Chapter 151
On this day, the death of No. 4 and other taskers sounded a wake-up call to all the survivors.
They seemed to have found a place to settle down and thought they could rest easy in the oasis from now on, but in fact they had never escaped the control of the rules.
As long as they are in the dungeon, they will never be safe.
That night, the lights in the inn room remained on until late at night.
It was not until the innkeeper knocked on each door with an expressionless face and demanded that the guests turn off the lights before midnight, otherwise they would be kicked out of the inn, that the taskers agreed in a panic.
If you switch to a God's perspective at this time, you can find that the rooms with yellow warm lights begin to go out one by one.
As the light gradually disappeared, the darkness gradually expanded and encroached, and the inn soon fell into darkness.
However, the people in the darkness did not dare to wake up.
Some lay on their beds with their eyes open, their nerves tense. Some, worried they'd fall asleep the moment their heads touched the pillow, simply sat on the floor. Still others, wanting to be prepared, stood guard at the door, motionless, holding their breath and observing...
Different people take different responses, the only thing in common is that tonight will be a sleepless night.
After an unknown amount of time, the tasker suddenly heard footsteps coming from the first floor of the inn.
The sound was a little far away and was not very clear at first, but as the feet stepped on the wooden stairs leading to the second floor, the sound became louder and closer.
The footsteps were very rhythmic, left and right, left and right, and they sounded particularly regular.
It is this regularity that makes the taskers feel even more terrified.
The human body is not symmetrical, and the force exerted by the left and right legs can never be 100% the same, so the steps taken are big and small, light and heavy. It is impossible to take completely consistent steps like in the corridor.
At this moment, everyone in the room understood one thing.
It's not people who kill them, but systems and programs.
As for who was killed tonight, they didn't know.
Only by staying awake throughout the whole process can you have a chance to survive.
The footsteps stopped in a room.
Everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit.
The door creaked open and the footsteps disappeared in the corridor.
A scream suddenly rang out, so shrill and piercing that it frightened the living people.
After a rustling sound, footsteps reappeared in the corridor.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump...
The voice was two degrees louder than when it came.
It's easy to imagine why the footsteps became heavier. Everyone swallowed their saliva silently, not daring to imagine the scene, and only listened silently to the footsteps leaving...
The fifth day of the copy.
Numbers 21, 22, and 80 all knocked on Song Yue's door.
Everyone "witnessed" everything that happened last night. Although Song Yue had given the three of them some advance warning, when they actually heard the life-threatening footsteps and the screams of the tasker, the fear that came from the bottom of their hearts was simply impossible to shake off.
"We can't keep going like this, can we?" No. 80 said with a bitter face, pain written all over his face. "There are still nine days left. I'm afraid I'll die suddenly if I keep going like this."
"Everyone's tired enough traveling through the desert, and even though I have a bed, I don't dare sleep in it." Number 21 sighed repeatedly, "You don't know, my eyelids kept fighting each other after I entered the room last night. I had to pinch my own flesh with my fingernails to keep myself awake."
Hearing her words, No. 22 nodded, indicating that he understood her very well. "Indeed, as soon as the lights went out yesterday, I felt ridiculously sleepy. I'm not usually a sleepy person, but I always felt like there was something wrong with the room."
Song Yue hummed, answering their questions: "There is incense in the room, which has a calming and hypnotic effect. If your willpower is not strong enough, it is easy to be deceived."
The person who was killed last night was most likely accidentally falling asleep, resulting in his life being taken away by the system.
Number 80's eyes widened when he heard this. "What? There's incense? Why don't I smell it?"
Song Yue didn't want to elaborate on her sharp senses, so she just said calmly, "Yes."
The three of them were speechless for a moment, looking at each other, feeling that the situation had become even more difficult.
"I have an idea. How about this," No. 80's eyes suddenly flashed. "The four of us can take turns catching up on sleep during the day. That way, we won't be so sleepy at night!"
Song Yue nodded: "I was planning to do that."
If he only had to guard for one night, it would be fine, but for two or three nights, even an eagle wouldn't be able to endure it, let alone her.
So after some communication, Song Yue and the three of them decided on a solution.
Two people sleep, one is on duty, and one goes out to find food. Each shift lasts for 3 hours, and the workers are replaced at the appointed time.
This plan is not difficult to implement, but it has a prerequisite - mutual trust.
Trust is the least valuable thing for the tasker, and he may even lose his life because of it.
No one is willing to entrust their life to others.
