Worldwide Awakening: My Soul Kinds Are Lost-Chapter 381: Eleven Players Appear in a Ten-Person Difficulty_1
Ten days later, the first batch of Players successfully arrived at the Qingshan Charity Angel Sanatorium.
"Ten... why are there eleven Players?" The Hand of God found it odd as he counted the heads. Wasn’t it said that the limit for this raid was only ten people? Why was there suddenly one more?
Ever since Wang Linchi and Ye Tian had left the Game System, he, who had previously been third in rank, smoothly took the number one spot. He also received special attention and substantial support from the Game System, making him the genuine number one.
The Hand of God didn’t possess much rebellion. As the saying goes, it is better to be the head of a chicken rather than the tail of a phoenix. Despite having to undertake numerous challenging missions within the Game System, his treatment was very good; at least the Game System had never shortchanged him.
Moreover, even if he did have rebellious tendencies, he couldn’t express them.
Following Wang Linchi and Ye Tian’s successive escapes, he was watched extremely closely. As a top Player under the Game System, he was now completely stuck.
This was especially true considering that Wang Linchi had taken a graduated account with him when he escaped, causing the Game System to suffer extreme losses.
"Could it be that the Erroneous Sin infiltrated right from the start?" Green Plum Brews Wine scrutinized the Players. As the second in rank, he was often the Hand of God’s right-hand man, and both of their capabilities had received recognition from the Game System.
"What do we do?" The Hand of God asked Green Plum Brews Wine, implying that if they couldn’t determine who the extra Player was, they might as well eliminate the suspicious ones to prevent a possible betrayal.
Green Plum Brews Wine gently shook his head. "We have to investigate slowly."
The other nine Players were not an easy lot to deal with. If they wanted to take action and kill them all, it wouldn’t be simple.
Especially after the Game System weakened the combat capabilities mechanism, taking action was no longer so easy.
"What’s wrong with us? Why can’t the two of you be the problem?" a Player under the alias of North General spoke.
"Because as the first and second in rank, we are certified by the Game System," Green Plum Brews Wine explained. "If even we could be replaced, then the Game System would be useless."
North General was somewhat unconvinced, but he eventually accepted Green Plum Brews Wine’s explanation.
"How about this? Since we all doubt each other, why don’t we split up and act separately?" another Player, under the alias of Linyuan Fish, proposed.
The Hand of God looked at him. Linyuan Fish had been towards the back and hadn’t spoken, so he hadn’t paid him much attention. On closer inspection, his demeanor seemed oddly familiar. Have I seen him somewhere before? he wondered. However, the name ’Linyuan Fish’ didn’t ring any bells, so he dismissed it as a mistaken impression.
"That’s a good idea, especially since you can’t find out who the extra Player is," North General was the first to agree.
He was a loner by nature. If he had to follow a team, his personality would likely cause trouble and unrest. He had a clear understanding of himself: having ability didn’t necessarily mean having a good temperament.
"Sure, forming teams privately is also fine, but I need to emphasize that sabotaging fellow Players inside the dungeon is prohibited." The Hand of God, worthy of his long-held top rank and cultivated presence, exuded an imposing aura as he spoke.
"Hey, you two should be teaming up, right? Let me join you," Linyuan Fish said straightforwardly.
"???"×10
The ten Players seemed flabbergasted. The idea of splitting up had come from him, and now he was shamelessly trying to cling to the top Players.
The people present weren’t fools. They naturally recognized the Hand of God and Green Plum Brews Wine as the top two Players. It was a pity the third-ranked Player wasn’t present; otherwise, the top three would have been complete.
"Why would you even think of that?" The Hand of God asked, speechless.
"Sticking with the big shots gives me a higher chance of clearing the instance," Linyuan Fish stated with brutal honesty.
"Then why did you suggest acting separately? Acting together would increase our success rate even more." Green Plum Brews Wine narrowed his eyes; he suspected Linyuan Fish was the problem.
"Because there’s a risk. If I die, what does clearing the instance have to do with me?" Linyuan Fish boldly defended his double standards.
This left the Players speechless. On one hand, he seemed foolish for making such a conspicuous move that made all ten Players suspect he was the extra one. On the other hand, he was clearly cunning enough to try and latch onto the strongest Players, and audacious enough to do so with such brazen confidence.
