Players, Please Begin Your Performance - Chapter 2

By the time Xing Yun regained her senses, she was sitting on a wooden chair that creaked at her slightest movement. Heavy curtains shut out most of the sunlight, leaving the room in a state of dim gloom.

Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized she was facing a desk coated in a thick layer of dust. It sat against the wall, completely bare. She raised a hand to rub her temples, feeling a parched tightness in her throat that made swallowing painful.

Had she been unconscious for a long time before waking up? The constriction in her throat triggered an uncontrollable cough. It took a while to subside; she had never been in a place so choked with dust.

As her mind wandered, a raspy voice suddenly came from behind her: “This place is covered in dust. It’s clogging up my throat; feels miserable.”

Startled, Xing Yun spun around. Sitting on the bed was a youth in a black T-shirt with short hair. His features were deep and well-defined, and he seemed lost in thought. Xing Yun instinctively stood up and backed away to maintain her distance. His voice had been so gruff and coarse that she was not even sure if it had actually come from this clean-looking young man.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. An employee wearing a mask entered, looking impatient. “What is all the noise? Did you not stay here of your own free will? We already told you our boss went to the hospital for heart failure surgery. There is no telling when this hotel might close down for good, so stop complaining about the environment. You had better go to the front desk and pick up your luggage. A guest’s bags were stolen yesterday; pray it was not yours.”

Xing Yun asked, “Wait, are there police here? Will the police not handle this?”

“Ha, are you joking? The police do not care about what happens here.”

From the employee’s words, Xing Yun gained a rough understanding of the situation; she was no longer completely in the dark. She wanted to greet the boy, but he ignored her entirely, pulled on a baseball cap, and walked out.

At that moment, a system notification rang out: [Objective: Survive until the hotel owner returns. Warning: Do not be haunted by vengeful spirits.]

Xing Yun’s pace faltered. After pausing for a moment, she stepped out of the room to look for her teammate, but she had no idea where to start. From the looks of it, the system allowed players to kill one another. If her teammate was too strong, ill-intentioned people might target her to indirectly eliminate them. But if her teammate was too weak, they would be a weak duo with even less chance of winning.

Having someone you could truly trust was better than nothing, but such sincerity would always be mixed with other motives. According to the system, those who performed poorly in the end would be eaten by God. To avoid that fate, players would inevitably suppress their teammates to boost their own performance scores.

Xing Yun felt a headache coming on. The best-case scenario would be if her teammate was a “salted fish” just like her, someone who did not care about meeting God in the end.

When she reached the lobby, many people were already claiming their luggage. Twirling a strand of hair near her ear, Xing Yun joined the scene. Unlike the dilapidated rooms, the lobby was the height of luxury. The towering ceiling featured magnificent Baroque murals with religious themes, while the reliefs on the pillars were delicate and Rococo in style. However, the lobby, which should have been golden and brilliant, felt strangely eerie due to the poor lighting.

Because she enjoyed cosplaying, she often went to real-life locations for shoots or built her own sets. She was momentarily dazed by this space, which looked exactly like a professional film set. As her gaze shifted, her beauty was striking. Some people stopped what they were doing, dazed just by looking at her.

With her excellent proportions, lovely face, and fair, delicate skin, Xing Yun drew attention wherever she went. She looked fragile and pitiable, yet she carried an aura that warned others not to approach, like a goddess shrouded in a veil of mystery. In the lobby, everyone held their breath. Even the few who looked up were all staring at Xing Yun, admiring her beauty.

Xing Yun strolled through the room, completely unaffected. Ignoring the murmurs of admiration, she went straight to the front desk and claimed her package. She opened it with great anticipation, only to find a bubble machine. The manual claimed it could blow many magnificent and dreamlike bubbles.

Xing Yun: “?”

Her eyes widened involuntarily, though she tried not to show it in front of the crowd. Looking at the heavy equipment in the hands of those around her, she immediately wrapped the bubble machine up tightly, pretending nothing was wrong. She suspected the system was messing with her on purpose. First, it gave her a cryptic sentence, and now a useless elementary school toy. It was as if the system was afraid she would not die fast enough.

