When players saw a player appearing and uploading a video,
other players immediately flocked to the scene.
The entire dungeon game could be recorded and uploaded as a
video. One could even set it so that only players who had achieved a certain
score could watch it, which became one of the ways to earn points.
Players were required to pay three points to watch the video,
and without hesitation, they paid because, after all, this was about a player
completing a difficult dungeon.
After watching, the players fell silent.
The video followed the player’s perspective and wasn’t a live
broadcast of the entire dungeon. In fact, it was a personal live recording of
the player.
After watching for a while, they still couldn’t figure out
what was happening in this dungeon.
On the first night, they almost got killed by a hunter,
simply because they stumbled upon the hunter in action.
This was an unprecedented situation.
They couldn’t even tell which one was a high-level player’s
alternate account.
However, the NPC being bullied didn’t look like a real
person.
But being beautiful didn’t matter much, since he couldn’t
survive in the dungeon for more than three days.
The players continued watching, but still couldn’t
understand.
They completely missed all the crucial plot points, such as
an obvious fight happening inside a house, but the player moved away from it
outside the wall.
Then they heard one of the men saying they were going to the
hospital.
No, why would they go to the hospital?
Why would they listen to that boy and set up a bomb?
Huh? Suddenly, only four of them were left alive?
Wait, why would they risk their lives to meet an NPC and that
monster doctor?
After finally holding on until the NPC they were waiting for
arrived and they were about to reach a critical point, the players watched in
numbness as that player was dragged down the stairs by someone.
Dragged away from the hospital.
Then it exploded.
And then... they cleared the level.
Not only did they not figure out which one was the top
player’s alternate account, they couldn’t even figure out what they were doing.
Many players felt like they were being taken advantage of,
spending three points to buy something useless.
But the problem was that this video was indeed a recording
from the Horror Livestream Room instance, so they couldn’t blame the player who
uploaded it.
They had already spent three points, so they couldn’t just
waste them. A group of players started searching for clues with a magnifying
glass.
The game forum was once again filled with long comments, this
time discussing who the top player’s alternate account might be.
[I think it’s that man who ran off with the beauty. I feel
like he was in control the whole time. Going to the hospital and blowing it up,
it was all his idea.]
[But if he’s the top player, he shouldn’t have been beaten up
by that monster doctor, right?]
[If that’s the case, then there’s only one person who wasn’t
beaten up by that monster doctor, and that’s the female player. Looking at it
that way, she should be the one.]
[But there’s only one female player near the top of the
rankings, and she was in an advanced dungeon those days and even livestreamed
it.]
[Wait a minute, I remember no female player had entered this
Horror Livestream Room dungeon before. How did this Su Xiaozhen manage to get
in? Could she actually be the top player playing on an alternate account?]
[Beginner players can’t possibly enter this dungeon, right?
They must have been temporarily pulled in by the game system, so it’s normal to
have female players.]
[Am I the only one who thinks that NPC is really beautiful?]
[Actually, I feel the same way. My heart skipped a beat when
I first saw him. How can someone look so good?]
[I feel the same...]
[Originally, I never had any good feelings about those vases
who only had looks but no skills. Besides clinging to someone and causing
trouble, they can’t do anything. But if the vase looks like this NPC, I would
only think of myself as useless for not being able to offer anything to such a
beauty.]
[Even if he’s good-looking, he’s still an NPC. Don’t bother
thinking about it. You don’t have the items and strength to bring him out.]
The game forum, which was discussing this dungeon, instantly
became chaotic.
The appearance of that NPC couldn’t be rivaled by any player,
even within the game base.
You should know that within the game base, you could exchange
items to make yourself more beautiful. As long as you have enough points, you
could have anything you want.
That’s why some players exchange items to become more
beautiful and try to get close to powerful players.
However, it was obvious that the young boy didn’t use any
beauty-enhancing items, which meant he naturally looked like that.
He was so beautiful that it was beyond description,
breathtakingly so.
***
【Congratulations to player Ruan Qing for clearing the
dungeon “Horror Livestream Room.”】
At the moment when Ruan Qing pulled the trigger, the cold
mechanical voice of the game system began to announce.
Ruan Qing’s figure instantly moved to another place. It was a
pure white space, seemingly endless, with no one else around.
Moreover, all the injuries Ruan Qing had suffered in the
previous dungeon had disappeared, whether it was the cut on his neck or the
gunshot on his temple.
It was as if the previous injuries were just illusions.
Ruan Qing didn’t immediately check the game interface or look
around. Instead, he lightly frowned, reaching out to rub his temple.
Although his temple was completely unharmed, the pain seemed
to persist.
