“Don’t act rashly.”
After speaking, Xun Yi glanced at the hand in front of him, then raised his eyes and said calmly, “When you looked, he was fine, wasn’t he?”
Wen Shichun was still standing in front of the computer.
“Chang Zhao, let go.”
Hearing his name, Chang Zhao froze—this was the first time Xiao E had called him by name. He turned his head. Xiao E’s expression still seemed as composed as ever, that flawless face seemingly incapable of showing any emotion. Unconsciously, Chang Zhao loosened his grip.
“What else did you find?” Wen Shichun looked at Xun Yi. “Finish what you were saying.”
As Xun Yi had said, he wasn’t dead yet.
And when it came to dungeon experience, he was no match for these high-level players.
They knew more about the dungeon’s mechanics.
He needed their judgment and expertise.
As he thought this, Wen Shichun’s ears seemed to catch a faint, indistinct snort.
Like it had come from his novice system.
A flicker of amusement passed through his eyes, vanishing almost instantly. Apart from the system that had just made the sound, almost no one noticed this subtle shift in mood.
Chang Zhao stepped aside. After he let go, the atmosphere in the room wasn’t particularly tense. Xun Yi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye—if he hadn’t misread it earlier, this man had actually been about to use a main card skill against him.
For an E-rank?
When Xun Yi averted his gaze, he found himself locking eyes once more with those ice-blue pupils directly in front of him. Under the bright white light streaming through the window, the color in those eyes gradually shifted to a blue resembling the meeting of water and sky, as if reflecting the light from the snow outside. Anyone who looked into them would unwittingly fall into that pure, icy abyss.
“—!”
Xun Yi snapped back to reality, shocked that he, too, could lose focus simply because something was too beautiful.
Even though the current situation was entirely inappropriate.
“Ahem.”
Uncomfortably, he looked away.
This E-rank really wasn’t simple.
Better not look too much—too dangerous.
Expressionless but already understanding Xun Yi's thought process from the subtle changes in his face, Wen Shichun: […]
[Next dungeon, I should prepare a mask.]
Wen Shichun said to the system.
He had accepted its earlier suggestion.
The system responded with a nasal hum: [Mhm.]
Xun Yi cleared his throat again, breaking the awkward silence before shifting his gaze to the others—mainly glancing over Chang Zhao and Shen Jing.
"I just said Shi is fine."
"Bo Ya was B-rank. Shi is E-rank. And he's fine."
Xun Yi kept it concise.
"So what?" He Yi, sitting on the sofa, suddenly joined the conversation with a somewhat meaningful expression. "Xiao Shi has already entered that anomalous space twice, hasn’t he?"
"Once in the study, and once last night in the bedroom."
"Even if Xiao Shi ended up unharmed, you all really have the nerve to let him do everything for you."
He Yi finished with a smile.
Though his tone was calm, the other players couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
"You previously discovered four clues," Xun Yi said to Wen Shichun, deliberately avoiding direct eye contact. "The scratches under the bed, the phone message, the time the killer was behind the curtains, and last night’s chat logs. You were the first to find all of them."
"But you only entered the anomalous space twice."
Xun Yi laid out his reasoning methodically before turning to Shen Jing. "Back in the study, you were closest to Bo Ya and didn’t notice anything unusual. Bo Ya most likely died inside the anomalous space." Then he looked back at Wen Shichun. "But you’re fine. And if discovering a clue meant entering the space once, the number of times you entered doesn’t match the number of clues."
Wen Shichun nodded. By Xun Yi’s logic, even the footsteps he heard on the stairs and the anomaly he noticed at the iron gate outside the mansion earlier could be counted as clues related to the killer.
That would make it more than just four clues.
"In other words, if the clues are discovered by you, it doesn’t necessarily trigger the condition to enter the anomalous space," Xun Yi explained. "And I suspect that even when you did enter, it wasn’t because of finding a clue."
"Then what was it?" Chang Zhao, standing nearby, was more impatient than Wen Shichun himself. "Just say it—all at once."
Xun Yi sighed again. Was this person really from the same district as him?
"I suspect you entered the anomalous space simply because the Boss targeted you."
Xun Yi spoke to Wen Shichun, then carefully observed the E-rank's reaction.
But he failed. The person in front of him showed no reaction at all.
It was impossible to guess what he was thinking.
From the moment they entered the instance until now, this E-rank had hardly ever lost his composure—he’d even dared to beat up a freshly spawned ghost first.
At this thought, Xun Yi suddenly drew a sharp breath.
Could it be that this E-rank also had someone backing him?
Now that he thought about it, hadn’t they all suspected this from the beginning? But back then, everyone assumed that leaving an E-rank alone in an instance meant he’d been abandoned—after all, a low-level player entering a high-tier instance was practically suicide. But now, it seemed this "Shi" had no shortage of life-saving methods and items.
To remain so calm…
He must have been confident about clearing the instance.
Wen Shichun, who was "confident," lifted his eyes slightly. The B+ player across from him seemed to be pondering something beyond his own understanding, and Wen Shichun couldn’t quite decipher the other’s micro-expressions now.
Still, after Xun Yi’s explanation, the others in the room more or less grasped his meaning.
The instance Boss had marked the E-rank as prey.