Yi Ban also received her item. She similarly kept it hidden, concealing her trump card. She wondered what the “vengeful spirits” mentioned by the system actually were, whether they were NPCs or players. If it was the latter, she needed to be careful. She turned her head toward another girl in the corner, Liu Cui.

Liu Cui smoothed the hair behind her ear and looked away. That was her partner, Number 49. They were among those who did not want to expose their teammate status in public. That way, they might be able to trick some newcomers into becoming additional teammates.

In another old room of the hotel, Yu Yan was holding Number 21, who had wet his pants in the assembly hall, with a look of pure disgust. Her face was sour; she was clearly still processing the fact that she had been paired with such a weakling.

Yu Yan spared him a glance before dropping him onto the floor, leisurely filing her nails. “You had better be obedient and stay quiet.”

Ge Chuan nodded frantically. “I will listen to you! I will do whatever you say.”

Yu Yan retracted her gaze and said dismissively, “You do not have much of a choice anyway.”

Sitting on the floor, Ge Chuan looked up at Yu Yan and scrambled to her feet. “I know. I will do whatever you command. After all, not listening to you means death.”

“Remember my words, try hard to stay alive and do not get too close to me.” Yu Yan looked up at the ceiling, truly not wanting to look at Ge Chuan.

The hotel corridors were extremely dark. The lights were motion-activated, lighting up only where someone walked, making it incredibly sinister. Looking ahead, the distance was nothing but pitch black. Yu Yan was easily one of the top-ranked players. In a previous school-themed dungeon, she had instigated a rebellion among the principal and teachers, blocking every single door in the school. She had not just used the NPCs to kill the mini-boss; she had eliminated many competitors as well.

She had been doing perfectly fine on her own, but God had suddenly brought in many newcomers and banned the lone wolf rule, forcing everyone into pairs via a lucky draw. Looking at Ge Chuan, her fellow Number 21 who was currently trembling, Yu Yan felt increasingly irritable.

Xing Yun’s eyes scanned the lobby, trying to find her teammate. Many people had ignored the employee’s earlier comment, but it had left a deep impression on her: the boss had gone for heart surgery.

This detail stirred up many unpleasant memories. She was a patient with congenital heart disease. To this day, she had a scar on her chest, which she had covered with a tattoo when she turned eighteen during her senior year of high school. Because of this illness, her family treated her like a delicate flower. Aside from studying, she did nothing; she was the type who literally could not carry anything heavy. She felt she might be the weakest of all the players.

However, the game environment was truly lifelike and fascinating. She hoped to see more scenes in the future as it would provide great reference material for her set-building in the real world. Xing Yun took a bottle of pure milk from an employee and took a deep, somber gulp. Future matters can wait; the most important thing right now is to survive.

Xing Yun was not the only one observing; others were looking around as well. Ge Chuan was here because of a fight with his girlfriend. Ren Na was here because she had touched her boss’s cat at work. Ren Na had dark circles from overworking and often only ate porridge, leading to severe anemia; her eyelids were not pink, but a pale white.

Some people in the lobby had already found their teammates and were whispering in pairs, looking at those around them with wariness and exclusion. Others stood alone. The veterans remained calm even when solitary, but newcomers like Ren Na looked particularly panicked and lost. Xing Yun watched it all but remained silent.

At that moment, Liu Cui cleared her throat and stepped forward. “My partner does not want to walk with me, so I am hoping to form an alliance with others. I hope our goal is not just to see God, but to stay alive.”

Upon hearing this, Ren Na felt a glimmer of hope. Although she had a teammate, unfortunately, her partner was also a newcomer; she desperately needed a backer. By the time Ren Na walked over, many people had already jogged toward Liu Cui, not just newcomers, but even some veterans.

Ren Na immediately realized that the person speaking must be an expert. Someone shouted, “Do not push me! Expert, look at me! My family has money and power. I promise to make you successful once we get out of here. If anything happens, just give them my name.”

Liu Cui was taken aback for a moment, then narrowed her eyes and smiled. “That is wonderful. We will definitely all get out of here.”

