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

"Spiritual Particle Injector".

He murmured softly.

Then the light gathered and poured into the bottle of water in his hand.

He poured water into several paper cups and handed them to Fan Xiao and the other two, reminding them, "This is for restoring injuries, mental strength, and physical strength. It's more effective than Grade D healing potions."

"This tool of yours is quite convenient."

Fan Xiao nodded, took the paper cup, and drank the water.

With free medical resources available, he naturally wouldn't waste his energy on recovery.

Hmm... I kind of miss the relaxed feeling when Lu Baizhi was around.

Luo Hao also had a drink.

Jinna hesitated for a moment, but ultimately accepted the offer.

All three felt their depleted mental and physical strength recovering, and their penetrating wounds were healing at an extremely rapid pace.

Even the feeling of hunger seemed to have lessened somewhat.

Of course, this could be an illusion caused by the positive feedback that comes with the body's recovery.

The hunger generated by dungeons isn't so easily reduced.

"Thank you."

After thanking her, Jinna said, "That short arrow was really dangerous, an item that ignores defense... If it had gone straight for our hearts, we would have been in trouble."

A D-level player's evolution rate isn't high enough to be able to keep jumping around even with a damaged heart.

When people are killed, they die.

Unless one possesses an extremely abnormal ability to heal, survive, and adapt, like Luo Hao.

Or perhaps they possess some powerful healing talent or item.

Grade D medical medications cannot heal injuries to the heart.

"The effects of low-level items are generally not too overpowered."

Mercury said, "Ignoring defenses and aiming for the heart—these two effects are probably incompatible."

"Judging from the injuries you sustained, the effect of ignoring defense should be a penetrating tendon."

"This item is indeed difficult to defend against, but it won't cause fatal injuries. It can only serve to hinder and distract the enemy."

“Speaking of which…” Jinna said worriedly, “We were attacked by monsters, could it be that we’ve also made contact with the other world?”

"It shouldn't be that extreme."

Fan Xiao reminded, "Moreover, even if we make contact, it's okay. The game has already provided methods for avoiding danger. Even if we fall into the inner world, we still have ways to deal with the greatest danger—'it'."

While replying, he briefly observed his surroundings.

Several minutes had passed since they were attacked by the monster.

There were no unusual changes occurring in the surrounding area.

Jinna noticed this as well, saying, "It seems that cats are effective not only against 'it', but also against other monsters."

She looked at the lazy black cat on the ground, her eyes filled with affection and tenderness.

A good cat is one that can catch mice.

If it weren't for the fact that this was a dungeon and she needed to be constantly vigilant, she would have loved to pet the black cat and have some fun.

"After all, monsters are all modified from 'it', and 'it' can influence other people's perceptions to lean towards 'it' and become like 'it'. It's normal for other monsters to be afraid of cats."

Mercury chimed in, speculating, "I guess the process of 'it' turning the player into a monster should be divided into three stages."

"The first stage is to influence cognition, and the second stage is to transform the body."

"When cognition and body are altered, the third stage begins—becoming a monster without reason, only obeying 'its' commands."

"Three stages..."

Following this line of thought, Jinna said, "Then I estimate that our companions who have been separated from us, that is, the players who are alone, may have their cognition affected by 'it' and become someone who is no longer their original selves."

“If you come into contact with these kinds of ‘companions’ again, in addition to being deceived and attacked, the effect may be the same as encountering black and white people if you stay in contact with them for a long time, and you will end up with the same severe result.”

After she finished speaking, she glanced at Fan Xiao.

Mercury and Luo Hao also glanced at Fan Xiao.

Fan Xiao returned their smiles with a strange one.

"..." Mercury said speechlessly, "Not again? You're so boring!"

"Aren't you all doubting me too?"

Fan Xiao shrugged.

“No, no,” Jinna quickly shook her head and explained, “Mr. Fan, it’s just a conditioned reflex. I didn’t mean to doubt you.”

"Hehe... You guys are being too suspicious. This is actually a very simple reasoning problem. A lone player isn't necessarily going to be attacked by 'it'."

Fan Xiao cautioned, "The two worlds will only overlap at three fixed points in time—11, 3, and 6. At other times, the overlap of the two spaces is random."

"In other words, even if 'it' will prioritize attacking lone players, when you are alone, 'it' may not necessarily 'randomly' end up in the surface world, so how could it affect your perception?"

"Be wary of lost companions—it's wariness, not hostility; don't get that wrong. Besides..."

He added, "It transforms the player into a monster for 10 minutes."

"If it only affects the player's cognition and doesn't modify their body... let's halve it and say 5 minutes."

"And I only disappeared from your sight for a dozen seconds... Do you understand what I mean?"

The three nodded in agreement, like chickens pecking at rice.

There was a sense of being forced to stand at attention and take a beating.

To avoid embarrassment, Mercury pointed to the lazy black cat on the ground and said, "Let's get away from this cat for now, lest we end up like the man-eating players if we stay with it for too long."

Fan, Xiao, and the other two nodded.

They then walked a short distance away while the black cat watched them.

