Starting the Game with Godlike Vision

The gruesome scene outside Room 201 had everyone gagging, the air thick with the stench of blood and death.  

Dry heaves echoed intermittently, punctuating the oppressive silence as the group struggled to adjust.  

Finally, a bespectacled man spoke up tentatively, his voice quivering. "If I recall correctly, wasn't the occupant of 201… a rather, um, robust man?"  

He chose his words carefully, swapping fat for robust.  

The comment jogged everyone's memory: not long ago, when they had all gathered in the hallway, there had indeed been a man there, weighing at least 300 pounds.  

His temperament had matched his size—loud and irritable. He had cursed the game, the world, and even lashed out at Liu Shuang, the suited man, with a string of harsh words.  

The reminder cast a heavy pall over the group.  

A man that size—practically a human tank by ancient standards—armed with an axe, a shield, and whatever mysterious tools he had drawn from the game's starter pack, had still fallen to the Hunter.  

If someone like that couldn't survive, what hope was there for the rest of them?  

The schoolgirl attempted to lighten the mood, her voice a shaky attempt at cheer. "M-Maybe he was just all fat and no muscle?"

No one laughed.

Liu Shuang seized the moment, his tone suddenly cooperative. "This is why we need to band together. Yesterday, I wasn't fully honest, and for that, I apologize.

"Let me start by reintroducing myself. My name is Liu Shuang, and I'm a salesman. The item I received is a piece of dried lamb, which temporarily increases Strength by 1 point. But the effect only lasts 10 seconds, and I only have one piece. It's a last resort."

Fear had already driven cracks into their mistrust, and Liu Shuang knew exactly how to exploit them.

The Hunter's undeniable power loomed large in everyone's minds, creating a natural pull toward unity.

Although no one agreed immediately, their resistance visibly weakened.

Years of dealing with clients had sharpened Liu Shuang's instincts. He could tell they were close to caving. All he needed was one more push.

His eyes locked onto the schoolgirl. She looked like easy prey—someone pliable and eager to please.

He was just about to reel her in when another voice cut through the tension.

"Instead of fixating on how strong the enemy is, maybe we should figure out why the Hunter targeted Room 201," said Zuo Chengan, his tone even and deliberate. "If it was something the player did that drew its attention, we can avoid doing the same thing tonight."

The group hesitated, mulling over his logic.

It was sound, and the suggestion shifted their focus.

On the sidelines, Liu Shuang glared daggers at Zuo Chengan, his plan thwarted.

"Could it have been the peephole?" the schoolgirl offered. "I didn't even go near mine last night. I just stayed in the corner."

The woman in an apron shook her head. "Not necessarily. I'm in 208. I spent the whole night looking out through my peephole. I even saw the Hunter pass by my door, but it didn't stop."

The bespectacled man from Room 205 chimed in hesitantly, "I… I also looked through mine. So it probably isn't that."

Another theory surfaced. "Maybe it's because the guy was near the door? The Hunter might have smelled him through the gap."

Zuo Chengan dismissed this quickly. "Not likely. I spent the night right next to the door, too."

Frustration mounted. One by one, they began recounting everything they had done the night before, hoping to identify a pattern.

As they prepared to speak in room-number order, Liu Shuang, his patience wearing thin, interrupted with a sharp question aimed at the apron-clad woman and the bespectacled man.

"Wait a second. You both claim to have seen the Hunter. What did it look like?"

The woman shut her eyes, wracking her memory. "The hallway was so dark… the only light was what leaked out from my room. But I did see a silhouette. It was humanoid but hunched over, only about waist-high to an adult. And it had this… monkey-like shape. Like the patterns on the hallway windows."

Her description earned groans of disappointment. The abstract, mosaic-like window designs were hardly helpful for piecing together an image.

All eyes turned to the bespectacled man.

"My item is nothing special," he began nervously, touching the glasses on his face. "Just a pair of glasses that give me night vision. I put them on during the day, and… well, they just happen to match my prescription."

"Get to the point, dumbass!" Liu Shuang barked, his tone dripping with frustration—or perhaps jealousy at the man's clearly more useful item. "We don't have all day."

Flustered, the bespectacled man stammered as he rushed to explain. "I-It was like a hunchbacked dwarf covered in fur, with claws so long they dragged on the ground.

"That's what made the scraping sounds we heard. And… it didn't have eyes. It must hunt using other senses."

The room fell into a profound silence. Everyone mentally latched onto the last revelation. The Hunter had no eyes. That meant staying quiet and still might just save their lives.

Moments later, the game's voice returned.

[The Hunter has appeared. Number deployed: 1]

As the hallway lights dimmed, plunging the space into an eerie gloom, the survivors slipped back into their rooms.

Armed with the chilling knowledge of the Hunter's eyeless form, many held their breath, determined to make not even the faintest sound.

Some speculated that the doomed man in Room 201 might have dropped his axe, the noise sealing his fate.

But no one could confirm these suspicions. The only one who might have known the truth had been dragged through a mangled doorframe and left in pieces.

For now, silence was their only ally.

...

Screeeech…

The grating sound of claws scraping against the floor reverberated once more, starting from the direction of Room 208.

The Hunter was back, dragging its unnaturally long nails as it crept down the hallway, its hunched figure moving with unsettling deliberation.

It seemed intent on repeating last night's grim performance, passing each door as if savoring the tension, deciding at its own leisure who would be next.

Zuo Chengan lay flat against the floor, his eye pressed to the peephole, straining to make out the hallway beyond in the faint light.

Now that it was clear looking through the peephole wouldn't attract the Hunter's attention, he wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

Information was survival, and he needed more than just guesswork or luck.

The chatter on the mysterious live feed—those irreverent commentators posting through the barrage interface—offered little help.

Most of their remarks were lewd drivel or chaotic jeers, spewed by people who seemed to revel in the carnage or wished death upon everyone playing the game.

It was noise, an irritating distraction Zuo Chengan avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Screeeech… creeeak…n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The sound drew closer.

Suddenly, Zuo Chengan's eyes widened in disbelief. Through the narrow field of the peephole, he saw… a health bar.

The crimson bar glowed dimly, hovering above the creature's head.

Was this another aspect of his Eye of Truth ability?

Happy New Year everyone