Chapter 41: The Old Man's Ghost Face, Hunting Rule

Chapter 41: The Old Man's Ghost Face, Hunting Rule

In the corridor, the two headless corpses on the floor still twitched faintly.

The people present were like participants in a deadly game of "Red Light, Green Light."

Move, and your head would instantly explode.

The female player who had initially intended to flee froze under Huang Ran's sharp rebuke, not daring to move.

Ji Yan was also stunned.

No interaction was needed.

The supernatural entity ignored the Apartment Rules and killed players outright.

It was impossible to even see how the killings happened.

Where had this supernatural entity come from? Was it really a resident of the apartment?

It seemed that because no players were fleeing, the Old Man's Ghost Face had stopped killing for the moment.

At that moment, a Warning Panel appeared before Ji Yan.

"Warning, Player! You are in contact with an S-level Task supernatural entity. Proceed with caution. This entity is the core NPC of the Main Storyline Task and poses extreme danger."

"For your own safety, discern the actions that trigger its hunting behavior!"

Seeing the panel's message, a fine layer of sweat broke out on Ji Yan's forehead.

As expected, this was the mysterious thief!

Just as Miss Xu had said, this thief didn’t care how many players were after it. Tonight, it had boldly emerged again to continue its theft.

At that moment, Huang Ran and Liu Yitong also received the game's prompt, realizing that the supernatural entity before them was the thief all resident players were supposed to capture. Their expressions turned grim.

The thief had been found.

But how the hell were they supposed to catch it?

Just then, the Old Man's Ghost Face emitted a higher-pitched screech.

Under the assault of the sound, the players present felt dizzy and disoriented.

"You’ve all received the game’s warning, right?"

Huang Ran closed his game panel and reminded his teammates, "Which means this supernatural entity hunts based on its own rules. If we follow them, it won’t attack."

"As long as we don’t run, that thing won’t—"

BANG!!

Before he could finish, the head of the female player standing frozen in front of him suddenly exploded.

A bloody chunk of scalp landed on his shoulder, still warm.

Huang Ran’s eyes widened.

What the hell?

That woman hadn’t turned to run—she hadn’t even moved. Why had she been hunted?

Huang Ran, who had thought he’d figured out the rules and was temporarily safe, paled.

Another player, witnessing this, panicked.

He turned to Huang Ran in terror. "Ran-ge, didn’t you say we’d be fine if we didn’t run? Why did her head explode?"

Huang Ran remained silent, his expression dark as he stared at the Old Man's Ghost Face.

Behind him, Ji Yan narrowed his eyes.

Liu Yitong’s face also turned pale. Instinctively, she whispered, "Ji Yan, why…?"

Ji Yan replied quietly, "Wrong."

"That thing’s hunting rule isn’t about running."

"Then what is it?" Liu Yitong asked, her voice trembling.

Ji Yan fell into thought.

His gaze fixed on the Old Man's Ghost Face, he said, "I have a guess, but I’m not sure yet."

"How do we confirm it?"

"Wait for a few more deaths."

"..."

Among the players present, including Ji Yan and Liu Yitong, there were seven left.

Within just a minute, another player’s head exploded, spraying blood.

Two minutes later, another player dropped dead.

Players panicked, scrambling away in terror, only to die instantly as expected.

The corridor reeked of blood, thick enough to choke and sicken.

Move—die. Stay still—die.

Make a sound—die. Stay silent—die.

This was outright indiscriminate slaughter. What kind of "safe behavior" was there to avoid it?

As time passed, new players stumbled into the corridor, bewildered by the gruesome scene. By the time they realized something was wrong and tried to flee, their heads exploded.

"Damn it, I should’ve never gotten involved in this mess."

"I finally managed to secure a 'family member' in this Instance, and now all that effort is wasted."

"Who the hell said strength in numbers would make this thief flee?"

The players were breaking down one after another.

Ignoring their wails, Ji Yan turned to Huang Ran. "I know the Hunting Rule."

Huang Ran twitched. "Good for you. Why tell me?"

"Because you have the gun."

Ji Yan pointed at the Old Man's Ghost Face. "I don’t know the exact Hunting Rule, but if we can silence that face, we might temporarily stop the killings."

"'Might'?" Huang Ran glared.

Ji Yan shot back, "Got a better idea?"

"Won’t know unless we try."

"Right now, you’re the one in a hurry. Based on positioning, you’ll be its next target before me."

Huang Ran: "How do you know it’ll be me first?"

Ji Yan smiled faintly. "I just do."

Huang Ran’s face darkened. Though he despised Ji Yan’s smugness, the logic was sound. The Ghost Face’s screams were already splitting his skull.

Gripping his Supernatural Pistol, he fired at the face.

The eerie bullet tore through the Old Man’s Ghost Face, eliciting a pained howl. The thief’s massive body shuddered—then, a woman’s face sprouted from its back, devouring the old man’s visage and emitting an even more torturous shriek.

The blonde man clutched his head, snarling at Ji Yan, "This was your fucking plan?!"

Ji Yan shrugged. "I said it was just a guess."

Worse, the gunshot seemed to agitate the thief. Black insects swarmed from its body, crawling across the floor toward them.

The last remaining players lost it completely.

The moment the Supernatural Insects touched one player’s toes, he jerked like he’d been electrocuted—his head exploded mid-air, spraying blood.

Next was the female player behind him. Sobbing, her mind shattered by terror, she screamed, "I won’t let these disgusting bugs eat me—I—"

Her head burst before she could finish.

Now, only Ji Yan, Huang Ran, and Liu Yitong remained in the blood-drenched corridor.

The insects crawled over the corpses, advancing relentlessly.

Liu Yitong trembled, clutching the Sweater her Grandmother had woven in despair.

Run—get decapitated.

Stay—get devoured alive.

No way out.

Ji Yan suddenly gripped her shoulder and whispered, "Let the bugs crawl on you. No matter what happens, don’t react."

"Huh?" Liu Yitong was stunned, as Ji Yan hadn't explained clearly.

The Supernatural Insects crawled onto Ji Yan first, since he was positioned ahead. Soon, his lower body was covered, and as they burrowed into his clothes, his flesh was even gnawed at, blood quickly streaming out.

Liu Yitong and Huang Ran beside her widened their eyes in shock.

Yet, even with his lower body drenched in blood, Ji Yan remained indifferent, merely glancing calmly at the mangled flesh.

"Ji Yan!"

Liu Yitong covered her mouth, unable to stop herself from crying out.

Soon, both of them noticed something odd—despite the gruesome injuries, Ji Yan's body stood perfectly steady, as if he felt no pain.

Ji Yan glanced at them. "Open your personal status, and you'll understand."

"My current state shows that my Mental Resilience is nearly depleted, but my Life Value remains full."

"This proves that the Supernatural Face only frightens people—it doesn’t cause real harm."