Xing Yun felt a faint light and, subconsciously, shrank further into her blanket.
When she opened her eyes, the doorway looked hazy, and a piercing white light filled her vision.
She felt she was starting to have a real problem with the color white; nothing good ever happened whenever she encountered it.
Could this be another mess cooked up by the God? Xing Yun yawned as she walked over, intending to get to the bottom of it. However, to her surprise, the moment she stepped out, the surrounding scenery changed drastically: she was in a corridor like a maze with many branching paths. Cold air flowed in incessantly from ahead, and when Xing Yun turned back, the door had disappeared.
One after another, other players were transported in. Someone was still holding a roll of paper in their hand, muttering, “Where is my toilet? I was just about to go! Where did you send me?”
Just as Xing Yun was wondering if she was the first to arrive, a man came running toward her, stumbling. His walking posture was incredibly stiff and strange. His eyebrows were frozen completely white, and frost had spread across his skin. He screamed in terror, “Don’t go over there! Don’t go over there!”
Xing Yun immediately pressed herself against the wall. She did not want to go over there either, but there was no path behind her.
Then, from another branch behind the man, a woman ran out. Xing Yun saw that her expression was full of surprise, and her smile was twisted. “Oh my god, I actually did not die.”
“I am actually still alive!” In full view of everyone, the woman ran headfirst into the wall. She smashed her head until it was covered in blood, her eyeballs even popped out of their sockets and bounced on the ground.
Xing Yun froze, staring at the bright red mess on the ground, still in a daze. She could not help but exclaim internally: Is this person crazy?
She held back the urge to retch and covered her nose and mouth with her hand.
But in the next second, the person who should have been dead was reborn right in front of them, even though the bright red blood and white brain matter were still flowing on the floor.
The woman looked at her twitching hands, ecstatic. “Sure enough, you cannot die here.”
Yu Xi pondered, “Oh, a reward dungeon.” He raised his hand and clapped in the air. “Everyone, go explore on your own. There will be items scattered around; maybe we can take them out.”
Xu Lang nodded from the side. “It makes sense. After all, the interval between the two dungeons was too short, even though they told us to rest well before.”
Listening to the discussions around her, Rong Ping’an did not think so. She looked around with wariness.
Some people’s fingers were frozen numb, then completely lost all sensation, becoming hard blocks. When they hit a wall, they shattered into fragments. A few seconds later, the fragments were still there, but their fingers returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
Rong Ping’an looked at everyone’s joyful faces and frowned secretly. A dungeon is not a game lobby; there is no grace from God here. Where is the energy for their recovery coming from? Does it just appear out of thin air?
Furthermore, the terror on the man who appeared at the beginning did not seem fake. What had he encountered?
Rong Ping’an pursed her lips.
Could this dungeon really be this kind? Is it truly just a reward?
However, she would not voice these thoughts directly; she preferred to listen to other people’s discussions.
Soon, people discovered that the roads here were intricate and that it was easy to get lost if one was not careful. Many people had already disappeared, though it could not be ruled out that they had been harmed by someone with malicious intent.
Yu Xi suggested, “Since we can all regenerate, why do we not use our own bodies as threads? Like Theseus, we can leave marks, can we not? It is a reward level anyway, and the items are distributed according to the number of people, so let us not settle private vendettas and just unite.”
Xing Yun blew on her hands to keep them warm. She felt that cutting flesh from her own body was just too bizarre. While she was still hesitating, many people had already responded to the call.
After all, this was better than getting lost.
Xing Yun thought it was fortunate that the person who made the suggestion was Yu Xi. If it had been Liu Cui, she would have certainly said that those who did not follow the group could not follow the main force, and she might even have demanded that they take their clothes off to pave the road, even if the underlying reason was to prevent them from hiding items.
In any case, it was a relief that Liu Cui was not in this dungeon.
Xing Yun pressed tightly against the wall behind her. She looked at the woman not far away and felt like crying.
Why is Rong Ping’an here? I just took her stuff yesterday, and now we are on a collision course. This is so embarrassing.
The secret of how she could walk despite her broken leg was also revealed right there.
Upon closer inspection, Rong Ping’an was composed of blue flames. Those flowing flames formed her legs, looking both dreamy and eerie.
Xing Yun could not help but think: Did I forget to change my long pants because the transfer was too rushed?
Although her mind was wandering, she did not forget to keep her expression steady.
Perhaps her gaze was too intense, as Rong Ping’an glanced at her. That one look made Xing Yun feel uncontrollably guilty, and she immediately looked away. As a result, when she turned her head, she saw someone tearing the flesh off their own arm. She immediately felt like her eyes were being assaulted, so she silently shifted her gaze back.
To Xing Yun’s surprise, Rong Ping’an walked toward her. Xing Yun paused for a second before putting on her signature fake smile.
Rong Ping’an: “Are you Number One?”
Xing Yun felt her hands grow damp with sweat. She had indeed drawn the Number One note during the draw, but how did the other person know this?
Xing Yun was a bit wary, but after her thoughts turned, she nodded. After all, if the other person had any sinister ideas, they would not just come and ask her directly.