"So the reason Xiao E doesn’t trigger death when discovering clues is because the killer is keeping him alive… to fatten him up before slaughter?" Chang Zhao blurted out, then immediately realized his phrasing was off. He cautiously glanced at Wen Shichun and only relaxed when he saw the other didn’t seem to mind.
Wen Shichun, who "didn’t seem to mind," subtly shifted his gaze back to the computer screen and resumed his unfinished task.
Seeing that the E-rank wasn’t pressing the issue, Xun Yi also let out a sigh of relief.
This person truly understood reason and prioritized the bigger picture.
He’d been worried the E-rank might throw a tantrum upon realizing he was being used to uncover clues.
But now, it seemed he’d overthought it.
"But if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean Shi is now the most vulnerable one?" Shen Jing’s frown didn’t ease.
The E-rank’s current safety was only temporary—sooner or later, the Boss would strike at the prey he’d chosen.
Xun Yi studied the sharp profile of the man in front of the computer and added, whether the other was listening or not, "Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to clear the instance as soon as possible. We won’t let you fall into danger."
As soon as Xun Yi finished speaking, He Yi, sitting on the sofa, let out a mocking laugh.
"How do we clear the level?" He Yi said, then stood up from the sofa. "Can you even find where he is?"
Then he walked over. When he stopped in front of the computer desk, He Yi leaned in slightly, staring at the serious expression on E-rank’s face, and sighed. "Never thought we’d end up relying on Xiao Shi to clear this in the end."
Wen Shichun didn’t even lift an eyelid at He Yi’s words. He had already opened the chat software on the computer—the account’s profile picture was the same black-background, gray silhouette that had appeared last night.
And in the contact list of this account, he found the most recent conversation.
Wen Shichun didn’t even need to open the chat with the contact labeled "S" to know what the messages would say.
Because the photo in that profile picture was the same one of him taken earlier in the third-floor study.
Everything matched the things that had appeared in the alternate space.
Further confirming his earlier suspicions.
Sure enough, when he opened the chat, the conversation between him and that thing was right there on the screen.
The others beside him also saw the chat contents, and for a moment, the B-rank players’ expressions turned complicated.
Xun Yi couldn’t fathom what kind of mental state E-rank had been in to converse with the killer like that—to even think of extracting information in that situation. His psychological resilience was truly beyond ordinary people’s.
Chang Zhao only needed to glance at the first few messages to roughly piece together what had happened. His heart ached at the thought of Xiao E being targeted by the dungeon’s boss and subjected to special treatment.
Just reading it was terrifying enough—Xiao E really had nerves of steel.
Shen Jing had already started valuing this teammate’s every word ever since Wen Shichun revealed the first clue. Now, seeing that string of chat logs, her admiration for E-rank shot up even higher.
These days, reliable teammates like this were few and far between.
And on top of that, his personality was good, and his looks… well, that went without saying.
She could tell her temporary teammates were all being affected by Xiao E to some degree.
Good thing her heart was clear—she just wanted to clear the dungeon.
...
From the expressions of the others, He Yi could tell they’d all fallen under E-rank’s spell again. But then he glanced curiously at Yue Cheng, who was standing the farthest from them. Why wasn’t this guy fawning over him now? Really, the moment trouble hit, he was the first to hide.
Didn’t he see that Xun Yi was fine after giving the explanation?
So what is this District 4 guy worried about? Did he think the E-rank would ignore him?
No, actually, the E-rank has pretty much ignored everyone.
That person was just focused on finding clues, only occasionally responding to others to avoid trouble.
Oh, but they were pretty proactive when asking about common knowledge.
So how many dungeons has this E-rank actually cleared?
He doesn’t seem like a low-tier player at all, yet he's completely clueless about the most basic things.
When He Yi looked away, Wen Shichun had already reopened the contact list in the app.
Aside from him, there were twelve other accounts.
The killer had labeled them with what looked like initials—like his own "S" and the second most recent contact, "LZ."
After seeing the list, Chang Zhao immediately said, "Looks like Lin Zhe wasn’t the only victim."
Though, considering the scratches under the bed, it made sense.
While Chang Zhao was speaking, Wen Shichun tapped on the app’s release date.
Xun Yi’s eyes flashed with surprise at the E-rank’s action, then he spoke up after seeing the earliest app date displayed on the screen—ten years ago. "And this is just the number of victims the killer contacted through this app."
"The oldest marks under the bed go back even further than ten years," Xun Yi reminded them.
"He’s killed twelve people in just ten years using this method?" Shen Jing watched as Wen Shichun opened the chat logs between the killer and the victims.
Almost every conversation started with romance, leading the victims to this place—with the chats continuing even after.
This ghost really put in the effort.
"This person has strong control issues," Wen Shichun said quietly.
Reading between the lines, Wen Shichun felt a flicker of surprise.
"He genuinely invested real emotions into every relationship."
But it wasn’t all that shocking.
Serial killers with fixed patterns usually have specific motives and emotional disorders.
Not to mention this damn thing has a ton of personality flaws.
At this thought, Wen Shichun's gaze fell on the unlocked drawers at the bottom right of the desk.
They had already been in this room for a while.
Was the ghost really just going to sit back and let them investigate every single clue?
Though the thought was impolite, Wen Shichun's hand had already politely reached for the first drawer.
