Chapter 41: The Old Man’s Eerie Visage, Rules of the Hunt

Within the corridor, the two headless corpses on the floor were still twitching slightly.

The people present were like participants in a deadly game of Red Light, Green Light. Anyone who moved would have their head blown off instantly. The female player who had originally intended to run was now frozen in place, too terrified to move after Huang Ran’s stern reprimand.

Ji Yan was also struck with astonishment. No interaction required. Killing players directly, ignoring the apartment rules. He couldn't even see how the killing was being done. Where did this ghost come from? Was it truly a resident of the apartment?

It seemed that because no players were fleeing, the old ghost face did not continue its slaughter. At this moment, a warning panel appeared before Ji Yan.

"Player alert! You are in contact with an S-rank mission ghost. This entity is the core NPC of the main storyline and poses an extreme danger."
"For your own safety, discern the behavior that triggers its predation as quickly as possible!"

Seeing the prompt, a thin layer of sweat broke out on Ji Yan’s forehead. As expected, this was the mysterious thief! Just as Miss Xu had said, this thief didn't care at all how many players were out to catch it; it had come out tonight as brazenly as ever to continue digging into the walls.

Huang Ran, Liu Yitong, and the others had also received the game prompt and realized that this ghost was the very thief every resident player was tasked to catch. Their expressions turned comical. The thief had been found, but how the hell were they supposed to catch it?

At this moment, the old ghost face emitted an even higher-pitched shriek. Under the interference of this sound, all the players present felt dizzy and lightheaded.

"You all must have received the game notification by now," Huang Ran said, closing his game panel and warning his teammates. "This means the ghost has its own rules for hunting. As long as we obey them, it won’t kill us. As long as we don't run, the ghost won't..."

"Bang!"

Before he could finish his sentence, the female player standing in front of him, who hadn't dared to move an inch, suddenly had her head explode. A bloody patch of scalp landed on his shoulder, still radiating warmth.

Huang Ran’s eyes widened. What was going on? That woman hadn't turned to run, hadn't even moved recklessly—so why was she killed? Huang Ran, who had thought he had figured out the rules and was temporarily safe, turned pale.

Another player, seeing this, also looked panicked. He looked at Huang Ran in a panic: "Brother Ran, didn't you say we’d be fine if we didn't run? Why did her head explode?"

Huang Ran said nothing, staring grimly at the old ghost face. Behind him, Ji Yan narrowed his eyes. Liu Yitong’s pretty face had also gone pale; she spoke subconsciously: "Ji Yan, why..."

"We were wrong," Ji Yan said in a low voice. "The rules for this ghost's killing aren't about running."

"Then what are they?" Liu Yitong asked, her voice trembling.

Ji Yan pondered. He stared at the old ghost face and continued, "I have a guess, but I’m not certain yet."

"Then how can we be sure?"

"We'll be sure once a few more people die."

There were seven players left, including Ji Yan and Liu Yitong. In just a minute, another player’s head exploded, spraying blood. Two minutes later, another player dropped dead. Some players suffered mental breakdowns; they scrambled to run and, unsurprisingly, were killed instantly.

Inside the corridor, the thick smell of blood was suffocating and nauseating. To move was to die; to stay still was also to die. To make a sound was to die; to remain silent was also to die. This was killing with no pattern whatsoever—there was no behavior that could safely avoid the slaughter.

As time passed, new players wandered into the corridor. Seeing the bloody scene, they were confused, but the moment they realized something was wrong and tried to run, their heads exploded.

"Damn it, I shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess."
"I worked so hard to cultivate a family member in this dungeon, and now all my effort is wasted."
"Who the hell said there was safety in numbers and that this thief would only run away?"

The players were breaking down one after another. Ignoring the wails of the others, Ji Yan turned to Huang Ran: "I know the rules for the killing."

Huang Ran’s mouth twitched: "If you know, you know. Why are you telling me?"

"Because you have a gun." Ji Yan pointed at the old ghost face. "Although I don't know the specific rules of the hunt, if we can just make that face shut up, we should be able to resolve the crisis for now."

"Should?" Huang Ran looked at him coldly.

Ji Yan countered, "Do you have a better, more certain solution?"

"Why not try it and see?"

"You're the one in the most immediate danger right now. Based on our positioning, you're definitely going to die before I do."

Huang Ran: "How do you know I’ll die first?"

Ji Yan smiled faintly: "I just know."

Huang Ran’s expression darkened. Although he despised the man’s attitude, his words weren't without merit. The wailing of that ghost face was giving him a splitting headache. Gripping his ghost-gun, he raised it and fired at the face.

The ghostly bullet tore through the old face, which emitted a painful howl, and the massive body of the thief-ghost shuddered. A second later, a new old face grew on its back, emitting an even more nerve-shredding audio frequency.

The blond man clutched his head and looked at Ji Yan in agony: "Is this your damn solution?!"

Ji Yan spread his hands: "I said from the beginning, it was just a guess."

Worse, as if stimulated by that bullet, the black insects on the thief-ghost’s body suddenly began to crawl in dense swarms from the floor, spreading toward them. Seeing this, the last few players completely collapsed.

The moment the ghost-insects crawled onto his toes, one player jumped up in a panic. Before he could even land, his head exploded, spraying a mist of blood. Next was the female player behind him. Overwhelmed by terror, her psychological defenses crumbled, and she screamed: "I don't want to be bitten by these disgusting bugs, I..."

When her head exploded and she dropped dead, only Ji Yan, Huang Ran, and Liu Yitong remained in the blood-red corridor. The ghost-insects crawled over the corpses and continued to spread toward them.

Liu Yitong shook, clutching the sweater her grandmother had knitted for her in despair. Running meant getting her head blown off. Not running meant being gnawed to the bone by the ghost-insects. There was no way out!

Ji Yan suddenly grabbed Liu Yitong’s shoulder and whispered: "Let those bugs crawl on you. No matter what happens, don't react."

"Huh?" Liu Yitong was stunned. Ji Yan did not explain.

The ghost-insects reached Ji Yan first, who was in the front. They crawled onto his lower body and burrowed into his clothes. His flesh was being gnawed, and fresh blood began to flow. Liu Yitong and Huang Ran stared in horror.

But even with his lower body covered in gore, Ji Yan remained indifferent, calmly watching the mangled flesh.

"Ji Yan!" Liu Yitong covered her mouth, unable to hold back a cry.

Soon, both of them noticed something strange: even with his flesh shredded, Ji Yan remained calm, as if he felt no pain.

Ji Yan glanced at them: "Check your personal status, and you'll know the answer."

"My current status shows my Mental Value has almost bottomed out, but my Health Points are still full."

"This proves that everything we are seeing is just an illusion!"