"You can call me Cao Ran." The short-haired girl was very handsome, and her voice was as melodious as a clear spring: "Ranked 911 on the leaderboard."
Chen Xin's eyes darkened slightly before he looked at the purple-haired girl who was the first to speak but the last to report the information.
"Ziling, that's my name." Ziling unconsciously stroked her long hair. "Ranked 578th on the leaderboard, it seems I'm the highest-ranked person among everyone. So I'll volunteer to start and tell you what happened to me last night!"
No one else objected, which was essentially an acceptance of Zi Ling's statement as the leader.
“My roommate went to bed early yesterday,” Zi Ling said suddenly, her hair moving. “Are we safe here?”
“It should be safe,” Lu Shi said. “The apartment rules don’t say we can’t go out during the day. We just need to avoid our roommates and the staff.”
“Okay,” Zi Ling said, looking a little uneasy, but she quickly calmed down. “I originally wanted to test my roommate, but then something unexpected happened, as you probably heard.”
"Ah, it's the witch doctor! She scared me half to death!" Sherry exclaimed, her eyes widening dramatically. "If she weren't dead, she'd definitely be the highest-ranking one among us. But the fact that she's hiding among us makes it even more terrifying, so..."
Chen Xin interrupted Sherry: "But at least she told us one thing: the waiters here are indeed dangerous, so don't mess with them."
“And roommates can call in the waiters,” Han Baobao added, “So if we want to make a move on our roommates, we must be absolutely sure that we won’t attract the waiters.”
Lu Shi nodded throughout. He found that these players were very smart; they had thought of many things, and they had also considered them.
However, only Ye Bugui and he got up after midnight and found useful information.
While the other five players all ended up saying they slept until eight o'clock, Lu Shi finally shared his experience:
"I think everyone has noticed that our roommate falls asleep immediately after midnight."
The others nodded, waiting to continue their conversation upon landing.
Chen Xin stared at Lu Shi's face, biting her lip as if she were recalling something.
"So after I made sure he was asleep, I got up and crawled out from under the bed."
When Lu Shi said these words, it was like throwing a stone into stagnant water, immediately causing a splash.
They all stared at Lu Shi in shock, clearly not expecting this handsome, somewhat frail-looking male player to be so brave.
The fact that he has survived to this day proves that his actions were safe.
At this moment, Cao Ran expressionlessly raised the game console, scanned it upon landing, and the following appeared:
[Player's personal information has been kept confidential.]
She nodded and said to Han Baobao, who was leaning against her, "He's not a monster in disguise."
At this moment, Chen Xin interrupted Lu Shi: "I remember now, you are that Demon Lord who is very immersed in the role, the newcomer who is favored by Red Spider. I saw you on the game forum!"
Zi Ling, who had been playing with her hair, suddenly turned her head, and the look in her eyes as she looked at Lu Shi changed subtly.
Lu Shi nodded calmly: "Yes, it is me."
“Your reasoning is impressive.” Chen Xin bit his nail again. “It’s not surprising that you could figure that out.”
Lu Shi originally wanted to say that Ye Bugui had also discovered it. But considering that Ye Bugui had always tried his best to fit his persona, he held back.
"My thigh—no, the Demon Lord—told me about this through a coded message," Ye Bugui continued naturally, without surprising the others.
"So I not only got up, but also ran to the door and looked out into the hallway through the peephole."
Lu Shi's expression changed; he had only just found out about this himself.
It has to be said that Ye Bugui was much bolder than him.
"I think everyone smelled an enticing aroma last night, didn't they?" Ye Bugui didn't continue talking about what he had seen, but instead changed the subject and asked a question.
Although the other players were somewhat annoyed, they still answered his question by nodding.
"After midnight, the corridor gets really lively." Ye Bugui chuckled, but then suddenly lowered his voice: "There's a very strange-looking monster wandering around outside."
"Monsters?" Sherry covered her mouth. "What if these monsters break down the door and attack us?"
“They were just walking around last night, but who knows what will happen next,” Ye Bugui said casually. “Do you want to know what that monster looks like?”
Before anyone else could even answer Ye Bugui, he had already begun to describe it.
After hearing him describe the monster's appearance, almost all the players, except for Lu Shi and Chen Xin, showed expressions of discomfort.
"A baby has grown on your back?" Lu Shi asked rhetorically.
“It wasn’t a baby,” Ye Bugui said seriously. “Judging from that face, it must have been quite old. Thinking back on it today, I always feel like that thing on my back was sucking the blood of the Faceless Man.”
"Vampire?" Zi Ling frowned. "Is this kind of monster related to our dungeon?"
"I don't know." Ye Bugui shrugged. "I'm not good at deduction. This is all I saw last night. Maybe if we join forces, we can kill them first."
Chen Xin suppressed a grumble and said softly, "Killing monsters in dungeons is indeed common, but I think we need to understand their strength beforehand. And are you sure the waiter won't come after we kill them?"
“It’s not mentioned in the rules,” Lu Shi replied. “I think we can try anything that’s not mentioned in the rules.”
"Let's not talk about that for now," Zi Ling resisted the urge to touch her hair, as her unusual behavior would probably arouse suspicion from her teammates. She regained control of the situation: "Demon Lord, no, Lu Shi, tell me what you saw."