"Meow."

The friendly and affectionate black cat seemed a little reluctant to part with her and meowed once.

The group pretended not to hear and continued talking as they walked.

Jinna asked, "What should we do next? Should we stay in the surface world, or actively infiltrate the inner world?"

Although, according to Fan Xiao, it was only a matter of time before they fell into the Otherworld.

But the later you go in, the less danger you'll face.

The inner world is undoubtedly much more dangerous than the outer world.

After all, neither "it" nor the monster army is just for show.

Although the game provides solutions for avoiding dangers after encountering "it" and monsters, who knows if there are other hidden dangers in the otherworld?

They knew nothing about the Otherworld.

It's currently only at the level of speculation.

Conserving mental and physical energy and preserving combat effectiveness outside, only getting involved at the last moment and dealing with it calmly, versus proactively infiltrating early on and facing a more dangerous crisis—the latter is clearly much more difficult than the former!

Everyone understood this principle.

Mercury thought for a moment and replied, "Our purpose in entering the Inner World is simply to obtain clues about the conditions of the second mission."

"But if we start looking for clues once we're inside, I feel it will be very difficult. After all, clues aren't something you can just find anytime you want. We'll probably spend a lot of time, and we still might not find them in the end..."

After a pause, she offered her opinion: "In the end, it's still a lack of intelligence and clues that causes us to waste a lot of time on investigations after entering the inner world. The more time we waste, the more dangerous it becomes."

"If... if we can deduce the solution to achieve the second mission condition in the surface world, then after entering the inner world, we can save investigation time, have a clear purpose for what we do, and be completely focused on clearing the game. Clearing the game will then be a natural outcome."

"And if we can't... then I suggest we stay in the surface world for now. It's too conservative, but it's the safest option."

"Speculated solution..."

Jinna scratched her light blonde hair in frustration: "The clues are in the inner world, but we're outside now, separated from them by a space... How are we supposed to work out the plan?"

"..."

Luo Hao frowned as well.

Due to the "intelligence reduction" effect caused by the mixing of multiple different genes, he is not as smart as before.

Reasoning... that's no longer his area of ​​expertise.

However, he still offered his own perspective, saying, "You don't necessarily have to deduce the solution before you can go in."

"We can take some risks, go first to find clues, and then deduce a solution. This way, we can at least take the initiative."

"Staying outside all the time, waiting to be suddenly dragged into something at any moment... that's too passive."

"...Old Luo, do you think everyone is like you, with a tenacious vitality like a cockroach?"

Mercury couldn't help but complain to his colleague, "We're just average players when it comes to survival. Don't use your standards to make plans. You can be reckless, but we can't."

“It’s not exactly reckless,” Luo Hao cautioned. “For a normal player to achieve the second condition, this is basically the only way.” But to devise a solution beforehand and then directly implement it… isn’t that making things difficult for them?

"No, normal players wouldn't even think about the second condition."

Mercury said, "All they're thinking about is how to survive four days more safely."

The three of them talked and talked, but couldn't reach a conclusion.

Therefore, they all turned their attention to Fan Xiao.

Mercury, acting as their representative, asked, "Fan Zui, what's your opinion?"

"..." Fan Xiao said, "I'm wondering whether I should ditch you and act alone."

"Huh?" Jinna was taken aback and asked, "Why?"

"You're still asking me why..."

Fan Xiao said speechlessly, "You guys should at least take some time to try out the reasoning plan, right? Now you're not even trying, just throwing the problem at me... Are you giving up on thinking and not planning to use your brains?"

"It's not that we've given up thinking."

Mercury said, "Your guesses have always been accurate. I just felt that it would be more efficient to leave this to you. If we were to do it... it might be a waste of time."

"I'm telling you, old Mo..."

"I believe Wu!"

Mercury reminded them, "Mercury is just a nickname."

“It’s all the same,” Fan Xiao waved his hand. “I thought you were quite clever and decisive before. How come you’ve changed so much in such a short time?”

Fan Xiao discovered that he seemed to have a trait that could drag his teammates down.

Previously, when she went to dungeons with Lu Xining, the highest rating the girl could get was C or B.

Later, he and the Lu sisters split up, and when Lu Xining went into dungeons alone, her ratings consistently remained at B or A.

Although she doesn't receive A ratings very often, considering that she's only just turned 18, has little experience, and hasn't accumulated much wisdom... in short, her potential for development is quite significant.

There can only be one smart person in a team—it seems to be a rule.

"Don't worry about me."

Mercury asked, "Do you have any ideas about this?"

“What a coincidence,” Fan Xiao said with a smile, “there really is one.”

Upon hearing this, Jin Na and Luo Hao both looked over expectantly.

Chapter 170 A Honest Girl

Faced with the inquisitive gazes of his three companions, Fan Xiao shook his head and said, "Speculation can easily mislead those who lack their own opinions."

"If it's a conjecture I'm confident in, even if it hasn't been confirmed yet, I don't mind telling you."

"But if we're not sure... let's verify it first. We need to find at least one or two pieces of evidence to support its possibility, right?"