After watching that unknown female player leave, Polina slowly let out a sigh of relief.
She didn't dare step forward to lock the door, nor did she dare lean against any wall. She remained frozen in the center of the room, her vigilant gaze sweeping every corner, terrified that the next moment, that bluish-gray eerie shadow would emerge somewhere again.
In less than half an hour since entering, she had actually been attacked twice.
Polina couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh in her heart. Earlier, she had disdainfully mocked that bearded man, even firmly stating they should each fight their own battles and rely on their own abilities.
Yet, if that player hadn't coincidentally entered just now, she would likely have been forced to use her trump card prematurely.
The problem was, she still didn't understand why that eerie shadow had targeted her.
It could appear without any pattern, vanish at will, and possessed enough power to restrain a player.
This instance was far more troublesome than she had imagined.
At this moment, Polina was actually starting to seriously consider that bearded man's cooperation proposal.
On the other side.
After her pre-selected room was taken by someone else, Dana settled for the single room next door.
This room was also permeated with an inescapable musty smell, cold and damp. Every breath was accompanied by a choking odor.
She closed the door and was just about to carefully inspect the place when, after turning around and taking only two steps, she immediately froze in place.
A "person" with slender limbs and a bluish-gray body was hanging upside down from the ceiling in the center of the room like a spider. Its clothes were tattered, and mop-like hair was messily plastered over an indistinguishable face.
As if sensing Dana's shocked gaze, it thudded heavily onto the floor, then, like a puppet with rusty joints, stiffly and twistedly climbed to its feet. It dropped to all fours and lunged toward Dana.
Dana's pupils contracted sharply. Fortunately, her body reacted faster than her mind.
Instinct made her arch her waist backward, narrowly avoiding the pounce by a hair's breadth.
The humanoid creature crashed into the wall, used its limbs to push off, and lunged at her again.
After dodging it again with a nearly clumsy roll, Dana accurately grabbed the doorknob.
"Bang—"
After exiting the room, she pulled the door shut behind her. The loud noise echoed through the corridor.
She didn't even have time to steady herself before hurriedly backing away several dozen steps.
But aside from the initial impact, there was no further sound from inside the room. It was eerily quiet, as if everything just now had been an illusion.
Dana breathed lightly, not daring to let her guard down in the slightest, her eyes fixed intently on that thin wooden door.
In just a few seconds, she had walked a tightrope at death's door.
And almost simultaneously, Polina appeared at the doorway of the neighboring room, holding a dagger.
"Looks like you ran into trouble too," her voice was still cold, but carried a trace of barely detectable tension.
Dana took a deep breath, trying to calm her breathing. She pointed at the door and said with a bitter smile, "Seems my luck... isn't great either."
The two women exchanged a glance. Without explicitly saying it, they both understood each other's meaning.
"I'm planning to change rooms. What about you?" Dana asked softly.
Polina didn't say much. "Together?"
"Okay."
Suddenly, a beam of light shone toward them from the second floor, followed by that familiar voice.
"Come over here. There are plenty of single rooms on this side too."
The two looked over and saw the bearded man waving the flashlight in his hand.
—
In the monitoring room.
"What's going on? What are these people doing?"
"The surveillance footage clearly shows nothing. Why do they look like they've seen a ghost?"
"Honestly, I'm a bit scared. There aren't really ghosts, are there?"
The staff whispered among themselves, utterly confused by the players' strange behavior.
"..." Xu Xi stared at the two split screens that had been deliberately enlarged, feeling somewhat troubled for a moment.
From his perspective, everything was normal.
In the leather-clad woman's room, only she stood frozen in place. The short-haired woman's room was also completely empty, showing only her panicked figure retreating from the room.
Both seemed to be confronting something invisible.
What exactly had they encountered?
Xu Xi sighed silently to himself.
He was safe for now, sure, but just through the surveillance footage, he couldn't capture those "things" the other players were seeing at all.
What form they took, what threats they posed—he had no clue about any of it.
Should he reload and go participate to see for himself?
Xu Xi thought for a while and decided to let the situation continue developing for now.
He still didn't know how he would die in this run.
He really wanted to know what dangers dropping out of the competition actually entailed.
Xu Xi tilted his head and glanced at the slovenly man beside him, whose brows were tightly furrowed.
The other man was clearly annoyed and unsettled by this situation slipping out of his control.
"Director, maybe... we should stop recording. This place feels really creepy," a staff member cautiously spoke up.
As soon as these words were uttered, the discussion among the others immediately stopped, making that staff member's next words particularly clear in the quiet monitoring room.
"The contestants don't seem like they're acting. And... we can't capture anything on camera. That's just not normal."
Hearing this, several staff members subconsciously nodded, nervously looking at the slovenly man.
"Stop recording?" The slovenly man suddenly turned his head and glared at the speaker, his tone carrying suppressed irritation. "The contracts are signed, the sponsors' money is collected. You think we can just stop because you say so?"
"Besides... this actually makes it more interesting. What did we come here for, if not for the buzz and the traffic?"
"Then... what if something happens?" someone asked quietly.
"Nothing has happened yet, has it?" The slovenly man waved his hand dismissively. "Keep recording. I have a feeling our show is going to be a hit!"
"Have the medical team on standby at all times," the slovenly man added as a final note.
From beginning to end, Xu Xi merely observed quietly from the side without interrupting.
Hearing the slovenly man's final statement, he couldn't help but lower his eyelids, silently complaining in his heart.
Medical team? Are they responsible for treatment or for collecting bodies?
But even if a player really died, he guessed the other man wouldn't stop recording the show.
Even though he had once said he didn't want any deaths.
Currently, it seemed only the leather-clad woman and the short-haired woman had encountered strange things. Everyone else's behavior appeared normal.
Hmm... and that bearded man. His expression seemed off in the middle too.
So, after those three witnessed certain "things," they wanted to team up?
Clearly, on the boat earlier, the leather-clad woman had refused cooperation with absolute firmness.
For her to change her mind so quickly, it seemed the "things" he couldn't see were quite troublesome.
Among the dozens of surveillance screens, most players were already preparing to rest, wanting to conserve their energy for the challenges of the next day.
"It's getting late. Karen and Lasser are on duty tonight. The rest of you, go get some rest," the slovenly man waved his hand.
Xu Xi's contemplation was interrupted. He looked left and right and discovered a problem.
Where was he supposed to sleep tonight?
