"That's not necessarily true," Cheng Jun, standing behind Yue Yang, scrutinized Jing Minghe with undisguised curiosity and a smile of unknown meaning. "If you ask me, the low survival rate in the first instance must be a form of selection. Those who survive either have incredible luck or possess some skill."
As he spoke, Yue Yang walked up to Jing Minghe and said pointedly, "As long as everyone is willing to cooperate seriously, we might be able to survive all the way."
Jing Minghe raised an eyebrow, understanding dawning in his mind.
So, they were here to form factions. Whether that meant cooperation or being used as cannon fodder, that remained to be seen.
Jing Minghe smiled and nodded in agreement, "This friend speaks wisely. In an environment like this, cooperation is indeed better than going it alone."
"Haha, right?" Cheng Jun familiarly clapped Jing Minghe on the shoulder. "I don't know if we'll be together in the next instance, but from now on, we're comrades. Let's work hard together."
"Okay."
As Jing Minghe and the others were talking, more people emerged from the doors not far away. This time, it was two men and one woman.
Unlike them, these three looked quite disheveled. One man and one woman were supporting each other. When the third person came out, they dodged him as if he were a ghost, not even daring to look at him.
Seeing this, Cheng Jun walked over to the man and woman, showing concern for their new comrades.
Youmi gently tugged on Jing Minghe's sleeve, "Minghe, look over there."
Jing Minghe followed Youmi's pointed direction. On the hotel lobby wall, a vertical sign had appeared at some point, with the large characters "ATTENTION" followed by three numbered points.
Jing Minghe read the text aloud as he looked, "First, all players are requested to check in on the fifth floor of the hotel. Second, the restaurant is on the fourth floor. Dining hours are from 6 AM to 8 AM and 6 PM to 7 PM. The restaurant is closed at other times. Third, for leisure and entertainment, please proceed to the third floor. Fourth, the shopping area is on the second floor, where you can use the points on your reward cards to shop."
"Reward cards?" Youmi asked after hearing Jing Minghe read, "What reward cards?"
Jing Minghe was also full of questions, "I don't know. The shopping area is on the second floor, let's go take a look."
"Okay."
"Wait a moment," Yue Yang stepped forward, adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, and asked with a smile, "May I go with you?"
This question left Jing Minghe a bit speechless. This place wasn't run by him; could he stop others from going where they wanted? But since the other party was proactively asking to join, he couldn't very well refuse.
"Sure, let's go together."
The three of them arrived at the second-floor shopping area. Looking around, there weren't the expected dazzling array of goods, only three high-end-looking vending machines in red, yellow, and green, lined up in the center.
Jing Minghe and Youmi exchanged a glance and walked up to the vending machines.
The red vending machine was labeled "Item Box," with the description below: Purchase using points on the item card.
The yellow vending machine was labeled "Daily Necessities," with the description below: Purchase using points on the regular shopping card.
The last green vending machine was for "Medical Box," with the description below: Purchase using points on the medical card.
Each vending machine had a card slot. The contents inside were completely invisible; one could only judge based on the categories.
"There's a button on the side."
Youmi said, pressing the button. A shopping interface immediately appeared on the vending machine, with detailed categories.