Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

Mercury cautioned, "If this continues, even a low-level lure will become a high-level one."

"Moreover... food is not necessarily bait. Whether it's the game hints or the information on the black clothes, they are telling us one thing—to accept things that don't make sense."

"Speaking of which... our surprise and astonishment at the sudden appearance of the food contradicts the information we received. Is that alright?"

"Any normal person would be surprised, right?" Jinna said uncertainly. "Perhaps... we should act more naturally?"

"Just keep a calm attitude next time you encounter this."

Luo Hao spoke up to express his opinion.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew towards the three of them.

Mercury, Jinna, and Luo Hao's expressions all changed, and they immediately entered battle mode.

The three of them looked against the wind.

They saw the air around Fan Xiao distort, and he flew forward, landing not far away, looking around.

Then it suddenly crashed through the wall and rushed into the adjacent classroom, with the sound of desks and chairs being overturned echoing through the room.

A moment later, Fan Xiao flew out again, smashing through the window next to the corridor and flying out.

The strong wind... must have been caused by Fan Xiao's props.

After realizing this, the three calmed down a bit.

However, they soon realized something was wrong.

At this moment, Fan Xiaofei returned, and his words confirmed the three's guess: "Yan Jun has disappeared."

Chapter 164 How to Prove I Am Myself

"My attention was on the food that suddenly appeared, and I didn't notice Yan Jun."

Mercury frowned and asked, "How did he disappear?"

“Me too,” Jinna said, her expression grim. “Is it a coincidence? Or did they specifically target us and take the person away?”

“I kept him in my sight at all times, but I wouldn’t say I was specifically watching for him.”

Fan Xiao explained, "Yan Jun disappeared suddenly. He was gone in the blink of an eye."

"I couldn't find anyone in the classroom or outside the school building."

"It's either spatial teleportation, or... cognitive interference. For example, he's still in front of us, but we can't see him."

Upon hearing this, Mercury and his companions instinctively looked around.

"and many more!"

Mercury suddenly realized what was happening, took a few steps back, and gave Fan Xiao a tense, scrutinizing look: "You were out of our sight for about ten seconds!"

This sentence reminded Jin Na and Luo Hao.

Both of them became wary and took a few steps back.

Meeting the gazes of the three, Fan Xiao... suddenly revealed a strange smile.

"!?"

The three of them immediately tensed up and took out their props.

And then retreated a considerable distance.

"Who are you?!" Mercury asked, frowning.

"Just kidding, don't be so tense."

Fan Xiao shrugged: "Do you think a monster would expose itself like this just to play a joke on you?"

"If it were a monster, it might indeed keep putting on a show and deceiving us, but..."

Mercury remained vigilant: "Your current behavior could also be a form of acting, a subversion of conventions, which is not uncommon."

"What methods do you have to prove that you are yourself?" Jinna asked.

"Caution is a good thing."

Fan Xiao smiled and said, "However, let's take a closer look at the third game tip—be wary of companions you've lost touch with; they may no longer be your companions."

"The fact that these people are no longer companions does not necessarily mean that they have been replaced."

Mercury asked, "What do you mean?"

“We previously speculated that both teachers and students have become the ‘black and white people’ they are today, and are no longer their original selves.”

"So, were they replaced by monsters, or were their perceptions altered, their physical states changed, and they themselves became monsters?"

Fan Xiao said, "I personally prefer the latter."

"Based on this, it is possible that our companions who have been separated from us may have their cognition interfered with and their thoughts altered in places we are unaware of."

"Didn't the message on the black clothes just now also remind us to 'always firmly believe in our common sense and never doubt'?"

"This is a veiled warning to us to stand firm in our beliefs, because only those with strong will can be less affected."

He paused, then continued, "I only disappeared for about ten seconds. Do you think my perception could be changed in such a short time?"

"...You're considered one of the stronger D-rank players," Mercury admitted. "If you can be so easily affected and get into trouble, then the other D-rank players probably wouldn't even need to play."

Being alone for even ten seconds could lead to disaster... This instance shouldn't be that dangerous yet.

If it were really that difficult, it's impossible that Jin Na, a local player from Division 001, wouldn't have been completely unaware of it.

Judging from her appearance, she has the backing of a church, so she probably won't lack opportunities to trade train tickets.

If this dungeon is really that difficult, she probably wouldn't have chosen to come here.

Mercury made his own speculations and judgments.

Fan Xiao should be fine.

Of course, we still need to be vigilant.

"I believe you."

Luo Hao thought for a moment, then followed up with Mercury's words.

Jinna asked doubtfully, "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Look at this."

