Chapter 26: Interrogation
"I have nothing to say." The woodcutter's face darkened. "I don't know anything about players or being stranded. I've lived here since I was a child."
Xu Huo let out a "tsk," his face in the shadows unreadable, but the next second, the sharp edge of the iron shovel pressed against the other's neck. His tone was cold: "Players do have some peculiar traits. Let's try cutting off your neck and see if you can come back to life."
Only then did the woodcutter panic, quickly saying, "You can't kill me! If you kill me, you'll never clear the game!"
"Didn't you say you didn't know?"
The woodcutter forced a smile. "I can give you a hint to clear the game, but you have to promise not to tell the other players..."
The iron shovel pressed down without mercy.
Blood flowed from his neck. The woodcutter let out incoherent gurgling sounds, his eyes glaring at Xu Huo. After struggling for a moment, he was forced to relent: "I'll... talk..."
Xu Huo released the pressure and shoved the unsmoked cigarette butt into his mouth. "Talk."
The woodcutter took a fierce drag on the cigarette butt before beginning his story.
He had entered the Hot Spring Mountain City Station two and a half months ago. Before that, he had already gone through two E-level instances, so he considered himself a veteran. However, he never expected that the players he encountered in his third instance were all abnormal. Aside from those killed by the Headchopper, almost all the other players died at each other's hands. He only managed to survive by handing over all his items.
He saved his life, but when the instance ended, he neither obtained a ticket nor a return ticket. Unable to leave, he was forced to remain stranded in the mountain villa.
To get a ticket from later players, he disguised himself and stayed in the cabin area.
With a normal Evolver's physical condition, relying on his prior knowledge, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to kill players and snatch their tickets. But after staying in the villa for half a month, green pustules began to appear on his body. His body grew emaciated, and his physical abilities dropped back to the level of an ordinary person.
Dozens of players came and went, and he only dared to pick those who looked the weakest. But these people were even worse off than him. They had nothing—no tickets, no items, no potions. And after they died, their bodies didn't disappear with the instance refresh, forcing him to bury them near the cabin.
"Is the disease on your body caused by missing instances?" Xu Huo asked after listening.
"How would I know?" The woodcutter said angrily. "The first time I didn't participate in an instance, the game informed me that I would be forcibly teleported into a B-level random instance in three months. The more instances I miss, the higher the danger level. I barely survived E-level instances. Wouldn't a B-level instance mean certain death?"
"But I couldn't get a ticket either. Do you think I wanted to kill people? Before entering the game, weren't we all honest, good people..."
"What was your game mission?" Xu Huo interrupted him, unmoved.
The woodcutter gritted his teeth. "Protect my own head."
Xu Huo frowned slightly. The instance mission was the same. The woodcutter had successfully survived until the instance ended, yet he didn't receive a return ticket. This meant he hadn't cleared it.
So simply surviving until the mission time ended didn't count as clearing.
"How long has it been since you last drank an Evolution Potion?" he asked again.
"Three months..." The woodcutter suddenly realized. "So it's because of the Evolution Potion! Not drinking it causes this strange disease!"
Xu Huo ignored his wailing and focused on another matter.
Combining the woodcutter's entry time into the instance, he had developed symptoms at least a month after stopping the Evolution Potion. Players with an Evolution Rate below ten percent must consume one bottle of Evolution Potion per month. Was this a side effect of the low-grade potion, or a weakness inherent to evolution itself?
If it was just a problem with the potion, finding a higher-grade one could solve it. But if evolution itself created a dependency on the potion, then players could never break free from its control for life.
This game really was digging pits for Evolvers everywhere.
But this matter could be set aside for now. Completing the instance mission was the priority.
If he couldn't clear it and get a return ticket, his only options were to remain stranded in the game or go directly to the next instance.
He asked a few more details about the instance until the woodcutter could no longer provide any useful information. Then, he cleanly sent him on his way.
[Congratulations, player Passerby A, for killing a Black Player. You may claim the deceased player's property, items, and tickets. Please accept the player's belongings.]
The moment the woodcutter breathed his last, the game's notification sounded in his mind. Xu Huo opened his personal panel, which displayed the woodcutter's player information.
[Player Nickname: Professional Talent]
[Player Type: Black Player]
[Occupation: Mourning Actor]
[Player Level: E]
[ID: 285471]
[Evolution Rate: 8%]
[Property: None]
[Trait: Die and Come Back to Life]
[Items: ① Rain or Shine Belt ② Floating Balloon]
[Ticket Holder: Empty]
The player information was simplified. Aside from Property, Items, and Ticket Holder, all other columns were grayed out and unselectable.
The trait Xu Huo was most interested in also lacked a detailed description, but since he couldn't acquire it, it wasn't very important.
He retrieved the items, and his own item slot immediately gained two realistic icons:
[Rain or Shine Belt (Note: A belt forecast more accurate than the weather forecast. Pay attention to the belt buckle's smile—a big smile means a big sunny day.)]
[Floating Balloon (Note: A balloon that loves the sky, but it cannot leave its blower more than a hundred meters away. A perfect item with enthusiasm, dreams, and loyalty.)]
A weather belt with zero accuracy and a positioning balloon with a limited range—indeed, two useless items. They weren't of much use in actual combat, but small gadgets could still have their clever uses.
After storing the items, Xu Huo buried the body and returned to the villa.
According to the woodcutter, before the instance began and before the players arrived at the villa, the Headchopper had never appeared. Although the woodcutter was also a player, after several instance resets, the Headchopper seemed to ignore him as an outsider and never actively attacked him.
He believed this was because he wasn't part of the current instance's player group, allowing him to kill outside the rules. However, that wasn't the case. He merely served as evidence that the Headchopper was likely among the players each time.
Most of the murders in the villa involved decapitation, but some victims were missing limbs. Huang Junjie believed this was players imitating the killings, with both hunter and prey evenly matched, leading to struggles and fights.
This reasoning had some merit, but Xu Huo thought differently: the missing limbs were just another way to conceal identity.
Aside from Black and White Players, there were also Cannibal Players. If the player playing the role of the Headchopper happened to be a Cannibal Player, they would deliberately hide the limbs to cover up the evidence of feeding. This would explain why bodies with missing limbs appeared in concentrated periods, and it also fit the instance's time pattern.
He looked up toward the villa.
The lights there had gone out once but came back on after Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao returned. If the Headchopper had been active, there should have been some signs by now.