"Looping Flight": Did We Board a Plane Doomed to Crash?
He looked down and his gaze fell on the pocket behind the seat in front of him. He found a news Journal tucked inside and casually pulled it out.
I flipped through it casually, and it was mostly news reports about current events.
But soon, his attention was drawn to one of the news items.
"On [date] at [time], a flight, flight number [number], en route from [location] to [location], lost contact over [location]. After several days of search and rescue, the wreckage was finally found in the sea area of [location]. All [number] passengers and crew members on board perished; there were no survivors..."
Aside from a few brief lines of reporting, there was no further information about the plane crash.
"..." Itanu couldn't help but look around the cabin again, wondering if the crashed flight in the news was the one they were currently on.
Just then, a woman slowly walked in from the other end of the aisle.
She was tall, with light blonde hair tied in a neat low ponytail. Her left ring finger was missing, replaced by a silver metal finger sleeve.
As the person was about to walk past him, Itanu instinctively made eye contact with them.
After being gazed upon by those seemingly emotionless, grey-blue eyes, he felt a stirring in his heart.
This is a player.
Itanu was certain in his heart.
Seeing the person walk towards the restroom, he thought for a moment, stuffed the Journal back into his pocket, and got up to follow.
*
Xu Xi was looking down at the Journal in her hand when she suddenly caught a glimpse of several figures passing by.
"?"
He looked up and met a scrutinizing gaze.
He was a man with short black hair and thick bangs. He was rather thin, with a noticeable small mole on the corner of his mouth. His eyes weren't particularly friendly, but they weren't hostile either; it was more like an instinctive scrutiny.
The two locked eyes for a moment, then the man looked away first and strode towards the back of the cabin.
... Confirmed, they are the teammates I was matched with in this Dungeon.
So... is this a gathering?
Thinking of this, Xu Xi stood up without hesitation.
*
Inside the Restroom.
Aleksye glanced around the interior and, seeing nothing unusual, waited quietly to the side.
Before long, she met the person she was waiting for.
First, there was a lean man with short, dark brown curly hair and a tattoo on his neck—a hummingbird with outstretched wings.
The second woman was well-proportioned with dark brown skin, deep wrinkles around her eyes, a calm gaze, and downturned lips, giving her an overall serious appearance.
Finally, there was a man with East Asia features and a small mole on the corner of his mouth.
The space wasn't large, but it was more than enough for them to squeeze in.
Aleksye crossed his arms, leaned against the sink, and glanced briefly at each person's face for a second.
"Is everyone here?" she asked.
The man with a mole on the corner of his mouth turned his head and glanced in the direction of the door.
The door wasn't closed completely; it was left a crack.
A few seconds later, the door was pushed open from the outside.
He is another East Asia youth whose appearance and style are significantly different from theirs.
Aleksye and the others showed little change in expression, except for Itanu, the man with the hummingbird tattoo on his neck, Itanu eye twitched slightly, as if he had thought of something.
But things didn't go smoothly in their Livestream Room.
First, it was Itanu's Livestream Room.
[Who said you can't possibly run into Huaguo players every time? Come out here!]
Why do I see Huaguo players in almost every mixed-player dungeon?
[Perhaps... it's because there are many of them?]
[No, that's not right... wait a minute]
[What's wrong? Isn't that the reason?]
[No, no—I mean, don't you guys think he looks familiar?!]
[Look familiar?]
[Oh no... this looks kind of familiar...]
[Oh my god! It's him!! That Huaguo player from the fourth Mixed-Team Competition!!]
The Livestream Room stream chat erupted in chaos as viewers recognized the young man's identity.
After the fourth Mixed National Team Competition, anyone who watched the live broadcast had a particularly deep impression of the Huaguo player who single-handedly cleared the Dungeon; it was hard not to remember him.
[I knew Itanu was unlucky! Not only was he matched with Huaguo player, but it was that same one!!]
Although Coffee Country did not participate in the fourth Mixed-Team Competition, it did not prevent them from feeling awe towards the Huaguo player named Xu Xi.
[Itanu, I told you you were unlucky! But they wouldn't believe me!]
[Actually, it's not so bad. Those Huaguo players didn't scheme against other players in the Mixed-Team Competition, and they're so strong. Maybe Itanu can get a free pass this time.]
The optimistic comments that had just begun to surface were immediately dampened by another wave of ruthless comments.
[... Friend, are you really not joking?]
[In the fourth Mixed-Team Competition, everyone except that one Huaguo player survived. And now you're saying you can tag along and get a free clear? What are you going to tag along for? Your coffin lid?]
[The elites of several major powers perished here, not to mention Itanu.]
[That's not entirely true, Itanu isn't weak either...]
[That depends on who you're comparing him to. Compared to those Huaguo players, what does Itanu have? Does he become Hard as Iron after being tossed around like a long stick?]
[Alright, alright, the person is already here, we can't kick them out.]
In Itanu's Livestream Room, the chat was in an uproar, but the popularity was soaring. It was clear that everyone had heard that a "bad guy" had been matched with that Huaguo player from the fourth Mixed-Team Competition, and they all rushed to watch.
Meanwhile, a similar scene was playing out in the Livestream Room of several other players.
Most netizens are not optimistic.
After all, in their view, although the Huaguo man hadn't schemed against anyone throughout the entire process, in the end, no one else survived except him, which was the most unsettling thing.
This precisely demonstrates that the other party had already determined the outcome; in his eyes, those players were never worth caring about from the very beginning.
*
"..." Xu Xi stood at the door, his gaze sweeping over the other four people in the Restroom besides himself.
Now he was absolutely certain.
It really is a hybrid book.
Although he didn't know why he was matched with a mixed version of the game, he wasn't particularly averse to it.
It's all the same to him anyway.
He gently closed the door and stood on the other side, leaning against the wall, ready to listen in.
Aleksye was completely unaware that his Livestream Room were currently wary of this new East Asia youth.
In her understanding, the players she matches with, regardless of nationality, are generally of similar skill level.
So she glanced at it briefly before looking away and said, "Time is limited, so I won't waste any more time. You've probably already looked through that Journal, haven't you?"
The woman with a serious expression, Manya, nodded and said, "The plane crashed, everyone on board perished, so we were on a plane destined to crash?"