Fan Xiao took out two black clothes and half a bucket of black paint from the storage space.

He unfolded his black clothes, and the information on them came into view of the three of them.

These were the two pieces of clothing they had received earlier, one from the arched bridge and the other from their dormitory.

Fan Xiao found the half-bucket of paint by the arched bridge.

"It seems you are still one of our companions."

Jinna breathed a slight sigh of relief: "If these things can be forged at will in a dozen seconds, then the monsters in this dungeon are far too strong and too difficult to deal with."

"and this."

Fan Xiao then took out a bag of bread, tore it open, and ate a few bites.

As before, the hunger pangs did not subside.

Mercury and Luo Hao's doubts were completely dispelled when they saw the words on the bread packaging.

Even if the monster kills Fan Xiao, it will not be able to obtain the items in his storage space.

Even if it's a disguise... the bread has never been taken out before, how can it be disguised?

Pretending must be logical, right?

"You should have taken this out earlier."

Mercury complained.

"We may encounter situations where our companions get separated for a short while again."

Fan Xiao laughed and said, "This is like a rehearsal of how to deal with it."

With their suspicions dispelled, the three of them approached Fan Xiao again.

As they approached, Fan Xiao suddenly raised his right hand, startling the three of them into tensing up.

The next second, Fan Xiao scratched his head with his raised right hand and said, "You guys are too tense."

"..." Jin Na: "Mr. Fan, please stop making jokes like that! It's scary!"

“I was actually thinking just now,” Fan Xiao said, “whether I should just take you all down and prove that I have the ability to kill you instantly. That way, you probably won’t doubt anything I say.”

“…Yan Jun did make one right point,” Mercury retorted, “You do have a rather strange confidence.”

“That’s an exaggeration of mystical confidence,” Fan Xiao laughed. “It’s more like moderate confidence.”

"Is Yan Jun alive or dead?" Jin Na frowned and asked, "Should we go find him?"

"He shouldn't have died so easily, right?"

Mercury speculated, "The way the black and white people appear and disappear so mysteriously would frighten any normal person."

"There are probably quite a few players who would reflexively attack black and white people. It's a kind of instinctive reaction. Those who can avoid it are not simply those with strong self-control, but rather those who react differently to fright."

"If someone loses their life simply because of this instinctive reaction, then the rules of this instance are far too unreasonable."

Let's make a bold guess.

Fan Xiao offered his conjecture: "This school should also be hiding a place we don't know about, which can be considered the headquarters of the Black and White people."

“They can infiltrate the school from their headquarters, but they can’t infiltrate at will; there are certain restrictions. Otherwise, the school would be a chaotic mess of black and white people long ago.”

"And Yan Jun might have been transferred to that headquarters."

"The game tells us not to come into contact with Black and White people, which is probably what will happen if we do."

He concluded that "the stronghold of the Black and White people is the truly dangerous place in the dungeon."

"The black and white people were just a lure to get us there, so they don't have much attack power. A D-level player could kick them so hard they'd vomit blood."

"Because they don't need to be very strong; the battles aren't fought by them."

Fan Xiao's guess made the three of them ponder.

They soon discovered that the logic behind this conjecture was sound.

This can explain many of the strange phenomena we are currently encountering.

Fan Xiao continued, "The food suddenly appeared, probably because it was sent from the main camp. There are hot meals there, so the black and white people are probably living like normal people over there."

"Moreover, the headquarters probably still has ways to monitor us, so both food and black and white people can just happen to appear around us."

"And food... is probably just a trigger, just like the black and white people."

"As long as we can't bear the hunger and eat the food, it's equivalent to establishing a causal connection with that base camp, and we will be teleported there just like Yan Jun."

"in this case……"

Mercury looked toward the classroom from before.

The food on the desk was still steaming hot, looking very tempting and making one's mouth water.

He said, "As long as we eat the food, we should be able to get to that base camp and find Yan Jun, right?"

"uncertain."

Fan Xiao cautioned, "Several hours passed after the severe attack on the Black and White people before he disappeared, so the effect of the 'trigger' might not be immediate."

"By the time we finish eating and are teleported there, Yan Jun's body might already be cold."

"Should we still eat?" Jinna asked. "Or rather... should we save them or not?"

This question silenced everyone.

A few seconds later, Mercury broke the silence and said, "The dangers at the base are unknown. We don't even know if we can come back. It's not worth taking such a big risk for a player we've only known for a few hours."

Luo Hao remained silent.

His opinion was the same as Mercury's.

They are on a mission from the Special Affairs Bureau, so they can't act recklessly.