Chapter 79: Hopeless Sea |
While the other players were still grappling with the fish on their plates, Qi Si slipped back upstairs and made a beeline for the backpacker's room.
The room nearest the staircase was fairly neat, though a wooden window hung suspiciously wide open.
After its owner had vanished without a trace, the hiking backpack sat on the nightstand, its zipper pulled taut.
It seemed Lu Li's speech had made an impact after all. The players had donned their moral pretenses once more, maintaining a veneer of decency under the young professor's watchful eye and refraining from the practice of looting the dead.
Qi Si stepped forward and unzipped the hiking backpack.
It was stuffed with books of all shapes and sizes, thick and thin.
He pulled one out and looked at the cover—*A Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes*.
Well, Qi Si thought, our friend here must have been quite the comedian.
Qi Si pulled out another book. The cover depicted two men who were clearly comedians, and the title read, *The Unrivaled Jesters*.
Qi Si felt like he was the butt of some cosmic joke. He even started to suspect someone had beaten him to it, clearing out anything of value.
The sound of footsteps drifted up from the staircase. He quickly zipped the bag shut, set it back where he'd found it, and stepped aside, feigning an inspection of the surroundings.
A moment later, Angela, with her shock of green hair, stormed into the room.
She stopped short, clearly surprised to find someone had beaten her to it.
Qi Si offered a gentle, well-timed smile. "I just arrived myself. Thought I'd see if I could find any clues. A living person is bound to leave some kind of trace, and it might help us clear this instance."
...*As if.*
Angela shot him a look, then, without any coyness, marched straight to the nightstand and unzipped the backpack.
Qi Si watched as the girl's expression shifted from confusion to surprise, then to disappointment, and finally to suspicion. His own mood brightened considerably.
Having searched the backpack, Angela then patted down the bed, but her efforts yielded nothing.
She glanced at Qi Si, who was watching the spectacle from the side. A sly smile touched her lips as she leaned in. "Si Qi, what's your take on the function of money?"
"Well, I've heard the saying that money makes the world go 'round."
Qi Si recalled the banknotes that had vanished from Yuna's hand. He lowered his gaze and added, "Although from the looks of it, the ghosts on this island can't seem to save a dime."
Angela lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Don't you find the side missions in this instance a little... incongruous? We're all supposed to be working together to escape this island, yet the game has designed this three-faction rivalry. And the reasons for it are so flimsy..."
Qi Si arched an eyebrow, prompting her to go on.
Angela explained, "I suspect the money is a stand-in for our lives. The more you have, the longer you survive. If you look at it that way, the rivalry makes perfect sense. The total amount of money available to players is finite. The only way to get more is to kill other players."
Qi Si cut her off. "But from what we've seen, when a player dies, their money vanishes with them."
"No, that only happens when they die at the hands of the island's entities." Angela leaned in even closer. "Have you ever thought about... trying to kill another player?"
A faint, unreadable smile touched Qi Si's lips. "Aren't you afraid I'll repeat this little theory of yours to Lu Li?"
Angela laughed, a bright, sunny laugh that belonged on the face of a naive young girl. "You won't. Because you're thinking the exact same thing, aren't you? We're the same, you and I..."
The familiar scene stirred a memory. Images of Zou Yan and Zhou Yilin flickered through his mind, and the smile on his face twisted into something more sardonic. "The last person who said that to me," he murmured, "is already dead."
Angela's smile didn't falter. Her tone was taunting. "You can't kill me, Mr. Noble."
Seeing Qi Si's fixed, silent gaze, she let out a theatrical sigh. "I must admit, you and Chang Xu make for a conspicuous pair. I couldn't resist using an Insight Card on you. And it seems," she added, "it paid off."
Qi Si's breath hitched. "You've investigated Chang Xu? I'm certain I've never revealed a single thing about myself on the forums."
Angela grinned. "He's made quite a name for himself recently. You don't need to investigate to recognize a name like his."
With that, the girl strode out of the room, seemingly certain that Qi Si wouldn't reject her proposition.
Qi Si watched her retreating figure in silence. The darkness on his face slowly dissipated, replaced by a placid calm.
One thing was certain: this instance contained players with special items. And, like Angela, they would probably misjudge his identity based on their preconceived notions.
Veteran players might have more experience, a deeper understanding of the game's nature, but in this faction-based instance, everyone started on a level playing field. They knew their own roles, but not the alignment of others.
He may have been a newcomer, but that didn't necessarily put him at a disadvantage.
Qi Si descended the stairs and met Chang Xu on the landing.
Chang Xu said calmly, "I was just coming up to find you. The others have already set out. Do you have a plan for today's exploration?"
"It's not too late for us to head out." Qi Si glanced at his pocket watch, smiling. "I was thinking of checking out the clock tower. Do you want to split up, or come with me?"
"Together."
A dense coconut grove separated the inn from the clock tower. The trees grew unnaturally close, huddled together in a way that defied the laws of nature. A narrow, winding path, nearly swallowed by vegetation, snaked through the grove, and the massive tropical leaves obscured all lines of sight.
Fortunately, the clock tower was tall enough that it remained a constant, distant beacon, guiding their way.
With Chang Xu in the lead and Qi Si following, they made their way toward the clock tower.