Therefore, this plan can only be implemented among Song Yue and the other three.
We acted immediately and the plan was executed perfectly that day.
Everyone caught up on their sleep and also had sufficient supplies.
That night, four people, in four rooms, all had their eyes wide open, waiting for the sound of footsteps.
At around 2 a.m., footsteps were indeed heard.
Song Yue heard it stop in the next room.
No. 80 lives next door.
She hurriedly stood up and knocked on the wall in the middle with her fist.
Only after receiving the same response from the other end did she feel relieved and sit back down.
There was no shrill scream from last night. After more than a minute, footsteps left the room.
Suddenly, there was a very regular sound coming from the wall. After hearing it, Song Yue smiled. It was No. 80 sending her a signal that it was safe.
The sixth day of the copy.
As soon as the sun rose in the morning, No. 80 excitedly pushed open Song Yue's door with a proud look on his face.
"Hahaha, it wasn't scary at all. That guy was like a brainless person. He didn't even check if there was anyone on the bed. He just chopped my pillow into pieces and walked out with the rotten pillow. Hahaha, I died of laughter!"
At this time, No. 21 and No. 22 also flashed into the room and just finished listening to No. 80's sharing.
This made everyone more determined that as long as they stayed awake at night and made sure they were not in bed before the figure entered the room, everything would be fine.
On the seventh day of the dungeon, another tasker died in the inn.
I heard that the deceased did not sleep on the bed, but in the corner, but was beheaded in the end.
So Song Yue changed her words: "It seems that being in the room at night is dangerous. In that case, everyone must not sleep at night and must stay awake."
The three of them nodded vigorously.
On the eighth day of the dungeon, room number 22 was visited.
Fortunately, no screams were heard throughout the whole process. Song Yue knew that No. 22 had secured victory in this round.
When they gathered in the morning, No. 22 responded to yesterday's speculation: "It's exactly as No. 12 said. The figure will wander around the room, even hiding in a corner won't work. Only by staying awake the whole time can you avoid being beheaded."
For the next few days, no one paid any attention to the floor they were on.
On other floors, in those rooms that were pushed open, some people escaped by strategy, while others still died under the axe.
Every day Song Yue would receive a death notification from the system.
However, only a very small number of them died due to being beheaded by the shadows. Most of them died due to other reasons, such as decreased health without timely treatment, long-term lack of sleep leading to severe fatigue, etc.
Others died in routine sandstorms.
Not all taskers knew about the existence of the oasis. Only half of them lived in inns like Song Yue. Some people were still struggling to survive in the desert.
On the last day of the dungeon, the surviving taskers finally saw the dawn of victory.
Early that morning, Song Yue saw many taskers walking onto the street, excitedly embracing the morning light.
No. 80 leaned on the windowsill, feeling a little itchy: "I want to go out for a walk too."
Got the response from No. 21.
Number 22 frowned slightly, disagreeing with their idea: "Don't relax until the last moment."
Who knows what unexpected things the system might do in the end? Don’t let all your efforts go to waste.
Song Yue agreed with No. 22's idea: "It's better to be cautious."
No. 80 and No. 21 had no choice but to nod and let it go.
As it turned out, it was Song Yue and No. 22's caution that saved their lives.
Because just half an hour before the end of the copy, malaria suddenly broke out in the oasis.
The virus spreads extremely quickly and anyone who is even slightly close to a patient will be infected.
No. 80 watched helplessly as the tasker, who was cheering in the previous second, suddenly collapsed all over and fell to the side of the street in the next second, looking extremely painful. Then he received a system prompt indicating that those people on the street were dead.
"What a scam! It's almost over and they're still doing this. Are they going to let us live?" No. 80 quickly closed the window and complained while leaning against the wall.
Number 22 twitched his lips bitterly. "It can't be helped. After all, this is the last promotion dungeon, so it's normal for it to be difficult."
As soon as he finished speaking, the room suddenly became quiet.
Number 80 looked around at everyone and asked tentatively, "Everyone...are you all going from A to S?"
Including Song Yue, everyone nodded slowly.
"So if we clear level S, then we won't have to participate in this crappy dungeon anymore?"
Number 22 thought for a moment and said, "That should be it."
Number 21 couldn't help but sigh, "It's great! I can finally go home. My parents don't have to worry about me anymore."
When talking about home, No. 21 showed a longing smile on his face.
She worked hard to clear the natural disaster dungeon and survive in the promotion dungeon, wasn't it just for the sake of being with her family forever?
