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墨書 Inktalez
Before this stage, Xu Nuan and the others had encountered so-called System tasks or tricky Hidden Levels. Although they felt conflicted and worried when faced with choices that resembled a dilemma, they managed to complete them well. She clearly understood that one reason they could choose and succeed was that these choices were not directly tied to each of their progress in the game.
This was their first time undertaking individual tasks, and the content of Xu Nuan's task was something she could not accept. However, if she did not complete it, she would be trapped in this Survival Game forever, until death.
Only she knew her task, which involved another person. The System had just indicated that whether it involved humans or creatures, they all had to complete their tasks. Did this mean she could be a target for someone else?
The cruelty of the game suddenly escalated to a new level, catching her and the others off guard. She recalled those unfinished beings from last night and vaguely sensed that from this point on, the game would undergo a drastic change.
But why would there be such a change?
Xu Nuan felt uneasy; there were many sources of her anxiety, and she urgently needed someone to provide answers.
When she gathered with Xu Hang and the others again, she noticed a distinct shift in the atmosphere among them. As she had suspected, if her target was a person—one of her companions—then the targets of the others could also be one of the remaining few.
The notion that the target could be a human or a creature was inherently cruel. If it was a human, they wouldn’t be able to see any other Players within miles; thus, that human would be their companion. As for creatures, those were beings that could not be resisted by individual strength.
She could almost guess what the others' tasks were—tasks that seemed impossible to complete.
Only seemingly.
Xu Nuan revealed a faint smile in an angle unseen by the others. Each person standing here had their own goals. She wanted to continue progressing through the levels, to find Qin Yaojie alive and uncover the truth. If she died, no one would help her extinguish those grudges. Gu Ze needed to survive to help his father destroy this game; although he didn’t yet know how he would do it, without living through this, he couldn’t achieve anything. Xu Hang, Xie Huai, and Deng Yinyin also naturally desired to live. Moreover, having been drawn into this game by an unknown figure, they were even more eager to succeed in clearing levels to win the billion-dollar prize; otherwise, it would be a disservice to their struggles.
Five people with three different purposes and five distinct tasks.
Without acknowledging each other as companions, they harbored numerous conflicts and suspicions. After experiencing a series of life-and-death situations, they had reluctantly built some trust among themselves but still helped each other in a way that concealed their true intentions. However, this new System task instantly shattered the trust they had established.
For a moment, Xu Nuan thought this was the true face of the game. But she quickly dismissed such thoughts; how could someone who participated in designing this game create something so cruel?
She soon recalled those drugs and her fragmented memories, feeling uncertain again. In such a tense moment, her inner turmoil prevented her from calming down or rationally assessing what was about to happen around her.
The few people gathered together exchanged glances for a moment, and it was Xu Hang who spoke first.
"No matter what each of our tasks is, we are still a team. Even after completing our own missions, we still need to find the Supply Station, so for now, let's focus on searching for the Special Tree."
Xu Nuan noticed a slight tremor in Xu Hang's voice when he said this. If one didn't listen closely, they wouldn't have caught it, but her heart sank immediately; Xu Hang's mission seemed suspicious.
She couldn't help but glance at Gu Ze's expression, her curiosity piqued by his task. However, Gu Ze appeared calm and collected, wearing a gentle smile. Upon closer inspection, she felt that his expression conveyed a sense of distance—similar to how he usually was, yet somehow different. She couldn't quite pinpoint it.
As for Deng Yinyin and Xie Huai, the former struggled to hide her panic; typically loud and boisterous, she was surprisingly silent, which raised suspicion. The latter was consistently anxious, making it difficult to discern what his mission might be.
Xu Nuan realized that while she pondered these questions, she had begun to doubt those around her. Once doubt crept in, their journey would become much more challenging. She didn't want to feel this way, but she couldn't control her thoughts.
One by one, the others expressed their agreement with Xu Hang's words. No matter what had happened, they were still a team—companions who needed to move forward together.
Since they had accepted the task issued by the System on short notice, their lunch break was brief. They hastily ate some food before continuing on their way, and each of their faces showed signs of change.
Xu Nuan had hoped to use the lunch break to recover her strength but found herself dragging her increasingly heavy body along with the group while adhering to a principle of speaking little.
Even with personal missions assigned to them, the challenges they faced along the way did not diminish. Natural disasters like fierce winds and sandstorms or uniquely modified animals came at them relentlessly, leaving no room for respite.
As time ticked away without a moment to breathe, they began to probe into each other's tasks.
