Everyone's playing hide-and-seek: This crazy beauty has maxed-out third eyes.

When the white light faded, Lin Sui'an lay on the ground, his arms still wrapped around a bunch of cats, their fur covering his face.

[This round of hide-and-seek is over.]

[Surviving players: 11.]

[Lin Sui'an, a player from the Dragon Kingdom, is alive.]

[Li Yu, a player from the Dragon Kingdom, is alive.]

[Lina, a player from the Southern Kingdom, is alive.]

[Lydia, a player from the Russian Bear Country, is alive.]

[The player from the Belarusian Kingdom—Sergei—is alive.]

【USA...】

The announcement continued to read out the names of the other surviving players.

Lin Sui'an looked down at the cats in his arms; all ten were there.

The Maine Coon's head was resting under her forearm, the orange cat was curled up on her chest, and the silver shaded cat's tail was draped over the back of her hand. Its eyes were closed, and its breathing was steady, as if it were asleep.

"Hahahaha~!"

Lin Sui'an's laughter exploded at the dungeon exit. She lay on the ground, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

I brought it out!

They really brought him out!

"Relax!"

Li Yu's voice came from the right, his footsteps hurried. He squatted down beside her, extending both hands: "Are you alright?"

"It's okay, it's okay, help me up, my arm is numb from being pressed down."

Lina ran over, with Lydia and Sergei close behind.

Li Yu and Lina lifted Lin Sui'an up from either side. The ten cats were still scattered on the ground, none of them awake.

"What's wrong with them?" Lina crouched down and touched the orange cat's ear with her finger, but the cat didn't react.

"It's probably an aftereffect of Zhuangzi's butterfly dream, or something from the game." Lin Sui'an flexed his wrists. "Let's hold him for now and see what happens when we get back."

Lydia bent down and scooped up the Maine Coon and the silver shaded cat, tucking one under each arm.

Sergei, Lina, and Li Yu each took two cats, while Lin Sui'an picked up the last tabby and calico cats.

On the open ground at the entrance to the dungeon, other players were also looking over, and Alex was also watching Lin Sui'an's situation.

Ten cats.

It's all in their hands.

Tanaka exploded first, pointing in Lin Sui'an's direction, his face still red from the claw marks: "Baka! How did you bring that weirdo out here! Don't you want to die?!"

Lin Sui'an ignored him completely, but Lina turned around and retorted, "What's it to you? You're so nosy, you want to taste the manure cart that passes by the door, huh?"

Tanaka's fingers froze in mid-air, trembling: "Baka... Baka..."

"Stop talking! Your breath is bothering me!"

Lydia glanced at him, and Tanaka shut his mouth, his face turning red with anger.

Park Jung-hoon stood next to Alex, staring at the ten cats, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly: "The Weird was taken out of the instance? Does that make sense?"

Alex didn't answer him; he stared at Lin Sui'an's back, his mind racing.

The game was probably stopped because of her.

She did something to the ten cats—either killed them or drugged them—in short, the cats lost their ability to move, the game's rules were broken, and the game was forcibly ended.

But why did she bring the cat out? What if the eerie atmosphere enters reality? What if she wakes up and commits murder in their country?

Unless, of course, she is confident in controlling the cats.

Alex's gaze shifted from the cat to Lin Sui'an's face. Lin Sui'an was talking to Li Yu with his head down, a relaxed smile on his face, completely unlike someone who had just returned from the gates of hell.

What is this woman thinking?

"Boss, are we just going to ignore this?" Tanaka leaned closer, his voice low, his eyes filled with resentment.

"What do you care?" Alex looked away. "The cat is in her hands, not yours. She brought it out, so it won't harm you."

Tanaka shut up.

Park Jung-hoon's lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

On the other side of the open space, Lin Sui'an changed the position of holding the cat and turned to whisper to Lina and the others.

"I never thought I'd actually be able to bring it out."

