Gu Mian and his companions did not have a fixed residence.

The weather had grown more severe since they exited the Heartbeat Hide-and-Seek instance.

The persistent snowfall had ceased, but there was no sign of the temperature rising any time soon.

The snow from the past few days had blanketed everything in sight—with snow piles on the ground, tree branches, and rooftops.

The windows of the car had been frozen solid, making it difficult to see the outside.

These harsh weather conditions did not allow them to stay in the Spirit Car any longer unless they wished to die within the old vehicle.

So Gu Mian found a rundown house.

It would be more appropriate to say that they had forcefully broken into the house.

This place was an old residential community located in a remote area, with only a few remaining residents.

Gu Mian casually chose a building that appeared deserted and brought Fatty, who was a professional at picking locks, to get them inside.

Spider webs had formed on the stairway railings, showing they hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

Wrapped in a cotton-padded jacket and shivering, Fatty asked while fiddling with the door lock, "Doctor, aren't we breaking the law doing this?"

Gu Mian nodded. "If we don't do this, you'll freeze to death outside."

Fatty shivered. "Thank goodness, I used to be a locksmith..."

Gu Mian asked with curiosity, "You were a thief?"

"Pah!" Fatty hastily denied it. "I was a locksmith, not a thief!"

Remarkably, Fatty had dabbled in various trades.

In a short while, Fatty had opened the door lock.

This rundown building had only five floors, and Fatty chose the third one, saying that living on a middle floor wouldn't be too cold.

Just then, Chu Changge, along with Xiao Hong, came up from downstairs. They were earlier tidying up below and had now brought a bunch of items.

Chu Changge was empty-handed, having piled all the bedding and miscellaneous items on Xiao Hong. He just stood by and watched.

Gu Mian was worried that Xiao Hong would be crushed under the weight.

Fatty had already entered the room.

Since the room had been vacant for a long time, materials prone to mold like quilts, mattresses, and sofa cushions had been removed, but the furniture was still present. There was even an old, broken air conditioner on the wall, though it had yellowed over time.

There was a slot in the wall on the right side of the entrance. It was brand new.

"This seems to be a slot for an electrical card specifically designed for the game," Gu Mian commented, pulling out a card from his pocket. "Every house should have this slot now."

He slotted the card in as he spoke.

Currently, there was a global power outage, and the only way to acquire electricity was by purchasing and plugging electrical cards into the slot.

The electrical cards sold in the supermarket were not cheap at all. You would be given a card, and the salesperson would then load it with the amount of electricity you purchased.

The price for one unit of electricity was three Game Coins.

Given the current environment, it was necessary to use the air conditioner, but one unit of electricity could only support an hour of air conditioner use.

In such freezing conditions, even if you only used the air conditioner for twelve hours a day and didn't use any other appliances, you would still have to cough up thirty-six Game Coins each day.

Gu Mian calculated this while looking over at Fatty. "If I remember correctly, you only received twenty Game Coins for completing the last instance, right?"

Ashamed, Fatty dropped his head again.

That was correct.

With an instance grade of twenty-five, he had only received twenty Game Coins and nothing else.

All because he had spent most of his time hiding in the instance.

Speaking of which, Gu Mian turned to Chu Changge. "In the last instance, how did you know I would pass the place where Fatty was hiding?"

He had indeed passed there later, which allowed him to rendezvous with Fatty.

Chu Changge adjusted his glasses. "As you know, there was a set of clues in the Hide-and-Seek instance. Following those clues, you would ultimately uncover the ghost's plot."

"To explain it better, let's say the clues are arranged in a sequence, like a chain. For instance, you find the first clue at Spot A, which leads you to Spot B where you find the second clue. The second clue directs you to the final Spot C, where the answer is hidden."

"I placed Fatty at a strategic location on the way from B to C. To be sure, I had him hide near the last clue, so even if you took a detour, as long as you reached the end, Fatty would see you."

So Chu Changge had discovered the entire chain of clues in the Hide-and-Seek instance from the start.

Gu Mian queried, "Since you knew that C was the endpoint, that implies that you must have visited Spot C; otherwise, you wouldn't know whether C was just part of the sequence or the endpoint."

Chu Changge confirmed it with a nod.

So that means Chu Changge had unraveled the ghost's plot from the very beginning, but he didn't inform the players via the phone that could be used to communicate with all players.

This ignorance among the Hunters made them want to tear the Evil Ghost apart with their bare hands. Once the ghost assumed the identity of a Hunter, it could roam unchallenged in the instance, resulting in countless player deaths.

Indeed, the ghost was quite rampant at first, but its dominance ended once it encountered Gu Mian.

Chu Changge continued, "Because if all the players knew about the ghost's scheme, then no players would actively hunt the ghost, and thus the ghost would not become a Hunter."

Fatty voiced his confusion, "Wouldn't it be better if the ghost remained a survivor in the Hide-and-Seek instance? It would be safer for everyone."

"No, we needed to get close to the ghost to collect instance information," Chu Changge shook his head. "If the ghost remained a survivor, there would be no way for Gu Mian to approach it. We all know that the first Hunter to catch the ghost would swap identities with it. If Gu Mian, with the identity of a Hunter, approached the ghost, there would be no guarantee of his safety."

Fatty gradually understood.

Although Gu Mian appeared almost invincible against creatures in instances, the Hide-and-Seek instance had separate camps for survivors and Hunters. If Gu Mian swapped identities with the ghost, the Hunters' absolute dominance over survivors could lead to unexpected outcomes.

"The best scenario would be for Gu Mian and the ghost to be on the same side. I considered it, and it seemed safer if they were both in the Hunter's Faction. Hence, I did not notify the other players about this."

So Chu Changge had intentionally concealed crucial clues to facilitate the ghost's transformation from a survivor to a Hunter.

As a Hunter, the ghost wasn't able to harm Gu Mian at all. Instead, it provided a clue—the word "seven." Although this clue was destroyed the moment it was spoken, it also signified the clue's importance.

Fatty awkwardly smiled. "Who would've thought, Brother Chu appeared so innocent, but below the surface, he's all shady..."

Gu Mian rubbed his chin. "So, does that mean similar situations will occur in future instances? I'll need to screw over other players to get the clues I want."

Chu Changge nodded. "Not all instances will present such situations, but there is a probability they might occur. Also, understand that the instances you enter are one-off. Once you give up on a clue, there will be no further chances to return to that instance."

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