Underworld Player-Novel

Sometimes, it doesn't rain but it pours—that was what Bai Zhi thought as he stared at his phone.

In his single-minded pursuit of making a thousand comments, he had left replies on all kinds of threads... and promptly been suspended for a day for spamming meaningless, irrelevant content.

"Hmph! O Player's Forum, how petty you are. Welp, not like I need you!"

With a disapproving sniff, he haughtily closed the window and flopped back onto the couch. If the food didn't arrive soon, Bai Zhi was sure he would be the first Player to die of hunger.

The minutes ticked by as he lay on the couch, stiff as a board. It must have been some ten minutes before his doorbell rang.

"Sincerest apologies, sir! There was a traffic jam on the way here, which delayed the delivery. I'm so sorry!"

The deliveryman was wearing a motorcycle helmet, and his shirt and pants looked scuffed, exactly as if he had fallen off a bike. He apologized profusely as he handed over the bag containing Bai Zhi's order.

"That's all right, I understand. We're all trying to get by~ You're not too late, I don't mind giving you five stars." Bai Zhi waved magnanimously.

It was true—the delivery was late, but not by much, and besides, he had once worked as a delivery driver, so he understood. After he sent the deliveryman on his way, Bai Zhi closed the door and brought the bag to the dining table.

No sooner had he put it down than the doorbell rang again. He hadn't even opened the bag.

"Huh?" Bai Zhi looked through the peephole and was surprised to see that the earnest guy from earlier had returned.

Opening the door, he said, "Did you—"

"Sincerest apologies, sir! There was a traffic jam on the way here, which delayed the delivery. I'm so sorry!"

The deliveryman offered up a large bag as he repeated what he said earlier, word for word.

"Okay..."

Bai Zhi glanced at the table where he had just placed the first bag, then back at the deliveryman, and quickly realized he must be caught up in another supernatural entity incident. He calmly accepted the new bag of food and waved the deliveryman away cheerfully.

"No worries, it's nothing. Take it easy~"

He may have been unaware the first time and suspicious the second, but the third time he found himself facing that earnest deliveryman standing in his doorway with another big bag of food, Bai Zhi had no doubt in his mind about what was going on—it was the supernatural entity that had started appearing in the city recently, the "Crazy Delivery Dude".

It had first appeared in Marina City, and with it, there soon appeared a detailed account of one person's experience with the entity online. The person who posted it had also coined the name "Crazy Delivery Dude", which stuck as other people who encountered the entity began adding details from their own experiences.

Anyone ordering food delivery between 7 and 9 p.m. every day would have a chance of encountering the supernatural entity. It appeared in the guise of a deliveryman of average build, wearing a motorcycle helmet which obscured its face, and dusty, scuffed-looking clothes as it delivered the same order of food seven times in a row.

The reason it was dubbed "crazy" was because, if it rang your doorbell or knocked at your door and you didn't open it within one minute, it would bring out hammers, chainsaws, axes, et cetera and start breaking down your door... until it could personally deliver your food to you.

Even if you were sitting on the toilet, once the minute was up, that crazy deliveryman would rip and tear through every door until it found you, in shock and frantically pulling up your pants... only to flash you an earnest smile and warmly hand over your food delivery order, then ask you to leave a good review.

"One good turn deserves another, leave a good review, won't you, brother?"

The moniker of "Crazy Delivery Dude" was well-deserved, considering it went this far just to deliver food.

Of course, a supernatural entity like this was mostly mentioned in casual gossip just to pass the time, and was really only shared amongst small communities online.

However, Bai Zhi was someone who spent every day scouring the internet for news about supernatural entities in the city, so even the most minor of supernatural entities did not escape his notice.

The seventh time that he made the trip from the front door to the dining table, Bai Zhi was struck by a thought as he stared at the six other bags of food on it.

Just then, the doorbell rang for the eighth time.

"Again? The posts never mentioned anything about an eighth delivery..."

Bai Zhi narrowed his eyes as he set the seventh bag down, then turned toward the door. When he opened it, the same deliveryman he had seen seven times before was standing there, again.

This time, before the Delivery Dude could speak, Bai Zhi threw the door wide open and said, "Bro, you must be so tired, delivering all these orders. Come in, take a load off! I could use your help eating some of this. I ordered too much to finish on my own, I'd hate to waste it."

The Dude seemed taken aback by this unexpected development, and it froze for a moment before nodding mutely. A few minutes later, the deliveryman—rather, the supernatural entity—sat awkwardly down on the couch.

"Go for it, don't hold back on my account."

Bai Zhi brought the first bag of food to the coffee table and, seeing the Dude still sitting stiffly, offered him a can of beer.

"Eat, drink, and be merry; life's too short not to party! 'Bottom's up', as they say, and you’re your troubles away."

The Dude accepted the can and said in a hoarse croak, "...Thank you."

Bai Zhi didn't dwell on it, as he was simply relieved that the doorbell had stopped ringing. He dived into the bag of food and laid out all the tasty dishes within. The encounter with the supernatural entity had added delay on top of delay, and he was all but crippled with hunger. Any longer without food, and he felt like he would collapse.

But just as he bent his head to take a bite, a notification from the System suddenly popped up before Bai Zhi. He froze as his eyes quickly read the text, then decided to raise his head.

The couch was empty except for himself, while an empty beer can sat peacefully on the table.

The supernatural entity had disappeared into thin air.