Alice's Hell (10) - Good Friend

Looking at Yu Xing's face, Huai had a strange feeling, as if the gentle-smiling man had just said not "One death is enough," but rather "Dinner was delicious."

So, have they already decided who to eat... no, who to kill?

Huai mentally pulled his wandering thoughts back, unconsciously rubbing his fingertips against the mithril pendant on his chest.

Xing's way of thinking doesn't seem like that of a good person.

Aren't gamblers worried about Fallen Path?

Just as Huai was pondering this, Yu Xing, maintaining her innocent expression, added, "Of course, a dead man is always the worst-case scenario. Senior Gambler must already know where the new area is. As long as I follow him, I'll be fine!"

Huai: "..."Is that so?

Zeng Lai: "..."What the heck!?

The carefree "gambler veteran" had just recovered from the shock of Yu Xing removing her mask when he was suddenly burdened with the stigma of being made a scapegoat.

Good grief, isn't this basically telling Huai that he was the one who came up with the idea?

However, he did discover some things during his previous explorations, but he didn't believe that Yu Xing, with his current level of intelligence, wouldn't have discovered them simultaneously.

Think about it carefully.

After thinking for two seconds, Zeng Lai came out.

Fortunately, he didn't put on much of a show in front of him, but it was different in front of Huai. Huai's most distinctive feature was that he liked to record deduction videos. Although he was a loner, he had quite a few supporters.

Because Huai's videos provided many people with reference cases and helped them learn a lot, even their researchers used Huai's videos for analysis.

Therefore... I don't intend to reveal my deduction habits to future audiences!

Zeng Lai gave herself a thumbs up for her quick thinking.

Someone like Xing, who has powerful backers, is unlikely to die in the Struggle Level deduction. They might even cross paths again in the future. Since that's the case, he might as well do Xing a favor.

"Yes, we have indeed made some discoveries, so let them handle the room reservations for now." He casually continued Yu Xing's words, trying to brush off the few seconds of stunned silence he had just experienced.

Huai gave him a deep look.

Zeng Lai remained unfazed. "Seriously... surely no one really thinks there's no danger in reserving a room, right?"

Huai nodded and sighed.

In this simulation, the BOSS is in control; in other words, Alice is the master of the castle, and she doesn't even need an excuse to cause trouble for the participants.

Unfortunately, the strategist couldn't do anything about her.

This boss is not only of high status but also quite intelligent. With just a small trick, he caused several deducers to overlook the initial key points and fall into a blind spot.

They only saw time and competition, but Alice never guaranteed that the monsters rumored to roam the castle... wouldn't be waiting for them in the room.

The ghosts that everyone used to avoid have been given the opportunity to appear and kill at will due to the new rules that appeared out of nowhere.

For example, Yu Xing's Corpse Researcher.

This thing makes a lot of noise when it walks, making it hard to hide. But what if it's standing behind a door that's unlikely to be opened otherwise?

The deducer hurriedly pushed open the door, only to find a section of pipe with exaggerated serrations coming straight at his head.

The scene is beautiful, so stop thinking about it.

Securing a room sounds simple, but it's actually fraught with difficulties.

Alice, that thing whose breed we don't know, has absolutely no kindness towards them; she's a really bad dog.

Perhaps to confirm their words, at that moment, a series of terrified screams came from upstairs.

It sounded like a man's voice. Although it was impossible to tell the specific floor or person, judging from the volume of the screams, the person was running and shouting at the same time.

The cries lasted for a few seconds and then stopped. It wasn't the kind of cries that were cut off, but rather the kind of cries that silently shut up after realizing that the more they cried, the harder it was to escape.

"..."

It seems things are getting lively upstairs.

The three people at the table fell silent for a moment before Huai spoke up to confirm, "You've noticed, and so have Huang Bai and I. So, shall we form an alliance?"

"Conclude." Zeng Lai made the decision.

Yu Xing ate.

The alliance was thus finalized. Huai was on the Mutation Path, Huang Bai on the Righteous Path (according to what she told Huai herself), the gambler on the Righteous Path, Yu Xing on the Mutation Path. Overall, the alliance was quite reassuring.

In other words, there's no "Fallen Path" in the team, so everyone can feel at ease.

Because this involves the method of clearing the level, people on the Fallen Path will stop at nothing and often harm others. As long as they can clear the level or achieve a certain goal, they will put morality aside.

