HM Chapter 32

Everywhere was filled with the stench of decay, numbing the players' senses to the point of dullness.

In what felt like an eternity of minutes, they encountered more ghosts and monsters than they had seen in all their previous games combined. Deformed walking corpses, rotting grotesque creatures, and ghosts trapped in the villa, all desperately craving the flesh and blood of the living—

Even after they worked together to reach the first floor of the villa and break through the main door, they still faced thousands of evil beings converging from the snowy landscape.

There was no retreat, and no hope in sight.

Skirt was panting lightly, her breath forming a white mist in the cold air, obscuring her expression.

Despite the freezing environment, her body was heating up, her blood boiling, and her heart pounding furiously. The overwhelming scene of countless ghosts attacking put her under extreme mental pressure, and she felt like a taut string about to snap at any moment.

"Skirt."

She heard Yuan Yuxue's cold, clear voice. He approached her quickly, reminding her, "You're bleeding."

Only then did Skirt realize her nose was warm and bleeding. She was immediately embarrassed and hurriedly covered it with her hand.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I'm a bit nervous."

Who wouldn't be nervous in a life-or-death situation?

Gold handed Skirt a clean handkerchief, which she quickly used to wipe the blood away, thanking her. She felt not just a hot flow in her nasal cavity but also pain in her eyes and ears, especially in her ear canals, as if something was trying to burst out. However, given the situation, Skirt didn’t mention these seemingly trivial pains, choosing to endure them silently.

The four players with abilities were already too occupied to be distracted. Even focusing solely on killing the monsters, the safe zones they could maintain were shrinking. Now that they had left the villa, the monsters' attacks hadn't stopped but had instead surged like a zombie tide.

The distant sky was dark and thunderous, and the end of the monster tide was nowhere in sight.

Gold repeatedly refreshed the task panel, but the text remained unchanged, making her increasingly anxious.

They had no idea when the system's "survive until the update ends" would be—maybe in the next second, or perhaps they had to hold out for an entire day—

But they didn't have much time left.

The sky hadn't brightened, and despair quickly took root in their hearts.

Both physically and mentally, they were stretched to the limit. Captain and Curly's actions in using their abilities to clear the monsters had slowed significantly. Captain now seemed more willing to use weapons to tear apart the monsters' bodies rather than using his abilities.

Glasses' eyes were bloodshot; he finally closed them, his eyelids twitching, and a trickle of blood ran down from his tear ducts, making for a terrifying sight.

"Too many," Gold muttered to herself.

"...I have an idea," Skirt suddenly spoke up. She wiped away another trickle of nosebleed, looking quite disheveled. She said softly, "We're too big a target. If there were fewer of us, maybe someone could escape."

"Let's split up," she suggested quietly.

After leaving the villa, the situation was worse than they had imagined.

At this point, there was no need to insist on sticking together.

If they split up, the stronger players wouldn't be burdened and would only need to protect themselves. Even if they used their abilities and got exhausted, their chances of survival would be higher than if they had to protect the others.

And the more brutal, unspoken reality was—

There’s a joke that goes: When being chased by a beast, you don't need to outrun the beast; you just need to outrun your friends.

Ghosts, although craving human flesh, would choose easier targets. Just like in evil spirit games, the first players to be driven mad by the ghosts were always those with weaker wills and more inner demons.

They would attract the ghosts.

Skirt's proposal divided those with abilities and those without into two camps. It favored the former but sacrificed the latter's safety. Yet after she made the suggestion, there was no immediate rebuttal from the latter group.

Instead, in the brief silence, Blackie spoke lazily, "I agree."

He looked at the grotesque monsters with some disdain, adding, "When I got selected for this game, I was prepared to die someday. Didn't expect to stumble through a few levels, so it's worth it."

Dying in the monsters' mouths was just too pathetic.

Gold flipped her hair, looking nonchalant, "I don't have many tools left, but I'll try to survive as long as possible."

Skirt's legs, hidden under her long skirt, trembled slightly, and her fingers twitched uncontrollably.

She was scared.

Everyone should be scared.

But her expression remained perfectly calm, showing no weakness.

"By the way," Blackie turned to Glasses with a slightly challenging look, "You said you owe Yuan Yuxue twice... no, three times. It's time to repay those favors. Don't suddenly get amnesia."

Glasses' lips tightened, he quickly pushed up his glasses to hide his expression, and replied coldly, "I don't need you to remind me."

Gold also spoke, "Yuan Yuxue led us through the prank game. We all owe him a favor. Curly, you said you'd protect Yuan Yuxue. Does that still count?"

Curly might not fully grasp the situation, but he was quicker to speak than to think, "When have I ever broken my word? Besides, Glasses, is it your job to guarantee?"

He always had a competitive and provocative attitude towards Glasses. Glasses didn't argue, seemingly too tired to engage in a meaningless conflict.

Skirt's trembling was now less noticeable.

So she gently tugged at Yuan Yuxue's sleeve to get his attention.

Yuan Yuxue, lost in thought, turned his calm gaze towards her, his long, dark lashes fluttering slightly, looking at her with a hint of curiosity, "Hmm?"

"Yuan Yuxue," Skirt said softly, "you must try to survive."

"I will also try to survive."

Her voice cracked slightly at the end, sounding almost comical, but Yuan Yuxue didn't laugh at her.

He simply stared at her reddening eyes and calmly analyzed, "...0% survival rate."

If the team were to split up, this was the probability he had calculated based on her physical condition and the current enemy threat level.

In fact, Yuan Yuxue had just been analyzing whether his remaining energy would be enough to completely clear the ghosts before burning out.

The probability was also 0%.

This was an impossible task unless timely reinforcements arrived; going forward now was like slowly initiating a self-destruct sequence.

Ignoring the program's warning, Yuan Yuxue confirmed once more, "Do you want to leave?"

"Not leave, just temporarily split up," Skirt forced a relaxed expression, but her nose twitched again, "Yuan Yuxue, thank you. Doing tasks with you was reassuring."

It was just a pity there wouldn't be a next time.

Yuan Yuxue withdrew his gaze from her.

[Confirming target in danger.]

[Activating Robot's Third Law.]

While everyone else was still overwhelmed by the oppressive atmosphere, Yuan Yuxue suddenly stepped forward—leaving the safety zone constructed by the players and plunging into the mass of monsters.

In that instant, he moved with incredible speed, agility maxed out. Even Skirt beside him, along with Captain and Curly, took a few seconds to realize whose figure it was.

Their first reaction was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

The thought that Yuan Yuxue might be under some unique ghostly mind control flashed through their minds as they watched him vanish into the horde, hearts pounding in fear.

Curly's eyes turned red, almost bursting with rage, "Yuan Yuxue—"

But there was no response.