Hao Hao was surprised, but she still got up and followed Cheng Shuili.
If they asked questions directly, those attendants probably wouldn't answer, would they?
But the boss had already made her own decision, and since Hao Hao had made up her mind to follow her, she wouldn't easily speak up to contradict her.
That's right!
Whatever Crow told her to do now, she would do.
Unless Crow was obviously telling her to go to her death.
She still wanted to live well.
The two followed one another and found an attendant who looked relatively pleasant.
Cheng Shuili gripped her blade and, with a mix of extreme courtesy and utter lack thereof, tapped the attendant's spine with the back of her blade.
This action seemed to trigger some kind of taboo; the attendant's head rotated a full one hundred and eighty degrees, turning around neatly just like that to face Cheng Shuili and her companion.
Both the degree of the neck's rotation and the attendant's bulging eyeballs were exceptionally terrifying.
But Cheng Shuili was truly used to it.
Hao Hao, on the other hand, let out a short scream after a moment.
It didn't sound like she was scared; it sounded like she was deliberately making the noise to respond to the attendant's impressive performance.
Cheng Shuili: “...”
Although they hadn't been together long, this wasn't surprising.
After all, this was someone who would pull out an axe even when being deceived, ready to take action at any moment.
The attendant wore a standard smile and asked, “Dear guest, is there anything I can help you with?”
Cheng Shuili didn't change her expression; she even pushed Night Hunt forward, letting the back of the blade rest more comfortably against the attendant's spine, her tone as casual as if she were asking for directions: “Do us a small favor. Help us identify something.”
With her other hand, she held the scrap of paper that had fallen from the dead attendant and waved it in front of the attendant's hollow eyes: “Is this thing an attendant mark?”
On the paper, the eerie smiley face pattern seemed to come to life, slightly distorting in the flickering light of the banquet hall.
The attendant's standardized smile froze instantly.
Its hollow eyes stared fixedly at the paper, pitch-black whirlpools seemingly churning wildly within them. Its already pale skin shed all remaining color, turning as white as plaster.
Its body began to tremble violently, and a strange “clucking” sound emerged from its throat.
“No... impossible... how could you... possess...”
Its voice was intermittent, filled with extreme fear and a certain deep-rooted reverence, “Profane... this is profane! The mark... is not allowed to be detached...”
Oh.
Cheng Shuili understood. She carefully put the paper away before looking at the attendant again.
It was like a progress bar when the internet cuts out; it tried desperately to move forward, but couldn't take a single step.
Cheng Shuili was ready to take action, but it acted as if it had never been triggered, sitting back down to pick up its knife and fork.
Hao Hao watched from the side, dumbfounded, subconsciously swallowing her saliva: “Boss, your way of asking questions... is really direct.”
She added to herself: And really scary, too.
Cheng Shuili shrugged indifferently: “As long as it’s effective.”
She turned her gaze to other areas of the banquet hall.
The battle between the Panshi and Kyle teams and the impostors was nearing its end.
Although the impostors were strong, they certainly couldn't compare to several players from the teams attacking at once. Their defeat was only a matter of time.
As one battle ended, a few more monster corpses appeared on the floor. On the players' side, one member of the Kyle team had sustained a significant injury, their arm grazed by a poisonous claw and turned pitch black; they were currently receiving emergency treatment.
The Panshi team had no casualties, though they had expended a great deal of energy.
The players gathered again. This time, everyone's gaze was focused on Cheng Shuili, filled with inquiry and awe.
They had clearly been won over.
Panshi wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke first, his tone more solemn than before: “Crow, we obtained some information on our end. Perhaps we should share it.”
He glanced at Kyle. Kyle's expression was ugly, but he still gave a stiff nod.
Cheng Shuili was noncommittal: “Let’s hear it.”
Panshi organized his thoughts and spoke quickly: “The impostor we subdued revealed at the last moment that the so-called island-core passage is not on the outskirts of the island, but right beneath our feet. But it didn't have time to say exactly where.”
Kyle added coldly, with a hint of reluctance: “The news we got on our side is similar. That monster also mentioned that dessert time is the final segment. If we haven't managed to reach any of the endings by this stage, we’ll have no choice but to die.”
