Chapter 20: Night Sounds

"Nothing." Xu Huo shifted his gaze from the corpse to the oversized stack of firewood and the freshly sharpened axe nearby, then stood up to scan his surroundings.

"I’ve got it!" the short-haired female player said excitedly, holding up a pair of large and small rubber boots found in the cabin. "It seems there were two people living here, perhaps a couple. The woman died first, and the man, suffering from a severe illness, became utterly hopeless after burying her and committed suicide."

"He couldn't have died any earlier or later; he just had to die the moment we walked in," the girl with smoky makeup muttered, curling her lip.

After searching the cabin inside and out, the muscular man and the others found no useful clues, so they returned the body to the house, intending to bury it once the sun rose.

The group returned to the main path and crossed the woods to the villa’s main hall.

The courtyard was structured in a "Hui" shape. Entering through the front gate brought one into the main hall, with corridors on both sides leading to the guest rooms. Each of the three sides of the courtyard contained two rooms, each equipped with its own hot spring. At the two rear corners, there were additional paths leading outside the courtyard—one to the dining hall and one to the warehouse.

At a glance, the courtyard was accessible from all directions, offering no privacy whatsoever.

The villa was empty of other people but remained reasonably clean. Electricity was functioning, though the combination of high humidity and the all-wood construction left the air thick with a musty, decaying scent.

"Six rooms. How shall we distribute them?" the rich kid asked.

"Two to a room is perfect," the muscular man said, slapping his biceps. "But I’m not afraid to stay by myself!"

"I think it’s better if we stay together," the long-haired female player suggested. "We can look out for one another and respond better if something happens."

"Have you forgotten something?" the balding middle-aged man suddenly interjected. "There might be cannibal players among us. Who wants to share a room with one?"

"Identifying a cannibal player is easy; their serial numbers are unique..." The cowboy-style man hadn't finished his sentence when the short-haired girl cut him off. "Wang Wei, stop talking as if it’s easy. White players are at a disadvantage. Check the numbers? We don't even know who we might die by!"

White players—Xu Huo had realized back at the station, while dealing with the ticketless passengers, that besides red and black, there was a category of white players. Those who had never eaten human flesh or killed anyone were likely classified as such. Compared to the other two categories, white players were indeed in a precarious position.

Wang Wei shrugged. "Suit yourselves. Staying apart is better anyway."

"Of course we should stay apart!" the short-haired girl said, pulling the long-haired girl along. "You’re staying with me!"

The long-haired girl opened her mouth, then nodded in agreement.

"Let’s just all stay separately," the man in the suit said, glancing at everyone. "Once you enter the game, you’re on your own. We only have five days anyway."

The players came from different places and were neither familiar with nor trusting of one another. The mentality of "minding one's own business" was only natural. Besides, this was a survival instance; one only needed to survive for five days.

"Brother Xu, can I share a room with you?" Seeing that no one else had any intention of teaming up, Yuan Yao followed Xu Huo.

"Sure." Xu Huo chose the first room on the right. Before stepping inside, he gestured with his chin, and Yuan Yao understood, immediately pretending to look for a partner while following the other players.

He returned a while later, having figured out the room assignments.

"That long-haired beauty is named Du Lanlan; she’s quite easy to talk to. The short-haired one is Xia Guo. They’re staying across from us."

"The woman with the rich kid is a streamer. She’s average-looking, and I don’t know if her name is real or not—she calls herself Liu Yuanyuan."

"They are staying next to Huang Junjie and Zhang Xiong. Huang Junjie is that uncle in the suit."

"The bald guy is Wan Zhikang. Du Lanlan and Xia Guo arrived one after the other. When they first arrived, Wan Zhikang tried to suck up to them, but when they ignored him, he started hating them. He’s staying in the room directly opposite ours with the foreigner, Abel."

"The room next door was taken by Wang Wei. The college student had nowhere to go, and I saw Wang Wei call him in when I came back."

Xu Huo nodded. "Which two players hadn't you seen before?"

"Wang Wei and Huang Junjie." Yuan Yao relayed everything he had gathered from Du Lanlan in one breath. "Huang Junjie is really impressive. When Wan Zhikang was harassing them, he exposed his background in one go. Turns out the bald guy is wearing a green hat, was swindled out of all his money by his mistress, and has turned his love for beautiful women into hatred."

"They know each other?"

"No, that’s just it! They don't know each other, which makes it even more impressive. Huang Junjie deduced it from tiny clues." Yuan Yao’s voice was filled with envy. "Why don't I have such a powerful trait?"

Xu Huo had finished checking the room by then. He pulled the curtains shut and said, "Get some sleep."

Yuan Yao suddenly felt a bit of fear. He cautiously looked at the man who had remained expressionless the whole time. "Uh, Brother Xu, aren't you afraid that I’m a cannibal player?"

Xu Huo lay down on the bed. "Don't worry, I’m not a cannibal player."

Yuan Yao offered a sheepish smile and settled into the other bed.

The room was dimly lit, and the rhythmic sound of the hot spring water echoed from the courtyard outside. Xu Huo touched the phone in his pocket, mentally sorting through the information on the players.

He had observed everyone; they had basically arrived empty-handed. Aside from clothing and simple daily necessities like lighters or earrings, they had no phones, watches, or weapons. The game's definition of "items" seemed tied to their technical complexity.

However, he had come straight from the station, and the phone and dagger he brought had not disappeared.

The game hint mentioned that the instance level was too low to bring in non-game items, and the fact that the villa had once been popular with both players and non-players suggested the instance location wasn't entirely sealed off.

You couldn't bring things in from outside the game, but if you were already in the game world, you could bring items into the instance regardless of whether they were "game items." Likewise, anyone—player or not—could enter the instance location.

Furthermore, the game hadn't explicitly stated how many people were participating in the instance.

Xu Huo turned over and opened his eyes to see someone standing silently by his bed. "What are you doing?"

Yuan Yao nearly shrieked. Startled, he quickly clarified, "I wasn't trying to hurt you! I just wanted to see the serial number on your back."

To show his innocence, he lifted his shirt first. "Really, I’m a white player!"

Xu Huo sat up, leaned against the headboard, and lit a cigarette, watching the anxious Yuan Yao. "If you're so scared, why did you choose to share a room with me?"

Seeing that Xu Huo had no intention of attacking him, Yuan Yao relaxed a little. "I’m actually just a homebody. I can't lift heavy things or do much physical labor. You might not believe me, but on the initial screening train, I was almost beaten to death by a fifteen-year-old girl... But you're different, Brother Xu. You’re calm, and you wear your hair long; you look like a master from the outside world. I just wanted to latch onto a powerhouse..."

Xu Huo raised a hand to cut him off, listening intently:

"Clang... clang... clang..."