Chapter 20: Night Sounds

"It's nothing." Xu Huo shifted his gaze from the corpse to the excessively high pile of firewood and the recently sharpened axe beside it, then stood up to scan the surroundings.

"I've got it!" The short-haired female player said enthusiastically, holding up two pairs of rubber boots—one large and one small—that she had found in the wooden cabin. "It turns out two people must have lived here, maybe a couple. The woman died first, then the man fell gravely ill. After burying her, he lost all hope and committed suicide."

"Of all the times to die, they had to die right when we walked in," the woman with smoky eye makeup muttered, curling her lip.

The muscular man and the others searched inside and outside the cabin but found no useful clues. They had no choice but to put the corpse back in the room, planning to bury it once day broke.

The group returned to the original path, passing through the woods to reach the villa's main hall.

The courtyard was built in a rectangular "回" (hui) shape. Entering through the main gate led to the main hall, with corridors on both sides leading to guest rooms. There were two rooms on each of the three sides of the rectangle, each equipped with a hot spring. At the two rear corners, there were paths leading outside the courtyard: one to the dining room and one to the warehouse.

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

There were no other people in the villa, but it was relatively clean and the electricity was functioning normally. Perhaps due to the humidity and the pure wooden structure, the interior was filled with a scent of decay.

"Six rooms. How should we divide them?" the rich heir asked.

"Two per room is just right," the muscular man said, slapping his biceps. "But I'm not afraid of staying alone!"

"I think it's better if we stay together," the long-haired female player suggested. "If we stay together, we can look out for one another and handle things more easily if something happens."

"Have you all forgotten something?" the middle-aged bald man suddenly interjected. "There might be a Red Player among us. Who wants to share a room with a Red Player?"

"Identifying a Red Player is simple; the ID number is unique..." The cowboy was interrupted before he could finish by the short-haired female player. "Wang Wei, don't just sit there talking nonsense. White Players are at a disadvantage. Check IDs? Who knows whose hands we'll end up dying in!"

White Players—Xu Huo had discovered while dealing with those ticketless players at the station that, besides Red and Black, there was a category of White Players. Players who had neither eaten nor killed humans should have been classified into this category. Compared to the other two types, White Players were indeed in a precarious position.

The cowboy, Wang Wei, shrugged. "If you don't want to, fine. Staying separately is better anyway."

"Of course we're staying separately!" The short-haired female player pulled the long-haired one toward her. "You're staying with me!"

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

"Let's just all stay separately," the man in the suit said, scanning the group. "Once we're in the game, everyone should focus on saving themselves. We only have five days, anyway."

The players came from different places; they were unfamiliar with and distrustful of one another. It was only natural to adopt a "mind your own business" attitude.

Besides, this was a survival dungeon; they only needed to live through five days.

"Brother Xu, can I stay in your room?" Since the other players had no intention of teaming up, Yuan Yao could only follow behind Xu Huo.

"Sure." Xu Huo chose the first room on his right. Before entering, he gestured with his chin toward the front. Understanding the hint, Yuan Yao immediately pretended to be looking for a companion and followed behind the other players.

He returned a while later, having scouted the occupants of the various rooms.

"That beautiful long-haired girl 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 following the rich heir is a streamer. She's average-looking, and I don't know if her name, Liu Yuanyuan, is even real."

"They're staying next to Huang Junjie and Zhang Xiong. Huang Junjie is that older man in the suit."

"The bald guy is Wan Zhikang. Du Lanlan and Xia Guo arrived one after the other. As soon as they arrived, Wan Zhikang went over to curry favor, but when they ignored him, he took a grudge. He's staying in the room directly opposite us with that foreigner, Abel."

"The room next door is taken by Wang Wei. That college student had nowhere to go, so when I came back, I saw Wang Wei inviting him in."

Xu Huo nodded after listening. "Which two players had you not seen before?"

"Wang Wei and Huang Junjie." Yuan Yao blurted out everything he had learned from Du Lanlan. "Huang Junjie is really impressive. When Wan Zhikang was harassing them, Huang Junjie exposed his dirty laundry the moment they met. Turns out that bald guy's 'shield against the wind and rain' was a cuckold, and he'd been scammed out of all his money by a lover, so he turned his love for beautiful women into hatred."

"They know each other?"

"No, that's why he's so impressive—he deduced it from tiny clues." Yuan Yao spoke with envy. "Why don't I have such an impressive trait?"

By now, Xu Huo had finished inspecting the room. He pulled the curtains shut. "Get some sleep."

Yuan Yao suddenly felt a bit frightened. He looked cautiously at the man who had remained expressionless throughout. "Uh, Brother Xu, aren't you afraid that I might be a Red Player?"

Xu Huo lay down on the bed. "Don't worry, I'm not a Red Player."

Yuan Yao gave a sheepish smile and lay down on the other bed.

The room was dimly lit. From the courtyard outside, the rhythmic sound of flowing hot spring water could be heard. Xu Huo felt the phone in his pocket, organizing the players' information in his mind.

He had observed everyone. They had basically arrived empty-handed; aside from clothing and simple daily items like lighters or earrings, they had nothing like phones, watches, or weapons. The game's definition of "items" seemed to be related to their technical complexity.

However, since he had come directly from the station, his phone and dagger had not disappeared.

The game prompts mentioned that because the dungeon level was low, non-game items could not be carried in, and that the villa had once been popular with both players and non-players. This actually implied that the location of the dungeon was not entirely sealed off.

While one could not bring things in from outside the game, if one was already within the game world, they could bring anything into the dungeon regardless of whether it was a "game item." Similarly, anyone could enter the dungeon location, regardless of whether they were a player.

Furthermore, the game had not explicitly stated the number of participants in the dungeon.

Xu Huo rolled over and opened his eyes to face the person who had silently approached his bedside. "What are you doing?"

Yuan Yao nearly screamed. In his fright, he quickly clarified, "I didn't mean to harm you! I just wanted to see the ID number on your back."

To prove his innocence, he pulled up his own shirt. "Really, I'm a White Player!"

Xu Huo sat up, leaned against the edge of the bed, and lit a cigarette, staring at the anxious Yuan Yao. "If you're so afraid, why did you want to stay in the same room as me?"

Seeing that Xu Huo had no intention of attacking him, Yuan Yao's expression relaxed slightly. "I'm actually just a shut-in. Usually, I can't even lift a heavy bag. You might not believe me, but on the preliminary screening train, I was almost beaten to death by a fifteen-year-old girl... Brother Xu, you're different. You're so calm and you keep your hair long; you look like a hidden master. I just wanted to cling to your coattails..."

Xu Huo raised a hand to interrupt him, focusing his hearing

*Clang... Clang... Clang...*