While the two scavengers were preparing the red clothes, Li Fuci was busy recording the key points for passing the level.
After some exploration—primarily by a certain individual—they had gained a basic understanding of the store replica.
The store clerk's business hours are mainly divided into two phases: the inspection period and the restocking period. When participants are in the inspection period, plastic mannequins will come to check the store's condition and conduct a score assessment.
When it comes to restocking time, participants' actions become more free. They can leave the shop to brawl with each other or beat the clothes flying up from the atrium, and take the opportunity to stabilize the clothes with hangers to meet the restocking requirements.
During the procurement period, participants can look for the red clothes needed on the order. If they are temporarily unable to pass the level, they can procure ordinary clothes to reduce the likelihood of being penalized, thereby extending their safe time in the instance.
Cheng Tingyu had been silently calculating in his mind.
This procurement period is about 10% shorter compared to the last one.
Time within the copy was gradually becoming tight.
Kasuo and Maxi each got a set of red clothes, while the other participants only grabbed some ordinary clothes and returned to their respective shops when the electronic notification sounded, indicating that the restocking time was about to end.
Kiki glanced at her two companions and made a gentle motion as if grasping something.
Soon, everyone heard the sound of the plastic mannequin moving for the third time.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The sound of the model's heels kept approaching Max.
Compared to the other participants, Maxie's fear was more intense.
He had already packed the necessary clothes and prepared the required receipt. At this moment, he kept clenching and unclenching his fists, the veins on the back of his hands standing out one by one.
The plastic mannequin stood at the shop entrance, its dark, dull eyes meeting Marcy's gaze.
The dim light shone on the plastic mannequin's face, its lips deliberately crafted into an upward curve, revealing a faint, mocking smile.
These low-quality plastic mannequins are hollow in the middle to reduce material usage.
However, Maxie inexplicably felt that as the plastic mannequin moved, it had a kind of solid heaviness.
"..."
The plastic mannequin stood silently at the shop entrance, then slowly turned its body.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The mannequin dressed in a security uniform clumsily moved itself, turning from facing the store to standing sideways, then proceeded to walk away from the "Green Dolphin" clothing store.
Maxi had once mocked Duran Qing and the others for their cowardice, but when the moment came, he found himself unable to suppress his own fear.
A certain unspeakable force of terror was directly stimulating his mind.
Maxi walked out from behind the cash register.
Cheng Tingyu had reminded him that when following behind the plastic mannequins, he should try not to look around, but rather focus on the bases of these dummies.
Almost all the players realized that the power of the boundary existed within the mall dungeon. If Maxie paid too much attention to the environment, it would affect his spatial judgment.
With his head lowered, Maxie slowly moved his steps forward.
Clearly known for his formidable physical strength, the flesh-and-blood player felt his courage and warmth gradually being drained away. With each step he took, the temperature of his body dropped a little more.
Maxi didn't dare to lift his head at all. As he moved forward, he only stared at the plastic pieces shifting in strange patterns beneath the feet of the plastic mannequin.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The heavy bodies rose and fell, producing a rhythmic sound. The plastic mannequins were as tall as real people, clearly sculpted into slender and graceful forms, yet inexplicably made Masi feel they were bloated.
It was as if something terrifying was about to overflow from the shell of the plastic mannequin.
The surrounding light grew dimmer and dimmer, and the scenery became increasingly distorted.
Maxi had been restraining himself, trying his best not to look elsewhere, but at some point, he could no longer see the scenery beside him.
This member of the "Hound" had already been enveloped in thick darkness.
"Thud."
The plastic mannequin began to hop up the steps.
It landed not with the sound of hitting concrete, but as if it had fallen onto something soft like a carpet, producing a dull thud that made one's teeth ache.
In the air, the smell of poor-quality fabric had unknowingly disappeared, replaced by a damp odor reminiscent of rotting seafood.
The plastic mannequin bounced up the steps one by one, and Maxie followed behind, climbing up step by step.
The only one whose grades dropped to the danger line was not just Maxie; besides him, Kaso would also come over.
...Where is Naka now?
Maxi didn't dare to look around, because he hadn't lifted his head for a long time, and his neck ached from being bent for so long.
Just when Maxie was gradually losing track of time, the steps finally came to an end.
In the instant he walked down the corridor, he could once again feel the light from outside.
Maxi slowly lifted his head, and a light cracking sound came from his neck.
In front of me were two glass doors.
A metal sign hung on the transparent glass door, which allowed a clear view of the interior—"'Fiery' Superstore VIP Lounge."
After checking the business situation, the patrolling plastic mannequin had already left the entrance.
Cheng Tingyu closed his eyes and listened carefully to the footsteps in the corridor.
She was able to quickly break through the visual suppression of the instance, not only because of the power of her keen eyes, but also because from the first patrol, Cheng Tingyu had realized that this space contained folded and intersecting parts.
Every time she patrolled, she only saw the plastic mannequin pass by the door once.
However, there were three shops on the same side, and Cheng Tingyu did not hear the model walking back, nor did he hear anyone else say they had seen the model pass by the door twice.
So, it is highly likely that some spaces have been folded and hidden by the power of the replica. The patrolling security guards are part of the mall; they are aware of the building's structure. If players want to walk up the invisible steps, they must follow behind them.
It wasn't long before the sound of the plastic mannequins' footsteps in the hallway disappeared one by one.
Unlike before, this time there was a certain interval between the disappearance of their footsteps and the next occurrence.
When the sound of the patrolling security guards could no longer be heard and the electronic voice reminded the participants to restock, Qiqi and the others finally confirmed that, at least in following the mannequin's actions, Maxi and Kaso hadn't made any mistakes.