He knew it was a psychological illusion, but he couldn’t
ignore it.
After rubbing his temple and feeling somewhat better, Ruan
Qing finally opened the game panel to check.
【Congratulations to player for clearing the dungeon “Horror
Livestream Room.” Reward: 300 points.】
【Congratulations to player for correctly identifying the
owner of “Horror Livestream Room.” Reward: 300 points.】
【Congratulations to player for completing the side quests.
Reward: 200 points.】
【Congratulations to the player for successfully destroying
the instance Horror Livestream Room," reward: 2000 points.】
【Points settlement: 2800.】
Ruan Qing lowered his gaze and lightly tapped the transparent
screen in front of him with his slender fingers. “How many points do regular
players usually receive as rewards for clearing instances?”
【This instance is an intermediate promotion instance, awarding
100 points.】
This time, the cold voice of the system didn’t sound in Ruan
Qing’s mind but reverberated in the space, making it difficult to determine
where it came from.
Was he three times better than them...
Indeed, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
Ruan Qing pondered and asked, “Do ordinary players not have a
system?”
System: 【No, only special players would be
provided with exclusive system services.】
After the system finished speaking, there was a pause in the
voice, but, in the end, it couldn’t help but ask, 【How did you know
the name of the owner of the livestream room?】
Upon hearing the system’s question, Ruan Qing couldn’t help
but laugh. “How would I know who the owner of the livestream room is?”
Perhaps Ruan Qing understood the system’s doubts and
continued, “You’re overthinking it. I’m not sure who the owner of the
livestream room is.”
The system didn’t believe it because Ruan Qing had correctly
answered the name in its entirety. If he didn’t know, it would be impossible to
answer correctly.
Seeing the system’s silence, Ruan Qing raised an eyebrow
slightly. “I really don’t know.”
“The reason I know this name is that when I pretended to fall
down on the stairs, I took Wen Li’s notebook from him. The research about the
giant eye was written on it, and that’s where I saw the name.”
System: 【Then how can you be sure that the
owner was this name and not Wen Li?】
Clearly, Wen Li would be a more fitting answer. This was the
biggest trap in this instance.
Ruan Qing chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not sure, it
could be either that name or Wen Li.”
The system paused, 【Did you guess?】
The probability of being correct was half, so it’s not
impossible to guess right.
“Guess?” Ruan Qing chuckled lightly. “With my almost
nonexistent luck, can I guess correctly?”
He never relied on that elusive luck.
After all, he had never been lucky.
Just as the system was about to speak again, Ruan Qing asked,
“System, if the answer I ultimately submit is wrong, can I still pass this
instance?”
System: [Yes, you can.]
In this instance, as long as one could kill Wen Li, the key
NPC, they could pass regardless of whether they guessed correctly or not.
Of course, destroying the eye would also work, but it’s
basically impossible to destroy the eye.
Upon hearing the system’s affirmative answer, Ruan Qing
continued, “So there’s no problem then. When I saw the mission to find the
owner of the livestream room, I was thinking about one question. Does
submitting the owner of the livestream room or killing the owner both lead to
passing the instance?”
System: [......]
Did it start that early?
Ruan Qing chuckled lightly. The game naturally began from the
moment he entered the instance.
He had two suspects: the peculiar eye and the special
existence of Wen Li.
Either of them could be the owner of the livestream room, but
he didn’t know who exactly, and it was difficult to analyze.
But why bother confirming who it was?
Just destroy both of them.
So the hint he gave to those players was to blow up the
hospital and destroy the eye.
Unfortunately, blowing up the hospital didn’t seem to destroy
the eye.
But he wasn’t too surprised, considering how difficult it was
to kill the hunters corrupted by the black mist. It gave him an idea of how
powerful the eye itself was.
“Wen Li died. The eye wasn’t destroyed, so I submitted that
name.”
Ruan Qing smiled faintly, “Of course, if the eyes are
destroyed and Wen Li is not dead, then the name I would have submitted would be
Wen Li.”
If Wen Li was the owner of the livestream room, killing Wen
Li would mean passing the level. If he was not the owner of the livestream
room, then the name he submitted would inevitably be the owner of the
livestream room, and he could still pass the instance.
Likewise, the opposite was also true.
Therefore, as long as the owner of the livestream room was
one of these two guesses, regardless of whether the owner was the eye or Wen
Li, he could pass the instance.
Then there’s Su Xiaozhen and that strange player.
At the moment Ruan Qing pulled the trigger, he slightly
shifted his aim, not immediately causing death. If he could not pass the level,
there was a fifty percent chance that Su Xiaozhen could save him.
