Chapter 227: The First Missing Player
"Which painting did he damage?" Pan Siming immediately asked.
Big Bear pointed to a portrait of an elderly woman ahead.
The group walked over but didn't immediately take down the painting. Instead, they all looked at Fan Shiji.
Fan Shiji was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"It means since you're the second one anyway, the monster will definitely come for you tonight. Rather than dragging others into it, you might as well take the hit," the gloomy man said.
Fan Shiji's face darkened. "You're not planning to just abandon me, are you?"
No one spoke. Fan Shiji continued, "I'm the second, that's true. But who's to say you won't be the fourth or fifth? What if we can't find the painting in the next two days? Are we just going to let it kill us one by one?"
"Unlike you, we didn't recklessly damage a painting," the gloomy man said flatly.
Fan Shiji's face flushed with anger, but the leather-clad woman spoke up. "It might not be because of damaging the painting."
"What do you mean?" Pan Siming looked up.
"Fan Shiji dropped that first painting, 'Still Time,' yesterday, but it wasn't damaged," the leather-clad woman said.
Xu Huo shifted his gaze from 'Silent Umbrella' to 'Still Time,' then back to 'Silent Umbrella,' and followed up on her words. "I checked that painting. It really wasn't damaged."
Fan Shiji breathed a huge sigh of relief, but then Xu Huo added, "So the people the monster attacked after lights-out might be those who damaged a painting, or those who attempted to damage one."
Pan Siming looked at the leather-clad woman. "What about you?"
"I didn't damage any painting, nor did I knock over any frames or artworks." The leather-clad woman thought for a moment. "But the piece I got was a sketch. When I touched it, some graphite dust came off."
"That counts as damaging a painting?" Xie Man asked in surprise.
"That's the only thing I can think of," the leather-clad woman said, looking around at everyone.
"So there's no way I'm escaping tonight?" Fan Shiji gritted his teeth.
"There's another way," Xu Huo said. "Just find the fake painting today."
"Compared to us, you're safer. One more or one less doesn't make a difference to you."
Fan Shiji forced a smile uglier than crying, reached out, and took down the portrait. When he opened the frame, sure enough, a corner was cracked.
"Did Deng Yu damage this?" Xu Huo walked over to look, then turned to Big Bear. "You saw it?"
Big Bear didn't look at the painting but nodded vaguely.
Xu Huo glanced at 'Silent Umbrella' ahead and then asked, "Which room were you in on the left corridor yesterday? The second one?"
"The second. What about it?" Big Bear looked at him suspiciously.
"Your room is pretty close to the exhibition hall. Why didn't you run outside?" Xu Huo said slowly. "Hiding in your room should have been more dangerous, right?"
"I was scared out of my mind! I didn't even think of that!" Big Bear said indignantly. "I've only done one instance before. How could I think of everything?"
Xu Huo sighed. "Deng Yu might have made it out if he ran."
Pan Siming gave him a thoughtful look, then said, "Let's focus on finding the painting first."
"It's up to you two," the gloomy man said, tilting his chin toward Fan Shiji and the leather-clad woman.
Fan Shiji's face turned green. He hung the painting back up and immediately took down the next one, apparently planning to try them one by one.
The others scattered. Big Bear hesitated and looked at Ni Tian. "Do you want to share a room with me tonight?"
Ni Tian's eyes were slightly red. She seemed to cast a fearful glance at Xu Huo, then shook her head. "Thank you for your kindness..."
Before she could finish, Xu Huo pressed a hand on her shoulder and tilted his head toward the statue area. "Go check over there."
Ni Tian, too angry to speak but too afraid to disobey, lowered her head, touched the corner of her mouth, and obediently went.
The players who hadn't walked far all saw this. Though their expressions varied, no one intervened.
Completing the instance mission was their priority. As long as Xu Huo wasn't killing anyone, maintaining a false peace among players benefited everyone.
"I noticed you looked ahead several times. Do you think those two paintings are problematic?" The leather-clad woman followed Xu Huo toward the front of the art gallery.
Xu Huo turned to look at her.
The leather-clad woman extended her hand. "Li Weiran. I have one more day than Fan Shiji, but I don't think trying them one by one will find the fake painting."
"Besides, there should be more than two fake paintings here. We can cooperate."
"Trying to get information out of me?" Xu Huo gave her a dismissive once-over. "Why don't you come to my room tomorrow night? Maybe the monster will give up if it can't find anyone."
Li Weiran withdrew her hand without any embarrassment, took bubble gum from her leather jacket pocket, and stuffed five pieces into her mouth before saying, "Everyone was in the gallery yesterday. If anyone could have found clues about the fake paintings, the first task would have been completed by now."
"What do you think?"
Xu Huo gave a faint smile and turned away. Li Weiran immediately went to find Pan Siming, but she was also rejected.
It was clear that Li Weiran was being targeted by the monster hidden in the gallery. Who would cooperate with her now?
She made the rounds among the players and finally had no choice but to repeat Fan Shiji's actions—taking down each painting one by one.
Xu Huo walked around the gallery, stood in front of 'Still Time' for a while, then headed back toward the rooms.
"You're not looking anymore?" Ni Tian came over from the side.
"I'm hungry. Eating first." Xu Huo walked straight to his room.
Ni Tian hesitated, then followed. Once the door was closed, she couldn't hold back. "What exactly are you trying to do? I've given you all my items and potions. Why won't you let me go?"
Xu Huo took out the dry rations and water prepared by the gallery from the cabinet and glanced back at her. "Do you want to share a room with Octopus Bear?"
"What's wrong with that?" Ni Tian said with hatred. "Are you really so kind that you care about other players' lives?"
Xu Huo tore open a piece of bread. "I don't know if he'll die, but you might not survive."
Ni Tian's expression froze, then she became suspicious. "Are you saying that Big Bear isn't a good guy? What makes you think that?"
"His roommate Deng Yu disappeared, yet he came out unscathed. Isn't that enough to show something?" Xu Huo countered. Then he added, "You're a cannibal player, and I didn't kill you. Isn't that kind enough? Don't cause trouble for yourself. The tattoo on your shoulder has been washed off. If I go out and say you're a cannibal player, do you think the other players will keep looking for the painting or kill you first?"
Ni Tian was filled with frustration. When she woke up in the middle of the night, she found the tattoo covering her player number had been completely cleaned off with cleaning agent. Then she was forced to hand over her only item and potion. Looking back, this man had probably already planned to rob her when he agreed to share a room.
Watching him eat and drink without a care, she couldn't help asking, "How did you figure out my identity?"