Chapter 2456: Wipe Them Out in One Go
"Let me clarify first, we already know," Old Chai immediately said. "Old Xu mentioned it when we first met."
As for the big man, he had brought Yang Tian back and stayed for a day, so he could have heard it from other players as well.
But there was one issue here: these people had never fought Xu Huo or the Painting Woman. Under what circumstances would they insist they were non-instance players? Naturally, it was to avoid the risks of the instance. Obviously, the strong had no such concerns; only those lacking strength would worry.
"Just a robot," Moon on the Willow Branch said lightly. "It's entirely possible someone deliberately placed it in the woods to confuse us, or even to frame someone while playing the victim. We don't necessarily have to fight to the death in this instance, so why target each other like this?"
"That's not certain," Yin-Yang Master said. "At the very least, we need to know who among us has lost the qualification to play a role, to avoid someone who failed the instance out of jealousy deliberately preventing others from clearing it."
Moon on the Willow Branch smiled faintly. "Even if someone fails the instance, their stance would still be on the side of the non-players, since there are more non-players, and it's easier to make the players fail."
"Besides, we all know it deep down," she added. "This instance is different from any we've experienced before."
Compared to instances that required players to fight to the death, the conditions of this instance were far too lenient. Even doing nothing and just surviving for thirty days would allow a smooth clearance. Was there an easier instance than this?
Of course, that was the logic, but only a week had passed. As time went on, who knew what changes might occur in the instance? Being able to provoke others to reduce the competition was naturally better.
However, the Painting Woman didn't press the matter, so the others couldn't start a fight.
After dinner, the players needed to take turns keeping watch. The watches were divided into groups: two groups for the first half of the night, two for the second half. Xu Huo and Old Chai's groups were assigned to the first half tonight.
Because of the earlier unpleasantness, the two groups didn't gather together and simply stared blankly until the second half of the night.
The remaining two groups kept watch until dawn.
Nothing happened that night, not even the strange drowsiness from before.
The next three days were the same. No one left the village, no strange sounds or figures appeared in the forest, and no new players showed up.
The only thing that changed was the remaining number of players in the instance.
It had dropped from the original 33 to 29.
Ten days into the instance, 13 players had been eliminated.
No one knew where the other players were, but the Hidden Friend seemed to have forgotten about the people in Zhongmu Village. It hadn't visited at all, and not even the role players had appeared.
"Could it be that one of us has already failed as a role player?"
This wasn't just one person's thought; everyone was thinking it.
But if that were true, there had been no activity here for days, which defied common sense. No player would give up from the start. Even with a slim chance of clearing, they had to try. If they couldn't catch the role player, the rest couldn't learn the instance's requirements for the role player, or whether they would be granted special powers during the role-playing to make it easier to take away the "friend."
Ten days had passed, and they had gained nothing.
Another five days went by, still with no incidents. Even the instance's player count hadn't decreased. They could understand the Hidden Friend not showing up, but why hadn't the role player appeared either?
Was it one role player per day, or completely random?
Just as the players were growing restless, someone went missing. But it wasn't a player—it was a villager from Shangmu Village. The news came from Shangmu Village.
Shangmu Village had confirmed the disappearance and was preparing to hold a simple funeral. They had come to notify the relatives of the elderly man living in Zhongmu Village and Xiamu Village.
In this forest, the disappearance of locals was the norm, while the appearance of players was an unstable factor. Logically, this matter had no room for player involvement. However, to understand and guard against the real Hidden Friend, everyone decided to go to Shangmu Village.
To avoid getting separated, the fourteen people used two space teleportation items to travel. But somehow, only the group using one teleportation item arrived safely. The group using the other item never showed up.
Some of them had exchanged Dimension Below accounts. When the first group arrived and found the other group missing, they immediately tried to contact them but received no response.
Bubble Bean carefully questioned the few who had arrived, confirming that none of them could reach the others. His expression darkened as if it might rain. He asserted firmly, "The longer the time, the greater the changes in the instance, and the stronger the interference."
In areas closer to where the locals lived, at first only lone individuals would get lost. Now, an entire group had gone missing during teleportation!
With no news at all, it could only mean they had gone to a place where they couldn't open their personal panels, or they had all suddenly lost consciousness, or worse, they were no longer lucid.
The green-haired female player's group and Old Chai and the big man's group were all missing. That left Bubble Bean's group of three and Xu Huo's group of four.
During the silent funeral, Bubble Bean suggested not returning to Zhongmu Village to avoid more disappearances.
"Another possibility can't be ruled out," Yang Tian said. "Maybe the green-haired woman was the role player, and the space item was hers."
"Don't you all know? It's easier to get lost farther from where the locals live. She could have used the item to control everyone. The instance is changing—who knows what's happening there now?"
However, there was another possibility: those people might have simply gone to the wrong place and didn't think it necessary to contact them.
"Regardless, if they don't come back, everything is just talk." Chi Cai's mood was low. "I'll go ask about the circumstances of the old man's disappearance."
The instance's remaining player count hadn't changed, which was relatively good news for them.
But half an hour later, several messages popped up on their personal panels. The remaining player count suddenly plummeted to 21!
Bubble Bean was so shocked he stood up from his seat. His gaze quickly locked onto Xu Huo and the Painting Woman. Seeing no change in their expressions, he doubted himself for a moment before still sharing the news.
The other four gathered around. Eight people had died at once. It was likely that the green-haired woman's group had been wiped out. Where had the instance dragged them that it could kill eight B-rank players in one go?
Even Chi Cai, who had been relatively relaxed, grew tense. But Xu Huo and the Painting Woman still had the mood to clink glasses. Bubble Bean let out a breath. "I'm starting to believe you two aren't instance players now."
"Is that so?" Xu Huo smiled faintly.