Chapter 227 The First Missing Player

Words : 1382 Updated : Oct 4th, 2025

Chapter 227: Chapter 227 The First Missing Player"Which painting did he damage?" Pan Siming immediately asked. Big Bear pointed to a portrait of an old woman in front. The group walked over, but instead of immediately taking the painting, they all looked towards Fan Shiji. Fan Shiji was taken aback, "What do you mean?" "The meaning is, since you’re also the second one, the monster will definitely come for you tonight. Instead of risking others, it might as well be you," the gloomy man said. Fan Shiji’s face soured, "You’re not planning to abandon me, are you?" No one spoke, and Fan Shiji continued, "It’s true I’m the second one, but who knows if you’re the fourth or fifth? If we can’t find the painting these two days, should we just let it kill everyone one by one?" "We’re not like you, who carelessly damaged the painting," the gloomy man said blandly. Fan Shiji’s face flushed with anger, but at this point the leather-clad woman said, "It might not be because the painting was damaged." "What do you mean?" Pan Siming looked up. "Fan Shiji did knock over ’The Time of Stillness’ yesterday, but the painting wasn’t damaged," the leather-clad woman said. Xu Huo shifted his gaze from "The Silent Umbrella" to "The Time of Stillness" and then back to "The Silent Umbrella," picking up on the leather-clad woman’s comment, "I checked that painting, and indeed it wasn’t damaged." Fan Shiji let out a sigh of relief, only to hear him say, "Therefore, the person attacked by the monster after the lights went out could be someone who damaged a painting or tried to do so." seaʀᴄh thё novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Pan Siming looked towards the leather-clad woman, "What about you?" "I didn’t damage the painting, nor did I knock into the frame or artwork," the leather-clad woman thought for a moment and then said, "But the sketch I got had some graphite rubbed off when I touched it." "That counts as damage to the painting?" Xie Man was astonished. "That’s the only thing I can think of," the leather-clad woman looked around at everyone. "So I can’t escape tonight?" Fan Shiji gritted his teeth. "There’s another way," Xu Huo said, "You just need to find the fake painting today." "Compared to us, you’re safer. One more or one less painting doesn’t matter." Fan Shiji gave a smile uglier than crying, reached for the portrait, and upon opening the frame, sure enough, there was a small crack in the corner. "Was this the one Deng Yu damaged?" Xu Huo walked over looking and then turned to ask Big Bear, "Did you see it?" Big Bear didn’t look at the painting, but heedlessly nodded his head. Xu Huo glanced at "The Silent Umbrella" in front and then said, "Which room were you staying in the left corridor yesterday?" "The second one, why?" Big Bear looked at him suspiciously. "Your room is very close to the exhibition hall. Why didn’t you run outside at that time?" Xu Huo spoke slowly, "Hiding in your room should have been more dangerous, right?" "I was so scared I couldn’t even remember that!" Big Bear said somewhat angrily, "I’ve only done one copy; how could I think of all that!" Xu Huo sighed, "Deng Yu might have actually run out." Pan Siming cast a thoughtful glance at him and then said, "Let’s focus on finding the painting first." "It’s up to you two now," the gloomy man lifted his chin toward Fan Shiji and the leather-clad woman. Fan Shiji’s face turned ashen; after hanging the painting he was holding back up, he immediately took down a second one, seemingly planning to try each one in turn. The other players scattered, and Big Bear hesitantly looked at Ni Tian, "Do you want to share a room with me tonight?" Ni Tian’s eyes were slightly red as if fearfully glancing at Xu Huo, then she shook her head, "Thank you for your kindness..." Before she could finish, Xu Huo pressed down on her shoulder and nodded toward the inside of a statue, "You go check over there." Ni Tian, angry but not daring to speak, lowered her head and touched the corner of her mouth before obediently going over. The few players who hadn’t gone far all witnessed this scene; although their expressions varied, none of them spoke out to interfere. Completing the instance task was their priority; as long as Xu Huo didn’t kill anyone, maintaining a hypocritical peace amongst the players benefited everyone. "I saw you looking at the front several times earlier; do you think there’s something wrong with those two paintings?" the leather-clad woman followed Xu Huo to the front of the art gallery. Xu Huo turned to look at her. The leather-clad woman extended her hand, "Li Weiran, I have one more day than Fan Shiji, but I don’t think trying each painting one by one will find the fake." "However, there’s likely more than two fake paintings here; we can cooperate." "Trying to fish for information from me?" Xu Huo looked her up and down teasingly, "How about you come to my room tomorrow night, maybe if the monster can’t find anyone it’ll just give up." Li Weiran, completely unembarrassed, withdrew her hand and pulled out bubble gum from her leather jacket’s pocket, stuffing it into her mouth and eating five pieces before she said, "Everyone was in the art gallery last night, if there were clues to the fake paintings, someone would have completed the first task by now." "What do you think?" Xu Huo smiled faintly and turned to leave, while Li Weiran went to find Pan Siming but faced rejection just the same. Li Weiran had evidently been marked by the hidden monster in the art gallery; how could anyone agree to cooperate with her at this time? She walked among the few players and finally, having no other choice, began to replicate Fan Shiji’s actions - taking down each painting in turn. Xu Huo walked around the art gallery and stood in front of "The Time of Stillness" for a while before turning back toward his room. "Aren’t you looking anymore?" Ni Tian approached from the side. "I’m hungry, going to eat something first," Xu Huo walked directly toward his room. After hesitating for a moment, Ni Tian followed him. Once the door was closed, she couldn’t wait to say, "What exactly are you planning? I’ve given you all my props and potions; why won’t you let me go?" Xu Huo took out the dry food and water prepared by the art gallery from the cupboard, glanced back at her, "Do you want to stay in a room with Octopus Card Bear?" "What’s wrong with that?" Ni Tian spoke with hatred, "Or are you so kind as to worry about the lives and deaths of other players?" Xu Huo unwrapped a piece of bread, "Whether he dies or not, I don’t know, but you might not survive." Ni Tian’s expression faltered, then she looked at him with suspicion, "Are you saying that Big Bear is not a good guy? How can you tell?" "Deng Yu disappeared from the same room he was in, yet he was unscathed, isn’t that enough to explain?" Xu Huo countered, then added, "I didn’t kill you even though you’re a Cannibal Player, aren’t I kind enough? Don’t cause trouble for yourself, the tattoo on your shoulder has been cleaned off, if I just say out loud that you’re a Cannibal Player, do you believe the others will stop looking for the paintings and try to kill you first?" Ni Tian was filled with resentment; when she woke up in the middle of last night, she found the tattoo covering her number had been thoroughly cleaned off with Cleansing Potion, and she was blackmailed into handing over her only prop and potion. Recalling it all, Xu Huo probably had already calculated the heist when he agreed to share a room with her. Looking at the person who continued to eat and drink as if nothing was wrong, she couldn’t help but ask, "How did you see through my identity?"

Chapter 227 The First Missing Player

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