Alice's Hell (14)-The System Was Furious

The system in the Alice's Hell simulation did not retrieve the shattered Persona Mask, undoubtedly intensifying the competition among the simulation participants.

The allure of offerings after death is something not everyone can resist.

Because White Face died suddenly, fragments of his Persona Mask are now hidden behind his body, which indirectly suggests that his death was not caused by human intervention.

Otherwise, where would the mask fragments be left?

Huai asked, "Who took it?"

None of the three people present were the type to kill for offerings, but they wouldn't refuse a shard offered to them.

We can't all just say "dead people don't make money" and leave the fragments there until they're recycled by the system or taken by the Fallen Path.

Offerings are rare, and if you encounter a suitable one, you can even form the general direction of your power around that offering. Carlos's paper doll ability and Zhao Yijiu's dagger are good examples.

The simulation is so dangerous that even a single prop could increase the survival rate of the participant. To be reserved at this point would be incredibly foolish.

So here's the question: how do we divide this thing since it was discovered right under their noses? A moment of silence fell over the bathroom.

After about ten seconds, Zeng Lai glanced at Yu Xing, who had stepped back, and said thoughtfully, "How about this? If you trust me, I'll take it and see why he died so quickly. After that, the sacrifice can be given to whoever is suitable, but the other two will have to be compensated with points. How about that?"

--A very typical looting and looting method used in online games.

Zeng Lai added, "I remember Huai seems to really like collecting offerings, but Xing just advanced, so his offering reserves are definitely not enough. If possible..."

Huai nodded. "Sure, having at least three or four sacrificial items in hand gives me some confidence. Although I enjoy collecting, I wouldn't compete with a newcomer."

Those who know Huai know that he enjoys collecting all sorts of sacrificial offerings. Of course, most of the time he doesn't get them from other people's mask fragments, but rather finds them by surfing the sacrificial offering trading center.

The fact that Huai can post so many valuable videos speaks volumes about his abilities. His greatest strength lies in his penchant for finding less precious and expensive auxiliary offerings to complement his main offering, the Green Snake Pendant, and devise different strategies to achieve the optimal solution using the most common offerings.

He has a large reserve of offerings, which is why he doesn't have extra points to strengthen his body... He's probably quite confident. Every deducer has a different deduction style, and while his is rare, he's not exactly an oddball.

In short, the locust tree never lacks offerings.

Even though he has a bit of a hamster-like habit, liking to collect this and that, there are priorities.

Yu Xing listened, a slight smile appearing on her face.

He casually wiped the little bit of blood on his finger on his pants, not wanting to lose his composure over a laurel blossom mark, even though that person did give him a headache and had consistently held the top spot on his "unwanted to see" list.

But to be honest, that person didn't pose any threat to him. Based on previous interactions, the other person was a bit crazy, but very measured and not a vicious person.

The simulation isn't over yet. Even if that person wants to find him, that's something that will happen after the simulation. Right now, he should focus his attention.

Zeng Lai and Huai's kindness surprised him somewhat.

These two were among the few people he had met who, despite being in a stronger position, were willing to make concessions for the "weak." The people Yu Xing had encountered before were all cold and calculating, and he had thought that all the strategists had developed a habit of ignoring others.

Unexpectedly... it seems he hasn't seen enough divination practitioners.

With a sigh to herself, Yu Xing felt better, thinking that she found the two of them agreeable and would help them out if she had the chance in the future.

These thoughts only flashed through his mind for a few seconds before he followed Huai and said, "Don't try to accommodate me. I have enough offerings; it's not as scarce as you imagine."

He already has four sacrifices, and he only needs two more to fill the Persona Mask's sacrifice slots.

Although one keeps showing a data error...

To be honest, his offerings were quite comprehensive. [Sheqing Dreamscape] was sufficient for attack, while [The Weird Doll] was a versatile offering for both defense and reconnaissance. Yu Xing preferred to use it as a defensive tool, as one of its abilities was to withstand a fatal attack. In comparison, its noisy reconnaissance ability seemed somewhat lackluster. [Tears of the Underworld Candle] was a powerful tool for disguise and could also perform small-scale group attacks.

He didn't feel there was anything he urgently needed at the moment; wouldn't it be better to save his points for more important things?

