Little Jia wanted to live.
Although there might be only a few pages left in the storybook, she still wanted to live clearly until the end.
There were already three people in the copy. It was too difficult to eliminate Cheng Tingyu, and this newcomer had a clear mind and was very valuable, so she chose to eliminate Xiao Yi.
The silver gleam of the blade traced a half-arc through the air, then was kicked away by Cheng Tingyu.
"...!"
Xiao Jia was stunned, completely unable to understand why Cheng Tingyu would lend a hand to Xiao Yi.
Cheng Tingyu's lips curved slightly, his tone so amiable that it sent chills down the spines of the other two: "The quest requires three characters. If your desire for death isn't too urgent, perhaps you could wait until after we clear the quest to kill each other."
She looked at Xiao Jia, her deep, intense eyes giving him an eerie feeling.
Cheng Tingyu thought, the speed at which the story characters fell into a rigid state was probably faster than she had imagined, otherwise, Xiao Jia wouldn't have needed to attack Xiao Yi immediately.
These two had worked together for a long time, but that didn't mean there was much trust between them.
Xiao Jia's gaze shifted slightly: "You already have a strategy to clear the level..."
"Sort of," Cheng Tingyu wanted to say something but suddenly stopped and smiled. "Let's discuss it tomorrow." After thinking for a moment, he added, "I'm a vigilant traveler. It's only reasonable that I would be the first to wake up after a fight."
After finishing the setup, Cheng Tingyu didn't give the two a chance to speak. With a swift chop, Xiao Yi immediately collapsed. Xiao Jia's foot twitched, but in the end, he didn't dare to run. He closed his eyes, staying in place to accept his fate.
After Jia and Yi had both lost consciousness, Cheng Tingyu threw them onto the beds in their respective rooms, then returned to his own bedroom and lay down peacefully on his bed.
The plot advanced quickly. Once it was confirmed that everyone had fallen asleep—whether they were truly sleeping or had been forcibly rendered unconscious—time jumped directly to the next day.
Cheng Tingyu, as she had said, was the first to open her eyes.
After half a night of rest, her strength had recovered significantly, but the feeling of hunger had become even more severe.
Cheng Tingyu walked out and took a look, discovering that the food in the restaurant had already been replenished.
The glass was filled with warm milk, and white steam rose from the rim.
At this moment, Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi were still in their dreams. She circled around the house before waking the two of them up.
After realizing that Cheng Tingyu did not want the participants in the instance to fight each other, Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi maintained a superficial harmony today.
Xiao Jia walked into the restaurant.
Yesterday, the decision to act against Xiao Yi was not only to maintain the numbers but also because she believed Xiao Yi would act against her, so she decided to strike first.
However, by today, Xiao Jia's thoughts had undergone some slight changes.
The new young man told them that the thickness of the storybook would not change over time, and there were not many pages left for the participants to fill in the plot.
Originally, Xiao Jia didn't understand why Cheng Tingyu would reveal information that only he knew. Now, however, he understood a bit—if relying on killing the third person to survive continued to be effective, the two who had grown accustomed to the replica life might not have the courage to make a change.
Exploration has always been a risky endeavor.
If the benefits of conquering the dungeon cannot ensure others choose to cooperate, then use the fear of death to force the enemy into your camp.
The morning breeze was fresh and gentle, wafting over the breakfast table and carrying the tantalizing aroma to everyone's noses.
The best-lit part of the entire house was the dining room and the kitchen. The three people sitting around the dining table could gaze out through the window and see the endless expanse of golden grass outside.
Xiao Jia stared at the food on the table, hesitating to start eating.
"Does the stiffness appear after breakfast?"
Xiao Jia nodded.
The other person was someone who was hard to deceive with lies; honesty seemed to be the only option.
Moreover, the cooperation between her and Xiao Yi had quietly shattered without them realizing it. Even if she lied, there was no guarantee that Xiao Yi wouldn't tell the truth to gain the young man's trust.
Thinking of this, Xiao Jia immediately revealed a bit more information: "After breakfast, participants can do whatever they want. This period won't be skipped, and we can still retain most of our autonomy. Then comes lunch."
"When dinner time arrives, the stiffness will escalate to an unresistable level."
Cheng Tingyu nodded, looking at the milk on the dining table, and spoke thoughtfully, "As a traveler from afar, it's quite normal for me to carry food and water with me."
As soon as the words fell, bottled water and a bag of dry bread suddenly fell out of the unusable climbing bag.
——In just one day, she had already become adept at utilizing the rules of the copy.
Xiao Jia noticed that Cheng Tingyu would only eat the food he carried with him, a barely perceptible cold smile appearing on his face, as if mocking the other's paranoia. Yet he couldn't help but wonder if it was because he had consumed the items within the replica that he had gradually become a character in the story.
This conjecture made her tremble with fear.
Cheng Tingyu seemed completely oblivious to the emotional changes of the people around her; her gaze remained fixed on the bread in her hand.
She had successfully changed her state through language three times, and failed once.
The time I failed was last night in the north bedroom, when I muttered to myself, "Actually, I'm not that hungry."
...The reason why the words spoken at that time did not take effect was because the protagonist of the story was not by her side?
Cheng Tingyu: "I just checked, and it's indeed unlikely that there's any plot trigger in the cabin."
"After breakfast, let's go explore outside first."
