(9/20)
Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 287: The Cursed Medium
Wen Jianyan knew that his speculation about the Nightmare was highly likely to be correct, but the problem was that he had no countermeasures for it.
It was a perfect paradox.
Anchors could not remain in the anchor hall forever; they had to enter instances periodically.
The more instances they cleared, the higher the difficulty of the next one would be.
As the difficulty of the instances increased, the frequency with which anchors utilized their talents would inevitably rise, bringing them closer to mutation and death.
Even Wen Jianyan himself could not guarantee that he could clear future instances without using his talents.
It was a vicious cycle.
However, within this inescapable vicious cycle, there existed a unique blind spot that Wen Jianyan had yet to encounter—
The “Secret Council.”
It was the only variable in the entire system.
Secretive and crucial.
Unfortunately, the “Secret Council” was not open to candidate members; only by becoming a formal member could the other side of the Nightmare live broadcast room possibly be revealed to him.
To achieve this, he had to survive the next instance.
And Su Cheng had just come out of the previous instance not long ago. Wen Jianyan couldn’t estimate his talent consumption, nor did he know if this existence similar to “soul power” could be restored through rest. Frequent over-exertion might lead to greater issues, so out of caution, he wouldn’t take Su Cheng into this instance.
The same went for Wen Ya and the others, who had also just emerged from their respective instances and were clearly not in his choice range.
Suddenly, a lazy voice sounded from the side.
“Then just take me along.”
Wen Jianyan was taken aback and looked up towards the source of the voice.
It was Yun Bilan.
He remembered that her talent was a very rare attacking type, a powerful thorned whip. After parting ways last time, it was evident that she, like him, had not stopped progressing. Shortly after joining the guild, she had successfully advanced to an A-level anchor and had secured a place on the leaderboard.
—The traces left by the nightmare on a person were apparent.
Although not much time had passed since the Fantasy Amusement Park instance, Wen Jianyan could sense that some subtle, imperceptible changes were taking place in Yun Bilan.
She still had her striking blue hair, and her round eyes, which should have looked gentle, were half-squinted. Although she still wore her habitual smile, it did not seem approachable; instead, she exuded a sharp quality, like her whip, that could cut.
Yun Bilan stretched her shoulders and neck and complained, “I’ve been idle for too long; my bones are rusting.”
Wen Jianyan nodded, “Okay.”
“I’ll go too,” Chen Mo suddenly spoke up.
Wen Jianyan was taken aback, “Ah, but who—”
To handle guild affairs.
Chen Mo looked over with a gloomy face, saying, “President, what do you want to say?”
He emphasized the word “president” heavily.
“…” Wen Jianyan swallowed the unfinished words.
Fine, it wasn’t right to leave all the affairs to Chen Mo while he just freeloaded off others’ labor and acted like a slacker.
Entering the top ten had created quite a stir among the anchors, and putting off all the responsibilities while letting Chen Mo deal with everything was indeed his fault!
These matters would have to be dealt with sooner or later.
It was just not the right time yet…
Seeing Wen Jianyan smartly not continue his previous line of thought, Chen Mo finally diverted his gaze.
He added, “I’ve had enough rest lately; it’s about time I had to go into an instance. Since I have to go sooner or later, we might as well go together this time.”
The reason he hadn’t entered an instance for so long was also largely related to Wen Jianyan.
As the guild leader, Wen Jianyan wasn’t a compliant individual.
In order to disguise the appearance he used for Ji Guan, he had previously run around spending points lavishly, all on the guild’s accounts. Every matter had to be handled by the leader…
But the leader had simply wiped his hands clean, leaving behind a pile of mess while entering an instance with another vice president.
“…”
Recalling this, Chen Mo’s expression darkened even more.
Wen Jianyan felt the temperature in the air drop and immediately shivered, nodding seriously, “That’s great, let’s go together.”
Of course, the main reason he agreed was that Chen Mo was indeed useful.
Chen Mo’s talent was also a very rare attacking type.
The next instance would likely resemble a team instance, and since that was the case, conflicts between both sides would be inevitable. Therefore, in such an instance, it was essential to increase the opposing positions within their team—just like seasoned players such as Orange Candy would do.
“…”
Beside him, the Blond shrugged his shoulders, glanced around to confirm that no one was paying attention to him, and then quietly took a step back. However, before he could take another step, Wen Jianyan called out without turning his head:
“Oh right, Blond, you should come along too.”
This guy’s talent, even when not actively activated, had superhuman vision, which would be very useful in the instance.