While the righteous path and alienation have different deductive habits, they have one thing in common—they both feel that the threat posed by the Absurd Deduction Game is not enough for them to break their morals and complete the game by killing others.

Based on the projections after the Differentiation Tier, the mortality rate is generally around 50%. If you encounter a powerful leader, this number can be reduced even further. Zeng Lai has seen cases where everyone survives.

Therefore, for experienced individuals with above-average skills, a single simulation doesn't mean a near-certain death, but rather a near-certain death with a 30% chance of survival...

Although the probability increase is not significant, at least we still have some confidence.

If it really comes to the absolute worst, when death is just around the corner... then we'll talk about it then.

In any case, I wouldn't normally risk the lives of innocent teammates I randomly matched with. Watching from the sidelines is one thing, but actively harming them is another, unless I encounter someone I have a grudge against or someone who is clearly hostile to me and belongs to Fallen Path.

Well, the Fallen Path usually does inhuman things, so of course the developers of the other two lines don't treat them like human beings.

The old butler witnessed the three tourists seemingly speaking ill of Alice while simultaneously forming some strange relationship.

But he didn't say anything, nor did he tell Alice there was no need to. His job was simply to be a good logistics manager; Bugui his responsibility.

These are the rules.

Zeng Lai and Huai understood this characteristic of the system, which is why they didn't go back to their room but instead discussed these things directly at the dining table.

So, the old butler, who had been relegated to the background, started eavesdropping on the three people exchanging clues again.

"What was in the box you took back just now?" Huai finally asked the question he'd been wanting to ask. "A clue, or a prop? How did you find it?"

"It might be a prop, I have a feeling it is." Since he hadn't opened the small wooden box, Zeng Lai wasn't entirely sure. However, he could tell from the system prompts that the complicated process of finding lighting tools and keys to open the box was similar to that of finding a prop.

If a prop or clue is made this complicated, then they might as well give up and just stab each other in the back before dying together.

He gave his answer, then glanced at Yu Xing, who wasn't going to speak, "Actually, it was Xing who found it. It was in a cabinet in the fifth-floor corridor. The fifth floor is really weird. Look at the lobby, so magnificent, but do you know what the fifth floor is like? The dust is piled up so high, and there are cobwebs everywhere. It's so dilapidated."

"Break?"

Huai didn't go to the fifth floor, but he did see the iron door at the end of the staircase leading from the lobby to the fifth floor, which required a key. He thought to himself that it was indeed dilapidated.

That one door was so rusted that you could hardly recognize its original material. If the whole floor is like that, then it must have some significance.

In this Absurd World, every anomaly may symbolize life and a clue.

Having come this far, there was nothing left to hide, so Zeng Lai recounted their findings, including the unactivated Abyssal Blood Array on the ceiling.

"I see. So you've already seen three kinds of ghosts." Huai looked at Yu Xing, who had an excellent appetite, and inexplicably felt his own appetite being whetted. He took advantage of the food being hot and ate a few more bites to fill his stomach, then said, "Huang Bai and I also saw one in the bathroom."

Huang Bai wanted to reserve a room, so Huai let her go.

The first few rooms were easy to get into; after all, they had at least ten bedrooms, right?

As for potentially dangerous places, Huai believed that Huang Bai had his own judgment and would not take risks easily.

Because this woman is very clever; she may seem carefree and cheerful, but she's actually very meticulous.

Huai said, "The men's bathroom is pretty much as you described. I looked around for a bit and then left, going to the women's bathroom instead."

Yu Xing raised her eyelids to look at him.

Zeng Lai stared at him silently, as if making some kind of accusation.

"... Surely not, there was no one in the bathroom at that time!" Huai's usually calm voice finally showed its strongest fluctuation yet, "... Besides, Huang Bai went in first, I just followed to check the clues, I wouldn't do anything weird, so watch your eyes!"

Yu Xing obediently withdrew her gaze.

Zeng Lai clicked his tongue twice. "And then? And then what did you see in the women's bathroom?"

Huai coughed lightly. "A mirror."

"It was Huang Bai who discovered it. She said she heard a sound coming from the mirror, so she went to look. I went too, and then I saw a person in the mirror."

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Huai said, "Myself."

Zeng Lai: "...?"

Am I deaf...?

