ITOTIABSAM | Infinite Flow | 171
"I'll go in first and take a look," noticing where Xie Ye's gaze fell, Gu Cong handed him the iron wire. "You wait here."
It was just a corpse, something Xie Ye had seen plenty of, so he naturally wasn't interested. He nodded, taking the wire and leaning against the corridor wall, looking completely uninvolved.
The exploration level of the instance was related to the clearance evaluation, which in turn affected the game score. Even if Li Jie was wary of Gu Cong, he couldn't afford to compromise on matters like this. Other players felt the same way. In less than two minutes, the small room 205 was packed full.
The bedding raised in front of the door contained the middle-aged man who shared the room with Xiao Baimao . His facial features were contorted, looking as if he had been frightened out of his wits, his eyes bulging round, almost popping out, and his mouth wide open, stuffed with flat, metallic coins mixed with blood, blocking his throat.
"It's the materialization of game points," the doctor skillfully pulled a pair of white gloves from his pocket and used tweezers to pick up one of the coins. Holding it up to the light coming through the doorway, he carefully examined it. "It's identical."
The habit of seasoned players was to close doors and windows tightly at night, and to pull the curtains tightly. Therefore, the room was particularly dim at the moment. Zhao Dong acted quickly, grabbing the curtain and pulling it aside slightly. Seeing no unusual signs, he then pulled it open completely.
Immediately afterward, a snow-white hand emerged from under the blanket of the adjacent bed.
"Who's there?"
Seeing this scene firsthand, Cheng Xiaorong was startled at first, taking two steps back. Then, she had a moment of realization—wasn't this the voice of Xiao Baimao? She hadn't recognized it at first because he had just woken up and was still buried in his blanket.
Sure enough, in full view of everyone, the familiar mess of Xiao Baimao sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning as if just waking up. "Why are there so many people?"
...
With such a casual attitude, not even noticing that his roommate was dead or that the door lock had been tampered with, even Li Jie, who was usually the most critical, was left speechless.
In the midst of silence, Gu Cong calmly explained to Xiao Baimao, "Your roommate is dead."
"Oh," as if his sense of smell had failed him, completely oblivious to the pervasive smell of blood in the room, Xiao Baimao nodded, bonelessly lying back down. "I don't know him."
He said barely two sentences after being assigned to the room.
Tang Yan closed her eyes tightly, trying hard to remain calm. "Did anything strange happen last night?"
"Nothing, I guess," Xiao Baimao mumbled as he pulled the blanket over his face. "I slept pretty soundly."
Cheng Xiaorong, who was usually full of sarcasm, couldn't help but quip, "Yeah, dead. Too dead. Who would have thought there was still a living person in this room when we first came in?"
Ding ding ding-dong-
Finally, after what seemed like enough drama, the players, more or less startled by Xiao Baimao's feigned death, received the death announcement from the system.
With the experience from the previous incident, this time, without needing a reminder from Gu Cong, everyone began to compare the number of surviving players. The cold figure "12" indicated that the middle-aged man with coins stuffed in his mouth had been eliminated.
"But why did he die like this?" Zhao Dong scratched his head, puzzled. "Died from swallowing coins? Is there some clue I'm missing?"
The doctor sighed lightly. "It doesn't seem like swallowing, more like they were forcibly stuffed in. After all, humans have a survival instinct. Judging by the amount of blood, his internal organs were all ruptured."
The fresh blood flowed through the gaps between the coins, soaking half of the pillow. Such a painful death made people shudder just by listening. Several players, like Xie Ye, stood in the corridor, trembling visibly under the clear sky.
Xie Ye, however, was busy playing with the iron wire in his hand. He actually wanted to find a door lock to try, but he remembered Gu Cong's words and patiently stayed put, waiting for the other party to finish.
The corridor had no windows, and even with lights, it felt dim and cramped. The novice female player sitting next to Tang Yan on the bus glanced at Xie Ye but didn't dare to speak, silently shrinking back into her corner.
It's strange to say, the behavior of the young man after getting on the bus could only be described as innocent and harmless, but looking at him, with most of his body covered in shadows, she felt inexplicably afraid. She was even more afraid than when she reached out to touch the body rooted by the strange mushroom.
Veteran players have their advantages, but rookies can also huddle together for warmth. Opportunities are rare. She had already rehearsed it in her mind several times, but unexpectedly, before she could speak, she hesitated.
Was it because the other party didn't smile?
Quietly, the novice female player pondered, just as she was about to gather her courage to try again, but suddenly felt the gaze of the black-haired young man, accurately falling on her.
Dark and oppressive, devoid of any light, like an abyss laden with countless grievances, inexplicably causing her calf to tremble.
Similar scenes seemed to have been witnessed many times before. Xie Ye raised his hand, rubbed his temples, and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
The female player shook her head quickly.
The next moment, as if the pause button of the world had been released, the once quiet town suddenly became lively, with doors opening, windows opening, birds chirping... there were even faint conversations outside the inn.
The players indoors also noticed this. The doctor took the initiative, "Daytime should be safe, you guys go outside for a stroll and I continue investigating?"
Investigate? Li Jie sneered disdainfully. This wasn't some detective game; once you're dead, you're dead. What could a coroner do? Did he really think he was here to solve a case?
