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墨書 Inktalez
In a secluded place, it was easy to lose track of time. By the time they realized it, it was already noon, with the sun hanging high in the sky. Xu Nuan and her group had just parted ways with Xu Hang's team for only ten minutes.
Although their group was the first to find a Mermaid Statue, and their first day's mission started counting from six in the evening, they dared not let their guard down. Finding the first statue so easily was merely luck; no one could expect their luck to hold out indefinitely, especially with two other teams on the island competing against them.
According to Xu Hang and He Min's observations, the island roughly resembled a circle. The eastern side featured a beach dotted with coconut trees, while some massive rocks lined the coast, smoothed by years of ocean waves. From the center of the island towards the western side, there were higher hills, where white houses with windmill roofs were built along the slopes. Given the orderly distribution of plants and buildings on this island, both groups readily chose to search either north or south.
At this time, under the blazing sun, Xu Nuan and He Min were searching among the rocks along the coast, while Gu Ze was looking for clues among the nearby coconut trees.
Surprisingly calm, Xu Nuan did not exhibit the madness and loss of control that He Min had expected. He Min actually hoped that Xu Nuan wouldn’t lose control; she feared that this calmness might be brewing a greater storm. After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke up.
"Can we put any statues we find in our group?"
He Min recalled how Xu Hang had handed the statue to Xu Nuan initially, and how Deng Yinyin had expressed her anger while Xie Huai looked on in surprise. Observant and perceptive, she quickly realized that there were many underlying conflicts within their team. Although these conflicts weren't significant at present, they could erupt at an opportune moment and potentially lead to disastrous consequences for the team.
"Xu Hang is the captain," Xu Nuan replied without turning to look at He Min. A slight smile played on her lips as she continued to poke at the algae and some unnamed plants wedged between the rocks with her stick.
"But Gu Ze is the strongest person in this team. We all trust Gu Ze; even Xu Hang trusts him most."
He Min fell silent. She felt that it was actually Xu Nuan—who seemed so vigilant—who trusted Gu Ze the most. Moreover, from her observations, it seemed that handing over the statue to their group was not solely due to Gu Ze's skills; there must have been other reasons tied to an unspoken understanding between Gu Ze and Xu Hang.
No, as He Min glanced at Xu Nuan's rarely seen gentle profile, she confirmed that it also stemmed from an understanding between Xu Nuan and both of them. In the end, she simply remarked ambiguously, "Xu Hang is a smart person."
Xu Nuan paused her movements for a moment before returning to her task.
The island wasn't large; circling it wouldn't take much time. However, searching thoroughly required considerable effort. Xu Nuan and He Min maintained a certain distance from Gu Ze; whenever he moved to another tree, they would search corresponding rocky areas. As several hours passed without any significant findings, they grew increasingly frustrated.
He Min was not someone who would easily give up; especially when she had set her mind on something, she could endure any hardship. She viewed Xu Nuan similarly—believing that as long as the sun hadn’t set yet, Xu Nuan wouldn’t complain or call for a break. However, after being apart from Xu Nuan for so long, she realized that she no longer understood her as well as before. Just when He Min gritted her teeth to persist, Xu Nuan unexpectedly stopped what she was doing, casually wiped away some sweat, and turned away from the rocky area.
She was stunned, pausing her actions as she watched the back of Xu Nuan, who hadn’t even greeted her. Only then did she notice that Gu Ze had also climbed down from the tree nearby. Just like her, he had returned empty-handed and was preparing to climb another tree when Xu Nuan stopped him.
He Min stood there in a daze, watching Xu Nuan, whose expression remained calm as she handed water to Gu Ze. They exchanged a few words, and as Gu Ze's smile deepened, she turned her head away. After a moment, she couldn't help but turn back to continue whatever conversation they were having.
How could she describe the interaction between those two?
It was a world where she felt she could not fit in.
Suddenly, her heart felt a pang of bitterness. She thought of Yu Hao, who had passed away too early, and then of Qin Yaojie, who had loved Xu Nuan but had to stumble through the game only to meet his end. She recalled the group that prided themselves on their talent, mocking and sneering.
"Is it raining?"
She reached up to wipe the droplets from her face and looked up, only to see the sun no longer shining as brightly.
Time flew by quickly. While none of them had made any discoveries, the sun had already sunk below the horizon, casting magical colors on the clouds at the edge of the sky. The sea surface took on other hues as well, transforming the distant scenery into something surreal and breathtaking, reminding them that an entire afternoon had slipped away.
After spending the whole afternoon searching the southeastern beach of the island, Xu Nuan and her companions had just gathered together when they heard the voice of the System.
"Hello Players, the team mission will start timing now. A report will be given every twenty-four hours. Please begin your tasks."
