Chapter 8

With his vulnerable neck exposed to the ghost's claws, Yu Xing remained unmoved.

He even managed to sneer.

A few seconds later, he felt Fang Rui's hand slowly loosen, so he calmly took a few steps back: "As expected, the ghosts summoned when taking the battery can only scare people, they can't kill."

Fang Rui's voice was somewhat intermittent, as if his vocal cords had almost lost their function after transforming into a ghost: "How... did you... know?"

"I had my suspicions from the beginning. After all, this is just a new player test, it shouldn't have so many death traps." Yu Xing put the battery in his pocket and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "If taking the battery once carries such a high risk, then it's not worth playing.

"What confirmed my suspicion was that little ghost girl, oh, Tang Yuan. She was sticking to the window of the data display room, pretending not to see me and Zhao Yijiu. In fact, from that angle, she could clearly see us.

"She probably didn't know that when the homeroom teacher stands at the back window, there's no blind spot for catching students playing with their phones... something like that, anyway, I have experience.

"Why didn't she come in when she saw us? Because she can't kill. Then why did she chase us?"

Yu Xing patted Fang Rui's shoulder, and a chill spread through the contact, making him inwardly exclaim, "So cool," before continuing: "Just like what you did just now, to delay time."

"You just need to use fear to make us forget to change the battery. After the camera shuts off for five minutes, we become lambs for you to kill."

"..."

Fang Rui looked at him silently for a moment, then struggled to speak: "Since... you... know... I... will let you go, three... hours later, you... leave!"

"Ah." Yu Xing tilted his head, "You let me go? Don't be silly, did I ever say I would let you go?"

He yawned and raised his camera: "Tsk, Zhao Yijiu must be in trouble. Considering he gave me the battery just now, he won't die this time."

The camera was aimed at Fang Rui, who screamed and turned to run.

"Come on, don't run~ I still need to save him. Let's hurry, look at the camera—don't want to? How about saying 'cheese'?"

...

"Bang!"

In the hall, a large wooden board was accidentally kicked away, and Zhao Yijiu felt a dull pain in his right leg, his body drenched in sweat.

There was a very unfavorable situation before him—Tang Li was faster than Tang Yuan!

He used the turn while running and glanced back with his peripheral vision.

The ghost pursued relentlessly, its mouth twisted, revealing a rotten mouth, a long blood tongue, and white, bony throat.

Tang Yuan was slightly left behind, but Tang Li was catching up.

Even though Zhao Yijiu was agile and had good stamina, after such a long chase, he was at the end of his rope.

His strength was waning, and what was most unbearable was the cold, eerie aura that kept wrapping around him, making his movements slower and his mental state gradually deteriorating.

His knife couldn't resist the aura from the ghost.

The ghost, with its elongated tongue, didn't give him a chance to think. Its protruding eyes darted, and its sharp nails pierced through Zhao Yijiu's shoulder blade.

Zhao Yijiu heard a faint wind, and just in time, he moved to the left to avoid the vital spot, feeling a sharp pain. If he hadn't dodged, the claw would have pierced through his chest!

But his chances of escape were slim.

The ghost pressed close, the icy cold temperature seeping through his clothes to his back. The sharp nails were pulled out, causing a spray of blood. Zhao Yijiu groaned in pain, gritted his teeth, and struck back with his elbow, then immediately slashed upward with his knife from the ghost's abdomen.

The swollen skin was cut open, revealing the already rotten internal organs and intestines. Tang Li only paused for a moment, showing no strong pain response.

His blood-drenched mouth opened, and his tongue curled, ready to bite down—

Zhao Yijiu closed his eyes in defiance, not wanting to see the ghost's mouth structure in his last moment.

But the expected death did not come. Instead, as he closed his eyes, he felt a force pulling the ghost away, and a swift kick sent it flying, hitting the wall. At the same time, Zhao Yijiu's hand was empty, and the camera he had been holding was taken away by the newcomer.

