The black shadow was faster than an arrow.
The arrow aimed at Ren Yifei pierced straight into the giant snake's mouth. The silver arrow did not inflict any damage on the snake; instead, it enraged it.
"Ah—" This NPC immediately followed in the footsteps of his companion.
Taking advantage of the chaos of the battle, Ren Yifei walked out of the shop window. His legs were a little weak, and he walked with an uneven gait.
Leaning against the wall, he turned around and saw a huge, single eye glowing in the darkness.
The one-eyed basilisk couple either didn't notice him or were too lazy to pay attention to him, focusing only on devouring their prey and not even glancing in his direction, letting him hold his breath as they quietly slipped out in another direction.
The area below the mall was bustling with activity; the group of people hunting him were currently preoccupied with their own problems.
Their earlier commotion attracted many monsters, and it seemed that someone in their group had been injured as a result, with a faint smell of blood in the air.
More monsters have caught the scent of blood.
It's a vicious cycle.
Smelling the blood, Ren Yifei touched his stomach, glanced at the group of people from afar, and walked into an alley.
There were still many monsters wandering in the alley. Like the monsters before, they ignored him, which made him feel much more at ease.
After such a thrilling night, all he wanted was to get some rest and think about some things.
Ren Yifei returned to the place where the witch had died. The witch and the crow's bodies were gone; he searched for a while before finding a piece of paper shredded into many pieces.
By the moonlight, he pieced together the fragments, which contained a short fairy tale about a witch who loved to eat the hearts of little girls. This witch disguised herself as a poor, lost little girl and then sent crows to hunt her.
It turns out the witch had mistaken him for a little girl. But how did the witch discover him when none of the other monsters noticed him?
"Ah, a crow." Ren Yifei remembered. He had touched the crow out of curiosity before the witch noticed him.
He patted his head: "I'll have to be more careful next time."
Speaking of which, the glowing old man also turned into a piece of paper, covered with writing. He didn't look at it closely at the time, but now that he thinks about it, it's probably just a legend or some kind of origin story.
"The monsters in this world turn into a piece of paper after they die? What a strange way to die."
Ren Yifei couldn't help but think of some examples of the fusion of two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds.
These strange instanced worlds have been mentioned on the forums of the Wasteland, and they usually have a key point connecting to other dimensions. I wonder what that point is.
After navigating several bends, Ren Yifei arrived at the entrance of a narrow alley, where there stood a long-abandoned house.
He woke up here that morning. The first thing he did was go outside, but as soon as he took a step, his pale skin, exposed to the sunlight, immediately dehydrated, cracked, and turned into flakes.
His first thought was, "Have I become a vampire?"
So he immediately hid back in the abandoned house and checked the 'resume'.
What is his surname, what is his given name, what has he done? None of this is in his resume. It's as if his past has been erased, leaving only his achievements from the last two years.
The resume failed again, and Ren Yifei wondered if he should find a card to upgrade it next time.
In short, he is now a monster hunter, taciturn and solitary.
Standing at 1.5 meters tall, with long hair, wearing a scarlet cloak, sharp nails, strong self-healing ability, and the ability to be automatically shielded; now, adding saliva can accelerate wound healing.
The Scarlet Witch—that's the nickname others gave him. In reality, the original owner of this body was a rather handsome boy.
He stayed there all day, only venturing out in the evening. There he encountered a little girl who was supposedly lost.
"Lovely lady, you smell of a curse." The 'little girl' who approached him told him this and kindly offered, "I can remove the curse for you."
What followed was the heart-removing incident, which was extremely regrettable. In her hallucination, the witch mistook herself for Ren Yifei and swiftly removed his heart.
Because it was moving too fast, there was absolutely no way to stop it.
A curse, and an unknown past.
"The Scarlet Witch, a monster that suddenly appeared two years ago. Where did she come from? What kind of past does she have?" Ren Yifei looked at his hands.
In this bizarre world teeming with monsters created by humans, will the Scarlet Witch be one of them?
"That's it." In the dark human world, several players gathered together. They had basically figured out the background setting of this instance.
The daytime is the human world, while the world turns into a monster world after dusk. Some of the monsters are bloodthirsty, so humans need to hide underground.
"When the monster dies, it turns into a piece of paper. Locals call it 'this page,' which is said to be a magical paper record of the monster's creation."
"Because monsters are all derivatives of human imagination, the base is very sensitive to horror legends. I searched around and found that any works related to bizarre legends, whether paper books or e-books, written descriptions or film and television works, were destroyed. Anyone who spreads horror rumors is treated as a criminal offender."
This instance world feels like a crossover between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds.
In the past, breakthroughs in this type of world have always come from certain imaginative individuals, such as novelists, comic book artists, screenwriters, and so on.
However, this two-dimensional fusion event has been ongoing for twenty years, and the types of monsters involved are diverse, suggesting it wasn't the work of a single individual. Therefore, there must be an even more mysterious force at play.
"Could it be related to that magical paper? Someone used this paper to create monsters."
"perhaps."
There are many different theories about the origin of the monster, and no one can convince anyone else.
Feeling the complexity of this dungeon, the players decided to gather together and discuss it.
Today, three players contacted each other using a unique communication method specific to Desolate Corner and met up at a bustling bar.
