Chapter 2081: Player Records
Xu Huo took the timing tool, adjusted all the dials to 9:17, then removed the lower part of the dials, cutting off the timing function. To be extra safe, he wrote several notes reading "Day Three of Entering the Instance," wrapping one around the handle of the Black Blade and placing it in his item slot, sticking another on the "Cube Space" and storing it in the luggage compartment, placing a third inside an empty newsstand and taking a photo with his communicator, and finally giving the last two to Wang Ling and the Sweet Girl, asking them to keep them separately.
"This... probably won't be much use," Wang Ling said, taking the note. "If this instance can reset time, these little markers might not even take effect. If it can't, even if our perception is messed up, the items we've stored and the food we've eaten can't just reappear. We'll naturally figure out there's something fishy with the time."
Xu Huo also carved the words "Day Three of Entering the Instance" onto the ground in front of the main entrance of the Time Tower using a prop.
"It doesn't hurt to try," he said.
Wang Ling pocketed the note, but instead of carving on the ground, he used a prop to slice a nearby city sculpture in half at the waist, adding, "Carving words risks being faked. My own technique will definitely be recognizable."
The Sweet Girl also made her own mark in her own way.
After resting in place for a moment, the Sweet Girl said, "Waiting around is no solution. How about we split up and search in different directions? If we find anything, we'll notify each other. If not, we'll return to the Time Tower in an hour."
"It's already one in the afternoon," she said, checking the time. "Reconvene at two-thirty?"
Wang Ling had no objections. "Let's just hope we don't get reshuffled the moment we step out."
That was a valid concern. If even their memories were reset, they'd meet again as strangers and have to go through the whole introduction process once more.
"Easy. Let's take a photo," Wang Ling said, raising his communicator. He flashed a big grin at the lens and reminded the two behind him, "Smile. That way we'll know we're friends, not foes."
Xu Huo cooperated, while the Sweet Girl gave a forced smile.
"Done." Wang Ling stuffed the communicator into his pocket. "You two, see you later."
The three of them started walking toward different branching paths on the other side of the Time Tower. Wang Ling left first, and whether intentionally or not, the Sweet Girl and Xu Huo walked together for a stretch.
"How come I haven't seen that friend of yours?" the Sweet Girl probed. "Did she not come in, or did you get separated?"
"Do you need something from her?" Xu Huo asked, keeping his eyes forward and maintaining his pace.
The Sweet Girl touched her right arm, then shifted the topic back to the instance. "You were lucky to leave early. The first week's mutual slaughter was nothing. The second week..."
"The parts of a player that correspond to the missing parts of their puppet will actually turn into puppets," Xu Huo interrupted, turning his head. "Is that right?"
The Sweet Girl's shock turned into disbelief. "You've been to that instance before!"
Xu Huo ignored her and kept walking, adding, "A B-rank instance can't be that simple. Since the instance holder's state changes over time, it naturally gets harder later on. Besides, looking at your arm... that probably wasn't caused by another player, was it?"
The Sweet Girl caught up. "It's easy to reason backward from the result, but you have to actually experience it to know how terrifying that instance is. If it were another player's handiwork, potions should have been able to restore it. But after I got out, I tried every potion, and my arm is still like this... It can't be that my arm is permanently turned into a puppet, can it?"
"You know the Puppet Maker. Is he human, or a naturally born instance holder?"
If he were human, there might still be hope for her arm. But if he were a naturally born non-human holder, the factors involved might be beyond what players could handle.
"That depends on your luck," Xu Huo said ambiguously.
The Sweet Girl's gaze turned cold, and without another word, she turned onto another fork.
The streets were as empty as ever, with no living creatures within his perception range. Xu Huo picked up the pace, expanding his range with his mental power as he pushed deeper.
About half an hour later, when he entered another large plaza, he stopped and looked up at the fifth floor of a department store fifty meters away.
A moment later, a man about two meters tall pulled open a window and jumped down, sizing up Xu Huo from several dozen meters away.
Xu Huo studied him in return. The man was burly, with a stern face, and his half-open palms were covered in thick calluses, clearly experienced in combat. However, he wore an ill-fitting tight short-sleeve shirt over his custom combat suit. The size was wrong, and the panda-hugging-bamboo-shoot pattern on the front was stretched out of shape.
"How many days have you been in?" the man asked, his voice deep.
Xu Huo didn't answer the question but instead glanced behind him.
The man chuckled, raised his right hand, and shouted, "Come on down! It's fine!"
Then the other three players hiding in the department store jumped out. The tall man was clearly a B-rank player, while the other two men and one woman consisted of one C-rank and two D-ranks. From their behavior, the D-rank man and woman were very familiar with each other.
The tall man began introducing himself. His name was Meng Wenguang, the C-rank player was Feng Hui, and the two D-ranks were Hong Chen and Yue Rui. Except for Feng Hui, the other three were local players from Zone 011. They had been pulled in while staying near Cockscomb Flower City after returning from an instance.
They were all wearing short-sleeve shirts with panda patterns, which, judging by the size, probably belonged to a girl.
The fact that he asked "how many days" meant they had been inside for a while too.
"We've been in for six days," Meng Wenguang said, pulling a notebook from his luggage compartment. "We only started taking notes the day before yesterday."
As he spoke, he wrote down today's observations in the notebook, mainly recording Xu Huo's appearance after meeting him.
"We only realized we might have been in for more than a day because of the reduced amount of food."
"Over the past two days, we've been writing every ten minutes, but the records always stop after 9:10 PM. None of us have any memory beyond today and the time before we got here."
Meng Wenguang and his group were very straightforward, immediately showing Xu Huo the notebook, which contained everything they had experienced over the past two days.
Like the other players who came in, they first confirmed that the thick fog posed no threat, then began exploring elsewhere. To better orient themselves, they didn't follow the directional rules of their own home zones but instead used street-side buildings to determine their location. For example, the day before yesterday, they walked through the shopping area on the left side of the commercial street, and yesterday, they walked through the food district on the right side. Along the way, they recorded the buildings on both sides and used a flight recorder to capture what they saw.
(End of Chapter)