"Help… please help me."
It wasn't until the nervous male voice sounded that the others recovered from their stunned state.
Looking back, they saw the thin and frail middle-aged man holding the towel in his hand while looking at a loss. "I have tried very hard, but no matter what, this graffiti can't be wiped off."
Logically speaking, this type of washable wall should be easy to wipe clean. However, at this moment, the color behind Wen Weng's back was extremely rich.
First, the red clothes appeared, and then the red shoes.
This time, even the graffiti on the wall was a dazzling red.
After Yue Ren returned the fairy tale book in his hand to its original position, another task was successfully completed. This uncle, who seemed to be in poor health, was the only player who hadn't completed the task.
In the instance, the ghost hiding in the group was likely to try and prevent the tasks from being completed in order to better tighten the players' living space.
The current situation naturally made other people look at the man with a bit more suspicion.
"We can't help you. You can only do this task alone." Tu Shuhuai's tone was already full of inquiry. "Can you really not wipe it off? Try as hard as you can."
"I have tried my best!" Wen Weng naturally noticed the weird atmosphere and wanted to explain. "There is really something wrong with this graffiti. It was obviously fine when I wiped other colors. I don't know why but when it comes to the turn of the red color, I can't wipe it clean."
Dong Zai said angrily, "Then think of another way quickly! I don't know if there is a time limit on these tasks, but don't drag others down just because you can't complete it yourself."
If there was a problem with this process, it meant that two handkerchiefs would appear at the same time during the evening game time. If the wrong vote was made during the voting session, the jealousy mark of each handkerchief could be doubled. In this way, it would only take one night to add four jealousy marks to the players.
This type of speed was undoubtedly astonishing. No player would take this risk when they knew that the unlucky one tonight might be them.
Wen Weng was so scared by the fierceness that he wiped his sweat. "But I really can't wipe it clean…"
A voice was suddenly heard. "Why don't you buy an item and try it?"
Chi Ting smiled slightly when Wen Weng looked at him. "I just bought the 502 glue and it is pretty easy to use. Check out the mall and see if there are any paints for painting walls. It should be considered as cleaning the wall if you can cover the graffiti."
Wen Weng immediately realized. He immediately opened the virtual panel and looked for it.
Then he exited after a while and said with an embarrassed expression, "I only cleaned one instance. The paint set requires 600 points. My current points are insufficient."
The moment he finished speaking, he saw that Chi Ting had already thrown something at him. "It's okay. I have it. Take it and use it first."
Wen Weng instinctively reached out to take it. Then he was stunned for a long time as he saw what was in his hand.
It was obviously the first time he received such kindness from other players without any mention of repayment. After reacting, he hurriedly thanked Chi Ting and returned to the wall to get busy.
Such a back view made Tu Shuhuai feel stunned for a moment. Then her eyes lit up slightly.
She was obviously very surprised by Chi Ting's generosity, but it was more because such an operation reminded her of something.
As Wen Went was busy, she turned around and looked at the others. "You all have the points mall, right?"
Dong Zai glanced at her. "Of course. Aren't you talking nonsense?"
Tu Shuhuai glanced at him in an expressionless manner. "This is indeed nonsense for players."
Dong Zai was criticized a lot today and was already in an extremely bad mood. He was about to attack her when he suddenly realized. "You mean…"
Tu Shuhuai didn't talk nonsense and explained concisely, "There is a basic white t-shirt on page 3 of the common items store in the points mall. It doesn't require many points, so buy one."
Fei Ying was a bit confused at first. Then she immediately understood when she heard this. "You mean that…?"
She instinctively glanced at the long furred rabbit at the door and lowered her voice, "Those existences shouldn't have such a thing as the points mall, right?"
Tu Shuhuai nodded. She took the lead in buying a white t-shirt and held it in her hand.
The others exchanged looks and followed her.
Yue Ren's expression was a bit worried. After pulling Chi Ting and signaling for him not to worry, he looked at Tu Shuhuai in an inquiring manner. "Can I buy something else?"
Since Yue Ren had just reminded the scarface man to sweep under the bed, Tu Shuhuai couldn't help becoming vigilant when she heard his words. "Is there something wrong with this t-shirt?"
"Yes, there is a small problem." Yue Ren nodded. Then he said in a matter-of-fact manner under Tu Shuhuai's gaze, "I-I don't really like matching with others."
Tu Shuhuai: "..."
Someone else who just bought a white t-shirt of the same style: "..."
Yue Ren seemed to have gone through some items before asking sincerely, "How about I buy the denim jacket in the last row of the same page?"