Who!?

Zhao Yijiu opened his eyes and saw a blurry figure in the darkness, performing a quick roll, placing his camera on his lap, and starting to change the battery.

The ghost, with its tongue hanging, got up and charged straight at him without even looking at the person.

Zhao Yijiu instinctively dodged. This time, before the ghost could get close, the camera, with the battery changed, lit up—

The faint light mixed with the ghost's angry roar, and a familiar face with slightly upturned eyes appeared.

Tang Li roared in anger and turned to disappear around the corner. Tang Yuan, seeing the situation, also turned and ran away with a "giggle."

Yu Xing, kneeling on one knee, turned his head with a smile and waved at Zhao Yijiu: "Still alive, my friend?"

What an inappropriate way to greet someone!

Yu Xing had two cameras, one on the ground and one in his hand, one of which clearly belonged to someone else.

Zhao Yijiu was still in shock, a cold sweat sliding down his jaw. He looked at the person who had appeared out of nowhere, showing a rare look of surprise.

The person who had kicked the ghost away and quickly changed the battery was Yu Xing!? Was this guy really that skilled?

This moment of surprise even made him ignore the pain in his shoulder and the realization of the conditions for the ghost to kill.

Zhao Yijiu: "You—"

Yu Xing looked up at him, revealing a somewhat gloomy and teasing expression, and put his index finger to his lips: "Shh, be a good boy, don't be so curious."

"I..." Zhao Yijiu was speechless, who had ever spoken to him like this!?

"Come here." Yu Xing beckoned to him.

He hesitated slightly but moved over, stopping next to Yu Xing: "What are you going to do?"

Yu Xing looked up to gauge the distance and finally stood up with effort.

Then everything went dark, and he reached out to Zhao Yijiu's uninjured shoulder to steady himself.

After a few seconds, he held his head: "I'm severely anemic, I get dizzy when I stand up, I need some support."

"..." Zhao Yijiu: What the hell can I say? Are you really messing with me? I don't trust you, you know?

When the person in front of him recovered from the dizziness, Zhao Yijiu took his camera and said through gritted teeth: "Thanks. But, you're a great actor."

Great actor, from the moment he stepped into the abandoned factory, he was acting, and Zhao Yijiu had been fooled.

Yu Xing picked up the camera he had temporarily placed on the ground for easier handling, raised an eyebrow, and feigned surprise: "Oh, why do you say that?"

Though he asked, his tone was significantly different from when they first entered the factory, making Zhao Yijiu squint his eyes, feeling inexplicably angry.

Maybe it was because the other person looked so damn annoying.

His face was cold like ice: "Understanding the state of the bodies, picking locks, acting, and fighting, you have a wide range of interests."

"Is it fun to pretend to be weak?"

He had helped this "weakling" so much before, and he had worried about this guy unnecessarily.

Yu Xing laughed at this.

His delicate eyebrows didn't make him look feminine at all; instead, they added a touch of insolence. His high nose and thin lips, with slightly drooping corners, and his monolid eyes with a mischievous glint, and a small mole at the corner of his left eye.

This smile gave a sense of Eastern beauty—

And a hint of a carefree, annoying air that lingered.

He tossed the camera like a basketball and tilted his head: "It's fun, hey, don't get so worked up. Life is about finding some fun—"

Indeed, when he saw that Hao Assistant left without leaving footprints on the dusty ground, he knew Hao Assistant wasn't human—on the way, he suddenly remembered that Zhao Yijiu had used this to test him, and his poor memory had exposed him a bit.

Saying he was leaving, but still going to the toilet, a classic horror movie scene, to see what the ghost looked like.

As expected, when he encountered the ghost, he deliberately poked the ghost's face with the mop handle. So what?

These behaviors, hidden under his displayed fear, had always been traceable.

"Damn!... I want to ask, " Zhao Yijiu blurted out in Tianjin dialect, ignoring the other person's impressive looks, and said with a dark face, "Pretending to be weak, aren't you tired?"

