『What? Am I seeing things? Even a “guest” came to place a bet??』
『100,000! That’s 100,000! I’ve never seen that many points in my life. The “guest” is truly generous.』
『Who is this Qin Guan?! Why did a “guest” suddenly bet 100,000 points on him? Could he be some hidden big shot?』
『That doesn’t make sense. Everyone already knows the identities of those people, and none of them is named Qin Guan.』
Seeing that no one could figure out the reason, and that black barrage commenter had not spoken again after placing the bet, the crowd gradually turned their eyes toward the pretty boy they had all looked down on and had been racing to bet would die first.
Could it be…
Him?
No way, he’s just a newcomer?? What exactly did that “guest” see in him??!
But the big shot had already placed the bet, and even bet 100,000 at that…
For a moment, the barrage comments that had just been lively all went silent. Some still held onto hope, wishing that the legendary “guest” had simply made a careless mistake and seen him wrong. But more people were quietly grieving the bet they had just placed.
Ugh, I bet so much money. It can’t all be going down the drain, can it?
The news that a “guest” had placed a bet in the livestream room spread quickly from person to person. Many players who heard about it rushed in, and in an instant the livestream room’s popularity soared to 2,490. In terms of hype, it was almost catching up to the spectacle from when Lin Xiao broke the record before.
The barrage comments were packed together, everyone scrambling to get a look at which newcomer had won the legendary “guest”‘s favor.
On the other side, Qin Guan knew nothing about the barrage comment frenzy. He was still staring dumbfounded at the 100,000 points that had inexplicably vanished from his account.
What a case of sitting at home and disaster falling from the sky. He had done nothing at all, so why had the money in his account suddenly disappeared?
Help! Someone download a national anti-fraud app for him!
Meanwhile, at some unknown point, Lu Chuan had wandered out from who knows which corner and was sitting calmly beside him.
Qin Guan snapped his head around and stared fixedly at Lu Chuan’s face.
“Did you spend my money?”
“How could I? I went to make money for you.”
Lu Chuan looked at him very innocently, but his smile was deeply meaningful.
He knew it had to be this guy causing trouble!
Qin Guan’s eyes widened. He was just about to press this guy about where his points had gone when the cabin door was pushed open again. Frigid wind and snow, carrying a bone-chilling cold, swept in from outside, and a tall, terrifying figure suddenly appeared before everyone’s eyes.
The System Announcement sounded at the same time.
『The instance is full. Instance “Homecoming on a Snowy Night” has officially begun. All players, please prepare yourselves.』
『You are a group of mountain climbers trapped on a snowy mountain by a blizzard. At the critical moment, the Master of this hunter cabin took you in, but his kindness is not without conditions. You must pay the “rent” on time to avoid being driven out into the blizzard.』
『Instance objective: Survive for five days in the hunter cabin. Clearing the game reward: 2,000 points. Failure penalty: death.』
The figure was nearly two meters tall. He stood in the doorway dragging something unknown, occasionally letting out deep, heavy breaths.
When he bent down and turned sideways, barely squeezing his body through the narrow doorframe, everyone realized that he was not some monster at all, but a middle-aged man wearing a bearskin over his clothes.
But the tense atmosphere in the room did not ease because of that. Everyone stared at the middle-aged man without blinking, and Jiang Gu, standing to one side, even moved his hand toward his sleeve cuff.
The man slowly swept his gaze across everyone in the room. The dim yellow light revealed his exhausted face as he spoke in a hoarse voice: “You’re the travelers staying here, right?”
The old man in the wheelchair spoke first: “Yes, we were trapped here by the blizzard. Thanks to your kindness in taking us in, we…”
The hunter impatiently waved his hand, cutting off the old man’s words.
“Enough nonsense. I agree to let you stay here temporarily, but on the condition that you pay me the ‘rent’ on time every day.”
The several people exchanged glances. Perhaps eager to perform well in front of Qin Guan, or perhaps wanting to establish authority within the team, Wang Ze hurriedly stepped forward and said, “That certainly won’t be a problem. Points, money, or any other supplies… whatever you want, we can give you…”
The hunter shook his head. His head swayed stiffly and dryly, almost like an unlubricated machine.
“No, I don’t want those things.”
“Whether it’s money or anything else, none of that has any meaning here. There is only one thing I want…”
The hunter said slowly, “Skin.”
As soon as those words were spoken, the room instantly fell into silence. The burly man who had just spoken to him even took a trembling step back, and even Qin Guan could not help but frown slightly.
『Damn, it gets this intense right from the start?』
『Skin? What kind of skin? Don’t tell me it’s what I think it is…』
『I’m guessing the person above means a certain 170 cm, 60 kg mammal.』
『Ahhh, don’t say it out loud!』
Seeing the strange atmosphere in the room, the hunter stiffly lifted the corners of his mouth, seemingly trying to make an expression resembling a smile.
“Any skin will do. Foxes, rabbits… any prey you can find will work.”
“Of course, if you truly come back empty-handed, maybe you can try substituting something else…”
At this point, the hunter, who had just been mechanical and stiff, seemed to come alive. His gaze swept over each person inch by inch, examining every patch of skin on everyone’s body like a picky diner. The greed in his eyes was completely inhuman, more like a hyena that had spotted prey.
His gaze lingered especially on Qin Guan’s fair, delicate skin, wandering over it again and again, and only after a long while did he reluctantly look away.
“Ah, this person, I don’t like him.”
Behind him, Lu Chuan gently rested his head on Qin Guan’s shoulder and said in a husky voice.
“Then go eat him.”
Qin Guan expressionlessly shook his head away. The high ponytail girl beside them glanced over, a little puzzled about when this person had appeared.
She clearly hadn’t seen him just a moment ago?
Lu Chuan chuckled softly. “This is his instance. My abilities will be greatly weakened.”
Qin Guan said mercilessly, “Then you’re really weak.”
“Don’t say that,” Lu Chuan whispered, leaning against the side of his neck. His scorching breath brushed against the thin, delicate curve of his ear, turning that small patch of skin bright red.
“Even if my abilities are weakened, keeping you alive is easy enough.”
Lu Chuan showed a wicked smile.
“Even if you were skinned, I’m confident I could still keep your life hanging on.”