Rong Ping’an: “I will tell you my information directly. The system cannot assign teammates to separate dungeons twice in a row. I did not have a teammate in the last round, and I have been observing you for a long time.” Her tone shifted from slow to certain. “You are Number One. Of course, I have other ways to be certain, but there is no need to go into detail.”
Xing Yun suddenly realized… she had latched onto a powerful player. “Teammates?”
Xing Yun relaxed. Since they were teammates, how could taking her things be called stealing? Thinking of this, Xing Yun broke into a bright smile and was just about to kiss up to her, but Rong Ping’an said with a cold face: “I do not approve of destroying the body, and you are not allowed to do so either.”
What a mean tone, what a commanding manner.
Xing Yun curled her lips, swallowing the flattery that had been on the tip of her tongue. I should have just looked for a teammate as lazy as me, so we could just slack off together.
Rong Ping’an: “You also need to grow; I cannot always carry a dead weight.”
Her mean attacks had not yet ended.
“Are you friendless?” Xing Yun attacked back.
Rong Ping’an paused: “What use is something like that?”
Xing Yun rolled her eyes: “Oh, oh, oh! Sour grapes, are we?”
Rong Ping’an: …
Damn, it seems like I did not meet a teammate; I met an opponent.
Xing Yun saw someone reach into their own chest, pull out their heart, crush it in their hand, and scatter it on the road. She found it quite novel and was eager to experience the feeling, but she gave up on the idea under Rong Ping’an’s murderous glare.
She looked down at her hands. Although she felt cold, she had sensation and would not freeze to death.
She had not turned into an ice sculpture yet, so she guessed it was thanks to Rong Ping’an.
Although the person was a bit mean, she did not intend to harm her.
Xing Yun pinched her frost-covered hair, melting it with the warmth of her fingertips, and then tucked the stray locks behind her ears. When Rong Ping’an saw this, she snorted coldly: “Do not think about using your beauty to please me. It will not work. Put away your little tricks.”
Xing Yun wore a complicated expression. Had she actually shown any sign of trying to please her just now?
Although she felt it was baffling, she still said: “It is not good if we do not contribute anything. My hair is thick; why do we not use hair to make marks?”
Rong Ping’an shot her a side glance: “Who said we were going to take the same path as them?” She took out a photograph, the same one that Xing Yun had stolen from her room before—a pitch-black image.
Before Xing Yun could react, Rong Ping’an smashed the photo into her face. By the time she came to her senses, she found that she was no longer in the original location; the two of them had already walked quite a distance.
Rong Ping’an leaned against the wall, panting, and suddenly asked: “What is your relationship with God?”
“Ah?” Xing Yun was a bit stunned by such a sudden shift in topic. “I feel like God is a bit like an old lady. We should be in a great-grandmother and pretty little girl relationship.”
Rong Ping’an could not help but shake her head, clutching her forehead. She gritted her teeth while looking at her: “Watch your tongue; do not drag me down with you.”
Xing Yun curled her lips: “God cannot keep staring at us both all the time, right? Besides, nothing is happening right now, is it?”
After she finished this sentence, Rong Ping’an’s expression became complicated. Her lips moved for a long time without saying a word, and finally, she gave up, helplessly pointing to the path ahead: “From here on out, it is a straight line. I have already eliminated the branching paths for you. Now, you lead the way. If you cannot even do this, then you are truly a waste.”
“…” Xing Yun was confused. How am I supposed to lead the way? But the fact that Rong Ping’an called her a waste again made her unhappy, so she could not bring herself to ask.
Rong Ping’an let out a “tch” and waved the photo in her hand: “Do not know how to use it?”
Xing Yun did not want to admit it and be subjected to her mean attacks again.
“Uh… it is not that.” Xing Yun rolled her eyes. “I just wanted your number tag. Who knows if you are lying to me, and it is a fake Number One.”
Rong Ping’an: “Are you retarded? If I wanted to harm you, you would have died a long time ago, even if you were a teammate.” Although she said this, she still showed the number to Xing Yun.
Although her mouth was foul, her actions were relatively kind.
“Hurry up and take out your photo,” Rong Ping’an urged.
Xing Yun was shocked: “So you knew I had stolen your things?”
Rong Ping’an smiled, sinisterly: “The person you impersonated died in the dungeon; I just could not be bothered to call your bluff.” She took a handful of photos from her coat pocket: “Whenever I think of you holding the items, I gave out casually like treasures, I just want to laugh.”
Xing Yun: …
Xing Yun just wanted to pick up a brick and blow her brains out.
It was the first time she had felt the power of language; the feeling of being attacked in her very viscera made her teeth itch with hatred. Xing Yun copied Rong Ping’an and threw the photo at her. Because of her resentment, she used quite a lot of force, and then she watched as Rong Ping’an disappeared right before her eyes, with only the photo drifting down to the ground.
She picked up the photo and looked at it. It was indeed Rong Ping’an inside, eyes closed, looking very peaceful.
This is indeed a good way to save energy, but it requires the person on the other side to be someone you can trust. Otherwise, could you not keep the other person imprisoned inside forever?
Xing Yun shuddered and did not dare to think about it.
Meanwhile, Rong Ping’an, who had entered the photo space, was still pondering why God would find her and tell her to stay away from Xing Yun.