"For..." Gan Yi had barely started speaking when he abruptly stopped mid-sentence. He quickly turned his head, and where his gaze landed, the cold, deformed white walls, the sword plunged into his chest, Xu Huo standing a few meters away—everything reverted back to how it was!
His eyes showed a moment of confusion, his demeanor slightly chaotic, as if he didn’t understand why he kept waking up within an illusion.
Xu Huo was also a bit surprised that the spiritual illusion he had created could be so seamless, trapping a Rank-C Player in a way that made it impossible for him to differentiate between illusion and reality.
Glancing at the "Eye of the Deceased," where the eyes at the junction of hilt and blade seemed slightly wider than before, he knew the sword had played a role, its effect much stronger than he had anticipated. Under severe injury, Gan Yi had unsuspectingly entered his spiritual world.
The "Eye of the Deceased" performed brilliantly, but Gan Yi was somewhat disappointing.
Xu Huo retrieved the "Eye of the Deceased" and let him collapse to the ground.
Gan Yi had already lost too much blood. He looked up at the time, "It’s only been three minutes..."
Number 27 was already dead. Staring at the corpse for a few seconds, Gan Yi then asked, "Do you have a grudge against the Holy Sword Society?"
"Not really," Xu Huo replied, "But I don’t particularly like the Holy Sword Society."
In a lawless game, just the three words "don’t like" implied many things, especially for a young player with potential. A slight bias in attitude could bring immeasurable losses to the Holy Sword Society.
Gan Yi smiled silently, "I can tell you who that person is, but you have to let me go."
Xu Huo stood still and said, "Do you think that’s possible?"
Gan Yi crawled forward, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as he said, "The deeds of the Holy Sword Society... no one can stop them... Eternal Brand!"
As he waved his hand, several specks of light appeared in mid-air, shooting through the body of "Xu Huo" like stray arrows and toward an empty space not far away!
Gan Yi lay back on the ground, laughing contentedly, "Just as I thought... it’s still fake..."
Indeed, at this moment, the "Xu Huo" standing before him was still an illusion. The real Xu Huo was to his left. But props didn’t have eyes; even if he couldn’t see Xu Huo’s position, within a certain range, the prop would still target the real person!
Xu Huo, who had anticipated this, had already teleported a hundred meters away the moment the specks of light appeared. The first light speck hit where he had just been standing, leaving behind a hexagonal pattern that quickly vanished. However, the rest continued to track him across half the plaza.
Xu Huo had to change positions several times and use props to block before he finally neutralized a few light specks. Just as he returned to Gan Yi’s side, a giant hexagonal light pattern emerged under his feet, which then quickly shrank to the size of a thumb, fixing onto his face!
Xu Huo felt a slight burning sensation on his skin, even through the prop. With a frown, he teleported in front of Gan Yi and pierced through his heart before the other could commit suicide!
Yet, seeing the hexagonal brand left on his face, Gan Yi let out a breathy laugh, "There... a mark... any... of Holy Sword Society’s disciples... will be happy to kill you..."
Xu Huo twisted the sword hilt, unfazed. "As you said, as long as I carry this brand, I can continue to lure out Holy Sword Society players?"
Gan Yi’s eyes widened suddenly with faint regret and anger as he drew his last breath.
Xu Huo pulled out the sword and stood before the corpse. After a few seconds of silence, he took the props adorned on his body.
Apart from Gan Yi, Zhuang Mengtian, Ambush Player, and number 27 were all Level D Players. Their occupations were Hypnotist, Assembly Line Worker, and Diver, respectively. Their props were ordinary, nothing particularly striking. The three of them combined were not as valuable as a single Gan Yi.
Gan Yi’s occupation was Supermarket Owner. Previously used props like "Hide and Seek Cabinet," "Box of Life and Death," "Heart’s Vacancy," "Eternal Brand," and "Halt if Not Advancing" were all of fine quality.
"Hide and Seek Cabinet" and "Eternal Brand" were special items. The former could trap someone who entered within ten meters and had a certain chance of putting the person inside the cabinet, the latter was a tracking prop; once branded on the face, it was difficult to remove.
Xu Huo touched the fake mask on his face; it seemed this "Actor’s Mask" was now useless.
The "Box of Life and Death" was a Rank-B Spatial Artifact that could squeeze to death or suffocate the trapped person by shrinking the space. "Heart’s Vacancy" was a Rank-C Item that would travel through blood vessels to destroy the heart. However, both props were somewhat troublesome to use; the former required the trapped person to stand in a fixed position for more than five seconds, while the latter required direct contact.
"Halt if Not Advancing" was a Level D Item that could make a person march in place for half a minute.
Also in his prop slot was a "Precise Hit."
This was the kind of paper used by Holy Sword Society players for assassination by writing a name.
[One-time Rank A Prop, using blood and a name could locate any independent person in a space. When you erase that person’s code, their life will also vanish. However, the number of names that can be written on a piece of paper is limited, so please use with caution. In addition, any player can use this prop only once in their lifetime, and once the first name is written, its effective time is thirty minutes.]
From the way the prop was used, it pretty much matched Xu Huo’s earlier deductions. However, since so many people in the Holy Sword Society had it, as a one-time Rank A Prop, it was not as precious as it seemed.
After checking the more important props, he simply flipped through the potion inventory and the baggage hold. Apart from some materials about the Holy Sword Society in Gan Yi’s baggage hold, he also found a non-player ticket from the belongings of the Ambush Player.
By this time, two more players had "gained friendship" and passed through with success as announced by the host.
"Why is gaining friendship so easy now?" someone wondered. To outsiders, it looked like just two players had chosen to complete a task together, not even reaching the level of "endangering" life, even though others had tried the same approach before.
"It’s like trying to make flowers bloom by gardening with intent, but they won’t open. Yet willows planted without intent become shaded," Sha Jia commented philosophically.
Actually, that was exactly it. Previously, all the players were focused on getting through. With clear objectives, they would retreat when faced with danger, not meeting the criteria for "adversity together." It was when passing seemed hopeless that the idea of helping each other to survive until the end of the instance arose.
Friendship, perhaps, didn’t have such a high threshold. How could friendship develop without spending time together? So the longer the time, the greater the possibility of "gaining friendship." But the mortality rate for "good for you, good for me" was too high, and most people didn’t last until this point.
Of course, even more people did not meet the "friendship" criteria. "Adversity together" required not just courage but also ability. First of all, the possibility of non-players and players forming friendships was very slim.
Xu Huo gave the non-player ticket to Xiaoxiao.