Chapter 30: Carnivore (2) The Village

“There are exactly eleven people on the bus. All players should be here. Let’s get to know each other first.”

The woman with a round face stepped forward first and introduced herself with a smile: “My name is Zhu Ling. Don’t laugh, but this is my third instance.”

“I’m a Celestial Master in reality and know some ways to deal with the eerie. The first two instances went quite smoothly; I don’t know if I can be as lucky this time.”

She appeared calm and composed, looking like someone who was used to the eerie and didn’t take the game too seriously.

Several players showed obvious joy on their faces. In a team instance, having a teammate skilled at dealing with the eerie could indeed effectively increase everyone’s survival probability.

“I learned from the Forum that many players die in their third instance. I don’t know what level of difficulty I’ll face next.”

Zhu Ling said in a heart-to-heart tone, “But I believe that as long as we are willing to unite, we will definitely be able to handle whatever comes our way and clear this instance.”

The players chimed in one after another, not mentioning a word about the ‘minimum death count’.

The self-introductions continued in order from front to back and left to right.

Another person entering an instance for the third time like Zhu Ling was a man in a military overcoat named “Yang Yundong,” a veteran holding a nominal post at the Security Bureau.

The white youth who had just entered the game and figured out the situation was named “Alan.” He was an outdoor streamer of extreme sports, and at this moment, his excitement outweighed his fear.

The girl who was also a newcomer was named “Zhou Yilin.” She was a freshman at Blue Whale University and was shivering like a quail caught in the rain.

The rest of the players were entering an instance for the second time. On average, their apparent skill level was similar to that of the players in the first instance.

When it was Qi Si’s turn, he said without changing his expression, “Chang Xu, a Specimen Maker, second instance.”

Using his real name in the first instance was due to a lack of experience and concern that the game might backstab him later, causing unnecessary suspicion out of nowhere.

After browsing the Forum and understanding most of the mechanisms, Qi Si no longer had such concerns and naturally wouldn’t use his real name anymore.

—He didn’t want people saying “Watch out for Qi Si” on the Forum after he finished off his teammates.

Choosing to impersonate “Chang Xu” was out of a certain wicked sense of humor. In Qi Si’s view, linking the victim’s name to the perpetrator’s misdeeds was definitely an amusing thing.

Zhu Ling looked around at everyone with a beaming smile. “Everyone saw the pre-entry prompt, right? This instance might involve a lot of text-based puzzle-solving. Is anyone among us good at this?”

Zhou Yilin sniffled and spoke up timidly, “I’m in the Mystery Club at university and often play Script Kill games and Lateral Thinking Puzzles. I wonder if I can help?”

Her words, combined with her tear-stained face, were truly somewhat comical, and several players let out disdainful sneers.

Zhu Ling looked at her seriously. “Then Yilin, we’ll count on you for the puzzle-solving part. If we pool our efforts, we can definitely survive this instance.”

The bus braked without warning, interrupting the tender scene. Amidst a sharp screeching sound, all the players were thrown forward by inertia.

Zhou Yilin happened to be thrown back into her seat, her back hitting the cushion; Zhu Ling didn’t have time to react, and her shoulder slammed into the plastic back of a chair with a “thud.”

Qi Si quickly protected his face with his arms and narrowly avoided injury; the fat man beside him wasn’t so lucky, his chubby face slamming into the front seat and leaving a faint white mark.

Once the shaking subsided, the players awkwardly steadied themselves and looked ahead.

A dilapidated village appeared outside the windshield.

Crooked bricks and stones formed the walls of the houses, painted a dull leaden gray by the gloomy twilight, appearing as lifeless as a dying old man in the wind-blown sand and smoke.

By the dusty dirt road at the village entrance stood a stone tablet with the three words “Su Clan Village” written neatly in calligraphy, carved out and filled with faded red paint.

This was the place where everyone would have to survive for five days.

“Destination reached. Please disembark immediately.”

The door opened with a “click,” and a raspy, gender-neutral recording came from the direction of the driver’s seat. Accompanied by the “zzzt” of electromagnetic interference, the tone was full of urgency.

The players didn’t dare dawdle any longer and stood up as fast as they could, jumping off the bus one by one with a series of “thuds.”

Qi Si stayed in his seat until everyone else had gotten off, then he slowly stood up and pretended to casually lean over to check the driver’s seat.

A small Recorder lay quietly on the driver’s seat; there was nothing else.

Qi Si casually picked up the Recorder, tucked it into his clothes, and stepped off the bus feeling slightly disappointed.

Behind him, the bus doors closed automatically, and it sped away in a cloud of dust.

An enthusiastic male Narrator’s voice rang out from the back of his mind, reciting a background introduction similar to a tour Guide’s speech:

【Su Clan Village was originally a poor small village. Every year the harvest was poor, everyone was starving, and they often took their families to neighboring villages to beg for food】

【During years of famine when disasters struck everywhere, a Deity took pity on Su Clan Village and descended here, allowing the villagers to cut Its God Meat to get through the difficulties】

【Many years have passed. Generations of elderly people in the village have died, and the legend of the God Meat has been told over and over, attracting tourists】

【The eleven of you are tourists who have come for the legend. You will stay in Su Clan Village for five days, taste the God Meat, and experience the local customs】

【We wish you a pleasant stay】

Qi Si’s eyebrows twitched slightly when he heard the word “Deity.”

It was known that a Main God existed in the Eerie Game, and there was a Deity pulling strings behind the scenes in the Rose Manor instance. He just didn’t know what kind of thing the god in this instance was.

