"Gu Jingyong!"
Tan Xinger looked at Gu Jingyong, dressed all in black just like before, except this time he wasn't wearing a hat, his whole face exposed, giving Tan Xinger a beauty shock and startling her.
"How did you get here? Do you walk without making any sound? And why am I here?"
Tan Xinger fired off three questions in a row, feeling her mouth dry after speaking.
"I came to clear the instance. Didn't you hear my footsteps? You were too engrossed in those prawns," Gu Jingyong said, glancing at the basket of large prawns, two of which were still jumping around, with two others having leaped into the sink.
He had just seen a familiar figure from the living room, approached, and found out that it was indeed Tan Xinger. She was staring at those prawns with a curious expression, muttering to herself.
"Right, your players have instance clearance targets," Tan Xinger nodded, but quickly reacted, "But what about me? I don't have any targets. How did I end up here? And it seems like this is the family where I was supposed to tutor."
Gu Jingyong took something out of his pocket and handed it to Tan Xinger.
"What's this?"
Tan Xinger reached out and found it was an ID card, with the same texture as an ID card, and her photo printed on it.
"Player ID 000000?"
Tan Xinger looked at the card repeatedly, confirming that she was a player with an empty number. She looked at Gu Jingyong with a puzzled expression.
"I requested it. You can have player privileges, but they also had to ensure that you wouldn't be erased due to instance failures."
"Instance negotiations are that easy? Then being an NPC is not much different from being a player."
"If you don't clear the instance, you will keep being thrown into instances until you do."
Gu Jingyong thought of what the system had said; this was the result of their compromise.
"..."
Tan Xinger felt a bit overwhelmed holding the card in her hand.
"Alright."
If necessary, she could continue finding instances to be an NPC after completing her fixed targets. She considered it as her side job.
"Regarding this instance, do you understand—"
Before Tan Xinger could finish her sentence, she heard voices outside the door, and they sounded somewhat familiar.
"Xin Ge, this instance seems quite mysterious. I've checked the forum's strategies, but I didn't find anything."
Tan Xinger turned around and locked eyes with the owner of that voice, overflowing with joy.
"Qiqi!"
"Xing Zi!"
"Ah! How come you're in this instance too?"
Jiang Qiqi exclaimed in surprise and rushed over, almost knocking Tan Xinger over in her excitement.
"Uh, of course, I'm here to clear the instance."
Tan Xinger raised an eyebrow, smiling and greeting Gao Xin who was beside her.
"Xiao Tan, what a coincidence."
Gao Xin was also surprised to see Tan Xinger, then glanced at the man sitting next to her. When he saw Gu Jingyong, he politely nodded as a greeting.
Jiang Qiqi suddenly remembered Gu Jingyong's presence and respectfully greeted him.
"You left too quickly after the last instance, I didn't know where to find you."
Jiang Qiqi began to reminisce, and Tan Xinger then realized that Jiang Qiqi had been waiting for her outside for a long time that day, until the instance was closed before she left.
"Sorry about that, I rushed off and didn't think about it."
Tan Xinger lied, because she had no idea how to contact Jiang Qiqi. She had been sent to an instance by Gu Jingyong, quickly settled in, and hadn't seen Gu Jingyong for almost two months.
"I'll remember this time, otherwise, I wouldn't know where to find you in a city as big as Si Fang."
"Okay."
Tan Xinger agreed directly. Since she now had player privileges, she could come and go freely in Si Fang.
"Why are these prawns still here? The master will be back soon."
Li Shen suddenly appeared from somewhere, seeing the large prawns Tan Xinger had put in the sink still alive and kicking, and she immediately got angry.
"Can the NPCs in this instance also command us to do chores?"
Jiang Qiqi was surprised to see Li Shen, and Tan Xinger then realized that Li Shen was talking to her.
To prevent Jiang Qiqi and the others from realizing anything, Tan Xinger immediately stood up and said, "It'll be done soon."
After speaking, she ran to the kitchen, turned on the tap, and stared at the large prawns, not knowing where to start.
Li Shen saw Tan Xinger go to the kitchen, her expression softened slightly. Her gaze swept over the others, seemingly not caring about them at all, as if she was looking at thin air.
