Rooms

At the village chief's house, seven players sat around a table, each wearing a different expression.

"Can you tell us what's going on now?" The only woman present spoke first.

She looked at the middle-aged man opposite her, who wore a jacket and appeared to be in his thirties. When singled out, he straightened up and introduced himself first.

"Let's get acquainted. My name is Zhao Fengyi, and this is my fourth instance."

"Instance?" the woman asked.

Zhao Fengyi continued, "You all came here after completing your individual tasks. As you can see, this place is essentially a game instance. We have to complete the tasks issued by the system to get out."

"The only difference from a game is that people really die here."

After saying this, Zhao Fengyi sighed inwardly and waited for the others to ask questions.

Sure enough, the most heavily built man slammed a hand on the table, his expression dark. "So as long as we finish that clearance task or whatever, we can leave?"

The youngest-looking man at the table spoke up as well. "You said this is your fourth instance. Does that mean clearing one instance isn't the end?"

[Here it is, my least favorite part: answering newbie questions.]

[Looks like the sucker in this instance is that player named Zhao Fengyi.]

[It's only because nobody died at the start of the instance that the newbies are in the mood to ask all these questions. Otherwise, they'd already be scared out of their minds.]

The questions gave Zhao Fengyi a bit of a headache. He answered the burly man first. "Basically, yes." Then he turned to the young man. "That question doesn't matter right now. Our first priority is surviving this instance."

Without giving them a chance to ask anything else, he asked, "Which of you are new?"

Four people raised their hands: the woman who had first asked Zhao Fengyi to explain, the burly man and the young man who had asked questions, and Li Xian.

The middle-aged man gave Li Xian a surprised glance, apparently not expecting someone so calm to be a novice. He continued, "What are your names? What do your instance character descriptions say?"

The young man answered first. "My name is Song Qingzhang. The system only said I'm a tourist visiting this village. Nothing special."

Zhao Fengyi nodded. "I'm a tourist visiting here too. What about everyone else?"

Some voiced their agreement, while others nodded, indicating that their character descriptions said the same thing.

A slightly plump man shifted restlessly in his seat. He looked up at the clock on the wall, then out through the window. "It's getting dark outside. Let's finish talking and get to our rooms. My name is Qian Xin. This is my third instance."

Hearing this, the others grew nervous too and quickly gave their names.

The only woman among the players was named Xu Yao. The grim-faced, burly man was Li Hongqiang. The remaining man, thin and so inconspicuous that he had not spoken once, was named Wang Ping. Like Qian Xin, this was his third instance.

Only when everyone turned to look at him did Li Xian realize he was the last one who had not introduced himself.

"My name is Li Xian."

Xu Yao seemed to find his name interesting and asked, "Which character is Xian?"

"The Xian in 'idle layabout.'"

Song Qingzhang couldn't help laughing. "Who introduces their name like that..."

The moment he finished speaking, the door to the outside creaked open. A gust of cold wind swept in, carrying the smell of blood. Everyone turned to see the village chief returning, walking into the room with the axe he had taken earlier.

The only difference was that the previously clean axe was now stained with glaring red blood.

It had gone completely dark outside. The village chief shut the door and approached them step by step, bringing the chill with him. He stopped just one step from the table.

Everyone swallowed in unison. But the village chief said nothing more. He merely took a ring of keys from his pocket and tossed it onto the table in front of them with a clack.

Xu Yao, who sat closest to him, startled and involuntarily shuddered. Fortunately, after dropping the keys, the village chief turned and walked into the corridor as though none of them existed.

But no one expected Li Xian, who had remained silent all this time, to stand up at that moment.

Song Qingzhang's eyes widened, but with the village chief there, he did not dare call out to stop him. Everyone watched as Li Xian left his seat and spoke to the village chief's retreating back.

"Wait."

The village chief turned around. Li Xian was already standing a few steps away from him, blocking the stunned or frightened gazes of those behind him.

"Does this village have a curfew? Or any special customs? Since we're guests, we should follow the local rules. It would be best to learn them first."

The village chief stared at Li Xian, then suddenly began to cackle, swinging the bloodstained axe in his hand. The seated players all flinched, but Li Xian, standing directly in front of him, remained composed and quietly waited for his answer.

"Do not go out in the rain. Be in bed by the start of the hour of Hai. Drink only well water."

After reciting this, the village chief ignored Li Xian and headed deeper into the corridor without looking back.

At the far end of the corridor stood a tightly shut iron door. He walked up to it, took out a key, and unlocked the heavy door. With a metallic scraping sound, the village chief stepped over the threshold and slammed the iron door shut, disappearing from view.

[The streamer's got some serious guts. He actually managed to get information out of him.]

[Those rules from the village chief are all pretty useful. Previous players only figured them out after a few people died.]

[Well, the village chief's carrying a bloody axe. Anyone would want him gone as soon as possible. Who'd dare ask questions?]

Qian Xin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken. "That scared me to death... I can't believe you dared to ask him anything."

Zhao Fengyi shook his head in disapproval as well. "You did get some information, but you'd better not do that again."

Li Xian heard the reproach in his words but did not take it to heart. Instead, he asked, "What time is the start of the hour of Hai?"

"Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao..."

Qian Xin quietly recited the traditional hours, counting them off on his fingers. Finally, he looked up. "Hai is from nine to eleven at night. The start of Hai should mean nine."

After working out the time, he sighed in relief. "It's only eight now. We still have time. Let's divide up the room keys first."

Now that they knew the village chief lived at the far end of the corridor, no one seemed particularly willing to take a room farther in. They all talked over one another as they chose their keys. Li Xian did not lean in to join them. He simply reached out and took one at random. Once it was in his hand, he saw a badly scuffed, barely legible "1" written on it.

The veteran players acted quickly, taking the keys for rooms 2 through 4. Song Qingzhang and Xu Yao got rooms 5 and 6 respectively. Whether because of bad luck or because his seat was farther away, Li Hongqiang ended up with room 7, the closest to the village chief.

There was no room opposite room 7, either, only a toilet.

Li Hongqiang looked displeased. He threw his key onto the table with a clack and asked darkly, "Who got rooms 1 and 2?"

No one said a word.

Li Hongqiang slammed his palm on the table. "Not talking, huh? Then I'll be watching you closely when you go into your rooms."

Zhao Fengyi frowned, but eventually said, "I have room 2."

After hearing Zhao Fengyi's answer, Li Hongqiang raised his chin slightly, seemingly quite satisfied with his own "authority." "What about room 1?"

Li Xian tapped the table with his key. "Me."

Li Hongqiang's gaze shifted between Zhao Fengyi and Li Xian for a moment before finally settling on Li Xian.

"You. Swap keys with me."