"Monsters are very sensitive to the scent of humans. I just went out for a bit, and as soon as I stepped out the door, I was immediately discovered," said a player with pigtails.
The boy with naturally curly hair opposite her nodded: "But there are also people here who specialize in hunting monsters. These people seem to have obtained the ability to conceal their presence through some special method. I will try to figure out the secret as soon as possible."
There was another player with a feather-trimmed hairstyle; she was very quiet, like a non-existent shadow.
Natural Curly looked around: "Speaking of which, there are currently five confirmed human players. Of the other seven, minus 'Ghost' and Disguise, who's left? Are they all acting alone?"
"Ah..." the player with twin ponytails guessed, "This dungeon should have multiple factions, so there might be some people on the monster faction too, right?"
The player with naturally curly hair sighed, "It's so complicated. I always feel like my brain can't keep up at times like this."
"Don't feel too pressured, we're just here to make up the numbers anyway," the girl with twin ponytails comforted him.
The feather shears player smiled and nodded.
The woman with naturally curly hair lowered her head: Why was she even more frustrated?
Not all players were just loafing around in the back; a few were members of the night hunting team who went out tonight, and then one of them was caught.
The player accidentally got injured and returned to base without treating it, and his blood attracted man-eating monsters.
The hunting team leader was furious after dealing with the cannibalistic monster that had infiltrated the area.
"How many times have I told you? You can't leave blood outside, you must clean it up completely. Also, make sure to clean up any wounds and bloodstains before you come back!"
The player, unaware of the rule, pursed his lips as his crossbow was confiscated.
"You can no longer stay in the team," the captain said.
The player was stunned and struggled to his feet: "W-why?"
"You're asking me why? You broke the rules, attracted the monsters' attention to our base, and made such a mistake, and you're asking me why?! As a member of the hunting team, you're not qualified. That's the rule." The hunting team leader directly took the badge from his chest.
A golden word appeared above the player's head: 'Former Teammate'.
There were two other players in the team, a baby-faced boy and a middle-aged man. Both of them just watched coldly, and even laughed: Player number one, eliminated.
Making such a reckless move on the very first day of the game, is this person playing high-level matches for the first time?
There are always many traps in high-level games, and even veteran players won't take action on the first day.
The player who was directly kicked out of the team returned to his lodging, a small and damp coffin-like room. He couldn't see his own gold lettering, nor did he know that he had been exposed, and he was still there resentfully.
"Damn it!" He slammed his hand on the table.
"It's because of the lack of information that I made this mistake." He killed three monsters for credit, but he didn't expect to get injured because of it.
This time, he was alone in the game. His partner and lover used to be in charge of gathering intelligence, but unfortunately, his lover died in the last game.
The person who killed her was his target this time.
That's right, he is indeed a working professional gamer, but we'll refer to him here as a former team member gamer.
When he realized he was going to be playing in high-level matches, he actually hesitated a bit. His former teammates had only played in high-level matches once, and they almost lost their lives.
But his employer gave him a powerful tool and a considerable sum of money, with only one order: to kill the black rabbit. If he failed, he would have to give back half of what he received. If he succeeded, he would receive additional rewards.
To put his mind at ease, the employer also told him a lot of confidential information. For example, Ke Bei had suffered a setback with the Black Rabbit, and this time his real body had entered the game. Several factions had even gotten involved.
The more chaotic the situation, the more opportunities he has.
So, the former team member still joined. No matter how you look at it, having played at least one high-level match, his chances of winning are greater than Black Rabbit's.
"A bad start. But it wasn't a complete failure." The player took out a hidden arrow, its silver tip stained with a little congealed blood.
The monsters can't move during the day, so maybe we can find 'him' by following his blood.
"Could the Scarlet Witch, who specifically requested to be captured alive, be my chance?"
The next day arrived as scheduled, accompanied by the ringing of the alarm clock.
Players who woke up found the following update: [Night Hunter.] and [No player deaths.]
"Is 'Ghost' actually a member of the hunting party?"
Only by consuming that special scent-eliminating agent can one hunt at night, and the range of 'ghosts' is directly reduced to current and former members of the hunting team.
"It's more likely they're still members of the hunting team, otherwise the information wouldn't be suggesting this. I remember... there are three players in the hunting team right now?" The players exchanged information.
"There are only two left. One has been removed and exposed." These people are very well-informed.
"That happened yesterday. When the dungeon started, they were still members of the hunting team."
"So the ghost's true form is among these three players?"
"Not necessarily." Some players also offered their opinions: "The name of the dungeon is the first key piece of information: Nobody knows. If it's a hunting party, how can it be 'Nobody knows'? I suspect it's those hunters who acted on their own and obtained the scent-eliminating agent through special means."
"Wait a minute, from our perspective, Night Hunters are human hunters. But from the monsters' perspective, shouldn't Night Hunters be those monsters that wait for their chance to strike?" Another player offered their perspective from a different angle.
His viewpoint was unique, but also very reasonable.
"First, check and rule out human hunters, starting with odor-eliminating agents," they said.
Whether they are hunters in the open or in the shadows, they all need the elimination agent. Therefore, figuring out the source and destination of the elimination agent is the best way to narrow down the scope of suspicion.
However...
"The warehouse was burglarized yesterday, and all records were wiped?"
"Who did this?!"