Chapter 680: Numb Death
Normal people don't suddenly go mad. Since arriving here, players have been very careful with their diet, either eating food they brought themselves or testing any food bought from outside using different methods. There's no possibility of poisoning.
But the sight of this player losing his mind sent chills down everyone's spine. Even avoiding the currently known triggering conditions for disappearances couldn't completely shake off the influence of this instance, and they didn't even know where this influence was coming from.
"It's the decorative patterns in the hotel." Liu Shiyan said gravely, "Those patterns have a psychological suggestion effect."
Many players knew this. Even if they hadn't realized it upon arrival, after two days of staying there, they had figured it out.
"Could it be that the longer you stay, the more susceptible you become?" The artistic-style player shrugged. "If that's the case, why not move out earlier and stay in a guesthouse?"
"The guesthouses aren't much better." Cao Dong, who wasn't in good spirits, said, "Do you think no one's tried staying there?"
Since they knew the enshrined statue was problematic, most players wouldn't stay in rooms provided by locals. Whether paying or using force, staying away from the statue was basic protocol. But still, people disappeared every day.
"Half the hotel's burned down. Where else can we go but guesthouses?" The artistic-style player flicked his long hair, wrapped his arms around the two female players beside him, and walked away.
The baby-faced female player who had come with them also shouldered her bag and left, though she chose the opposite direction.
With most of the hotel burned and clearly dangerous, there was no choice but to move into guesthouses.
"Doesn't that mean the players will be even more scattered?" Wei Xian said hesitantly.
"If you want to live with others, find your own place." Fu Danhong said, "I'm staying alone."
Tian Kunwen clearly had the same plan. Seeing this, Wei Xian had no choice but to give up.
"I think we should all stay close together, so we can look out for each other." Fang Penghui suggested.
"Who do you think you are? Why should we listen to you?" One of the injured players who had arrived yesterday glared at him unhappily. "Just because you came a few days earlier, you think you can give orders? Show us some real skill first."
Fang Penghui had already won over several players, who stood clearly on his side. The injured player's momentum weakened slightly but he didn't back down. "What? You trying to coerce other players? 'Looking out for each other' is fake, you're just looking for someone to take the fall, right?"
There were plenty of players knocking on doors in the hotel too.
The two sides faced off. Fang Penghui spoke again, "My profession is a mystery writer. From the first day I arrived here, I knew the peepholes, mirrors, and wall carvings in the hotel were problematic. You can't open the peephole at night. If there's light flickering behind the mirror after the lights are off, absolutely don't look at it. And if you stare at the wall patterns for too long, you'll start hallucinating eyes."
"This instance is called 'Shared Eyes.' Everyone knows what the triggering conditions are related to, right?"
"Eyes. Everything related to eyes is dangerous. The people here don't even look in mirrors. The first thing to avoid is eyes."
"The stone carvings in the woods also have eyes, but the people who looked at them were fine." Said the black-shirted player who had been on the same train as Xu Huo.
"All the stone carvings were damaged. Even when pieced together, the eye parts are incomplete." Fang Penghui said, "It should have been done intentionally by the people here."
"Isn't that contradictory?" Yi Pei had also arrived. "The people here are terrified of the god they worship. Looking at the statue once breaks the rules. If they destroyed the statue, how are these people still alive?"
Fang Penghui turned his gaze to the crazed player still being held down. "That depends on whether he can survive until tomorrow."
"No need to make it so complicated." Liu Shiyan said, "Just use a local to test it, and we'll get results immediately."
The people who knew the inside story best were definitely the locals. Since interrogation was fruitless, observing their reactions could reveal something.
"Might as well burn this damn place down." Someone else snorted. "Once the buildings collapse, won't all the risks be gone?"
"That absolutely won't work!" Tian Kunwen immediately retorted. "Without buildings, where would we stay at night? The outside is definitely unsafe after dark."
"Besides, arson and murder could easily trigger a chain reaction." Yi Pei frowned. "Provoking the locals will only make us targets faster."
It was hard to say whether those who moved into guesthouses weren't being killed by their hosts.
"Hey, those people over there keep staring at us. At this distance, they shouldn't be able to hear us, right?" Cao Dong pointed at the nearby residential buildings.
Everyone turned around and saw several elderly people by the yard fence. Their decrepit bodies were stiff, their lifeless eyes staring straight at them, as if they were watching, and as if they weren't.
"I'm getting goosebumps..." A female player rubbed her arms. "Are these people really alive?"
As she spoke, the people over there regained some vitality, hunched over and pointing at the burned hotel.
"I don't believe this." Two players stepped out from the crowd and walked straight up to the elderly people. Before the old folks could understand what was happening, one player grabbed one of them by the throat and lifted him up.
The old man's eyes quickly turned bloodshot and bulging. He stared desperately at the player, but couldn't make a sound. After scratching the player's hand twice, he died.
In less than a minute, several elderly people fell one after another. One player provocatively looked at the residents in the surrounding buildings. "A few old geezers are a hassle to keep alive anyway. No need to thank us."
The residents watching them didn't show much emotion. Their eyes held more numbness than hatred. Soon, several half-grown boys came carrying stretchers and carried the bodies back into the yard. After that, everyone else went back to whatever they were doing, not giving the two players another glance.
"Pah!" The provocative player spat.
Even the dullest person could see that something was wrong with these locals. Their expressions grew even heavier.
"I think we should all stay together." Cao Dong said, "There are empty houses here. We can squeeze in together without issue."
The elderly people who had just died lived nearby, and their yard had just been vacated.
Most of the players present agreed with this proposal, with only a few leaving on their own.
Xu Huo nodded to Fang Penghui and returned to his own lodging.
Fang Penghui frowned at his back, then pointed toward the woods to the players beside him. The two players who had been following earlier hadn't returned.
Another two players hurried off in the direction of the woods.
On Xu Huo's side, he watched last night's video with Yi Pei. Because the manager had blocked the peephole, they couldn't see what was in it. Only a faint red light flashed by. After the light, the struggling manager immediately calmed down, turned around, and silently walked toward the window. The subsequent opening of the window and climbing out made no sound.
"Red light?" Xu Huo thought of the old man's bloodshot eyes before his death. Red, eyes—were these the necessary conditions?
(Chapter End)