Deep in the snowfield, a small wooden cabin stood abruptly.
The cabin looked old and dilapidated, as though it had not been repaired in years. It stood stiffly in the boundless snowfield, making it look especially out of place.
Inside, a group of people in all kinds of clothing sat huddled together in the center of the house, their faces full of fear. A few of the more timid girls were even clutching tightly at the arms of the people beside them, too scared to go anywhere near the wall.
“What… what are these things? Is this some kind of prank show?”
A girl with a high ponytail reached out tremblingly and touched a huge bear head trophy hanging on the wall beside her.
The fur on that head was coarse, its eyes stiff and lifeless, with no trace of vitality at all.
The wolf head right next to it looked much the same.
There were also deer heads, fox heads, rabbit heads… and many animal heads whose names could not even be called to mind, hanging together in complete disorder, piled up from the corner all the way to the ceiling.
Hundreds of hollow, vacant eyes looked down together at the people in the room, eerie and terrifying.
In the room, the System’s mechanical prompt echoed.
『Welcome to Filth Room Floor 421 instance… “Homecoming on a Snowy Night”』
『Please wait a moment. The other players are entering now』
Hearing this baffling notice, a young man wearing glasses was clearly suppressing his anger.
“Where is this place… ! Who brought us here! Do you know who I am?! I warn you, let me out right now! Otherwise I’ll sue you for unlawful confinement!”
The high-ponytail girl who had spoken first seemed to have come here with him. Seeing the young man losing his temper, she hurriedly tried to comfort him.
“Liu Yang, don’t panic. Let’s figure out what this situation is first.”
“How am I supposed to calm down! I was clearly at home just now… how did I end up in a place like this in the blink of an eye!”
Liu Yang was still burning with anger and shouted somewhat out of control, drawing side glances from the people around him.
Only after meeting the others’ strange looks did Liu Yang seem to recover a bit of his senses. He sat down bitterly, staring at the dark mass of heavy snow outside the window, his face still gloomy.
Seeing this, the high-ponytail girl bit her lip, turned to look at the others by the table, and asked cautiously.
“Were you all suddenly dragged into here too? Does anyone know what is going on right now?”
『Hahahaha, there are quite a lot of newcomers in this instance. Looks like there will be a good show.』
On the blue-glowing live stream interface, a few lines of barrage comments drifted by slowly.
『Oh! Isn’t this Floor 421? The record for the previous floor was just broken, and this one is already starting? Hurry up and see what kind of instance this is.』
『My little notebook is ready!』
They were all players from Atrium. When not entering instances, these survivors liked to wander around different livestream rooms, partly to learn the details of instances, and partly to study other people’s experience in clearing the game.
But in order to prevent spoilers, players inside an instance generally could not see the content of these barrage comments.
“Hmph.”
Hearing this, a burly man with a rough face sitting by the fireplace looked the two of them up and down with a contemptuous gaze.
“You’re all newcomers? Your endless babbling is annoying as hell.”
“A little girl like you probably won’t even survive the first night. Telling you would be useless.”
Hearing such an assessment, the high-ponytail girl gritted her teeth in anger. She turned back and glanced at the young man who had come with her, but he showed no sign of standing up for her at all. He only stared absentmindedly at the heavy snow outside, lost in thought.
The girl pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, turned around, looked directly into the burly man’s vicious eyes, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly:
“Big brother, what do you mean by that? Although my partner and I are indeed coming to a place like this for the first time, we also know that from the current situation, all of us are trapped in the same place.”
“Since everyone is in the same boat, there may well be times in the future when we need to help each other. So I ask you to speak a little more respectfully.”
As soon as these words were spoken, several people at the table turned to look. Even the burly man who had been the first to speak harshly turned red and white in turns, momentarily at a loss for words.
“Clap, clap, clap.”
From the other side of the fireplace, near the spot by the staircase leading to the second floor, a crisp round of applause rang out.
Everyone looked toward the sound. An old man in a wheelchair coughed, and the young man standing beside him immediately understood and bowed to hand him a cup of tea.
The teacup was crudely made of clay and looked quite old, but the tea inside was clear and translucent, with a few emerald-green leaves floating on top.
“The tea leaves are ones I brought with me. It’s just the cup…”
The young man said in a low voice.
“It doesn’t matter.”
The old man waved his hand, took the teacup, and took a slow sip. Only then did he slowly raise his eyes to look at the burly man.
Time had left indelible carvings on his body. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, but his gaze was still as sharp as an eagle’s.
When he looked at the girl, his gaze softened slightly, carrying a hint of approval.
“The younger generation is becoming calmer and calmer these days. Not bad.”
“Jiang Gu, tell them what the Filth Room is.”
There were indeed quite a lot of newcomers taking part in this instance. Aside from the couple, there was also a little girl who had been sitting all alone in a corner without saying a word from the very beginning.
The young man behind him answered at once, clearly very familiar with such matters, and began explaining the Filth Room rules to them in detail.
The few listened with only a half-understanding expression, but the barrage comments on the side exploded.
『Wow, this newcomer girl is so calm and so logical.』
『Exactly, exactly. The first instance is already difficult for newcomers, and very few can accept reality. Not only can she quickly infer the current situation, she can also withstand pressure from her teammate! She is amazing for a newcomer.』
『Sister, come out and add me as a friend! I want to form a team and enter an instance!』
『By the way, that guy is way too annoying, bullying a young girl like that.』
『Her partner too. He didn’t even make a sound when he saw the sister being bullied. What a coward.』
…
On the other side, watching the young man explain the rules to the newcomers, the burly man who had been left aside with no one paying attention to him looked a little embarrassed. He sat in the corner, fists clenched tightly, his face tense.
It was not until he heard the high-ponytail girl casually say, “So as long as we master the rules, we can survive?” that he finally seemed to snap. He shot up from his chair, his face flushed red and his neck bulging with anger, pointed at her with his short, thick fingers, and strode toward her in long steps.
“Dammit, say that again if you dare! Believe it or not, I’ll kill you right now?!”
Seeing the other party being so unreasonable, the young man behind the old man frowned slightly. His fingers twitched, and a sliver of silver-white light flashed between them.
The girl’s face also turned rather ugly.
The burly man clenched his fist and was about to reach the group when, at that moment, the wooden door was pushed open with a creak.
Wind and snow mixed with sharp ice crystals swept in from outside, and that year-round frigid cold did not soften at all even when it was driven toward the fire.
A young man in a white trench coat walked into the room. The mountain wind whipped his hem into a fluttering noise, leaving only a slender, straight shoulder line standing firm and unmoving.
The man’s figure was tall, his appearance strikingly handsome, and he wore a pair of narrow-framed glasses. His thin lips were pressed into a line, and his long, slightly curly black hair was tied into a low ponytail that hung down along his pale neck, playfully draping in front of him like an unfamiliar flower.
The newcomer was Qin Guan.
The room fell silent for a brief moment. Everyone’s gaze was drawn to this impossibly beautiful man.
The barrage comments froze for a moment, then instantly exploded.
『Holy crap!! Who is this? He’s so handsome!!』
『Within three minutes! I want this man’s complete contact information!』