Xiao Jia was puzzled: "You already know Xiao Bing's situation..."
Cheng Tingyu: "Besides seeing Xiao Bing disappear, have you personally tested whether one would vanish after exceeding a certain range?"
Little Jia's expression was slightly strange: "We've already tried that before.
"Once, when a newcomer arrived, we tricked her into exploring far away. When she went beyond the boundary, part of her arm disappeared. But the good news is, when she came back, the part that had vanished reappeared."
Cheng Tingyu, thinking of herself, asked, "Have all the recent participants after you been women?"
After getting up today, the other party's attitude had been very polite, but Xiao Jia still couldn't forget yesterday's experience and answered honestly, "They are all women, and we asked some of them. They found the locations of the storybooks were all situated in places suitable for sightseeing."
This is just like Cheng Tingyu's experience.
Based on the above situation, Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi both believed that the character setup in the storybook was two females and one male.
Many instances have different login restrictions, which isn't too unusual.
As Xiao Jia answered, Xiao Yi kept staring at Cheng Tingyu, his back drenched in cold sweat, causing his clothes to stick to his skin. Even though the morning breeze had already warmed up a bit, it still made him want to shiver.
The new young man had a gentle and friendly demeanor, but he couldn't forget the sight of him holding a blood-stained candlestick last night.
He was originally a very brave person, but his spirit was crushed by the endless story.
As a participant, for more than a year, he hadn't seen any tangible monsters. At this moment, Xiao Yi both hoped for the young man's misfortune and feared witnessing it.
If even the other party can't do anything, then either myself or Xiaojia, one of us, will inevitably not live to see the day the pages run out.
The young man was leaning against the back of the chair at that moment, his dark eyes motionless, as if lost in thought.
Little Jia and Little Yi did not attempt to launch a sudden attack at this moment. They were very worried that the other party was deliberately using this posture to single out the most hesitant person to strike.
Cheng Tingyu began to speak: "Actually..."
She paused slightly.
Just a moment ago, Cheng Tingyu felt as if Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi's spines were equipped with springs, causing them to involuntarily twitch slightly. It seemed that if he showed any sign of unusual behavior, they would immediately take off.
She realized the fear in their hearts, yet she couldn't quite understand it.
Since entering, Cheng Tingyu had been striving to conquer the dungeon.
Since the story requires three characters, she obviously wouldn't do anything too extreme.
Cheng Tingyu softened his voice a bit more and said, "Actually, there is something that should exist in the background setting, but we have never seen it."
Little Jia and Little Yi both looked at Cheng Tingyu, their eyes full of questions.
Cheng Tingyu closed his eyes slightly: "There should be fresh flowers in the copy, but where exactly are they?"
"..."
Hearing the other party's words, Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi couldn't help but glance at each other.
Every word spoken by the young man was understandable to them, but when put together, it only made them more confused.
Cheng Tingyu proposed the hypothesis that "there should be flowers in the copy," not because her sanity value was too low and she had become so lively that she had lost basic cognitive abilities.
"The temperature, direction, and even the scent of the wind will change over time," Cheng Tingyu explained to the two of them. "When we first came in, I smelled the fragrance of flowers, but once the wind direction changed, the scent disappeared as well."
The golden yellow grass clusters surrounding the wooden house, which seemed to be copied and pasted, differed in only one direction.
From the unchanging scenery, it is evident that the creator of this story only puts extra effort into adding details where necessary. The place where the fragrance of flowers wafts from should hold a plot worth exploring.
Hearing Cheng Tingyu's words, Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi's expressions turned even worse.
Xiao Yi collapsed completely, like a piece of dead pork left overnight. Xiao Jia's face turned as pale as if all the blood had been drained from it. Her body swayed slightly, seemingly in disbelief, her lips trembled weakly. After a long while, she finally made a sound that was just loud enough to be heard:
"Back then, Xiao Bing ran in that direction."
They finally figured it out. No wonder Xiao Bing had sneaked away back then. She obviously thought she had discovered an important clue and wanted to gain a time advantage.
Cheng Tingyu, upon hearing this, did not show any sign of being hurt. Instead, he smiled and said, "Because at that time, you were still in the cabin. Since the plot requires three characters, of course, it takes three characters together to trigger it."
She was now gradually understanding many of the hidden rules within the copy.
When Xiao Bing ran away, because there were more characters left in the wooden house, the narrative perspective remained with Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi. If any character strayed too far from the plot point, they would simply disappear.
This was also the reason why she failed the first time she tried to change her state with words.
If all three characters head towards the direction from which the fragrance of flowers is coming, then the plot point can only move along with them.
Cheng Tingyu's perspective convinced Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi.
The two finally left the cabin and decided to explore deeper into the dungeon.
Xiao Jia followed behind Cheng Tingyu, step by step, leaving the building where he had lived for a year.
After taking just a few steps, the young man suddenly turned his head and casually glanced at the place behind the house where the farming tools were kept, asking:
"Will the copy environment refresh after being damaged?"
Xiao Yi did not understand the meaning of this question and answered honestly, "Major damage will be reset, minor damage will remain."
Cheng Tingyu nodded slightly.
Xiao Jia's heartbeat quickened for a moment, then he lowered his head and looked at the ground beneath his feet.
The new young man paid great attention to detail, so the other party must have already guessed where the previous participants who died were ultimately placed.