However, considering that they might need his help in the future, Li Jie's true emotions flashed for a moment, and he seemed to cooperate, leading Sun Pengyu out of the door first.
Without a word, before leaving, Gu Cong deliberately glanced at the bedside table and the room's alarm clock. At the moment the town returned to its lively state, the hour and minute hands pointed exactly at eight o'clock.
"I'll teach you later," Gu Cong said, seeing the young man still holding onto the ordinary thin iron wire. He unconsciously smiled, naturally putting the item into his watch. "Put it away for now. Don't hurt yourself."
Xie Ye showed no intention of protecting his belongings, allowing the other party to take away his new toy, and followed Gu Cong downstairs.
[How scared are you of him being found out?] 0028 teased the host without bothering to advise further. [Don't worry, his watch is genuine; he's just not used to using it.]
That's why he stuffed the chocolate energy bar into his pocket. However, Gu Cong didn't respond.
In the instance, players both cooperate and compete with each other. In just a few minutes, everyone naturally divided into several teams and went in different directions to search for clues.
Zhao Dong and Cheng Xiaorong never intending to always rely on the protection of the leader, they took the initiative to greet Gu Cong, set a time to regroup, and then left together.
Gu Cong respected Xie Ye's opinion fully, he turned to him and asked, "Shall we go together?"
Xie Ye responded with a sound of agreement.
[Aren't you afraid he's the boss of this level?] Completely ignored by the host, 0028 popped up again. [Taking a ghost to raid the ghost's lair, bold move.]
"He's not," Gu Cong said without hesitation. "I'm sure."
Given Xie Ye's personality, even if he were to go on a killing spree, he would do it cleanly and efficiently. He wouldn't choose this slow and torturous method, which would waste time and dirty his own hands.
Moreover, even if the other party is indeed the boss, he's nothing to be afraid of.
With one human and one ghost, although they were in the instance, neither Xie Ye nor Gu Cong really cared about solving the instance. Instead of gathering intelligence, their demeanor resembled more of leisurely strolling.
Splash—
The dried-up mermaid fountain from last night resumed its operation. Lifelike tails spewed out large streams of water, splashing a pool of sparkling droplets around. Despite the residents coming and going in the vicinity, none seemed to notice Gu Cong and Xie Ye. Some hurried by, while others chatted amongst themselves, passing by the two without a glance.
Ignoring the corpse on the second floor of the inn, this scene was indeed a delightful and pleasant one.
In his memory, Xie Ye rarely experienced such relaxed moments.
After gazing up at the fountain, which towered over him by a considerable margin, for a while, he suddenly spoke without any preamble, "I think I know why that player died."
Intuitively sensing that the other was about to reveal something unpleasant, Gu Cong subconsciously wanted to stop him, but he was too late.
"I killed someone before getting on the bus." Xie Ye carefully adjusted the new coat that Gu Cong lent him, contemplating lifting his hand to touch his neck but restraining himself.
The more memories surfaced in his mind, the more he realized his differences from others. Despite this, Xie Ye continued speaking, "I dreamed about him last night."
According to the players, that should be another instance, right?
The boy in the school uniform gripped him tightly in the dream, shouting something about "hidden missions," "points," and "just die already," while the cold wristwatch on his left hand pained him.
But the Xie Ye in the dream didn't resist.
He seemed to have grown accustomed to such things, merely staring quietly at the other person. Just minutes ago, the boy had smiled and said he wanted to be his friend, thanking him for saving him, no matter what he was.
But now it seemed that "points" were more important.
The air was thin, and along with the various new and old injuries all over his body, the pain was excruciating. Clearly, he was the one suffering, waiting to die, yet the boy who had the upper hand was crying, tears falling heavily onto Xie Ye's face.
Before he could understand what the other was thinking, there was a crack, and the boy's neck snapped. Thick black mist poured out from him, engulfing the boy in an instant.
Thud.
Like an empty shell devoid of its soul, the boy's appearance remained just as lively as before, but he collapsed heavily to the ground, his neck bearing the exact same injury as Xie Ye's.
The silent Xie Ye who sat up seemed to be refreshed, not a single crease on his shirt.
"Points." Calmly brushing away the watermarks on his face, Xie Ye blinked curiously as he removed the shining wristwatch from the boy's left hand, grasping it tightly.
His expression was utterly bewildered, like that of a newborn, acting solely on the last thought in his mind before his last "death".
The night was cool, akin to water. Following his instincts, feeling the cold, he took off the oversized but windproof school uniform from the boy's body. Following the guidance of the wristwatch, he staggered to his feet and walked into the boundless black mist.
"I guess I choked him to death, so when I woke up, my neck felt a bit sore," the vague memories became clearer, and Xie Ye spoke earnestly. "That player probably encountered the same situation."
But Gu Cong didn't pay attention to this so-called important information. "Why are you telling me this?"
Rather than angering Li Jie to the point of being speechless by saying, "You didn't ask."
"You're good to me," Xie Ye blinked, dispelling the lingering gloom from his eyes, his phoenix eyes curved as he smiled naturally. "I like that."
Even if he were to be killed again in the end, it didn't matter. After all, he was born for this.
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