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

"You just haven't seen it before, don't draw conclusions based on your shallow experience."

The gloomy man suddenly picked up where the female player with the katana left off, saying, "E-rank and D-rank dungeons vary in size."

"While there is a positive correlation between the size and level of a dungeon, it is not absolute."

"There are quite a few examples of E-grade being superior to D-grade, and D-grade being superior to C-grade. But you guys..."

He asked, "Dungeon creation is usually linked to reality. Since you are players from the 010 region who came here specifically to explore the dungeon, you must have heard about real-world information related to 'Kagasaki City', right?"

"No."

The female player with the katana said in a cold tone, "Shikazaki City doesn't exist on our side."

"What about Qingshan Academy?" the gloomy man continued to ask.

"nor."

Facing the gazes of the others, the female player with the katana replied, "Before we came in, we did some research based on the brief dungeon name information on the tickets. 'Green Mountain Prison' has no real-world counterpart."

"Whether it refers to prison, hell, or something else... we haven't figured it out yet."

"It's possible that the background of this instance is fictional."

"Whether it's fictional or not, let's find a way out first."

The brown-haired foreign male player suggested, "Let's all try attacking the space barrier together with our items. Maybe the barrier here isn't very thick, and we can break through it by attacking together."

"Heh... You think we can just attack like that? Then you lead the charge."

Behind Fan Xiao, the bald male player spoke in a mocking tone.

Not only him, but the remaining tattooed men and young male players in the cannibalistic camp also showed resistance to the proposal.

"Hmph, who knows what will happen after forcibly attacking the intercepting barrier?"

The tattooed man said, "Qingshan Academy is the safest place. This hint, on the contrary, suggests that there is danger in the courtyard and villa area. Recklessly acting in dangerous places... who knows what trouble you might cause!"

“Big brother is right,” the young male player next to him nodded in agreement.

"You're all so timid and afraid of everything. Why don't you just stand here and do nothing at all?"

Beside the brown-haired man, Bob, a black man, said coldly, "If we don't break through the barriers outside, when will we be able to break this deadlock? You can wait, but we can't!"

"Heh...did I stop you from touching it?"

The bald male player scoffed, "If you want to attack, then go ahead, I won't stop you."

"Attack together! Share the risks!" Bob, the Black man, frowned. "Nobody gets a free ride!"

"Are you teaching me what to do?"

The bald male player's face turned sinister.

Unlike his previous solo efforts, he now has three teammates, so he's not afraid of conflicts with other teams.

Perhaps some human players or demi-human players are using items to create fake IDs and impersonate others.

But cannibalistic players... a character that everyone hates, surely no one would impersonate them, right?

His teammates are definitely true teammates.

He didn't want to do something as dangerous as recklessly attacking the barrier blocking their way outside the wall.

At this moment, the brown-haired male player reached out to stop Bob from continuing to argue.

He said, "You can argue with me, but you have to come up with an alternative, right?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, this place will likely become increasingly dangerous over time."

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Fan Xiao took a step forward and spoke in the manner of a representative of the cannibalistic camp: "This place will become more and more dangerous... I agree with this view, but I do not agree with your other guesses."

"The assumption that Kagasaki City is just outside the wall is too presumptuous."

"We can't see the scenery outside, perhaps not because it's blocked, but because there's no need to block it?"

"The real reason is that this place... is only this big."

He smiled slightly and said, "Don't waste your energy trying to break through the barriers. There's a good chance you can't get out of this place."

"What makes you draw that conclusion?" Bob, the Black man, asked, frowning.

"What makes you think I can't draw that conclusion?" Fan Xiao retorted. "Are you discriminating against me?"

Bob: "..."

It’s endless, right?

"What's the basis for your judgment?" the brown-haired male player asked.

"There is no basis for this; it's just speculation and intuition."

Fan Xiao didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "I suspect that this instance's space has more than one layer of structure. In other words... there is an inner world here."

"The other world..."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yao nodded and said, "That is indeed very possible. Otherwise, according to your guess, there is no Kagasaki City outside, and this place is so small... that doesn't make sense."

"If there is an other world here, then it makes sense."

"I've heard of the Inner World... but it's rare. I've never encountered one before."

The brown-haired male player looked at Fan Xiao and asked, "You said there's an alternate world here, what's your basis for that guess?"

"It's very simple."

Fan Xiao pointed to the long table in the center of the courtyard and said, "Look at this table, look at the food scraps left on it, and look at the chairs all overturned around it..."

"Oh, right, these stools were originally arranged like this. They weren't deliberately misplaced by us players who came in early."

"It is clear that a party was held in this courtyard, but something went wrong in the middle of the party, causing the participants to panic and knock over chairs in their frantic escape."

He then pointed to the black, spoiled food on the table: "This table hasn't been cleaned in a long time, in years."

"If the owner of the villa successfully escaped, he will definitely come back to clean up the place after the accident is over."

"But he obviously didn't; there are two possibilities..."

Holding up two fingers, Fan Xiao continued, "Either the accident that happened here... or the disaster that has never stopped, and the people in the courtyard have not returned since they fled on the day of the gathering."

"Or, those who participated in the party didn't escape at all; they all disappeared."

