Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo went to the third floor.

The third floor was much easier to deal with than the floor below. Liang Chong and the others who had just seen him dispose of the body were extremely cooperative. After coming back down, he went to knock on the door he had knocked on earlier.

Once could be forgiven, twice might be tolerated, but there would be no third time. The two people in the room quickly took up their ambush positions.

But this time, they were being played with again.

Xu Huo closed the door and returned to his own room.

Lu Zhen was still on edge. When she saw him, she let out a sigh of relief. "All clear?"

"I'll need to go out again before eight o'clock," Xu Huo said as he sat down. "That Dong Qiu's mental state is very unstable. I'll tell you the method to clear the dungeon. If he becomes the temporary master before you, tell him the complete method. If you become the temporary master first, find a way to kill him."

Lu Zhen wasn't naive enough to ask why. After spending a few days together, she could already tell that Dong Qiu was the type of person who would make sure others couldn't have a good time if he wasn't having one himself. She was rooming with Xu Huo. If he cleared the dungeon, the others would definitely come looking for her. If she became the temporary master first, without Xu Huo's combat strength, the others might secretly sabotage her attempt to clear the dungeon.

"They'll definitely try to force information out of me," she said. "Especially those two players across the hall."

"They won't live to see tomorrow morning," Xu Huo said calmly. "Keep your mouth shut. They can't really kill you. You know the method to clear the dungeon, and it wouldn't be hard for you to sabotage someone else's attempt either."

Lu Zhen's eyes lit up at that. "That's right! I can totally use that to threaten them. If I die, nobody gets to clear the dungeon!"

"So... Brother Xu, what's the actual method for clearing it?"

"I'll tell you before I leave." Xu Huo paused, then suddenly brought up something else. "Why did you get lost in the woods?"

Lu Zhen was slightly surprised, then said, "So you figured it out."

Xu Huo nodded. He hadn't noticed on the first day, but during these few days in the villa, he had realized that Lu Zhen had the weakest presence of everyone. Even the other players seemed to unconsciously avoid picking fights with her.

This kind of weak presence was different from Passerby. Passerby could attract attention whenever he wanted.

"My occupation is behind-the-scenes staff," Lu Zhen said with a wry smile. "You know, the kind of background character standing in the last row of the group photo at the curtain call."

"Nobody pays attention to the background. Even if the host specifically calls out a name, hardly anyone spares a glance at the background. My first characteristic is related to this too. Its effect is to weaken my presence. But this weakening is relative. To the environment, I'm weakened. To me, the environment is also weakened."

"Getting lost is the side effect?" Xu Huo showed some interest. "Were you directionally challenged before?"

Lu Zhen shook her head. "I used to have a great sense of direction. But after getting this characteristic, no matter where I go, I easily get lost. Sometimes I even go the wrong way while following a navigation app. And if someone is walking with me, everyone ends up being led astray too... But you know my characteristic, right? My presence is weak. Even though I might be unconsciously leading the way, my teammates don't hold it against me."

Instead, they would take extra care of her because she seemed so weak.

Xu Huo fell silent, scrutinizing her.

Lu Zhen quickly said, "My characteristic definitely wouldn't work on you. Otherwise, how would you have found this place so easily, right...?"

Seeing her nervous look, Xu Huo actually smiled. "This characteristic of yours is perfect for being a spy."

This was the first time he had encountered a player whose characteristic had side effects.

"Very interesting. On the surface, it looks like just one characteristic, but in reality, this characteristic contains two effects."

Lu Zhen sighed. "You have no idea how many times I've stepped in traps because of this characteristic, and... I've almost dragged my teammates into traps several times too. I don't even dare look up information about my characteristic online, afraid of being caught."

"When you become a D-level player, you can post messages through the bounty platform and then contact me," Xu Huo casually set up a code. "Post a bounty worth five thousand White Bills. I'll add two items and one bottle of evolution agent to buy it. If I need to find you, I'll use the same method. If I come across any information related to characteristic side effects, I can relay it to you this way."

Lu Zhen was more than happy with this. "Bounty searches need specific content. How about we title it 'Five Lost Little People in the Woods'?"

"Sure." Xu Huo nodded.

"Brother Xu, you're really too kind!" Lu Zhen was overjoyed. "I've never met a player as good as you. Usually, people with my kind of characteristic don't want to bring me into dungeons. If they knew about the side effect of getting lost, they might even try to kill me. You're the only one willing to help me. As expected, the strong really are different!"

Anyone else who had been stuck in the woods getting rained on for a few days, nearly starving to death like those few people before, would definitely want to kill her.

But this also showed from another angle that her characteristic was very strong. Among those few people, there were even two not-so-strong D-level players, and they had gotten lost too. If she became an ally against an enemy, it would definitely be very satisfying.

Resting until six in the morning, Xu Huo went to deal with those two people across the hall.

At seven in the morning, he started inspecting the villa from the first floor again, then returned to the guest room to tell Lu Zhen the method to clear the dungeon.

"Checking the guest rooms doesn't necessarily mean entering every single one. This is just a precaution. If someone comes to ask you tonight, tell them exactly what I said. Whether or not they can inspect every guest room depends on their own ability, and you can draw your own conclusions from that."

"Don't tell anyone during the day. Only tell the player who can open the door at night."

"Also, pick a cooperative player to respond to you at night, as a precaution against the other person trying to silence you. If they don't want others to clear the dungeon, then the others won't let them clear it easily either."

"Don't sabotage other players' attempts to clear the dungeon. Whoever can open the door at night, if they ask, tell them everything truthfully."

"Clearing this dungeon isn't hard, but there are many ways to sabotage someone else's attempt. It's also possible to fail at the last step. The sooner you clear it, the better."

"As for Dong Qiu, you handle it however you see fit."

After listening seriously, Lu Zhen asked, "If I clear the dungeon, can I tell the others the method?"

"That's up to you. If you think there's a risk, just leave a note in the room." Xu Huo glanced at his watch. "Almost time."

Lu Zhen quickly stood up. "Brother Xu, thank you so much. Let's keep in touch."

When the clock hit eight, Xu Huo vanished from the old villa and instantly returned to the Immigration Office from before. At the same time, the dungeon completion prompt sounded:

[Congratulations to player Passerby for successfully clearing "Villa with Only One Master." You have perfectly fulfilled your duties as the temporary master. Not only did you repair and clean the villa, making every guest feel at home, but you also ensured the safety and comfort of every room and every guest. Based on your performance, you will receive one special characteristic and one opportunity to merge and upgrade items.]

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