Moreover... Yu Xing glanced at the White Face corpse and had a premonition that there weren't many offerings on this person, at most one, otherwise he wouldn't have died so easily.

Otherwise, even if you encounter your own corresponding ghost and can't fight back, you can still run away!

Yu Xing's indifferent attitude towards the offerings made Zeng Lai glance at him again, Zeng Lai muttered to himself.

Not lacking in offerings? So all that talk about being a newbie was just empty words.

Oh right, he and Qu Xuanqing are close, so it's alright then.

"Then I can touch it!"

Huai: "Take it."

Zeng Lai touched the mask fragment with his finger, and the fragment crumbled into powder instantly, like an ancient artifact weathered by time, and disappeared into thin air in less than a second.

Then, Zeng Lai's face darkened.

[Information obtained: "Persona Mask? White Face", no sacrificial offering can be removed]

What the heck!?

Are you serious about the "no sacrifices allowed" rule? You've at least Differentiation Tier, how dare you enter the deduction with zero sacrifices?

He had assumed the White Face- faced offerings would be few, but to say there were none was something he never expected.

Well, all that previous politeness was for nothing.

Zeng Lai coughed lightly. "Let me tell you a ghost story, the White Face can't be separated from the sacrifice..."

In an instant, Huai revealed a rather complex expression.

It wasn't that he didn't believe Zeng Lai; it was precisely because he believed him that he found it absurd.

With his keen intuition as a strategist, he sensed something was amiss; the fact that the White Face wasn't accompanied by any offerings made no logical sense.

Did something happen in real life, and I was unfortunately pulled into the Yugi?

It can be said that Huai's guess was correct, but he had no way of understanding much more.

Since there were no offerings, they didn't need to stay there. The group covered the White Face with several more towels, closed the cabinet door, and prevented the corpse from being exposed to the air.

After doing all this, the three of them left the bathroom and told Huang Bai, who was waiting at the door, what had happened inside.

Huang Bai blinked. "So, there are more rooms?"

Huai, with his slightly messy curly hair, looked at her suspiciously. "Is your first reaction something a Righteous Path should have?"

Huang Bai looked at Huai innocently, seemingly a little puzzled.

She thought to herself, "With one less person, there are definitely more rooms! That's just a fact, and she's not wrong."

Yu Xing continued, "There are more rooms now, but it's impossible that White Face didn't occupy a single room before, so we still need to fight for them."

It's still early, quite a distance from ten o'clock, and Alice hasn't made a move yet.

Similarly, no clues about the items have appeared yet, so this period is more suitable for exploring the map and completing some of the room-occupancy tasks.

It's worth mentioning that the bathroom wasn't counted in the room, perhaps because it was too big and differed from Alice's understanding of a room.

Yu Xing's room count is "0".

When Zeng Lai and Huai were being chased by the Headless Man, they tried to hide in a room in the circular corridor to avoid being seen, but both were told that the room had already been entered by someone else and could not be counted as theirs.

They are also "0".

Only Huang Bai; she occupies many rooms on the second floor, and the current number of rooms she has entered is "6".

The four of them went up to the second floor, mainly led by Huai, to get a tinderbox from the exhibition room mentioned earlier.

The easy rooms have probably already been taken. If you don't want to waste time, you can only go to places that no one can enter, such as the pitch-black fifth floor.

They had already agreed that after getting the tinderbox, Zeng Lai and Yu Xing would go to the fifth floor to try and get the key to the small wooden box, while Huai and Huang Bai would continue to go deeper into the second floor to find the corridor leading to the annex that the nun had mentioned.

Yes, so far they haven't found the two staircases on the second and fourth floors that lead to the annex. In other words, the area Alice mentioned most likely doesn't include the annex. If they could get into the annex, the room problem would probably be solved.

From another perspective, Alice seems to be using this rule to force the solver to follow the map.

Having explained the plan, Huang Bai walked beside Huai and couldn't help but feel a little admiration when he learned that the three zeros were so calm and collected.

She explained to the group, "It's not as simple as just going in. You have to stay inside for a full minute, assuming no one has been there before. You'll be given a notification once you're inside."

This is quite reasonable, as it avoids the lazy approach of someone opening and closing the door in one smooth motion, and also provides a better killing environment for the ghosts lurking in the room.

