He laughed at himself, thinking he was probably getting a little crazy too.

The Vault noticed his gaze, picked up the takeout bag beside her, and politely asked, “Want some?”

Julian Grant took out a bowl of rice from inside.

The Vault said, “It’s my treat.”

Julian Grant: “?”

“It’s really expensive,” The Vault emphasized, “Delivery from this kind of high-end restaurant starts at a thousand.”

Julian Grant almost spat at her. This was from his own place!

The Vault kept going: “You’re making a profit. You only ever treated me to a bowl of noodles that cost a little over ten bucks. But don’t bother giving me change.”

Fed to the dogs!

Julian Grant felt that all his previous worries about her had gone to the dogs, and he almost wanted to throw the lunchbox back at her.

This was charity food!

The Vault looked at his twisted expression and couldn’t hold it in anymore, bursting out laughing, her shoulders shaking as she said, “Q-ge, you really are a good person.”

Julian Grant said sourly, “Are you complimenting me?”

The Vault replied, “Of course! Ever since you arrived, I’ve been in a better mood.”

“Thank you!” Julian Grant didn’t feel complimented at all and said grumpily, “Next time, I hope you’ll find a different word. I’ve heard this one before.”

The Vault agreed with a smile, “Alright.”

She pulled out a box of five-spice beef from the bag and shared it with Julian Grant.

“For you.”

This box of beef jerky saved their precarious friendship. The two sat side by side, and the atmosphere became harmonious again.

Actually, The Vault was already full, and later on she just sat there keeping Julian Grant company while he ate.

The bell from the school across the street rang again and again, and The Vault suddenly called his name.

“Julian Grant.”

She rarely called Julian Grant by his full name, so those three characters suddenly sounded unusually solemn.

Julian Grant raised his eyebrows, looking at her inquiringly.

The Vault said, “I was just thinking, if I ever ended up in a situation where I had to go on the run, the last person I’d want to find would probably be you.”

Julian Grant was flattered, and it showed clearly on his face.

“Actually, I don’t have many people I could tell.” The Vault held up her fingers to show him, “Look, if I called Quinn Foster, he’s not serious at all. He’d probably say, ‘Come on, play a game with me first,’ and then turn around and sell me out to the police for the reward. If he had a bit of conscience, maybe he’d split it fifty-fifty with me.”

“I could also call the bank, since I haven’t paid off my loan yet. They’d definitely remember me forever and search for me to the ends of the earth. Even though my photo can’t be on the RMB, it could end up on a very valuable wanted poster.”

Imagining that scene, the two of them burst out laughing. For some reason, it felt especially funny.

After laughing, Julian Grant said seriously, “If you called me, I’d definitely find you.”

The Vault responded indifferently, “Oh?” After all, this was the guy who just lost a game today, with ninety-nine teammates in tow.

Julian Grant: “No search area, no red zone, no time limit. I’d dig three feet into the ground to find you.”

He really didn’t look like he was joking.

The Vault’s smile gradually froze, and she exclaimed, “Do you have a grudge against me or something?”

Julian Grant said, “If you called me at a time like that, wouldn’t it be because you wanted me to find you?”

The Vault was stunned for a moment, suddenly not knowing how to answer.

Is that so?

She wasn’t sure herself. It was just that, in the game, she’d had that thought more than once.

“Maybe.” The Vault mumbled, “But I wouldn’t run.”

“No need to run, I’ll help you.” Julian Grant promised, “I’m actually pretty awesome.”

The Vault looked at him, smiling and nodding.

At this moment, on Trident Forum, netizens were frantically searching for The Vault.

# [Picture] Who is this 96-point legend! Who is it! #

Chapter 54 Review

The Vault was a hit.

Everyone in Trident Forum was talking about this autumn escape instance. The front page posts were updating at lightning speed, and the most mentioned name was The Vault’s ID.

The attention brought by so many well-known players far exceeded previous instances, making her a dark horse among new players, carving out a bloody path.

