At this moment, live stream comments from various nations were all mixed together.
Prettyland arrogantly critiqued the other players, Bear Nation proudly praised their own contestant, Paste Nation was still diligently cheering for their player, and Kimchi Nation skillfully played favorites from time to time, precisely directing the spearhead towards Hua Nation.
Rice Nation was highly focused on Xu Xi, whose style was unique, Hans Nation was analyzing and criticizing, Romantique loudly proclaimed everything was art and philosophy, while the remaining nations silently lurked, eating melons and occasionally surfacing to stir the pot a bit.
Amidst the chaos, Hua Nation's live stream comments were refreshingly unique.
Faced with doubts from viewers of other countries, they firmly believed Xu Xi's withdrawal from the competition must have a deeper meaning; even if there was a slight mishap, it was definitely within his plan.
【Stupid foreigners, do you even understand the concept of retreating in order to advance? (ip Hua Nation)】
【Although, but, to them, we probably seem like foreigners too, right? (ip Hua Nation)】
【Pay attention! Master Xu Xi didn't even frown when he realized the perspective was different; this is absolutely within his control. (ip Hua Nation)】
【Xu Xi: Thanks for the invite, I'm in the monitoring room, just missing a cup of tea. (ip Hua Nation)】
【This round is called "While Everyone Else is Trying to Survive, I'm Watching the Show from the VIP Seat." (ip Hua Nation)】
Thanks to the uniquely styled Hua Nation comments, the curiosity of netizens from other countries towards this highly praised Hua Nation player reached its peak.
They admitted this guy clearing the instance quickly was a bit impressive, but surely it didn't warrant such blind worship.
Thus, among the eleven players, Xu Xi unsurprisingly became the focal point.
——
Winifred was comparing the camp map distributed by the show team in his hand while observing the corridor structure.
Not long after, a crisp shattering sound came from not far away.
He immediately stopped in his tracks, his whole body tensing up in alert.
That sound... seemed to come from the direction of the leather-clad woman.
Had she been attacked not long after he left?
Winifred pondered whether he should go check the situation. After weighing it for a moment, he still chose to give up.
Information could be gathered later; he only had one life.
Meanwhile, in several other locations.
Among the crowd of white and yellow-skinned people, Saha from White Elephant Nation could be said to be conspicuously black. But in the pitch-black, eerie camp, his skin tone instead became another kind of advantage.
After entering, Saha's first action was to choose a room.
Although he knew there couldn't possibly be an absolutely safe room, reducing the risk a little was still worthwhile.
After carefully selecting a single room that looked inconspicuous but was actually not far from an escape route, he immediately took out his flashlight upon entering and meticulously inspected every corner.
The cracked corner of the wall, the ceiling covered in cobwebs, the walls with patches of deep and light colors as if repeatedly soaked by some liquid...
The beam of the flashlight slowly swept across every corner of the room.
The light beam swept past under the bed. Saha, who had already walked to the window to check, didn't notice what was behind him.
In that thick layer of accumulated dust, a hand, bluish-gray with twisted fingers, suddenly shot out from under the bed.
"Hmm?" Saha swiftly turned around, his gaze sharply scanning the room, yet everything seemed normal.
He couldn't help but frown.
Just that moment ago, he seemed to have sensed something.
Just then, faint, cautious footsteps of other players came from the corridor outside, and he could even hear the subtle sound of something being rummaged through in a certain room.
Saha curled his lip.
Don't these people know that the more noise they make, the faster they die?
He didn't need to rush to explore. What he needed to do was wait—wait for others to make mistakes first, wait for dangers to be triggered first, wait for the camp's "rules" to manifest on someone else first.
*
The leather-clad woman, Polina, also began looking for a room to stay in after leaving the photo wall.
She chose a single room in the middle of the first floor. This location allowed her to observe movement in the corridor and also facilitated a quick escape if danger arose.
After inspecting the interior of the room, she was just about to rest for a while. But the moment she sat down on the edge of the bed, her peripheral vision caught a human figure suddenly appearing beside her.
Bluish skin, clinging wetly to the bone, emitting a smell mixed with water-rot and decaying earth.
It just sat there quietly, less than half an arm's length away from her, its hollow eye sockets lowered, staring straight at her.
Almost instantly, Polina reached for the dagger at her waist.
But its movements were faster than hers.
Her wrist, holding the knife, was tightly entangled by a wet, slippery, sticky, withered, and skinny claw. No matter how much force she exerted, it didn't budge an inch.
Polina saw the other open its mouth. Looking closely, there seemed to be no tongue inside.
Watching this thing lean closer towards her, Polina's pupils contracted sharply. Without hesitation, her other hand transformed from an open palm into a fist. This was a pure killing technique. Even facing a non-human entity, her combat instinct drove her to attack its vital points.
At this critical moment.
"Creak—" The door was suddenly pushed open.
This sudden noise seemed like some kind of interference. Polina felt the restraining force on her arm suddenly loosen.
With her wrist free, she immediately stood up and drew her dagger.
However, the bluish eerie shadow disappeared into the air a split second before she swung her arm.
"Sorry, I didn't expect this room was already..." The words of the newcomer trailed off as she saw Polina's standard combat stance and her vigilant, searching gaze.
Polina looked over sharply.
Standing at the door was a woman with short hair, carrying a somewhat artistic air about her.
Her face wore just the right amount of apology and surprise.
Dana quickly scanned the room with her eyes, her brows moving almost imperceptibly.
She didn't notice anything unusual.
"Looks like I'm late. I'll just go stay in the room next door then." After saying that, she then revealed a reassuring smile. "Are you okay? It seems... you encountered some trouble?"
Polina didn't relax her vigilance. The dagger remained held horizontally in front of her. Her gray-blue eyes narrowed slightly.
Seeing the other had no intention of responding, Dana gracefully withdrew her smile.
"Alright then, I won't disturb you further."
Before turning to leave, her gaze seemed to inadvertently sweep over the room once more—the furnishings were normal, nothing out of place.
Dana had only thought this room's location was good—neither at the end of the corridor nor directly facing the stairwell.
She had felt some regret initially about being beaten to it. But now it seemed, missing out might instead be a kind of luck.
What she was completely unaware of was that, at this moment, in a certain shadow on the second floor, Winifred was watching her with a grave expression.
More accurately, he was staring at the bluish-gray eerie shadow that closely followed her, sticking to her like a shadow.
Winifred instinctively touched the special pistol hidden in his sleeve. The cool metallic sensation gave him a sliver of security.
He watched as the short-haired woman, completely unaware, walked with light steps into the room next door.
"This is a bit bad..."
