Chapter 228 Entering the Reception Room

Chapter 228: Entering the Reception Room

Meng Zhi gazed at Qin Yuxuan’s face. Though unremarkable, it exuded an unexpected trustworthiness in her eyes. Instinctively, she clasped the hand he offered.

“My ability is only enough for self-preservation; I can’t help others. But I will do my best to assist everyone,” Meng Zhi said, her smile radiating a maternal warmth as she looked at Qin Yuxuan as if he were a younger relative.

Yet, beneath that smile, a faint tremor of anxiety about the game’s prospects was discernible.

“We should be about the same age, right? You seem to be a newcomer too? When the time comes for us to stand on our own, we’ll have to help each other,” Qin Yuxuan said, extending his hand to the bespectacled girl with braided hair standing nearby.

Qin Yuxuan’s smile had a way of putting people at ease. This, combined with his subtle use of his ability when speaking, fostered an inexplicable sense of familiarity and even trust. It was why his sudden handshakes always proceeded smoothly—the handshake itself marked the beginning of his ability to plant suggestions in other players.

The bespectacled girl—no, Feng Ling, the current leader of the Nameless Society—looked at Qin Yuxuan through her plain-lens glasses before naturally shaking his hand. The instant their hands met, her brows, hidden beneath her glasses and bangs, furrowed almost imperceptibly, though her outward expression remained composed.

“I’ll head downstairs first,” Qin Yuxuan announced. Perhaps recalling the two intriguing new players still on the first floor, he turned and descended the stairs.

After Qin Yuxuan left, Meng Zhi, who had accompanied him down from the third floor, looked at Feng Ling with concern. Having both chosen apartments on the third floor, they had already interacted, and their conversations had forged a bond, allowing Meng Zhi to confide in Feng Ling.

“Feng Ling, I truly think what Qin Yuxuan said makes a lot of sense,” Meng Zhi said worriedly. “Although Mr. Yue and Miss Sang have different personalities, they are both equally ostentatious. So much so that I almost forgot how many newcomers there are in this game. If the experienced players only focus on protecting themselves, we’ll truly be in danger.”

“Every player is part of the game. To clear it, everyone must contribute, but there’s no need to take Qin Yuxuan’s words too seriously,” Feng Ling replied calmly, gazing toward the downstairs area.

“Why? I think Qin Yuxuan is quite a good person,” Meng Zhi said, still under the influence of Qin Yuxuan’s ability.

Feng Ling paused before continuing, “But from start to finish, he never asked for my name, did he? In that regard, he doesn’t seem all that different from the other experienced players.”

Hearing this, Auntie Meng, who had learned Feng Ling’s name much earlier, fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile, in Apartment 101 on the first floor, Su Bai and Zhang Yibu were preparing to leave.

“Let’s go check out the reception room first,” Su Bai said, after resting with his eyes closed on the sofa for a while. The reappearance of that force earlier hadn’t disturbed his rest, so he felt his condition had improved slightly. Still, the thought of having to force himself to stand and walk again as soon as he felt better made Su Bai slump weakly back onto the sofa.

Compared to the dilapidated sofa in the reception room, Su Bai much preferred the one in this apartment.

Or rather, he hadn’t even had the chance to try out the seemingly comfortable large bed in the bedroom.

After hauling himself up from the sofa, Su Bai saw Zhang Yibu curled up in a corner. Since the oppressive force had come from all directions earlier, Su Bai, in his current state, couldn’t do much to help the child. He could only let Zhang Yibu endure it on his own, which, in a way, wasn’t a bad thing for him.

After all, that kind of pressure wasn’t the physical kind that could kill.

Now, although the oppressive force had inexplicably vanished again, Zhang Yibu seemed to have fallen into another strange state. He kept muttering in the corner about what his ability could mutate into, apparently trapped in an obsessive cycle, desperately wanting a special ability and craving to become stronger.

Su Bai, however, had no intention of disturbing Zhang Yibu in this state.

Under the red moon, facing a crisis of gathering pressure, and with someone even able to protect him from the side, Zhang Yibu was in the best possible moment to awaken his ability. If he missed this opportunity, the child might continue down the path of a physical-strength enhancer.

“Let’s go. Staying in the apartment will only lead to stagnation, and those who stagnate are likely to be eliminated in the game’s scenario,” Su Bai said, as if encouraging Zhang Yibu, or perhaps trying hard to motivate himself to stand up and participate in the game. After all, this time, he truly lacked the drive and enthusiasm to actively engage.

Although Zhang Yibu was trapped in his obsessive state, he obediently emerged from the corner upon hearing Su Bai’s struggling movements and hoarse voice. The two even found wearable cotton slippers in the shoe cabinet by the door before leaving. Though the slippers might become a hindrance if they had to flee, at least they wouldn’t have to walk barefoot in the apartment for now.

As Su Bai and Zhang Yibu stepped out of their apartment, Feng Ling and Meng Zhi were just coming down the stairs. Qin Yuxuan and the others had likely already entered the reception room ahead of them.

Su Bai and Zhang Yibu instinctively glanced toward the security room and found it empty—the guard who had been seemingly glued to the chair was nowhere to be seen. However, the voice from the loudspeaker earlier sounded very similar to the guard’s voice they had heard through the door.

After Feng Ling and Meng Zhi nodded in greeting to Su Bai and the others, the group made their way down the corridor toward the reception room at the far end.

The bright white walls on both sides and the dark wooden door of the reception room at the end created a strange visual effect. It was as though the door was both very close and very far away at the same time. With every step forward, the peripheral vision at the edges of their sight seemed to warp slightly. Meng Zhi and Zhang Yibu even stumbled a bit because of it.

To the others, however, Su Bai, who needed to lean against the wall to move forward step by step, appeared even more fragile than a newcomer. Auntie Meng looked at him with great concern.

“This Nightmare World is so heartless, dragging even someone this sick into the game,” Auntie Meng couldn’t help but complain.

This might be a rare instance of the Nightmare World being accused of lacking “human” compassion.

Regardless, the path to the reception room was only visually disorienting. After walking slowly for a while with Su Bai, who refused any assistance, the three finally reached the reception room at the far end.

The moment their feet crossed the threshold into the reception room, the heavy wooden door slammed shut behind them with a loud thud.