Infiltrating the Protagonist's Group

Bai Yang lowered his eyes in thought. Of the people before him, he didn't find even Tao Yuan, the cleverest among them, difficult to deal with. The one who concerned him most had always been the team's captain, and the protagonist most favored by this world's Heavenly Dao: Qin Rang.

According to the information System 007 had given him, Qin Rang was the least likely to trust others. He might seem easygoing and enjoy playing peacemaker more than anyone, but he was also the most suspicious and the hardest to deal with.

If you treated someone like him well for no reason, he would only grow suspicious. If you joined him for mutual benefit, cooperation was barely possible.

Lin Nieran's attention wandered for a brief moment before he immersed himself completely in the "Bai Yang" card.

After a few rounds of probing and talking in circles, several brief cries came from outside.

Tao Yuan, who was near the window, glanced outside and saw that the person who had made the sounds had already collapsed in a pool of blood. She immediately said, "Let's not waste time on him. We don't know when the escape and killing will begin. Figuring out the rules comes first."

In the strange worlds, people first had to deal with the strange entities, and only afterward with their own kind. This was an unspoken rule. Since they had confirmed he was human, he wasn't an enemy for the time being.

This strange world was enormous. Even with more than a hundred people entering, they would barely make a ripple, so they had to make the most of their time.

In a typical escape-and-kill instance, players wouldn't have to flee for their lives from the very start. They would always be given time to adapt and search for a way to survive. That relatively safe period was very brief, and they couldn't afford to waste it like this.

Qin Rang smiled and invited the young man. "Brother Bai Yang, it's fate that we met. It's dangerous here. Want to come with us?"

Bai Yang silently hugged the stuffed toy tighter and retreated into the corner. "I'd better not. I'm fine on my own."

This Qin Rang didn't look like a good person. If the battle royale began, he suspected he'd be the first one shoved out to get killed.

At a look from Qin Rang, Sheng Qingqiao casually slung the broadsword in his hand back over his shoulder. He strode forward and yanked Bai Yang, who was playing mushroom in the corner, to his feet.

Bai Yang's eyes widened as Sheng Qingqiao draped an arm over his shoulders and cheerfully reached out to pat the stuffed rabbit in his hands, as though they were old buddies. Bai Yang nimbly turned sideways to avoid him.

Bai Yang said seriously, "You can't just touch this!"

Sheng Qingqiao didn't mind. He used the hand that had paused in midair to scratch his head. "Don't worry, little brother Bai Yang. We're the strongest team, and the official livestream is on us. We won't do anything to you."

"A livestream?"

"Right, so come along. We can look out for each other. It's too dangerous to be here alone. We can't just leave you to die."

Out of the corner of his eye, Bai Yang glanced at An Ying, who was putting away his communicator.

An Ying shook his head at Qin Rang and Tao Yuan, and a trace of wariness appeared in all three of their eyes.

Bai Yang even sensed faint traces of killing intent coming from the three of them, though they vanished in an instant.

At the same time, on his main body's side, the system kept sending notifications that his fame was increasing, shooting up like a rocket.

Bai Yang suppressed his delight, tightened his grip on the stuffed toy, and pressed his lips together. His hoarse voice was a little strained. "Then... all right. Thank you. I'll do my best not to hold you back."

Sheng Qingqiao smiled and offered him a few words of reassurance. Meanwhile, Tao Yuan walked over from the window and analyzed the situation with a serious expression. "On our way up, I noticed that the rooms on the first, second, and third floors were all full of gambling tables, but the games on each floor were different. The games on this third floor should involve betting on numbers, colors, and so on. The chips are all red and white."

"The person who just died was torn apart by living chips and numerous ghost hands. The chips were the same color as the ones on these tables."

"Only one gambling table in this room has clearly been disturbed, and its chips are scattered all over the floor. I think the guy who died must have touched that table while he was alive. Whether he was checking for information or playing a round out of curiosity, the rule he violated was very likely related to that table."

Tao Yuan paused, then added, "Or rather, to gambling."

Her teammates weren't surprised by Tao Yuan's sharp mind. They were just about to say something when they heard Bai Yang exclaim, "Your guess was completely right. Amazing."

Tao Yuan's gaze lingered for a moment on his spotless white T-shirt. "You know the rules? Have you found the rules for this gambling house?"

Bai Yang shook his head and pointed at the disturbed gambling table. His eyes were glued to the pink chainsaw at her waist, which was nearly as tall as she was. "I started in this room and hid here before running into the guy who died."

"He came in later and didn't notice me. All I saw was him rummaging around on that gambling table before a strange entity attacked him."

"Where exactly did he look?"

Bai Yang shook his head. "I was crouching over here, and my view was blocked. I couldn't see everything clearly."

Tao Yuan frowned slightly. Which of the man's actions had triggered the strange entity's rule? It was a pity they hadn't saved him; otherwise, they might have been able to ask him something.

Was the violation "playing" with the gambling table, or picking up a chip? Or was there some other condition they hadn't discovered?

After hearing this, the group deliberately avoided touching the gambling tables in the room. But there were pitifully few clues here. Apart from the tables and chips, there really was nothing else. It was completely bare.

"Since we haven't found anything, let's go out first," Qin Rang said.

The group slowly withdrew and searched the other rooms. The third-floor corridor was long, with many rooms, but every one of them contained gambling tables.

"For an illicit establishment, it was awfully conspicuous. There must have been someone backing it in the past. Gambling dens have a reputation for that sort of thing. Those people held absolute power, and there must have been plenty of dead victims. It's perfectly normal for a strange entity to be born in a place like this."

Tao Yuan analyzed the situation as they walked. The group finished searching the third floor but still found nothing—not even a scrap of trash with writing on it, a photograph, or an everyday personal item.

It was as clean as a newly constructed building.

They continued toward the fourth floor, but the stairs leading up were outside the building: the winding staircase that looked like a vine.

The staircase had only a small railing for protection, and it swayed underfoot. If someone were accidentally knocked off, they would surely be left dizzy and dazed by the fall.

Sheng Qingqiao put one foot on the stairs and leaned out to look down. He shuddered. "These stairs are way too dangerous. Aren't there any others?"

"We didn't see any when we looked around just now," Tao Yuan said. "Looks like we have to take these outside stairs if we want to go up."

An Ying lifted his head and studied the layers of decorations along the wall for a moment. "I'll go see if there's another way up."

Qin Rang smiled and waved, clearly used to this. "All right, don't be long~ We'll wait here."

As An Ying's figure quickly vanished from sight, Bai Yang opened his mouth, then hesitated.

"If you have something to say, just say it," Qin Rang said.

Bai Yang looked uneasily in the direction An Ying had gone. "Aren't we going with him? Won't he be in danger on his own?"

Tao Yuan lifted her skirt and sat down on the floor to rest. She unhooked the enormous chainsaw from her waist, held it in her hands, and elegantly wiped down the weapon. "No. He's the fastest runner among us."