***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Ele3 for the donation! ^^
***
Ruan Qing glanced at the players downstairs, still negotiating with the hotel owner, then without much thought, returned to his room and locked the door.
Four hundred thousand points would be enough to drive the entire game’s main city players into madness.
Even he himself was a bit tempted, wishing he could claim that four hundred thousand.
This was probably one of the goals of those four, as no player could resist four hundred thousand, not even him.
Four hundred thousand would be enough for him to completely cure his heart condition, and even enough to directly exchange for a body he liked.
It would be more than enough to buy the props to conceal his aura and physique.
But Su Zhen and the others were definitely not easy to deal with. Their strength was so formidable that once he was found by them, it would be difficult to escape.
Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.
The simplest way to avoid being found now was to enter a dungeon.
If he entered a dungeon now, his body would disappear from the game’s main city, and players wouldn’t be able to find him.
However, this method had a significant drawback.
There were only two ways for players to enter the game’s main city.
The first option was to teleport directly to the position before entering the game, and the second was to teleport to the entrance of the game’s main city area.
In other words, after he entered the dungeon, as long as someone waited for him in this room or at the entrance of the game’s main city, they would eventually catch him.
Unless he never entered the game’s main city again.
But the danger in the dungeon was extreme. The system settlement space could only be stayed in for an hour, and there would always be moments of exhaustion.
Just like now.
Entering a dungeon in this state would definitely not be a wise decision.
So, there would definitely be a need to rest in the game’s main city.
And the player forum could only be opened in the game’s main city area; a lot of information could only be obtained there.
It’s clearly impossible not to enter the main city area.
Players would find this place sooner or later, especially since his disguise was exposed by Su Zhen and Lu Rufeng.
Staying longer in this place was no longer an option.
However, the hotel had only one exit, and the only way to leave was through the main gate.
The hall was already crowded with a group of players; if he went down now, he would definitely be recognized.
Ruan Qing opened the curtain and carefully observed the street below.
Players were coming and going on the street, gradually checking every shop or hotel.
Players rarely acted alone, especially in large-scale searches like this. Solo actions were obviously insufficient when manpower was needed.
Some were from the same guild, some were in a team, and some were just temporary team-ups.
Temporary teams were also not uncommon. After all, the entire game’s main city area was too vast, and the people one knew personally were simply not enough.
In any case, even if 400,000 points were divided among a hundred people, there were still 4,000 each, definitely not a loss.
The players downstairs probably wanted to enter the hotel with the minimum points and were negotiating with the NPC boss.
Ruan Qing looked closely; there were also those who had temporarily joined the team downstairs.
From their posture and distance, at least ten players were unfamiliar with each other.
Because it’s a subconscious defensive posture, and distance was a form of self-preserving space ingrained in human nature.
It’s like if there’s only one person in the elevator, and a stranger entered; the two would instinctively stand in two corners.
Ruan Qing observes the players downstairs and then observes the players passing by outside the window.
A few seconds later, he directly opened the system mall.
***
The shops in the game’s main city area were not limited to NPCs; some were owned by players.
As long as one had enough points, they could open any shop.
However, players generally opened shops related to items and weapons, rarely opening shops for food, drinks, and entertainment.
The players no longer needed to check the player-owned shop because their owners were surely coveting the four hundred thousand as well, probably having already checked it themselves.
So, the players focused on shops owned by NPCs.
Points were the universal currency in the entire Infinite Horror game and also the currency in the game’s main city area, favored by NPCs as well.
However, NPCs couldn’t enter player forums or take on player bounty missions. Even if NPCs wanted points, they wouldn’t waste their effort checking.
Therefore, if the other party hadn’t been found yet, the most likely possibility was in an NPC-owned shop.
After negotiating with NPC shop owners downstairs for a while, the players finally settled the points and entered the hotel for the search.
The hotel had very few occupants, making it convenient for their search.
The hotel had six floors, and the players divided into three teams, each team searching two floors for higher efficiency.
Regardless of whether the rooms were occupied or not, players searched them all. Eventually, it was the turn of the room at the end of the corridor on the third floor.
The players checking the third floor were from Team Three. They examined the NPC shop owner’s registration log and found that a young male player occupied this room.
Moreover, according to the NPC shop owner’s description, the appearance of this player was somewhat similar to the one who was the target of the bounty.
Without bothering to knock, the players swiped the room card given by the NPC.
“Beep!”
The door to the room opened.
The players entered without hesitation after the door opened.
However, the room was empty.
One player quickly scanned the room, confirming there was no one inside. “Spread out and search.”
The players immediately searched the bathroom, balcony, and other places, not overlooking even under the bed.
No one noticed that when the door was opened, someone was hiding behind it.
Also, no one noticed that in the team earnestly searching for someone, there seemed to be an extra person.
The individual, both in appearance and clothing, was quite ordinary, indistinguishable from the other players moving about downstairs.
This person was searching with incredible seriousness and enthusiasm, clearly eager for the four hundred thousand points.
People like that were everywhere on the streets today, very inconspicuous.
Moreover, if there were players knowledgeable about hypnosis present, they would undoubtedly notice significant issues with the room’s arrangement and patterns.
The room arrangement and patterns created a sensation that, with a single glance, the mind would become slightly fuzzy, yet the affected person remained unaware of it.
However, after the additional person actively searched the room, the arrangement became somewhat disorganized, and the patterns changed.
The initial feeling could no longer be felt.
Even players who were good at hypnosis probably wouldn’t see any problems with the room.
The players searched every corner of the room but found no trace of anyone.
However, the information provided by the NPC boss indicated that this player had not left.
One of the players thought for a moment, hesitated, and said with uncertainty, “...Could it be that he entered a dungeon?”
Other players nodded; indeed, there was that possibility.
But if that was the case, it became challenging to determine whether the person was indeed the one from the bounty mission.
The players frowned, lost in thought.
Only one player nearby found the one who spoke somewhat unfamiliar and scratched his head in confusion.
Just now... was there such a person?
lmao i love when ruan qing uses hypnosis like this
ReplyDelete