In the real world.
Ji Yang had specifically taken several backup phones, and along with the computer screen in front of him displaying Xu Xi's live stream, he was playing the live streams of the other three players.
Therefore, he had watched the entire process from both perspectives and mercilessly commented, "These two miscalculated."
The netizens watching the stream with Ji Yang became active.
[What's this, trying to test a teammate and ending up pissing him off?]
[But you have to admit, Xu Xi's retort was satisfying.]
[That Burly Man really does look like he deserves a beating. It's one thing to deliberately send someone to lure the supernatural being alone, but to lock them out after they succeed? I'd be furious too if it were me.]
[Luckily Xu Xi is clever. This is his third instance, right? I've decided I'm going to follow every single one of this newcomer's future instances until he bites the dust.]
[Three instances isn't exactly a newcomer anymore. It's just a shame our country's leaderboard only ranks based on the number of instances cleared. If it used any other ranking method, this player would definitely have a decent spot.]
[It's only a matter of time. Sure, there are many veteran players ahead, but plenty of veterans die every day too. The rankings change constantly, and many are tied because they have the same clear count. As long as this guy doesn't die halfway, he'll be climbing the leaderboard in a few more instances.]
[Maybe it's because his 2-minute 48-second instance was too shocking, directly breaking the world record. I've always felt he's more badass than all the other players.]
[Speaking of that instance, the combined view count across domestic and international sites is already in the hundreds of millions, right? That's truly peak performance.]
[It's still skyrocketing. Probably not far from being known across the entire internet.]
[This player's popularity is no joke. On that video site, eight out of ten commentary videos are about him. The traffic is insane.]
[Can't be helped. Everyone's curious about how far a player who created such a peak can go.]
Ji Yang originally wanted to continue his analysis, but then he saw the live stream comments chatting with great interest.
He cleared his throat lightly and steered the topic back. "Folks, let's focus on the instance for now. Why did I say these two miscalculated? Because they underestimated Xu Xi's strength."
"Both of these guys are the very self-confident type. People who are overly self-confident often like to dominate others and control the entire situation. That's why they were butting heads from the start."
[Ah, forget the Burly Man, but the Refined Man doesn't seem like that.]
"Only on the surface. In reality, one is overtly domineering, the other is covertly domineering."
"Logically, if a teammate can figure out the issue with the candles in such a short time and even warn them, that teammate's strength shouldn't be bad at all, right? But these two have a mindset different from ordinary people."
"When they encounter a fairly strong teammate, their first thought isn't to ally and cooperate, but to first suppress, test, and then control."
"If the Burly Man is targeting Xu Xi openly, then the Refined Man is fanning the flames in the shadows."
"At the stairwell, the Burly Man was clearly already dissatisfied with Xu Xi, but the Refined Man's approach wasn't to let him vent and then mediate. Instead, he deliberately changed the subject, causing the Burly Man to bottle up that dissatisfaction."
"Emotions that build up for a long time only become sharper when they finally explode."
"The High-Ponytailed Woman isn't simple either. When the group was discussing clues, the Burly Man glanced at Xu Xi several times, clearly resentful that Xu Xi wasn't saying a word. But that emotion was also interrupted by the High-Ponytailed Woman."
"I'm not sure if she was trying to help Xu Xi or, like the Refined Man, deliberately pushing things along. But judging from her later move of wanting to light the candle for Xu Xi, it seems like she was trying to show goodwill towards him."
"Because she also suspects Short-haired Glasses Girl's death is related to Xu Xi."
"She dared to take on such a dangerous task for Xu Xi; she must have some kind of guarantee on her. Doing this was probably her way of showing Xu Xi her stance: she's not in cahoots with the other two, and she bears no ill will towards him."
[...Damn, everyone's got eight hundred schemes in their heads, huh?]
[Are you all watching with a magnifying glass?? Observing such minute details.]
[Maybe it's because Xu Xi's last instance was too harmonious. It made me feel something was off. Watching this instance, yep, that's the right flavor.]
[I'm just waiting to see if this Burly Man and Refined Man will die.]
[+1, me too.]
——
Xu Xi walked to the door of Room 101 and raised his flashlight to carefully examine the lock.
It was indeed unlocked.
But you really wouldn't notice if you didn't look closely.
That High-Ponytailed Woman was quite observant.
Reaching out to gently push the door open, the room was instantly illuminated for a small half.
Unlike the emptiness of Room 106, this room was filled with many trivial daily necessities, clearly someone's long-term residence.
Remembering that the guest register seemed to have no check-in records for Room 101, Xu Xi had his answer.
This was probably the hotel owner's room.
He had just finished a cursory inspection when he saw the other three rushing over with their flashlights.
Seemingly not expecting Xu Xi to still be standing at the doorway without entering, they all stopped in their tracks.
The atmosphere was extremely tense, and no one spoke.
The Burly Man's expression was the most unnatural. He knew that "idiot" was directed at him.
This guy standing at the door not going in... could there be a trap inside?
"Ahem, I'm really sorry about earlier. He was just afraid you might have been infected like Wang Xiuping in Room 204, so he wanted you to prove yourself," the Refined Man said after waiting a moment, seeing no one else speak, his voice gentle as he tried to smooth things over.
"We were actually about to open the door for you, it's just..."
Just what?
Xu Xi sneered inwardly.
Just that he suddenly pretended to be a supernatural being and scared them?
Who would believe that?
They were clearly targeting him. Did they think he couldn't tell?
"Mhm, so which of you two is going in first?" Xu Xi couldn't be bothered to listen to such clumsy explanations. He directly pointed at Room 101, gesturing for the two to choose.
"Or you two can go in together if you prefer."
Since they wanted him to lure the supernatural being and then didn't open the door for him, was it too much for him to ask them to scout the path?
The Refined Man's face stiffened slightly, and the Burly Man practically had the word "suspicion" written on his face.
"Why should we listen to you? Or do you know what's inside and are deliberately sending us in to die? Then we're even less likely to go in." The Burly Man was already tall, strong, and muscular. With a fierce look in his eyes, he appeared exceptionally menacing.
Xu Xi had no doubt this guy could punch two of him, but...
"You don't want me to release that thing from Room 106 again, do you?"
Ignoring the probing in the Burly Man's words, Xu Xi tossed the key in his hand and raised an eyebrow.
"I don't really care. I can't die anyway, but—"
"You two might not be so lucky."