Free Web NovelChapter 61: Chapter 61: I Want Your Skill—Give It to a Human
There’s still a long time before dawn. Seeing the two of them sleeping soundly, everyone left the live stream room.
[This is insane, can’t even rate it!]
Ding Ning kept watching Jiang Che and Xiong Jie. Once she noticed the viewers’ attention shift away from them, she more or less figured out what those humans wanted to see.
At least, nobody liked watching Jiang Che sleep.
She propped her face in her hands, staring at the sleeping Jiang Che through the room’s layout. His cute face rubbed the pillow obediently.
Clearly he’s adorable!
Outside, the survivors dragged their exhausted bodies around. No one wandered aimlessly looking for the exit—instead, they found a spot that felt safe and huddled up.
Sixteen people picked a comfortable place to rest. Some simply lay down, others sat sideways against the wall, watching their surroundings warily, terrified of being ambushed by an evil spirit.
No one dared to sleep. Looking at the people in front of them, most were familiar faces—even if they hadn’t spoken before, they’d seen each other several times back in the asylum.
Someone clutched his stomach. The cold burned up too much energy—he was starving now. "Watching the live stream, it looks like other survivors don’t have such a hard time in these dungeons, huh?"
"Isn’t it fine to go three days without food? And anyway, I even snuck a couple of compressed biscuits." He muttered under his breath, but everyone else heard him clearly.
"By the way, who the hell stole my food? I just want to die full for once—can’t even have that." Another person chimed in, half-laughing from frustration over his missing food.
I’ve seen people steal weapons in dungeons, seen people steal dungeon items—but this is the first time I’ve seen someone steal food!
"Wasn’t me. I’m starving too."
"Not me either. I couldn’t even find my own food."
...
Talking about food seemed to be the only topic everyone actually shared in this dungeon.
Around the group, everyone said the same thing—someone had stolen their food, too.
"Maybe the food thief is already dead."
"I don’t think it was anyone here. Sure, we might not be saints, but we’re all people of some status. Stealing food in this kind of dungeon is a waste of time, only just to piss someone off," another person shook his head. He had never suspected the survivors sitting around him.
After all, if they’ve lived this long, they must have some skills.
"Looks like this person didn’t want to live since they set foot in the dungeon," someone sneered. "Otherwise, with this many people’s food, what kind of survivor would waste energy sneaking around instead of looking out for themselves?"
Eating it is out of the question anyway—even if you tried, you’d burst before finishing all that food.
"Only those with zero will to survive would do something like that, heh."
"No way something this childish was done by an evil spirit, right?"
...
Ten minutes wasn’t long—just a bit of idle chat, and the group noticed the exit gate flickering in the distance.
All at once, everyone frowned.
Because from where they were, the gate seemed way too far away.
The light gate in the distance shone brilliantly—no cold, no snow, no burning heat.
Just light, and hope.
Looking at that area where the snow hadn’t fallen and the gate hadn’t frozen over, all 16 fell silent.
The earlier severe cold really did feel like a random event now.
They’d killed each other for clothing to survive the cold, and now those acts were like a brand that would never be washed away.
"The first time the door opened, I honestly didn’t feel that kind of cold," someone remembered how it felt when the escape gate appeared the first time—they hadn’t felt that bone-chilling cold then.
"So, just like random exit locations, the blizzard is a random event too?"
"So, even if we hadn’t fought for clothes, waited a bit longer, the gate would close and reopen somewhere else?"
...
Seeing the regretful faces of those talking, Sister Xia remembered them all.
These guys are too soft. Maybe she could use that later on.
She glanced at the gate and snorted—like there’s ever such a thing as ’if only I had known’ in this world.
In a dungeon, you have to make the right choice at the right time. That’s the only way to survive.
"If we all go flat out, it’ll take maybe half an hour to reach it," someone said, and people immediately started to get up.
"Or we could just wait. The gate should close soon. Next time it opens, maybe it’ll be closer and we won’t have to work so hard."
Listening to them, one person had already taken off running, a faint sneer tugging at his lips.
There’s no ’maybe next time will be better’ in the dungeon.
The only thing to do is take every opportunity you can see—right now.
As long as you don’t collapse, just keep sprinting.
Once someone started moving, even those reluctant had no choice but to follow.
Nobody wanted to watch others escape and get left behind.
Inside the dungeon, a pack of people started running into the unknown—toward that speck of light at the escape gate.
The sixteen sprinted as fast as they could, clutching their chests, barely able to breathe, but refusing to slow down.
In the live stream, all you could see were red-eyed people running in circles around a building.
From somewhere in the building, a hideous, rat-shaped evil spirit crawled out.
Once it appeared, that building turned into a giant hamster wheel—humans running on it as the wheel spun round and round.
Their temples were popping with veins, but they didn’t slow down—in their ragged breathing, anyone could hear their hearts and lungs about to burst.
"Exit... the exit..." The murmur escaped from the mouths of all sixteen people, over and over.
Even the calculating Sister Xia was now running red-eyed, not stopping for even a second.
The guidebook-savvy viewers immediately realized—they’d been trapped by an illusion technique.
The enormous rat just stood there, eyes glinting with an almost human mockery.
[Dungeon 9 just makes me feel so suffocated—no idea where to even start!]
[Usually it’s people teasing hamsters, but this is the first time I’ve seen rats toying with humans.]
[So many ways to die here, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone literally die from exhaustion.]
[In this illusion, I bet they’ll think they’re running toward the exit right up till the end.]
[Did you think evil spirits are that kind? Like they’d let you die while still feeling hopeful? Of course you get crushed before you die.]
...
Ding Ning could sense all those voyeuristic gazes fixed here,
Seeing how much the viewers loved the show she’d set up for them, she didn’t bother looking at Jiang Che and Xiong Jie anymore; she nodded with satisfaction.
With Tuantuan in tow, she moved through the areas to another evil spirit’s zone.
As soon as she stepped onto its territory, a voice sounded in her mind.
"My lord, with the arrival of the hunting ground, I’m willing to fight for you!"
Ding Ning paused. "I’m not here for the hunting ground. I want your skill—to give to a human."
