Chapter 104: The Pitfall of the 'Survivor'
The leather-clad woman's face showed little expression. Only after a few seconds did she slowly speak up. "My view is simple. There are no fools here."
Her gray-blue eyes clearly reflected Winifred's slightly thoughtful face.
She left it at that.
"Alright, it seems our views are quite aligned," Winifred chuckled, ceasing his probing. He turned and casually chose a direction, his flashlight gradually disappearing into another dark passage leading deeper into the building.
The leather-clad woman cast a faint glance at his retreating back before returning her gaze to the photo wall before her.
Yet, her focus inevitably drifted somewhat.
Regarding the Hua Nation player's action of withdrawing from the competition without the slightest hesitation, she, of course, also harbored doubts.
It was undeniable that this method could indeed place one in a relatively safe position during the early stage. After that East Asian young man's successful application, she too had considered whether to imitate his approach.
However, the experience carved into her bones by multiple life-or-death instances had long engraved the word 'caution'. She didn't believe God Hunt, or rather the rules, would leave such an obvious loophole.
Any seemingly clever shortcut often comes with a hidden price tag attached, and repaying it later can be even more fatal.
The other party currently indeed held more advantages than them. But behind these advantages, the price might be that his path to survival would be infinitely compressed, even sealed off.
She didn't believe that Hua Nation player couldn't think of this.
Yet he still chose to withdraw. He was either a crazy gambler, or he himself possessed some hidden ace, confident he had the means to break through all subsequent predicaments.
Thinking of this, the leather-clad woman unconsciously tightened her grip on the flashlight.
If it was the former, he was not to be feared. If it was the latter...
In just a short moment, the leather-clad woman quickly suppressed the turbulent thoughts in her heart.
Now was not the time to dwell on these things.
She steadily aimed the flashlight beam at the photo wall before her. Just as she was about to continue gathering information from it, suddenly, a black, blurry human figure flashed past.
"!"
The leather-clad woman's gaze sharpened. She immediately sidestepped and retreated, her right hand almost simultaneously landing on the military dagger at her waist.
The flashlight's light shot like a sharp sword toward the corner where the figure had disappeared.
Yet there was nothing there, only dust floating slowly in the beam.
Her heartbeat gradually quickened. Holding her breath, the leather-clad woman maintained a defensive posture, slowly backing away.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the black shadow had somehow reappeared in the reflection of the glass display case on the photo wall beside her.
Without a moment's hesitation, her wrist flipped violently. The blade transformed into a flash of cold light, striking hard against that glass wall.
Following a sharp, piercing crack, the entire photo wall shattered in response. The black shadow vanished once more without a trace.
Frowning, the leather-clad woman waited for a long time. Only after confirming the shadow was truly gone did she slowly let out a sigh of relief.
She hadn't expected to be attacked so soon after entering.
... This instance was probably going to be tough.
The leather-clad woman exhaled softly, deciding to leave this place for now.
Meanwhile, in the monitoring room.
Several staff members responsible for data monitoring were all staring with surprise at one of the smaller screens.
On the screen, that tall, leather-clad female contestant had exchanged a few words with another male contestant sporting a beard and seemed about to continue examining the photo wall. Yet, not long after, it was as if she suddenly saw something. Not only did she adopt a defensive stance, she even used her personal dagger to smash the photo wall.
"... What is she doing?" one employee whispered.
"No idea."
"Feels like she saw something?"
"But I didn't notice anything wrong!"
The others chimed in.
They hadn't seen anything amiss in the surveillance footage.
"Director, look at this..." someone turned to ask the slovenly man.
Staring intently at that small screen, watching the leather-clad woman leave, the slovenly man's brow furrowed slightly but soon relaxed. He waved a hand. "If nothing happened, don't bother. Continue monitoring."
In truth, the slovenly man himself found it quite strange.
He had reviewed these contestants' profiles in advance; each contestant was carefully selected.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so at ease letting them come to such a place for the show, even allowing them to bring their own weapons inside.
For example, this ponytailed, leather-clad contestant's profile indicated she had extremely strong psychological resilience and met the physical standards.
Yet her reaction just now, as if facing a formidable enemy, and her action of smashing the glass without hesitation...
"Could there be some hallucinogenic substance in the camp?"
Xu Xi, sitting to the side, had observed the entire scene and also heard the slovenly man's muttering.
Hallucinogenic substance? Compared to that explanation, he believed more that the leather-clad woman had indeed encountered some tangible danger.
But the problem was, where was the danger?
That area was empty except for the photo wall, and the audio surveillance hadn't captured any unusual sounds.
By all appearances, she was just fighting wits with thin air.
However, she was definitely not the type to easily hallucinate or scare herself.
His gaze swept over the other split screens.
The other nine players hadn't encountered anything similar yet.
That left only one explanation.
Xu Xi felt a faint throbbing in his temples.
As expected, shortcuts aren't so easy to take.
The pitfall has arrived.
——
【What's with these two's encrypted gibberish? Riddlers, get out of the mixed-team competition! (ip Hua Nation)】
【Can't even understand this? Little dummy (ip Hua Nation)】
【? You understood? Explain in detail (ip Hua Nation)】
【Praising Master Xu Xi for being smart, dummy (ip Hua Nation)】
【I can't, you guys in front are getting a bit ambiguous (ip Hua Nation)】
【Wk, a player's already been attacked in such a short time? (ip Hua Nation)】
【Did anyone see what that black shadow looked like? (ip Hua Nation)】
【I took a screenshot. Greenish skin, big eyeballs, mop-like hair. Wanna see? (ip Hua Nation)】
【Thanks, but actually I don't really want to look anymore (ip Hua Nation)】
【Holy crap, why can't we see anything from Master Xu Xi's side? Different perspectives??? (ip Hua Nation)】
【Ah this, then isn't it over?! (ip Hua Nation)】
【Well, I'll be darned. This way, Master Xu Xi's advantage is greatly reduced, right? This counts as an information gap! (ip Hua Nation)】
【Just as expected. Those who try to take shortcuts, thinking themselves clever, are hoist by their own petard. (ip Prettyland)】
【Where did this stray dog come from? Get lost. (ip Hua Nation)】
【Bro, your insult is too cryptic. He won't get it. Let me, �%￥#@�&*� (ip Hua Nation) (Muted)】
【Well done, Polina! Crush them, survive successfully! (ip Bear Nation)】
【Relax, I believe Master Xu Xi has his own plans. It's not the first time he's fooled us. (ip Hua Nation)】
【True. After being fooled so many times, I still haven't gotten used to it. Seems I'm still too kind. (ip Hua Nation)】
【? Is there a connection between those two statements? (ip Hua Nation)】
【I'm always amazed by Hua Nation's live stream comments. How do they manage to insult people without repeating vocabulary? (ip Coffee Nation)】
【And they like giving other countries unpleasant nicknames. (ip Kimchi Nation)】
【Among the eleven players, only the Hua Nation player stands out. His nonconformity is remarkable. (ip Rice Nation)】
