The Mountain Inn: He Must Have Noticed a Detail

Xu Xi wanted to immediately tell the High-Ponytail Woman beside him to put out the candle, but he couldn't open his mouth. He could only watch as the figure drew closer and closer to them.

He could feel his consciousness being contaminated by something invisible. He even felt as though his body was undergoing some kind of change.

In a daze, Xu Xi felt a strong sense of familiarity with the figure.

Who was coming over?

Oh, it was one of his own kind.

His perception had been completely altered.

Xu Xi woke with a start and found that he had just pulled the door open and taken a step outside.

He turned to look, and sure enough, that terrifying figure was climbing the stairs and hadn't noticed them yet.

Without time to think, Xu Xi immediately turned around and pinched out the candle with his bare hand, leaving the High-Ponytail Woman staring in astonishment.

He gestured for her to stay quiet, then Xu Xi turned back to look at the eerie figure.

He had no memory of his death at all. It was as though he'd had a dream, and when he woke up, he'd inexplicably returned to an earlier save.

But he still remembered that the candlelight had attracted the figure, so he had put the candle out first thing.

Behind him, the High-Ponytail Woman seemed to realize something. She cautiously poked her head out, and her expression changed slightly when she saw the figure on the stairs.

The figure was still climbing the stairs at an unhurried pace. It wasn't moving fast, but the staircase wasn't long. No matter how slowly it went, it would reach the second floor in another ten seconds or so.

The burly man and the other two were on the second floor. Presumably, their candlelight had attracted the figure as well.

Earlier, the High-Ponytail Woman had pulled the door mostly shut after entering, so their light hadn't spilled outside. That was why the figure had passed them by and gone to the second floor instead.

The choice before him now was whether to warn the three people upstairs.

If he didn't warn them, those three would most likely die without a sound, just like him and the High-Ponytail Woman in the previous save, without the slightest chance to resist.

Yes, he didn't think the High-Ponytail Woman had survived the previous save either.

He didn't think she was stupid. If he could figure out that the candle was the cause, she might have figured it out too, even if she had only tried putting it out.

But she hadn't made a move, so she had probably been held in place just like him.

If he warned them, they had no way to communicate with one another except by shouting.

...Would the figure be affected by sound?

If the candle flame could attract it, what about the light from a flashlight?

He still remembered that he had just found a flashlight.

Surely he couldn't spend the rest of the time feeling his way around in the dark.

Those thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Wanting to test it, Xu Xi shouted, "Second floor, put out the candles, quick!"

The figure didn't budge.

It seemed sound wouldn't attract it.

Xu Xi gripped the flashlight and aimed it at the figure the instant he switched it on. Under the beam, the figure seemed to be provoked by something. It let out a shriek, then flickered and vanished from where it stood.

"Ah—" At the same time, a woman screamed upstairs.

Xu Xi couldn't help being stunned for a moment.

The figure's reaction to being illuminated by the flashlight had been rather intense.

He hadn't expected to stumble upon the fact that it was afraid of the flashlight's bright beam.

But upstairs...

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Xi headed toward the stairs with the flashlight on.

The High-Ponytail Woman now understood the young man's abrupt action when he had quickly put out the candle. Though she didn't know how he had known the candle would affect the figure, she thought for a moment and followed him.

As she passed room 101, she instinctively paused.

Xu Xi had just reached the stairs when he heard a jumble of footsteps approaching from the second floor.

The burly man and the Refined Man practically leaped down the stairs in two or three bounds.

"...The short-haired woman with glasses is dead." Upon seeing their other two teammates, the burly man's first words were to inform them of her death.

"She was killed by that white, humanlike thing, whatever it was," the refined-looking man added calmly after steadying himself. "It was too fast. We didn't get a good look at what it looked like."

"Didn't you put out the candles?" the High-Ponytail Woman asked.

The Refined Man's expression froze for a moment. "We... hesitated for an instant."

The High-Ponytail Woman asked no more. She knew why someone had still died upstairs even though they had given a warning.

Simply put, they hadn't immediately believed their teammate's warning.

Still, it was understandable.

There were players in instances who claimed to be giving a warning but were actually trying to divert danger onto others.

It was up to each person to tell the difference.

Fortunately, the burly man had been quick. The moment the short-haired woman with glasses fell, he had lunged over and put out the candle. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't have escaped that fate either.

The thing had disappeared the instant the candle went out.

"..." Xu Xi listened quietly to the end, a slight change crossing his expression.

He hadn't expected the short-haired woman with glasses to be the first to die.

This was the first time a teammate had died in an instance he had experienced.

And her swift, clean death was different from his in the previous save. He remembered struggling for a while.

So what had caused the difference?

"...So how did you know to put out the candles?" After the group had talked briefly, the Refined Man suddenly asked.

The burly man looked over too.

The High-Ponytail Woman turned straight to Xu Xi.

At once, all three pairs of eyes focused on the silent young man.

[Good grief, I was holding my breath just now. I didn't even dare type]

[Guys, does anyone get it? My heart stopped when I saw that figure on the stairs]

[Boss Xu Xi reacted so fast. I was still in a daze, and he'd already pinched out the candle]

[So that creepy thing was attracted by the candle?]

[The person above only just figured it out? It ignored the first floor even though it was so close and went straight to the second floor because the ponytail woman had pulled the door mostly shut. The three on the second floor hadn't shut their door, so the candlelight spilled out]

[Here's the question: how did Xu Xi know the candle attracted that thing? He doesn't have our god's-eye view to compare things]

Ji Yang had been about to take a drink of water, but just as he raised his cup, the series of sudden developments in the livestreamed instance completely froze him in place.

After coming to his senses, he saw the question in the comments. He thought for a moment, then explained, "He must have noticed a detail."

[What detail? How come I didn't notice it?]

[Me neither]

[Didn't notice it +1]

[If all of you could notice it, wouldn't you all be bosses? So what exactly was the detail?]

Ji Yang didn't keep the viewers in suspense. He prompted them, "Think carefully. Was there anything for lighting in room 103 just now?"

[Yes, didn't Boss Xu Xi find a flashlight?]

Ji Yang hummed in acknowledgment and asked, "So why weren't there any candles in the room?"

The comments immediately slowed down.

[I entered the burly man's livestream on my other phone. I didn't see any candles in rooms 202 or 204 either]