"Survivor": Is This How Difficult a Mixed-Team Competition Instance Is?

Daisy sat cross-legged against a low table, her eyes blindfolded with a black cloth, and her wrists bound behind her back with thick rope.

But in reality, the black cloth wasn't tied tightly; it could be removed with a slight shake of the head, and the rope wasn't tied at all, but rather held in her hand.

It was all just for show.

Her current task is to wait for the player wielding the whip to complete the challenge and then return to "untie" her.

When vision is blocked, hearing becomes exceptionally acute.

She heard the whistling of the whip through the air and the muffled thuds of the silicone model being struck.

However, gradually, she heard another voice.

Whose breathing was that, rising and falling right next to her ear?

A cold, damp breath, carrying a musty smell, sprayed repeatedly onto the side of her neck.

Sure enough... they've arrived.

Daisy could feel her blood freezing in that moment, but she didn't panic.

Clutching an Item tightly in her palm, she tried her best to keep her breathing steady, not letting herself show the slightest abnormality.

Faced with the choice between removing the black cloth to see what it was and completing the challenge without removing the cloth, she chose the latter.

She was naturally curious about what exactly had attacked Polina and Dana. Although she had heard about it, it was ultimately not as intuitive as seeing it with her own eyes.

However, she didn't think she was so arrogant as to believe she could defeat a player single-handedly, given how easily she could render them incapable of acting.

Besides, who knows if the one who came is the same one from this morning?

Furthermore, she wanted to test whether the other party would still attack her if she couldn't "sense" their presence.

This was undoubtedly a high-stakes gamble, and she was prepared to tear off her disguise at any moment.

After an unknown amount of time, the breathing sound suddenly disappeared.

At the same time, a gunshot rang out from the next room.

*

Polina sat with her legs bent at the edge of a simple little pool, her hands and ankles locked to iron rings on the edge of the pool.

Of course it wasn't locked.

The pond water was murky and greenish, and the surface was calm and still.

She listened to the sound of Winniever whipping a silicone model in the next room, silently counting the time in her mind.

Three minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but when she actually started waiting, she realized that every minute and every second was torture.

Just then, the previously calm pool water suddenly burst into countless bubbles, and a figure slowly emerged from the murky green water.

Mop-like hair, slender limbs, and bluish-gray skin.

Polina was startled and immediately broke free of the handcuffs, preparing to retreat.

She couldn't understand it at all, even though she had initially agreed with Daisy's analysis.

Either she and Dana unknowingly met the attack conditions of the cyan-gray Ghostly Shadows, or the cyan-gray Ghostly Shadows randomly selected a player and eliminated them, resulting in a time interval, or the Ghostly Shadows itself was injured by Dana's Item and was in poor condition.

But now... it has reappeared in front of her!

Attack conditions? She was certain she hadn't done anything.

A time interval? It's only been a short while, not even a whole morning has passed.

Not in good shape? Polina suddenly dodged the attack by sidestepping.

This looks absolutely amazing!

Gripping the flashlight and dagger tightly, Polina took a deep breath.

With just this dagger, she was destined not to get through this ordeal.

As for hoping for rescue from her teammates? Those two would probably rather use her as a stepping stone to test the rules.

Dana's appearance before was an accident; she might not be so lucky this time.

Having made up her mind, Polina no longer hesitated, and with a flick of her wrist, a silver-white talisman appeared in her palm.

Just as the bluish-gray Ghostly Shadows attacked, she suddenly slapped the talisman onto her chest.

The moment the silver light burst forth, the Ghostly Shadows let out a shrill scream, as if it had been violently repelled by an invisible barrier, and vanished without a trace the next second.

Polina touched her chest with a hint of heartache.

This was her most precious life-saving Item; she never expected it to be used so easily.

But life is the most important thing; as long as you're alive, you'll always have a chance to get the Items again.

Having calmed herself down, Polina thought it was all over.

She didn't plan to wait there any longer.

However, when she turned around, the sight before her made her stop breathing.

One after another, eerie gray-blue Ghostly Shadows slowly emerged from the edge of the pool, their empty gazes all locking onto her.

"..." Polina instinctively took a step back.

Her lips trembled, and the only dagger in her hand offered her no sense of security.

It turns out... there was more than one Ghostly Shadows.

No wonder those analyses didn't hold true.

"Splash--"

A strange, immense force came from behind, and Polina was pushed into the murky pool.

"Waaah--Help--" she cried, struggling in the pool.

It was only waist-deep for an adult, but her head was being held down by several Ghostly Shadows, preventing her from surfacing.

Gradually, her struggles lessened until they stopped.

Before losing consciousness, Polina subconsciously thought of something.

Is this the difficulty level of the Mixed-Team Competition Dungeon?

*

Winniever's gaze swept over the various instruments of torture, finally settling on a leather whip.

He blew off the dust, picked up the leather whip, and the cold handle made him shudder.

Turning to look at the silicone model bound to the rack, the lifelike human figure made him feel a bit more pressured.

Three minutes.

Winniever sighed softly.

Fortunately, he didn't intend to really fight; he just swung his arms casually, making a show of it.

"Smack!"

The whip tip lashed through the air, its whistling sound echoing in the silent torture chamber.

Winniever deliberately controlled the distance and skillfully controlled the force of his wrist to ensure that he could swing successfully without actually hitting the model.

As for whether the Production Team can tell... we'll see when the time comes.

Rather than perfectly adhering to the Production Team's challenge rules, he wanted to leave himself some leeway.

Just as the tenth lash was about to be delivered, a shadow suddenly appeared in the sky.

Winniever's expression hardened, and he immediately stepped back, revealing the pistol that had been hidden in his sleeve in his hand.

A bluish-gray Ghostly Shadows, bound by ropes, fell from the ceiling and swayed slowly in front of the rack.

The moment Winniever saw this, he knew there was probably more than one of these bluish-gray Ghostly Shadows in the Camp.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "This is terrible."

One of them can eliminate a player; he dared not imagine how many more of these creatures there were.

In the blink of an eye, the Ghostly Shadows vanished, and the next second, the chilling sensation behind him made him almost instinctively lunge forward.

After successfully dodging several times, Winniever was somewhat surprised.

He realized that the other person seemed to be trying to drive him out of the torture chamber.

This is also why he hesitated to fire.

But the Ghostly Shadows seemed to grow impatient. With a shriek, dozens of bluish-gray arms suddenly emerged from the ground and reached for Winniever's ankles.

"!" Winniever's eyes widened. "What?"

He no longer cared about testing the waters and fired a shot at the Ghostly Shadows hanging from the ceiling.

The enchanted bullet pierced the Ghostly Shadows's body, Ghostly Shadows to twist and vanish, but the bluish-gray arms on the ground remained.

As if enraged by the gunshot, the arms bared their claws and reached for Winniever's legs.

"Okay, okay!" Winniever turned and ran out of the torture chamber without hesitation. "I understand the rules, I'm leaving now!"

He bumped into Daisy as soon as he ran out the door.