HI Chapter 93

The moment that scream pierced the air, chaos erupted in the pitch-black scene.

A cacophony of sounds filled the space, and it seemed that someone had already engaged in combat in the direction of the scream. The other players quickly pulled out their flashlights, beams of light flickering from all directions, barely illuminating more than the digital panels at their feet.

In the dim light, a glance revealed nothing but shadows; it was impossible to immediately discern where the Puppet was.

Yan Wei also took out the powerful flashlight he had used earlier, but he merely swept it around and tugged at Yan Mingguang’s arm, saying, “Run!”

Lin Zhen was taken aback. “What? Run? Now? Shouldn’t we—”

“Run first!”

Without a second thought, Yan Wei stepped towards the second floor. Yan Mingguang followed without hesitation. This person was faster than him; in just a few steps, it became Yan Mingguang pulling him up the stairs. Although Lin Zhen was puzzled, he followed along with Yu Feizhou.

The hall was filled with winding stairways, and at that moment, aside from Yan Wei and the others, some other players quickly left for various reasons, while others remained behind, seemingly wanting to see where the Puppet was.

It wasn’t until they completely circled the spiraling staircase and reached the even darker second floor that the noise from below faded into the distance, allowing Yan Wei to finally catch his breath.

It seemed there were no living creatures around. Under the beam of the flashlight, he could vaguely see that the second floor was lined with long corridors, with doors regularly spaced on either side. This must be the place where the players resided, as mentioned by the Man in Black Robe.

He took a rough glance; despite seeing nothing, he immediately took out the Moon Wheel, creating a barrier between the four of them and their surroundings. They were filled with uncertainty about this place; while he might survive today, the others could be in danger at any moment, so it was safer to separate for now.

Once the barrier was fully established, Yan Wei’s face turned pale, his legs weakened, and the knife wound on his arm, which had yet to heal, throbbed painfully due to the momentary exertion.

Yan Mingguang quickly grasped his arm, supporting him while re-dressing the bloodied wound.

Yu Feizhou glanced at Yan Wei’s injury, then at Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen made a face at him.

Yu Feizhou silently chuckled, pulling out a regular dagger from the storage section of the Information Panel, cradling the blue orb item that could be used with skills in his palm, and silently made a cut on his own arm.

Just as Yan Mingguang finished wrapping a new bandage, Yan Wei felt the pain in his arm suddenly vanish.

The wound was gone.

He caught a whiff of the metallic scent of blood, stunned, and turned to look at Yu Feizhou.

Yu Feizhou remained silent, and Lin Zhen said, “You broke the maze when you came in, and now using the Moon Wheel, he feels guilty and wants to repay you a bit. Just let him do it; otherwise, he’ll be tormented by his soft-heartedness.”

Yu Feizhou: “…”

Yan Wei smiled silently.

He understood that, with danger lurking around, it was best not to mention such trivial matters.

“The reason I ran first was that I felt this situation wasn’t as simple as it seemed,” Yan Wei said, glancing ahead and gesturing for everyone to move forward while maintaining the Moon Wheel’s operation. “From what the Man in Black Robe said, it’s merely about distinguishing those Puppets as Benevolent Automatons, capturing them, and handing them over to the Man in Black Robe in exchange for Gold Coins, then using those Gold Coins to buy a Puppet that can open the door and leave the castle.”

“But there are many doubts within this.”

“He hinted that we could leave by opening the door, yet also said that opening the door might not reveal anything. What does that mean? If we open the door and don’t see the Stairway, what will that be? Is this a word game, or is it a deliberate trap?”

“Secondly, there’s the issue of Benevolent Automatons and Malevolent Automatons, which is also why I wanted everyone to run first. It was clear that someone died earlier, and there’s a high chance it was a Malevolent Automaton. The person who died would quickly transform into a Puppet on the scene, with both Benevolent and Malevolent Automatons being possible. Right now, aside from knowing there are two types of Puppets, we know nothing else. Staying on-site and clashing with so many top players for clues has a low success rate and risks being ambushed by Malevolent Automatons, which is dangerous for us. It’s better to come up here first and find a safer room.”

As Yan Wei spoke, they had already turned into a small corridor lined with rooms on both sides.

The rooms varied from inside to outside; some were close to the edge of the castle, while others were deeper within. Yan Mingguang had just opened a few doors and observed that the internal structure of these rooms was identical, each containing only a single bed.

Not far away, there were also some cautious footsteps, likely other players who had chosen to adopt a conservative strategy and come upstairs.

Yu Feizhou asked, “So what do we do now?”

Yan Wei glanced at the room on the edge, stopped, and looked at the digital panels under their feet, all displaying “0.” The beam of the flashlight flickered slightly, indicating that the person holding it was deep in thought.

“The ones fighting below are definitely a few standout players from prominent organizations; they are absolutely confident in their abilities, which is why they dared to rush for the suddenly appearing Puppet’s clues right from the start. Even if other players wanted a piece of the action initially, now that a few minutes have passed, more people should have realized what’s happening, and soon there will be even more coming upstairs.”

Lin Zhen crossed his arms. “So?”

“Of course, we should first find a room we think is better to settle in, then protect ourselves and do nothing else.”

Yan Mingguang turned to look at him, saying calmly, “You want to be passive?”

“I think when we know nothing, it’s better to let the clues come to us.”

As long as they were still in the instance/dungeon, and as long as the things in the instance/dungeon were always opposed to the players, those things would not just stand there waiting for players to find them. Just like that scream earlier, the players hadn’t even moved, and the Puppet had already made its move.

