Chapter 26: Trapped in a Room

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Trapped in a Room

Not only that, but many new pieces of furniture and appliances had appeared in the once-empty room.

They looked identical to their real-world counterparts. ’There might be food in the fridge.’

Without a second thought, Shi Zhile stored the refrigerator, table, and chairs in her sailboat.

Jiang Yuxing had already opened the door. Outside, it was crowded with people—or, more accurately, with players.

Fear, horror, and dread were written on their faces. Some had even gone completely mad.

"I... wasn’t I dead?"

"I was clearly crushed to death by a tree during the typhoon. How am I alive again?"

"Am I really alive? Where is this...?"

[Novice Period Tip: Congratulations to players Jiang Yuxing, Chuyi, Wang Peng, Contentment Brings Happiness, and Jiang Yu for unlocking a hidden quest. This hidden quest is titled "Only One Can Survive."]

[Special Announcement: All individuals in the town, aside from the quest-activated players, are Dead Players. If a Dead Player kills a quest-activated player, they will be resurrected once.

Quest-activated players who kill Dead Players will receive corresponding rewards.]

A massive block of text appeared before everyone. Once they finished reading, they stared at the two people in the doorway, their eyes filled with madness.

Shi Zhile quickly pulled Jiang Yuxing back into the room and barricaded the door with stones.

CRASH!

The sound of shattering glass followed. Before a player outside could climb through the window, Jiang Yuxing swung his axe.

A head hit the floor, and blood sprayed all over his face.

[Kill ×1]

"AHHH!!!"

"Someone’s been killed!"

Taking advantage of the chaos outside, Jiang Yuxing also used stones to block the window.

After making sure no windows were missed, Shi Zhile slowly calmed down.

She opened her panel and saw the total player count was 149,999, but it quickly dropped by a few.

"There are at least tens of thousands of Dead Players, but this town is so small. Is this dungeon bugged?"

Jiang Yuxing wiped the blood from his face, his expression remarkably calm. "There’s more than one starting point for this hidden quest. Pay attention to the chat messages. Others should be activating it too. Even if they don’t, the game wouldn’t pit five people against tens of thousands."

As soon as he finished speaking, a notification popped up on the panel: Jiang Yu was requesting a video call. She accepted, and the first thing she saw was Jiang Yu’s blood-splattered face.

"How are you guys? Are you hurt?"

Shi Zhile shook her head. "No. Are the three of you together? About how many players are outside your door?"

Chuyi and Wang Peng peeked into the frame as well. Both were stained with blood, a clear sign they had already gotten some kills.

"A quick glance showed a few hundred players. Oh, and the room can be upgraded, but it requires a lot of stone and wood.

"There’s also good news. The Dead Players don’t have any supplies. Even if they had stuff stored in their backpacks before, they can’t access it."

’That really is good news.’

The sound of pounding on the door grew louder. Both windowpanes were smashed, and the people outside tried to kick down the large stones blocking the door, but they had underestimated Shi Zhile’s ability to hoard stone.

She had stacked stones, each half a person tall and a meter wide, all the way to the ceiling. Fearing they might be pushed over, she added two more rows behind them.

She had blocked the windows the same way. Unless the people outside had an excavator, their chances of breaking through were slim.

The upside was that it was sturdy and safe. The downside was that it reduced the room’s space by nearly half.

Shi Zhile showed off her handiwork to the other three, satisfied only when she saw their speechless expressions. She then offered a theory:

"You have a few hundred Dead Players over there, and we have about the same. I suspect the ratio of quest players to Dead Players is 1 to 100."

Jiang Yuxing slowly opened his eyes. He looked exhausted, but his mood was excellent.

"Go on."

"Today is the second day. The Dead Players’ spiritual power and combat strength are high, but they have no food or weapons. This is the perfect time for us to strike back.

"Once this drags on into the later stages and we’re at a stalemate, the Dead Players, lacking supplies, will go completely berserk.

"Their backpacks will be unlocked for them. Worse, the game might directly increase their strength or give them supplies.

"The dungeon is doing everything it can to make humans kill each other; it won’t let this situation last for long. When that happens, they’ll have the advantage in numbers, and we’ll be in trouble."

Jiang Yuxing nodded in approval. "Your analysis is completely correct. Later on, their backpacks will unlock, and they will use fire attacks."

The five of them fell silent.

Burning the house down was indeed the fastest solution. Even if it didn’t kill them, it would certainly force them out of the room.

After a moment, Chuyi grinned, revealing two canine teeth. "Why wait? We have fire, stone, and plenty of supplies. Isn’t now a good time for a fire attack?"

Shi Zhile understood. ’The devious bastard wants to give them a taste of their own medicine and set *them* on fire.’

’It really is a good idea.’

Jiang Yu spoke up with a reminder. "Stone can block fire, but it doesn’t block heat. By the time they’ve burned to death, we’ll have been cooked alive."

Shi Zhile said, "That’s easy to solve. We won’t use fire. We’ll have Brother Peng use lava."

Nothing can survive where lava flows. If even a single drop touches your skin, it will continue to spread unless you carve that piece of flesh out.

And when lava is in a stone container, its temperature can be regulated. As long as we upgrade the house into a stone house, we can completely control the lava’s intense heat.

She explained her idea and received unanimous agreement. The only problem was that Wang Peng didn’t have enough lava in his backpack.

Also, they weren’t sure if the Dead Players could use their own backpacks to collect the lava.

"We’ll know once we try."

Jiang Yuxing removed the stones blocking the top of the window and tossed a portion of lava into the crowd.

The unlucky player who was hit screamed instantly as the lava rapidly devoured his clothes and flesh.

The smell of burning flesh filled the air. He thrashed about violently, but unfortunately, the lava spread quickly across his skin, soon burning a hole through his back.

"Help... Get me some water...!"

Realizing they couldn’t shake off the lava, they threw themselves on the ground and rolled around, but it was no use. The lava had already seeped into their flesh.

Shi Zhile stood on her tiptoes, peering out the window.

The once-united Dead Players fell into disarray. They backed away again and again, terrified of being caught up with the few who had been engulfed by lava.

Seizing the opportunity, she tossed two more portions into a dense part of the crowd on the side. A chorus of screams and curses rose and fell.

A few players noticed the gap in the window. They shoved each other, pointing and shouting insults, but no one dared to step forward.

Their earlier momentum was completely replaced by fear. Shi Zhile filled the gap with stones again.

"The method works, but the players over here are on alert now. It’d be best for you guys to throw a lot of lava at once to make sure everyone gets hit."

Chuyi and Jiang Yu both looked at Wang Peng simultaneously. Wang Peng scratched his head.

"Ha, well, to free up backpack space before entering the dungeon, I used my lava to make a torch. The lava... I didn’t bring a single drop."

He then looked expectantly at Shi Zhile. Shi Zhile blinked, her gaze shifting to Jiang Yuxing.

Jiang Yuxing: "..."

He silently sent 50 portions of lava to Chuyi, telling him he had to pay it back later.

The video call didn’t end, so Shi Zhile and Jiang Yuxing could watch the other three in action.

Working in coordination, they soon filled the island with screams.

Jiang Yuxing asked, "Do you think this is cruel?"