The game's instructions were already clear enough: the players had to discover the secret behind the disappearance of the rose vines in the abandoned building within three hours, while keeping themselves clean and fresh.
Setting aside just how terrible the conditions in this instance were, the screening mechanism had such a high death rate precisely because it was extremely dangerous. They had to survive a deadly instance while also minding their personal hygiene.
At that thought, Shen Ru couldn't help curling his lips.
The Leons really were right up his alley.
He couldn't wait to meet them.
The system had issued the task, but none of the sixteen people present moved. No one wanted to be the first player to enter the ruined building.
Although the task sounded quite specific, the system had left many things unexplained.
How clues would be provided, for example.
Or whether there were obstacles or traps inside the building.
Bored, Shen Ru rolled his wrist, let his gaze sweep over Chu Rong, the guild leader of the fourth guild, then withdrew it as though no one else were there.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Chu Rong lost patience and confidently stepped out of the crowd.
"Since everyone is so willing to yield, I'll go on ahead."
He then signaled with his eyes for the person beside him to follow. The boy looked unfamiliar and was cowering in terror. In all likelihood, he had been brought along as a sacrifice.
The boy had no choice but to steel himself and follow.
Not long after the two entered, everyone heard an announcement:
"Ding. Players have been detected starting a game of hide-and-seek."
"The second-floor area inside the building will now be sealed."
Everyone's gaze focused on the second floor. As soon as the system announcement ended, a barrier of air formed around it, glowing faintly blue.
But Shen Ru noticed that the barrier seemed to sit inside the building's outer walls, with a small gap between them.
"Two people can play hide-and-seek?"
One of the girls looked rather pale. She seemed to be another inexperienced novice player.
Wei Lanxing adjusted the lace on her skirt and snorted without raising her head. "Of course. Perhaps both of them are hiding."
Her meaning was obvious: there had to be something unknown in the game, and there was no telling how many there were.
"How to obtain clues is clear now, too. Everyone, I won't stand on ceremony."
Guan Wenyue greeted the others, then entered the game area with his teammate.
People trickled away until only Shen Ru, Mo Yu, Wei Lanxing, and her partner remained.
Soon after the players entered, system announcements began sounding one after another. It seemed everyone was finding the game triggers in turn.
Although Wei Lanxing was a devoted fan of Mo Yu, she was the team leader. Under these circumstances, she couldn't abandon her teammate and propose cooperating with another guild. All she could do was watch wistfully as her idol partnered with someone else.
"Aren't we going in yet? Only the Third Floor and Fifth Floor haven't had their games triggered. If we wait much longer, we might be too late."
Wen Meng's eyes widened slightly. One look at her guild leader told her that Wei Lanxing had gone into fangirl mode and was essentially useless, so she turned her gaze toward the other two.
Wen Meng was the third-in-command of Wei Lanxing's guild. When Sheng Ziyao introduced her, he had specifically mentioned that although she looked delicate and frail, her talent was supergravity. She could crush ten fragile guys like Shen Ru to death.
"What do you think?"
Mo Yu's gaze was sharp as he scanned the entire building, then asked casually.
Shen Ru lowered his eyes and pondered for a while before saying, "Something's wrong. They may have been misled."
The man tugged at his lips and feigned confusion. "Hmm? How so?"
The young man ignored Mo Yu's insincere expression. He knew Mo Yu was testing him. Although they had spent a few days together in the previous instance, this was their first time actually cooperating.
"One obvious point is the air barriers the system put up. The first one appeared after Chu Rong entered the game. It clearly marked out the entire playing area. But as the other players entered, all these barriers shared one feature: they left the building's walls outside."
Wen Meng asked in confusion, "What does that tell us?"
Wei Lanxing's expression soured. Although she didn't want to admit it, Shen Ru's analysis made perfect sense. "It means the game mechanics are implicitly protecting the walls from being damaged by players."
Shen Ru nodded. "Exactly. And vines generally cover walls, so even if we trigger a scenario task, it probably has nothing to do with the inside of the building. Most likely, it's a misleading option. Besides, the system never explicitly said we'd receive clues after finishing the games. It's clearly a trap."
After that explanation, understanding dawned on Wen Meng's face.
