Chapter 50: Fur

Almost forced to watch an entire reality show, Xu Huo was only able to break free close to the game time of midnight.

The Skinner surrendered his bedroom to him and went to sleep on the sofa.

Once it grew quiet outside, Xu Huo sat up. Shaking off his previous drunken demeanor, he contacted Peng Fengnian to confirm that the Skinner had indeed gone to the office, and then stepped lightly out of the bedroom.

He entered the fur room outside, put on the Skinner’s gloves, and began examining every single piece of fur.

During the day, Tang Pei and the others had also checked this place, and just as he saw, everything hanging here was animal fur. Yet, the Skinner had insisted there was human skin here.

If the human skin was not hanging out in the open, it had to be hidden among these furs.

Why the Skinner would hide human skin among animal fur was an answer that went without saying.

He inspected every piece of fur, discovering at least three with double layers. Unsure if they actually contained human skin and choosing not to open them up for a look, he simply memorized their locations and the characteristics of the furs before leaving.

Inside the small room next to the workshop, several players were waiting anxiously. Hearing a tap on the window, they quickly opened it.

Xu Huo jumped inside, nodding to them as a greeting. "Remember to call me Mr. Wang when we're outside."

"Well, Mr. Wang, did you find anything?" Zou Weichang asked, crossing his arms and staring at him.

Xu Huo pressed his paper phone against his ear so that Peng Fengnian could also hear what he said.

"The way to open the secret room is to push the entire wall backward," he said. "It's not difficult; two players can manage it."

The expressions of the few shifted slightly, and Qin An blurted out, "You actually got into the secret room? How did you pull that off? Why would the Skinner trust you?"

Xu Huo glanced at him and said calmly, "There's a radio on the office desk. The Skinner's instance has recently undergone major personnel changes. I posed as an administrative officer about to be transferred here through nepotism. At least for the next day or two, I'm safe."

"I've heard Peng Fengnian mention that the stations actually connect to massive areas. Although the instances inside are independent, the locations should be interconnected. It's just that our levels are too low, so we can only enter closed and semi-closed instances and cannot leave the instance boundaries," Qin An said. "We can only deduce that each station city has an administrator, though how exactly it operates remains completely unclear."

As he spoke, he stared at Xu Huo. Since the latter could fool the Skinner with this routine, he surely knew a fair bit of inside information.

"Is Mr. Xu a Class B player?" he probed.

"No." Xu Huo lit a cigarette, though he didn't put away the lighter. "Peng Fengnian is clear on the specifics."

He didn't elaborate too much; revealing the deception was merely a tactic to pry more information from their lips.

"You've got some nerve. What if the Skinner didn't believe you and attacked?" Yang Can asked with lingering admiration, still bearing the faint imprint of a hand across his face. Though he was also a Class D player, after taking that slap, he felt a bit intimidated just looking at the Skinner now.

"There is no method completely devoid of risk," Xu Huo repeated his earlier words.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and find the Skinner's prized possession," Zou Weichang stared at him with burning eyes. "There must be plenty of good things in the secret room. Just grabbing one of them should be enough to clear the instance, right?"

Qin An frowned at him but said nothing, turning his gaze back to Xu Huo instead. "Anything worthy of being called a prized possession must at least be something the Skinner considers important."

"If there are too many targets, it will only be harder to find," Tang Pei added. "Do you have any leads?"

"Peng Fengnian mentioned something to you earlier regarding the Skinner," Xu Huo flicked his cigarette ash into a water cup.

"The Skinner's knife cannot be used during the day. What about it? Is it related to that?"

"The Skinner's prized possession probably isn't inside the secret room," Xu Huo said. "Karl the factory owner and Karl the Skinner are two identities. The first task corresponds to Karl the Skinner, and his prized possessions are those furs in the fur room."

"When I came over just now, I located a few pieces of fur that might be the prized possessions, but I don't advise you to retrieve them right now."

"Karl the Skinner, Karl the factory owner—is there any difference? Aren't they the same person?" Xian Dazhi scratched his head in confusion.

Qin An reacted more quickly. "This makes sense. The game introduction also lists the Skinner's identity. He used to be a Skinner, and now his primary identity is a factory owner. Since the third task targets the factory owner, it stands to reason that the first task corresponds to his identity as a Skinner."

"What if we get it wrong?" Tang Pei worried aloud. "We don't have much time to begin with to access those items."

"I'm going to invite the Skinner to go fishing tomorrow," Xu Huo said. "You can make your move then. The risk is relatively lower during the day."

"However, I still believe the key to the first task lies within those furs." He stated the locations of the three pieces of fur and added, "I have one request: if you manage to obtain the fur and are able to leave the instance, you must retrieve the other two pieces of fur and hand them over to me before leaving."

"Don't you want to leave?" Tang Pei asked in astonishment. "As long as the ticket-holding player clears the instance, the concurrent random players can also escape the instance. That way, you wouldn't have to take any more risks."

"You want to save the people in the pigpen, don't you?" Xian Dazhi chimed in immediately. "Count me in!"

"You're out of your mind. What kind of hero are you trying to play?" Zou Weichang said with a dark face. "How do you plan to save them? Unless you can make the Skinner let people go willingly, do you really think waving two pieces of fur around will make that murdering psychopath compromise?"

The others all felt this possibility was extremely slim. Xian Dazhi muttered softly, "We've got to try, at least."

Xu Huo currently had no better way to rescue the people, and to take action, he needed the help of these players. Instead of trying to persuade them, he said, "There is an order coming in two days. The Skinner has to skin those six piglets while they are still alive and ensure they are delivered fresh to the dining table."

The complexions of Tang Pei and the others instantly turned unsightly. They all knew those six piglets were actually six children!

"I'm in!" Xian Dazhi declared. "I won't let those beasts eat children alive!"

"I agree as well," Qin An said. "By then, we'll have our return tickets. If we take a gamble, we might actually be able to save the people. Even if it fails, at least we tried our best."

Tang Pei and Yang Can nodded in unison.

"I have no problem with it either. Let's set the operation for tomorrow." Inside the paper phone, Peng Fengnian's voice paused before he suddenly said, "The factory looks a bit strange."

"Strange in what way?" Xu Huo immediately grew alert.

"It suddenly got closer..." Before Peng Fengnian could finish, his voice cut off completely.

"What happened?" Tang Pei and the others asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure. Remember the agreed time is tomorrow; I'm leaving first." Xu Huo finished hurriedly and vaulted out through the window. Raising his gaze, he saw that the tree shadows, which had been faintly visible just moments before, had completely melted into the darkness—a darkness that felt like some substantive force, closing in on the factory from all four sides!