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

The black cat has stopped his menacing growls and has returned to calm.

He looked away and said to his three companions, "Going to the swimming pool now might not be of any use... no, it's more like it's unnecessary."

"No need?"

Mercury was taken aback and asked curiously, "Did you discover something?"

Jin Na and Luo Hao also turned their gazes toward Fan Xiao.

Fan Xiao's thinking was a bit more agile than theirs; he always seemed to be able to spot some details.

Meeting the gazes of the three, Fan Xiao replied, "I have a guess, but it's not certain yet. Let's wait and see. Let's go to the swimming pool first."

"...Didn't you say it wasn't necessary?" Jinna asked, "Why are you going again?"

"My guess might be wrong, but there's no harm in going to see for myself."

Fan Xiao shrugged: "Moreover, the observation itself is also a way to verify the guesses."

"Then hurry up."

Mercury nodded.

Seeing that his companions had no objections, Fan Xiao activated "Dustless Shield" again, taking the three of them from the air to the swimming pool area.

During the flight, he kept himself constantly alert.

The child's laughter had just faded away.

Whether "it" has really left, no one knows.

Once the laughter resumes, he must immediately turn back and fly back to land next to the black cat.

There's no way around it, "it" is just too much of a threat.

Thankfully, the monster seems to have really left.

The laughter did not reappear until Fan Xiao and his three companions flew over the swimming pool and landed on the ground.

It seems we're safe for now.

After confirming this, Fan Xiao led the way into the swimming pool.

By this time, it was completely dark.

Only the clear moonlight illuminated the interior area near the window.

The other areas were pitch black, with a sinister atmosphere that instilled fear and deterred people from approaching.

Fan Xiao has night vision, so his field of vision is not limited by light.

However, in order to take care of his teammates, he manipulated some of the blood in his body to flow out, float to the top of his head, and then activated "emotional magic".

The blood slowly began to burn.

The crimson flames instantly illuminated the room.

Since "Vampire" was upgraded to the C-grade item "Blood Noble", Fan Xiao has never considered saving blood.

The "luxury" of consuming blood for lighting was nothing to him.

Mercury looked at the eerie environment illuminated by the blood-red light and said speechlessly, "Couldn't you come up with some normal lighting methods? Using blood-red light to illuminate the surroundings makes it look even more sinister."

"It's good enough if there's any light at all."

Fan Xiao replied casually.

Then they began searching around the swimming pool.

To avoid the phenomenon of "teammates getting separated", the four of them always maintained a unified action and did not care whether this was inefficient.

About ten minutes later, they searched the entire swimming pool inside and out and found that everything was the same as during the day, with no changes whatsoever.

"That doesn't make sense."

Jinna said, "There's still no projection device here, so I guess the corresponding student ID hasn't appeared either."

"Could it be that the dozen or so monsters we saw earlier didn't meet the condition of 'many'?"

"Maybe."

Mercury speculated, "Or... the prerequisite isn't the dozen or so monsters we just saw, but some other creature?"

"After all, we are not in danger now, which proves that we have not fallen into a third crisis."

“Those monsters should all be derivatives of the second type of crisis, and all related to ‘it’, so they cannot be counted in the category of the third type of crisis.”

"It is very powerful."

Luo Hao, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up: "If nothing unexpected happens, 'it' should be the dungeon boss."

Upon hearing this, neither Fan Xiao, Mercury, nor Jinna refuted the conclusion.

Earlier, in the spacious area in front of the school gate, after hearing the children's laughter, Mercury, Jinna, and Luo Hao originally planned to flee the scene immediately to find the cat.

However, Fan Xiao stopped the three of them and asked them to stay with him for the time being.

The purpose... is naturally to observe whether the team of cannibals will encounter any crisis.

After all, the message left on the black clothes—don't spend too much time with the cat—is definitely not just for show.

Among the cannibalistic players, some imprisoned cats and carried them with them. Fan Xiao was a little curious about what consequences this behavior would bring.

Considering the possibility of encountering unexpected situations if he was alone, he asked his three teammates to stay behind.

He assured them that he could get the three of them to the cat as quickly as possible, and that they didn't need to worry about not being able to escape in time.

With the assurances in place, the three agreed to his proposal.

It must be said that although they took a great risk, their gains were enormous!

They saw the appearance of bizarre monsters.

The monster displayed all sorts of strange and unusual abilities.

They saw that "it" had transformed all four cannibalistic players into the same "black, white, and gray" monsters.

It's not hard to deduce from this scene that the dozen or so monsters that suddenly appeared were likely modified from players who had previously participated in this instance.

Of course, there might be some "new" things among them.

After all, 5 out of the 20 players who participated in the instance disappeared.

Perhaps Yan Jun has already been transformed into this kind of monster, one of those dozen or so monsters from before.

