Chapter 120

Soon, the players understood the truth behind the so-called accident.

It was the middle of the night, yet the hotel was unprecedentedly lively. Large groups of players gathered by the windows, their gazes fixed on the road outside.

Featureless puppets, bloody White-robed Female Ghosts…

Monsters that previously only appeared in instances had suddenly appeared on the street.

At first, they were just wandering in twos and threes, but as time went on, they gradually formed groups, and soon they occupied most of the public area.

As far as the eye could see, under the flickering streetlights, there was a sea of red, a sight that made one want to retch.

Xu Meng stood by the window, her hands and feet ice-cold. An indescribable fear made her take two steps back, and she hesitantly reached out to close the curtains.

“Are they really not going to come in?” she couldn’t help but swallow, the hairs on her arms standing on end.

Even though they were seasoned veterans of instances and were used to such things, the sudden appearance of a large group still allowed fear to take over, making everyone’s face turn pale and shiver.

As they spoke, a bat-like monster with a gaping maw slammed into the glass. It was so close that they could clearly see the fine hairs on its body, each one distinct.

Jiang He was so scared he shivered, a scream almost escaping his lips. Fortunately, a hand reached out from somewhere and, with a swish, pulled the curtains tightly shut.

“Don’t look,” Jiang Liu’s calm gaze swept over everyone, her tone exceptionally placid.

“I can’t sleep in this situation anyway,” Tang Rui shivered and couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.

They were relatively lucky; on the eighth floor, they only encountered flying things. The players on the first and second floors were the ones who suffered, having close encounters with those monsters from time to time. The timid ones could have a heart attack from the fright.

Fortunately, The System was true to its word. The things only circled around the hotel and didn’t actually break in to attack. After confirming this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Ziming secretly followed Jiang Liu out. Seeing the door of the next room close, he cleared his throat and spoke with a grave expression, “Sister Jiang, I have a feeling something isn’t right about this.”

He had been in the game for some time and had never seen such a mess. If it had happened before, Gao Yuan wouldn’t have kept silent about it.

Zhao Ziming felt unsure and could only look at Jiang Liu anxiously, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

“There is indeed something strange,” Jiang Liu agreed with him. After a moment of thought, she asked, “Besides that broadcast, did anything else happen this afternoon?”

Zhao Ziming scratched his head and wracked his brains for a long time. “No, everything was normal, except that all the NPCs in the hotel were gone.”

NPCs…

Jiang Liu frowned slightly, subconsciously turning the ring on her finger, her thoughts drifting far away.

On the way back to the hotel, she had tried her best to contact Xiao Si and the others, but neither messages nor special communications received any response.

She always felt she was overlooking something, standing there lost in thought, while Zhao Ziming next to her was still chattering on.

“This should be considered a major incident for The System, right? Did Gao and the others go to fix it? They shouldn’t have just left the players here alone.”

As he spoke, he suddenly slapped his forehead, a bold idea popping into his head. “Do you think… The System is about to collapse, and all the NPCs have run away?”

And so, their group of players had become scapegoats. One day, the hotel’s defenses would be breached, and they would be wiped out by the monsters, dying a swift death.

The thought of this possibility made Zhao Ziming break out in a cold sweat, and he paced around in a state of panic.

Jiang Liu was speechless.

She gave Zhao Ziming a look that was hard to put into words, thinking that this person’s train of thought was really not normal.

Being looked at like that, Zhao Ziming also belatedly realized and scratched his head in embarrassment. “That’s not right. Sister Yang definitely wouldn’t leave you behind, hehe.”

When he mentioned Yang Caisi, he gave a sly wink and squeezed his eyes at Jiang Liu.

Jiang Liu’s mouth twitched, and she gave him a light slap. “If you don’t know how to use your mouth, you can donate it to someone in need.”

Zhao Ziming pouted but didn’t continue his antics. He stared at the situation below and made a serious deduction, “I don’t think The System would make this kind of mistake. The most likely possibility is that we’ve already entered an instance.”

Only then would all the irrationalities have a reason.

Jiang Liu listened quietly, her gaze occasionally falling on him. She didn’t say whether she agreed with his idea or not, but simply asked, “What about the mission? How are we supposed to solve it without even a prompt?”

This stumped Zhao Ziming, and he stammered for a long time without being able to answer.

Right, even if they had already entered an instance, what about the mission?

What were they supposed to do here? How could they clear the level?

It wasn’t that they hadn’t encountered instances without any guidance before, but at least the most important objective had to be given, right?

Could it be that they had to get rid of all the monsters below?

The moment this thought popped into his head, Zhao Ziming dismissed it.

The reason was simple: the number of monsters below was not something a few people could handle. Instead of giving them a mission that was impossible to complete, why didn’t The System just kill them directly?

He mentioned it jokingly, but it sparked an idea in Jiang Liu’s mind.

Jiang Liu’s fingertips moved unconsciously, and a thought popped into her head.

Could it be Qiao Ke?

This was indeed his style. She had encountered no-win situations before. They had been at odds for so long, so a fight to the bitter end was logical.

However… everything now was just speculation.

Jiang Liu took a deep breath, managing to suppress the frustration in her heart. Seeing that it was getting late, she signaled for Zhao Ziming to go back and rest first.

