“I… I didn’t,” the young man stammered, covering his face and shaking his head. “I… I just don’t want to die. I didn’t mean to.”

Qin Yuan seemed quite pleased with Ding Yi’s actions. In a noticeably better mood, he took the initiative to say, “It’s getting dark.”

Everyone snapped awake as if jolted from a deep sleep.

Qin Yuan’s words carried a heavy implication. The initial deaths within an instance typically occurred at night, and the ravenous, crazed monsters were invariably active after dusk. Lingering here was simply choosing to die alongside those who were likely doomed regardless.

Those who hadn’t received the lotus seal cast pitying glances at the five men and one woman with their somber expressions and hastily departed.

Yan Ming glanced at the darkening sky and tugged at Ding Yi’s sleeve, whispering, “Sister Ding Yi, it’s getting dark. Let’s head back first.”

Ding Yi nodded and was about to leave when the weeping young man lunged forward and gripped her ankle. “You can’t leave!”

“You can’t just stand by and watch me die!”

“Save me! I beg you to save me!”

“If I die, you’ll be the one who killed me! You’re the one who doomed me!”

The sheer terror of death stripped the young man of all pretense of dignity, even overriding his fear of Ding Yi. He desperately sought any lifeline, even if she couldn’t truly save him… Then, perhaps, she could simply perish alongside him.

He couldn’t bear to be the only one so wretched.

Why could she circumvent the death condition? Why was a mere newbie like her so arrogant?

In the end, it was all this woman’s fault for not explaining things clearly from the outset. Yes, it was entirely her fault. She should have—

The sensation of weightlessness and a sharp, searing pain in his side registered in the young man’s brain simultaneously.

Qin Yuan scrutinized Ding Yi from head to toe, not even deigning to glance at the young man he had so casually kicked away. “Aren’t you leaving?”

Seeing the kicked-away young man regaining consciousness and attempting to rise, Ding Yi swiftly exited the oiled paper umbrella shop and made her way towards the inn.

“Ding Yi, don’t take what that guy said to heart.”

Walking beside Ding Yi, Jiang Xianqing exchanged a worried look with Yan Ming and softly comforted the solemn-faced Ding Yi. “You’ve already done more than enough. That man was simply being unreasonable…”

“Did you guys see how Qin Yuan kicked just now?”

“Qin Yuan?” Jiang Xianqing paused, a moment of confusion on her face. “That handsome guy in the suit? I didn’t see it.”

Yan Ming also shook his head. “I didn’t see it either.”

Feng Baiqiu mustered her courage. “I saw it. He just… kicked him out normally.”

“A normal kick can send someone flying?” Ding Yi frowned, muttering to herself. “How much force does that require?”

Jiang Xianqing looked at her strangely. “Is that what you were thinking about just now?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Xianqing replied. “We thought you were preoccupied with what that guy said—”

“I know what I did,” Ding Yi stated, realizing that after her brief outburst, she felt remarkably calm. “Everyone faces death equally. As long as my conscience is clear, there’s nothing worth dwelling on.”

“It’s good that you can see it that way,” Jiang Xianqing sighed. “Many people can’t and are almost driven to madness.”

“But, Sister Ding Yi, what do you do for work?” Yan Ming asked cautiously. “Um, you seem to be very skilled.”

Hearing this, the other two girls perked up their ears, their curiosity piqued.

“Me? I’m an illustrator.”

“An illus…” Yan Ming was momentarily speechless. When had art students become so adept at combat?

Back at the inn, a long table to the left of the entrance in the lobby was laden with steaming food. The Wishers who had returned earlier were seated together in small groups, their chewing momentarily ceasing as they glanced up at each new arrival.

“Sister Ding Yi, let’s eat something first.”

Yan Ming took a bite of the porridge in front of Ding Yi before offering her the clean spoon, urging her to eat quickly. “Every instance has a safe haven like this inn. While safe havens aren’t entirely secure, they provide us with lodging and meals before we have to leave the instance.”

As if a troubling thought had surfaced, Yan Ming suddenly frowned. “It’s just that some instances provide truly awful food. And some food is completely inedible. It all depends on experience and luck.”

“But Sister Ding Yi is so lucky—”

Yan Ming had intended to compliment her luck, but before he could finish the sentence, he remembered Ding Yi’s disastrous draw of an A-level instance on her very first try. Her luck was simply…

Ding Yi smiled at Yan Ming, who had received a sharp elbow nudge from Jiang Xianqing, took a couple of sips of porridge, and then suddenly said, “Oh, right, there’s something I wanted to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Does everyone who enters the New World have a star chain on their arm?”