Yan Wei pointed to the room in front of him, saying, “If you trust me, just don’t worry about anything; adapt to changes with inaction—at least for the first day. We’ll stay inside, and I feel uneasy about the rooms close to the castle’s edge.”

Lin Zhen yawned. “Alright then, goodnight.”

As he spoke, he stretched, taking his glowing “0” into the room and closing the door behind him.

They had been through several instances/dungeons, and although many rules were not explicitly stated, the presence of single beds in the rooms already indicated the issue. Ideally, a room should only accommodate one person.

Yu Feizhou offered some cautious advice before entering the room next to Lin Zhen. Yan Wei chose the room opposite Lin Zhen. After Yan Mingguang watched Yan Wei lie down, he slowly entered the room next to Yan Wei.

Thus, the four rooms were positioned opposite each other along the corridor.

Before long, the surviving players gradually made their way upstairs, some still stained with the blood from their earlier encounters, each choosing their own rooms.

The night grew deeper.

The castle’s guest rooms were spacious, with wide gaps between them, and each room was exquisitely decorated. The vintage-style furniture and long tables near the copper mirrors leaned against the walls, with a candle-shaped lamp at the bedside flickering, the bulb flashing intermittently, making the originally warm yellow light somewhat glaring.

Yan Wei lay on the bed, turned over, and the claw machine coin locked in his windbreaker pocket clinked against the Swallow Coin, producing a soft “clink.” Outside, eerie and sinister sounds echoed, but this time he fell asleep quickly.

After piecing together the incomplete Moon Wheel, his body had been constantly replenishing the missing part of the Moon Wheel, causing his stamina to decline. After a night of turmoil, he was already quite tired. With his Undying State today, he had some assurance, so he didn’t think too much and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Before sleeping, Yan Wei vaguely wondered if today’s dream would still be those fragmented yet unclear moments spent with Yan Mingguang. But perhaps he was too tired today; he fell into a deep slumber.

Until the early hours of the morning, Yan Wei was jolted awake by a sudden scream.

Such situations were already common in the instance/dungeon, and he rubbed his eyes in annoyance, flipping over to continue sleeping. But just as he turned, he felt the dim light from the lamp that should have been emitting a faint glow suddenly dim, and even with his eyes closed, he sensed something standing in front of the small lamp, blocking the only source of light in the room.

The air inside the room was icy.

He was unaware that the screams from the other room had already ceased, and he heard a “creak, creak” sound.

A chill ran down his neck, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

A Cap-wearing guy with a wooden expression was slowly leaning over, standing in front of him. He looked at Yan Wei, and Yan Wei looked back at him; neither moved in that moment.

Meanwhile, the digital light by the bed was displaying the number “22.”

In the next moment, the Puppet suddenly reached out its hand towards Yan Wei!

Yan Wei quickly took out the Moon Wheel, instantly erecting a small barrier between him and the Puppet. At the moment the Puppet’s hand was blocked, he rolled off the bed and dashed out of the room.

This Puppet clearly didn’t intend to kill him; if it were a Malevolent Automaton, encountering the Cap-wearing guy might mean he would turn into a Puppet in the next instant. Whether Puppets counted as instant death or not, he didn’t know. Without certainty, Yan Wei didn’t dare take that risk.

The Puppet, which had been moving slowly, suddenly surged forward the moment Yan Wei rolled off the bed, pursuing him without hesitation. Yan Wei burst through the door, and at the same time, he immediately spread out his Perception, unexpectedly connecting swiftly with Yan Mingguang’s Perception: 【Are you awake? Ice block!! Yan Mingguang!! Teacher Yan!! Whether to save a person or a Puppet that has turned, it all depends on how fast you get up!!!】

He turned towards Yan Mingguang’s room but found the door already open and the room empty. At that moment, the Puppet was hot on his heels, and it was too late to turn back and barge into Lin Zhen and Yu Feizhou’s room; those two seemed to still be asleep, and he couldn’t connect with their Perception, so he had no choice but to keep running forward.

【Teacher Yan, where did you go??】

With the help of the Perception Burst skill, Yan Mingguang’s response was unusually quick: 【Wait for me.】

The Puppet was only two meters away from him, but Yan Wei suddenly felt relieved.

Ahead was a fork in the path, and Yan Wei slammed on the brakes, choosing a direction at random to run. But just as he turned, the number that had been fluctuating around “22” suddenly jumped to “28.”

Yan Wei: “…” This luck was something else.

If he continued down this path, there would be even more Puppets within three hundred meters. Yan Wei used the Moon Wheel several times to block the pursuing Puppet behind him, buying himself a few seconds. At the next fork, he decisively chose the path that could lead him back.

But this time, just as he turned, a person stood in the middle of the path, facing him.

Yan Wei: “…………” He felt like he was playing not to catch Puppets, but to play Pac-Man.

He gasped for breath, slammed on the brakes, cradled the Moon Wheel in his palm, and once again summoned the dwindling stamina to operate the Moon Wheel, briefly blocking the Cap-wearing guy behind him.

The person standing ahead, blocking his way, simply stood calmly, seemingly having heard Yan Wei’s movements, slowly raising his head in Yan Wei’s direction.

The person in front wore a windbreaker, one hand in his pocket, the other adjusting his scarf. His hair was jet black, his brows relaxed, and his light brown eyes were as clear as amber, with eyelashes fluttering as he blinked. His nose was slightly prominent, and his lips were thin, giving him a gentle appearance that would carry a hint of charm when he smiled.

Yan Wei caught his breath.