“Taking pity on Su Clan Village and even allowing the villagers to cut Its meat?” Qi Si pondered the information from the Narrator, and a sentence surfaced in his mind for no reason—

“God does not love the world.”

Was this instance a different setting from the previous one, or was it just the same filth hidden under a mask of tranquility?

Zhu Ling raised her hand to brush back a few strands of hair that had been shaken loose during the braking and said softly, “You all heard the narration, right? Regarding the so-called ‘God Meat,’ I’ve thought of a story.”

“Legend has it that Gautama Buddha once encountered a vulture chasing a dove on the road. The dove was terrified and had nowhere to run, so it flew into His arms seeking His protection. But if the vulture had no meat to eat, it would die of hunger, so He cut off an amount of His own flesh equal to the weight of the dove and fed it to the vulture as compensation.”

“If that’s really the case, this god is quite nice.” The fat man, who still had a white mark on his face, rubbed his bald head and said cheerfully, “Since He can even give His meat to others, I wonder if I can worship Him and ask Him to bless me with great fortune.”

Qi Si remembered this person was named “Zhang Licai.” He was a Cross-talk performer whose wish upon entering the Eerie Game was to pay off his high-interest loans and own a house of his own.

A young man wearing glasses nearby overheard Zhang Licai’s words and chimed in, “I’ve read thousands of posts on the Forum over the last three days, and the most important conclusion I’ve drawn is not to trust the goodwill of the Eerie Game. When encountering settings like deities, it’s always right to assume It’s the Villain.”

“Just like the background of this instance, if we think about it from a darker perspective, that god might not have offered the God Meat voluntarily. Because Its meat was cut by the villagers, It resented them and cursed them, which is why ‘generations of elderly people in the village have died’.”

Zhang Licai blinked a few times. “That doesn’t seem right, does it? That’s a god after all. If He didn’t want to, who could cut His meat? If He really is the Big Boss of this instance, we wouldn’t be enough to take Him on even if we all teamed up.”

He changed the subject. “By the way, did any of you find any Strategy posts related to this instance? I certainly can’t count on myself; I can’t remember a thing.”

Everyone shook their heads, and Qi Si remained impassive as well.

He had only read the Strategy posts that explored the essence and patterns. As for those analyzing specific instances, he hadn’t read a single word.

For no other reason than the time cost far outweighed the benefits. In Qi Si’s view, not making a profit was a loss—he hated losing deals more than anything in his life.

Besides, knowing the answers in advance was quite boring. It was better to look for an interesting way to die.

At the front of the group, Yang Yundong probably wanted to say something and habitually reached into the pocket of his military overcoat.

Feeling nothing, he lowered his hand sheepishly, his face growing more somber. “This is a new instance. In the Novice Pool, there were originally 429 instances starting with the letter’S’; this is the 430th.”

“It clearly involves a Deity and is an instance with no prior records. I’m afraid we have a tough battle ahead.”

Yang Yundong’s tone was firm, and combined with his status as a veteran player and former soldier, his conclusion immediately gained the trust of the others.

The players’ expressions were grim, and a few people began to curse under their breaths.

The information and precautions for each instance were carved out by generations of players with their lives. The first batch of players to enter a newly opened instance was undoubtedly cannon fodder, stumbling in the dark; how far they could go depended entirely on luck.

Zhou Yilin felt the atmosphere was wrong, and her crying, which had stopped not long ago, started up again. “I don’t want to die, boohoo… I really didn’t know that clicking ‘Yes’ would bring me here…”

“What are you crying for? What’s the damn use of crying!” a Scruffy man standing behind her couldn’t take it anymore and shouted, “If you fucking cry again, get the hell away from me! Don’t get in my way! Believe me, I’ll kill you!”

Zhou Yilin flinched in fear but immediately fell silent, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. Zhu Ling quickly went over to put an arm around her shoulders and patted her, comforting her in a low voice.

Qi Si stood aside listlessly. Just now, he had realized that although the players in this instance were also entering for the second time on average, their quality was more than a little worse than those in the last instance.

—At least Lin Chen didn’t cry for half an hour straight, Chang Xu didn’t curse at newcomers, and Shen Ming and Ye Zi didn’t wear all their emotions on their faces.

“Stop arguing. What’s the point of bullying a little girl? If you have something to say, wait until we’re in the village.” Yang Yundong gave the Scruffy man a warning look. “It’s normal for someone so young to be scared when facing this. We’re a team, be more understanding.”

The Scruffy man looked around and, seeing no one supported him, had no choice but to shut his mouth resentfully.

Then, Yang Yundong looked at Zhou Yilin again. “He’s not wrong. Since you’re already in, what’s the use of crying? Be careful not to attract ghosts. If you want to cry, wait until you’ve survived and cry once you’re out.”

Zhou Yilin wiped away her tears and said no more. The first wave of conflict was settled with both sides being reprimanded.

The sky had long since darkened. Not far outside the village, mist was rising, and clusters of dark shadows could be vaguely seen swaying like a shadow puppet show. The mist formed a continuous circle, slowly and steadily shrinking its range, rolling toward the players like ocean waves.

Staying outside the village any longer undoubtedly meant danger.

Yang Yundong remained silent, drew the plain blade from his back, held it across his chest, and led the way into the village. The others followed one after another.

Qi Si trailed at the end of the group, silently reviewing everyone’s reactions since the start of the instance in his mind.

Eleven people—too many and too chaotic. A group of people would have to die first before the situation could become clear…