Xu Nuan felt no fondness for this voice after coming up empty-handed; anger began to flicker in her eyes. Her ability to calm herself had diminished compared to before. According to her thoughts, the more experiences she went through, the more she felt like she was regressing. However, with Gu Ze nearby, casting him a glance filled with subtle concern made her take a deep breath before suggesting,
"Since we won't be meeting up with Xu Hang and the others tonight, how about we head up the mountain for a bit and then rest?"
Gu Ze and He Min naturally had no objections. Having hardly rested all afternoon, they shouldered their backpacks and headed toward higher ground. Once they reached a certain height, Gu Ze suddenly turned back to look at the beach, a cool smile appearing on his lips.
"What did you see?"
Noticing something was off with Gu Ze, Xu Nuan turned around. With her poor night vision, all she could see was an expanse of darkness, occasionally illuminated by faint glimmers in her line of sight.
"Other Players?"
Xu Nuan couldn't see, but she could guess, while He Min answered her confusion first.
"They're Players. How can they be so obedient, only acting when the System starts?"
He Min scoffed. Having seen nearly all three batches of Players in the Game Base, she seemed to harbor hostility towards many of them, causing Xu Nuan to glance over and purse her lips, but ultimately, it didn't matter much.
"It's just for show," Gu Ze's face was faintly visible in the night. From Xu Nuan's angle, she could only make out his general outline, but those eyes, like cold stars, were unmistakable.
"They left to enter the forest first, noticed that we Six People were searching for the lowest statue. They must have left one person to keep an eye on us while the others searched from higher ground. They're all clever."
Xu Nuan didn't detect much praise in his words; instead, she felt a chill.
"You really are perceptive to notice someone watching us."
"Likewise. Didn't you notice it too?"
Gu Ze turned to look at Xu Nuan, his eyes shining frighteningly bright in the dark.
Xu Nuan huffed softly and fell silent.
Not realizing she was being watched, He Min felt a tightness in her chest and then pretended to be nonchalant as she asked, "But how can they trust that we won't miss anything? It's more important for them to confirm the search for the statues themselves, right?"
Gu Ze shook his head.
"They don't trust our abilities, but they do believe that we share the same urgency to get through this level. As Players, we can indeed understand each other's psychological states; that's also part of what the game wants to test us on."
He Min was taken aback; indeed, spending a long time in the game made it easier to gauge others' thoughts.
Then Xu Nuan took over the conversation, helping Gu Ze explain.
"And I bet that other teams aren't planning to waste time searching for statues on their own. They'd much rather keep an eye on the movements of other teams and then snatch the statues away. That's the real quick way to do it."
"Why are you always fixated on that?"
Gu Ze reached out and patted Xu Nuan's head, smiling.
"We have plenty of people and we're not lacking in skills. Are we afraid they'll come to steal? The more they try, the better! That way, we can also take the statues from them."
Xu Nuan silently brushed Gu Ze's hand away and said nothing more.
He Min, who couldn't find a way to join the conversation, wisely kept quiet. She even began to doubt that if Xu Nuan's interactions with this man named Gu Ze had always been like this before she saw Qin Yaojie's corpse, it meant that Xu Nuan's inner peace had been unbalanced for quite some time.
Having roughly guessed the thoughts of the players in other teams, the three decided to find a nearby white house and chose a tree to rest under until morning when they would search for more statues. Considering that both Xu Nuan and He Min were women, Gu Ze decided to go look for firewood alone, allowing the two women to stay together and bolster their strength.
Once Gu Ze was out of sight, He Min leisurely commented, "You two work together quite well."
Xu Nuan paused while packing her bag, looking up at He Min in confusion. After a moment, she realized what He Min was implying but didn’t show any signs of shyness or guilt as He Min expected.
"Am I not in sync with you?"
He Min shrugged helplessly.
"Forget I said anything."
He Min seemed to speak casually.
"It's amazing; we haven't encountered any strange animals in this round. The task of finding the statue is actually quite simple, and we have a significant advantage in numbers."
Xu Nuan held a different opinion on this matter.
"The absence of animals might mean they think it's unnecessary. The core of this round isn't here, and it's better to keep the comment about it being simple until we safely leave. I don't have an optimistic attitude towards this game."
He Min was taken aback, not expecting Xu Nuan to be so straightforward with him, and she showed no mercy in her words, which was quite different from her usual demeanor.
Xu Nuan also realized at that moment that she had grown accustomed to being direct with Gu Ze, who had long learned to filter out what he didn't want to hear, allowing her to develop such a habit. She had forgotten that He Min held a different significance for her.
"Amin, I'm sorry; I didn't mean anything by it."
Even with the flashlight's beam, Xu Nuan couldn't see He Min's expression clearly. Just as she was considering whether to explain further, she sensed something was off around them. She immediately drew the short knife from her waist and shouted sternly at the nearby bushes.
"Who's there? Come out!"
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