Chapter 1405: The Magician's Stage
For a Gentleman player, the fastest way to leave an instance is to destroy it, but destroying an instance isn't that easy—it's not as simple as blowing up a few buildings. Without a considerable degree of destruction, the game won't determine the instance as destroyed. So there's an even better method: destroy the Instance Authorization or directly kill the instance holder.
According to game rules, when an instance is opened, the Instance Authorization must exist somewhere within it. Searching every spot is definitely not feasible, so the best approach is to level the instance buildings or kill the instance holder.
Xu Huo had disappeared since entering the game. Although the Gentleman player initially guessed this instance belonged to the Magician, the Magician was at least B-rank in strength—there was no need to carry a D-rank instance. The only purpose of this instance was to prevent him from entering the game, and by now he had figured it out: the instance was most likely still Xu Huo's.
"Afraid I'll enter the station, so you're using an instance to trap me?" The Gentleman player manipulated the staff notation while engaging the Magician's moth technique, letting out a laugh. "No need to worry—such petty tricks won't trap me!"
The lines of the staff notation repeatedly filled the hospital corridors. The rest marks trembled again, replaying the scene from the pharmaceutical factory. But while this move worked well against Xu Huo, it was only average against the moth technique. When the soundwave attack entered within ten meters of him, several celebratory cannons exploded out of thin air. The cannons neutralized the power of the musical notes. The moth technique user himself suffered no damage, and as a Mental Super Evolver, he was even more skilled than Xu Huo in utilizing the spiritual realm. Entering a mental-type instance like the Seventeenth Hospital was like a fish in water.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The hospital walls exploded in succession, but not with lethal force. Instead, patches of mottled walls burst into fireworks and confetti. In an instant, the entire corridor transformed into a massive magic stage. Common magic props and the Magician himself floated weightlessly through the air, occasionally releasing two small pets or some confetti cannons to interfere with and affect the Gentleman player.
The Gentleman player's staff notation seemed to soften upon entering, turning into ribbons tied beneath bouquets or dancing to the music. Even the notes on the lines separated, actively flying to his hand to nudge it, as if trying to make him join in the dance...
The Gentleman player sneered coldly. Grabbing a trumpet, he shouted toward the corridor ahead: "Silence!"
In that instant, the magic stage before him began to peel away like metal being stripped. As it retreated into the distance, the original hospital appearance was revealed. But though the stage seemed to disappear deep into the corridor, faint sounds of celebratory cannons still came from ahead, as if from very far away, accompanied by applause and the Magician's voice...
"This illusion is really something!" The Gentleman player wiped his face, picked up the staff notation again, and strode deeper into the corridor.
Meanwhile, in the director's office on the rooftop of Building Three, the moth technique user was sitting across from the desk, speaking.
"This person's trait is very strong. Using sound as an attack method and wielding it so well—I haven't encountered many in the game. It's a waste for him to be a Cannibal Player."
"His cannibalism doesn't necessarily mean he's a true Cannibal Player," Xu Huo said. "Some people don't succumb to their instincts—on the contrary, it's only after their instincts return that they take this path."
The moth technique user nodded in agreement. "He's also a Super Evolver with strong physical abilities. Let's use this instance to wear him down first... Are you in a hurry?"
Xu Huo looked up at him. "If I said I was in a hurry, do you have a solution? After this is over, I have other things to handle. The other players in the instance also need to be dealt with."
An instance holder can interfere with the instance on a small scale but cannot openly kill players within it, unless there's a loophole in the instance to exploit.
One of the clearance methods—psychological counseling—was controlled by Xu Huo, which counted as a backdoor. This process could be used to kill or release people, but it didn't apply to those advanced players who had entered.
However, having overly strong physical evolution isn't necessarily a good thing.
In the pharmaceutical factory, the Gentleman player, relying on his secondary physical evolution, disregarded the toxins inside. During their fight, Xu Huo indeed discovered that his body could automatically detoxify. The relatively dense body hair covering him seemed to serve as a detoxification channel—any toxins entering through breathing or wounds would eventually be expelled through sweat. This was a natural toxin carrier.
Xu Huo wasn't sure if the other party could truly digest all the toxins, but it didn't matter. There were plenty more in the hospital. As long as there was a "suitable" reason for pathogens to appear inside the hospital, it would be fine.
"I didn't expect to use the performance ticket so soon," Xu Huo said. "I was worried you might not have finished your business and couldn't make it in time."
The moth technique user had pursued him to District 014 because of the "Magician's Gift" Xu Huo had obtained. After several exchanges where neither could seriously wound the other, Xu Huo gave away the "Magician's Gift" for free, earning a performance ticket from the moth technique user, who promised to help as long as they were at the same wormhole point.
"I didn't expect it to be so soon either. I thought this performance ticket would only be redeemed after I became an A-rank player." The moth technique user shrugged. "I didn't expect it to be just dealing with a player of the same rank."
"A B-rank player still requires full preparation before acting—it's not just because the opponent is strong."
"I won't ask too many questions. Just kill this person for you."
Xu Huo appreciated his straightforwardness. "Better hurry... but be careful. The other party might be carrying an A-rank pathogen."
The moth technique user gave him a deep look, then stood up and disappeared from the office.
As the instance holder, Xu Huo could only provide convenience for the moth technique user. Personally participating in the fight would be too obvious, so he had the nurse bring the twelve children over for psychological counseling.
"Director, one of the new batch of patients entered Building Three and then left again," the nurse brought new news.
Building Three sealed off the pathogens and contaminants left behind by Yu Guo.
"It doesn't matter," Xu Huo said, pleased with the development. "Just have the staff and other patients take proper precautions. Try not to interfere with them."
The nurse acknowledged and left, soon returning with the children.
These children entering the instance was unexpected for Xu Huo. He had always thought the pharmaceutical factory only had the Gentleman player. If not for accidentally entering the instance, no one would have known there was space underground in the factory, let alone that so many children were locked up there.
Xu Huo waved at the older child. "Tell Uncle your name, and Uncle will write you a discharge certificate. After you get out, your family will come to pick you up."
"77," the older child said nervously, clutching their clothes. "The uncles in the lab said we're sick. We can only leave once we're cured."
(Chapter End)