Chapter 62: Before Dawn (1)

Chapter 62: Before Dawn (1)

After a short six-hour break, Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo walked into Zone E.

Levelling up was a very simple thing, for as long as the player saved enough points, the upgrade would be automatically completed the moment he stepped into a higher-ranking zone. From this moment on, the two rooms in East Cross Street no longer belonged to Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo. If they wanted to continue living in Yong Ye City, they had to rent another room.

Yes, renting another room.

Yong Ye City only allocated housing for new players who entered the city for the first time. After that, everyone needed to find their own rooms and pay the rent with points. The same principle applied to Jin Chengs big villa in Zone A.

However, the two werent in a hurry to rent any room. After swaggering around the new zone, they met again with Wen Xiaoming at the Ruby Bar in Zone E.

Wen Xiaoming brought the item needed for the special trigger dungeon, as well as the latest information from Lin Yandong: This time the dungeon sounds very complex. It cant be solved by force alone, and the trigger item turns out to be a lighter. Its the type of ordinary lighter worth 50,000 RMB sold in Yong Ye Citys official store.

Jin Cheng said: Its not surprising. Most of the trigger items are things that all players can get their hands on. How many have you brought?

Wen Xiao Ming prepared two for each of them, since there was no such thing as too much preparation anyway.

The name of the dungeon was [Before Dawn], which had a similar format to the first dungeon Tang Cuo encountered here, [On A Snowy Night, He Returns]. [On A Snowy Night, He Returns] belonged to the series Blizzard Mountain Mansion, while [Before Dawn] belonged to the series Escape Room.

As Wen Xiaoming said so, his face couldnt help turning grim: Based on the intelligence, the dungeon has a Republican China background, and the player is required to escape from a place called Yu Mansion before dawn. But the space-time dimensions inside seem to be rather chaotic. Whether its space distortion or time skip, Im not so sure. Moreover, there are only three people whove successfully escaped so far. One hid himself in the dungeon all the way till the end, while another one escaped entirely by luck and just anyhow found his way around. He doesnt even know how to exactly play the game. Both of these are from Zone E. The last player is one demoted from Zone A, a teammate of Yao Qing The Puppeteer. But since he is a competitor from Zone A, we cant expect him to reveal anything.

In short, the situation could be described with this phrase Everyone was caught off guard.

Jin Cheng nodded, for he also didnt expect to get many clues: What about the twelve movements?

Wen Xiaoming: Its said that theres a piano room inside, and someone will play the [Song of God, Lambs and Crow] there. If you want to get the movement, you must enter this piano room.

By the way, Wen Xiaoming took out a note from his pocket and handed it to them: Lin Yandong asked me to give it to you. He said it may be used in the copy.

There were three numbers written on the note 062.

Was it a password or a room number?

Jin Cheng asked: Is this the information obtained from those three people?

Wen Xiaoming replied: This is from the one who was in hiding throughout the entire dungeon. He was also the one who leaked the news about the twelve movements in the first place. Then the one who escaped by luck later confirmed that he had indeed heard the songs melody.

As he said so, Wen Xiaoming summarised all the information collected so far on a piece of paper and gave it to them. He believed in his boss memory, but caution was never too much. Besides, the people Jin Cheng took under his wing were always meticulous and thoughtful.

Tang Cuo quickly scanned through it, nailed the general content into his mind and passed it to Jin Cheng.

Wen Xiaoming finally gave a warning: Because theres distortion in time and space, players will be separated after entering the game. The player who escaped by luck said it was because he was sent to the right time dimension. Also, Rong Yi has arrived in Zone E. You must be careful.

Tang Cuo was curious: Rong Yi?

Jin Cheng kindly explained: No. D22422, a player whose overall strength ranking is second, and hes also a man who is always second.

Hearing his tone, Tang Cuo asked: Is your relationship with him good?

Jin Cheng: It seems not very good.

Tang Cuo: Then who do you have a good relationship with?

I dont think you have a good relationship with anyone.

Jin Cheng blinked and stared at him: I have a good relationship with you.

Tang Cuo went silent. That was a statement he couldnt refute.

On the opposite side, Wen Xiaoming looked at one person then the other, curiosity and innocence cast all over his face. What happened between these two in the few days I was away?

He must have missed something.

After they were done with the information exchange, Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo didnt waste time and went straight to the game hall after purchasing more potions. Here, the two ran into Chi Yan, who was standing guard in front of the mission wall.

Chi Yan brought them information about the dungeon that An Ning had gathered. Although it basically overlapped with Wen Xiaomings and had no use, they appreciated the goodwill.

Ge, you two must be careful. I heard that only a few will be able to come out alive. Its horrible. Chi Yan was worried, but he didnt dare to enter the dungeon himself.

In the end, he took out a protection talisman and handed it to Tang Cuo: Ge, I prayed at the temple and got this from there. Take it with you. Maybe it can give you a buff of good luck!

Tang Cuo: The temple?

Chi Yan: Thats right, the temple in the dungeon. I went to the dungeon and became a monk!