But The Vault herself had nothing to do with being new or not—her very existence was unreasonable.

Netizens took screenshots of The Vault in the game and asked everywhere about her identity, wanting to know where this genius who appeared out of nowhere had come from.

“Who is she? A 96 ability score—how could someone like that be unknown? If she’s in the industry, can she do an interview so I can worship her?”

“I’m totally convinced by this lady’s acting. As a viewer, even I get fooled by her sometimes. She’s a real talent!”

“Some netizens in the previous two instances said they recognized her. Based on their info, the big shot is probably a teacher, used to teach at Ashford University for several years, had a good reputation and solid skills, but recently quit for some reason.”

“Taught at Ashford University for years? She must be at least thirty or forty, maybe older.”

“Thirty or forty can still be a pretty lady! [roar]”

“…Wait, was it quitting or retiring? That’s a big difference. Are you all so obsessed with the lady? If she’s a top industry veteran, guessing like this is kind of rude, isn’t it?”

“The big shot gets along well with Q-ge, and in previous instances even joked about gender with him. If she’s a senior, would she really do that? [cautious] I think maybe the netizens got it wrong.”

After a while, since no students from Ashford University were willing to confirm The Vault’s identity, and The Vault herself never showed any intention of becoming an internet celebrity, the topic gradually faded, and people started discussing today’s instance instead.

Some netizens had already made tables compiling the escape situations from each livestream, and a full edited video was in the works and should be released soon.

“By the way, I didn’t expect that in today’s instances, more than one person actually managed to escape. After all, a 1-to-100 numbers advantage is pretty overwhelming.”

“They can’t cause public panic during holidays. Basically, it’s just too many people + enemies too cunning. The veteran players all know how to use the crowd to their advantage, running circles around everyone. Hilarious.”

“Did you know that Professor York next door, because he muddled around for so long and in such a wide area, and kept causing trouble, his bounty kept going up, and he actually dragged the ratio from 1:100 to 1:150? I think he’s farming the bounty. [I have proof]”

“That’s nothing! The clever kid in livestream 206 hijacked a police car and snuck into the team. Fooled all the new players along the way, was about to enter the base, and then got recognized by the security guard at the Public Security Bureau and got busted on the spot. [hahaha] Oh man, that scene was epic!”

“One player took the train, sneaking through the crowd without a ticket. Turns out there are still loopholes in basic security checks.”

“The fastest to clear was still QC big shot. Actually, she shook off her pursuers by 2:30, but spent over half an hour walking and waiting for the bus.”

“How was the pursuer team in her instance? The other instances had pretty stacked pursuer teams, so it took a long time.”

“Hers was stacked too! Wallace Franklin was the chief commander, plus over a dozen players with personal scores around 80. Trident balances abilities when assigning instances, there’s no bias, so let’s not argue about that.”

“The other players were all keeping a low profile, just trying to survive, but this 96-point big shot strutted around the whole time—can you believe it?”

“COSPLAY’s reputation is ruined. In the future, the police might really require suspects to remove their makeup on the spot. [doge]”

“If I had even half this big shot’s nerves, I’d already be at the top of my game. [swear]”

“I really learned a lot of useless stuff from this instance. Here’s a question: why do all geniuses know a bit about escaping from the dark side? [not so simple]”

·

Julian Grant was chatting with The Vault, but his phone kept ringing, making it impossible to eat in peace.

Julian Grant didn’t want to pay attention, but the constant buzzing in his pocket made him feel a bit sleazy, especially since The Vault kept glancing at his pants pocket at the sound. Reluctantly, Julian Grant took it out and checked.

Sure enough, it was his employee bombarding him with messages.

That guy was basically out for revenge on society, sending him all kinds of pictures: netizens’ comments about The Vault, calls for The Vault to do interviews, character profiles of The Vault based on her performance in the instance, and even invitations from major MCN companies hoping to sign The Vault.

If he could put even a fraction of his attention to The Vault into figuring out his boss’s mindset, he’d already be promoted and getting a raise, well on his way to the top.