Chapter 59
Chapter 59
“Welcome to Horror Game.”
“The D-rank instance, Happy Circus, will begin shortly.”
“Game Reminder: Be someone who brings joy.”
Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room was now live. The members of the Special Department who had been keeping a close eye on her immediately joined. The moment they saw the name of the instance, their expressions turned grave, and they hurried to report it to their superiors.
Meanwhile, Yu Lingling had already found Tongyu. She walked straight over, stood beside him, and took his hand.
If she had been teamed up with someone like Song Siyuan, they could have pretended not to know each other while quietly coordinating. Tongyu was different, however. His eyesight was poor.
Yu Lingling had looked into his previous three instances beforehand. Although he had suffered terribly in them, he had still made it through on his own.
Even without Yu Lingling, Tongyu would have fought to survive until his very last breath.
But now that she had teamed up with him, there was no reason for him to endure unnecessary hardship. Yu Lingling had never believed in teaching people by beating them down and forcing them to suffer.
When Tongyu felt her take his hand, he breathed an inward sigh of relief and leaned a little closer to her.
This was a twelve-player instance. Aside from Yu Lingling and Tongyu, there were ten others.
Yu Lingling had already observed them all on her way over to Tongyu. There were six male players and four female players.
The ten of them were sizing one another up. When they noticed Yu Lingling and Tongyu, their expressions soured.
“Two kids, and one of them is even blind. Looks like this instance shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Happy Circus?”
“We only have fifteen minutes to prepare. I’m Wang Hao, a C-rank player from the Abyss Guild. Unless anyone here outranks me, you’ll all follow my orders for this instance.”
Yu Lingling pulled up information on the Abyss Guild in her mind. It was a B-rank guild that only recruited ordinary players of C-rank or higher, along with players who possessed special abilities.
But why would a C-rank player like Wang Hao enter a D-rank instance? And why had he announced his identity the moment he arrived?
That wasn’t all. Yu Lingling had noticed Wang Hao briefly exchanging glances with three other people when they first entered. The four of them knew one another and had probably used an item to enter as a team.
Why would a D-rank instance attract the attention of a B-rank guild? Could there be something special hidden inside it?
Wang Hao ordered, “Show us the rank line on your player profiles.”
Someone immediately objected. “Why should we?”
Player profiles contained personal information and generally weren’t shown to outsiders.
Yu Lingling glanced at the first person to object. He was one of the people who had exchanged looks with Wang Hao earlier. The two of them were teammates. Were they putting on an act?
The moment he finished speaking, a knife was pressed against his throat.
While one player held him at knifepoint, a female player walked over to stand behind Wang Hao, openly revealing that they were a team.
The man with the knife at his throat was the quickest to cave. He immediately displayed his rank: Xu Chao, D-rank player.
When the others saw that Wang Hao only wanted to check the rank line – and with Xu Chao serving as a warning – none of them refused. One by one, they gave their names and displayed their ranks.
Wang Hao also had his companions state their names and ranks.
Yu Lingling silently memorized everything that had been revealed. Aside from Wang Hao, who was C-rank, his two openly acknowledged teammates, Liu Qian and Zhou Ming, were both D-rank. His teammate hidden among the group, Xu Chao, was also D-rank.
There were three other D-rank players: Zhao Peng, Sun Yao, and Wu Bin.
There were also three E-rank players: Li Na, Chen Xue, and Sun Jian.
Everyone stared at Yu Lingling and Tongyu, who were both F-rank, confusion and disbelief in their eyes.
Zhou Ming asked bluntly, “You’re both F-rank. Why did you enter this instance?”
Yu Lingling held Tongyu’s hand. All she told them was that her name was Chacha and her younger brother was called Little Fish. “The System said it activated a punishment mechanism. The instance difficulty has increased.”
None of those present were newcomers. They immediately realized that these two had probably been spending Game Coins to avoid entering instances for a long time.
Wang Hao looked the siblings up and down. “Where’s your family?”
Yu Lingling wasn’t sure whether anyone here had a skill or item that could determine if they were telling the truth. “They went into an instance and never came out.”
Understanding dawned on everyone. Their family had probably been earning enough Game Coins to keep the siblings out of instances. But now that their family had died in an instance, the two of them had run out of Game Coins and been forced to enter one themselves.
They had encountered similar situations before. Some players who were parents or older relatives had children dragged into the game with them. Since the children were too young, the adults would give them plenty of items to barely get them through their beginner instance, then support them afterward so they would not have to enter any more.
The younger brother had bad eyes, while the older sister looked frail and timid. After a few glances, Wang Hao lost interest in them.
Wang Hao was clearly using the carrot-and-stick approach. Even his “stick” remained within the limits these players could tolerate. At the very least, he hadn’t forced them to reveal all their personal information.
“Our guild has collected information on the Happy Circus instance,” Wang Hao said. “We need an item from inside. In return, we’ll do our best to help all of you clear the instance, provided you follow our instructions.”
Yu Lingling sensed something was off. In the Horror Game, numbers with special significance always warranted caution. Could four people really have entered the instance as a team?
Under normal circumstances, parties entering small instances consisted of two, three, or five people – never four.
Yu Lingling trusted her judgment. Wang Hao, Xu Chao, Liu Qian, and Zhou Ming were on the same team. That meant there had to be another teammate hidden among the other players.
It was even possible that Xu Chao was merely serving as a distraction for that person.
But why choose Xu Chao? A woman would have had an easier time lowering everyone’s guard.
The only explanation was that Xu Chao’s skill made him especially suited to blending in among the players and gathering intelligence.
As Yu Lingling surveyed their surroundings, she quietly described the appearances of the people present to Tongyu so he could match each person to their name.
The others also noticed the siblings’ situation and regarded them as dead weight. Some silently moved farther away.
Yu Lingling could sense players covertly observing and evaluating them, calculating whether there was anything to be gained from the siblings.
Unable to see, Tongyu’s other senses were even sharper. The faint malice in the air made him deeply uncomfortable. Remembering what Yu Lingling had told him, he forced himself to pinpoint where it was coming from.
Yu Lingling glanced at Tongyu, then looked away.
Intent on establishing his authority, Wang Hao quickly continued, “After entering the instance, each player will be asked to choose an animal. You’ll need to take good care of your animal and have it perform every day. The audience will vote, and whoever receives the fewest votes will be punished.”
That information had likely come from the Abyss Guild’s records, but when it came down to it, Wang Hao hadn’t revealed a single useful detail. He had merely used information they would all learn soon enough to seize the initiative and establish himself as the leader.
Was Wang Hao really acting so conspicuously just for that item, or was he trying to conceal the person truly hiding in the shadows?
The viewers in Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room were already discussing it.
[There are members of a major guild in this instance. The clear rate should be much higher this time.]
[What kind of item could make the Abyss Guild want it so badly?]
[A C-rank player entering a D-rank instance will increase its difficulty. Those two F-rank players are lambs walking into a den of wolves.]
[I bet the Blind Kid is the first one eliminated.]