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

"What is it?" Jinna asked.

"The game's six hints indicate three dangers."

Fan Xiao said, "The first scenario is encountering an unknown creature; you must not make contact, otherwise you will be transported to the monster's headquarters."

"The second possibility is that if you hear 'its' laughter, you must find a cat, otherwise your perception will be altered and you will be transformed into a monster."

"The third possibility is that you will encounter many creatures other than cats. You must go to the swimming pool to activate the 3D projection device and find your student ID. Otherwise... what will happen is currently unknown."

What do these three have in common?

"What they have in common... is that they both have monsters?" Jinna asked.

"What kind of commonality are you referring to?" Mercury asked. "Simply saying commonality is too general; there are many examples."

"Place."

Fan Xiao reminded him, "These three dangers all occur within Hope Middle School, not in the monster's stronghold, right?"

Neither Kinna nor Mercury are stupid.

After being reminded, the two quickly realized what was happening.

“You mean,” Jinna asked, “that our understanding of the location is wrong?”

"The black and white people, 'it'—correspond to the first and second dangers, both of which we have already encountered at school, and the location is the school, no mistake."

Mercury analyzed, "The only thing that could go wrong is the third danger... You mean, the third danger isn't coming from Hope Middle School, but from the monster's stronghold?"

"The dangers that happen in the monster's stronghold have nothing to do with us at Hope Middle School, right...? No, wait!"

Jinna suddenly understood.

She looked up at Fan Xiao and said in surprise, "The real meaning of the third danger is not that we will encounter a large number of monsters descending on the school, but... we ourselves will fall directly into the monsters' lair."

"It wasn't that we encountered monsters at school, but rather that monsters encountered us... on their own territory?"

"That's it."

Fan Xiao nodded and said, "It is precisely because we fell into the monster's lair that we saw many creatures other than wild cats."

"Don't you think this makes sense and is more reasonable?"

"Then how do you explain those dozen or so monsters from before?" Mercury asked. "They also fit the concept of 'many lives,' right? We saw them at the school, not in the lair."

"Don't forget the prerequisite for them appearing together: the cannibal player broke the rules first, imprisoning and bringing the cat along, which angered 'it'."

Fan Xiao cautioned, "This is a phenomenon that occurs after a player violates the rules and cannot be equated with normal circumstances."

"Why are you so sure... we might get dragged into the monster's lair?"

Mercury said, puzzled, "The third dangerous way to deal with it is to go to the swimming pool first, turn on the projection device, and then find the student ID."

"If this danger occurs in the monster's lair, where would we find a swimming pool in that place?"

Upon hearing this question, Fan Xiao suddenly smiled and asked in return, "Are you sure there... isn't a swimming pool there?"

"..." Mercury: "Stop keeping me in suspense."

“Yes,” Jinna looked over curiously, “Mr. Fan, have you discovered something?”

"Didn't I just say I had a guess that needed to be verified?"

Fan Xiao said, "Although it hasn't been verified yet, I personally think it's quite likely, so I can share it with you in advance."

He paused, then said, "Have you ever thought about what kind of place the monster's stronghold, its lair, is?"

"We previously speculated that the students and teachers who had turned into black and white people were there, and the monster was there too."

“Food keeps appearing around us, including steaming hot meals… Could the food be transported from the monster's lair?”

"If so, then it proves that the place may not be chaotic at all, but rather well-ordered. Students and teachers may be living normal lives there, sleeping, eating, attending classes, and so on."

He concluded: "Mirror space... or rather, the world inside and outside."

"The surface world is Hope Middle School, and the inner world is also Hope Middle School, another Hope Middle School in another space."

"The swimming pool we're really looking for is actually in the Otherworld; only the swimming pool there has a projection device."

"As for the swimming pool in the surface world, as you can see, it is abandoned and there is nothing there."

"That's... a very interesting way of putting it."

Jinna seemed to be deep in thought.

The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

If that's the case, then the monster's stronghold... or rather, the underworld, isn't as terrifyingly demonic as it seems.

Because there's a swimming pool there, it serves as one of the players' sanctuaries.

However, there is also a monster army over there.

If you get trapped in the Otherworld and don't go to the swimming pool in time, it's easy to have an accident.

"The Other World..."

Mercury subconsciously speculated: "Following this line of thought, the student ID should be like a projection device, which can only be found in the Otherworld. Coincidentally, we didn't find any student IDs in the Surface World, which makes sense."

"The inner and outer worlds overlap at fixed times—11 o'clock, 3 o'clock, and 6 o'clock. Therefore, the information left on the black clothes mentioned that at these three times, a child's laughter would always be heard, because after the two spaces overlap, 'it' can come from the inner world."

Fan Xiao continued, "In addition to these three points in time, the two worlds will also overlap randomly from time to time, and when they overlap, 'it' will come over."

"So children's laughter can occur at fixed times, but it can also occur randomly, like the wave we just encountered."

"As for the other black and white people and monsters, they may have been directly teleported from the inner world to the outer world by 'it', including the food, which was also teleported to us by 'it'."

"But this teleportation ability has limitations; it can't teleport too many people at once. So far, we've only encountered one black-and-white person."

