Hu Feiyan left without looking back after saying those three words, her speed so great that she gave no chance for anyone else to speak.
Gu Chenhui scanned the players, and seeing no one speak, he initiated the conversation, "What? Does anyone want to test the waters?"
An Ruo quickly shook her head, "No, it's only the first day. The boss just said everyone gets their own room. Let's not mess around." After speaking, she intentionally or unintentionally moved two steps closer to Xia Rong.
Jing Minghe's brow twitched almost imperceptibly. Gu Chenhui, Xia Rong, and An Ruo had entered together, but An Ruo was clearly relying on Xia Rong and seemed to harbor a trace of fear towards Gu Chenhui, as if he were a fearsome tiger about to devour her.
He wondered what Gu Chenhui had done in the previous instance to scare the girl so much.
"That's right," one of the two men who entered the instance last agreed. "Without any clues, it's best we obediently follow the instance's requirements. We're not newbies anymore, so let's avoid idiotic behavior."
Jing Minghe turned to look at the man. His eyes were sharp and his gaze somewhat cold, but it was different from Chi Hao's coldness. His coldness carried a sinister aura.
The other man with him chuckled disdainfully and said, "Gong Liang, stop pretending to be helpful and reminding us. Aren't you the one best at inducing other players to act like idiots? In this instance, you'd better stay away from me." He then glanced at Jing Minghe and the others, "Right, you guys should also remember to stay away from him. Don't be foolish enough to be used."
After speaking, the man chose a room nearby and walked in.
Jing Minghe saw that after the man entered, the original room number 403 instantly changed to two characters: Fang Chao.
"Fang Chao?" You Mi pronounced the two characters. "Is this... his name?"
You Mi wanted to confirm with Gong Liang, but saw Gong Liang hook his lips and walk directly into the room next to 403. This time, everyone's eyes were fixed on the doorplate, watching as the three digits of 404 instantly transformed into the two characters "Gong Liang."
"It really is the players' names," Qiao Qiao guessed. "Maybe after we choose a room, it becomes 'claimed' and cannot be changed arbitrarily?"
Gu Chenhui nodded in agreement, "Probably. What do you think? Just choose randomly. Anyway, the boss said all rooms are the same."
"Let's go," Chi Hao pulled Jing Minghe towards the two rooms at the end of the corridor.
Gu Chenhui's gaze remained on the two of them until they entered their respective rooms. Then, he looked at You Mi, who was about to leave, and asked, "Are those two very close?"
You Mi was startled by the sudden question. After a pause, he realized Gu Chenhui must be asking about Jing Minghe and Chi Hao. He deliberated for a moment before replying, "Oh, them, yes, they are quite close."
"More than quite close," Qiao Qiao next to him said with envy, looking towards the two rooms at the end of the corridor. "They're so close it makes people jealous."
"Is that so?"
Gu Chenhui uttered the two words lightly, then strode away with his long legs.
Seeing Chi Hao choose the room opposite Jing Minghe, Gu Chenhui unhesitatingly picked the room next to Jing Minghe.
Qiao Qiao lightly nudged You Mi and whispered, "Why is this person so strange?"
You Mi sighed silently. This Gu Chenhui wasn't just strange; he also gave off a feeling of being extremely difficult to deal with. Seeing him, two words involuntarily popped into You Mi's mind: a harbinger of disaster.
"Let's go," after all, they were teammates in this instance. You Mi didn't want this strange feeling to affect him and avoided the topic of Gu Chenhui. "Let's go to our rooms too."
"Mhmm."
The two walked over one after another. You Mi chose the room next to Gu Chenhui, and Qiao Qiao took the one next to You Mi.
The remaining people also chose their rooms one by one.
Xia Rong chose 401, directly opposite the stairs, and An Ruo was next to him in 402. 403 and 404 belonged to Fang Chao and Gong Liang respectively. Ning Ping entered room 405, and Chi Hao took the furthest room, 406.
Opposite Chi Hao, in 411, was Jing Minghe. Next to Jing Minghe in 410 was Gu Chenhui. Adjacent to them were You Mi and Qiao Qiao in 409 and 408. Si Lian entered the last room, leaving only 407, next to Qiao Qiao and adjacent to the stairs.
After entering his room, Jing Minghe realized that even though You Mi and the others were just outside, he couldn't hear their voices or footsteps.
"Are the soundproofing in these rooms this good?" Jing Minghe couldn't help but chuckle wryly.
He said that, but he knew this must be one of the instance's rules. This room was an independent space that could isolate everything from the outside world, except, of course, the "dangers" within the instance.
Jing Minghe walked around the room. It was furnished like a typical hotel room, except there was a clock above the TV opposite the bed. The clock showed 6:40. Lifting the curtains, he could see the dim light outside, so it was likely 6:40 PM.
"It's just about dinnertime," Jing Minghe turned towards the door. "Let's fill our stomachs first."
Opening the door, Jing Minghe saw Chi Hao's name. He walked up and knocked, "Hao Ge, want to go eat?"
After waiting for a moment without a response, Jing Minghe remembered his conclusion from earlier and sighed helplessly, "Looks like I'll have to wait."
Just as Jing Minghe was about to lean against the wall, he heard a "click." The doors of Chi Hao's room and his adjacent room opened simultaneously, and both Chi Hao and Gu Chenhui walked out.
Jing Minghe looked at one, then the other, and joked, "Wow, you two have great chemistry."
After saying this, Jing Minghe felt an inexplicable chill wash over him. Before he could identify the source of the chill, it disappeared without a trace. Distracted for a moment, Jing Minghe didn't notice the competitive glances exchanged between Chi Hao and Gu Chenhui.
"Minghe," Chi Hao walked to Jing Minghe's side and put an arm around him, "We were starving in the last instance. Let's go eat something now."
"Mhmm, that's exactly what I was planning," Jing Minghe turned to Gu Chenhui. "Brother Hui, want to join us?"
"Of course," Gu Chenhui glanced faintly at the hand Chi Hao had around Jing Minghe, then walked over with a smile. "We were starving in the last instance too. We were pressed for time and didn't have a moment to look for food."
As the three took a couple of steps, they saw You Mi coming out of his room.
"Minghe, Mr. Chi," You Mi greeted them. "Are you also going to look for clues?"
"No," Gu Chenhui replied. "We're going to eat."
You Mi blinked in surprise, then smiled. "That's right, it's dinnertime. Let's go together. I'll call Qiao Qiao later."
You Mi went to call Qiao Qiao, while the three of Jing Minghe, each with their own thoughts, didn't try to stop him.
"Qiao Qiao," You Mi called while knocking on the door. "Let's go eat together."
However, after calling out three times, each louder than the last, there was still no response from inside. You Mi couldn't help but wonder, "Did she go downstairs already?"
Just as Jing Minghe was about to explain, Fang Chao's door opened. He said to Jing Minghe and the others, "Don't bother knocking. I just heard someone go downstairs. If there's no response after this long, it means no one's there. How can you be so stupid?"
He could hear!
Jing Minghe and Chi Hao exchanged a look, understanding the meaning in each other's eyes.