Chapter 2073: Basic Manners of a Guest
The woman in purple thought he was overly confident, but since they weren't friends with any mutual connection, even offering a single reminder was already generous. So after hearing Xu Huo's words, she didn't continue the conversation.
Before lunch, the group found the second puppet, and in the afternoon, they found the third.
All three puppets found today were incomplete, which greatly displeased the players who obtained them. They hadn't violated any rules—they hadn't damaged decorations like Fluorescent Powder, nor destroyed someone else's puppet like the Sweet Girl—yet they ended up with incomplete puppets.
Now only twelve people remained in the instance: Xu Huo, Fluorescent Powder, Sweet Girl, Glasses Player, the woman in purple, the older man who got his puppet today, and two other players. Three more people would finish the first round of puppet-making tomorrow. As for whether the seventh day would bring repaired puppets or new ones, that would have to be seen when the time came.
According to the order in which the puppets appeared, repairs should also start from the first incomplete puppet. However, this meant that the later a player's turn, the later their puppet would reappear. Especially for those getting puppets today and tomorrow, besides being incomplete, the craftsmanship might also be rougher. Whether this counted as part of the repair process was unclear.
Except for the last three players who hadn't obtained their puppets yet, the others no longer cared much about keeping the agreement to move together. In fact, after the Painting Woman had been gone for a long time, one or two even wanted to leave the dining room for other places.
"We haven't gotten our puppets yet," said the man with the pigeon tattoo on his cheek, standing at the entrance. "It's not really appropriate for you to just leave like that."
The two trying to leave were the players who had obtained their puppets today. They exchanged glances, ignored the pigeon-tattooed man's obstruction, and continued forward. At that moment, the older man also stood up. "Cooperating with each other is the fastest way to clear the instance. Others helped you today, so you should help others too."
The two sneered in response. "And what do you plan to do if we insist on leaving?"
The pigeon-tattooed man cracked his knuckles. "Want to spar?"
The older man stopped him and said to the two, "Then I'll have no choice but to force you to sit for a while."
The atmosphere between them suddenly grew tense. At that moment, Fluorescent Powder spoke up: "Just let them go. If they break the rules, they'll be the ones suffering. No fourth puppet will appear today anyway. We'll deal with tomorrow when it comes."
The pigeon-tattooed man seemed tempted, but the older man didn't want them to break the rules. "The instance doesn't end today. If we keep causing trouble one after another, when will we ever clear it?"
Killing the short man had been for this very reason.
"Haven't you all realized yet? Clearing this instance isn't actually difficult. We don't even need to steal puppets. As long as we follow the basic manners of a guest, at least one of the puppets the puppet maker brings out each day will be complete. By the seventh day, three puppets that satisfy the puppet maker will naturally appear."
"Don't forget—we were invited here as guests. If we ask for a puppet as a gift when leaving, there's definitely a certain chance of success."
This reasoning was very logical, but precisely because it was too logical, the other players found it hard to believe.
"Assuming you're right, why are our puppets incomplete?" questioned the two players who wanted to leave.
"Maybe because it's been a while," the older man speculated. "Today is our fifth day in the instance. The puppet maker has already made over a dozen puppets. The instance mentioned he lacks patience, so it's normal for the quality to decline."
"According to you, clearing this instance depends on luck?"
If everyone followed the rules without making mistakes, then whose puppet got made first did seem somewhat dependent on luck.
"But don't forget, most players didn't violate any rules," the Sweet Girl reminded him. "Yet no complete puppet appeared on the first day."
This was what puzzled all the players. There seemed to be no fixed standard for choosing a reference subject. Aside from the swift punishment for rule violations, everyone else's puppets seemed to depend on the puppet maker's mood—or perhaps there was a set of standards, but it wasn't revealed to the players.
Of course, this didn't mean the players were doomed. The older man's theory had some possibility. If all players cooperated, sooner or later, everyone's puppet would be made. It was just that everyone was in a hurry, so the instance had to reduce the number of players.
"So after all this, it's a patience game," Fluorescent Powder said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Choosing the reference subject for making the puppet might be subjective, but that doesn't mean the final clearance also depends on the puppet maker's mood," Xu Huo said at that moment. "We can look at it the other way. Who gets chosen as a reference might be random, but the three satisfactory puppets selected each week are likely mandatory. In other words, three satisfactory puppets will definitely appear the day after tomorrow."
He swept his gaze over the players with varied expressions and added, "We'll see who can get them then."
The clearance requirement was to obtain a "satisfactory puppet." It didn't specify that it had to be your own. Although the possibility was low, it couldn't be ruled out. What if?
Moreover, based on the current situation, the three puppets belonging to Zuo Yu, Glasses Player, and Xu Huo should be the final satisfactory puppets for the first seven days. Their puppets didn't need special repairs. However, Zuo Yu's puppet had already been destroyed. The third satisfactory puppet would either be one of the three tomorrow or randomly selected from the incomplete ones.
Regardless, the ones with the highest probability were Xu Huo and Glasses Player. Their puppets had already been retrieved and were complete. They might not even need a reference subject. If these two died, would that free up two puppets?
The Sweet Girl and Fluorescent Powder, whose puppets had more missing parts, were clearly showing signs of interest.
Sensing the fluctuating heartbeats of some players due to emotional changes, Xu Huo smiled faintly and lowered his head to focus on his book.
The next second, one of the two players trying to leave the dining room flashed back to the table. His movement was so fast it was like a distorted, twisted shadow. He suddenly appeared behind the person reading, but just as his hand was raised, a black light too fast to see sliced him from head to toe, defense barrier and all, clean in two!
The corpse crashed to the ground. The splattered blood, not a single drop touching the invisible barrier, flowed unnaturally around Xu Huo's position, not even reaching his chair.
"No one actually thinks that having a spiritual interference device makes everything safe and sound, do they?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow and smiled at the group, then called for Butler No. 1 and handed back the incomplete puppet he had just obtained.