Although she had heard from the outset that this young man had gone straight from the beginner instance to the top of the B-rank leaderboard, witnessing how quickly his mind worked still left her impressed.
His intelligence and powers of observation were truly unbeatable.
"When did you figure it out?"
The man's expression barely changed after hearing that deduction. Shen Ru reaching this conclusion was well within his expectations.
"After Chu Rong went in, I suppose."
"What?"
Wei Lanxing's expression froze. She looked at him with conflicting emotions. "Then why didn't you say something sooner?"
As though he had suddenly heard a joke, Shen Ru couldn't hold back a laugh.
The young man's vivid lips curved upward. His smile resembled a midnight rose in full bloom, his red eyes shining brightly with a sly glimmer.
"Of course it's because I wanted to watch! It's so entertaining!"
He wanted to watch them fight tooth and nail over nonexistent clues, bloodied and utterly humiliated.
In the livestream room:
[!!!!]
[Fuck, I was just worrying that all the clues would be gone if they went in this late. So that's what's going on!!!]
[I knew something was fishy! The screening mechanism is disgusting every year. Why would things go so smoothly this year?]
[But I feel like, with the guild leaders' abilities, they'll realize something's wrong pretty quickly once they're inside.]
[I'm a new fan... Is this streamer always this mentally sound?]
[Stick around a little longer. You'll get used to it soon!]
[...Now that's my darling. He's been in the game so long without going crazy that I was starting to feel weird.]
[I think my darling scared that girl. The girl beside Wei Lanxing has gone completely pale.]
Wei Lanxing had never believed in being ruthless. Everyone generally got along, and even when they encountered extreme players in instances, they avoided conflict wherever possible. Hers was one of the rare guilds that still held true to its principles within the game.
So when the young man brazenly treated human lives as worthless, even Wei Lanxing, a guild leader who had grown accustomed to life and death, couldn't help feeling her heart tighten.
Had Shen Ru really stood out among the newcomers solely because of his intelligence?
The young man smiled at Mo Yu, his dark red eyes curving into beautiful crescents as he spoke in a cloying tone:
"Satisfied, Mr. Mo?"
Mo Yu chuckled, his languid gaze resting on the air barriers across the different floors. Their pale blue glow reflected in his pitch-black eyes, his posture relaxed and casual.
"Let's look behind the building. Someone will realize they've been an idiot soon."
The others nodded, then made their way around to the back.
As soon as they rounded the corner, lush weeds came into view. Then they spotted a battered sign lying silently among them. It read:
Research Institute Building, North Entrance.
The moment they stepped onto the lawn, a familiar mechanical voice sounded in their ears:
"Ding! Players have been detected entering the main storyline."
"Suspicious by nature, you did not enter through the building's main entrance without consideration. Instead, you carefully examined the surroundings and finally discovered what was strange about this building: its main entrance and north entrance lead to different worlds."
"Perhaps the secret behind the disappearance of the rose vines lies within the Research Institute. Further exploration is sure to reveal something."
"Good luck to you all."
As the system announcement ended, a wave of dizziness swept over them, and the surrounding scenery gradually collapsed and reassembled.
Lush trees filled their surroundings. The pristine building was completely covered in rose vines. Their varied shapes appeared to grow haphazardly, yet there was an underlying order.
The sign was gleaming and brand-new, as though it had only recently been hung up. Even the red cloth tied to it had yet to be removed.
Before they could react, a stern rebuke suddenly came from inside the doorway:
"Why are you interns dressed like that? Get inside and change!"
A skeletal woman stood in the darkness, the wisps of hair over her forehead plastered tightly to her scalp. Her eyes were sunken and her cheekbones slightly prominent. Red roses covered her body, blooming one after another in dazzling scarlet, making her look like a living rose vine.
This was Shen Ru's and Wen Meng's first time entering this instance, but not Mo Yu's or Wei Lanxing's.
So the instant Wei Lanxing saw the woman, her breathing stopped briefly and her pupils contracted. She murmured in disbelief.
"Mrs. Leon!"
Hearing that, Shen Ru abruptly realized that the person before them was one of the Tea Party's hosts. He raised his eyes toward the woman.
Before you continue