Blond: “……”
His expression collapsed, and he raised his eyes with a pained look.
He had been completely ignored when asking questions earlier, so why was that not continuing now?!
Wuwuwuwu, he didn’t want to enter the instance!
It was so terrifying!
In the end, Wen Jianyan confirmed the division of labor this time.
Chen Mo, Yun Bilan, and Blond would enter the instance with him, while Su Cheng, Wen Ya, and the others, who had just come out of an instance and had not fully rested, would be responsible for handling subsequent affairs in the guild.
However, there was still one matter that Wen Jianyan had yet to decide.
That was the issue of “external assistance.”
He lowered his head, his gaze falling on the illuminated screen of his phone, revealing a thoughtful expression.
Orange Candy had just sent a message.
Clearly, Number 5, who had not attended the last meeting of the Secret Council, had returned from the instance, so she was messaging him to ask if he still wanted to meet with them.
Beside him, Yun Bilan stretched her body and waved goodbye to Chen Mo and the others, saying, “I’ll go prepare now, see you tomorrow.”
Suddenly, she remembered something and turned to Wen Jianyan:
“By the way, so are we just the four of us going into the instance this time?”
The number of people allowed in an instance for beginner anchors was very limited. However, as the level of the anchor increased and the level of the guild membership rose, the number of allowed team members would also increase accordingly. By that standard, Wen Jianyan’s team was still far from full.
Hearing this, the others turned to look at him as if waiting for his answer.
“……”
Wen Jianyan pondered for a while, seemingly finally making a decision. He tapped a few times on his phone screen and then looked up at Yun Bilan, suddenly smiling:
“Yes, it will just be the four of us.”
Before the phone screen was turned off, a message was sent out.
[No need, thank you.]
*
The time to enter the instance had arrived.
In the vast space, countless semi-transparent small compartments floated, with various cameras zooming in on each anchor about to enter the instance.
Wen Jianyan stood in one corner of the room, looking out through the glass wall.
Each small compartment contained a face—some calm, some numb, some sad, some anxious… it was easy to tell who were the newcomers and who were the veterans.
After this live broadcast ended, how many of them would be able to survive?
Probably no one knew the answer to that question.
These anchors were used like disposable items, squeezed dry, and then discarded.
Then the nightmare would snatch a batch of new anchors and begin the next round of similar live broadcasts, replaying the same script over and over, as if it were an endless cycle.
On the wall, a bright red countdown slowly ticked down.
There were only thirty seconds left until the next instance.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and withdrew his gaze.
In the end, he chose not to accept any external assistance.
Inviting someone from the top ten into the instance carried too great a risk. If he misjudged and pulled the wrong person in, he would face an extremely dire situation. After all, there was no binding principle between him and the external assistance; even if he failed the challenge, that external party wouldn’t die as a result, only losing the rewards they deserved.
Wen Jianyan didn’t trust such a cooperative relationship.
To be precise, he didn’t trust “human nature.”
Even if the anchor he brought in initially didn’t belong to 008’s team, it was still very likely they could be bought off and switch sides for their own interests—after all, as a seasoned high-level anchor residing in the top ten, their resources were certainly far beyond what a newcomer like Wen Jianyan could compete with. If that person was truly willing to pay a hefty price, and recruited someone from the opposing side, Wen Jianyan didn’t have full confidence that he could match that price.
Orange Candy was certainly a good candidate, but the problem was…
Her talent was too heavily consumed.
Wen Jianyan didn’t know how much talent Orange Candy had used since entering the nightmare, nor did he know how many more times she could use it. Although he himself wasn’t a moral exemplar, he still had some baseline in human decency.
Moreover, merely for the sake of qualifying for a single entry into the “Secret Council,” it felt like overkill to gamble with the only connection he had in the top ten.
More importantly, if he couldn’t invite external assistance, neither could the opposing team.
This meant that all of their teammates would also have to come from outside the top ten, creating a form of mutual checks and balances.
Of course… in a sense, this was also a kind of arrogance.
If he couldn’t even win the ability to enter the “Secret Council” without external assistance, then what could he talk about regarding further actions?
Thus, due to various considerations, Wen Jianyan ultimately gave up the option of “inviting external assistance” and chose to lead the teammates he trusted into the instance.
The scarlet countdown slowly approached its end.
【3, 2, 1】
【Welcome to the Nightmare Live Broadcast Room, the next live broadcast is about to begin!】
【Our motto is: Entertain until death!】
The massive live broadcast square began to operate, with an unprecedented number of viewers flooding into the square. Countless screens rotated, waiting to be selected by greedy onlookers.
