[Lu Family Courtyard] Melon Field
While a semblance of peace held within the Instance, footage of them was already being broadcast in another space, beyond Ren Yi's sight.
"This is what the inside of an Instance looks like? It looks like the architecture in the eastern lands before the apocalypse."
"The commenter above is talking nonsense. Houses made of wood like this don't look sturdy at all. I'd say it looks like something from the jungle."
"You can actually choose your own viewpoint in this livestream. Let's see, is the participant we're watching now called 'Mo Ming'?"
"I checked. This participant is from the Holy City."
"Holy City dog. I'm not watching anymore. Hope he dies soon."
As the livestream chat descended into chaos, A-Mu made her next move inside the Instance.
Her expression was no longer kind and gentle as it had been before. Facing the participants, she wore a look of utter disgust and impatience.
"The quality of this batch of servants is terrible," she muttered, but given how loud she was, every participant heard her clearly.
She immediately began calling out assignments. "One through forty, your job is to weed and water the melon field; forty through sixty, you'll help in the kitchen; sixty through eighty, clean the front courtyard and the first and second floors. Remember, mind your manners if you run into the masters; eighty through ninety, go to the study on the second floor and organize the books; ninety through one hundred, go to the herb garden in the back courtyard."
With that, she turned and went straight back into the wooden building, without so much as another glance at the participants.
Ren Yi's number was seventeen, so his workplace was the melon field.
The other participants looked at one another. Some teammates who knew one another but had been split up looked distinctly unhappy.
Ren Yi tried to put himself in the participants' shoes.
To the participants, the most dangerous of these jobs had to be cleaning the wooden building and the study. Those were the jobs most likely to bring them face-to-face with the "masters," those strange beings. In any case, Ren Yi didn't believe Lu Zihan could resist coming out to play.
Next was the kitchen, where they would most likely have to face A-Mu and the other "servants."
As for the remaining melon field and herb garden, there were too few clues for now, and he hadn't seen the strange beings in either place yesterday, so he didn't know much about them.
Ren Yi glanced at the participants, who were still hesitating, then turned and walked out of the courtyard.
This time, his targets weren't these participants. Apart from the hard requirement to kill one person, he didn't even intend to have any contact with them.
His target was outside the Instance.
As for how to collect "joy" from outside the Instance, was there anything more pleasing to these viewers than watching a participant representing their side slaughter enemies left and right?
Kids, let me show you what a speedrun looks like.
Ren Yi was the first to step through the courtyard gate. At that moment, the first hint of dawn was just appearing on the horizon.
Faint morning light fell over the melon field, revealing the blurry outlines of black, spherical objects nestled among the vines. Somehow, they looked a little eerie.
Neat ridges divided the melon field into separate square plots, each with a crude wooden sign at its front, a number scrawled on it in rough ink strokes.
Ren Yi took a look. Judging by the eyesight of a normal adult man, if all the participants stood in the middle of their own plots, they would basically be able to see only a shadow of the people in neighboring plots.
Ren Yi soon found his plot, number seventeen. Beside the sign lay a bucket, a short sickle, and a pitchfork.
The first two were easy enough to understand. The bucket was for drawing water from the irrigation ditch beside the field, and the sickle was for clearing weeds. But what was the pitchfork for?
Ren Yi recalled the job A-Mu had described and confirmed that she hadn't mentioned any situation that called for a pitchfork.
It was unlikely that anything in an Instance would be completely useless. So was it something they wouldn't need for now?
He looked down at the watermelons in the field. They were round and green, with clearly visible dark stripes, and each one was as big as a basketball.
Come to think of it, it was summer vacation in the Alliance, the perfect season for eating watermelon. These watermelons looked like a local specialty of the Instance. Maybe he could ask Aunt Lu Qing if he could take a couple home to eat after the Instance ended? His older brother would probably like them too.
As Ren Yi's thoughts wandered, he moved around to the other side of a watermelon.
Just then, the watermelon, which had been perfectly still, suddenly rolled without warning and changed direction.
A moment later, the rough but vivid outlines of facial features slowly emerged on its smooth green rind.
Caught off guard, Ren Yi found himself staring the watermelon in the eyes.
The "watermelon" rolled slightly and gave Ren Yi a ingratiating smile.
Ren Yi: "..."
On second thought, never mind.
Meanwhile, participant number twenty-two had also arrived at his plot, trembling.
Participant number twenty-two was from Xin City, one of the three cities. He hadn't awakened any supernatural ability or received any formal training, much less owned a gun.
In his first Instance, he had survived purely because he was lucky enough to latch onto someone reasonably strong.
Participant number twenty-two was keenly aware of his own limitations. He knew he couldn't survive another Instance on his own. If he wanted to live, he had to keep relying on someone stronger.
So he had stood among the crowd, watching. When he saw Ren Yi lead the way out of the courtyard, he felt he was saved.
That's him! That bearing, that decisiveness in taking the lead—he's definitely got what it takes!
He hurried after him, only to see Ren Yi walk into his own plot without so much as a glance at the people behind him.
Soon, participant number twenty-two also noticed the numbered signs in front of the plots.
Damn it, does this job actually require us to work alone?
Number twenty-two had managed to latch onto someone strong and survive his first Instance, so he clearly wasn't a complete fool.
He had read the rules after entering the Instance and didn't dare violate the rule that said [your permitted area of activity is limited to the Lu family residence and your assigned workplace]. Thus, he could only beat his chest in frustration before slinking into his own plot.
In the field, participant number twenty-two was overcome by panic. He spotted the most intimidating item, the pitchfork, at once and hurriedly clutched it to his chest.
He walked into the field trembling, already terrified of every little thing. Even the sound of the distant waterwheel churning the river made his heart clench, and the rustling of the watermelon vines in the wind seemed to be mocking him.
"Hee-hee."
Wait, where did that sound come from?
Participant number twenty-two turned around in terror and saw a watermelon behind him moving on its own, even though there was no wind. It slowly rolled over, revealing humanlike facial features, and turned toward him with a broad grin.