The group checked the lobby once more.
This time, nothing happened.
It seemed all the strange occurrences had been encountered by Wen Shichun alone.
However, his words had caught the attention of the two B+ rank players.
When they entered the dining room, Yue Cheng eagerly approached Wen Shichun with a plate of sandwiches.
"Brother," Yue Cheng said, holding out the plate. "Here you go."
Wen Shichun glanced at him, thanked him politely, and accepted the food.
He Yi was sitting at the table, the telephone cord casually laid out in front of him. Seeing them return, he asked, "What happened?"
The lobby connected to the dining room, which also served as the kitchen. From where He Yi sat, he could see most of what was happening outside.
When the E-rank player pulled open the curtains, Chang Zhao had rushed out. Seeing someone else handle it, He Yi was content to sit back and watch.
But later, Xun Yi and Shen Jing’s reactions had been unusual.
"Players might not be able to see this dungeon’s boss," Xun Yi said, sharing the information Wen Shichun had mentioned earlier.
Before they arrived, Bo Ya had prepared some simple food. Now, everyone was seated at the table.
"So, there was a humanoid figure behind the curtains," He Yi mused, resting his chin on one hand. His gaze drifted, intentionally or not, toward the white-haired beauty sitting diagonally across from him before sweeping over the others. "Sounds like it’s just invisible. At least it’s not intangible."
At least it might still be human.
Chang Zhao nodded in agreement.
If it were intangible, their mission to clear the dungeon would be much harder.
After speaking, He Yi summoned his game interface and flipped to the chat section, idly scrolling through the messages in different channels.
Of the people sitting in the dining room, Yue Cheng was the only one happily focused on his meal. The others, like Shen Jing, were still piecing together the dungeon’s clues. Wen Shichun sat quietly, his expression calm. In contrast, He Yi—the one who had complained the loudest about the train’s unscheduled stop—now seemed the most at ease.
He even had the leisure to chat with Xun Yi.
He Yi glanced at Xun Yi, who was closest to the restaurant door, narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked with a hint of interest, "Have you checked your District 2 chat channel?"
On their player game interface, aside from the universal public channel and private channels, each game district had its own communication area, accessible only to players within that district.
But right now, almost every channel was buzzing about the instance District 2 had recently blown up.
Rumor had it that only one person had survived that destroyed rookie dungeon.
"What do you mean?" Xun Yi lifted his gaze and met the other's eyes.
At a time like this, this guy actually had the leisure to check outside information.
"You should know about it." He Yi raised an eyebrow. Though it had happened earlier that day, even he had heard plenty of rumors before entering this instance. He then tilted his head toward Chang Zhao on the other side. "A rookie dungeon in your District 2 spawned an S-rank black card. Every district got the system alert earlier, right?"
As He Yi finished speaking, several pairs of eyes at the table turned toward him. Clearly, everyone already knew.
He Yi glanced at his teammates and chuckled. "No need to be so tense. Dinner conversation—relaxing a little helps us tackle the instance better."
Then he turned his attention back to Xun Yi and Chang Zhao.
Xun Yi’s demeanor was cold, as if he had no interest in discussing outside matters during an instance.
He Yi didn’t mind and instead asked the other District 2 player, "Any updates in your district’s channel?"
The prevailing rumor outside was that someone had predicted the black card’s appearance, illegally entered the rookie dungeon mid-run, and triggered a scramble for the card that ended up destroying the entire instance.
Who knew where such an absurd story had come from.
Still, if anyone could foresee the emergence of a card of that tier, it’d have to be one of the Top Ten, right?
He Yi shook his head, amused by how wild the rumors had gotten.
A scramble?
As if anyone would bother fighting rookies for it. They’d just slaughter them one by one.
But.
"That rookie who survived—he’s in your district, right? Has he shown up?" He Yi asked Chang Zhao with keen interest.
If the card was really stolen, then that rookie would be the only remaining person who knows the truth.
And if it wasn’t stolen—
Could an S-rank black card really end up in the hands of a rookie?
The others at the table also turned their gazes toward Chang Zhao.
Under their scrutiny, Chang Zhao tapped open his interface to check.
Normally, the first dungeon a rookie participates in determines their assigned faction. But given how complicated this rookie dungeon was—and rumors that higher-ups had interfered—it wouldn’t be surprising if the surviving rookie got snatched up by another faction.
Too bad the dungeon info had already been locked. Nothing could be queried now, not even the name of the rookie who made it out alive.
Usually, the system would announce a black card’s appearance to all players. But this time, it wasn’t just any black card—it was an S-rank black card, one of fewer than a hundred still in existence. Yet the game didn’t even reveal the card’s name or its recipient. After a single brief notification, it fell silent, as if glitching.
Now that He Yi brought it up, the tense atmosphere at the table had indeed distracted a few people. Even on the train, Chang Zhao had been reading up on S-rank black cards. Nearly every player here was the same—despite being in the middle of a dungeon, they were still fixated on that card, as if it held some innate allure.