After all, his hypnotism, though not as amazing as Wen Li’s,
could still shake the hearts of people to some extent. Even if it’s just a bit,
he still had a chance of survival.
So, in this triple calculation scenario, his chances of
passing the instance were ninety-nine percent.
He was not a gambler; he never took risks without a chance of
winning.
Besides, there were no coincidences in this world; everything
was the result of careful calculation.
The system paused, and a few seconds later, it spoke, [If
those players didn’t understand your hints, will your plan still succeed?]
If Wen Li could not be held back at all; the plan was likely
to be killed in its infancy.
“What are you talking about? How is it possible that they
won’t understand?” Ruan Qing blinked innocently. “After all, I provided
hypnotic suggestions.”
He incorporated hypnotic suggestions and hidden messages into
the text. As long as one carefully examined the paper, they would receive his
hints.
He was afraid that the players wouldn’t be clever enough to
see his hidden messages.
He even took the players’ intelligence into consideration.
The system paused again, [Then how are you sure that they
have the ability to hold back Wen Li?]
Ruan Qing chuckled, “I took the potion from the laboratory,
the notebook from Wen Li, the gun from Ji Yan, the medicine from Jiang Sinian,
the money from Gu Zhaoxi, and I retrieved the phone from Xu Ze.”
System: ...? He took so many things?
And what was the connection between these items and the
previous question?
Ruan Qing continued, “But there were two people whose
belongings I couldn’t take. One is Su Xiaozhen, and the other is the man who
ran away with me.”
Su Xiaozhen kept close to him that his intuition prevented
him from taking action. If he were to make a move, Su Xiaozhen would definitely
notice.
Even with a knife at her throat, that woman remained vigilant
of him.
The same applied to the man. Even though he carried Ruan Qing
while running, he remained cautious, making it impossible for Ruan Qing to act.
The vigilance of these two individuals seemed to be
subconscious, constantly alert to their surroundings, something an ordinary
player wouldn’t possess.
Thus, Ruan Qing could conclude that their strength was
undoubtedly high.
Naturally, they could hold Wen Li back.
As for Wen Li’s weakness, Ruan Qing already knew it when Ji
Yan attacked from under the bed.
It was his temple.
Wen Li was too arrogant, not even bothering to conceal it.
Although Ruan Qing couldn’t kill Wen Li due to the hypnotism,
he could kill himself.
With their heads pressed together, the impact from the gun
could instantly pierce through both Ruan Qing and Wen Li.
Although Ruan Qing’s speed might be hindered the moment he
took out the gun, Su Xiaozhen had given him a “chronometer” after all.
Perhaps he couldn’t kill Wen Li, but he could kill himself.
That’s why he said those words, suggesting Wen Li join him in death.
The system spoke softly, [Are you a thief?]
See one, steal one.
And he could even pick locks with a steel wire.
Ruan Qing shook his head and said, “No, it’s just a habit.”
Ruan Qing sighed. “If you were constantly imprisoned and
there were no useful tools in the room, you would also become adept at stealing
from incoming people, just like me.”
System: [......]
After finishing his sigh, Ruan Qing tapped the screen and
said, “Show me what items I can exchange.”
The system swiftly displayed the game store.
Without looking at anything else, Ruan Qing directly searched
for items that could conceal his physique.
He didn’t find anything to conceal his physique, but there
was an item to conceal his aura, which should serve the same purpose.
Upon seeing the price, Ruan Qing was puzzled: “???”
Five hundred thousand? And he didn’t even have the
qualifications to exchange for it?
Ruan Qing counted three times to confirm that it was indeed
five hundred thousand, not five thousand or fifty thousand.
He looked at his own 2800 points and fell into silence.
He didn’t understand why an item to conceal one’s aura could
be sold at such a high price. It was even more absurd than borrowing money.
The system reminded him, [Because this item can make dungeon
bosses and NPCs perceive the player as one of their own.]
Ruan Qing understood. With this item activated, there would
be almost no danger. After all, the boss and NPCs would definitely not attack
the player.
Ruan Qing searched for a long time but couldn’t find what he
wanted.
Either the items were outrageously expensive or he didn’t
have the qualifications to exchange for them. After all, he was still a new
player, and the items available for exchange varied depending on the player’s
level.
Unable to find what he wanted, Ruan Qing gave up. “System,
isn’t the game supposed to be fair? My body was already weak, and I became a
special player. With this physique, I can’t play the game normally at all.”
“You saw this dungeon, too. Due to my physique, the
difficulty of the game has increased significantly, which is completely unfair
to me.”
The likelihood of his death was already higher than that of
all the other players, and now he was being burdened by this strange physique
as well.
Wording's kinda weird, cuz wasn't he born with that physique?
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