Now this goal is within reach, and she only needs one last step to achieve it!
No. 21 was lost in fantasy, but was suddenly shattered by a word from No. 80.
"Going home...is this really our home?"
Song Yue's eyes flickered imperceptibly, then returned to normal.
No. 21 stared at 80, not understanding why he said that.
Number 22, however, understood what Number 80 meant and looked thoughtful: "You seem to have discovered something?"
No. 80 said bluntly, "It's not really a discovery, just a strange feeling. It suddenly hit me when I reached the A+ instance. Out of nowhere, a thought popped into my head: I'm not myself, but someone else."
"Strange, isn't it? I thought it was strange too, so I didn't take it seriously at first. But after finishing the A+ instance and returning home, that feeling became even stronger. I looked at the familiar bedroom, the familiar surroundings, but a sense of strangeness came over me. This home doesn't belong to me. I'm just an agent."
After saying this, No. 80 felt that he might be crazy in the eyes of the three of them.
He was already prepared. At worst, he would leave an impression of crazy talk before parting, and he accepted it.
Who knows.
Number 22 smiled with relief: "It turns out I'm not alone."
"I always thought there was something wrong with my brain and didn't dare tell anyone. It seems I'm not an isolated case."
Song Yue: "Indeed not."
If she had not recovered her memories of 500 years later, she might have doubted herself, but precisely because she had seen the future, she knew that the taskers before her now were all from the future.
None of them belonged to this era. All of them had their memories temporarily sealed and moved forward in place of their original owners.
However, it seems that there is a loophole in the ball of light that seals the memory, allowing No. 80 and No. 22 to vaguely glimpse their original memories.
Song Yue didn't intend to say this. They should get their memories back by themselves.
Throughout the whole process, Song Yue, No. 22 and No. 80 understood each other.
Only number 21 is independent of the topic.
She was completely confused and out of her mind: "What the hell are you talking about? I don't understand anything."
Number 22 smiled and patted her head: "It's okay, you'll understand later."
Four white lights flashed in the room.
After the white light, the original four people disappeared on the spot.
The copy ends.
Only 12 people survived this game, with a survival rate of only 15%.
001 looked at the final data in the background, feeling quite helpless.
"Lord, isn't this final promotion dungeon too much trouble?"
There are strong sandstorms, beheadings, malaria, and no one is going to let the taskers survive.
A voice suddenly sounded.
[Stupid, the next dungeon is that city! ]
[If they aren't strong enough, even if we let them in, they'll just be cannon fodder!]
[Instead of wasting my energy, I might as well send them home now! ]
What's a human saying? Good steel should be used on the blade. That's right. I should also use my energy on those who deserve it. Understand?
The owner who was woken up was very unhappy and spoke in a very angry tone.
001 shrank his neck and said yes, yes, yes.
Suddenly, its eyes rolled and it continued speaking.
"Lord, I think this tasker named Song Yue is quite powerful. He has a high chance of winning the next dungeon!"
Host: [Her? Oh, I have some impression of her. It seems like she earned a lot of life points from me?]
001: "Yes, it's her."
Host: [Yes, she does have the ability. I hope she can succeed by then. That way I can retire~]
001 quickly replied, "But Lord, Song Yue's system isn't with her. Imagine a missioner without a system is like a fish without water. Can they survive?"
The Master's voice suddenly rose in pitch: [What?! The system isn't here? Where did it go? Find me now!]
001 showed an embarrassment: "...hiss, it seems to be in a small dark room..."
Feel the Lord’s hesitation in speaking.
001 thinks itself to be the most intimate subsystem of the Lord. When the Lord is not in a position to speak, it takes over as a stepping stone (not just whispering in the Lord's ear).
When the master heard this, he thought that 099's previous performance was indeed good, so he took up this position without any hesitation.
[Alright, then let's do as you say. Release 099 and go to the next instance.]
001 was delighted and gave the Lord a series of flattering compliments, which made the Lord laugh.
001: Very good, it really is the most considerate, lovely and kindhearted Tong~
Consciousness returns to reality.
Song Yue heard two voices at the same time.
One is from 088, Yuan Ling, her fellow investigator.
Another familiar voice came from Chen Xin, the one who went into the void to find her at all costs and stayed with her for twenty years.
【Long time no see, Xiaoyue, I'm back】
The author has something to say:
Woohoo Shen Xin, you are finally back TT
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
