Infinite: Dawn Game

Chapter 245 To go out or not to go out?

thump—

The sound of a person suddenly falling in the corridor woke up all the players in the room.

The wary player huddled on the bed, silently pulling the blanket over himself and looking around.

What happened——

"Ah ah ah ah ah--"

The woman's agonizing screams echoed in everyone's ears, the pain and sharpness of which seemed to pierce through the walls and doors, striking directly into everyone's ears.

Inevitably, everyone simply covered their ears and silently endured the pain.

Yu Shijiu was no exception.

The boy, startled awake from his sleep, sat up abruptly. He covered his aching ears and irritably squeezed his eyes shut, trying to suppress his sleepiness.

Unfortunately, the intense headache he experienced after being abruptly woken up was unbearable for the time being.

It took Yu Shijiu quite a while to recover from the screams coming from the woman outside the corridor.

He rubbed his ears and got out of bed.

At the same time, the players in each room slowly got out of bed and moved closer to the door.

Players who had seen the eerie flowers in the villa's garden from outside the screen couldn't help but hold their breath.

Those seemingly human-like flowers appeared to be moving along the villa's exterior wall in response to sound and sight... So, is it possible that the voice of an unknown woman also attracted their attention...? And so far, none of the players in the game instance have noticed this...

Just thinking about the possibility of players getting injured made the players' hearts race.

There's a thrill to it, but also a sense of anticipation and enjoyment.

There's no other way. They're trapped in this small town that you can see the end of at a glance, and they have to frantically save up points every day to try and get back to reality... There aren't many normal people among them to begin with.

"Will those flowers go to the players on the first day?"

An experienced veteran player muttered under his breath, "It shouldn't be this dangerous right from the start, right..."

“Not necessarily,” someone shook their head and said, “Although none of the shots have shown those flowers since Yu Shijiu… think about it carefully, just because we can’t see them now doesn’t mean they no longer exist…”

"..."

The two men's words resonated with many people.

Just as the veteran player who had spoken earlier was about to say something more, shouts from his guildmates suddenly rang out behind him.

"Brother Niu! Hurry, hurry! The chairman is calling us back for a meeting!"

The veteran player immediately shut his mouth, ignoring the stares from the surrounding players, and quickly ran in the direction of his guildmates.

"Why does the chairman want to call a meeting with us now?"

The veteran player known as Brother Niu is somewhat muscular but not tall, giving the impression of being honest and simple. However, in reality, no one who has become a veteran player in Dawn Games possesses the characteristic of being "honest and simple".

"They said it was because of the guild tournament."

The guild member's eyes flickered as he spoke, and he leaned closer to Brother Niu and whispered:

"Did you know that the rules for this year's guild competition have changed, Brother Niu?"

Brother Niu's pupils contracted. "What does this mean? Why have the rules for the guild competition changed?"

The player sighed, "Who says otherwise? Guild tournaments have been around for ages, and the rules haven't changed at all. Why did they suddenly change them this year..."

He rambled on and on for a long time before finally getting to what Brother Niu was most concerned about:

"...The guild leader said the system is meant to bring together all the players in all the towns of Dawn Game, something like virtual seating?"

In short, Dawn Game brings together all the players from all the sub-towns, and the top player in each town competes against the top players from the other towns... kind of like a life-or-death battle...

Brother Niu's heart was pounding. "A life-or-death struggle? What does that mean? Will anyone die in this guild tournament?"

"...The guild leader didn't say," the player shook his head, somewhat bewildered.

"Probably not. If someone dies in the guild tournament, who would willingly participate? Even if they get more points, it wouldn't matter..."

"..."

Brother Niu didn't press the matter further. He followed the player forward, and when he was halfway there, he looked back at the countless small screens clustered together around the square, his pupils flashing.

In a corner of the plaza, radiating a cold, mechanical light, there are 23 small screens belonging to the "Equivalent Invitation" game instance. They are closely packed together, and behind countless room doors with similar images on the screens of the same size, players with different expressions stand.

Some were terrified, some were wary, some were indifferent, and some were so scared that their hands and feet trembled... but the most eye-catching among them were only a few players.

Among the players who showed no sign of fear, the youngest and weakest player had already reached for the doorknob.

Will he open the door and go out?

In situation one where the NPC explicitly warns against going out.

Brother Niu was itching with curiosity, but he knew he didn't have time to watch the other person's live stream right now, so he could only glance at it, sigh, and go to his meeting.

This is so annoying! Why did they have to choose this time of year to have a meeting?

Sigh, I'll ask someone if Yu Shijiu has opened the door after I get out...

Brother Niu left in a hurry, so he didn't notice that after he left, many players from various guilds in the square were also called away. The reasons were almost the same: they were all for an emergency meeting on the reform of the guild competition.

Therefore, it seems that the reform of the guild competition rules must have already existed before, but now it is only spreading from the top-ranked guilds down to the bottom.

------------

The dramatic changes to the guild tournament rules that had shaken up the town were unknown to other players in the game.

They were currently in their respective rooms, struggling with whether or not to go out, and anxiously waiting to see if the screaming woman would scream again...

What did the screams represent? Why was that strange woman screaming? Is it okay to go out after midnight...? These kinds of questions almost filled everyone's brains, giving them splitting headaches.

They didn't receive any warning from the NPC, which is why they're so frustrated and anxious. But the players who did receive the warning—

Yu Shijiu's right hand was already on the doorknob; with just a slight twist, the door would open.

He did want to open the door and go out, but he needed to wait a little longer.

Yu Shijiu hesitated, rubbing the cold doorknob, completely unaware that the window behind him, which should have been closed tightly, had been blown open by the wind with a tiny crack.

Cold sweat seeped into the room through the cracks, and the temperature slowly dropped without anyone noticing.

When Yu Shijiu realized the room temperature was off, she felt something ominously watching her from the darkness behind her.

Yu Shijiu turned around instantly, his pupils flashing.