Tu Shuhuai resisted the crazy throbbing of her temples. She gritted her teeth and squeezed out the words, "That, is, fine."
"Thank you." Yue Ren smiled at her very politely. He looked at Chi Ting in a good mood and suggested sincerely, "You should also buy this set. We will buy the same item. From now on, we can wear it together when entering an instance. Then everyone will know that we are a team."
Chi Ting was also speechless but he didn't refuse. "Anything is fine."
Tu Shuhuai lowered her head and pressed her hands to her temples very patiently. After taking deep breaths repeatedly, she convinced herself not to be like this gay couple.
She finally adjusted her mood and looked back. "Have you all bought it?"
Tu Shuhuai's gaze swept over the hands of the other players one by one. Then the expression on her face gradually changed from the initial expectation to disappointment.
Everyone had the same white t-shirt in their hands. There was no difference in the workmanship and batch version.
Wasn't it true that only players could use the points mall? Why could even the ghosts…?
Due to the newly painted wall, today's last task was successfully completed.
Wen Weng finally finished his work. Then he asked with a worried expression, "Uh, do you need me to buy one too?"
He really didn't have many points. A t-shirt with no effect didn't cost much but he was still reluctant to spend it given his current poverty situation.
Tu Shuhuai shook her head. "No need."
There were a total of three ghosts mixed among them. In this situation, it didn't matter whether the uncle could complete the purchase or not. The reality was enough to show that these ghosts could also use the points mall.
All eight tasks had been completed. The rabbit was obviously pleased with everyone's performance.
After a slow and methodical examination of the children's room, he hummed a tune happily. He took everyone to eat lunch and let them go back to their rooms to rest.
The whole morning was basically spent on the tasks. The players originally wanted to get together in the afternoon to have a good discussion. But looking at the current situation, the rabbit obviously still didn't want to give them time to communicate.
After seeing the players return to the room, the rabbit gentleman simply got a chair, sat in the middle of the corridor and took a nap.
They had to sleep well at night and even got a lunch break in the afternoon.
It seemed that in this instance, the only time for players to discuss things was the dinner time before the game.
Chi Ting had never been in the habit of taking a nap. Logically speaking, no one could force him to rest. But strangely, as soon as he returned to the room that day, the tiredness radiating from the inside out suddenly enveloped his whole body.
The moment he touched the pillow on the bed, his eyelids couldn't help falling.
It was obviously just a matter of sorting out the toys in the morning. It might be a bit tedious, but for Chi Ting, this couldn't even be called a physical task. No matter how he looked at it, he shouldn't be so tired. It felt like he hadn't slept for seven days and nights while acting as a search and rescue personnel.
There must be something wrong with these tasks.
Chi Ting had this thought in the last moment before falling asleep.
Chi Ting slept more heavily than the night before.
As he yawned, opened the door, and walked out, he found that everyone else was already sitting at the round table. They looked like they had just woken up.
Chi Ting pulled out the chair next to Yue Ren and sat down, yawning lazily.
The rabbit gentleman's eyes fell directly on him. It wasn't until he sat down completely that the rabbit gently tapped the table under him with his cane. "Everyone, now that all the guests have arrived, please begin to enjoy your dinner time! I hope you will be in a happy mood!"
With that, the rabbit leaped off the round table. He walked on his short legs and left the hall without hurrying.
It wasn't until they saw the short figure disappear from sight that everyone sighed with relief.
Finally, it was possible to start a focused discussion. Tu Shuhuai glanced at the voting countdown that started simultaneously and didn't waste any time.
She patted the table to attract everyone's attention and got straight to the point. "You have all seen what happened in the afternoon. The ghosts among us look no different from ordinary players. Even the points mall can be used normally. We might not know the specific reasons but this means that in the next few days, we might really have to rely on the elimination method to screen them out one by one."
This result undoubtedly gave Tu Shuhuai a headache. "There isn't much time left for us. Now we must communicate the known situation as soon as possible and screen out the most determined candidates to vote for tonight. From last night to today, please tell me if you have discovered anything during the task completion process."
These words came out and no one spoke for a long time.
Obviously, today's task completion went so smoothly that most of the clues they had been hoping for couldn't be found. At best, it was only a sign that a child was likely to live in this place.
Finally, Yu Gao cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "If you want to mention a clue, one of us should have the most to see."
Everyone looked at Fei Ying after hearing this.
There was no doubt that she was the only player who had ever been in contact with the ghosts.
Fei Ying felt a bit embarrassed for a while when she felt the gazes of the surrounding people.
