It was settled; the ghost was in Gu Mian's group.

Chu Changge frowned. So his group with Fatty are the hiders?

Suddenly, the other players around them started fussing, seemingly complaining about their luck, or maybe something else.

But Gu Mian's group let out a collective sigh of relief, as they seemed to think being a ghost was a safer role.

The voice continued.

"'During the game, the 'Survivors' need to hide. If they're physically caught by the 'Hunter,' they'll face punishment. Every player will be equipped with a cell phone and can only call one designated rival player. Please choose a cell phone...'"

"Physically caught" probably means actually grabbing them with hands; simply seeing, touching, or even pummeling them wouldn't count as "catching."

As soon as the voice finished speaking, a row of cell phones appeared in front of Gu Mian and his group—exactly five. These cell phones looked like models from over a decade ago, not touchscreens but with keypads.

Strange, what's the significance of these phones? To facilitate communication between the two groups?

Nine Lives was the first to strut forward, fluffing his hair in a self-assured manner. "The point of the game is that the phone can only call the opponent? I doubt they'll obediently tell us their location." As he spoke, he randomly picked up a phone and turned on its screen.

The faint glow was especially noticeable in the dark night.

Gu Mian tilted his head to look at the lit-up screen of the cell phone. In the middle was a line of small characters that read—"Safe Life 658." Below, there was also a "dial" button.

Seems like this "Safe Life 658" is the nickname of an opponent player, and it sounds like the nickname of a middle-aged uncle or aunt... rather unusual.

At this moment, Gu Mian also reached out and grabbed a phone.

Upon turning on the screen, three large characters appeared—"Ji Bie Li."

Looks like a dominant man's name.

The high schooler, Keke, also grabbed a phone; her screen glaringly read "Chu Changge."

Gu Mian hesitated for a moment, then, bending down slightly, he asked Keke in a creepily uncle-like tone, "Can I take a look at your phone?"

Keke seemed a bit startled by Gu Mian's odd tone. She took a while to react before raising her phone and handing it to Gu Mian.

But just as the phone was being transferred from Keke's hand to Gu Mian's, the name on the screen changed.

The phone screen remained lit up.

So, Gu Mian plainly watched as the characters "Chu Changge" disappeared from the screen and were replaced by "Ji Bie Li."

At this moment, Gu Mian was holding a phone in each hand, and both screens displayed the glaring characters "Ji Bie Li." These characters seemed to form a gaping mouth, mocking him relentlessly.

It seems the one-on-one relationship applies directly to the players, not the phones. So, no matter whose phone you use, you can only call the player you're matched with.

While Gu Mian was puzzled and the other players were frowning, the thunderous voice again rang out from the surrounding darkness.

"It's 20:55 now. The game is about to start. 'Survivors,' please start hiding. In five minutes, the 'Hunter' will be allowed to move freely."

This time, it announced the beginning of the game.

As soon as the voice stopped, the people on the other side seemed free to move.

All at once, they scattered, running faster than crazed rabbits.

Only Chu Changge and Fatty maintained their calm.

Gu Mian saw Fatty from the other group attempting to run toward them, seemingly trying to have a close chat with him. But after only a couple of steps, he ran headfirst into an invisible glass barrier and was now hopping around, clutching his nose.

Gu Mian: "..."

Luckily, Fatty didn't stay baffled for long. Finding he couldn't get across, he quickly followed Chu Changge and slipped away.

Now, on this dark main street, only Gu Mian's group of five, the designated ghosts, remained.

They were confined within a small circle; for the time being, they could only move within this area and had no way to escape.

If a ghost suddenly jumped out and killed them now, that would be a fantastic plot twist. As Gu Mian thought this, he handed the phone back to Keke, taking the opportunity to sneak a peek at the others' phone screens.

Bai Qiong was paired with Fatty, and Keke with Chu Changge. These two were paired with acquaintances of Gu Mian.

Nine Lives was paired with "Safe Life 658," which Gu Mian already knew. Manjusaka was paired with "Nickname Already Taken"—quite a unique name. As for himself, he was paired with a player named "Ji Bie Li," who sounded male.

At this moment, Manjusaka, who was holding a fruit knife, suddenly backed away several steps. She had originally been at the edge of the group; now, she retreated even further, outside the group.

Manjusaka's high ponytail swayed gently in the breeze. She gripped her fruit knife tightly, staring coldly at the other four as if trying to discern something extraordinary from their faces.

Gu Mian had seen many characters like this in various TV dramas: the aloof ice-queen type who disdained speaking to mortals, only to eventually be conquered by the male protagonist's charm. Unfortunately, such a character archetype seemed rather odd when transplanted from the TV screen to the real world. Besides, she wasn't exactly a beauty.

Nine Lives, who also had a ponytail, was the first to speak, "What are you doing, always being so jumpy?"

Manjusaka remained cool-headed. "No instance is ever completely safe. So far, I haven't encountered an instance without Evil Ghosts... I suspect there's something horrifying in this instance too..."

However, the rules didn't explicitly state whether there were ghosts in this instance or not.

But using even a little common sense, one would know this instance couldn't just be about them having a happy game of hide-and-seek.

"I believe... ghosts lurk within this instance," she continued, "and they... are very likely hiding among us."

A cold wind chose that moment to blow past, sending a chill down the others' spines. Manjusaka might be right.

If the ghost is an outsider to this game of hide-and-seek, then the game itself loses its meaning.

Moreover, the game rules didn't specify any penalty if a Hunter fails to catch anyone, which strongly suggests there might be no penalty at all! Therefore, there's a high probability that the real ghost is disguised as one of the Hunters, who face no punishment, and will seize the opportunity to kill other players.

Although Manjusaka's words made a lot of sense... But...

Gu Mian suddenly asked, "So, are you saying this instance assigns player nicknames and game IDs to ghosts?"

Only those two pieces of information are visible to non-friends. Gu Mian had already checked everyone else's information; nicknames and IDs were all present and accounted for. The instance shouldn't have such measures in place.

Manjusaka fell silent, seemingly stumped by Gu Mian's question.

Keke frowned in confusion. "Indeed, we all have nicknames and IDs. Ghosts shouldn't have those... Perhaps the ghost in this instance is hiding among the Survivors, waiting for a chance to kill?"

Nine Lives scoffed, "The people on the other side aren't fools. They'd definitely be on alert if they found someone without a nickname or ID. I didn't notice any particular reaction from them earlier."

This was indeed puzzling. If the ghost wasn't hiding among the Hunters, nor among the Survivors, then where could it be?

After a moment of silence, Manjusaka spoke up again, "Are you all planning to act as a group?"

Bai Qiong frowned. "I intend for us to stick together. What about the rest of you?" When he frowned, the hideous scar on his neck seemed to twitch, making him look even more terrifying.

Keke quickly nodded. "I also want to stay with everyone."

After a moment of hesitation, Nine Lives casually ran his fingers through his hair. "I remember the instance evaluates and rewards based on scores. If we stick together, our scores definitely won't be high, and we won't get much of a reward."

The job of a Hunter is to hunt everywhere, not to huddle together like timid turtles.

As he spoke, Nine Lives withdrew his hand. "This instance doesn't seem too dangerous for our side, so I choose to go solo."

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