Chapter 2445: Sudden Drowsiness
Chi Cai's statement wasn't entirely fabricated just to stop the green-haired female player from harming the villagers; it did have some merit. If player identity was ignored and only one person could die in the forest each day, then indiscriminate killing could indeed make one a target, since it would violate the forest's rules.
The number of players in the instance had dropped from forty-two to thirty-five. It was impossible to determine whether these players had been killed by other players or by the Hidden Friend. Today was the fifth day. If the rule of "one death per day" was to be followed, then a new role-player might appear today, or the Hidden Friend might continue killing.
Of course, this was just a guess based on very few clues, lacking solid evidence. The specific direction of the instance would depend on what happened next.
That night, Xu Huo didn't plan to sleep. In fact, many players had the same intention. But for some reason, as the lights in the village gradually went out, an indescribable feeling of drowsiness slowly crept in. It felt as if it had been a long, long time since they last slept, and now they couldn't wait to catch up on rest—whether on a bed or the floor, as long as they could lie down and close their eyes...
Sensing this abnormal drowsiness, Xu Huo woke up the Painting Woman, who was playing games, and the equally sleepy Chi Cai and Yang Tian to play cards.
The night seemed particularly long. The group felt like they had been playing cards for a while, but when they checked the time, only an hour had passed.
Chi Cai couldn't hold on any longer. He yawned and said, "How about we take turns keeping watch? If I don't sleep soon, I'm afraid I won't be able to wake up even if something happens."
Yang Tian was also affected, his eyes red and teary. "Falling asleep might be the real disaster. Let's take two shots of stimulant and keep playing cards."
The two each used a dose of stimulant, and Chi Cai handed two to Xu Huo. "The one I'm using has absolutely no side effects. Try it and see if it works. It's still a long way until dawn."
Xu Huo took them but didn't use them. The four reshuffled the cards, but aside from the Painting Woman, the other three had little energy. Occasionally, they would close their eyes between rounds, only to be woken by someone else.
Another hour passed. Chi Cai simply lay down on his own chair to play cards, his eyes closed, though he hadn't completely fallen asleep.
"You guys are no fun," the Painting Woman typed on her communicator, then said to Xu Huo, "You sleep. I'll call you if something happens."
"Sis, call me too." Chi Cai's hand dropped, and soon he was snoring.
"I really can't hold on anymore." Yang Tian set up a defense barrier over himself before lying down.
Xu Huo decided to get up and go outside to take a look.
Other players had also come out to clear their heads. Next door, Bubble Bean and the eyebrow-pierced man, as well as the green-haired female player staying in her location item, were all forcing themselves to stay awake, pacing at their doorways. But the more they did, the slower time seemed to pass, especially with everything around them so calm.
After a while, the eyebrow-pierced man went back to sleep, followed by the green-haired female player, leaving only Bubble Bean and Xu Huo outside.
"Can Bubble Beans be eaten?" Xu Huo suddenly asked.
Bubble Bean paused, though he questioned Xu Huo's intent, he still answered, "If there's no food, anything can be eaten. Some people will even gnaw on grass when they have nothing... But eating a Bubble Bean, the worst that can happen is blowing bubbles. If a lot of people eat them, they'll all blow bubbles together."
He forced a faint smile. "One or two people blowing bubbles isn't much to see. But dozens or hundreds of people blowing bubbles together... that looks pretty much like a living hell."
He paused, then looked at Xu Huo. "How about we talk about something exciting?"
"Are you really an instance player or not?"
Xu Huo snorted with a laugh. "We were having a nice chat, and suddenly you bring up such unpleasant topics. That's a bit rude, don't you think?"
Bubble Bean shrugged. "Whatever. I doubt many people here can beat you anyway. Whether you're an instance player or not doesn't make much difference."
He let out a long yawn. "I'm going back to sleep. If anything happens, make sure to call me."
The door next door closed again. Now, Xu Huo was the only one still active outside. With nothing else to do, he took out the half-assembled robot he had been working on and continued putting it together. He kept watch until dawn, until the drowsiness gradually faded.
Light returned to the forest. The villagers in the village began to wake up and prepare breakfast. As sounds filled the air again, the sleeping players also woke up one by one. When they opened their eyes, they were shocked to realize they had unknowingly slept through the entire night without waking up once!
As they came out with varying degrees of lingering fear, Xu Huo had finished assembling his robot. He stretched and said to the Painting Woman, "I'm going to catch up on some sleep. Keep an eye on things."
The Painting Woman nodded. "If anyone disturbs your sleep, I'll kill them."
"That won't be necessary," Xu Huo said. "Just call me if something happens."
The Painting Woman was deeply disappointed but still cast a wary glance at the surrounding players before sitting down on the doorstep.
The drowsiness from last night was abnormal. Many players had used stimulants but still couldn't resist the urge to sleep. It had nothing to do with their diet—some had eaten local food, others had brought their own. The most likely culprit was the night fog.
"Nothing unusual can be detected in the air," the missing-ear player said to the green-haired female player. "It doesn't seem like a scent secreted by plants. The entire instance area might be problematic, inducing drowsiness, similar to environmental hypnosis."
This explanation wasn't convincing, but nothing had happened last night, and there seemed to be no leads to dig deeper.
"What are we doing today?" the Yin-Yang Master asked Bubble Bean.
Yesterday, they had checked Tuo Tuo's grave, and no new players had arrived. Actively provoking the Hidden Friend didn't seem wise, so it looked like they had to stay put.
"Let's record the surrounding plants," Bubble Bean said. "I have a feeling the mutated plants in this forest are very dangerous."
The other players also had their own plans and soon split up.
The eyebrow-pierced man and the middle-aged man had parted ways. The former teamed up with Bubble Bean, while the latter acted alone. The green-haired female player stayed with the missing-ear player. As for Yang Tian and Chi Cai, Chi Cai spent some effort convincing Yang Tian, and they decided to stay in the village.
"The instance emphasized not being alone, and he still dares to go off alone. What a brave soul," Chi Cai said, watching the middle-aged man leave by himself.
"He's not exactly alone," Yang Tian said. "I saw three young people heading over there to look for wild vegetables earlier..."
He stopped mid-sentence, exchanged a glance with Chi Cai, and the two quickly followed.
They had initially suspected that the middle-aged man was trying to put the green-haired female player's suggestion from yesterday into action. But when they caught up, they found that he wasn't with the three locals at all.