Cheng Tingyu walked unhurriedly out of his shop and found that there were only seven players on the second-floor corridor at the moment.
As for the departing Kaso and Masi, they are still alive.
As someone who had just recently awakened their powers, Cheng Tingyu naturally had no way to monitor the situation of other players in different areas. However, the orders in the shop clearly indicated which stores were open for business.
If those two were to die, the shop they worked at would naturally switch to a closed state.
It was time for restocking, and once again, colorful clothes flew out from the courtyard.
Li Yetai looked at the scavenger diagonally opposite: "Do those two people have your 'bugs' on them?"
Qiqi pinched his earlobe and admitted, "Indeed, I did place one." Then he countered, "Didn't you place a bug too?"
Li Yetai snorted and did not answer, but judging by her attitude, she seemed to acquiesce.
Qiqi sighed with some regret, "But in this instance, I can't sense much information."
Disaster insects are extremely useful tools. Those who master this power can dismantle and transfer their own strength in the form of insects. However, without proper handling, these disaster insects cannot stray too far from the main body.
Qiqi closed her eyes, focusing more on her sense of hearing.
"They should be going up."
Li Yetai did not speak. As a calamity in the realm of emotions, she could only sense the growing fear emanating from those two people.
"..."
Yote raised his eyes and glanced at the young man at the entrance of the "Little Tailor" shop. The latter noticed his gaze and smiled at him.
——The young man's guess across from him was correct; following behind the patrolling model could indeed break through the spatial barriers in the mall.
For the new instance, it is a very gratifying progress in the strategy.
At that moment, Jot suddenly realized something else.
The number of "Hound" members in the corridor had already decreased from four to two.
This person drove them to abandon the less important part of the team, so what was he planning to do next?
Qiqi opened his eyes and shook his head: "I can't hear it anymore, it's already beyond my safety perception range."
Because her abilities were related to sound, Kiki would exercise as much self-restraint as possible to prevent herself from dying on the spot due to hearing something she shouldn't.
Wei Xuguang took a moment to glance at the order. The shop name hadn't changed. She wanted to say something but ultimately kept her mouth shut. It was He Xijiang beside her who spoke up: "Those two people are still alive."
Li Yetai: "I can still feel their fear constantly increasing." After about five seconds, he frowned, "One person's fear has increased again, and the extent is very unusual."
The atmosphere in the corridor was somewhat tense.
Li Yetai shook his head, "The sense of fear is diminishing, and it's diminishing rapidly."
Kiki and Yote exchanged a glance, guessing that something had been discovered.
Without using other tools for secondary processing, Li Yetai could only superficially receive the fear emotions from the disaster bugs. As for joy, excitement, and so on, he couldn't perceive them, so he could only make a superficial judgment.
Yote's face was expressionless, as if he found standing in the hallway too boring. After finishing the round of necessary goods, he simply returned to the store and sat behind the cash register.
He let his arm hang down, concealed by the wooden table. No one in the replica saw that Jot was holding two props in his hand.
One of them is paper, and the other is also paper.
On the left was a white sheet with black characters, a "Test Report," while on the right was a thin blue paper.
"The Inspection Report is an extremely valuable prop; even a large and powerful organization like the Inspection Team must use it sparingly."
The "Report Card" can verify the basic information of the copy and provide a certain description, but the drawback is that it can only be activated within the copy area.
The light inside the shop was eerily white to an uncanny degree. Jote looked at his hand, feeling as if his skin had been soaked and swollen by water.
——There is a strong suppression of perception within the store, and the situation inside the shop is even more severe than in the corridor.
Yote stared at the "Report Card." Among the information that had already emerged, the letter M in the rank column represented Menace, and the mutation rate was "15%." In the description column, there were still only six words: "A three-story building."
Normally, the speed at which information is generated on the report should not be so slow. Jote thought that it was probably because the area of the copy was too large, which caused some negative impact.
When he was thinking, he habitually pinched the metal coin on his neck.
The other piece of blue thin paper was part of a tool called [Office Common Carbon Copy Set], with the remaining parts consisting of two sheets of white paper of the same size.
The way to use this tool is for one person to take the white paper on top, write on it, and then place the blue carbon paper over the remaining white paper. This will display the writing from the first sheet onto the paper below. It is a very useful tool for information transmission, but it has a usage range limit of five hundred meters. Therefore, more players tend to directly find a disaster bug with the required abilities to help each other communicate.
After Yote placed the carbon paper over the white paper, the blue thin paper on top seemed to be touched by some kind of force, trembling slightly. At the same time, extremely sloppy yet familiar handwriting appeared on the white paper below—"I have already boarded the Mikki."
From the handwriting left behind, it was clear that Ka's actions were very hurried, as he couldn't even finish writing the last word.
Yote didn't know whether to feel joy or regret for losing the first clearance qualification. At that moment, he suddenly heard a flat electronic sound coming from the ceiling—
"'Green Dolphin' clothing store is currently not in operation; the shop is temporarily closed."
"..."
Upon hearing the announcement, everyone on the second floor froze for a moment.
In the hallway.
Cheng Tingyu turned his head to look at the shop that originally belonged to Ma Xi.
The lights inside dimmed for a moment, and the two glass doors seemed to be pushed by something, slowly closing.
Cheng Tingyu picked up the order and glanced at it.
A bright red slash was drawn across the "Green Dolphin" clothing store sign behind the seller's stall.
Cheng Tingyu put away the order form and, with a hint of regret and curiosity, asked Qiqi and Yote, "One of the two has already been eliminated. Can you get in touch with the remaining one on your side?"