Chapter 2355: Hidden in the Room
On the first floor, aside from a banquet hall, most of the area was occupied by rooms, with no entertainment venues. Players wanting to ensure their safety mainly stuck together in groups, and they showed a strong interest in opening rooms. Many players didn’t even bother chasing the mermaid masks, instead focusing their attention on the rooms.
Xu Huo wore an octopus mask, so when he appeared on the first floor, other clustered players generally avoided him. By the time night fell, few B-level players remained on the first floor, with C-level players making up the majority. Some people clearly knew how the octopus mask was obtained, showing great wariness and vigilance, only breathing a sigh of relief when Xu Huo left or made it clear he wasn’t interested in them.
Hypnotizing a group of players would cause too much commotion, so he didn’t directly approach anyone. Instead, while observing the layout of the Fish Feast building, he occasionally listened to other players’ discussions about the event.
Mostly, it was reminders from players who knew some rules to the newcomers.
First, regarding the lottery issue: those who drew lots could indeed avoid risky rooms, but the probability of finding a space was one in two. For players holding mermaid masks, as the lowest tier among all fish types, even a one-in-two chance posed a significant risk. So, leaving the banquet hall early didn’t guarantee true safety.
Second, opening rooms. Although rooms might be occupied by players, there was a certain chance they were empty. For rooms already taken by players, the moment the door opened was a life-or-death battle. Winning meant a rich haul; losing could cost your life. There was also a chance of clearing the room.
Empty rooms were even better. Not only were they safe, but they also had a certain probability of containing unclaimed items—this was the bait the Fish Feast offered to players. Additionally, after the items in a room were looted, they would refresh instantly, like the carpets in the corridors, so every player had a chance to get something.
Third, the floor issue. Generally, the higher the floor, the more dangerous it was—this was an unspoken rule. Whether for other reasons or simply as a status symbol, strong players tended to move upward. Of course, this was just speculation among players; they guessed that higher-floor rooms might contain better items or devices. But for safety, weaker players would be cautious about going up, while those who had already visited higher floors would occasionally come back down for easier hunting.
Then there was the mask issue. Players lingering on the first and second floors didn’t know how masks like the octopus or giant-eye fish were obtained, only speculating that it was related to the number of players killed. So, they actively avoided uncommon masks, like the octopus.
Clownfish and piranhas were the most common and numerous at the Fish Feast, but masks still roughly corresponded to a player’s strength. Mermaids, like other fish masks, were fewer in number. Some players mentioned that mermaids, regardless of gender, were people with outstanding appearances, making them the most popular fish masks.
These were just bits of information from players lingering on the lower floors. Here, clownfish and piranhas were abundant, but that might not hold true on higher floors.
“Should we open a door?” the Painting Woman asked, curious about the empty rooms.
Xu Huo, hidden at a corner of the corridor, didn’t answer. Instead, he gestured for her to look at the players ahead.
In the middle of the corridor, five players had chosen a room. After using items to assess the risk, they decided to open it. But the moment the door was pulled open, several black shadows, like tentacles, flew out from inside, dragging in the few people at the entrance who hadn’t reacted in time. Only the player at the very back managed to seize a chance to escape, using an item to teleport away. The other four were all pulled into the room. As the door closed, everything returned to calm.
The player who escaped had only teleported to the end of the corridor. Relieved to have survived, he then met Xu Huo’s gaze and fled without touching the ground.
Xu Huo and the Painting Woman ignored him.
“It seems the rooms don’t just have players; there might also be some special items,” Xu Huo said. Although players also carried strange items, the death rate after opening a door was too high for it to be solely due to players. After all, before opening the door, the players outside would have prepared to escape. If they were fast enough, they could flee, and the players inside would likely not risk chasing them out.
Whether they could get back in afterward was another matter.
The Painting Woman was very curious. “Was that room really raising an octopus?”
“Let’s go see and find out.” Xu Huo stepped forward.
The two arrived at the door from earlier. The Painting Woman volunteered to open it, but when she eagerly turned the doorknob, no tentacles flew out. Inside was a brightly lit, luxuriously decorated room with no one in it.
The room was huge, comparable to a small vacation villa. Although it was only one story, it had an outdoor pool and a small garden. The pool was open-air, and mist could be seen outside.
The Fish Feast venue was vast. Given the density of the doors, it wasn’t surprising that so many rooms could fit. However, judging by the arrangement of the rooms, the one Xu Huo and the others entered shouldn’t have had a view of the opposite window. So, the rooms behind the doors weren’t fixed; each opening likely led to a different place.
This meant that risk-predicting items would be of little use.
“I can’t see either side,” the Painting Woman said, looking left and right from the terrace. “Are there no rooms on either side?”
“This should be a location item with spatial restrictions.” That wasn’t surprising. As long as the personal panel wasn’t sealed here, it wasn’t a big problem.
Xu Huo then began inspecting the room. A lamp he casually touched turned out to be an unclaimed item. Next came a hanging painting on the wall, a decorative antique radio that couldn’t be used, a teacup with built-in poison detection, a book that could read itself, a mirror that moved with its holder...
Various convenient little items were scattered everywhere.
The Painting Woman also imitated him, searching the room. Suddenly, she crawled under the bed and pried up a floorboard.
Xu Huo took it and examined it. It turned out to be a special floating item. It could shrink or enlarge and would always stay upright on any water surface.
“What’s it for?” the Painting Woman quickly asked. After hearing his explanation, she lost interest. “It can stay upright, but I’d fall off. Doesn’t that mean it’s useless?”
“Makes sense,” Xu Huo said, putting the board away. “Keep looking.”
She then pulled out a few more items from unexpected places, but none satisfied her or Xu Huo.
It wasn’t until Xu Huo had sat down and drunk tea for nearly half an hour that the Painting Woman extracted a one-meter-long black shadow from a crack in the wall.
It looked like a shadow, with a thin, soft rubbery texture. It was also a special item, named “Flat Fall.”