Except for one: Wen Shichun.
He didn’t join his teammates’ discussion.
But he did set down his utensils and pulled up his own game interface.
Soon, he found the faction channel they were talking about.
On his interface, the channel displayed: [District 10.]
Messages in the channel scrolled rapidly.
Watching the stream of player aliases and their comments, Wen Shichun asked: [System, can players contact the outside world while in a dungeon?]
This time, the system took several seconds to respond again.
Its voice had returned to its earlier cold tone.
Wen Shichun couldn’t help suspecting that these game systems might be servicing multiple players at once.
System: [After entering a dungeon, players can view all activated channels on their interface but cannot send messages unless using a specific communication item.]
...
I see.
Wen Shichun’s gaze lingered on the District 10’s chat channel for a moment. The high-level players in the dining room were still talking about the so-called S-rank black card.
Who ended up obtaining that card?
Their voices were full of envy and longing.
It must be something valuable.
When he looked up again, his eyes settled on He Yi, the one who had brought up this topic unrelated to the dungeon.
Chang Zhao and He Yi were chatting animatedly, while the others occasionally chimed in. Xun Yi didn’t join the discussion, but he didn’t stop his teammates from talking either.
Wen Shichun watched He Yi. Noticing his gaze, He Yi glanced back, raised an eyebrow at him, then resumed the conversation.
Listening to their chatter, Wen Shichun lowered his eyes to the sandwich on his plate.
Strange.
Something wasn’t right.
He mentally reviewed every move He Yi had made since entering the dungeon.
Given the man’s usual caution and his initial reaction upon entering the dungeon, this kind of casual, careless attitude was out of character.
He Yi should have been more eager than anyone to leave this dungeon.
But when they first arrived on the mansion’s second floor, Wen Shichun noticed a subtle shift in He Yi’s demeanor.
His actions began to contradict the image he projected of someone desperate to finish the dungeon.
More and more signs kept confirming this contradiction in He Yi’s behavior.
And just now, He Yi deliberately steered the conversation away from the dungeon, diverting the others’ attention.
Wen Shichun picked up the silver fork and knife he had set aside earlier.
There was something wrong with He Yi.
The other person wasn’t actually as eager to clear the level as he pretended to be.
Why?
What was he trying to do?
At the very beginning, standing in front of the mansion gate, He Yi’s complaints about the dungeon and his desire to clear it had been genuine.
It wasn’t an act.
His thoughts and actions had been consistent.
And he was the first one to enter the mansion—
Players needed to clear the dungeon to survive.
Wen Shichun couldn’t understand why He Yi would act in a way that went against a player’s mission to clear the level.
At first, he had just seemed indifferent to the dungeon’s tasks, but now, his attempts to interfere with the other players were unmistakable.
...
The first one to enter the mansion…
No longer aligned with the players’ ultimate goal.
...
Wen Shichun’s gaze paused, and his hands stilled.
...
Unless—he wasn’t a player anymore.
...
If not…
Then who was the person sitting here, eating with them?
His personality hadn’t changed at all.
Aside from the contradictions, he still seemed like the same person who had entered the dungeon with them at the start.
...
What exactly went wrong?
...
When Wen Shichun raised his head again, He Yi, sitting diagonally across from him, turned to smile at him.
"Brother—"
Across the table, Yue Cheng suddenly spoke up. He glanced at the untouched sandwich on Wen Shichun’s plate, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Why aren’t you eating?"
"Does brother not like what I made?"
Yue Cheng’s voice sounded dejected.
Wen Shichun shifted his gaze to the boy across from him.
The other’s expression looked somewhat aggrieved.
His right hand, resting on the table, curled its fingers slightly.
Wen Shichun glanced toward Xun Yi at the far end of the table, who hadn’t spoken in a long time.
Across from Xun Yi, Shen Jing had also lowered her head at some point, her long, straight black hair obscuring her face and hiding her expression.
Wen Shichun withdrew his gaze.
Yue Cheng across from him was staring at him intently, motionless.
Still waiting for his answer.
He didn’t know if the other players had noticed.
Or if it was just him.
Every time something strange happened, Yue Cheng’s presence would become almost undetectable. It had happened several times already—as if he’d suddenly ceased to exist.
Even Wen Shichun only noticed this player again whenever Yue Cheng started being overly attentive.
When he mentioned under the bed in the second-floor hallway.
When the lights went out on the third floor.
When the windows in the hall opened.
This person seemed as if they didn’t exist at all.
And yet, they also felt undeniably present.
The memories of scenes involving Yue Cheng grew hazy.
Wen Shichun withdrew his hand beneath the table.
Something was interfering with his perception.
Just then, Chang Zhao—who had been talking to He Yi—suddenly turned his head and glared at Yue Cheng with clear irritation. "Where were you when Xiao E was in danger earlier? Now you show up to act all helpful—always disappearing when things get rough."
As Chang Zhao finished speaking, Shen Jing and Xun Yi at the far end of the dining hall made subtle, simultaneous movements.