No choice but to die?
Cheng Shuili didn't think so.
Compared to finding an exit and escaping this place, she hoped more that the ending would be the guests overthrowing this feast.
It’s just...
Cheng Shuili had noticed an abnormality long ago, and now that abnormality had been magnified infinitely.
If players were divided into two identities, attendant and guest, how could the attendants win?
The Weaver's original words at the time were “the attendant's goal is to maintain the order of the feast.”
But could one survive just by maintaining the order of the feast?
To put it another way, was that really the condition for victory?
Cheng Shuili frowned, feeling that she shouldn't question the system announcement outside the dungeon, but thinking of the Weaver's tone and that gloating face...
She felt that she would have a problem if she didn't doubt it!
Were the players really divided into two factions?
Her gaze swept across all the players present. When they were free to move around just now, she had heard several players ask the attendants about their identities, using the same method Cheng Shuili had used.
So...
“Since we're going to talk, let's talk openly.” Cheng Shuili's voice was clear and calm: “Before discussing our next move, one thing must be determined: are there any attendants among us?”
She paused, looking at everyone's drastically changing expressions, and continued: “During our free time just now, I saw people learning my method to ask the attendants for their identity. Now, I need to know the result. If you believe your identity is an attendant, stand forward.”
The air froze instantly.
The players looked at each other, their eyes filled with suspicion and wariness.
Everyone knew how deadly this question was; whether they were comrades or enemies depended entirely on their identities!
A moment later, a team that had been huddled in the corner walked out, and they pushed one person forward from among them.
The person pushed out was pale, looking timidly at Cheng Shuili.
It was a player from another region: “I... I asked... it said I was an attendant...”
As these words fell, the scene fell into a deathly silence.
Just as everyone thought this person was done for, they heard Cheng Shuili give a light click of her tongue.
The expression on her face could be described as exasperated at their incompetence, “You mean to say, you all...”
Cheng Shuili counted simply, “Your team of seven, only you yourself are an attendant, and everyone else is a guest?”
Being asked this by Cheng Shuili, the player pushed forward turned even paler, his lips trembling as he could barely stand.
The six teammates behind him also had varying expressions; some eyes darted away, some showed anxiety, yet no one stepped forward again.
“Y-yes...” the player's voice was as thin as a mosquito's, “Only I... after asking, it said I was an attendant...”
Cheng Shuili's gaze was like a cold blade, slowly sweeping across that team of seven: “You six, did you not ask, or was the answer you received that you were guests?”
A person in the team who looked like the leader bit the bullet and spoke: “I am a guest.”
With her taking the lead, the others followed and stated their results.
“I am a guest too.”
“Me too.”
“I asked, and the attendant said I was a guest too.”
...
After listening to these people's babbling answers, Cheng Shuili couldn't help but laugh, “So you didn't question it? You are a team, and everyone except him is a guest? Only he is an attendant? Do you think that’s reasonable?”
Cheng Shuili's words were like a thunderclap, blowing that team apart as they looked at each other, the color drained from their faces.
The attendant player who had been pushed out suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with the anger and despair of being deceived, and he stared fixedly at his teammates: “I know now! I was deceived! The person I asked wasn't an attendant at all; they were an impostor!”
Isn't it too late to realize that now?
Cheng Shuili's gaze turned among the crowd, and sure enough, Panshi and Kyle both had that speechless expression on their faces.
Almost everyone present could guess most of it, only this team...
“Bosses, we paid a fee to get in. Seven people, a full seven thousand game coins, unlike you.” The leader woman's voice carried a sob, her face full of regret and despair, “We are just ordinary players, and we can't survive anymore. There's a loan shark in our region, and we only borrowed the game coins after pulling strings, thinking that since we're going to die anyway, we might as well come in and take a gamble.”
This...
Cheng Shuili didn't say anything more.
They were indeed pitiful, but this damn place wasn't about who was pitiful being in the right.
Stupidity requires paying the price for one's own stupidity.
“So,” Panshi frowned tightly, unable to help but speak: “There are no attendants among us? Everyone’s identity is guest?”