"Not really, I'm used to it~ It's just a bit troublesome to remind myself 'I'm so scared' all the time. After all, this level of ghost isn't really scary, it's boring." Yu Xing stopped tossing the camera after saying this, clicked his tongue, and looked at the time, "It's 1:10 already, this test doesn't need to go on until 4, I'm tired."

Only then did Zhao Yijiu focus on the main topic.

He hesitated for two seconds: "Are you here for the Deductionist qualification or for a job?"

"Oh?" Yu Xing made a vague single syllable.

"..." You know, right? There's a supernatural game system in this world, 'Absurd Deduction,' and the players are called Deductionists." Zhao Yijiu looked around at the mess and decay, realizing that the battery Yu Xing had helped him change was one he had just obtained.

He thought to himself: Indeed, taking the battery is fine, but the camera shutting off triggers the death condition.

Yu Xing knew this earlier...

He thought about this and tightened his grip on his knife, noticing the blood flowing down his shoulder, and the pain when he moved.

He endured the pain and continued: "This deduction company doesn't exist in reality. It finds people with the potential to become deductionists, and when enough people are gathered in a city, it conducts a recruitment test, which is actually a game qualification test."

In other words, after completing this non-existent company's recruitment, the survivors will gain the qualification to play 'Absurd Deduction' and become deductionists.

"Although most people are deceived into the test without knowing, there are also those who participate knowingly, after all... the Absurd Deduction game is a way for many people to achieve their desires." Zhao Yijiu said all this in one breath, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He looked at Yu Xing, whose expression didn't change, and became even more convinced of his guess—

The person in front of him, pretending to be weak, was definitely a knowledgeable person, willing to step into this terrifying and twisted world for some desire... just like himself.

He extended his hand: "No matter what, you saved my life, and if I have the chance, I'll save yours."

Yu Xing found his serious look interesting and also extended his hand, shaking it with Zhao Yijiu solemnly: "Although you definitely won't have the chance to save me, I'm moved. As an innocent university graduate who knows nothing..."

Zhao Yijiu: "You're full of it."

"You're being mean to me." Yu Xing showed a pitiful look.

"..."

Zhao Yijiu lightly exhaled, not killing Yu Xing on the spot, of course, he wasn't sure about Yu Xing's combat ability. A person who needed to rest after standing up could kick a ghost so far.

He might not be able to beat him.

Ha, he didn't know if the former was real or acting, this Yu Xing, full of lies.

"I don't care what you do in reality, and you probably won't tell me. Anyway, let's ensure we pass the test safely, and don't act in front of me, okay?"

Damn, he was being quite humble.

Yu Xing agreed: "Sure, do I look like someone who would act in front of you?"

Zhao Yijiu: You guess what, he looks exactly like it!

Thinking this, Zhao Yijiu's aura became cold and chilling.

"So, let me summarize the key points of this test." Seeing that Zhao Yijiu didn't believe him, to show his seriousness, Yu Xing immediately lowered his voice, sounding like a no-nonsense, strict meeting style.

"First, taking the battery reveals your location to the ghosts, but the ghosts can only scare, not kill. Second, the camera shutting off attracts ghosts and is a real death condition." He thought for a moment, not wanting to stand, and moved to sit on a flat surface of an abandoned machine, also distancing himself from the cold Zhao Yijiu, "The way to survive is to find a battery every half hour. Although you'll be scared, your life is safe."

"Right, that's the difficulty level for a new player test." Zhao Yijiu nodded, acknowledging Yu Xing.

"It's even simpler and more boring than I imagined." Yu Xing smoothed his messy bangs, shook his head regretfully, and then snapped his fingers under Zhao Yijiu's wary gaze, "I have something interesting to tell you. I've found a way to end the game early, and I can tell you, but there's a condition."

"What condition?" Zhao Yijiu's heart skipped a beat.