It could be seen that she finally used a day to regain her composure. She didn't want to recall what happened last night.
At this time, she bit the corner of her lower lip secretly. She could only describe the process calmly. "It is probably what it looks like… In any case, the ghost was lying on my bedside at that time and staring straight at me… I didn't dare to look back, but the hand that had already reached my neck seemed to be a woman's hand. It was like a dead person. It was very cold."
"A woman?" Dong Zai was already looking at Tu Shuhuai in a very pointed manner. "There seems to be only two women here, right?"
Tu Shuhuai obviously hadn't expected the suspicion to be drawn to her. She was stunned for a moment before frowning. "Guessing ghosts based on gender. Don't you think this is a bit too funny?"
Dong Zai sneered. "I think you have a guilty conscience. You proposed to collect clues, but deny the credibility when there is a clue. You can really say anything."
In the tense atmosphere, Chi Ting, who had been immersed in his meal, suddenly looked at Fei Ying. He asked in a curious tone, "It is very cold. This means you have touched the ghost. Can you touch it?"
"Huh?" Fei Ying didn't quite understand the concept of touching and being able to touch. She was stunned for a long time before nodding. "It should be… Yes."
Tu Shuhuai was almost stupidly mad due to Dong Zai, who listened to anything. Now she heard Chi Ting speak and asked, "Did you find something?"
"No." Chi Ting shook his head. "But if there is no result from the discussion, I have a suggestion about today's vote."
The others looked at him.
Even Yue Ren slowly looked over as he swallowed the food in his mouth and took a sip from the red wine glass.
Chi Ting's finger lightly tapped the table. "There is one thing that wasn't wrong just now. Finding ghosts in this instance is more like a process of elimination. In this case, categorical exclusion should be the best method."
As the others listened attentively, they saw Chi Ting take out a pen and paper from his pocket and draw a schematic diagram very rigorously while talking.
The players: "..."
Was he so prepared?
"The most obvious difference among the eight of us is that we are divided into two categories. In other words, the duo who came in together and the solo players who came in scattered. This is actually a lot simpler. It means that no matter how we vote, there are two outcomes."
Chi Ting first drew two circles on the paper and then a horizontal line under the previous circle. He seemed to be thinking about how to describe it more accurately. His good-looking eyebrows were twisted slightly, and his tone was even more leisurely. "For the first vote, vote for one member of a duo tonight. If we succeed, we can directly find two ghosts. If we fail, vote for a member of the other duo tomorrow. If we succeed, then it is the same. If we fail, we can lock onto the remaining four solo players. There must be three ghosts among them."
After he finished speaking, he paused and left space for the other players to digest it. Then he tapped the first circle with the tip of his pen. "The other method is to vote for members of the solo group today and tomorrow night. If we fail to find a ghost among both of them, it means that one of the duo groups must be ghosts. If they both succeed, there must be a ghost among the remaining two solo players. If one succeeds and one fails, we need to go through a third round for secondary verification. Of course, if we are unlucky and take this route then the possibility that the team will be wiped out is very high."
During this analysis process, Chi Ting drew the subsequent pictures very quickly. He soon completed a branching diagram of voting routes that was clear at a glance.
After finishing the drawing, he pushed the piece of paper in front of everyone. He summarized it in the same tone as the previous statement. "So to sum it up, no matter how we vote, we will find out all the ghosts in the third vote if we are lucky. In the worst case scenario, it will take a full seven votes."
Speaking of this, Chi Ting looked up and smiled slightly. "Of course, this is only when the loss of people isn't counted at all. If someone is driven away during this period or the votes aren't centralized due to the ghosts, the required rounds might be a lot more."
Yu Gao was worthy of being a college student. He had a quick mind and was the first to understand the diagram drawn by Chi Ting. "Looking at it this way, as long as we are lucky enough, it seems more suitable to find the ghosts by confirming the identity of the solo group first?"
Before he could finish speaking, Yue Ren couldn't help laughing while sipping the red wine. "Are you sure you want to try your luck in this type of game that determines life or death?"
Yu Gao was choked up. "…What else? If we vote for a duo, even if we really find the ghost successfully in the first two rounds, we still have to find the last one among the remaining four people in the solo team. So what if we have to try our luck? What if we are unlucky and only find the remaining ghost at the end?"
"It is different." Chi Ting calmly accepted the question thrown to Yue Ren. "As mentioned earlier, in order to pass this instance safely, the most important thing isn't to think about how to find the ghosts but how to eliminate them. Vote for the duo first, and we can directly determine the identity of four people in at least two rounds. This will compress the unknown range to the greatest extent. After all, we will be punished for voting errors. If the number of marks is doubled too many times, the ghosts should 'drive away' a few real players and take the initiative to help us reduce the scope of suspicion."