Kyle still couldn't help but retort: “That information wasn't a clue we found after coming in. That message was announced by the system calling itself the Weaver! How could it be fake?”
Hao Hao immediately choked him back: “So you think that Weaver is credible? Listening to its tone during the announcement, it couldn't wait for more players to die.”
“Of course it's not credible.” Cheng Shuili took up the thread, her tone resolute, “Precisely because it is the system, one of the masters of this game, it is even more likely to lie. The so-called faction division was meant to make us kill each other from the beginning, or... to make us think of ourselves as attendants and willingly walk to the slaughterhouse.”
Her words made everyone's spine go cold.
“Think carefully about the attendant's goal, maintaining the order of the feast...” Cheng Shuili repeated the Weaver's words, a cold, mocking curve on her lips, “Maintaining order, isn't that just letting the feast continue forever? Every second in this place has the possibility of violating the rules; the longer the feast continues, the greater the probability of death.”
As her words fell, everyone's expressions became grave.
A moment later, Panshi spoke, confirming Cheng Shuili's speculation, “I would rather believe the clues we found in the dungeon. The card dropped by the attendant is written very clearly; they won't lie, and the identity we got by using our forgiveness opportunity to ask must be true. Since everyone is a guest now, the Weaver's words are naturally fake.”
His team member followed up: “Regardless of whether the Weaver's words are true or false, our identities are definitely not fake. Since we are all in the same faction, we should...”
His voice suddenly stopped as he looked up at Cheng Shuili, asking with a trace of hope: “Can we cooperate now?”
This...
Cheng Shuili was truly a bit helpless.
How come these guys only know how to rely on others?
They aren't a team! They aren't even from the same region!
Don't they understand the simple principle that relying on people leads to them running away, and relying on mountains leads to them collapsing?
Cheng Shuili looked at Panshi, intending for him to properly educate his team members, only to see the same hope in his eyes.
Cheng Shuili: “...”
What?
Isn't this a team cooperation dungeon?
How did it become her own home court?
If Hao Hao knew what Cheng Shuili was thinking, she would probably feel speechless too.
This is no team cooperation dungeon; it is clearly a case of the boss carrying the whole show while a bunch of dead weight waits to be carried.
Cheng Shuili rubbed her temples, suppressing that bit of helplessness.
Fine, if she has to carry them, she will; she never counted on anyone else anyway.
“Cooperation is fine.” Her voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, “But I call the shots.”
No one objected.
In the face of absolute strength and clear thinking, seniority and pride have to stand aside.
“Now, everyone listen up.” Cheng Shuili sped up her speech, “I obtained a clue not long ago. Killing too many attendants might lead to dissatisfaction from the Faceless Jester. I suspect this is also a rule, just not directly disclosed. So, if it’s not necessary, it’s best not to kill attendants.”
Seeing the confused expressions on everyone's faces, Cheng Shuili kindly explained: “The Faceless Jester is that host.”
The players' faces were first blank, then filled with fear.
They might not know exactly what that name represented, but linking the words host and dissatisfaction was enough to make them understand the danger.
“C-can't kill attendants? Then... then the ones we killed before...”
“Before is before, after is after.”
Cheng Shuili interrupted him, her tone calm and filled with a certainty that made it impossible for anyone to question her.
Hao Hao watched from the side, gently biting her lip.
Of the people present, only she and Cheng Shuili knew that the piece of paper dropped by killing an attendant was the key item for escaping the island.
To put it more seriously, that thing was even tied to the players' lives.
For Crow to say this, and even come up with a clue that even she didn't know about...
Hao Hao lowered her eyes. She had followed behind Crow since entering the dungeon, it could be said she never left her side, so when exactly did Crow get this clue?
And if they don't kill attendants, how are they supposed to leave?
Is Crow trustworthy?
Hao Hao asked herself this question in her heart.
Her lowered eyelashes trembled twice, she pressed her upper lip tight, and said nothing.
Since she chose to team up with Crow, and since she entered the dungeon with her, she should trust Crow.
And...
She had heard some things about Crow from the Master of Slacking.
This person is trustworthy.
Rate on N.U.
