Chapter 32

Chapter 32 Clues.

At the exact moment that player finished speaking, the same mechanical voice rang out in the minds of all surviving players—

[Player Zhang Lu has died.]

Upon hearing that announcement, the player standing before Ning Rong and Zhou Yujing instantly broke down.

Her already fragile nerves could no longer bear it.

She clutched her head and cried bitterly. "Another one died, another one died! No one can escape, no one!"

After shouting that, she ran off like a madwoman.

[Seems like this instance only came out not long ago?]

[Yeah, it's a new game. The difficulty isn't low. So far no player has cleared it. Of course, excluding someone like Yuan Pei who used an item.]

Ning Rong looked in the direction that player had run off toward and remained silent for a long time. That player was already mentally incoherent and looked to be in terrible condition.

In such a short amount of time, she had already encountered two players whose emotions had completely collapsed.

Just as she was about to go search for information with Zhou Yujing, two unfamiliar voices came from behind them.

"I actually got assigned to an A-rank instance?"

"Why doesn't this game have a system introduction? What's this game about?"

Ning Rong subconsciously turned around to look.

The two newly arrived players happened to be one man and one woman, both looking to be in their early twenties. The boy had dyed white hair, the girl had dyed red hair. They also looked like a couple and had probably entered the game together.

Looking at these two suddenly appearing new players, a guess suddenly surfaced in Ning Rong's mind.

Yuan Pei had left the game, and another player had just died. The game had happened to lose two players.

And now, two players had arrived at the same time. Was it a coincidence, or did the game always maintain the same number of players?

After seeing Ning Rong and Zhou Yujing, the girl greeted them.

"Hello."

After speaking, she looked around.

"Are there only four players in this game? Then it shouldn't be hard to clear, right?"

Generally speaking, the difficulty of a game was positively correlated with the number of players. The fewer players there were, the easier the game was to clear.

Ning Rong said, "There are more than four of us. I've encountered three other players."

The white-haired boy was lowering his head to inspect the floor tiles and Persian carpet. Hearing that, he raised his head and asked, "Where are those three players?"

Ning Rong replied flatly, "One cleared it, one died, one went insane."

White Hair and Red Hair: ???

No, what kind of situation was this?

In games, player deaths were not uncommon, but how could someone go insane?

Both White Hair and Red Hair felt a bad premonition rise in their hearts. They were both veteran players who had been in the game for several months and had survived until now through luck and narrow escapes. The current situation was simply unheard of to them.

The red-haired girl carefully asked, "Um... may I ask how the one who cleared it managed to do so?"

Ning Rong answered concisely, "Item."

After saying that, she lost interest in continuing the conversation and directly left with Zhou Yujing. Only after the two of them had gone did White Hair and Red Hair belatedly realize that Ning Rong had only cleared two games!

The red-haired girl looked shocked.

"No way, how did a newcomer who only cleared two games enter an A-rank instance?"

White Hair said impatiently, "How would I know? Hurry up and search for clues. I have a feeling this game isn't going to be easy."

This villa was huge. Not only did it have a basement, it also had a small garden and a small swimming pool. Ning Rong planned to start searching from the basement, then work her way upward.

Zhou Yujing listened to her in everything, so naturally he had no objections.

The basement of the large villa was also spacious and bright. Quite a few wine jars were placed below, and the air carried the fragrance of grape wine.

Rather than calling it a basement, it would be more appropriate to call it a wine cellar.

The construction cost of this villa was definitely enormous, but unfortunately it was too empty and deathly silent. Every corner revealed a sense of loneliness.

Along the way, they had not encountered a single NPC, which was clearly very unusual.

Whether it was the first game instance, Countdown, or the second game instance, One-Thirty, there had been NPCs to communicate with. But in this villa, aside from players, it seemed there was no other existence at all.

Of course, they had not encountered many players either. They had entered the game nearly half an hour ago, yet Ning Rong still did not even know how many players there were in total.

The grape wine in the cellar had clearly already aged for some years. A thick layer of dust covered the wine jars. The smell of wine was rich, like fully ripened grapes.

Ning Rong casually opened a jar of grape wine and even poured some of the liquid out.

Unlike ordinary grape wine, the wine here was so richly colored it looked like red paint. It should have been a clear and transparent liquid, yet it carried a slightly viscous feeling. The liquid spilled across the basement floor little by little. The scene truly could not be called pleasant.

[The little newcomer is really bold, directly pouring out the wine. Isn't she afraid of triggering some buff and running into danger once the 24-hour safe time ends?]

[You should know all her items were sealed! Her mental fortitude is truly unbelievable.]

[Clearly some players become more and more cautious the more games they enter. Why is she completely different?]

[Good, good, good. Zhou Yujing actually has two substitute dolls. He already took them out, and the little newcomer took one. This way she at least has one life-saving item.]

[Weren't Zhou Yujing's substitute dolls all given by Ning Rong? If substitute dolls weren't purchase-limited, the big sister boss would probably empty out the entire shop.]

[Suddenly I feel like two people being bound together into an instance isn't without advantages. At least when one person's items are sealed, the other's can still be used.]

[Yuan Pei ran fast enough. If he had stayed behind, the ending really would've been hard to say.]

Aside from wine jars, the basement also had some wine-brewing tools, all of which looked full of age.

Seeing there was nothing else noteworthy in the basement, Ning Rong and Zhou Yujing planned to head upstairs. After she walked up a few steps, she accidentally noticed a dust-covered notebook behind one of the wine jars. The notebook's color was similar to the jar, so she had overlooked it at first.

Zhou Yujing walked over in a few strides, picked up the notebook, and handed it to Ning Rong.

Ning Rong opened it and took a look.

In the thick notebook, there were actually three different handwritings.

And the ones who had left the writing were likely all players.

Which meant at least three players had written words in this notebook.

[2222.06.01

This game instance is called Amnesia. Other than that, no more information was revealed. I don't even know what the main storyline of this instance is, but if I had to guess blindly, it should be survival.

But as for how to clear it, I currently have no clue at all. After all, I've searched the entire villa and small garden, yet I haven't seen a single NPC.

If this keeps going, am I really going to lose my memory later?

Well then, I just happened to pick up this unused notebook, so I'll conveniently record some things.

I am Shen Songxiao, an old player with half a year of game experience. My initial skill is Explosion. This is my first time entering an A-rank instance. I hope I can clear it smoothly.]

Ning Rong looked at the date and fell silent.

That time was only twelve days ago.

After reading the notebook's words, Zhou Yujing said, "Perhaps this senior is still in the game."

Ning Rong gave a sound of agreement and continued turning the pages.

[2222.06.02

The safe period has passed. As soon as the official game time arrived, I lost a piece of memory. I still remember who I am, what identity I have, and what I need to do here. I need to survive and successfully find a way to leave this place. But suddenly I can't clearly remember what I was doing before entering the game.]

[2222.06.02 13:17

No choice. I can't write just once a day anymore, because I discovered that every hour that passes, I lose a piece of memory. So from now on I will probably write once every few hours.

I still remember who I am, what identity I have, and what I need to do here, but I can't remember things from my childhood anymore.

The speed of memory loss is too fast, but I don't know how to leave this game. I have no clue at all. During this period, I encountered two players. Like me, they were completely confused about the game.

There should be many players in this game, but we can hardly run into each other. I still can't determine exactly how many players are here, but if I had to guess blindly, there are at least ten players.]

[A high player count is not a good thing at all, because that means this game is truly very difficult.

Today is June 2nd. I am still trying hard to find a way out.]