Li Yu's eyes widened: "An Shen, when you were lying on the ground cuddling the cat just now, weren't you even sure you were okay?"

"Yeah, right." Lin Sui'an nodded matter-of-factly. "Why not give it a try? What if it works?"

"...What if it doesn't work?"

"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. It's not like we're losing anything."

Li Yu nodded: "That's right!"

Lin Sui'an glanced down at the cat in her arms, then looked up at Lina: "Lina."

"Um?"

"The soul within the orange cat is the player from your country."

Lina's arms tightened around the orange cat, her fingers gripping it slightly.

"Do you want to take it back?"

Lina's breath hitched. She looked down at the orange cat's chubby face, and her eyes welled up with tears for a moment.

Take it back? She thought!

The players from their country entered the game representing the Kingdom of Nansai while they were alive, and after they died, they turned into an orange cat.

Lina pursed her lips, then opened them again: "No."

Li Yu was stunned: "Why?"

"I can't talk to the cat." Lina's voice was muffled but steady. "It's with me, but I can't take care of it, and I don't know how to wake it up. It's only in Sui'an's hands that it's...safe."

She paused for a moment: "And I also have a selfish motive. There's only one district left in our country. If we take a weird cat back, what if it wakes up and becomes uncontrollable..."

Lina didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood.

One district can't afford to gamble.

Lina leaned closer to Lin Sui'an: "Sui'an, it only reacts to your dream creation. Only when it's with you can it realize its greatest value."

Lin Sui'an stroked the orange cat: "Okay, then I'll take care of it for you for now."

"Thank you, Sui An." Lina's voice softened slightly. "Thank you for bringing it out."

Please select your rewards in turn.

The game flow has finished its announcement, and the lottery is about to begin. The other players are already moving around.

The British player hesitated for a few seconds between the two beams of light before stepping into the real prize pool.

Lin Sui'an didn't rush off. She turned to Lina and asked, "Which one do you choose?"

Lina stood still. If they hadn't had to move supplies this round, she wouldn't have hesitated. But how much supplies had they moved in this round? Rice, vegetables, meat, oil, seasonings... there was no shortage of food.

What if I draw food? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?

But what if you draw the area clearing option?

What if, what if, what if?

"Don't overthink it." Lin Sui'an saw through her inner turmoil. "Even though your country only has one region, you don't need to be afraid."

Lina looked up at her.

"As long as you live, your country will always be safe."

Lina loosened her grip on the hem of her dress.

Correct.

She is a player, and as long as she doesn't die, the Southern Kingdom won't be eliminated. Becoming stronger is currently the biggest guarantee.

"I'll choose the individual prize pool," Lina said, her voice steady.

Lin Sui'an nodded, then looked at Li Yu: "Xiao Yu, you should choose someone too."

Li Yu patted his chest: "Understood!"

Another player emerged from the beam of light ahead. It was Tanaka, who had come out of the real-world prize pool with a green face.

"Baka!" Tanaka's mouth twisted into a crooked grin as he cursed and turned to walk back.

"A D-level reward! It's actually a D-level reward!"

The burly man from the kangaroo country who came out in front glanced back at them. He was also drawing D-grade food, which consisted of only ten tons of fish.

The British player leaned against the pillar of light, cursing under his breath while muttering about the D-grade food reward.

Of the six players, five were ranked D, and only Alex drew an A-rank item from the personal reward draw.

Lin Sui'an and Li Yu exchanged a glance.

Li Yu's lips moved, her voice low enough for only the two of them to hear: "An Shen, could it be because we emptied the supermarket?"

Lin Sui'an's eyelid twitched; it wasn't impossible.

If the game's prize pool is linked to dungeon resources, and most of the items in the supermarket have been taken away, then naturally there will be fewer good items in the prize pool.

The game exploited too much, draining the prize pool dry.

Lydia had obviously thought of that too. She glanced at Lin Sui'an, and without saying a word, she stepped towards the pillar of light in the individual prize pool.