Ren Na felt a pang of worry; she did not have anything to use as a bargaining chip. “I can work hard. I will do whatever you order.”

As if seeing through her, Liu Cui waved her over kindly. “Do not hesitate. The more friends you make here, the better. Come over.”

Ren Na rubbed the back of her neck. “Thank you.”

In a corner, a boy adjusted his baseball cap. Watching Ren Na walk toward Liu Cui, he let out a disdainful sneer. He stretched his limbs; his black T-shirt had picked up some white dust from leaning against the wall. His name was Yu Xi. He had woken up in the same room as Xing Yun at the start, but he was used to being a lone wolf and had no intention of talking to her. He rolled his eyes at Liu Cui’s basic rhetoric; it was obvious she was just gathering newcomers to use as cannon fodder.

When trouble arose, she would send the newbies to the front lines while she hid safely behind them. The dungeon allowed players to kill each other, so who would be kind enough to protect a competitor? The reason for this behavior was that dungeons often contained hidden conditions that required someone to test the waters. Previously, a top player in an amusement park dungeon had killed everyone around him. Because of that, he failed to get the clue that one should not touch the carousel, and he ended up dying in the dungeon himself.

Everyone waited for the expert to return, but it was only when the system released the replay that they realized what had happened. Many people had vomited right there in the lobby watching it. Since then, mutual slaughter was no longer the mainstream choice. Feigning civility and using those around you as meat shields had become the standard solution. The survival rate of players had also increased significantly.

“Hey?” Yu Xi tapped his earpiece, speaking to his teammate remotely. “What do you think the vengeful spirits are?”

“They cannot be human, anyway.” His teammate swallowed hard. “Actually, it does not matter who they are in this dungeon. I am more afraid it is our former allies coming back for revenge.”

Yu Xi fell silent. His hand shook slightly as he ended the conversation. He had not forgotten the “Ghost Wedding Dress” dungeon, where he and his current teammate had deceived the others, leaving someone behind to be the Ghost Bride so they could escape. He would never forget those shrill, agonizing screams. As long as the vengeful spirits were limited to this dungeon, whether they were players or NPCs, it was fine. He just hoped it did not involve people or ghosts from other dungeons. He really did not want to face the past.

Yu Yan watched Liu Cui from the side, said nothing, and turned to leave. Suddenly, a newcomer approached: “Excuse me.”

Yu Yan looked over coldly. “A good dog does not block the path.” Her haughty eyes and arrogant tone were thick with intimidation. The newcomer was immediately scared off. Not everyone was like Liu Cui, smiling no matter what they were asked.

Yu Xi looked at Yu Yan and thought he should add another rule: the vengeful spirit must not be Yu Yan. She was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Xing Yun watched the situation unfold, not interfering in any of the lobby’s dramas. Her stomach rumbled, so she went to the hotel canteen and grabbed two buns. She stayed in the lobby because the crowd gave her a sense of security; there were too few people in the canteen, and the risk of being backstabbed was too high to linger.

Xing Yun was terrified even walking through the empty corridors, fearing she might suddenly meet her doom at every corner. The lobby was much better. She munched on her bun, her eyes still scanning the room. Her almond-shaped eyes were both expressive and cold. She ate quietly, bite by bite, and no one came within two meters of her.

A newcomer who appeared so calm and composed in their first dungeon was extremely rare. She showed no fear and had no intention of clinging to a powerful player. Newcomers who had come from the same starting area as Xing Yun found her especially terrifying. Many bowed their heads and did not dare look at her as they passed, assuming she had received terrifying intel from the system or had drawn an invincible item.

“Stay away from that newcomer. Do not let her use you for experience. Do not even think about buttering her up for info; it is not worth losing your life if you upset her,” the newcomers whispered among themselves, warning one another.

Xing Yun overheard snippets of this. At first, she wondered who this newcomer expert was, but when her lace came undone and she bent down to tie it, she saw several people clutching their items and taking defensive stances toward her. It finally dawned on her: the expert they were talking about was her. But she had not done anything.

