Tong Zheng stayed in the game room for a while. He wasn't sure if simply sitting in the game room without deliberately hiding counted as a violation, but after half an hour, he received no warnings and encountered no other incidents.
They had searched this cruise ship too many times. Everyone knew what was where. Although it was only the second round of the hide-and-seek game, and the ghost player should have found people more easily this time, he saw that the ghost player chosen was Jia Dong, who was seriously injured.
Furthermore, it was precisely because of his injury that Jia Dong had missed their repeated searches of the cruise ship. He was the only one among them who didn't have a complete understanding of the ship.
Moreover, with Jia Dong's injuries, he could barely walk, let alone search for people on such a large cruise ship.
Tong Zheng casually flipped through a yellowed playing card on the game table and chuckled bitterly, murmuring to himself, "Actually, there might not be much difference between hiding and not hiding. Hiding might even be more dangerous."
After all, there was still the "place one shouldn't hide" to consider.
Since hiding was more dangerous than not hiding, Tong Zheng decided to completely abandon the idea of hiding. He began to ponder the meaning and purpose of this hide-and-seek game in the instance.
Perhaps, as Jing Minghe had guessed, important clues would only appear during the hide-and-seek game.
If that were the case, then the hide-and-seek game was actually designed to make everyone risk being discovered by the ghost player to find clues that only appeared during the game.
And the ghost player's objective would definitely not be as simple as finding other players. They might not even need to search for other players, but rather use this opportunity to look for clues.
Whether they were the chosen ghost player or other players, everyone ultimately had only one goal: to clear the instance. However, this hide-and-seek game could easily trap some people.
Tong Zheng looked at the exit of the game room, contemplating whether to search for clues elsewhere. He figured the heavily injured Jia Dong wouldn't find him anytime soon.
Just as Tong Zheng was considering where to go first, he suddenly heard a scream, and it was a voice he was very familiar with.
"Wu Wen!"
Tong Zheng shot up from his seat. The scream came again. This time, Tong Zheng was certain of the direction of the sound – it was the game arcade next to the game room.
Without time to think, Tong Zheng immediately left the game room and ran towards the arcade.
What had Ke Wu Wen encountered?
Brat, you absolutely cannot die.
Tong Zheng ran to the arcade at his fastest speed. The scream stopped the moment he stepped into the arcade.
The arcade was not small. Tong Zheng looked around and saw all sorts of game machines everywhere, with no sign of Ke Wu Wen.
"Ke Wu Wen!"
Tong Zheng called out, but received no response. He could only search one by one.
"Ke Wu Wen! Where are you? Make a sound!"
"Wu Wen!"
Tong Zheng called out repeatedly.
He had to admit, ever since entering the City of Death, he had been forcing himself to be optimistic. But forced optimism was not true optimism, until he met Ke Wu Wen.
Although he hadn't known Ke Wu Wen for long, he could see that this kid was genuinely simple-minded and strong, with no hidden agendas, someone who could be seen through at a glance.
In this City of Death, he felt fortunate to have met Jing Minghe, Chi Hao, You Mi, and Ke Wu Wen one after another not long after entering. They were rare good teammates and excellent companions.
Each of them had a different attitude towards the instances. Jing Minghe was full of challenge, Chi Hao was completely disdainful, You Mi was at peace and always found her suitable place, while Ke Wu Wen was truly carefree. His optimism was genuine, perhaps because of his youth, or perhaps because he was truly simple-minded. But this carefree optimism was very comforting.
He couldn't learn from Jing Minghe and Chi Hao, nor did he have the precise self-awareness of You Mi.
Whenever he worried about being a burden to everyone, Ke Wu Wen's chattering would instantly lift his spirits. Therefore, among these four people, the one who had the greatest impact on him was the simple-minded, carefree Ke Wu Wen.
Ke Wu Wen's genuine optimism made him feel for the first time that life in the City of Death was not so unbearable. If Jing Minghe and Chi Hao had provided him with immense help in clearing instances, then Ke Wu Wen was the one who made him feel hope for survival, allowing him to no longer be forcibly optimistic in the City of Death, but truly optimistic.
He hoped to continue being teammates with these people, go further, and even leave the City of Death alive together.
"Ke Wu Wen!"
Tong Zheng kicked open a game cabinet blocking his path. Ke Wu Wen made no further sound. Tong Zheng's worry intensified, his brows furrowed tightly. Every hiding spot he searched, he feared seeing Ke Wu Wen's gruesome corpse.
He was truly afraid.
"Ke..."
Tong Zheng suddenly stopped. He saw that behind a row of basketball machines, a ladder seemed different from the others. He wondered if Ke Wu Wen might be behind it.
Tong Zheng took a deep breath and quickly walked towards the basketball machine, his heart pounding, feeling as if it would jump out of his throat at any second.
Ke Wu Wen, please don't be alright.
Finally reaching the basketball machine, Tong Zheng clasped his hands tightly, his voice trembling slightly, "Wu Wen? Are you here?"
Still no response, Tong Zheng reached out to push aside the half-obscured small ladder, took a deep breath, and suddenly turned to look inside.
What he saw made Tong Zheng almost stop breathing.
He saw Ke Wu Wen's eyes wide open, his gaze unfocused, his mouth agape, his face filled with terror. He couldn't make a sound, and he was cowering behind the basketball machine, trembling uncontrollably.
"Ke Wu Wen?"
Tong Zheng tried calling him again, but found that Ke Wu Wen seemed completely unable to hear him. Sudan Novel Network
How could this be?
He didn't know what Ke Wu Wen had seen. He himself could see nothing.
"Wu Wen!" Tong Zheng crouched down and crawled in, grabbing Ke Wu Wen's shoulders and shaking him vigorously, trying to wake him up.
"Ke Wu Wen! Snap out of it! I'm Tong Zheng!"
After calling for a while, Ke Wu Wen's face grew paler, and the bloodshot veins in his eyes visibly increased.
Unable to help himself, Tong Zheng hardened his heart and slapped Ke Wu Wen across the face, "You brat! Wake up for me!"
"Ah!" Ke Wu Wen cried out, his gaze finally focused. He stared at Tong Zheng for a while, and then burst into tears.
"Brother Tong, I'm going to die. He's going to kill me."
"Who? Who's going to kill you?"