The boy agreed readily, but just as he was about to leave, as if remembering something, he took out a packet of biscuits from his pocket and handed it to her. “I saw you didn’t eat much. Have this to tide you over.”

Jiang Liu thanked him and returned to her room with the biscuits.

After a whole day of turmoil, her stomach was empty. She was about to eat while sorting out her thoughts when she suddenly heard her phone vibrate.

—Sender, Xiao Si.

Her hand trembled unconsciously as she quickly put down the biscuits and took out her phone.

“The hotel is safe. I’ll be back soon.”

It was followed by a smiling emoji, which was indeed Yang Caisi’s usual style.

Jiang Liu stared at the words on the screen several times, her fingers quickly tapping out a reply.

“Where are you?”

—”Core department. Don’t worry about me. Take care of yourself.”

The reply came quickly, the concern in the words self-evident.

Jiang Liu tried asking a few more questions, but this time, there was no response from the other side.

Her mind raced, and she switched to Gao Yuan to continue the conversation. He also replied with a few hurried sentences, which were more or less the same as what Yang Caisi had said, generally telling her to rest assured.

Jiang Liu turned off her phone, looking at the biscuits beside her, and for some reason, lost her appetite.

The hotel’s soundproofing was average, and she could hear things trying to smash against the glass outside. Jiang Liu only felt annoyed and lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

The monster that had appeared in Xiao Si’s house always made her uneasy, and the secret door that should have been there made her even more restless.

A moment later—

With a click, Jiang Liu quietly closed the door and appeared in the corridor.

“Sister Jiang?”

A questioning voice suddenly came from behind. Jiang Liu quickly turned her head and saw that it was Zhao Ziming.

Zhao Ziming was also surprised to see someone at this hour. He was stunned for a moment before explaining, “We couldn’t sleep, so we were playing cards. I got thirsty.”

He showed Jiang Liu his right hand, which was holding several bottles of water.

Jiang Liu remembered that there were indeed two vending machines in the first-floor lobby.

She nodded casually, her tone calm. “You guys have fun. I’m going for a walk.”

Hearing this, Zhao Ziming immediately became nervous. “It’s full of monsters outside. What’s the difference between this and seeking death?”

“It’s fine,” Jiang Liu shook her head, brandishing the dagger in her hand to reassure him, and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Zhao Ziming became anxious and, without another word, went to grab Jiang Liu’s sleeve. “If you’re going, let’s go together. At least we can watch each other’s backs.”

Before Jiang Liu could speak, his eyes darted around. He first carefully glanced at the closed door next to them, then pulled Jiang Liu closer and said in a low voice, “Let’s go together when it’s light out. I think something’s wrong with Xu Meng right now.”

That one sentence successfully stopped Jiang Liu in her tracks.

She looked at Zhao Ziming suspiciously, her eyes telling him to continue.

Zhao Ziming placed the water on the windowsill, his voice already very low, as if afraid of being discovered by someone.

“I already felt something was off this afternoon, but you weren’t here, so I couldn’t be sure. But just now, while we were playing cards, she suddenly said something while listening to the sounds outside the window—”

As he spoke, his voice grew lower and lower, easily creating a eerie atmosphere in the dead of night.

Just as Jiang Liu’s curiosity was piqued and she was about to urge him not to keep her in suspense, she heard a creak from behind her. The door to the next room opened.

Xu Meng stood blankly at the doorway, her pitch-black eyes fixed on the two of them, a smile in her voice. “It would be nice to stay here forever.”

Zhao Ziming was utterly shocked.

He was startled by the sudden appearance of the girl and stammered as he looked at Xu Meng, “Y-you, how did you come out?”

Xu Meng blinked, and in an instant, she was back to normal. “You were taking too long to get water. I came out to see.”

As she spoke, she looked at Jiang Liu in surprise. “Sister Jiang isn’t asleep either? Want to join us?”

Before Jiang Liu could answer, Zhao Ziming had already spoken hastily, “I ran into Sister Jiang on my way back. She said she was bored, so we were just about to go in together.”

Fortunately, Xu Meng didn’t seem suspicious. Seeing the water on the windowsill, she came over to help carry it in. Zhao Ziming deliberately slowed his pace and, taking advantage of her not paying attention, leaned closer to Jiang Liu.

“That’s the sentence. Isn’t it too weird?”

Xu Meng was inexplicably pulled into the game as bait. She couldn’t wait to get out, so why would she be willing to stay?

Jiang Liu narrowed her eyes, her expression gradually becoming solemn.

Tang Ruo, her brother, and Jiang He were also in the room. They all had some paper strips stuck to their faces. They were all surprised to see Jiang Liu, but they quickly tidied up the cards and prepared to start again.

Zhao Ziming, with his back to the others, made a silencing gesture to her. The moment he turned around, he was back to his carefree self, handing out the water to everyone.

Looking at the people in the room with their various expressions, Jiang Liu suddenly realized a problem.

In every previous instance, to ensure the integrity of the team, she would use a specific pass to make sure the members wouldn’t be separated. But this time was different.

She didn’t know when she had come in, and she was even doubtful whether this place was an instance at all.

So, this group of teammates by her side, were they really the acquaintances she once knew?

Recalling Xu Meng’s ambiguous words just now, Jiang Liu’s heart gradually grew cold to the core.