These players, unlike the viewers in the live stream, wouldn't find Lu Shi's persistent "verbal tic" strange.
In reality, as long as Lu Shi doesn't come up there intending to kill them, even if he walks upside down, the players won't care.
My roommate's phone fell to the ground.
At first, Lu Shi thought this was a plot that everyone would trigger every night, but after listening to their experiences, Lu Shi realized that he was the only one who triggered this plot.
To say that Lu Shi wasn't surprised would be a lie.
Upon hearing his words, the other players indeed looked over, even Ye Bugui, whose breath on Lu Shi's neck became heavier.
“It must be a coincidence.” Lu Shi ignored whether the others believed him or not, and continued, “I picked up the phone and unlocked it with my roommate’s face.”
In the Golden Hall, Wei Jin suddenly smiled. He wanted to shout into the crowd, "See? I'm the one who taught him how to use a cell phone!"
...
Han Baobao nudged Cao Ran's arm and said in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"We can't stay put any longer tonight, or we won't get any information."
Then Lu Shi briefly described the story he had seen on his phone.
Ye Bugui, unusually quiet, thought for a moment and then placed his hand on Lu Shi's shoulder.
She was about to comfort Lu Shi when she realized that it wasn't Lu Shi who had experienced this nightmare.
Sherry clenched her fists and said fiercely, "How can there be such a heartbreaking plot! Your roommate is so pitiful!"
Chen Xin twisted his arm with his left hand before speaking, "Perhaps each of our roommates has an unpleasant past, which is why we ended up living in this apartment? Cell phones are indeed very important props. Let's try them all out after midnight tonight!"
No one else objected, and they turned to look at Zi Ling.
Clearly, the information exchange phase has ended.
"During the day, we can't find anything in the house," Zi Ling said, forcing herself to speak. "What do you think, shall we go downstairs?"
"Are you crazy!" Cao Ran suddenly interrupted Zi Ling, "This is too dangerous! There will definitely be waiters downstairs!"
Lu Shi actually thought going downstairs was a risky choice, but apart from Zi Ling, the other four players strongly opposed it, so the proposal failed to pass with a vote of three to four.
"Actually, there are other people living on this floor besides us, right?" Ye Bugui spoke again, his thinking still unconventional: "Perhaps we can knock on their doors and see? These people are neither our roommates nor waiters, so they should be safe."
Han Baobao and Cao Ran exchanged a glance, and it was clear that they regretted it.
If they had known their teammates would be this crazy, they would have preferred to hide and refuse to cooperate.
After enduring a long period of restraint, Zi Ling finally broke down and started playing with her hair. She nodded and said, "I think it's a good idea. Besides the roommate, the apartment itself is also worth investigating."
“Before we begin,” Sherry took a deep breath, as if making a very difficult decision, “I can tell you about my character cards.”
She immediately felt several gazes on her, but Sherry explained nonchalantly:
"Don't worry, I won't force you to be as honest as I am. But I feel that since we've cooperated, I can't just stand by and watch you go to your deaths in such a dangerous operation."
As she said this, Sherry glanced at Ye Bugui and continued:
"My card is [Dead Prey]. As the name suggests, I am immune to a fatal attack. It can only be used once per instance."
Lu Shi first raised an eyebrow, and the description told him that this was a very strong ability.
But upon closer reflection, if this ability is used against a powerful monster, is immunity only required once to escape?
The answer is no, so this ability seems rather useless.
However, it is indeed very useful for scouting routes.
"Thank you." Lu Shi greeted her sincerely, "I know some Taoist techniques, I can help you if you are in danger."
This is also what Wei Jin taught Lu Shi, and this is the reason why his immortal techniques are more easily accepted in this world.
“Okay.” Sherry suddenly put on sunglasses, covering her slightly flushed cheeks.
They walked to the nearest guest room door, and then Sherry knocked on it.
A few seconds later, a tenant came out and opened the door.
He was a man wrapped in a bed sheet and scarf in the middle of summer, his face lifeless, and he was quite rude to this group of uninvited guests:
"Who are you? Get out of here!"
He shouted very loudly; the receptionist downstairs definitely heard him, but there was no reaction at all.
Lu Shi and Ye Bugui exchanged a glance; clearly, their behavior was also permitted.
"Hello," Han Baobao said with a smile as she stepped forward after seeing that there was no danger. "We, we are also residents of this apartment."
Her appearance did have an effect; at least the guest had the patience to listen to them continue.
After Han Baobao produced the room key that symbolized their identities, the guest completely abandoned his previous annoyance.
"New residents?" The man loosened his scarf slightly, revealing black spots on his neck. "I was wondering why I'd never seen you before!"
“It was the first time I slept here last night,” Han Baobao sniffed, her eyes even brimming with tears, making her look pitiful. “I… I was terrified.”
The man was indeed heartbroken, which made Lu Shi, who was standing to the side, shake his head.
"I wanted to ask you if you heard any strange noises last night?" Han Baobao was quite clever; even Ye Bugui thought her question was brilliant.
The guest's expression changed; the hand that was gripping the bed sheet was now on the doorknob, as if he might kick them out at any moment.
"I...I didn't. Go ask someone else!" he urged.
"Wait a minute," Han Baobao quickly asked, "Don't you think there's someone under the bed?"
The guest immediately covered his ears in terror and screamed: