Horror Movie Set: This extra is too good at playing the tricks.

Chapter 55 Speedrun

Lu Dan's gaze swept over the three people behind him.

The new Ye Jianguo hurriedly turned around to introduce them, pointing to the fat man: "This is Da Lu." Then he pointed to the short-haired girl: "This is Chen Hua."

"The other one with a ponytail is Zhang Min."

Same name, different configuration.

A chill ran through Lu Dan, but he forced a simple smile: "Team Leader Ye, I've heard so much about you. I've heard from the village chief that some important people are coming today. I'm A Dan, and I'm in charge of all the village's trivial matters."

Perhaps it's like his first script.

The indigenous democracy group didn't even survive the first chapter. The system determined that the difficulty was too high, so this round they directly airdropped four designers in to fill the gaps.

"You leaders must be tired from your journey. Please come to my humble abode to rest for a while." Lu Dan stepped aside to lead the way, his movements practiced and efficient.

Returning to the familiar courtyard, the threshold of the main room was spotless, as if no bloody massacre had ever taken place there.

Lu Dan took the opportunity of going to get water to quickly slip into the west wing.

The original actress, Zhang Min, who had been driven mad with fear, disappeared without a trace, and even the bedding was replaced with new ones.

"The cleaning work is really well done." Lu Dan sneered, turned around and went back to the main room to face the four "new guests" with different expressions.

Although they tried their best to conceal it, their eyes betrayed them—warning and scrutinizing, especially the short-haired woman named Chen Hua, whose hands were always intentionally or unintentionally protected at her waist, where there was a bulge, obviously hiding something.

"Since you're all staying here, there are some unpleasant things I need to say upfront." Lu Dan put down his teacup and got straight to the point.

"Our village worships the Twin Gods, and rules are paramount. We get up at 9 a.m. and go to bed at 9 p.m. Especially at night, if you hear the announcement, you must immediately go to bed and close your eyes, no matter how noisy it is outside, you must lie still."

If an ordinary person heard about such superstitious rules, they would definitely question or laugh at them.

But after hearing this, the four people not only didn't refute it, but also quickly exchanged glances.

"Understood, when in Rome, do as the Romans do." The new Ye Jianguo nodded, his eyes sharp. "We will definitely abide by it."

"As expected of a player."

Lu Dan felt more confident.

The four people from the previous batch died for no reason, but this batch, being here to clear the level, are much more valuable.

"Since everyone is so committed, let's not dawdle." Lu Dan stood up. "The census is a huge undertaking, so let's start now before it gets dark."

Fatty Lu was taken aback: "So soon? Shouldn't you rest first?"

"Comrade Da Lu, how can you complain about being tired when serving the people?" Lu Dan interrupted him directly. "Besides, the sooner you finish, the sooner you can go back and report. What's so great about staying in this lousy village?"

He didn't want to go through that constipation-like process again. Since it was a restart, he wanted a smooth and satisfying quick pass.

Over the next few hours, Lu Dan demonstrated to the four designers what efficiency truly meant.

He led four men, running wildly along the village road like herding sheep.

"Knock knock knock!"

He knocked on the door, and before the old lady peeking in could speak, Lu Dan interrupted, "Isn't it enough for just the three of you to live here?"

"Okay, noted. This is a city leader, he's busy, I won't have any more tea, I'll be going now."

He turned around and pulled Zhang Min, who was still stunned and taking notes, towards the next store.

When he encountered houses with their doors tightly shut or those that were obviously in trouble, Lu Dan didn't even bother to knock. He simply pointed to the door and said, "This family has all gone to work in other places. They left two doormen at home. There are five people in total."

"This works?" Zhang Min, who was in charge of taking notes, could barely hold her pen.

"Special cases are handled specially." Lu Dan remained calm and collected, and even maliciously added more than a dozen people to the names of several empty, extinct families at the end of the village.

What would normally take a whole afternoon to complete was compressed into just three hours thanks to Lu Dan's fabricated and nonsensical approach.

The sun was barely halfway up the mountain when Lu Dan closed his folder and pointed towards the back of the mountain: "We've finished checking the village. Our village is special; some of our 'registered residents' are on the mountain, so we have to go check on them too."

Ye Jianguo's eyes narrowed: "Up in the mountain?"

"Yes, let's go visit a grave." Lu Dan touched his slingshot, speaking casually, "and while we're at it, let's show the villagers the natural scenery of our Shuangshan Village."

This time, he took the initiative to lead this group deeper into the instance.

The mountain road was rugged, and Lu Dan walked at the front, his back straight.

The four people behind him whispered among themselves, clearly suspicious of the overly proactive NPC, but for the sake of clues, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow.

Arriving at the small hill, Lu Dan pointed to "Yao Yao" and "Yao Yao": "Make a note of this, these two are also from our village."

Just as Zhang Min took out her notebook to take notes, Lu Dan stopped and fixed his gaze on the murky river not far ahead.

There was a bush nearby, its branches and leaves trembling slightly.

If it were your first time here, you might think it was just the wind, but Lu Dan knew that there was a damned "wild dog" crouching there, waiting for some unlucky guy to pass by so it could pounce and tear off a piece of flesh.

That's how Lu was completely wasted in the last round.

"Please step back a moment, everyone."

Lu Dan pulled a wooden slingshot from his pocket, his movements fluid and graceful, pulling the rubber band to its limit.

"Come out here!"

"Boom!"

With the elastic band snapping back, a piercing scream rang out, and the dark figure that was still preparing to pounce on the person in the bushes didn't even have a chance to show itself before being blasted into the river, splashing up a spray of water.

"What is that?" Ye Jianguo was so frightened that he pulled out a folding knife.

"It's alright, just shooting 'stray dogs'." Lu Dan blew on the rubber band, stuffed the slingshot back into his pocket, and said calmly, "There are a lot of 'stray dogs' in the village. If you don't break their teeth, they'll try to gnaw on your bones. Let's go, there's more scenery ahead."

The four designers exchanged glances, their eyes flashing with apprehension as they looked at Lu Dan's retreating figure. Something was wrong with this NPC.

"Brother Adan," Ye Jianguo quickened his pace and asked tentatively, "Judging from your skills... have you been trained? That thing's bark just now didn't sound like an ordinary dog."

"We mountain folk live off the land. If we didn't have some skills, we would have starved to death long ago," Lu Dan casually replied, continuing on his way.

"As for that 'wild dog,' Team Leader Ye is an educated man; he understands some things in his heart."

Along the way, the four of them took turns trying to extract some information from Lu Dan.

Lu Dan was happy to play along with them, revealing some of his secrets, such as telling the two children their nicknames, which left the group bewildered.

Unbeknownst to them, the group had arrived at the middle of the back mountain.

This is a clearing surrounded by trees, with a gloomy atmosphere.

In the center of the open space stood a dilapidated temple with its doors wide open. The statues enshrined inside were exactly the same as those in the village's threshing ground: a headless white robe on the left and a two-headed red robe on the right. However, the statues here appeared much older, and the surface of the clay sculptures was covered with moss.

"We've arrived." Lu Dan stopped and made way for him.

"Leaders, this is the root of our village. If you want to conduct a thorough census, you need to take a good look at this place."

He stepped back behind the crowd, crossed his arms, and looked deep into the distance.

We hadn't explored this area before.

"Is this the Twin Gods?" Chen Hua asked, his voice trembling as he looked at the strange statue.

"It does look eerie." Ye Jianguo gripped his folding knife tightly, glanced back at Lu Dan, and seeing that he didn't intend to approach, gestured: "Everyone be careful, search him."

The four players split up, cautiously approached the statue, and began searching around.

Lu Dan stood outside, observing coldly, waiting for these players to test and make mistakes for him.

Time passed second by second, and the sun had completely sunk into the valley, the last rays of light on the horizon being swallowed by darkness.

Lu Dan estimated the time in his mind; it was about time.

"Gentlemen," Lu Dan's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Da Lu, who was prying open the base of the statue, "It's getting dark, according to our village rules. You all understand?"

Ye Jianguo froze, looked up at the sky, and shouted, "Retreat!"

Although they were somewhat unwilling, they clearly dared not gamble with their lives on the very first night.

Going downhill was faster than going uphill; it was almost a jog.

Back in the courtyard, dinner was still sweet potatoes, but this time Lu Dan ate them exceptionally quickly.

"Sizzle—"

An announcement came over the loudspeaker that the curfew had begun again.

"Alright, everyone go back to your rooms and find your mothers." Lu Dan clapped his hands and stood up.

Watching the four people slip into the side room and close the door, Lu Dan closed the main room door, blew out the kerosene lamp, and darkness filled the room.

He lay on the hard wooden bed, touching his left ankle. His "roommate" seemed somewhat silent...