Hidden Ability

Hidden Ability

Since the first floor of the bungalow had been designated as the reception hall, kitchen, activity room, Storage Room, and a room belonging exclusively to Da Qing, everyone could only stay on the second floor.

The rooms on the second floor were simply numbered 1 through 8, arranged from left to right.

The staircase in the middle divided the second floor into two sections, left and right.

Rooms 1 through 4 were in the left section, while rooms 5 through 8 were in the right section.

The important characters, Granny Wang and her husband, stayed in Room 4.

The important character, Chen Li, stayed in Room 6... She had to return to her room before eight at night, and her younger brother Da Qing would tightly lock the door with iron chains.

As for why the door had to be locked, Da Qing had not explained directly, but it was certainly related to Chen Li's Hex.

The important character, Da Qing, had already been mentioned before. He stayed on the first floor.

Putting aside whether Granny Wang truly possessed the ability to exorcise spirits... Based on the information so far, it was clear that the central figure in this evil-spirit incident was likely Chen Li.

Therefore, staying on the right side of the second floor was obviously more dangerous than staying on the left.

Han Dong had assumed that this would lead to serious disagreement among the group.

Yet during the room assignment, the bald De Leon unexpectedly volunteered to stay next door to Chen Li.

As for the kind-hearted Newsboy Herbert, he also indicated that he did not mind and could stay anywhere.

With two team members yielding, Edward's arrangements became very simple... The final room assignments were thus decided.

Left side of the second floor:

Room 1 — Han Dong.

Room 2 — the blonde Monica.

Room 3 — Edward with the prosthetic limb.

Right side of the second floor:

Room 5 — Newsboy Herbert.

Room 7 — the bald De Leon.

Room 8 — the believer Akaman.

Han Dong was quite surprised by this arrangement as well.

Though he had said he did not care, Edward had assigned him to Room 1, the farthest room from Chen Li and theoretically the safest room.

Edward's reason was that Han Dong had the weakest constitution in the team. At the same time, Han Dong was the only one proficient in Nine Provinces Chinese, so it was necessary to ensure his safety.

In addition, there were two more rules.

(1) There was no toilet in the bungalow. The outhouse was fifty meters away.

(2) At 23:00 each night, Da Qing would cut off the bungalow's electricity and restore it at 06:00 the next day, because his Hexed sister would be stimulated by electric light at night.

These two rules were somewhat troublesome.

Still... everyone had a way to deal with them. If they needed to relieve themselves in the middle of the night, they could simply use the mineral water bottles prepared in their Backpacks.

As for the lack of electricity, everyone had bought flashlights before coming. At the same time, the cameras provided by the system were capable of filming at night.

Before going to sleep, Edward gathered the team members in one room.

"Everyone, a friend of mine became a Knight-Errant last year as a Returner... From him, I learned some little tips about a rookie's first entry into Destiny Space.

"The most important point is to avoid actively interfering with the actions and decisions of plot characters whenever possible, and do not do anything that defies common sense.

"The more you interfere, the more complicated the event will become. It may even form a dead end.

"I hope everyone will properly play the role of university students and refrain from casually contacting plot characters.

"If you have any thoughts, you can speak with me at any time."

"Understood!"

Edward meant that they should let the plot develop on its own. Aside from the bald man, who said nothing, everyone else expressed agreement.

Edward continued, "Also, I suggest that... if you hear any Abnormal Movement at night, do not leave your rooms.

"The Danger Level on the first night will not be very high. After all, the Soul Transfer Ritual has not begun yet, and the plot characters are all in relatively normal states.

"As long as everyone stays safely in their rooms, there should not be any danger."

"How can you be sure there won't be danger... You're clearly a rookie yourself." De Leon spoke with a disdainful expression.

Edward replied with a smile, "At the very least, staying in your room will be safer than wandering around the hallway... It is only a suggestion. I am not forcing everyone to do it.

"We can discuss the other matters in detail after the Soul Transfer Ritual tomorrow.

"Go back and rest."

The temporary meeting ended.

As everyone was leaving, the rather attractive blonde Monica deliberately remained in Edward's room and spoke some probing words with flirtatious undertones.

Unfortunately, Edward's attitude remained neutral. As the atmosphere gradually became awkward, Monica could only return to her room alone.

While alone, Edward took out a clean rag and, as though treating it like a lover, wiped down his Steam Prosthetic right arm with a smile on his face.

"A four-star evil-spirit type, about as difficult as I expected... As long as I can become a Returner, I can smoothly become a Knight-Errant and start ahead of the others."

Room 1.

Han Dong returned to his room and immediately locked the door.

Ever since arriving here, Han Dong had not found an opportunity to be alone.

Ever since waking from the nightmare, he had felt somewhat strange... Therefore, a large part of Han Dong's attention had remained focused on himself.

"What is this?"

He raised his hands before him and followed the strange sensation from his nightmare, slowly activating the Faceless One's Head.

At once, an eerie aura spread throughout the room.

Creak, creak!

A tentacle covered in gray spots slowly emerged from his palm, swaying eerily in the air.

"Hidden Ability?"

Han Dong stared at the tentacle in a daze.

"During the time I escaped from prison, when I still had no physical body, I also relied on Mycelial Tendrils growing from my neck to move around... But those mycelial tentacles were somewhat different from this one.

"This tentacle is thicker and does not fall within the category of mycelium... It gives off a bizarre aura and is extremely dangerous."

About Ten seconds passed.

The tentacle growing from his palm turned into a pool of filthy water, dripping down before evaporating into nothing.

At the same time, a wave of weakness swept through Han Dong's entire body.

"Cough, cough, cough... It seems that using this tentacle ability places an enormous burden on my body.

"Unless it is an emergency, I absolutely cannot use it."

He used some paper to wipe away the filthy saliva he had coughed up from the Corner of the Mouth.

After recovering a little, Han Dong took out the usable items he had bought and placed them beneath his pillow: a flashlight and a small knife.

The knife was not for dealing with evil spirits, but for experiments and protection against other people.

Besides the flashlight and knife, Han Dong's Backpack also contained two sets of rural-style clothing. He did not know what they were for.

"Edward is probably right. As long as we do not actively disrupt the plot characters, the first night should not be too dangerous before the Soul Transfer Ritual begins... Time to sleep."

Because of the nightmare's effects.

Han Dong's rest in the car had nearly gone to waste. Combined with his use of that strange tentacle ability, the weakened Han Dong urgently needed sleep.

Not long after lying down on the bed, he fell asleep.

This time, he did not have a nightmare.

Instead, he faintly heard footsteps pacing in the hallway and the crying of a baby, which jolted Han Dong awake in the middle of the night.

The power was out.

The room was pitch-black.

However, the large red lantern in the hallway was still lit.

For some reason, some idiot designer had made a round hole roughly the size of a head in the center of the door and filled it with transparent glass.

Through it, he could clearly see under the light of the large red lantern.

A black-haired woman holding a child passed in front of his door.