In the center of the entire broadcast square, at the very top of the leaderboard, a huge screen hung high.
This was the position with the highest traffic and visibility.
Only anchors ranked in the top ten could rarely occupy such a spot when starting a live broadcast, pushing this broadcast to all viewers.
【Rank 008 Challenge Match officially begins――!】
The interest of all the viewers in the square was immediately ignited.
Excited discussions spread like a wave among the audience.
[This time, there’s actually someone from the top ten! And it’s a challenge match! My god!]
[Wow, it’s been ages since such a challenge match appeared in the Nightmare, I can’t even remember…]
[Indeed, it feels like the top ten haven’t moved for a very long time.]
[Who is the challenger?]
[Who knows? We’ll probably have to wait until the instance starts to find out the answer. But whoever it is, they seem to have very bad luck…]
[How so?]
[Indeed, Anise’s talent is just too unbeatable during PvP.]
[You must be watching the top ten live broadcasts for the first time, right? 008 is Anise, a true rookie killer. I remember a long time ago, there was a confrontation match involving the top ten, and the anchor who was challenged invited Anise as external assistance. In the end, it was a crushing victory.]
[Then the challenger must be in a tough spot.]
[Got it, I’ve already decided on who I’m betting on.]
[Hahahahaha, me too!]
As the audience enthusiastically discussed, the new instance hall opened.
【Xingwang Hotel】
Difficulty Level: S
Historical Highest Unlock Progress: 27
Viewing Value: S
[Wow! Double S!!!]
[What kind of treatment is this?!]
[However, I don’t recall this instance, the Xingwang Hotel…]
[Are you stupid? Didn’t the Nightmare previously close a batch of instances? This is one of them!]
[Oh! Wow, it’s actually this one! Why is it reopening now?!]
[Who knows? Plus, the difficulty seems to have changed. I remember it didn’t have such a high rating before…]
Amidst the unprecedented heated discussion, a large number of viewers surged into the instance hall.
Wen Jianyan slowly opened his eyes.
What appeared before him was a hotel room that looked quite dated.
The room was spacious, with an old-fashioned chandelier casting a dim yellow light overhead. The soft carpet underfoot and the wallpaper were both dark red, featuring bizarre and abstract overlapping patterns that created a sense of visual dizziness.
The atmosphere of the room was oppressive, and the overall decor gave an oddly pretentious feeling of discord.
It was clearly striving to imitate Western luxury, but the details—be it the worn wallpaper, the stains on the carpet, or the dim lighting—betrayed a sense of poverty and inability.
This was likely the instance they were in.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and gathered his spirits.
He turned to look behind him.
Clearly, his other teammates had also respawned in this room.
Chen Mo, Blond, Yun Bilan, and—
Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on the fifth person in the room, and he couldn’t help but freeze, a rare expression of astonishment appearing on his face.
A white-haired youth stood expressionlessly in the corner of the room. Both his skin and hair severely lacked pigmentation, giving him a faint presence, but in the dimly lit hotel room, he stood out too much.
He hung his strangely colored eyes low, standing indifferently in place, completely out of sync with everything around him, giving off an inexplicably uncomfortable vibe.
The overly conspicuous traits of the other person left Wen Jianyan with no possibility of misidentifying him.
Blond was so frightened by the sudden appearance of the strange youth that his face turned pale, and he almost stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
He hurriedly scrambled to his feet and stumbled toward Wen Jianyan, quickly burrowing himself behind his teammate.
“…Who is this?”
Seeing this unexpected guest, Yun Bilan couldn’t help but be startled.
Her eyes fixated on the inexplicably appearing stranger as she cautiously took a step back toward Wen Jianyan. Although her expression remained calm and peaceful, her body was already slightly tense, as if she were ready to retaliate at any moment.
Chen Mo, who was farthest away, didn’t join in; instead, he lowered his head and opened his phone, glancing at the team information provided by Nightmare.
His expression darkened as he leaned closer to Wen Jianyan and whispered, “Captain, it shows here that our team entering the instance has a total of five members.”
Captain Wen Jianyan, members Chen Mo, Blond, Yun Bilan, and…
Member of the Secret Council, 009, Bai Xue.
The cursed medium.
Survival rate of teammates: 0.
Oh, oracle wants to clean up. They are obsessed rofl.
Wen Jianyan truly is forever cursed with misfortune T.T
This time even the doubled amount >.<