"Interfering with cognition, altering thoughts, turning players into black and white monsters... If 'it' doesn't count as a dungeon boss, then this dungeon is far too difficult for D-level players."

Mercury said, "'It' can turn players into black and white monsters..."

"I guess the black-and-white person we encountered in the dormitory building before was also one of the monsters born under 'its' influence."

"It can be considered the origin of the monster."

"Have you noticed that after players are modified by 'it,' they seem to retain their talents, items, and other abilities? Or... all the abilities used by those dozen or so monsters before were given to them by 'it'?"

Jinna added, "Personally, I prefer the first answer. Otherwise, 'it's' ability is too powerful, arbitrarily granting abilities to other creatures, which is just like the game system of an evolution game."

"In short, we absolutely cannot get involved in the monster's stronghold!"

"This instance has probably been opened quite a few times, and the number of D-rank players who have entered must be considerable. If many players are killed every time..."

"If this continues, who knows if 'it' has already transformed into a monster army? We can't possibly defeat it, and once we get involved..."

She didn't say what happened.

But Mercury and his companions could imagine it.

They were all aware of the seriousness of the situation.

The question is no longer whether or not to go and rescue the critically ill.

The real question is whether they can guarantee they won't get caught up in the monster's lair and whether they can survive.

"According to our deduction, the clue to achieving the second mission condition lies in the monsters' stronghold."

Mercury sighed, "But given the current situation... we have no choice but to abandon this mission requirement."

"We must strictly follow the game's instructions to ensure that we stay in Hope Middle School and are not transferred away."

If he could get a high dungeon rating, he would naturally not give up such an opportunity.

The higher the rating, the better the reward.

But people also need to know their own limitations.

Faced with a possible army of monsters entirely modified from D-level players, retaining their talents and item abilities, even if all the monsters have lost their minds and only attack on instinct without any strategy, their simultaneous surge forward... this is beyond the scope of what a D-level player can handle.

Not to mention, there's another "it" lurking nearby, watching us intently.

Once you get caught up in the monster's stronghold, it's practically a death sentence!

"Don't be so tense and pessimistic."

At this moment, Fan Xiao reminded them, "The monster army is indeed formidable; it's not something a D-level player can handle."

"But don't forget, whether it's 'it' or other monsters, they are currently operating according to fixed patterns... or rules. They haven't shown any signs of acting arbitrarily."

"As long as there are fixed rules, there will be loopholes to exploit. Don't the game hints also give us many ways to avoid risks?"

"The monster army is indeed formidable, but we don't necessarily need to confront them head-on."

Upon hearing this, Mercury did not feel relieved after being comforted. Instead, he asked nervously, "Wait, you're not still thinking about the second mission condition, are you?"

“I have OCD,” Fan Xiao laughed. “I want to do everything perfectly, including clearing dungeons.”

"...If you're going to court death, I'm not going to play along this time."

Mercury reminded him.

Jin Na and Luo Hao did not express their opinions.

However, judging from their expressions, they did not approve of this reckless behavior.

Fan Xiao said, "This isn't courting death. Have you ever considered that, without knowing if there are any hidden rules, can we really guarantee that we can stay in Hope Middle School indefinitely?"

"If you are not careful and break the rules, you will either be drawn into the monster's stronghold or be turned into a monster like those four cannibal players."

"So going to the monster's stronghold to find clues and fulfill the second mission condition might be much safer than staying passively in school."

"The hidden rules are nothing more than the bloodstains left on those black clothes."

Mercury said, "As long as we hurry up and find all the black clothes and figure out all the rules, we should be able to avoid the dangers posed by the monsters."

“It’s definitely safer to do it this way.” Jinna nodded: “Going to raid the base camp is too aggressive.”

"It's better to play it safe," Luo Hao said.

The three agreed.

But that's normal.

Players like Fan Xiao, who can achieve a "massacre" and crush a group of players of the same level, are, after all, only a few.

Or rather, they are few and far between.

Others don't have the confidence to go all out.

They don't have the ability either.

"if……"

Fan Xiao suddenly dropped a bombshell on his three companions: "Aren't we bound to get involved?"

"...What do you mean?" Mercury frowned.

“Literally,” Fan Xiao shrugged, “we may not be able to stay at Hope High School forever. It’s only a matter of time before we get caught up in the monsters’ stronghold.”

"How can this be?"

Jinna asked doubtfully, "According to our speculation, the number of monsters in the base camp is astonishing! Moreover, each one of them is a modified D-level player, and their strength should not be underestimated."

"If we're destined to get involved... then aren't we doomed?"

Chapter 168 Speculations on the Truth Behind the Instance

When asked by Jin Na, Fan Xiao did not answer yes or no, but said, "You have actually fallen into a misconception, or rather, you have misunderstood something."