The showroom is located on the second floor, seemingly close to the kitchen, because Huai said that when he was in the showroom, he could hear mechanical noises coming from the other side of the wall, accompanied by the sounds of a range hood and the clattering of pots and pans.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find the entrance to the kitchen; it's likely located somewhere else.

They went down to the second floor through the side passage next to the bathroom, passed through the circular corridor again, and walked down an inconspicuous little corridor. The corridor was dimly lit with a transparent pale red hue, which was somewhat cozy, but more so served to instill unease.

The journey was relatively peaceful, except for the occasional human-shaped sculpture appearing on either side, which made the group a little paranoid. No ghosts or monsters blocked their way.

What's even more surprising is that this road seems to have never been here before, and several rooms are unoccupied. After passing through here, the three men all have a room count of "2", and Huang Bai has added another one.

This is it.

Finally, led by Huai, they arrived at a showroom.

This is the end of the road; behind the showroom, there's only a wall, signaling that the road is blocked.

Zeng Lai asked, "Who goes first?"

"Huai, he led the way." Huang Bai still favored Huai, but what she said made sense, so Huai was the first to step forward and push the door open.

There was no progress.

Is it locked?

Only then did everyone notice the old-fashioned lock hanging between the double doors of the showroom. Since the doors hadn't been locked when Huai came over before dinner, they had subconsciously overlooked this.

Huang Bai pouted. "Do we still need to look for the key?"

Zeng Lai stepped forward and pushed it. The exquisitely carved door swayed with his force, and his eyes lit up. "No, this door is different from the box. It seems like it can be broken down by force."

That would save a lot of trouble. Huai stepped back a little. "Then you give it a try."

Zeng Lai stretched his ankles, intending to try kicking the lock open.

However, just as he was about to kick it, the system notification sounded with a ticking timer.

[If there is violent destruction, it will make a loud noise and may attract unknown entities.]

[You can sense that the key is in this corridor; perhaps you can take advantage of this calmer time to search for it.]

We can feel your wrath, you old man! We can't!

These two notifications were meant for all four people, and they were all itching to complain, especially Zeng Lai, who had already started cursing. "Is this a threat? This is definitely a threat!"

A matter that could be resolved with a few kicks is being wasted on them going back to search for a needle in a haystack in the room, otherwise they'll attract ghosts.

Is there anything more unreasonable?

It has been proven that it does exist.

Even more unreasonable than the system, Yu Xing pulled out the wire he had put back in his pocket, looked at the lock, and said with a relaxed expression, "Not hard to open, give me half a minute."

Huang Bai: "!"

Huai: "...?" You have this ability?

Zeng Lai: "Wow! Awesome, bro!"

The system appeared again:

[If they force their way in...]

The prompt suddenly stopped halfway through, as if the system realized that picking the lock wasn't considered violent and wouldn't make a lot of noise.

So it swallowed its words.

If the system had a physical form, it would probably be in a lifeless state right now.

Yu Xing felt the dagger at her waist twitch; it was probably Yi Qing laughing.

While taking a shower, Yu Xing briefly put the dagger into her mask, but took it out again as soon as she changed her clothes. When others were around, Yi Qing's presence was very low, so quiet that it was as if she didn't exist. Even the blue mist that came with the dagger was deliberately suppressed by Yi Qing to the point that it was difficult to see with the naked eye. She would only show a little reaction when Yu Xing confronted the system.

In short, Yu Xing's move was unexpected by the rules of this simulation. The system wanted them to find the key to open the door, making it a little more difficult to obtain the tool, but this disobedient guy ruined everything.

The disobedient Yu Xing was too lazy to care about the system's arrangements. The Mutation Path was a line that liked to find loopholes in the rules. In a sense, Yu Xing was a very typical Mutation Path deducer.

He fiddled with the lock for about twenty seconds while everyone else waited expectantly, and then, with a "click," the lock opened.

Huang Bai clapped his hands excitedly. "Wow, it actually works! Amazing! I'm starting to like you, Sachi."

Huai smiled and said, "Why don't you go in first?"

After all, Yu Xing was the one who opened the doors, so it's Yu Xing the rooms.

Yu Xing didn't refuse, carefully put away the wire, and pushed open the door to the exhibition room.

As soon as he stepped inside, in the darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes appeared before him.