The first to initiate this probing was Deng Yinyin. She approached Xie Huai, whom she felt was relatively easy to handle given his unusual feelings toward her.
"Xie Huai," she said, "you look completely unfazed. Your task must be really simple and easy to complete, right?"
Even at this point, Deng Yinyin hadn't changed her direct style of speaking. Her words were pure nonsense; Xie Huai was already quite anxious—sweat beads forming on his thin and refined face—hardly someone who could be described as calm.
At the back of the group, Xu Nuan silently observed the interaction between the two, hoping to uncover some clues from their conversation.
It was rare for his crush to initiate a conversation, so Xie Huai wiped the thin layer of sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his Tactical Jacket, speaking in a hesitant manner.
"Uh... I'm not really sure about the difficulty of this mission. Maybe we can complete it before we reach the Supply Station."
Xu Nuan couldn't shake the feeling that Xie Huai had subtly glanced back as he spoke. Their current formation had Xu Hang leading at the front, followed by Deng Yinyin, Xie Huai, and Gu Ze walking side by side, with her positioned right behind Xie Huai.
Behind Xie Huai, there was only her.
Xu Nuan found herself unsure of how to interpret this. She wasn't certain if her discomfort was making her overly sensitive, or if being wary of her companions was something she needed to consider. Once suspicion arose, or if it became excessive, it would mean a fracture in trust, turning their journey together into a joke.
She kept reminding herself to find the right balance.
When she looked up again to observe Deng Yinyin and Xie Huai, she unexpectedly locked eyes with Gu Ze.
After a moment of surprise, Xu Nuan feigned calmness and withdrew her gaze, suppressing the bitterness rising in her heart as she continued to listen to Deng Yinyin's response.
"Hey, it sounds like you’re quite confident. But if you are confident, your target wouldn’t happen to be one of us, would it?"
Only someone whose target was a companion would ask such a probing question.
She thought Deng Yinyin had become smarter, but it turned out she was overthinking it.
Now she was certain that Deng Yinyin's target was one among them; however, she still had no idea what the specific mission entailed. If it were similar to hers, that would be troublesome.
What she didn't expect was Xie Huai's strong reaction to Deng Yinyin's words. He flinched like a startled sheep and nearly collided with the oblivious Gu Ze as he stepped aside.
"Whoa, Deng Yinyin! How could you think that? You're overthinking it! My mission is related to animals, so it seems simpler, but I’m not very confident."
Xie Huai's voice was too frantic; Xu Nuan could almost immediately tell he was lying. This meant his target was also human—perhaps even one of them—but who and what the mission involved remained unknown. In his haste to deny Deng Yinyin’s words, he overlooked the context in which she had made such a statement. Once he calmed down, he would realize something was off with Deng Yinyin.
She suddenly realized that it was very likely that the missions of the five of them were all related to humans, or more boldly, related to their own companions. Whether the missions were as cruel as hers depended on the intentions of the System.
She could analyze this from the brief conversation between Deng Yinyin and Xie Huai. Therefore, she believed that the two intelligent men, Gu Ze and Xu Hang, would also come to the same conclusion. She suddenly found it hard to imagine how their journey together would unfold. Would everyone be testing each other?
As waves of pain surged through her brain, she found it difficult to guarantee whether she could cope with it.
As dusk approached, after battling a group of oddly shaped creatures, they were exhausted and decided to rest early. At this point, not seeing the presence of the Special Tree no longer disappointed them; their minds were occupied with thoughts about what others' missions might be. Were they targeting humans? Themselves? Such questions consumed their thoughts.
With a throbbing head and a heavy heart, Xu Nuan leaned against a large rock, her eyes half-closed, unwilling to move or speak. In the treeless Gobi, cold winds blew from all directions, making it impossible for her to feel any more awake; it was clear she was utterly exhausted.
However, someone was plotting against her. Upon sensing someone approaching, Xu Nuan abruptly opened her eyes to see Deng Yinyin's slightly unnatural face.
"Is there something you want?"
Her own troubles were partly due to this woman in front of her, making Xu Nuan appear somewhat indifferent.
"Hey, we're companions after all. Why are you being so cold?"
In the past, Deng Yinyin would never have admitted that she and Xu Nuan were companions. Realizing this, Xu Nuan immediately heightened her guard, sitting up slightly and raising an eyebrow at Deng Yinyin. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the other three seemingly busy men were also paying attention to this side, which made her want to scoff.
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