Qi Si descended the stairs in the darkness, his eyes gradually adjusting to the dim environment until he could barely make out his surroundings.
He stopped on the first floor and saw a glow spilling through the crack beneath the office door in the distance. Listening closely, he could also hear several hushed voices, seemingly discussing the Instance.
A few Players had gotten there ahead of him and had already entered the office to investigate.
The light inside the office flickered unsteadily. It did not look like electric lighting, but more like a burning bonfire. Clearly, some player had exploited the wording of The Rules—"No lights allowed"—and lit a fire for illumination.
He wondered whether Ms. Medina would fly into a rage tomorrow when she smelled the lingering smoke from the fire.
Qi Si passed by quietly, went straight past the office, and headed for the archives room nearby.
In a team game, an advantage depended not only on how much information one possessed, but also on how scarce that information was. And the items in this Instance seemed capable of being stored in the inventory after being placed into a backpack.
With all the Players rushing headlong into the office, he could no longer gain the First-mover Advantage there. He might as well take another route and hide away some crucial clues elsewhere in advance.
Qi Si pulled a thin wire from his wristband, picked the archives room lock in a few quick movements, and pushed the door open.
Rows of metal bookcases stood crammed together, their narrow aisles allowing only one person to pass at a time.
The shelves were filled with all sorts of books. Some had tattered corners, their spines covered in decaying sores; others looked new, colorful and gaudy, making it impossible to tell what