The live stream audience watched in bewilderment as this new player first scratched his head with visible frustration, then quickly left the bedroom and knocked on the door of the opposite room. He emerged carrying a corpse, then rushed to the kitchen and retrieved a stew pot from the refrigerator. Finally, he sat down at the dining table, lit the nine candles on the cake, made a sincere wish, blew out the candles, and began eating the cake.
Just as the live stream comments were filled with confusion, a bright white light signaling clearance flashed through the area.
The live stream fell into complete silence for a moment, then the screen was instantly flooded with question marks.
【？？？】
【？？？？】
【？？？？？】
【？？？？？？】
The dense clusters of question marks clearly revealed the audience's unsettled state of mind.
【Wait? Huh? That's it? It's cleared already???】
It took a long while before someone finally asked this question, which echoed the thoughts of every viewer in the live stream!
Having learned from the previous experience with the stew pot, Xu Xi didn't dare to think too deeply about what disgusting ingredients might be hidden within this cake. He only scooped a small amount of cream from the edge.
When he tasted it with a sense of sacrifice, before he could even discern any particular flavor, he noticed his surroundings beginning to change.
On the chairs where Father Tong and Mother Tong's corpses had been placed, two faint, indistinct figures began to materialize. On his own seat, the figure of a child also appeared. Though he couldn't clearly see the faces of the three figures, he could sense they were all smiling.
The sound of people singing "Happy Birthday" in unison even reached his ears, and finally—
"Son, happy ninth birthday!"
Instance cleared.
As white light flashed beneath his feet, before Xu Xi could even process what was happening, the scene before his eyes had completely changed.
——
Xu Xi's eyes widened involuntarily as one hand slowly pressed against his chest where his heartbeat had suddenly gone erratic. He stared in disbelief at the spectacle unfolding before him.
What appeared before him was a massive staircase glowing with golden radiance. Rows of steps taller than him wound upward like the spine of a dragon, layer upon layer stretching toward the sky until they disappeared from view, seemingly endless.
The oppressive feeling brought by the colossal structure made Xu Xi dizzy. His first instinct was to pull out his phone and capture this sacred and awe-inspiring scene.
However, when he reached for his pocket and found nothing, he suddenly came to his senses.
He wasn't in the real world.
After the initial shock from the giant stone staircase subsided, Xu Xi looked around and found himself standing on one of the steps. The staircase stretched endlessly before and behind him, with no visible boundaries to either side.
He even had the feeling that this void-like space was entirely illuminated by the golden light emanating from the massive stone steps. Otherwise, he would be surrounded by complete darkness.
Comparing the height, Xu Xi knew he couldn't possibly climb these steps. In contrast to this endless space, he felt like a mere speck of dust—tiny and insignificant.
Fortunately, Xu Xi didn't remain bewildered for long. Several pieces of information automatically surfaced in his mind.
From this information, he learned that this was actually the player space of the God Hunt game.
Within this space, players wouldn't experience hunger, sleepiness, fatigue, or any other negative sensations—it was as if their bodily functions had been frozen.
If a player suffered injuries within an instance, even losing limbs, as long as they had a breath of life left, returning to this space would automatically restore them.
Although the giant staircase appeared endless to the naked eye, it actually had a specific number of steps—exactly nine hundred and ninety-nine levels.
Players could ascend the staircase by clearing instances. The number of steps climbed was determined by the difficulty of the instance, similar to how pollution worked in the real world. Higher difficulty instances would allow players to climb more steps upon clearance, while easier instances would yield fewer steps.
If someone could reach the final level, they could not only escape the God Hunt game but also make any wish they desired to the God Hunt game. No matter what the wish was, the God Hunt game could fulfill it.
"..." After browsing through all the information, Xu Xi couldn't help but stroke his chin. The game's rewards were rather stingy.
Players had to risk their lives clearing instances to climb all nine hundred and ninety-nine steps, and all they got was one wish? They should offer at least three!
Muttering quietly to himself, he looked up at the layered massive steps and thought to himself that, in reality, probably very few people could successfully reach the summit.
He had already experienced one instance, and for him, that instance was insane enough.
He had died a full eight times!
Eight whole times!
He had almost gotten used to dying... not really!
Other players without special abilities didn't even need to be mentioned—their margin for error was basically nonexistent.
But speaking of his own ability, Xu Xi let out a slight sigh.
He still wasn't sure how many more times this post-death revival could be used. Currently, there were three possibilities regarding this ability—
First, this ability had a limited total number of uses, and he had already consumed eight of them.
Second, this ability had a specified number of uses per instance, which would reset in the next instance. Judging from the results of the previous instance, he could die at least eight times within a single instance.
Third, he could use this ability infinitely, with no usage restrictions.
If Xu Xi had to choose, he would of course prefer the third option, and at the very least, the second option would be acceptable.
If it was the first option... that would be very bad.
He would have to be extremely careful to avoid dying easily.
What he needed to do now was quietly wait for the next instance to begin.
Of course, if he wanted to, he could also enter an instance early.
But having just completed his first instance, even though his body didn't feel any fatigue now, psychologically he felt a lingering sense of weariness that wouldn't dissipate.
Xu Xi preferred to use this blank period to rest properly.
Filled with curiosity about this space, he began to look around, focusing particularly on examining the steps beneath him.
The steps below appeared to plunge into an abyss, so deep that the bottom couldn't be seen. If someone with acrophobia stood here, they would probably feel their legs going weak instinctively.
Xu Xi tentatively made a motion to descend the stairs, taking a step downward.
He didn't actually intend to go down, but rather wanted to test if there was some kind of barrier preventing him.
After all, each step was many times taller than him, and there were no handholds available. He didn't want to accidentally fall to his death.
Getting seriously injured from a fall wouldn't be acceptable either!
Sure enough, the moment Xu Xi extended his foot, a golden light blocked his forward movement.
After conducting various tests, he discovered he could only move around on the specific step where he was standing.
Turning his head to look left and right, Xu Xi couldn't see any difference between the directions, so he randomly chose one side to explore.
Since he was just waiting around anyway, he might as well walk around—maybe he would discover something extra.
He had already experienced one instance, and for him, that instance was perverted enough.