"Do you know where those two heads went? That's right, the heads were all taken by Meizi!" Zou Qi paused here, staring with wide eyes as he scanned the group in front of him. He continued in a voice he thought was quite creepy: "And after so much time has passed, Meizi's head has been wandering in this hotel. She hates everyone who still has a head on their shoulders and will viciously rip them all off. This is the story of the Headless Ghost Story."
After finishing, Zou Qi put away his feigned terrifying expression, signaling that the story had come to an end.
At the same time, the quest notifications for everyone suddenly appeared.
Main Quest: Explore the abandoned hotel
Little You looked at the quest that had finally appeared and curled her lips in annoyance: "Tch, this kind of instance is really annoying." It seemed she didn't like these kinds of ghost stories.
However, Brother Ye nodded in satisfaction: "Hmm, it sounds about what I expected. Most ghost stories follow this tune. The process of the quest is basically just going in, finding that Meizi, and taking her out. So, how about we start this adventure now?"
Hearing this, everyone nodded one after another. Mu Wei San habitually took the lead at the front of the team, and the others followed behind, walking toward the hotel together.
Everything was normal, except for Lu Yuan.
He seemed to have intentionally or unintentionally retreated to Zou Qi's side, then lowered his voice and asked quietly: "Hey, fellow villager, do you know you're an NPC?"
"" Zou Qi acted as if he hadn't heard anything and made no response.
Lu Yuan thought the man hadn't heard him, so he raised his voice a little:
"Fellow villager, can't you hear me? Give me some reaction."
""
"I'm saying, you aren't real; you're in a Game."
""
Lu Yuan's voice grew louder and louder, but Zou Qi still ignored these words until Ye Qilang in front heard him shouting.
"Haha, Brother Lu Yuan, don't waste your effort. These NPCs won't react to any conversation regarding the 'Ark Game'."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan asked: "Oh? How do you know?"
"It's set by the system, of course." Brother Ye replied: "Actually, many years ago, some large game companies tested these NPC settings. Some people even tried to use phrases like 'you're actually an NPC' during combat to provoke enemies, hoping to make the other party reveal some flaws. As for the result, haha, they died miserably, of course."
Lu Yuan nodded helplessly: "Oh, I... I just had a sudden thought and wanted to try it out."
"I can tell." Brother Ye joked: "Your train of thought is quite unique. Actually, if you really want to try, it's definitely useless against these small NPCs. You might as well go directly to the dungeon boss; you might even be able to ask about some 'Easter Egg'."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan's eyes suddenly lit up: "Go directly to the dungeon boss?"
Ye Qilang nodded: "That's right. To tell you the truth, I'm actually a programmer in reality, so I know very well that in an instance, the Data is most concentrated in the dungeon boss. If they don't have the Easter Egg you want to dig for, then you're just wasting time on these Minions."
Listening to this, Lu Yuan seemed to have suddenly obtained some incredibly precious Knowledge. He excitedly grabbed Ye Qilang's hand: "Really? Ah—haha, that saves a lot of time! Er, I mean, thank you so much."
As he spoke, Lu Yuan reached into his backpack and pulled out a bottle of cola.
"Here, let me treat you to a cola." He handed the cola toward the other's chest and said very sincerely.
Brother Ye was stunned by this sudden enthusiasm. At the same time, he subconsciously wondered why someone would put cola in their backpack when space was so tight in the early stages.
However, seeing Lu Yuan open a can himself and gulp it down so happily, Brother Ye couldn't help but smile and started drinking as well.
During this time, the group walked across the winding gravel road and arrived in front of the dilapidated hotel.
Looking up, although the hotel only had 4 floors, it looked quite tall. Even though it didn't seem to have been abandoned for long based on the story, both the Architecture itself and the weeds around it seemed to have been abandoned for many years. Added to the fact that it stood in this desolate wilderness, hidden in the creepy pitch black, it would be a shame if it didn't have some supernatural event happen.
Mu Wei San was worthy of being an experienced Player. Although his new character's Equipment and Skill were a bit lacking, his mindset remained. So, he didn't fear this psychological terror at all, walked straight to the main entrance of the hotel, and pushed it open.
The moment the door was pushed open, a gust of cold wind accompanied by a stale scent rushed out, instantly enveloping everyone.
Mu Wei San didn't get too cocky. He quickly pulled a door panel from his back. Although it was made of wood, it was half a person's height and clearly a 'shield' type of Equipment. At the same time, a water pipe appeared in his right hand—the kind with a curve at the Apex, very long and sturdy.
At the fourth Stage, Mu Wei San already possessed a defensive piece of Equipment and an offensive one-handed Weapon, plus he surely had plenty of Items and supplies in his pocket. In this light, this Player's strength should be considered quite strong.
"Everyone be careful. Although the Plot of this kind of ghost story instance is simple, there shouldn't be a shortage of enemies inside, and there might even be a 'spirit' type of dungeon boss. So, keep your spirit up, and let's—"
"Hiss—" Before Brother Mu could finish, the sound of a soda can releasing gas came over. Then, a bottle of ice-cold cola was very inappropriately thrust in front of Mu Wei San's face.
"~Want to drink some cola?~"
Mu Wei San turned his head, dumbfounded, and saw Lu Yuan smiling beside him, holding out a bottle of cola. Behind him, several others were already holding bottles of cola, drinking and chatting.
"You bunch of annoying casual players, stop it already!" A surge of anger rushed to his head, and he roared.
This shout startled the others as well. They realized that someone in the team wanted to clear the level properly, and they were being so careless that they were really dragging the team down. So, everyone scratched their heads in embarrassment and took out their Weapons one after another.
Only Lu Yuan remained as if he didn't know what had happened. Seeing Brother Mu wouldn't drink, he withdrew his hand and drank it himself.
Mu Wei San glared at Lu Yuan, his expression growing worse. He suppressed his anger and asked: "Where is your Weapon?"
"Oh~ the Weapon~"
While gulping down the cola, Lu Yuan pulled out a bundle of red things and pushed them forward, nearly poking Brother Mu in the face.
"Here~ Detonator~"
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