the meal. Just don’t eat too much greasy food. I will prepare some soup for you instead. Take a seat and rest first.” said Lan She.

Meanwhile at the grills.

Mike spoke, “Grill some veggies too. We can’t just eat meat!”

“I love meat though. But I will grill some corn for you,” said Eddie. “Brother Chu, what do you guys want to eat?”

Chu Mo replied, “Just cook a lot. I’m fishing right now! You’re startling my fish!”

“Okay~ I’ll grill you mushrooms then,” murmured Eddie.

Stanley was silently helping Lan She with cutting more meat and seafood food. As well, wash some vegetables in the preparation corner. Bill and Little Georgie on the other hand are playing chess with Hei Anjing while Ye Xiajie feeds him some fruits.

Ben observes everyone and feels that each and one of them are uniquely different from the rest. Among the group, the three little ones are the most eye-catching. An Yuan is already so adorable and cuddly with his size. Little Georgie is a bit more grown-up than him though he is the youngest within the group. While that toddler who looks like a doll named Hei Anjing looks a bit too beautiful to be called a human. Plus the young man with chromatic eyes who stays by his side looks even more dangerous than the demon clown he met at the library.

When he asked An Yuan who Hei Anjing and Ye Xiajie are, he wasn’t surprised to hear that they are the leaders of this team. Just their powerful presence alone is enough to distinguish them from the rest of the group. No one even asks them to do something during the grilling or cooking of food. They just waited at the side and the rest would serve them food.

During the meal, Ben, who has injuries, couldn’t eat much meat. Hei Anjing glanced at him and said,

“The kid is pitiful. A’She, heal his wounds so he can eat properly,” said Hei Anjing.

Bill and the rest were surprised to hear that they are capable of healing wounds. Those are supernatural powers that no one in their town possessed.

Lan She followed the command of Hei Anjing without any complaint. He asked Chu Mo to remove the bandages that Han Ya wrapped around his stomach to stop the bleeding.

“Han Ya had cleaned up your wounds nicely. It would naturally heal within half a month if left alone,” said Lan She as he placed his hand above the wound and emit a warm and gold light from his hands. This light heals the wounds faster than normal. Ben even witnessed his knife wound closed up at a very fast pace until it completely closed up like an old wound.

Lan She spoke, “Done. You are completely healed. Eat more meat to replenish your energy and blood.”

“Thank you, Sir,” said Ben.

Lan She replied, “You’re welcome. Eat a lot.”

“Yes, I will,” said Ben with a smile on his face.

Richie commented excitedly, “Superpowers!? Wow~ that’s amazing! Are you guys superheroes!?”

“No. We are not!” said Zane. “Kid, just eat your food or I’ll throw you to the river.”

Zane, who was usually talkative, met his match. Richie is an even worse chatterbox than he is. Is now even suffering from a headache when the boss left this chatterbox and questioned him about what everyone had experienced which he hasn’t at all. He only stopped talking when everyone started eating.

—

Once everyone was finished stuffing their stomachs were full. They’ve gathered at the wide picnic mats laid near the river while having some tea to help them digest the food in their stomachs. Each one of them was relaxed as they got along with each other.

Chu Mo and Zane become the bridge for Mike, Beverly, and Ben to communicate with Bill and his friends. It was easy for them to get along as they have the same experiences when it comes to that clown who targets them.

Upon hearing everyone’s side of the story once again, Richie was the only one who hadn’t experienced anything that felt out of place and commented.

“You guys experienced all that? That’s scary. If not for seeing Little Georgie before me in the form of a ghost or now. I wouldn’t have believed it at all. How come I’m the only one who hadn’t gone through those things at all?” said Richie.

Han Ya answered for everyone.

“It is because your place is a hub for children to play. More children are gathering at your place which fills the whole place with Yang. It is impossible for a demonic being to enter such a place, especially for IT whose source of strength is fear.” said Han Ya.

Bill said, “N-Now that you said it. Isn’t Richie’s h-house a Game Center?”

“Indeed. That place is always full of people,” said Beverly.

Eddie said, “Plus you love to stay in that Street Fight machine almost all day. No wonder that clown skipped you.”

“Since you are always surrounded by people. When we got attacked we were almost alone,” said Stanley.

Ben said, “By the way, guys. Did you notice a red balloon suddenly appear during those moments when things have gone wrong?”

“A red balloon?” mumbled Richie.

Stabley said, “I do. That red balloon appeared in my place.”

“Me too. I saw IT together with red balloons in his hand,” said Eddie.

Mike spoke, “I only saw IT face to face.”

Bill spoke, “Same as a-above.”

“Does the color red instead count? IT made my bathroom covered in blood,” said Beverly.

Ben spoke, “Maybe this red balloon is his catalyst or medium. As if informing us of his appearance.”

Everyone subconsciously agreed to Ben’s arguments and nodded their heads as they tried to recall if there are any other instances where a red balloon was sighted in their daily lives.