At that moment, a hotel staff member wearing a mask approached, a murderous look in his eyes. “Did I not tell you to leave quickly? If you do not go now, bear the consequences yourselves.”

Everyone looked at each other but did not move. The task was to survive until the boss returned; leaving now would mean failing the mission. It was not a matter of wanting to leave; they simply could not.

Ren Na trembled with fear, her face turning even paler. The employee held a stun baton and repeated, “Leave quickly.”

Liu Cui signaled a newcomer to step forward, encouraging them: “Do not be afraid. I have experience. Do as I say.”

The newcomer trembled, watching the blue and white sparks of the stun baton. Their vision went a bit dark. “I, I am willing to pay double the rent!”

The employee blinked and actually nodded. “Fine.”

Seeing that this method worked, some people looked at Liu Cui with admiration. Encouraged by Liu Cui’s gaze, Ren Na shouted confidently, “I am willing, too!”

To everyone’s surprise, the employee did not agree. Instead, his eyes widened, and he lunged forward, pointing the stun baton at her, causing the surrounding crowd to scatter in a wide circle. The employee shouted, “Do not add to our workload! Someone already used that reason!”

“Wait!” Ren Na was flustered, instinctively looking toward Liu Cui. Liu Cui looked anxious, but the worry did not leave her face. “I am thinking of a way, do not panic.”

But as the employee closed in like a ghost, Liu Cui made no move. Ren Na began to despair. The employee did not even use the stun baton; he grabbed her with his bare hands and dragged her toward the door.

Ren Na screamed in panic, “Save me, someone save me! I do not want to die!” Her voice grew shrill, and she broke down in tears and snot. But the employee’s grip was incredibly strong; there was no room for resistance. Ren Na gripped the door handle with all her might, only for the employee to brutally snap her thumb.

“If you do not save me, you are going to die too!” Ren Na suddenly looked in one direction, tears streaming down her face.

Liu Cui did not care who the newcomer was talking to. Her expression tightened. It seemed this was a hidden rule of the dungeon. You could stay, but each method could only be used once. She breathed a sigh of relief; a dungeon usually only had one such hidden rule.

Just as Ren Na was about to be thrown out, another girl suddenly shouted, “What she means is she is willing to exchange the item in her hand for the chance to stay!” The girl then placed her package on the front desk and looked at Ren Na with resentment. It was obvious to everyone that the two were teammates. The employee’s grip immediately loosened, and he nodded in approval.

Having survived the ordeal, Ren Na sat on the floor and hugged the door, wailing loudly, “Mom, why am I here? Why is this happening?”

Xing Yun mused to herself that the teammate’s mind worked quite fast. It seemed a crisis really could boost one’s brainpower. Next, a variety of excuses appeared, challenging the limits of imagination. One person, having nothing else to say, blurted out: “I am thirsty! I want to drink the water in the room.”

Unfortunately, the employee decided there was water to drink outside as well, and the person was kicked out. Xing Yun, however, had already blurted out: “I want to stay in the hotel to look at the scenery.”

Was there not scenery outside? And what was worth admiring in this broken-down hotel? Hearing her words, some people started laughing. Xing Yun lost her confidence; she even started backing away, preparing for a chase.

“You want to stay to look at the scenery?” The employee repeated her words. Even under the mask, it was not hard to see his expression turn momentarily grotesque. Xing Yun straightened her back, looking at the paintings on the ceiling and then at the employee’s eyes, her heart racing.

Just as everyone thought Xing Yun was about to meet her end, the employee suddenly broke into a smile. “Alright. You have good taste. Our boss also thinks this place has a divinely crafted beauty.”

Xing Yun breathed a sigh of relief and gave a faint “Mm.” Everyone else’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads. That worked? Did “beauty” refer to the dust in the rooms or the bloodstains on the walls?

While everyone else was in shock, Lao Xiangyun thought of something else. She believed Xing Yun had received a hint from the system in the pure white room. Perhaps escaping the dungeon was related to the scenery. Maybe, given Xing Yun’s good luck, she had obtained a treasure that could control the NPCs’ minds.