The latest group to emerge had only three people left, all covered in injuries. One look was enough to tell they had narrowly escaped death.
A girl who had been waiting nearby rushed forward and threw her arms around one boy's neck:
"You're alive! Thank goodness! I thought I'd never see you again..."
Mindful of keeping the exit clear, she let the exhausted boy lean on her shoulder and helped him over to sit on the stone bench beside Lu Mi:
"Rest here for a bit, then we'll go to the Healing Area."
"This damned game... actually planted two ghosts among us. We finally made it to the exit, and only then did the remaining ghost attack. We never saw it coming..."
The boy spoke quietly, and the girl patted his back to comfort him.
"Little Ma..."
The girl's hand froze, and she couldn't hide her panic. "Little Ma was in the same game as you?"
"Yeah..." The boy's voice broke despite his efforts to control it. "Little Ma was eaten at the end. That gave us time to vote that ghost out, and that's how we escaped..."
This team had successfully voted out both ghosts, but the price had been their companion's life.
A victory stained with blood.
The figures on the screen changed: four wins for the humans, four wins for the ghosts. A tie for now.
Lu Mi looked away.
Shen Yiwen still hadn't appeared.
"You're filthy," Cheng Cheng said, pulling him up and leading him toward the Healing Area.
"Don't worry. Our lady Shen Yiwen is smart as a whip. Maybe her useless teammates are just holding her back for now? You'd be better off believing you and I have forty-six kids than believing she can't get out."
Waiting like this wouldn't accomplish anything. Remembering that