Green Plum Brews Wine was somewhat dumbfounded. This was the first time he had encountered someone like this, as everyone usually maintained a certain degree of self-respect.
"And you think following us means there’s no risk?" The Hand of God asked again.
"If even you two are at risk, then I can accept losing. After all, if the top two combined can’t succeed, I most certainly can’t do better," Linyuan Fish continued, his face betraying no embarrassment whatsoever.
The others didn’t react much. Although they weren’t keen to follow the Hand of God and Green Plum Brews Wine’s lead, they respected their abilities. Even if they were arrogant, they recognized the worth of these two and wouldn’t belittle them needlessly.
"Okay, you can follow us for now," Green Plum Brews Wine agreed immediately, then added, "But this dungeon is extremely difficult. Even the two of us aren’t sure we can clear it, let alone protect you on the way."
Linyuan Fish casually nodded in agreement. "No problem. If I die, it just means my skills at latching onto strong Players weren’t up to par."
Everyone was even more speechless at this point. Where did this eccentric Player come from, and how had he managed to get this far?
The Players invited to participate in the first batch at the Qingshan Charity Angel Sanatorium, regardless of their fame, were all skilled individuals.
So, if Linyuan Fish wasn’t an imposter, he was likely a support-type Player.
Otherwise, if he were just a leech, everyone would despise him, and he would never have been able to develop.
"Does anyone else have any opinions? While we’re still outside, you can voice them. Once we go in, we might each be too preoccupied to act on them," the Hand of God spoke again.
His style was not domineering; rather, he was somewhat like a simplified version of Ye Tian, possessing considerable personal Charm.
"Um... can I also join you guys?" one of the Players asked.
"I’m afraid not. It’s already a stretch for us to take one extra person. Adding another would put the whole team in danger," Green Plum Brews Wine quickly rejected the idea.
They had accepted Linyuan Fish primarily because they suspected he was the imposter, and keeping him close allowed them to monitor him. However, if he turned out to be a genuine Player—ideally a support—that would be even better, as he could offer significant assistance.
In the eyes of the Hand of God and Green Plum Brews Wine, the other Players were more likely to be independent types. Incorporating them might create friction and conflict.
The Player acknowledged, "That makes sense. You’d be taking on all the risk." He didn’t argue or question why Linyuan Fish could join but he couldn’t. As an elite Player, his mindset wasn’t so petty.
"So, what is our plan? Do we each take one ward, or do we all enter the same ward and then split up?" North General asked.
"Everyone enters the same ward. Even if we decide to act separately, at least we can look out for each other," Green Plum Brews Wine responded solemnly.
The Hand of God didn’t mind Green Plum Brews Wine taking the lead on planning. When it came to strategy, Green Plum Brews Wine was indeed superior to him.
No one objected to this. Green Plum Brews Wine’s reasoning was sound; after all, they were here to clear the dungeon, not to bicker or scramble for benefits.
If the dungeon attempt failed, everyone would face punishment.
If someone succeeded, the others would be spared the punishment, though they wouldn’t receive any rewards.
The punishment wouldn’t be fatal, but it would still sting.
"But really, couldn’t we just go straight for the sanatorium director? There’s no need to fight our way through each ward one by one, right?" another Player mused.
"If it were that easy, they wouldn’t have asked us to come. The Game System has invested a lot into this dungeon," another Player retorted.
Linyuan Fish remained silent, covertly collecting information.
Indeed, I am Wang Linchi, disguised as a Player, and I’ve blatantly joined the Hand of God’s team. At first glance, this would make me appear extremely suspicious. But as long as I don’t expose myself, wait for the other Players to mostly die off, and diligently play the role of a support, then I’ll be considered genuine. My goal in infiltrating the Player group was, of course, to use others to do my dirty work. As for whose knife I’d borrow to kill whom, that didn’t matter. For example, I could steal power from the Game System and blame the sanatorium. Then, I could destroy the sanatorium’s erroneous rules and let the Players take the fall. Otherwise, what was the point of disguising myself as a Player? The whole idea was to maneuver between the two Erroneous Sins, leveraging this slight information asymmetry to seize substantial benefits for my own strengthening.
