Chapter 2863: The Bell is Obtained
What the ruby necklace said was certainly a challenge for the dark circles group, but there was an advantage to having many people. With so many, as long as the instance boss didn't go berserk and kill everyone at once, this place was their opportunity.
Time quickly approached eight o'clock. Before that, the players had already divided up their territories and didn't interfere with each other. Based on the locations of the small compartments from the previous day, they found the corresponding rooms.
Given the number of small compartments, there wouldn't be enough if each person took one room. But before any friction could occur, some people voluntarily chose to share a room. The silver-armored woman from the Hundred Forest Society even led some of her people into other spaces.
It seemed everyone had their own considerations.
Xu Huo chose a room on the second floor this time. There were only three small compartments on the same floor. The dark circles man and Cong Lei were on his left and right respectively, while Yue Yan'er, Wang Xin, and the others were on the floors above and below him. The sparrow wanted to squeeze into his room, but was rejected. Not only that, Xu Huo told her to go to the basement.
The sparrow was quite annoyed but didn't argue with him. Instead, she followed his words and headed downstairs.
Xu Huo didn't bother to check if she actually went. He stood in front of the door waiting, when a short, thin old man passing by the staircase gave him a slight smile, as if offering goodwill.
Xu Huo just looked at him without any response.
The short, thin old man seemed to take the attitude of not arguing with a young man, shook his head slightly, and slowly walked upstairs.
In the last few minutes, the middle-aged man with a buzz cut, who had already gone downstairs, suddenly returned to the second floor and proposed to cooperate with Xu Huo.
"Originally, we were all players hired by the Purple Life Research Institute. Cooperating with us is better than cooperating with those people from the Hundred Forest Society," the buzz-cut middle-aged man said. "The Hundred Forest Society people use underhanded methods. They seem to have retreated to other spaces, but they will definitely set traps in advance. The small compartments we chose might have some."
"Based on their usual methods, one player from the Purple Life Research Institute will definitely break the rules tonight."
This wasn't hard to predict. Xu Huo asked, "Wouldn't it be safer for them to choose people who have been in the instance for a longer time?"
The buzz-cut middle-aged man shook his head. "The duration itself is the instance boss's focus. There's no need to set up traps to kill these people in advance. Newcomers are the main force for testing the rules. Additionally, if those who entered earlier can survive with their help, it proves they can survive using the same method."
"Once the instance's player count drops sharply, whether it's killing the players who enter the small compartments or maximizing the reduction of numbers, both are feasible."
Who would dare to really close their eyes and sleep in an instance? Just look at the irritable temper of the dark circles group. This was very disadvantageous when fighting others, but it was a good thing for other players who still had plenty of energy.
"How do you want to cooperate?" Xu Huo asked.
"I know your props can travel between other spaces. That's an advantage. You can completely push the Hundred Forest Society people out as scapegoats," the buzz-cut middle-aged man said. "Once the numbers on both sides are balanced, everyone can be temporarily safe."
Xu Huo checked the time. "Let's talk after tonight."
The buzz-cut middle-aged man nodded and quickly left the second floor.
Xu Huo turned and entered the small compartment.
At eight o'clock sharp, the small compartment sealed itself.
At this time, no sound from outside could be heard. The instance boss's patrol focused on players lingering outside, but given the current situation, it was impossible for any player to still be outside during the sealed time. So its attention would turn to other rule-breakers and those who had been inside for a long time.
Xu Huo groped around the small compartment again, confirming that no one had placed any props in advance, and that there was no suitable spot to open a space portal, before preparing to rest.
At this moment, there was no danger from other players. The small compartment was relatively safe. However, he had been inside for a few days. He wondered if the instance boss would start picking people from their group.
After setting up instruments around the small compartment and placing a robot in the corner to keep watch, Xu Huo unfolded the folding bed and lay down. After a moment's hesitation, he took off his right glove, revealing his index finger, which had become transparent and fleshy.
He raised his right hand and looked at it for a moment before slowly closing his eyes.
Even so, he couldn't sleep soundly. At best, he was just resting with his eyes closed.
Nothing happened for the next few hours. As soon as midnight passed, he opened the door. After confirming that the instance boss wasn't active outside, he immediately searched the entire instance venue.
There were no ash piles outside the door. However, as players gradually opened their doors to check the situation outside, three doors remained tightly shut.
One of them belonged to the Hundred Forest Society. The bearded man signaled his companions to stay put and went to open that door himself.
On the ground were two scattered props that had belonged to a player. The person who should have been in the room had turned into a pile of ash.
The bearded man retrieved the instruments he had set up in the corner in advance, grimly checked the recordings, then glared fiercely at the short, thin old man who had come out from the neighboring building.
The short, thin old man looked confused, but due to the rules, neither side spoke.
The other two missing people were one from the Purple Life Research Institute and one that Xu Huo had brought from another space. That player claimed to have been in the instance for twelve days. But when Wang Xin entered the room to check, he found the walls of the entire small compartment covered in paint. Players wouldn't make such a low-level mistake; it could only have been tampered with by someone else.
Wang Xin then went to the small compartment of the dead Purple Life Research Institute player. There was no valuable clue left in the room except for the ash pile. He walked out, shook his head at Yue Yan'er and the others waiting by the door, then quickly returned to his own small compartment.
After midnight, the small compartments weren't sealed, but players didn't dare to stay outside for long anymore, even knowing that the risk inside the small compartments was also very high.
Xu Huo still had things to find. He stood by the door for a while, then walked out. Before he had gone far, he unexpectedly encountered a spatial shift. One step out, and he was no longer in the same space.
This space was empty. He paused briefly, found a space portal, and left. After trying several more times, he finally found the space where the instance boss was staying.
This space was filled with dust everywhere. It was hard to predict where the instance boss would suddenly start moving. He seized the time, quickly moving between the floors, searching every spatial corner where something could be hidden.
After searching one building, just as he was about to enter the central courtyard building, he found that the silver-armored woman and the people from the later player organization had entered this space one after another. The three parties immediately became aware of each other's presence. The silver-armored woman, in particular, headed straight for Xu Huo.
Xu Huo didn't bother to tangle with her. He turned around and went straight to the fifth basement level. He found the bell he hadn't been able to get during the day, grabbed it, and immediately jumped into the nearest small compartment. Just before closing the door, he rang the bell!
During the day, the schedule in this layer of space was the same as outside. But once the bell rang, it would immediately enter patrol mode. It was now 12:21 AM. All the small compartments were open. After the bell rang, the spatial conditions didn't change, but the noise would attract the instance boss!