“Coincidentally, there are spatial barriers outside the courtyard and the villa that prevent us from leaving. Don’t you think that’s also a hint? A hint that those of us who participated in the party really couldn’t escape.”

"Besides this hint, there is actually a second hint. What is the third clue that the dungeon gives us?"

"'If you find that everyone around you has disappeared, please be careful, you may have been targeted' - this should refer to the dungeon boss."

"That's what the female player with the katana said."

“The people around us have disappeared. It might not be that something happened to them, but rather that our own circumstances have changed,” Fan Xiao said. “For example, we might suddenly be dragged into the inner world by a dungeon boss, and our locations have changed.”

"That seems... to make some sense."

Guan Yao, acting as Fan Xiao's straight man, said, "Could those people who participated in gatherings in this courtyard have been swallowed up by the so-called inner world?"

"This matches your guess, that is, they failed to escape. They were gone as soon as they started running, so naturally no one came back to clean up the courtyard."

"If that's the case, Kagasaki City is very likely in the Otherworld, and Aoyama Academy is also in it."

The gloomy man agreed with this view: "But... how do we get in?"

"This is the next step—gathering intelligence."

Fan Xiao said, "Search the villa and courtyard thoroughly, don't miss any details."

“Every instance of a dungeon is bound to be limited by the evolution of the game, and must provide players with corresponding clues.”

"As long as the other world truly exists, we will always find the answer."

"I still believe in my point of view. The city of Kagasaki is just outside. If we can find a way to break through the barriers, we can get out."

The brown-haired male player said to Fan Xiao, "However, your guess is also somewhat possible."

"We can verify these two guesses together; they do not contradict each other."

"That sounds nice," the gloomy man said with a sneer, "Why don't you try attacking? Don't try to drag us down with you."

"..."

The brown-haired man frowned subtly.

His suggestion to attack the external spatial barriers was clearly motivated by the idea of ​​using others as pawns.

As a result, nobody bought into his argument...

D-level players are indeed more difficult to deal with than E-level players; they are all too cautious!

If only there were some hotheads around, they could just stir things up a bit and the problem would be solved.

"Since we have differing opinions, let's each do our own thing for now."

The brown-haired man did not insist.

He led his two teammates, Bob the Black man and the blonde woman, toward the villa's gate.

Seeing this, the other teams also ended their discussions, dispersed, and went about their own business.

Fan Xiao turned around, looked at the bald man, the tattooed man, and the young male player, and smiled, "Let's go gather intelligence. Remember to stay together at all times to avoid being targeted by other players if we get separated. We're the weaker party."

"The proportion of vulnerable groups... the cannibalistic players who enter dungeons is still too small compared to the other two types of players."

The bald man sighed, "Logically speaking, human players and demi-human players are not on good terms with us. Since they can unite, we should also increase the proportion of players on our side... You know, if only there was a place to report and provide feedback in this evolution game, I would definitely report this problem!"

"Damn it... I'm always on edge every time I enter a dungeon. Who is the real killer?"

"Stop complaining and deal with the problem at hand."

After offering a reminder, the tattooed man looked at Fan Xiao and said, "Brother, you're quick-witted. We'll have to rely on you a lot this time."

“Indeed, the task of devising strategies will be left to you.” The bald man chimed in, “Just let us know if you need anything.”

"It's up to you now."

Young male players also joined in the complimenting conversation.

Fan Xiao smiled and said, "No problem, no problem."

He didn't take all three of their words seriously.

Anyone can say nice things.

When it comes to actually directing people to do things, he's certain that these three guys will first weigh the pros and cons on their own side before deciding whether or not to listen to him.

Fan Xiao didn't rush to show anything to completely gain the basic trust of the three.

The dungeon has just opened, so it's not the time to scam people yet.

"The information within the courtyard is concentrated on the table and chairs. We already know what we need to know. What we lack now is a way to enter the inner world."

"Let's go to the villa and look for clues. We should focus on collecting books. If we can find the homeowner's diary, that would be even better."

"Who keeps a diary, even a decent person?" The bald man scoffed. "Reading books is more reliable. By the way..."

He suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, "The second hint in the game is 'Be a kind person'."

"Violating the dungeon rules will definitely not end well. Shouldn't we... pay attention to that?"

"For example, maintaining a kind heart and reducing conflicts with others?"

"You can keep an eye on it, but don't be too restrained. When the time comes, you still have to take action."

Fan Xiao said, "We've all eaten people, so from an ethical standpoint, we're definitely not related to the word 'kind'."

"In other words, even if we do nothing after we come in, we have already violated the rules of the instance."

"But the reality is definitely not like that, as that would undermine the fairness of the game."

"I think the 'kindness' mentioned in the instance hints must have something else in mind."

“Just be more discreet,” the tattooed man said, “but if someone provokes us, we don’t need to be polite. Heh…”

He let out a soft, vulgar laugh and said, "Including us, there are 19 people in this dungeon, including 5 women, all of whom are quite good-looking, and one of them is a real stunner..."

"Perhaps we'll have a chance to have an extra meal later in the dungeon."

"When that time comes, don't try to take that top-quality item from me."