Chapter 31: Snow Mountain Spirit 01

Chapter 31: Snow Mountain Spirit 01

As soon as the system finished speaking, Pei Yi abruptly opened his eyes, finding himself in a wooden cabin, along with ten people including himself, five men and five women.

Their expressions were all quite composed.

It seemed none of them were beginners. After all, who would choose this instance if they were new?

The cabin was obviously inhabited, quite large, with two rooms, and not at all rudimentary. It looked like a cozy wooden house.

In the living room, there was a fireplace with a fire burning, a long wooden table by the window that could seat ten people, with some dry bread and fresh flowers on it. On the walls hung an old clock and several vintage paintings, and against the wall stood a tall desk with a black radio on it.

The house was fully equipped with household items, including a bread maker, coffee machine, and more.

One of the men with blond hair called out a few times, "Is anyone there?" No response. Was the house unoccupied?

Everyone sat down, not bothering about the owner. They decided to first analyze the situation: ten people, it would be best to complete the instance together. The high mortality rate had everyone quite apprehensive.

An older man spoke up, "My name is Feng Chun, 62 years old, a doctor, currently an F-level with 125 points. Since the system hasn't assigned any tasks yet, let's all introduce our point levels. We should choose a leader."

He gestured to his side, "This is my wife. Her score is similar to mine, just over 100."

Everyone looked at the woman next to the doctor, a kindly looking lady.

She nodded at everyone, "You are all much younger than us. Just call me Aunt Wu."

To the left of the doctor were three girls dressed alike, seemingly a team. The leader among them said, "You can call us Little A, Little B, Little C. It's easier, too many names to remember. We're also F, just reached 80 points. We hope for everyone's support."

Pei Yi thought this ABC thing was interesting and decided to adopt a codename too, something like K, just like Lu Zai Chuan.

Next to them was a couple. The man said, "Ying Jun and Mei Li are our codenames, we won't disclose our real names. My score is 278, and my wife's is 260."

The names of the pair were intriguing: one 'Handsome', the other 'Beautiful'. The woman was taller and more robust than the man, and they seemed very affectionate, holding hands continuously.

Then there was the blond man calling out for anyone there. Short in stature and at first glance rather ordinary, he became animated when speaking. "What's this? Why are all of you at F rank? I was hoping to play with some tough competitors."

Pei Yi couldn't help but ask, "Are you E rank?"

"No, I'm F too, 180."

Pei Yi: "..."

"You're that Pei Yi? The champion of the newcomers' list? Lucky me, I'm Zhou You. Big shot, let's team up."

Only then did everyone shift their attention to him. When they had first seen Pei Yi, everyone's heart had skipped a beat. No one expected to team up with the hottest person lately – breaking records twice, achieving a miraculous comeback to enter the S1 League, and as such a new rookie, he was already so formidable.

His face was still circulating on JC's major screens. Everyone had only seen him on live streams, and seeing him in person felt somewhat surreal.

One of the three sisters, Little B, said, "He looks even more handsome than on the screen. I mean, the screen doesn’t do justice to your handsomeness."

Zhou You chimed in, "Yeah. Big shot, standing next to you makes me feel so inferior."

Pei Yi responded, "You flatter me. I'm Pei Yi, and this is my friend, Chen Mo. We have low scores, so we'll be counting on everyone's support."

Little B quickly added, "But you got into S1. We all got eliminated, it was so brutal!"

Hearing this, the expressions of the others soured, evidently having participated in and been eliminated from the qualifying matches.

Yingjun responded, "It wasn't too bad. I think it wasn't that difficult." His words clearly implied that he had qualified.

Pei Yi suggested, "Since we all know each other's names now, how about we check out the house and survey the terrain?"

Zhou You agreed, "Sure. Whatever the leader says goes. You're the great Pei Yi, we'll listen to you."

The doctor had said earlier that they should listen to the one with the highest points, which should be Yingjun. But with Zhou You's remark, everyone, except Yingjun, seemed to agree tacitly. High points didn't seem very useful here — after all, none of them had ever obtained a gold medal in the numerous instances they played. And a gold medal symbolizes true strength!

Yingjun looked displeased but didn't say a word. His wife seemed unconvinced but was stopped by Yingjun. Chen Mo noticed this scene.

The CG image earlier showed daylight, but the sky appeared grey due to the blizzard. Now, looking again, the sky was clear and bright, indicating daybreak.

The group of ten scattered, some went outside to look around, and others stayed inside the house to see who could find clues first. They planned to regroup after half an hour.

Pei Yi asked Chen Mo, "Did you hear the 'Rule Tales' earlier? What's that about?"

"Brother Pei doesn't know? It's been quite popular lately. It's about a world governed by rules, filled with various kinds of unreliable rules. Something like that…"

"Wait, so there are rules, but also no rules, is that it?"

Chen Mo took a deep breath and nodded, "Pretty much. The rules contradict each other. It seems one way but is actually another. You don't know whether to believe them or not, but disbelieving might lead to death…"

Pei Yi voiced his realization, "So strange. Of course, we should believe. Rules indicate their accuracy. If we don't trust the rules, what else is there to believe?"

