"……" Polina narrowed her eyes, sizing up the young man opposite her.
Although the general image of East Asians is mostly black hair and brown eyes, upon closer observation, some individuals can still be distinguished.
At the very least, she was certain the young man opposite her was from Hua Nation.
Within an instance, the relationships between nations might have some slight influence on players, but the impact isn't significant.
They care more about whether they themselves can survive.
Therefore, Polina spoke up: "Information requires equivalent exchange. I believe you understand this principle."
She didn't believe that only the young man from Hua Nation had heard the commotion just now.
In fact, it would be normal for no one else to come.
If it were her, she would also choose to investigate afterwards.
So, faced with the young man's inquiry, she intended to first engage in a bit of back-and-forth to test the waters.
However, what she didn't expect was that after she finished speaking, the other party actually turned around and left.
Without any hesitation, as if he had just asked casually and didn't care about getting an answer.
Polina stared in astonishment as the young man's figure gradually disappeared around the corner, the corner of her eye twitching slightly.
This was the first time she had encountered a player who so completely defied conventional expectations.
*
Xu Xi left decisively because he never expected to get anything out of the leather-clad woman's mouth in the first place.
This round, his goal was very clear: to complete his perspective.
How to complete it?
One word: wander.
After all, what he lacked the least was time.
Sitting in the monitoring room was indeed comfortable, but the information obtained was too limited.
Previously, he had guessed that the tall, strong man who resembled a living corpse was the one who had eliminated the short-haired woman, the leather-clad woman, and the dark-skinned man in the previous round.
But now he had come to his senses and realized that wasn't right.
Although those three were nominally eliminated, they hadn't died; they just couldn't continue participating in the show's competition.
The living corpse man, however, was ruthless. After deliberately letting Xu Xi guess that the brown-haired, blue-eyed man had died, he brutally snapped his neck without the slightest hesitation.
Add to that the unidentified entity that possessed the shaman during the blessing ritual at the very beginning, urging everyone to leave quickly.
So, there were multiple parties within this instance...
Wait.
Xu Xi suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He remembered the instance background introduced by the slovenly Director at the very beginning of the instance.
This small island had once been occupied by rebels, and over ten thousand residents on the island were all killed.
"……" Xu Xi returned to the original exhibition hall and silently browsed through the photo wall he had previously thought contained "no useful clues."
This time, he paid special attention to the dates of the victims' deaths—
⌈January 3rd, 19xx⌋
Xu Xi stroked his chin.
Here's the question: what's the date today?
After hesitating for a moment, he still put away the Fruit Knife in his hand.
Set it aside for now; verify everything together later.
Assuming the one who eliminated the short-haired woman and the other two players was one of the victims on the photo wall, the entity that possessed the shaman was very likely also it.
That living corpse man might be one of the so-called rebels. To guess boldly, he might even be the leader who, before committing suicide, ordered his subordinates to kill all the island's residents.
Whether it was possessing the shaman or eliminating players without taking their lives, the original intention was actually to drive away these outsiders?
Did their appearance trigger something, like the awakening of that leader, or was the leader going to awaken in the next few days, hence the well-intentioned attempt to drive them away?
Hiss, Xu Xi suddenly thought of a point that was quite crucial for him.
Over ten thousand island residents were killed. Would the ones that turned into supernatural beings... really be just one?
After a moment of silence, he decided to set this question aside for later as well.
These inferences could always be verified later.
Xu Xi shook out the camp map in his hand, deciding to carry out his original plan first.
He remembered that soon, the leather-clad woman would encounter a second sudden attack in a room, followed by the short-haired woman also being attacked.
——
Hua Nation.
Central Television program team.
Yao Han showed a puzzled expression: "Contestant Xu Xi seems very interested in this camp."
To say the least.
The other party's usual demeanor had always been quite aloof, but when he walked up to the camp, his expression clearly looked like he had seen something interesting.
That posture of casually strolling and carefully observing was especially conspicuous among the crowd of cautious players.
[Master Xu Xi truly is the brightest spark among the players]
[What's up with this camp? What did the master see?]
[Could there be something beyond our imagination inside?]
The live stream comments wildly speculated about what might appear in the camp that could make even Xu Xi so interested.
Until everyone saw the young man on the big screen, while the other players were still hesitating, stride forward confidently, passing through the camp entrance without the slightest hindrance, leaving only the stunned players from other nations standing there.
[The master is the master, not a hint of hesitation, leaving those foreigners dumbfounded]
[In horror movies, I usually call the ones who scout ahead first 'cannon fodder']
[Anyway, I don't believe Master Xu Xi would be cannon fodder]
Jiang Jin: "This... Contestant Xu Xi seems to be handling things with great ease."
Lin Miao stared thoughtfully at the screen.
From the previous few instances, it could be seen that the young man was the type with extremely stable emotions.
No, rather than stable, it was more like a kind of almost indifferent, overlooking calm.
What was in this camp that could spark a trace of curiosity in him, as if he had discovered something "interesting"?
Luo Zongyun tilted his head back: "Perhaps he discovered something."
The group then saw the young man, as if randomly choosing an exhibition hall, stand quietly before a photo wall, though it was unclear what he was looking at.
After a while, a sudden, loud sound of shattering glass came from another place.
It was the contestant from Bear Nation named Polina.
She had been attacked by an unidentified creature.
And in their eyes, the young man merely glanced sideways in that direction before unhurriedly walking towards it.
[...Hey? Don't you guys think Master Xu Xi doesn't seem very surprised?]
[He was surprised; his eyelid twitched]
[? Bruh, did the person before use a magnifying glass to watch?]
[I think it's more like being surprised yet understanding]
Yao Han's tone carried some surprise: "I didn't expect a player to be attacked so quickly; the instance has just begun!"
Lin Miao nodded: "It is a bit fast. This instance should be quite different from what we imagined."
"Players like Winifred from Prettyland, Daisy from Hans Nation, and several others all heard the sound," Jiang Jin said. "However, no one wanted to go check the situation."
Luo Zongyun added: "That's normal. It's our contestant who is too brave."
At the end, he made a small joke to lighten the mood.
On the screen, the young man quickly arrived at the scene of the incident.
The subsequent developments completely exceeded the expectations of the group.
Especially when faced with Polina's probing, the other party turned and left, cleanly and without a hint of hesitation.
