They couldn't lose yet

The upheaval of the past minute had left everyone distracted.

Lan Xingchen's ability only worked in a group of no more than five, but there were now seven players in the lobby. Though his physical enhancement might not disappear, his ability to taunt Ghost Creatures would certainly stop working. That meant both the Butcher Ghost, now deprived of his butcher's knife, and the Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost beside him would begin attacking any player in the lobby indiscriminately.

In the eyes of those two Ghost Creatures, the feast before them had probably just become even more delicious.

The two players who emerged from the elevator were also somewhat stunned. They might not have heard anything on their way down, only to step out and find two vicious ghosts and a man covered in horrific wounds. But the young woman they were supporting was bleeding profusely from her abdomen, so they dared not move her again and could only stay beside the elevator, shielding her.

Both players who had stepped out of the elevator were relatively young men, with unremarkable, ordinary appearances. They seemed to have tried various methods to stop the young woman's bleeding, but none had done much good.

Then the two chimes drew every player's attention to the changing score on the digital clock on the lobby wall. Compared with the previous "95:100," the new "94:80" meant that two players had just been killed by Ghost Creatures!

In an instant, the players had lost their entire advantage, and the Strange Creatures had taken the lead.

The New Residents' Guidebook, recited by the administrator at the start of the game, had included a rule: "Human residents must maintain a surplus of points. An excessively low score will displease the other residents." But no one yet knew just how terrifying that "displeasure" might be!

"Roar-"

Once their attention was no longer fixed on Lan Xingchen, the Butcher Ghost and the Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost did not let the past minute's upheaval distract them as it had the players. Instead, they lunged toward the Qiu sisters behind him.

Evil ghosts' favorite fare was human fear and despair. No matter how hard Su Bai tried to feign vulnerability, he probably still looked far from appetizing to them. At that moment, the Qiu sisters, who still depended on Lan Xingchen to survive, might have been the most promising delicacies in the lobby.

The younger sister, Qiu Lei, was just an ordinary girl. Although she wore the uniform of Rainbow Locust No. 1 High School, Su Bai, who had been reborn from ten years in the future, could not possibly remember whether their paths had ever crossed.

The older sister, Qiu Man, might have been highly accomplished in her profession in the real world, but she was only a newcomer in the Nightmare World. Without meeting Lan Xingchen, she might already have died in Building Two.

Whatever the identities of the three people who had just emerged from the elevator, the Qiu sisters were clearly more enticing to the two ghosts.

Whatever the reason, Lan Xingchen could not let the two ghosts get near the Qiu sisters. He intercepted the Butcher Ghost and the Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost as quickly as he could, but with his "taunt" ability no longer working, both ghosts kept trying to get around him and attack the sisters even as he held them off. Alone, he struggled to cover every angle.

Su Bai also noticed that the pale blue of Lan Xingchen's hair was growing darker. Looking at the wounds covering his body and the ever-slower rate at which they healed, the situation looked grim, even with the Butcher Ghost's knife now in his hand.

Yet at that moment, the person most shocked was actually Su Bai.

Judging by the player faction's total score of 100 at the start of this game, there were ten players participating: Su Bai himself; Ning Yan, Fang Xiujie, and Feng Ling from Building 3; Lan Xingchen and the Qiu sisters from Building Two; and the two men and one woman who had just stepped out of the elevator in Building 1.

If two players really had been killed, they could only be two of the three players Ning Yan, Fang Xiujie, and Feng Ling!

That came as something of a surprise to Su Bai.

After all, that girl Feng Ling, she...

Wait, could it be...

Bang-!

Before Su Bai could sort out his thoughts, the badly wounded Lan Xingchen was rammed aside by the enraged Butcher Ghost and slammed into the wall beside the Qiu sisters. Flecks of blood spattered the white wall. His expression showed unbearable pain, and his blue hair had already returned to blue-black, yet even after he collapsed against the wall, a strange smile remained on his face.

"Should we go help?" One of the players beside the elevator looked anxious.

But the player beside him grabbed him and shook his head. "No. We might not be newcomers, but our strength is nothing compared with Sister Yao's. She was hurt this badly saving us. We can't leave her here and rush in to help when we're completely outmatched."

"But..."

"Did you see his hair?" the other player interrupted again. "Isn't that the lunatic called Lan Xingchen we've heard about? He's far stronger than us. If even he's ended up like this, wouldn't going over there just get us killed?"

"What are you talking about? Lan risked his life to come here because he saw your call for help!" Having overheard the two players, Qiu Lei could not help speaking up for the man who had once been her prospective brother-in-law.

But Qiu Lei's voice also drew the Butcher Ghost farther toward the sisters.

"We did ask for help... but, but then Sister Yao thought no one was coming to save us, so..." The two men shielded the female player behind them, whose abdomen was badly wounded. "We should just get out of here!"

"Where could you run?" Though his wounds no longer healed rapidly, Lan Xingchen actually climbed back to his feet. Carrying the butcher's knife, now stained with his own blood, he returned to the Qiu sisters' side. "Don't worry. Unless I take these things down with me, I won't die."

Now that his wounds no longer healed rapidly, the pain should have been overwhelming him, too. But he seemed accustomed to this state, and his slashes at the Butcher Ghost only grew fiercer and more forceful.

Had Lan Xingchen been facing any other Ghost Creature, the fight would probably have ended long ago.

Unfortunately, the Butcher Ghost's abilities were very similar to his: extraordinary physical toughness and lethal attacks. His opponent might even have felt no pain at all, and his wounds healed-and even his severed limbs regenerated-far faster than Lan Xingchen's.

An enemy like this might have been the hardest possible match for Lan Xingchen.

Especially now, with his ability temporarily exhausted, the sight of him fighting the Butcher Ghost to the death looked to many of them... as though his life were slowly draining away along with the blood flowing from his body.

Yet just then, the Red-Dressed Hanged Ghost, her head hanging low, vanished without a trace once again.

Su Bai noticed her disappearance immediately. After looking around, he spotted the shadow of the ghost suspended from a rope on the white wall a short distance from the Qiu sisters. Her hand, tipped with sharp nails, was inching toward them.

Su Bai glanced at the numbers displayed on the wall's digital clock and sighed. Holding his black long-handled umbrella, he walked toward the Qiu sisters.

If Lan Xingchen wanted to die, he was welcome to-but the player faction couldn't lose yet!