While they were talking, someone suddenly shouted, "Come over here!" It was the voice of the three sisters.

They went outside to see a wooden sign standing beside the cabin, listing the tourist guidelines. Below the text was a simple, square drawing of a mountain, with a straightforward layout.

The crowd exchanged puzzled looks as Doctor Feng read aloud:

[Tourist Guidelines:

1# Welcome to the snow area. The mountain has an altitude of 830 meters, with three skiing spots available. Please refer to the map for directions.

2# There is only one toilet on the mountain. If you need to use it, please avoid going at night, especially the women's restroom.

3# The area offers a cable car service available from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Do not use the cable car at night. Follow the staff's instructions and adhere strictly to all regulations when riding.

4# Please do not ski (emphasis on skiing) at any time. Also, avoid going outdoors when the weather is bad.

5# Do not make loud noises on the mountain.

6# Please avoid forming pairs for activities.

7# If you encounter ██ (smudged), immediately walk away.

8# If possible, do not stay overnight on the mountain. Descend as soon as you can.

9# If you have no other choice, try to stay inside a house.]

The wooden sign was placed beside the cabin, its implication clear.

These were rules left by the cabin owner.

Then Doctor Feng asked, "These numerous rules, do we believe them or not?"

Yingjun asserted, "We must believe them. They are essential for our survival, but clearly, the situation is more complicated than we thought. So many taboos. It seems we can only hide in the cabin, unable to go anywhere else."

Zhou You immediately asked Pei Yi, "Boss, what do you think?"

Pei Yi hummed thoughtfully, feigning seriousness, "I think Yingjun's point is very valid. Shall we hide in the cabin for a few days?" He walked up to the wooden sign and added, "But... these initial rules suggest danger, yet the last one advises against staying overnight on the mountain. What does that imply?"

He looked around at everyone, who were all looking back at him.

Just when they thought Pei Yi would reveal something significant, he laughed and said, "It clearly means that the death rate in this instance is really high. Hahaha."

Earlier, with his mysterious demeanor, everyone thought he was going to say something valuable, but it turned out to be a casual remark.

Pei Yi couldn't resist teasing everyone, seeing their serious expressions.

Little A said, "I think what Pei Yi said makes sense. It indicates real danger here, and a high death rate in the instance. We must be careful."

Pei Yi: ".........." He felt compelled to commend this. He wouldn't feel right if he didn't lead them out alive.

Zhou You also chimed in, "Exactly, exactly. I think the same. Pei Yi is really smart, top-notch reasoning."

Pei Yi: Are you guys serious?

Jokes aside, they needed to focus on the task at hand. He turned to look at the wooden sign again. Each rule seemed clear, written in black and white, telling them what not to do.

The main point of confusion was a smudged section on the sign, clearly not done by the cabin owner – why would they do such a pointless act? So, who did it?

"If you find something, walk away." This is as vague as making a sentence; it could mean anything.

This is a hidden death condition. He was most suspicious of this point, but he also had no answer. Seeing the uneasy expressions on everyone's faces earlier, he chose to remain silent for now, as speaking up would only add to the panic.

With nothing much to say, everyone dispersed.

Yingjun said to his wife, "Let's go check out other places."

Pei Yi quickly interjected, “Ah, Yingjun and Meili. Remember the rule: don’t pair up in teams of two, it's better not to act collectively.”

Yingjun humphed, “Of course, I know.” Despite saying this, he still left with his wife to check out the so-called cable cars.

Zhouyou remarked, “Damn, those with over 200 points are just awesome.”

Xiao A said, “We still haven’t triggered the main quest. Could it be that the task is just to survive a few days on the snow mountain? Car God, what do you think?”

Pei Yi: “……” Don’t ask him; he didn’t know either. But he couldn’t resist the flattery and pretended to be knowledgeable, “Well, generally speaking, in ghost-related instances, survival is usually the main theme.”

At that moment, one of the three sisters, Xiao B, exclaimed, “I can’t access my wristband! What’s going on?”

Hearing this, everyone felt insecure and started checking their wristbands. Indeed, none of them had a signal.

Pei Yi asked Zhouyou, the most experienced player there, “Have you ever encountered a situation where the live broadcast was shut down before?”

Zhouyou, now visibly panicked and feeling disconnected from the world without an audience, said, “No, never! This has never happened before! Though I haven’t participated in many instances.”

Whether the wristbands were genuinely broken, a result of the system's doing, or caused by some external factor, was unknown.

Without the system, what about the main quest? Did they have to discover the tasks themselves?

The biggest issue was the lack of clues inside the house. They had searched it thoroughly, only to find it was a regular house, good for eating, sleeping, and chatting, but nothing of value.

The atmosphere on the scene became somewhat oppressive.

Pei Yi was the first to suggest, "Should we go check out the cable car or ski point? When I arrived, I checked the time, and I guess it’s around three in the afternoon now. In three hours, it'll be dark."