Chapter 487: White Bracelet
Xu Huo didn't touch the painting and instead headed in the opposite direction toward the dining room.
In the dining room, a group of players wearing white bracelets were eating. One of them seemed to recognize him and kept glancing over after he entered. Xu Huo looked back and directly asked, "Is there something?"
The people at that table all turned their heads. The player with slicked-back, shiny hair sneered and said to his companions, "Weren't you just asking who Ran Ying brought? It's him."
"Who is this? Never seen him before."
"Probably an outsider player. Lucky guy, latched onto Ran Ying right away."
"Compared to those fat, pig-like women, sleeping with Ran Ying is practically a freebie."
The group made no effort to hide their jealousy. The slick-haired one added, "If you're going to live off a woman, at least have some face. Why hide your bracelet? Just show it off. No one's going to laugh at you."
Xu Huo had tucked his bracelet into his sleeve as soon as he left the room. He now guessed the identities of these people—players from District 011, but ones with poor circumstances.
District 011's gamification had reached a point where anyone could become a player. Some people from the lower rungs of society would actively become players to change their fate, but due to poor aptitude and shallow pockets, they struggled in the game. Since District 011 still retained its aristocratic system, some chose the easy way out.
For someone like Xu Huo, who was either invited or purely there to broaden his horizons, covering his bracelet was a way to avoid unnecessary trouble.
According to Ran Ying, the white bracelet was only meant to restrict less important guests from entering the core area. Many who received white bracelets probably heard the same explanation. But after the slick-haired man's remarks, the status of everyone wearing white bracelets in the dining room instantly shifted, and many faces turned sour.
"Am I wrong?" The slick-haired man looked around the dining room. "I just can't stand people who live off others but can't take the criticism. If you've got the guts, own it. Coming here is just about warming beds anyway."
The white bracelet wearers included both men and women. One woman said indignantly, "Just because you engage in that kind of business doesn't mean everyone else is as filthy as you. I came with my fiancé. We're already engaged!"
"Then why don't you have a black or red bracelet?" the slick-haired man retorted.
"I can only join my fiancé's family after a legal marriage. We'll get married after this trip." The woman stood up. "I'm just an evolved human, but I look down on players like you. You have the ability but choose to coast through life. People like you are the ones ruining District 011's reputation!"
That was the last straw. The slick-haired man's table stood up, ready to throw a punch. A slap was already in the air, and the woman screamed, ducking to cover her head. But there was no way she could dodge a player. Fortunately, a man wearing a black bracelet at the next table blocked the strike. "Bullying an ordinary evolved human as a player—does that make you feel proud?"
Black and red bracelet wearers were invited guests, not people the slick-haired group could afford to offend. They awkwardly withdrew their hands and shot a warning glance at Xu Huo before leaving.
Xu Huo walked over to the woman and handed her a napkin. "Are you alright?"
The woman hesitated before taking it. "Sorry, I wasn't targeting all white bracelet wearers just now. Those people were just too harsh."
"It's nothing. I'm just here with a friend to broaden my horizons." Xu Huo smiled. "Though I didn't expect the competition to be so fierce in every field."
The woman couldn't help but laugh. "Actually, people like them aren't real players at all. They become players just to collect government subsidies and then use connections to get into safe instances. They can come back without taking much risk. A lot of people from bad backgrounds who are lazy and idle choose this path."
"Next time you run into people like that, don't argue with them," the black bracelet man said. "You'll only end up losing. Your fiancé can't protect you either."
"He went to meet with friends. I was just hungry, so I came to eat." Mentioning her fiancé, the woman's face lit up with a happy smile. "He'll come find me soon. And he's technically from an aristocratic lineage, so those people wouldn't dare do anything to me."
"What color is your fiancé's bracelet?" the black bracelet man asked.
"Red," the woman replied.
The black bracelet man's expression shifted slightly. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words and turned to leave.
The woman looked at his retreating back with confusion and quickly said, "Thank you for earlier."
The black bracelet man quickened his pace and was out of the dining room in a few steps.
"He probably has something urgent," Xu Huo said to the woman with a smile.
Just then, a brown-haired man walked in and waved at the woman. "Laura."
"Excuse me." The woman politely took her leave from Xu Huo and walked toward her fiancé. They embraced, and the woman lovingly straightened his collar. "Weren't you meeting friends? Why are you back so soon?"
"I missed you." The man buried his face in her hair and took a deep breath. "Your scent drives me crazy. I couldn't stand it, so I left early."
The woman blushed and lightly tapped his chest. "Stop it."
The man put his arm around her, and they left together.
After watching them go, Xu Huo pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and walked in the direction the black bracelet man had gone.
Wearing his glasses, he carefully examined the places the man had passed. Soon, he found a miniature camera hidden in a vase of flowers. The moment he pulled it out, someone silently appeared behind him. Xu Huo twisted around, grabbed the dagger aimed at him, kicked the attacker back, and held up the camera. "You're too tense. That's going to draw suspicion. And the camera placement is way too obvious."
The attacker was the black bracelet man from before. He stared warily at Xu Huo. "Who are you?"
"Probably someone like you—a seeker of truth?" Xu Huo flicked his own bracelet into view.
The man remained silent.
Xu Huo paused, then added, "Anything placed within easy line of sight is bound to be found. Look, I spotted your camera with just a casual glance. Do you think the ship's staff won't notice?"
"Either put it somewhere no one would normally look closely, or use a prop. But honestly, this kind of camera is easily destroyed by detection equipment. You won't capture much anyway."
The man didn't react to his words. Instead, he asked, "What do you want?"
"Black bracelets, red bracelets, white bracelets—how convenient that the bracelets given to guests correspond to three types of player identities." Xu Huo's expression darkened. "I saw that woman's fiancé. He's wearing a red bracelet. And what a coincidence—he's also a cannibal player."
(Chapter End)