Yu Gao fell into thought. "You make it sound as if…"
"It does make sense." Tu Shuhuai had been remaining silent. At this time, she obviously understood Chi Ting's thoughts and nodded in agreement. "Then act according to what you said. This time, let's vote among the four of you in the first round."
Fei Ying nodded. "I hope we can find the first ghost smoothly."
Wen Weng's brain obviously wasn't as fast as the others. He heard up to here and could only ask blankly, "So who should we vote for in this round? I don't know how to play this game. You tell me, and I will vote with you."
The moment these words came out, the surroundings fell silent again.
In the end, Tu Shuhuai suggested, "Do you four want to add a few words?"
Yu Gao suddenly became one of the suspects in the first round. He seemed to be in a very complicated mood.
He looked at Chi Ting and Yue Ren. He thought for a moment before saying, "In fact, I am willing to let you vote for me to prove my innocence along with Tan Haobo. But failure in each round of voting will cause the night's marks to double. If possible, I still hope we can test the identities of the two people on the opposite side first. To be honest, the performance of these two people since entering the instance has indeed been a bit strange."
Everyone looked at the two people after hearing these words.
A bit strange? This was too much of an understatement.
It was more than just 'a bit.' They could only say that it was really strange. In comparison, these two college students were simply too normal!
But strangely or not, Chi Ting's proactive analysis of the voting idea was obviously very good. This also added a lot of hesitation to everyone's doubts.
If they were really ghosts, why did Chi Ting let them take the initiative to prioritize screening the duos? Wasn't this exposing themselves? Or was this entirely due to absolute confidence in the ghost hiding among the other four people?
Under their suspicious gazes, Chi Ting shrugged indifferently. "That is the idea anyway. You can vote for whoever you want. If the ghost is really in this four person group, vote for me first and then for them tomorrow. It is just one more round."
Chi Ting knew very well that the most important thing about this game was that players needed to reach a consensus before voting. Once the votes were split, it would probably be exploited by the ghosts. Now this ending was enough to satisfy him, no matter what choice everyone made in the end.
Tu Shuhuai's gaze shifted among the four people. She thought for a moment before saying, "There is still a bit of time left. IN order to avoid splitting the votes, everyone should raise their hands for who they want to vote for before voting. Let me say it first. I want to vote for Yu Gao. It is very simple. If Chi Ting is the ghost, there is no need for him to proactively propose a plan where he will be exposed within two rounds."
Fei Ying also raised her hand after thinking about it. "I agree."
Wen Weng was more hesitant in comparison, but he really didn't have any opinions. He finally said, "Then I… will also vote the same?"
Dong Zai added, "Why do you still want to look at me after you have made up your minds? Just vote. I can't think of anything anyway. Vote!"
The four solo people had the initiative tonight. This round of voting was basically determined.
Yu Gao sighed helplessly. He exchanged looks with Tan Haobo and said, "Okay, vote for me. It is the same anyway."
Seeing that the countdown was about to end, the players quickly made their choice based on the discussion results.
On the virtual interface, it could be seen that the statistics behind Yu Gao instantly changed to 8.
Since it was a secret ballot, the names of the voters couldn't be seen.
Under everyone's attention, it could be seen that once the voting ended, the decreasing countdown interface suddenly cleared. It was followed by the announcement of the result.
[The first round of voting has ended. The highest number of votes is: Yu Gao (8 votes).
[Congratulations on finding the first ghost. There won't be any punishment tonight!]
The moment they saw the information, everyone looked toward Yu Gao.
The moment the results came out, the male college student's face was full of horror.
However, such an expression was quickly swallowed up by the coldness that emerged in his eyes.
The process of changing his expression was so rapid that all the previous disguises seemed to be illusions.
Yu Gao didn't look at the other people who were moving away from him. He just slowly looked at the man diagonally opposite him.
Such a cold gaze was as if he would swallow the life in front of him in the next second.
However, there was still no panicked expression on Chi Ting's face. He even continued to enjoy his dinner with a great appetite.
It was only after he slowly swallowed the food in his mouth that he seemed to notice the gaze and looked up.
Under such a direct gaze, Chi Ting blinked slowly.
The moment he looked at the other person, he had an inexplicable feeling. It was as if it wasn't Yu Gao in front of him, but something hiding behind these eyes and staring at him.