Oh, and you seem really happy about it.

At this time, everyone else in the game hall noticed the arrival of Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo, and countless pairs of eyes were staring at this small corner, watching their every move.

Jin Cheng folded his arms, chuckled, tilted his head and said to Chi Yan: Go back to An Ning as soon as you get out. Dont come out if theres no reason to, and dont inquire about anything.

Chi Yan was stunned for a few seconds, then immediately understood. He stealthily looked around and playfully stuck out his tongue. Throughout the entire time he was sitting here alone, no one actually paid him any attention.

There were countless charactersA character often used as a way to count days. It is written with five strokes, each stroke representing one day. written in red, ranging from the darkest red that was now covered in dust to the brightest red that was likely newer. With each stroke, a day went by.

Tang Cuo quickly counted them. There were probably more than 30 characters, which, when converted into real time, represented about half a year.

In other words, had the occupant of this attic been locked up here since half a year ago?

At this moment, the sudden sound of footsteps interrupted Tang Cuos thoughts. He listened attentively to find that it should have come from the stairs, from far to near.

A short while later, the chain outside the door started moving.

Is anyone inside? A young mans voice came, his tone full of suspicion and alert.

Tang Cuo didnt answer.

Dont pretend, I heard it from below. Are you a player? Im also a player, so were in this together. Now there are only two of us in the whole mansion. I can unlock the door and release you, but you have to promise not to attack me, how about it?

Tang Cuo still didnt answer. He found the bed to be a good hiding place, so he simply lay flat and didnt move. He wanted to wait for the man outside to open the door by himself.

This wasnt a role-playing copy and their outfits hadnt changed, so as soon as the man came in, Tang Cuo could immediately tell whether he was a player or an NPC.

After waiting for five minutes, he finally heard the movement of the man unlocking the door. That person had no other option anyway, because he was the only one in this whole mansion. Not even a ghost was in sight.

As the man tried to unlock the door, he also looked inside through the crack, his expression alert and his words trying to test the waters: I can open it, but you mustnt hide behind the door and attack me. I know you must be here for the twelve movements, but were now in the same boat. The twelve movements havent yet appeared, so its no good for us to fight each other to death.

Tang Cuo basically agreed with that but was in no mood to nurture any companionship with him.

Players that could break into this dungeon at this time to snatch the [Twelve Movements] were either those who were as strong as Rong Yi and wouldnt care about teaming up, or those who came with other teammates.

There were six players in this game. If Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng were excluded, there remained four others. Judging from the footsteps of the man outside the door, he was unlikely any adept player, so he must have come with his team.

Not receiving any response after a long while, the man outside felt doubts piling up in his heart. However, he still boldly opened the door, clutched his weapon and cautiously walked in.

No one?

He was dumbfounded, but he looked left and right and couldnt even find half a shadow. As he walked a few steps in and was about to speak again, he noticed something behind him.

He immediately turned around to find a black muzzle facing him.

Player? Tang Cuo was expressionless.

Really! The man nodded at once, a drop of cold sweat almost slipping down his temple.

Why did you follow us into the dungeon?

You, what are you saying?

The man smiled awkwardly, but he couldnt stay firm under Tang Cuos cold eyes, as though those remarkably bright eyes could see right through his heart. But the man really didnt have any evil intentions. They wanted to take the movement but didnt want to die in the dungeon, so they found a compromise enter the dungeon with Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo and hug their thighs.

They unanimously believed that if it were these two big bosses, at least they wouldnt attack their team inside the dungeon. That was why, even if the person in the attic wasnt his teammate, he still had the guts to open the door and walk in.

But now it seemed that this big boss was a bit different from what they thought.

The next moment, Tang Cuo did something that had him flabbergasted even more. He took out a brown pill from his trench coat pocket and threw it over, then said coldly: Swallow it.

The man caught it: What is this?

Delayed onset poison. As long as youre obedient, you wont die.

You, are you forcing me to take poison?

You can also choose to die now.

You!

The man quickly felt a thorn pointing at his back, because he could clearly feel the killing intent in Tang Cuos eyes. Tang Cuos finger had already pressed on the trigger.

With one shot, he could blow my head off. Can I even avoid it?

This was the man who stayed by the side of that famous Jin Cheng!

The man started feeling scared and was subconsciously made to step back under Tang Cuos intense gaze. He struggled for some time just to stand firmly. But he was between the devil and the deep blue sea now, the air around him almost frozen, the sounds of his own heartbeat and heavy breathing ringing loudly by his ears.

Three. Tang Cuo began to count down.

Two.

Ill eat it! Ill eat it all! The man desperately made up his mind and swallowed the entire pill without even tasting it. When Tang Cuo put down the gun, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, but Tang Cuo glared at him again, having him totally shaking in his boots.

This big boss is not only a little different from what they thought. Hes completely different!

If Jin Cheng was here, he certainly would see that the pill Tang Cuo used just now was one of his chocolate beans. It was sweet, and also crunchy when bitten on.