As they drew near, the trees on either side began to thin, revealing a flat, open clearing before the tower. Qi Si came to a halt at its base just as the bell at the top chimed six times. By the island's peculiar timekeeping, it was noon.
The towering, jet-black structure was starkly religious in its architecture, a jagged scar against the orange-yellow sky.
Facing the inn was a low bronze door, thick vines cascading down the walls around its frame. The surface of the door was covered in patches of rust.
Qi Si slid a thin wire from his bracelet, inserted it into the rusted keyhole, and gave it a twist.
With a sharp *click*, the lock gave way. He glanced back at Chang Xu. "Shall we?"
Chang Xu's gaze was inscrutable. "Well," he said, invoking the age-old sentiment, "we've come this far..."
Qi Si immediately stepped back, gesturing for Chang Xu to go first. "After you. I'll bring up the rear."
...
"I was poor back in the day," Zhang Hongfeng said, "so I did whatever work came my way. Picked up a few trades, too. I apprenticed under an old master, a woodcarver. He made model ships, and after watchin' him for a while, I got the hang of it myself..."
In the coconut grove, Zhang Hongfeng shaved a piece of wood with a knife, rambling on as he worked.
Liu Yuhan sat nearby, listening quietly as she clutched a notebook. She held a quill pen, occasionally scribbling or sketching on its pages.
This was her skill: the Strange Talk Notebook. She could use it four times per instance.
By spending enough time meticulously recording everything she saw and heard in an instance, key hints about the solution would appear on the pages. If she was lucky, it might even reveal the optimal path to victory.
It was fair to say that her reputation for writing brilliant instance guides was owed in large part to this skill.
In the Hopeless Sea instance, the first hint she'd received was: *Beware the Scholar*.
On the surface, it seemed to state the obvious. She was a Noble; of course she had to be wary of Scholars, whose mission was to kill Nobles.
But she couldn't shake the feeling that it meant something more.
Did it mean she should be wary of all Scholars, or one specific person with the Scholar identity?
Was there some dangerous individual among the players she needed to handle with extreme caution?
Liu Yuhan couldn't figure it out, and she didn't dare voice her suspicions. All she could do was remain on guard around everyone.
The second hint she received was a single word: *Boat*.
After breakfast, she had rallied a small group and followed the notebook's guidance deep into the grove. After digging for some time, they unearthed the ruined hull of a wooden boat buried in the sand.
The boat was dilapidated, but not beyond repair. With a few modifications, it could be made seaworthy enough to carry them off the island.
The Strange Talk Notebook indicated the boat could only carry four players. Liu Yuhan knew she couldn't save everyone. Escaping with those who chose to follow her, while leaving the others to find their own way out, was an outcome she could live with.
Every instance in the Weird Game had a solution. The chosen players were usually equipped with some of the skills needed to clear it; each ability was a piece of a larger puzzle, meant to be assembled through cooperation to form a complete picture.
Zhang Hongfeng's presence clearly corresponded to the "repair the boat" solution. The other players, she reasoned, must have their own paths to survival.
Having rationalized her decision, Liu Yuhan went back to deciphering clues, mentally organizing the instance's information so she could immediately post a guide after clearing it.
After some time, two of the players she had sent to scout the grove returned, their arms laden with coconuts.
One of them said cheerfully, "See? I told you there had to be other food on this island! To hell with those rotten fish!"
The other player flashed an obsequious smile at Liu Yuhan. "Here, Yuhan, have some of these for now. I'll go see if I can find any other tropical fruits!"
Liu Yuhan gave a polite nod. Thanks to the reputation she'd built on the forums, she was often treated with deference in instances like this, but she still wasn't comfortable with such overt enthusiasm.
After setting down the coconuts, the two players departed.
Zhang Hongfeng paused his work, cracked open a coconut with his knife, and offered it to Liu Yuhan. "Here, young lady. Folks like you who use their heads all day burn the most energy. Take a break."
Liu Yuhan shook her head. "No, thank you. I don't care for it."
The refusal was blunt, but fortunately, Zhang Hongfeng didn't seem to mind. He lifted the coconut to his own lips and began to drink.
The coconut water was sweet but not cloying, a perfect remedy for the heat. He'd been working hard all morning and was bone-tired; this was just what he needed to restore some energy.
He quickly drank his fill, then began to gouge out the coconut flesh with his fingers.
The faint, cloying scent of blood tickled her nostrils. Liu Yuhan's head snapped up.
Zhang Hongfeng's mouth was smeared with fresh blood, a crimson stream trickling from his chin down to his chest.
And the thing he cradled in his left hand was no coconut—it was a mangled, bloody human head!
A scream caught in Liu Yuhan's throat. She could only point at the savage spectacle before her, utterly speechless.
Seeing the terror on her face, Zhang Hongfeng shuddered. His consciousness seemed to surface as if from deep water, and clarity returned in a sudden rush.
He looked down. The sight of his blood-soaked hands made him stumble back and collapse onto the ground.
His hand trembled, and the severed head tumbled to the ground. It rolled for a moment before coming to rest upright and letting out a guttural roar in a language neither of them spoke.
But thanks to the Weird Game's translation function, they both understood the words clearly: "Run! Yuna is going to kill us! Watch out for Crouch! They're working together!"