"You think it's so great to see yourself like that? Isn't that just a mirror?"

Huai knew he hadn't explained things clearly enough and was about to add something to the explanation for the hot-tempered guy from Northeast China when Yu Xing spoke first.

He tried to understand. "You and Huang Bai are looking in a mirror, but the mirror only shows yourself?"

"Yes," Huai said. "Besides, the reflection in the mirror waved at me. I ignored it and looked at Huang Bai first. I noticed her expression was similar to mine, maybe a bit greener. She probably saw herself smiling and waving at her too."

Zeng Lai imagined the scene, but for someone who had seen many ghosts, it wasn't too shocking; after all, who hasn't encountered a mirror ghost or two?

Then he imagined that if he were taking a shower, and a person who looked exactly like him appeared in the mirror and smiled at him, being completely honest with him while showering.

Zeng Lai felt like she might be driven crazy by the perverts.

Banishing the bizarre image from his mind, he cautiously asked, "What is it?"

Huai, unaware of the strange imagery he had conjured in his mind, replied normally, "The ghost notice said its name is [Good Friend]."

Best friends who shower together.

Zeng Lai looked utterly hopeless, feeling like her brain couldn't get past this mess.

I really want to cut myself.

Upon hearing the name, Yu Xing immediately made a connection to the attack methods of this ghostly creature.

Clearly, this thing is not solid.

He knew there were many kinds of ghosts, and he took the ghosts in this simulation as an example... The Corpse Researcher and the screamer were both physical entities, but his good friend was not.

His white-coated zombie and his best friend's attack methods are quite obvious—the former uses pipes and his body to punch people, while the latter simply pulls people into mirrors or kills them through their reflections.

The attack mechanisms of the Crying One and the Blood Array are hard to predict. When the Crying One knocks on the door, should one answer or not? If the door is opened, will the Crying One attack directly with its body, or will there be other Karma rules? As for the Blood Array, aside from its limited sensing range, Yu Xing knows nothing about it.

Some ghosts can refresh the ghost notification message just by being seen from afar, while others require activation, meaning they need to be approached and discovered before the message refreshes. And some ghosts can be seen but not necessarily recognized as ghosts. As for the criteria for judgment, it's all up to the system.

Yu Xing asked, "What happened after you said hello?"

Zeng Lai managed to concentrate, albeit with some difficulty.

Huai's fingers twirled the pendant again, seemingly a habitual gesture of his.

He said, "The person in the mirror didn't make a move; it seemed like we were really good friends, just exchanging greetings. We were in a stalemate for five minutes, and then I left. After I got back to my bedroom, I checked in the small mirror there, and it didn't follow us. I don't know if it only exists in the bathroom, or if it's just too weak to attack us for the time being."

Yu Xing thought to himself that it was unlikely that the ghost only existed in the bathroom, otherwise it would be too embarrassing for the ghost to only appear twice a day, once a night, specifically to have a friendly meeting with the deducer.

Moreover, there's a high chance they'll never have any clothes to wear, which is quite tragic.

Looks like I'll have to do a thorough check of the mirrors in the room when I get back to the bedroom...

After thinking for a while, Huai and Zeng Lai and Yu Xing said, "There's one more thing. You mentioned earlier that the fifth-floor corridor was dark and inaccessible. I remember seeing a tinderbox in a display room on the second floor."

Zeng Lai's eyes lit up. "Thanks."

After all that has been said, both sides have received some new information.

At the very least, this shows that the alliance was sincere.

Zeng Lai touched his chin, feeling he was almost full, and turned to look at Jin Zhong.

The clock has struck 6:19 PM.

He stood up. "The bathroom isn't close to here, we should go."

Yu Xing, having eaten and drunk his fill, nodded upon hearing this.

Huai stood up and said, "That's settled then. If we make any new discoveries later, let's find time to share them. If we find any new items... it would be best to let everyone know as well."

The props correspond to different ghosts, and if you know how to use them, you can coordinate to fight off the ghosts together.

After making a verbal agreement, the three of them left the hall and went upstairs.

Only the old butler remained, silently beginning to clear away the dishes and chopsticks, piling them up and carrying them one trip after another to the conveyor belt in the corner of the hall.

After doing all this, he stood by the bell, as quiet as a machine without self-awareness.

Only the occasional twitch of a finger seemed to be a silent protest against this illusion.