Players, Please Board the Train

The Raincoat Man and his companion had left. The three players who thought they had offended Xu Huo also followed suit. Most of those who remained were players originally staying on the third floor, plus one reluctant redhead who refused to leave, and the sole remaining male player traveling with Lu Zhen.

"Brother, thanks for earlier." The male player who had almost been strangled thanked him again, then sighed, "I didn't expect there were still players like you in the game now—strong and capable. I thought..."

There was no need to finish that sentence. Good people always die young.

"A great kindness doesn't need words. I'm Meng San. If there's anything I can do, just say the word. I owe you my life!"

The total number of players was now sixteen. Besides the four who died the night before last, the Baby-faced Player and her companions had taken out two more opportunistically. That left eight on the third floor and eight on the second.

Two third-floor players who had come with the Raincoat Man had already followed him out. Now the third floor had nine people.

No one had been killed last night, but Xu Huo had gone to check the rooms where people died the night before last. The bodies were still lying in the bathrooms, with no signs of being searched.

"Who left their room last night?" he asked.

The players exchanged glances. Finally, Liang Chong spoke up, "I know, but it's not convenient to say in front of everyone."

"Into the room." Xu Huo walked into the adjacent guest bedroom first. Lu Zhen, Liang Chong, Liang Chong's roommate Feng Guang, the injured Meng San, and the female player from yesterday, Zhao Xiaojing—these were undoubtedly on his side. They blocked the remaining few outside. Lu Zhen pointed at one of them, "I remember you came with the Raincoat Man yesterday."

That player quickly waved his hands, "I have nothing to do with him. We just happened to run into each other. Didn't you guys run into him too?"

"I have a grudge against them though!" the redhead hastily declared his position. "You saw those two lunatics attacking me yesterday. There's no way I'd help them!"

"All of you come in." Xu Huo cut off their argument.

Once the group had crowded into the room, he continued, "The temporary master's time is already up. If the person hasn't left, it means they didn't clear the dungeon. There's no harm in saying it now. Only by speaking up can we figure out why they didn't clear it."

Everyone stared at Liang Chong. After hesitating for a moment, Liang Chong looked at Feng Guang.

Feng Guang gritted his teeth. "It was me last night. The game has special requirements for the temporary master, but I can't say what they are."

"Why not?" the redhead couldn't help asking. "If you tell us, we can all figure something out together."

Feng Guang clamped his mouth shut. "I don't even know why I didn't clear the dungeon. I followed the game's requirements exactly."

"If you don't say, no one will ever know what happened," Lu Zhen said. "How about you tell Liang Chong? You should trust him, at least."

Since they shared a room, Liang Chong couldn't have been unaware. The fact that neither of them had spoken up before clearly meant they had already reached an agreement.

"Is it a mandatory restriction from the game that you can't say?" Xu Huo asked.

Feng Guang paused, visibly hesitating.

"If you're not willing to say, then never mind." Xu Huo made to leave.

"Wait!" It was Liang Chong who called out to him. "I know too... actually, the game's requirement is very simple. Come over here, and I'll tell you alone."

Xu Huo rubbed his brow, signaled Lu Zhen and the others to step back, then took out the Sound-Muffling Figurine. "Can you say it now?"

Liang Chong covered his mouth with his hand before speaking. "Actually, part of the game's requirement is public—maintaining the villa's cleanliness and hygiene. The original wording of the second requirement was: As the master of the villa, you must ensure the safety of the villa and the guest rooms at night."

"So Feng Guang went to the second-floor rooms last night to fulfill that second requirement?" Xu Huo thought of the two corpses that hadn't been dealt with and roughly guessed where the problem lay.

One of the temporary master's rules was maintaining the villa's cleanliness and hygiene. Strictly speaking, corpses were also part of what needed to be cleaned up. Additionally, the second requirement about ensuring the safety of the villa and guest rooms—patrolling the villa and guest rooms might be one part of it. But there could also be a hidden requirement: ensuring the guests' safety.

The villa allowed the temporary master to kill, but it didn't force them to.

The temporary master was permitted to kill, but also required to maintain the villa's cleanliness. These two rules were slightly contradictory. That's why the players who made their move the first night killed four people using that method—they didn't damage the villa and completed the killings. Logically, they should have been able to clear the dungeon.

But they hadn't succeeded. This meant the third item in the temporary master's privileges had its corresponding intent. In other words, killing one player was within the scope of the privilege, and any damage to the villa or disruption of the clean environment during the killing was also covered under the temporary master's privilege. It was permitted.

Of course, to be safe, it was better not to kill. But since the game would separately notify the temporary master to ensure the villa and guest rooms' safety, the temporary master would most likely have to enter the guest rooms. And not just any guest rooms—rooms with occupants. Whether they killed anyone was secondary. Once the temporary master stepped into a guest room at night, it was almost impossible to end things with just one kill.

The dungeon's rules were very clearly written. They imposed more restrictions on players acting as guests, leaving the stage to the temporary master after nightfall. At first glance, clearing the dungeon seemed easy, but in practice, there were many ambiguities in the rules. This could directly lead to the "temporary master" being unqualified—meaning failure to clear the dungeon.

Once a player failed to clear, others might then sabotage their attempts.

Expecting all players to cooperate was impossible. So the sooner this dungeon was cleared, the easier it was. Later on, those who couldn't clear would definitely find ways to drag others down with them. And the method was simple: just prevent people from returning to their rooms at night.

One could say this was a dungeon that seemed simple but was riddled with traps. If things spiraled downward, either no one would clear it, or they'd fight to the very end, only clearing it when there was one person left.

"So? Have you figured out the reason?" Liang Chong stared intently at him.

Xu Huo glanced at him. "Not yet. Let's see who gets it tonight first."

Liang Chong couldn't force the truth out of him, so he just nodded. "Alright, let's set a signal for tonight. Whoever becomes the temporary master knocks on the door. We have to try before we know how to clear it."

By now, Xu Huo had already put away the Sound-Muffling Figurine. Feng Guang hurriedly asked, "Then what about me? I didn't clear it!"

Xu Huo offered some reassurance. "This dungeon should be cyclical. Everyone has a chance to become the temporary master. After one round, there should be a second chance."