Chapter 230: Who Is the Cannibal
If the task was submitted, the difficulty of subsequent tasks would increase, but without submitting the task, the second task couldn't be seen.
It was almost impossible to get the second task out of the player known as "the Concealer." Xu Huo tapped his fingers lightly on the painting frame a few times before choosing to submit the task.
[Congratulations to player Passerby A for finding a counterfeit painting, completing the first task of the instance.]
[The submitted painting will be collected by the game and cannot be reused in the same instance.]
After the game issued the notification, the second task was unlocked simultaneously.
[Instance Task Two: Restore a counterfeit painting to make it an authentic piece.]
Since the found counterfeit couldn't be used again, restoring an authentic piece would require finding another counterfeit.
But to create a counterfeit, a player was needed.
In the darkness, Xu Huo turned toward the sofa.
On the sofa, Ni Tian, whose back was to him, wasn't asleep. She tried to steady her breathing, gripping her slightly trembling hands tightly until the piercing gaze on her back moved away before she silently exhaled in relief.
By the time the lights were about to come on the next day, the commotion in the exhibition hall had subsided. At exactly seven o'clock, Ni Tian immediately flipped up and moved to go out.
"There are at most only six fake paintings," Xu Huo said from behind her.
Ni Tian paused in her action of opening the door, turned back, and squeezed out a smile. "Brother Xu, are you serious?"
"With me being so kind, could I lie to you?" Xu Huo stretched his arm. "If I didn't want you to go around blabbing, I could have made a move last night."
Ni Tian thought about it and realized that was true. Blinking her eyes, she said, "Brother Xu, then can you tell me? I'll do anything you want!"
"This time, I swear I'm sincere. If you don't trust me, you can tie me up."
Xu Huo ignored her exaggerated expressions. "Stop fooling around."
He pulled the door open and went out, just in time to see Gao Jun passing by from the next room. He greeted him.
The taciturn Gao Jun nodded with slight surprise.
By then, the other players had already gathered in the left corridor.
"The two rooms inside have been broken through. Da Xiong and Pan Siming are missing," Li Weiran said with a grim face.
"What exactly happened?" Xie Man asked. "Wasn't it supposed to be Fan Shiji's turn last night?"
"Haven't you figured it out yet? Da Xiong must have lied. He was the one who tore the portrait painting," Fan Shiji said. "Yesterday, I was ready to fight to the death, but I didn't expect... tsk tsk!"
"But then why did he survive the day before yesterday while Deng Yu disappeared?" Xie Man couldn't help asking.
"Maybe he had some powerful item, but it only blocked the first attack and not the second," the gloomy man said.
"So Deng Yu and Pan Siming both took the blame for others. That Da Xiong is really despicable!" You Huanhuan said indignantly.
Xu Huo glanced at her and suddenly said, "Do you all smell blood?"
The other players turned to look at him. You Huanhuan pointed at the sporadic bloodstains on the corridor. "It should be from when Da Xiong and Pan Siming were injured while escaping, right?"
The gloomy man stared at her fixedly for a moment before asking, "Did you leave your room last night?"
You Huanhuan was startled. "Are you suspecting I killed them?"
"It's not about suspecting you of murder," Li Weiran said. "We need to confirm who left their rooms last night. Among us, two people have completed the first task."
At these words, the players' expressions immediately turned cold. They looked at those around them with suspicious eyes, trying to discern any clues.
"It's possible Da Xiong and Pan Siming cleared the instance," Gao Jun spoke up. "When the game notification came yesterday, the two of them were in the exhibition hall."
"Would you choose to clear it if you were them?" Li Weiran stared at him intently.
"Why wouldn't I?" Gao Jun countered. "Is it strange to choose to leave the instance when being chased by a monster?"
Li Weiran paused and didn't speak again.
"Lu Gang and I never left the room," You Huanhuan picked up the earlier topic, reaching out to tug at Lu Gang's clothes. But before she could touch him, he slapped her hand away. Then Lu Gang rushed over, grabbing the gloomy man and Li Weiran by the shoulders and pressing them toward the ground!
"Don't fight!" You Huanhuan screamed.
The gloomy man and Li Weiran reacted in time, shrugging off the force on their shoulders from left and right. They kicked Lu Gang back together to create distance. At the same time, a folding fan appeared in the former's hand, while a pair of giant scissors as tall as a person materialized on the latter's back!
The three stood in a stalemate, while Xu Huo and the others had already moved out of the way.
"Lu Gang, don't fight! They're not targeting us; they just want to figure out how the instance works!" You Huanhuan rushed over and hugged the tall man. Lu Gang still clenched his fists but restrained himself from attacking again.
The gloomy man let out a sneer. "Looks like no one's willing to tell the truth. Let's just assume Da Xiong and Pan Siming left the instance. Everyone can look for their own clues!"
He then walked straight toward the exhibition hall, and Li Weiran glanced at Fan Shiji before following.
"Why are you looking at me? I didn't leave the room," Fan Shiji muttered. "It's so dangerous out there. Only a fool would come out!"
But complaints aside, he turned to the remaining players with a bitter face. "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. If anyone knows anything, just secretly tell me!"
Xu Huo spun his lighter but didn't light a cigarette.
Twelve players. For six players to clear the instance, six fake paintings were needed. That meant at most six people could complete the first round. On the second day, restoring an authentic piece would require the same number of players.
In this situation, no one would voluntarily reveal the method to clear the instance.
He patted Fan Shiji on the shoulder sympathetically. "Don't lose heart. There's still one day left."
"Sorry, we can't help either," You Huanhuan said with a guilty expression.
Xie Man walked past her. "Your hand is swollen."
You Huanhuan held her hand and smiled shyly. "Thanks for your concern."
Xu Huo glanced at the three with their varied expressions, then looked at the aloof Gao Jun. Under Ni Tian's urging, he entered the exhibition hall.
None of these people were telling the truth.
Yesterday, right after Da Xiong and Pan Siming were attacked, there was a sound of a door opening and closing in the left corridor. Judging by the outcome, Pan Siming hadn't entered an empty room. And Fan Shiji, to avoid being trapped in his room, hadn't locked his door. At that time, the only ones with the conditions were You Huanhuan and Lu Gang.
Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that the sound was a false alarm and Pan Siming had escaped into the exhibition hall.
This led to two possible conclusions: one, Pan Siming successfully cleared the instance and left; two, he had also entered a painting.
That sculpture monster wasn't very agile. With so many pillars in the exhibition hall, hiding wasn't difficult. Pan Siming wasn't the monster's primary target. If he had obtained a painting, choosing to leave the instance wouldn't be the optimal choice.
Additionally, last night, Gao Jun had deliberately left his door ajar before lights out. Judging by the time he passed Xu Huo's door, it was very close to the first game notification.
So Xu Huo was more inclined to believe that Pan Siming had either entered a painting or been killed.
In the former case, there was still a ready-made fake painting in the exhibition hall. In the latter, Pan Siming's body might be hidden somewhere in the art gallery.
Naturally, the undeniable smell of blood was also a crucial clue.
Avoiding the others' line of sight, he used his phone to inform Ni Tian: "Go check the room on the left to see if there's a body."
Stuck on writing. If there's repeated text at the beginning, please refresh. ^_^
(Chapter End)