Gu Jingyong got up and went to the kitchen. Seeing Tan Xinger's troubled expression, he picked up the basket and skillfully started dealing with the prawns.
"Wow, the way you're peeling those prawn heads is as swift as chopping off zombie brains."
"... " He suddenly lost his appetite for those prawns.
Gu Jingyong paused for a moment, knowing that there was nothing good to say about her expression just now.
"Haha, it does look like that, one head at a time."
Jiang Qiqi laughed along with her words. Watching Gu Jingyong skillfully handle the prawns, she sighed, "The instances are really considerate, afraid that we might go hungry inside, so they prepared ingredients for us."
Hearing her words, Tan Xinger really wanted to tell her the truth. They probably wouldn't be able to eat this food, at most, the NPCs wouldn't finish it, and they could eat the leftovers.
Jiang Qiqi had been completely unfamiliar with survival tactics before entering the instance, but she had learned a bit during their time inside.
She helped handle some of the prawns, and soon a basin of prawns was all done.
Tan Xinger called Li Shen to take over here and then quickly took them away to avoid Li Shen assigning them more tasks.
"Did only you two come?"
Tan Xinger asked as she surveyed the surroundings.
"Sun Hao was supposed to come, but his leg injury recurred, so he didn't come, and there's no one else."
"Sun Hao? Isn't he—"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you."
Seeing Tan Xinger's shocked expression, Jiang Qiqi patted her head and then remembered to tell her.
"That day, Sun Hao was tricked into a zombie horde by Song Qing. We thought he was dead for sure, but when he fell off the building, he landed on a zombie as a cushion, breaking his leg. He hid on the lower floors for several days."
"When he finally went up on the last day, he found no one there. He thought we had all left, so he entered the escape door and returned to Si Fang City."
"I'm glad to hear that."
Tan Xinger was happy to know that Sun Hao was still alive, but she hadn't expected his survival story to be so dramatic.
"What about the West Association?"
"Only the two of us."
Gu Jingyong answered for Tan Xinger. He had been observing the surrounding environment, but he still listened to their conversation without missing a word.
"So that means there are still eight players we haven't encountered yet. This instance is so small, we should run into them soon."
Jiang Qiqi thought for a moment and said, seizing the opportunity to ask Tan Xinger about some rules regarding speedrunning instances.
Jiang Qiqi was happy to explain, so they chatted happily as they walked. When they arrived at the door of the villa, they saw several men standing in the corner.
"It's that guy!"
Jiang Qiqi recognized one of them and excitedly asked Tan Xinger to take a look.
Tan Xinger glanced at Gu Jingyong, her eyes showing some questioning. She had already recognized the man, but she hadn't expected him to be alive. She had thought Gu Jingyong had killed him.
Jiang Nan also noticed their group, and when he saw Tan Xinger, he looked surprised.
"Long time no see."
Jiang Nan walked over and greeted them, smiling especially brightly at Gu Jingyong, but Gu Jingyong ignored him and kept a cold face.
Jiang Nan didn't mind and smiled at the other people before introducing the other two men to them.
"This is Qi Shang and Qi Ze, they are twins."
After Jiang Nan finished speaking, the two men nodded to them. Tan Xinger then noticed that the two men looked exactly alike.
"They are both intermediate members of the North Association."
Jiang Nan seemed to casually mention it, but it successfully caused a momentary stiffness in the atmosphere.
"Pleasure to meet you."
Gao Xin acted as the social butterfly, but the two groups of people were not familiar with each other, and especially in such a high-stakes instance, they didn't know who might turn against them in the end. So the two groups quickly separated.
Seeing them walk away, Tan Xinger spoke, "Twins are rare in the game, aren't they?"
"I haven't seen any other twins. Players are usually brought into the game by the system after they die, so it's quite rare to have real brothers in the game. It's quite peculiar."
Jiang Qiqi agreed, looking back at them.
"The North Association, there might be a fierce battle again."
!ChatGPT
Jiang Qiqi said somewhat melancholically, and Tan Xinger didn't understand the meaning behind her words.