“Of course,” Jiang Xianqing replied. “Coming here signifies that you’ve made a wish. To fulfill it, you must pay an equal price. The number of stars represents that specific price.”

“What if you enter an instance but don’t have a star chain on your arm?”

“Don’t have one? How could that be?” Jiang Xianqing frowned, thinking carefully. “Wishers all possess star chains. I’m uncertain about the Supervisors, as they invariably wear suits whenever we see them.”

“Like Qin Yuan’s suit?”

“Qin Yuan?” Jiang Xianqing glanced at Qin Yuan, who had just entered, and lowered her voice. “Possibly, but I’ve never heard of a Supervisor entering an instance alongside Wishers to complete a mission.”

Seeing Ding Yi looking thoughtful, Jiang Xianqing asked, “What’s wrong? Is there something amiss with Qin Yuan?”

“Nothing, just curious.”

Ding Yi didn’t mention that when she had observed Qin Yuan reaching out to grab the old man in the oiled paper umbrella shop, she hadn’t noticed any patterns on the inch-wide strip of skin visible on his wrist.

Well, not that there were no patterns at all. There was a neat, straight scar on his left wrist.

Just as they finished eating, the seven people bearing the lotus seal on their arms returned together, looking utterly exhausted. The original locations of the lotus seals were now covered with thick layers of ink paste, completely obscuring the marks.

The red-cheeked, plaid-shirted young man who had resorted to emotional blackmail had both arms and hands coated in a thick, black paste. His plaid shirt was even more disheveled than when Ding Yi had left, and his mouth was bleeding. He must have been subjected to another beating after Ding Yi and the others left.

The remaining six people behind him met Ding Yi’s curious gaze, and the girl, already somewhat incensed, immediately said, “That madman was cursing you, saying you were going to kill us. As soon as you left, he charged at the counter like a rabid dog, grabbed the entire box of ink paste, and smeared it all over his hands. Dong-ge tried to stop him, and the mad dog bit him.”

Wang Dong remained silent, his face dark. The conspicuous, bleeding tooth marks on his arm corroborated the girl’s account.

Contemptuous gazes settled on the plaid-shirted young man, provoking another outburst. “What are you looking at! What do you know!”

“I just don’t want to die. What’s wrong with that! Those things were there. First come, first served. It’s your own fault for being slow. Why blame me!”

“In the end…”

The young man stared at Ding Yi gloomily, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes, ultimately stopping short of saying something before turning and heading upstairs.

The inn had two floors with a meager total of five rooms. It was evident that the young man, mentally unstable and intent on dragging others down with him, had already claimed one room. No one desired to share living quarters with him. No one knew if they would meet their end at the claws of a monster or the hands of a madman.

Qin Yuan, radiating an aura of untouchable danger, had also checked into another room. The remaining three rooms were insufficient for eleven people.

Yan Ming informed Ding Yi that the room limit in the safe haven was three individuals. Exceeding this number would attract monsters, leading to their collective demise. These were unofficial rules, passed down through hushed whispers by those who had survived a night of slaughter.

But now, those with ink paste and those without had silently segregated into two distinct factions once more. Those without the protective ink were unwilling to share a room with the others and bear the same elevated risks.

Moreover, compared to the openly deranged young man, everyone else seemed to find Qin Yuan even more unsettling. He spoke only when directly addressed, and a general feeling of unease surrounded him.

After much internal debate, Wang Dong still knocked on the young man’s door, intending to share the room with another boy.

However, the young man not only refused to open the door but also shouted that if he couldn’t have any peace, then no one else could either.

Witnessing this, those without ink paste grabbed the nearest people and hastily occupied the remaining rooms.

The scramble for rooms erupted, and the inn descended into instant chaos.

Desperation drove some individuals to physical altercations.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Wang Dong and another middle-aged man attempted to break down the young man’s door. But the young man seemed to have wedged something heavy against it, and despite Wang Dong’s considerable strength, he couldn’t force it open even a crack.

Amidst the pandemonium, Yan Ming, who had been futilely trying to mediate, took a deep breath at Ding Yi’s subtle signal, lowered his center of gravity, and shouted, “Stop!”