The Hollowed-Out Corpse

Second Floor.

"Judging from the degree of blood desiccation, this body has been dead for at least five or six hours."

Carefully moving away from the disemboweled corpse in front of him, Doloth began to speak with a grave expression.

"And in the preceding minutes, he had also spoken on the public channel of the Walkie-Talkie."

Iron Blood's face remained expressionless.

"I fucking knew that guy wasn't a good person. He was the one who suggested splitting up in this situation. Splitting up is a death sentence in horror movies, you know?"

Arms crossed, I’m Arrogant, So What?? smile played on his lips.

However, despite saying that, he didn't dare to look at the corpse even once.

Of the three groups, their three-person group was the Unique one that remained unattacked throughout.

The search of the First Floor Hall went quite smoothly. Apart from the initial incident involving the White Paper Painting, no other abnormalities were found.

After confirming that the search of the first floor was complete, the three of them went up to the Second Floor, where they quickly found the Traveler who had hanged himself with his own intestines in a Second Floor.

Just as they were all filled with doubt and uncertainty, the Traveler's cry for help came through the Walkie-Talkie...

The other person's body was hanging right in front of them, yet the other person's voice was coming from the Walkie-Talkie the other person had given them... Such a bizarre situation made it hard for them not to suspect the Walkie-Talkie in their hands.

So, upon first hearing the Traveler's voice coming from the Walkie-Talkie, I’m Arrogant, So What? were practically the first to throw their Walkie-Talkie away.

"But the Player Information he showed half an hour ago was indeed correct. Player Information cannot be faked; that's common sense."

Doloth frowned deeply.

"And just a few minutes ago, we also heard information about a Hidden Anomaly Source being dealt with, right? One message came through after the Traveler called for help on the Walkie-Talkie, and another message followed within five minutes... One of them was probably dealt with by the Traveler's group, and the other one was probably dealt with by the Black&White group."

"But what about this corpse?"

He pinched his nose to block out the stench that seemed to be drilling into his head, his I’m Arrogant, So What? defiant expression.

"The facts are already clear: the Traveler speaking on the Walkie-Talkie is either a freak or a ghost; in any case, he is definitely not human."

"Let's put him down first."

With a slight frown, he looked at the corpse in front of him, hanged by its own intestines. Iron Blood fingers flicked and produced an iron Poker. With a crisp "crack," the Poker severed the intestines that were firmly tied to the light tube, and then sank into the wall behind him with its remaining force.

With its support gone, the disemboweled corpse plummeted to the ground under the influence of gravity.

However, unlike Iron Blood and Doloth, who unanimously stepped forward to check on the body, I’m Arrogant, So What? covered their noses and retreated outside with disgust.

In this respect alone, he is not even as good as Doloth.

"His internal organs have been almost completely removed; he's practically just an Empty Skin..."

After briefly examining the body, Doloth's face turned slightly pale.

"Empty Skin? No wonder such a fragile chandelier was able to fish out this corpse..."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Iron Blood stood up from the ground.

"Judging from the situation before us alone, it's not enough to prove that this corpse is the Traveler. It's true that Player ID can't be faked, but Player's corpse can be faked."

"But didn't you just crush the Walkie-Talkie like that?"

Doloth glanced at him.

"Three Hidden Anomaly Source have been discovered and resolved, and we've completed about half of the mission requirements. Now we just need to focus on completing our own tasks."

Iron Blood pretended not to hear.

"Regardless of whether the Traveler on the Third Floor is Anomaly or Player, they will inevitably come down to find us after discovering they can't contact us Walkie-Talkie. If they are Player, that's great; if they are Anomaly, we can take care of them while we're at it."

"Responding to all changes with the same approach... I'm fine with that."

After thinking for a moment, Doloth nodded.

"I'm fine with it too."

"Let's go then."

"Very well, in that case, what's next...?"

Before he could finish his sentence, Iron Blood frowned deeply. As an Iron Poker appeared in his hand, he abruptly turned his head to look towards the doorway.

"W-what are you doing?"

Startled by Iron Blood's murderous act, I’m Arrogant, So What?, who were still standing at the door covering their noses, almost reflexively raised their hands.

Three people just answered my question.

A whole stack of Poker appeared in his hand, Iron Blood face expressionless.

"Repeat what you just said to me."

"Uh... 'Stay put and see'? I'm fine with that."

Perhaps realizing something was amiss, Doloth honestly gave his answer.

After all, with the opponent's Poker already subtly pointing towards their side, honest cooperation is the most important thing. The opponent's previous Poker is still firmly pinned to the wall.

"Then, shall we go?"

Holding up his hands as if to throw something, I’m Arrogant, So What? He stammered in response.

"I'm fine with it too."

A third voice rang out behind Iron Blood.

"!!!"

Without the slightest hesitation, in the blink of an eye, the Iron Poker in Iron Blood's hand flew behind him like lightning.

Only then did Iron Blood Xue have the mind to turn around and see what was making the sound behind him.

--It was a corpse whose internal organs had been almost completely hollowed out.

All of his Playing Cards disappeared into the other person's body, but the other person was completely unaware of it, and was now using his withered arm to grope for a pair of gold-rimmed Glasses on the ground and put them on his face.

Seeing their gazes turn in his direction, the corpse raised its head, revealing a stiff and eerie smile, and repeated what it had said earlier.

"I'm fine with it too."