With an obvious inquiry, she asked, "Isn't this instance about collecting fragments? How could there be complications? We just need to gather them all and leave, right?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Qiqi realized that Tan Xinger hadn't looked at any guides again. She explained, "The fragments don't belong to anyone, which means the ones you find can be taken by other players."
"They can be taken!"
This was something Tan Xinger hadn't anticipated. She had thought it was simply a matter of speed, with whoever collected enough fragments first being able to leave the instance.
"Xing Zi, you really need to plan your strategy well, or you'll be at a disadvantage."
Jiang Qiqi said earnestly, and Tan Xinger immediately lowered her head in acknowledgment and apology.
Gu Jingyong and Gao Xin glanced at each other, then discreetly looked away, surveying their surroundings.
When the group reached the doorstep of the villa, ready to leave, they found an invisible barrier blocking their way. Tan Xinger was curious and reached out to feel along the edge.
"We can't leave. Does this mean our activity area is limited to just this villa? Wouldn't it be too easy to find things?"
Jiang Qiqi looked at the luxurious villa behind them, covering nearly a thousand square meters. Apart from the main building, there were also other smaller buildings and bungalows. The task of finding things wouldn't be small.
"Our scope is only within the villa, so the items must be well hidden, or it wouldn't do justice to the effort the system put into designing this instance."
Tan Xinger felt a daunting task awaiting her. From this perspective, with the shape of the entire villa, coupled with the heavy bluestone, it looked like there were open mouths trying to swallow them.
"Audio hints refresh every six hours. Let's find clues quickly."
The watch was still on her wrist, and Tan Xinger noted the time they entered. It had just turned from eleven at night to eleven in the morning. Half an hour had passed, and time was of the essence; they couldn't afford to idle any longer.
"What do you think after hearing the audio hints?"
Leaning against the railing, Gao Xin looked at them and inquired.
"The master of the house, Kang Shu, who usually appears kind, was actually violent. He killed the mistress. Judging from the noise, it's likely that he dismembered her. I think we should find the murder scene first, along with the dragging sound, to determine if the body was moved."
Recalling all the sounds she heard, Tan Xinger could only come up with this much.
"I agree," Jiang Qiqi said.
"Kang Shu usually pretends to be kind, so when he's violent, he must avoid others. It's likely in some private space, which rules out many places," Gu Jingyong said to Tan Xinger.
"Yes, I also heard a lot of glass breaking, probably some porcelain or similar items. Could it be the kitchen?"
"And there was the sound of water, like when they were fighting, it seems like a faucet was turned on accidentally."
As Tan Xinger spoke, Jiang Qiqi also remembered some details. The crime scene being the kitchen seemed highly probable.
"I think, given the size of the villa, searching it all wouldn't take more than three hours, but I'm worried other players might find the clues before us."
Tan Xinger watched the twins walk toward a smaller building behind the villa and felt that they had probably roughly searched through the villa.
"Let's go to the kitchen first."
Gu Jingyong said and headed into the villa. The others followed him, as if they were guests.
Li Shen was cooking in the kitchen, and the aroma of braised prawns filled the air. Tan Xinger's taste buds were instantly awakened, but she resisted the temptation and carefully examined the layout of the kitchen.
Gu Jingyong went straight to the cupboard and opened it. Li Shen seemed not to notice his actions and continued frying the prawns.
When Li Shen finished plating, she turned around and saw Tan Xinger, her eyes seeming to brighten.
Tan Xinger felt uneasy, seeing Li Shen about to call her an NPC. She immediately rushed over and looked at the prawns on the table, saying, "I'll serve them first."
Li Shen seemed very satisfied with Tan Xinger's behavior and didn't say anything, just continuing with her work.
Tan Xinger breathed a sigh of relief. She had almost been called an NPC by Li Shen.
Jiang Qiqi and Gao Xin thought she was trying to trigger an NPC plot and were busy looking for clues in the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Gu Jingyong seemed absorbed in examining something. Tan Xinger walked over and saw a kitchen knife stuck in the cabinet.
Some images flashed through her mind, and Tan Xinger seemed to hear the sound of a knife piercing into bones, sending shivers down her spine.