Chapter 222: Hundred-Person Art Museum
The Ting City Research Institute sent people to capture the three cannibal players who had been lurking outside the residential area. With no one watching them anymore, Xu Huo and his group finally began to go out and move about.
With less than half a month left before entering the next instance, Xu Huo needed to prepare some things in advance.
The instances he had encountered so far almost never allowed him to bring weapons he purchased himself, but everyday items were fine.
The disposable gloves he had bought earlier were almost used up, so Xu Huo went to buy some more. He also purchased a few backup items and tried to put them into the stingy leather suitcase.
Previously, aside from potions, this suitcase had held items like an Evolver's blood and earphones, which had been brought into the instance intact.
But when he opened the suitcase again, it spat out both the suitcase and the newly purchased backup items. Apart from the few syringes already inside, nothing else could be stored.
"This item is really capricious," Yuan Yao said while eating a watermelon. "Brother Xu, can it hold items?" Xu Huo gestured with his chin toward the adult fairy tale book beside him. "No."
"Is this book an item?" Yuan Yao's eyes lit up, and he quickly wiped his hands before picking it up. "I thought it was a dirty book..." Before he could finish, the opened book began to bleed. He let out a yelp and threw the book away, curling up on the corner of the sofa. Staring at the book, which had started telling a story in a sinister tone, he suddenly covered his ears and shouted, "Brother Xu, save me!"
Xu Huo walked over and closed the book. Seeing Yuan Yao looking as if he had suffered a mental attack, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Scared?"
Yuan Yao's hands were trembling. "It's way more real than watching a 4D horror movie. Didn't you see that? Something crawled out of the book!"
Xu Huo was slightly surprised, then opened a page. However, the fairy tale book didn't tell a story; instead, a line of black text appeared: "Temporarily closed for business."
Seeing that Xu Huo had no reaction, Yuan Yao leaned in to look, then said indignantly, "This book is shameless! It bullies the weak and fears the strong!"
Xu Huo called over the Painting Woman and asked her to flip through the book.
The Painting Woman randomly flipped a few pages, and the fairy tale book behaved as obediently as blank paper, neither playing tricks nor passively resisting.
Yuan Yao's gaze shifted back and forth between the Painting Woman and Xu Huo's face a couple of times, then he slumped back onto the sofa. "I'm the only weakling here."
"This is a mental attack-type item. If you're braver, it won't work," Xu Huo said.
Yuan Yao shook his head. "There's no hope for me in this life."
Xu Huo put away the fairy tale book and the suitcase. Just as he picked up his phone, he received a message from Liu Jia: Professor Han has passed away.
He paused for a moment, then immediately replied to ask about Professor Han's funeral arrangements. Liu Jia responded quickly, saying that Professor Han had died in the hospital and she was there. His family had already taken the body away. Due to the unusual cause of death, he was being cremated with official personnel present and would be buried in the next couple of days.
Xu Huo rubbed his phone. Professor Han had been injured on the preliminary train and had been receiving official treatment ever since getting off. In reality, two instances had passed in between. Given the state Liu Jia had described, it was impossible for him to have successfully survived two instances only to return to the hospital and die.
This person might not be dead. Declining the invitation to attend the funeral, he searched online for news about injuries caused by Xenomorphs.
There was almost none domestically, but there was plenty of news from neighboring Country B, some of which had spread online. Apart from dying from weakness, the rest involved berserking, with no cases of survival.
"Perhaps Xenomorphization also has its variables." Xu Huo himself was one of those variables. If Professor Han hadn't died, it meant the country had made a breakthrough with antidotes, which was good news.
Now that the call for everyone to become players was in full swing, and with the experience of players who had survived the preliminary train, the survival rate on the preliminary train should improve.
"Brother Xu, are you planning to enter the instance in the next couple of days?" Yuan Yao asked him. "Isn't there still over ten days left?"
"Sooner or later, I have to go. A few days don't make a difference." Xu Huo glanced at the Painting Woman.
The Painting Woman walked over to him and held up her phone. "I want to go play too."
Xu Huo nodded in agreement. If this E-level instance earned a B-level rating, he would successfully level up to a D-level player when he came out. It was even better if the Painting Woman was willing to go.
After resting for another two days, he used his ticket to enter the station. This time, he didn't encounter anyone trying to snatch tickets, but he did meet a player who was also heading to the Hundred-Person Art Museum.
"What a coincidence!" said a man with a simple, honest face, overjoyed. "Meeting at the station is fate. My name is Fan Shiji."
"Xu San." Xu Huo shook hands with him and handed him a cigarette. "Which instance is this for you?"
Fan Shiji leaned in to light the cigarette from Xu Huo's hand and said with a look of shame, "The seventh. No luck—my ratings are always too low, so I can never level up."
"And you?"
"I've done five too." Xu Huo sighed. "Who knows when I'll finally level up."
Fan Shiji patted him on the shoulder. "Looks like we're in the same boat. We have to look out for each other in the instance."
"No problem," Xu Huo agreed readily.
The train arrived quickly, and the two chatted pleasantly until three hours later when the train reached the station.
[Player Passerby A has entered the Hundred-Person Art Museum territory, defaulting to participation in E-level instance "Thirty Days."]
[Background Introduction: The Hundred-Person Art Museum is a historic collection hall. Unlike other art museums, it provides accommodation and food, allowing every visiting guest to enjoy themselves to the fullest. Therefore, a large number of tourists flock here every month. However, the museum can only accommodate up to twelve people at a time, so there are still many visitors who have applied multiple times but never managed to enter.]
[However, as time passed, rumors spread outside that the staff were stealing and selling the artworks, as some guests discovered forgeries inside the museum. Yet the museum's curator repeatedly assured everyone that before the end of each month, he personally inspected every painting to confirm they were all genuine before closing the museum.]
[But over time, the curator became troubled by this, so he invited twelve art professionals to authenticate the paintings over a period of seven days.]
[Special Note: The museum will turn off the lights after 9 PM. To protect the paintings, please do not wander around after the lights go out.]
[Instance Task One: Find one forgery]
[Instance Task Two: ***]
[Instance Task Three: ***]
[Instance Duration: Seven days.]
After the countdown ended, Xu Huo and Fan Shiji stood at the entrance of a resplendent palace. The first thing they saw was a pillar three meters in diameter, at least fifty meters high, its surface coated in gold powder. Glancing to the side, at least a dozen identical giant pillars stood behind it, together supporting an oval dome.
"This art museum is ridiculously huge," Fan Shiji said, his mouth opening and closing several times before he managed to get the words out.