"I have nothing to say," the Woodcutter said gloomily. "I don't know what you're talking about with players and being stuck here; I've lived here all my life."
Xu Huo clicked his tongue, his face unseen in the shadows, but the next second, the sharp edge of the shovel was pressed against the other's neck, his tone indifferent, "Players do have some strange traits, let's see if decapitation will also allow you to come back to life."
It was then the Woodcutter panicked, hastily saying, "You can't kill me, if you do, you won't be able to clear the game!"
"You don't know?"
The Woodcutter forced a smile, "I can give you tips to clear the game, but you can't tell the other players about this..."
The shovel pressed down mercilessly.
Blood flowed down the neck. The Woodcutter's mouth emitted incongruous gasps, his eyes fixed on Xu Huo with desperation. After a brief struggle, he reluctantly gave in, "I... will talk..."
Xu Huo let go, stuffing the unfinished cigarette butt into his mouth, "Speak."
Only after fiercely inhaling the cigarette butt did the Woodcutter begin to tell his story.
He had entered Hot Spring Mountain City Station two and a half months ago, having gone through two Level E Instances before, which made him a veteran of sorts. However, he had not expected this third instance's players to be all abnormal; aside from those killed by the Beheading Demon, nearly all other players died from murdering each other, and he had only managed to save his life by giving away all his items.
He survived, but when the instance ended, he neither had tickets nor a Return Ticket, and he couldn't leave, so he was forced to stay at the mountain villa.
To get tickets from the players who came afterwards, he disguised his identity and stayed in the cabins.
An Evolver in normal physical condition, by taking advantage of his lead, he found it not difficult to kill players and steal their tickets. But after half a month in the mountain villa, he started to develop green pustules on his body, became emaciated, and his physical strength dropped almost to the level of a normal person.
Dozens of players came and went, and he only dared to target those who looked weakest. It turned out these people were worse off than him—no tickets, no items, no potions. And after they died, their bodies did not disappear with the instance refresh, so he had to bury the bodies near the cabin.
"The disease on your body, is it because of the absence from instances?" Xu Huo asked after hearing the story.
"How would I know." The Woodcutter said irritably, "The first time I didn't participate in an instance, the game informed me that I'd be forced into a Rank-B Random Instance after three months. The more sessions missed, the higher the danger level of the instance. I could barely survive a Level E Instance, wouldn't a Rank-B Instance only mean death?"
"But I can't get a ticket, what can I do? Do you think I want to kill people, wasn't everyone a good person before entering the game..."
"What is your game mission?" Xu Huo interrupted him, unmoved.
The Woodcutter clenched his teeth, "Protect our heads."
Xu Huo frowned slightly. If the mission of the instance was the same and the Woodcutter survived until the end, but did not get a Return Ticket, it meant he hadn't cleared the instance.
So just surviving until the end of the mission time isn't enough to clear it.
"How long have you been without Evolution Potion?" he asked again.
"Three months..." The Woodcutter realized suddenly, "So it's the Evolution Potion. Without the Evolution Potion, that's why I got this strange disease!"
Xu Huo ignored his howls, thinking of another matter.
Considering the Woodcutter's entry time into the instance, his symptoms appeared at least one month after discontinuing the Evolution Potion. Players with an evolution rate lower than ten percent had to take one bottle of the potion every month, was this a side effect of the low-grade Potions, or a weakness produced by the evolution itself?
If it's just a problem with the Potion, seeking a higher tier might solve the issue, but if the evolution itself created a dependency on the Potion, then players might never be free from the control of the Potions.
This game really digs pits everywhere for Evolvers.
However, this matter could be put aside for now; completing the instance mission was the priority.
If Xu Huo couldn't clear the level and get a Return Ticket, he had no choice but to directly move on to the next instance.
After asking for more details about the instance, until The Woodcutter could no longer provide any useful information, he simply and decisively sent him on his way.
[Congratulations, Player Passerby A, for killing a Black Player. You can now acquire the deceased player's possessions, items, and tickets. Please proceed to collect the player's belongings.]
The moment The Woodcutter expired, the game's notification echoed in Xu Huo's mind. He opened his personal panel, which listed The Woodcutter's player information.
[Player Nickname: Professional Talent]
[Player Type: Black Player]
[Occupation: Mourner Actor]
[Player Level: E]
[ID: 285471]
[Evolution Rate: 8%]
[Possessions: None]
[Properties: Living Dead]
[Items: ① Weather Forecast Belt ② Floating Balloon]
[Ticket Holder: Empty]
The player's information was abbreviated; apart from possessions, items, and ticket holder, other categories were greyed out, unselectable for viewing.
Xu Huo was most intrigued by the Properties, but without a detailed description and no way to acquire it, it was not very important.
He retrieved the items, and his own item column immediately added two realistic images:
[Weather Forecast Belt (Note: More accurate than the weather forecast itself, please pay attention to the buckle's smile. A big smile means a big sunny day!)]
[Floating Balloon (Note: A balloon that loves the sky, but it cannot stray more than a hundred meters from the person who inflated it. A perfect item—enthusiastic, dreamy, and with loyalty.)]
A weather belt without precise accuracy, and a positioning balloon with a limited range, were indeed two redundant items, not of much use in actual combat. However, gadgets sometimes had their handy quirks.
Having collected the items, Xu Huo buried the corpse properly and then returned to the villa.
According to The Woodcutter, the Beheading Demon never appeared before the players reached the villa after the instance began. Although he was also a player, after several instance resets, the Beheading Demon had never actively attacked him as if ignoring this outsider.
He believed it was because he did not belong to the current instance's players, which is why he could kill outside the rules. However, that wasn't the case; he just coincidentally supported the speculation that the Beheading Demon must be among the players every time.
The murders that occurred in the villa mostly had victims decapitated, with some missing limbs. Huang Junjie believed this was players mimicking the crime, with the hunters and the hunted being evenly matched, hence the struggle and fight.
This speculation made sense, but Xu Huo's thoughts were different: the reason for the dismemberment was just another cover-up for identity.
Apart from the Black and White Players, there were Cannibal Players. Perhaps it was because the player playing the Beheading Demon was a Cannibal Player, who, in order to cover up the traces of consumption, deliberately hid those limbs. Hence there were concentrated cases of dismembered bodies within a certain period, which also conformed to the instance's timing rules.
He looked towards the direction of the villa.
The lights there had gone out once, and after Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao had returned, they had lit up again. If the Beheading Demon had been around, there should be some clues by now.