Central Television.
"I didn't expect that even before the production team's so-called challenge began, a player would already be eliminated," Jiang Jin continued, "Luckily, this contestant from Maple Nation only seems to have lost consciousness and is not in mortal danger for now."
"Whether this elimination will affect the final evaluation of the mixed-team competition is still unknown."
Yao Han took over: "We can see that the Maple Nation player Dana and the Bear Nation player Polina were both attacked by supernatural beings last night. Polina was attacked as many as two times, and there was also a supernatural presence in the White Elephant Nation player Saha's room, although he himself did not notice."
"As for why these three players experienced abnormalities, and why there was a supernatural presence in each of their rooms but Saha wasn't attacked, do the two experts have any insight?"
Luo Zongyun thought for a moment, then slowly said, "First, there is more than one of those slate-gray supernatural beings in the camp. The one that attacked Polina and Dana was very likely the same entity, while the one under Saha's bed is another."
"I suspect that the entity which attacked Polina and Dana interrupted the initial blessing ceremony. It probably intended to frighten them into leaving the camp by attacking those two players. From the fact that it ultimately controlled Dana but did not kill her, and only said the words 'leave' and 'die', you can tell."
"This indicates that this supernatural being has thought processes. From what we can see so far, it does not appear to be strongly malicious toward the players. Whether it can be communicated with... I think there is a high probability it can."
"Why it chose these two players could be random, or it could be that, in the entity's view, they were easier targets compared to the other players."
Lin Miao also offered his opinion: "Considering the instance's background, I think these two slate-gray entities might be the victims who were massacred back then. They are not particularly interested in the players, which would also explain why the other room's entity ignored Saha."
Luo Zongyun nodded: "An interesting hypothesis."
[Ah got it, they just picked two soft targets out of ten, and the Maple Nation player is the softest of all]
[Honestly, if they really are victims, wouldn't that mean these players moved into their 'homes'?]
[No wonder they'd try to scare them away. If someone suddenly came to take my room, I'd scare them to death too]
[So the entity in the black guy's room has a pretty good temper, it only stealthily stuck a paw out]
[Entity: too lazy to scare, likes to sleep, fine then]
[...But one problem, by that logic there were over ten thousand islanders massacred (quiet voice)]
[...]
The live stream comments fell silent instantly.
[wk don't do this, goosebumps already started]
[It's fine, if they don't show up I won't acknowledge it]
At that moment Yao Han happened to ask, "Does that mean the camp could have over ten thousand of these slate-gray supernatural beings?"
Sss—
Lin Miao and Luo Zongyun exchanged a glance.
"Good question," Luo Zongyun said, rubbing his forehead, "though it sounds a bit terrifying."
"But the good news is," Lin Miao hesitated, "aside from that leading one, the others don't bother with the players."
"If we continue extrapolating from this hypothesis, we can also explain some other things, such as what exactly Dana saw in that final moment." Lin Miao's expression grew serious. "From her expression, she clearly had a trump card and was going to use it, but she was stunned by shock for a moment, and in that instant she was controlled."
"If what she saw was a dense mass of... ahem." Luo Zongyun clearly couldn't bring himself to say it.
Hearing that, the two hosts' faces became subtly awkward.
[!!! Oh god save me, I already imagined it in my head]
[No wonder the short-haired girl froze, who wouldn't feel their scalp go numb seeing that?]
[I can't handle it. Thinking that invisible entities might be all around these players, my hairs want to run away]
[Xu Xi the master quit at the perfect time, truly brilliant]
[How do you know the master doesn't have them around him]
[Get out of here!]
[Maybe every production staff member has a few following them]
[You too get out!!!]
"Ahem, yes, this hypothesis is indeed quite reasonable, it's just... a bit too much for our tolerance," Jiang Jin chuckled, rubbing his prickling arm and quickly changing the subject. "At present, another significant problem is that the players' viewpoints are not the same."
"Exactly," Yao Han agreed naturally, "we can only see the slate-gray supernatural beings through the streams of the attacked players. Not only can the other players on site not see them, we also cannot see them through the other players' streams."
Luo Zongyun pondered: "This proves these entities have some ability to selectively hide themselves."
Yao Han's tone turned worried: "But if that's the case, our country's contestant Xu Xi is also limited. He cannot obtain effective intelligence through monitoring."
"I don't think we need to worry about that," Lin Miao shook his head, "what we can think of he might not have missed."
"And don't you feel like he's waiting for something?" he added.
Jiang Jin asked puzzled, "Waiting for what?"
Lin Miao nodded decisively: "Right, he's waiting for something to happen, perhaps for some kind of thing to arrive."
"From the moment he finished lip-reading the controlled Maple Nation player's mouth, to the impatient hair-tugging motion, he clearly was getting a little irritated waiting."
"Yet he still didn't act. I think he must have a plan that requires waiting for that critical moment."
[Wait for what, surely not to wait to die]
[Can you even speak? The master definitely knows how to clear the instance, but maybe he has to wait for a specific time to move]
[No no no, I mean wait until all the other players are dead]
"The Rice Nation contestant Buriman also withdrew. Is he trying to follow our Xu Xi's example?" Yao Han asked curiously.
"A powerful supernatural, mysterious attacks, and a final warning. Judging the pros and cons, he chose to temporarily avoid it," Luo Zongyun said, staring at the brown-haired, blue-eyed young man on the big screen. "He probably also realized the entities just wanted to drive them away, and he went along with that expulsion."
Jiang Jin: "So withdrawing could actually be an optimal solution? If the camp really has tens of thousands of these entities... staying looks very dangerous."
"No, that's actually the most concerning thing," Luo Zongyun sighed. "The idea of many slate-gray supernatural beings sounds frightening, but if they bear no intention to harm, then what is the real threat of this instance?"
Yao Han's eyes brightened: "So, was player Xu Xi actually waiting for the real danger to appear?"
Lin Miao nodded slightly: "I think so."
