Chapter 1612: Another Person Missing
Seeing that Xu Huo seemed particularly interested in the fungi of Zone 013, the people from Brown Skin City shared quite a bit about fungal matters. Unlike books that focus on growth characteristics, they described in detail the states after being parasitized by fungi—what symptoms would appear, what the pain felt like, or how certain fungal infections happened to counteract the side effects of another fungus already inside the body.
They seemed accustomed to suffering, even picking out some interesting fungi to entertain the listening players. For example, inhaling the spores of a certain pungent fungus would cause continuous sneezing from morning to night for ten days or half a month, forcing one to rush through drinking water. Another example was fungi that caused people to convulse at fixed times or upon hearing certain sounds.
"On our street, that kid from the Li family got infected with the convulsion fungus. If he got excited, he'd definitely collapse. After a few episodes, he could barely hold it in, but on his wedding day, he ended up wiping the entire floor in front of the bride's family. No one could hold him down..."
The people from Zone 013 told the story quite amusingly, laughing as they spoke.
"And then what happened?" Tong Qi asked with interest.
"On the day his child was born, he was too happy. He had a seizure and never woke up," the Brown Skin City resident telling the "joke" said. "Soon after, the child followed the father. The mother couldn't take it and starved herself to death."
"In Zone 013, starving to death is considered a relatively peaceful way to die," Chi Xian suddenly said. "There's a fungus with anesthetic effects that releases toxins when the host stops eating for more than ten hours. No matter what you eat, you have to eat something to wake up. Once the host falls unconscious, calling them won't wake them. If left unchecked, the person will be devoured by other fungi in a very short time."
"But the process isn't very painful. The pain lies in the choice to end one's own life."
"Is that somewhat similar to our situation?" Liao Xiaorong asked.
"After entering Zone 013, players will inevitably be infected with fungi to some extent, and poisoning is common. However, waking up after anesthesia leaves lingering effects like weakness in the limbs and dizziness. It's not quite the same," Chi Xian replied.
At this point, neither the speakers nor the listeners could continue the conversation. The people of Brown Skin City hadn't become numb enough to completely abandon life and death, and the players, accustomed to killing, weren't so cold-blooded as to feel nothing for tragedy. Neither side could change reality, so they could only choose to avoid it.
Keeping watch in this instance was more tiring than usual. Tong Qi was about to say something to lighten the mood when Xu Huo suddenly pushed him aside, flashed over to a support pillar ten meters away, and reached out as if to grab something, but came up empty.
Tong Qi, Chi Xian, and the others followed, their expressions shifting as they looked at a small stool still left on the ground.
Liao Xiaorong retrieved the surveillance device placed in the corner and rewound the footage from a minute earlier.
At first, everything seemed normal. But about ten seconds ago, the image flickered a few times before plunging into brief darkness. When it lit up again, Zhao Qing, who had been sitting against the pillar, was gone—she had vanished right in front of everyone. Except for Xu Huo and Chi Xian, who happened to see it, no one else even noticed someone was missing.
After watching the video, everyone fell silent.
A moment later, Liao Xiaorong asked, "With so many people here, why did only Zhao Qing disappear? Is it random?"
"It's over, it's over. I don't dare sleep anymore," another player said. "If I get sucked into another space while asleep, wouldn't that be a death sentence?"
"Zhao Qing should have been asleep," Xu Huo said at that point. "So far, who has actually seen someone disappear while awake?"
Tong Qi and the others certainly hadn't.
"Things happening in an instance can't be that simple and random, especially since this is a mental-type instance," Chi Xian said, stroking his chin. "Maybe there's something special about the people who disappear."
"What's special?" Tong Qi pondered. "Just considering Zhao Qing, I think her mental state was a bit off."
Between fighting off drowsiness and staying alert against other players, many of those present today weren't in their best condition.
"Is it related to mental strength?" Scarface Glasses looked at Xu Huo.
"Hard to say," Xu Huo replied. "Based on the current situation, there's no unified standard."
Normally, those with weaker mental strength should be more susceptible, but both he and Zhao Qing, who fell asleep for the first time, dreamed during their brief sleep. Others, like Scarface Glasses, didn't dream during their first sleep, while Liao Xiaorong dreamed during her second sleep.
This could involve two factors: mental strength and sleep duration.
Without enough samples, it's hard to determine if disappearance is directly related to these two factors.
"Could it be that only sleeping people get pulled into other spaces?" Tong Qi speculated. "Or maybe it only happens at night. Anyway, no one's heard of anyone suddenly disappearing in broad daylight."
Apart from detecting faint traces of spatial fluctuations left behind by items or instruments, there were no other valuable clues.
"What kind of instance is this?" Tong Qi grumbled. "The background doesn't give much of a hint either. It tells a vague fake story, and the instance is the same. Without hints, who knows what to do?"
"Haven't the hints been obvious enough?" Liao Xiaorong said. "The game background basically means you have to find the answer in your dreams. Either way, it's a tug-of-war. By the time the instance is about to end, you either die or find the 'Midsummer Night Star River' to clear it. Two paths, nothing else."
Tong Qi rolled his eyes and said nothing.
After the discussion yielded no results, everyone went back to rest. Whether Zhao Qing was dead or had cleared the instance, everyone silently assumed she wouldn't return.
Xu Huo sat back down in his original spot, but his mind was on something else.
Among all his items, only the "Door of Idealism" was explicitly capable of opening overlapping spaces. Although the item description pointed to the spiritual realm, the space that could be opened must be physically real. Spaces that could be constructed within the spiritual realm were also mandatory and objective.
The next time someone disappeared, he might try using the "Door of Idealism."
However, this carried high risk, as entering didn't guarantee exit. If this overlapping space had nothing to do with clearing the instance and was merely a means to eliminate players, going in would be very dangerous.
"Someone's coming," Chi Xian suddenly warned in a low voice.
Xu Huo turned around and saw two heavily injured players supporting each other as they jumped down from a building across the way, heading toward the clock tower. In the distance, pursuing players could faintly be seen.
However, the three pursuers stopped once they saw the injured pair had entered the hundred-meter range of the clock tower, not forcing their way forward.
(End of Chapter)