chapter 13

The sand piled higher and higher, and the Player buried deepest had already begun to choke on sand.

The Player could only struggle to keep their mouth above the surface to breathe, not daring to move.

In quicksand, the more you struggle, the deeper you sink.

“We’ve tried every answer. I don’t believe you can come up with anything new.” Qi Mingda stared at Lu Li with venomous eyes. “The one who answers first dies first. I’ll help you call the Boss-I want to watch you die in pain.”

“Nuo Nuo!”

Qi Mingda shouted loudly, nodding in Lu Li’s direction. “He wants to answer.”

Nuo Nuo’s blood-stained, tearful eyes locked onto Lu Li. “Is it finally your turn to answer the question?”

Luo Jia Bai was anxious; the weight of the accumulating sand and the tense atmosphere made him feel like vomiting. “Did you finish reading? Is there any other clue?”

Lu Li replied slowly, “I finished reading.”

He looked at the numbers on the Note and spoke.

“Before March 29, there were four Family Members. Before December 14, there were three Family Members-Mom left. After December 14, there were two Family Members-Buck died.”

Lu Li added, “Dad goes out every day. At that time, you were the only one at home.”

Nuo Nuo’s unstoppable bloody tears ceased.

For the first time, she uttered a special judgment-a follow-up question:

“When is Dad not at home?”

“You got it right?!” Luo Jia Bai muttered in disbelief, then was shocked by the additional question. “Why is the bonus question so hard? It even requires tense! We haven’t seen her dad at all-how are we supposed to know his whereabouts!”

Lu Li stared directly at Nuo Nuo’s now grotesquely twisted face and answered fluently, “Dad leaves at dawn and comes home at night.”

“You play with the Clown when Dad isn’t home, right?”

The fine sand pouring in from the roof and wall cracks stopped.

Nuo Nuo’s bulging eyes gradually returned to normal. She thought of something happy, and her voice rose with joy. “Yes, the Clown is my only and favorite friend. I wanted to introduce it to Dad, but it didn’t want to.”

“Congratulations, you answered correctly.”

Not only did the sand stop increasing, it began to rapidly disappear.

The deathly atmosphere that had filled the room also faded away.

“All correct!”

Having escaped death, Luo Jia Bai’s body was still trembling. Excited, he wanted to hug Lu Li, but hesitated after reaching out, settling for shaking Lu Li’s shoulder back and forth. “So that’s how you answer correctly! But how did you know the bonus question?”

“You can shake me more gently. My brain isn’t full of sand.” Lu Li grabbed his bandaged hand and tossed it aside.

“Nuo Nuo caught the Player on the Fifth Floor and said she’d make clothes for the doll when Dad came home, then entered Game Night. That means Dad comes home at night.”

“As for leaving at dawn, I wasn’t sure, so I asked Nuo Nuo if Dad and the Clown couldn’t be present at the same time. She specifically wrote in the Diary that she could only play with the Clown at dawn. That’s a key time point.” Lu Li picked out two Notes mentioning the Clown, thoughtful. “Luckily, I guessed right.”

As soon as Lu Li finished speaking, a mechanical prompt sounded throughout the room.

[Congratulations, Player has discovered Key Clue 2.]

[The Clown is Nuo Nuo’s best friend, but why can’t the Clown and Dad coexist?]

[Extra reward credited. Player Lu Li has received Privilege 1: Double Points in the Live Stream Room, effective only in this Instance.]

[Privilege 2: A Key (it looks like it can open a door or a drawer)]

A rusty Key floated in front of Lu Li.

He reached out and took it.

The Key dissolved into tiny specks of light and merged into the Wristband.

Lu Li’s Item count now showed three.

“I’ve never seen double Points rewards in a D Grade Live Stream Room. Looks like the harder the Instance, the richer the rewards!” Luo Jia Bai’s eyes lit up.
Not far away, the few people who had temporarily teamed up with Qi Mingda also survived unscathed, which made Luo Jia Bai indignant again.

“Lu Li, you should have waited until the sand buried them all to death before giving the correct answer. Qi Mingda was really trying to kill you.”

Lu Li replied nonchalantly, “If they all died, there would be too few people left.”

He had finally seen so many living humans.

Fear, disgust, hatred, panic, joy…

These Players had far richer expressions than he did.

As an outlier trying to play the role of a human, of course he had to study carefully.

The Bullet Comments in the Live Stream Room were as excited as a festival:

[Streamer is exploding double rewards! I just spent ten thousand, and it’s already doubled. If he clears the Instance smoothly, won’t I make a huge profit when the Instance ends and the rewards are settled? I’ve never gotten double in the C Grade Live Stream Room!]

[Rewarding Spirit Money *3000, limited-time double, right? Fine, I’ll spend!]

[Am I the only Ghost who feels the Streamer just likes a lively crowd? Even though Qi Mingda tries every way to kill him, the Streamer doesn’t care at all. Teasing him like teasing a dog.]

[Wow. I’ve seen so many Players, he’s the only one who treats this as a game. Even in the Exploding World, this is pretty explosive.]

–

The Players who had been immobilized by the sand finally escaped. It was as if they had been pardoned, and all eyes turned to one person-Lu Li.

“Isn’t this very simple?” Lu Li smiled at Qi Mingda. “Those lousy answers just now made you all seem like single-celled organisms.”

“Cough, cough-” Luo Jia Bai, who had been attacked indiscriminately, choked.

Qiao Ren was stunned, his neck stiff from being blocked by sand, bones creaking as he turned to look at Qi Mingda. “Brother Qi, this kid is way too arrogant! He’s still mocking us!”

Qi Mingda’s eyes were bloodshot, glaring as if his eyes would pop out. He gripped the gun tightly in his hand.

His Wristband vibrated twice, reminding him that the current Live Stream Room popularity had dropped to second place.

He could guess with his heel-it must be that damn Lu Li who stole all his spotlight, took his first place.

After sweeping through more than a dozen D Grade Instances, he had always been number one.

How could he lose to a newcomer this time?

Qi Mingda exchanged for new Bullets, loaded them into his gun, and raised it, aiming the muzzle at Lu Li.

As long as the first place doesn’t exist,

then he is the first place.

The sand receded like a tide. Some Players lay on the sand, coughing and retching, when one suddenly grabbed something hard. “Ugh-almost choked to death by the sand. Ah! It’s a hand again!”

“No! Not just a hand, there’s a leg, a body, and a head-why are they all moving!”

After a chorus of screams, all the sand disappeared, revealing the full structure of the room.

The “floor” they were standing on was made up of thousands of broken Corpses piled together.

Luo Jia Bai gasped sharply, his body stiffening.

He was standing on a smooth, round head. When he looked down, the deeply sunken eyes in the head rolled up to meet his gaze, shyly making eye contact.

Luo Jia Bai couldn’t bear to look directly. “Every Arm remnant has a white Evil Spirit Bracelet. This room is piled with nothing but Player Corpses.”

Lu Li remarked, “Quite a lot of dead Players.”

Luo Jia Bai was puzzled. “Yeah, why are there… so many? The death rate in D Grade Instances shouldn’t be this high.”

Qiao Ren’s sudden scream drowned out all other sounds. He clutched his butt, rolling and jumping on the Corpses. “Why is this hand moving again? Don’t tear my pants! Why are you all stunned? Step on them and run to the door!”

As Qiao Ren ran forward, every Corpse remnant he stepped on seemed to be awakened by a tap, swaying and moving.