"As for those dozen or so monsters... I'll say it again: the punishments for players who violate the rules are different from normal situations and cannot be generalized."

Having guessed this far, the pattern and operating mode of this instance are quite clear.

"It" is the dungeon boss.

Black and white people, monsters, are all monsters born under the direct or indirect influence of "it".

There are two ways to avoid "it".

The first method is to let the cat scare "it" away.

The second way... If you accidentally enter the other world, where there are no cats, the only way to avoid danger is to lure "it" into the swimming pool.

As for why the swimming pool was able to hold it back...

"Maybe...it's related to dogs?"

"Maybe the 3D projection device is playing something related to dogs. Because it likes dogs, it will be attracted to them, and its attention will be temporarily diverted from the player?"

"But the transfer won't last forever. Once it gets tired of watching the dog's projection for a short time, it might go back to the player. At that point, the only thing that can protect the player is their student ID."

"Why student IDs can protect players... This is unclear due to a lack of information."

Fan Xiao's mind raced, and he quickly sorted out... or rather, deduced a set of highly probable logic.

It is afraid of cats.

It likes dogs.

Therefore, cats and dogs can play a role in protecting players, either directly or indirectly.

"As for the other monsters in the inner world... they are influenced by it, and their perceptions are biased towards it. They are probably also afraid of cats and like dogs, so these two methods of avoiding danger should also be useful to them."

After summarizing and organizing the scattered information, Fan Xiao slowly deduced the truth behind the dungeon.

At this point, most of the puzzles hidden in the six game hints have been solved.

The method for clearing the customs clearance gradually came to light.

All that's left is to verify it.

"The game hints at three dangers and three ways to avoid them. The first two have come true, so we can infer that the third danger is probably not far away. No wonder you're so sure; we'll be dragged into the monster's lair sooner or later."

Mercury finally understood Van Shaw's idea.

He asked, "How confident are you that this guess is correct?"

"It's all just talk before it's been verified; there's no way to be certain about it."

Fan Xiao shook his head: "But at least we have a direction for the investigation now, so we won't be like headless flies anymore."

"I think it's quite likely."

Jinna shared her opinion: "However... to verify it, we'd have to go to the Otherworld. Wouldn't that be too dangerous? If we don't find the real swimming pool we're looking for there, we'll be in big trouble!"

"Well... um?"

Just as Fan Xiao was about to reply, he suddenly noticed a dark figure moving around at the entrance of the swimming pool.

With his night vision, he quickly made out the true appearance of the shadowy figure—a human body that had been stretched and widened.

It's easy to tell that the other party is the same cannibalistic player who imprisoned the wild cat before!

Illuminated by the blood-red light overhead, Mercury, Jinna, and Luo Hao recognized them a few seconds later.

The other person was no longer human.

It has become a complete monster.

Its neck was stretched very long, and the head on top of it was somewhat flat, with its facial features already deformed beyond recognition.

The next second, the flat head looked at Fan Xiao and the others.

Once the monster could clearly see Fan Xiao and the others, it instantly teleported over.

The previously mentioned cannibalistic player, an ordinary woman, used teleportation-type items.

Surprisingly, even after turning into a monster, this guy still retains the ability to use items.

The monster's abilities originated from the players themselves, rather than being directly granted by "it"—Fan Xiao and his companions confirmed this immediately.

The "Dustless Shield" has been activated.

Fan Xiao and his three companions flew to the side, crashed through the wall of the swimming pool, and flew back the way they came.

As he flew, he said, "The monster should have the same characteristics as the black and white people. Don't attack, don't touch, let's go find the cat first!"

Chapter 169 How did you manage to ruin your teammates?

Because of the high speed of flight, Fan Xiao's words of reminder quickly faded away amidst the whistling wind.

Suddenly, three arrows shot out from an odd angle.

They seemed to appear out of thin air, without any attack trajectory or warning.

As the arrows flew, they suddenly disappeared from the sight of Fan Xiao and his companions just before they were about to touch the repulsive barrier of the "Dustless Shield".

The next second, Fan Xiao frowned, and Jin Na let out a muffled groan.

Both men had their right arm tendons pierced by arrows.

The third arrow struck Luo Hao's tendon.

However, Luo Hao's expression didn't change at all, as if he had just been blown by a gentle breeze.

Arrow attacks that ignore defense!

Fan Xiao suddenly increased his flight speed, completely moving away from the swimming pool.

Fortunately, the noodle-shaped monster on the ground did not chase after us.

Fan Xiao remained vigilant and continued flying until he landed next to the black cat again, at which point he relaxed his tense body slightly.

The black and white people I encountered in the dormitory building before played a trick on me, appearing and disappearing mysteriously, and Yan Jun fell for it.

Therefore, we must be cautious in this regard.

Even if the monster doesn't chase after you, you still have to look for the cat.

It doesn’t cost money anyway.

While waiting in the dark beside the black cat, Fan Xiao, Jin Na, and Luo Hao all pulled out the short arrows that had pierced through their tendons.

Luo Hao's wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Just as Fan Xiao was about to activate "Blood Noble" to expend his stamina to recover from his injuries, Mercury suddenly took out a bottle of water and several paper cups from his storage space.