Squinting, he could barely make out a small portion of the characters. Xu Xi couldn't help but ponder.
What rule? Regulations?
In the real world, some hotels also post regulations, like prohibiting damage to public property or carrying flammable, explosive, or other dangerous items. That wasn't anything strange.
But judging from the characters he had managed to recognize, it was clear this hotel's posting wasn't that kind of regulation.
Before he could think deeper, someone approached from beside him.
"Huh?" The short-haired, bespectacled girl moved closer to the paper with pleasant surprise, straining to decipher the characters on it.
She had also observed part of the area but hadn't found any useful clues. Turning her head, she saw the most silent young man in the team staring intently at a wall. Out of curiosity, she came over to look and unexpectedly found a surprise.
Xu Xi was forced to step back two paces.
[Seriously, what's this girl pushing for? She shoved our master to the side.]
[Probably can't see the characters clearly.]
[She didn't need to block that entire area so completely. Master Xu Xi can't even see the paper now.]
Being shoved aside and having his view blocked, Xu Xi felt a bit annoyed inside.
If she wanted to observe the information on that paper up close, she could have just said so. It wasn't like he wouldn't have moved.
Why shove him?
However, he had already finished scanning the content on that paper. Staying here any longer would be a waste of time.
Just as Xu Xi was about to go look elsewhere, a deliberately lowered male voice reached his ears.
"Everyone, gather over here for a moment."
The Refined Man stood in front of the reception desk, with the Burly Man standing beside him.
Once all five people had gathered, he displayed the items in his hands for everyone to see.
It was a notebook with a black pen clipped to it and a bunch of keys.
"We found these in the reception desk's cabinet. You can take a look."
The others took turns receiving the notebook and flipping through it.
This seemed to be the notebook the hotel owner used to register guest information. It was recorded in sections by date, appearing quite clear and organized. The number of guests recorded wasn't high, likely due to the remote location.
All previously recorded guests were marked as checked out. Only the three rooms listed on the last few pages were still marked as occupied.
The room numbers were 103, 202, and 204.
⌈20xx, June 16⌋
⌈Name: Yang Wu | Gender: Male | Age: 24 | Contact Info: xxx... | Room Number: 202⌋
⌈20xx, July 26⌋
⌈Name: Wang Xiang | Gender: Male | Age: 28 | Contact Info: xxx... | Room Number: 204⌋
⌈Name: Liang Wenxue | Gender: Female | Age: 26 | Contact Info: xxx... | Room Number: 204⌋
⌈20xx, July 27⌋
⌈Name: Wang Xiuping | Gender: Female | Age: 52 | Contact Info: xxx... | Room Number: 103⌋
⌈Name: Xu Haoyu | Gender: Male | Age: 11 | Contact Info: None | Room Number: 103⌋
"Only these three rooms lack check-out information. It's very likely something happened at this hotel, causing these five people to meet with an accident, or perhaps the hotel was abandoned ever since." The Refined Man speculated in a gentle tone.
The methods to clear an instance are mostly closely tied to its background. What they need to do now is piece together the clues to reconstruct what happened at this hotel.
The Burly Man swept his gaze over the other three and asked casually, "What about you? Found any clues?"
"I discovered a piece of paper on that wall that resembles regulations but seems unusual. It's just that most of the writing on it has faded away." The short-haired, bespectacled girl spoke up first, pointing in a direction.
——
[??? Wasn't that discovered first by Master Xu Xi?]
[The notebook and keys were discovered first by the Refined Man, and he even included the word 'we' to credit the Burly Man along with him. But those regulations were found by Xu Xi first. Yet this girl opens her mouth and takes credit for it herself. Really something.]
[This girl's emotional intelligence is a bit low. And of all people's clues to steal, she had to steal Master Xu Xi's.]
[Don't attribute everything to low emotional intelligence. This is clearly intentional.]
[Exactly. Being in such a hurry to speak up, isn't it just because she's afraid that if Master Xu Xi speaks first, she'll have nothing to say?]
Ji Yang frowned slightly. His spine, which had been lazily leaning against the chair back, straightened a bit. He glanced at the noisy live stream comments and analyzed with his own live stream's viewers, "This short-haired, bespectacled female player has a strong desire to perform. It's obvious she deliberately rushed to speak before Xu Xi to make a show because she didn't find any clues in the area she checked."
"In these kinds of multiplayer team instances, ability is generally highly valued. She's probably afraid that not finding useful clues will lead to her being seen as dead weight."
[The streamer is right. To put it bluntly, she's afraid that if she doesn't demonstrate value, she'll be abandoned by the team.]
[But she stole Master Xu Xi's clue. What about the master?]
[You're calling him a master. Do you think a master would lack recognition from you just once or twice?]
[True. People with ability will demonstrate it one way or another.]
[Actually... is there a possibility that Master Xu Xi simply doesn't care about these things?]
As soon as this comment appeared, the entire screen seemed to quiet down for a second.
Ji Yang stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Indeed, we worry about not demonstrating our own value and being abandoned by teammates. Firstly, it's because our strength doesn't allow us to recklessly leave the team. After all, a team has its benefits—not only can it pool collective wisdom, but it also greatly reduces our own probability of death."
"Secondly, it's because we inevitably crave a sense of belonging. The sense of security a group provides far exceeds being alone. To integrate into the group, we naturally strive desperately to showcase our value and seek recognition from others."
"But we've all overlooked one thing: this player named Xu Xi is different from us. Judging from his previous two instances, it's clear he doesn't lack ability, nor does he care about gaining recognition from others, let alone go to great lengths to show off."
"Perhaps what this female player did truly doesn't matter to him."
[Yeah, exactly. We're all worried about Master Xu Xi not getting recognition from his teammates, but he might not care at all.]
[The earlier commenter, remove the word 'might'.]
[In the last highway instance, it felt like the four players were tied together, so Xu Xi just gave them a hand. Otherwise, it might not have been a full team clear. But this instance doesn't seem like one where death is guaranteed if you're connected.]
[Bro, your words have deep meaning.]
[I didn't say anything. The official stance still emphasizes sincere cooperation in instances, since one player's death means a bit more reality gets polluted. But human nature... those who understand, understand.]
The scrolling comments were heatedly discussing.
Ji Yang's gaze returned to the live stream on the large screen in front of him.
He didn't comment on those views in the comments. Some things the commenters could say, but as a public figure, he couldn't freely express such attitudes.
However...
For someone who couldn't even be bothered to give an explanation to his teammates in the last instance, he didn't think that person would care about his teammates' life or death either.