vrcanaries Chapter 172 Problem with the Props
Chapter 172 Problem with the Props
Gu Jia nodded, it was unclear whether she believed Yan Xun's words of comfort or if she had other plans in mind.
The box was still among them.
Half an hour later, Yan Xun heard Gu Jia's even breathing beside him, and everyone else in the room had fallen asleep.
At this moment, only he and the box were conscious.
The box suddenly bulged in front of him, as if something was about to burst out... Unfortunately, no matter how much the thing inside struggled, it couldn't open the box.
"Open the box, and I'll grant you one wish."
Yan Xun heard the sound coming from the box.
He looked around, but then heard the voice continue.
'Stop looking, only you can hear it.'
"It's a great deal. Open the box, I'll grant your wish, and then you can leave."
Yan Xun remained seated cross-legged on the ground, watching the struggling box.
"Have you heard the story of the devil in the bottle?" he asked.
The box remained silent.
He clearly knew the story.
"I'm not like those treacherous guys," the box said again. "I would never kill you after you open it."
On the contrary, I will grant you any wish.
Yan Xun guessed that the box was probably tempted by the previous members in the same way—it might have worked, or it might not have worked, but there were always people with ulterior motives, so the members who went back in time last time still opened the box.
Yan Xun pretended not to hear.
The box quickly became angry.
You'll regret this!
It shouted loudly.
Yan Xun ignored him; he was still thinking about how to get everyone out of the instance without losing any members.
But the unexpected event occurred at this time.
The people who had been sleeping in the room seemed to be awakened by some force, and then they all stood up.
Lou Yanchuan and Li Wu came up behind Yan Xun and grabbed his shoulders.
The remaining people quickly restrained Yan Xun... leaving only Su Yumin. He came to the cardboard box alone, seemingly unable to resist its allure, and wanted to open it.
Yan Xun flipped over and broke free from their restraints.
Just as Su Yumin was about to stop him from opening the box, he felt someone tapping his shoulder—
"Yan Xun, wake up."
Yan Xun then opened his eyes and found himself lying on the carpet, with Li Wu patting his shoulder.
The remaining teammates also woke up. He propped himself up on the ground and sat up. "I was asleep?"
"Hmm, and no matter how I shake you, you don't wake up." Li Wu put down his hand and squatted down in front of Yan Xun. "What's wrong?"
Yan Xun looked up at the box again, but the box remained unchanged.
He recounted what he had dreamt about, and when he heard about the allure of the box in Yan Xun's dream, Su Yumin's gaze immediately fell upon the box.
"The instructions say not to open the box," Sun Zhao said immediately, noticing his gaze.
"Of course I know," Su Yumin said, sounding a little impatient.
He found the instance extremely boring and even regretted entering it.
"What are the conditions for your prop to leave?" he asked Lou Yanchuan.
Lou Yanchuan was also next to the box, saying, "It can only be used when the casualty rate reaches 50%."
Sun Zhao glanced at their numbers. "We have seven people now... so at least four more need to die or be injured before we can use it?"
"Yes," Lou Yanchuan said.
"Damn it," Su Yumin cursed under his breath, "Why didn't they say this crucial information?"
Lou Yanchuan was silent for a moment. “This was my mistake.” He looked at the others sincerely. “The items were all normal at first, but after entering this instance, new conditions suddenly appeared.”
"It could be that the dungeon level is too high, or there could be some changes."
He said to Su Yumin, "I can't invite you into the instance knowing that the items are problematic."
"I only wanted to clear the dungeon, I didn't want this kind of accident to happen."
Lou Yanchuan's words changed the atmosphere of the room. Although they had initially thought the dungeon was a bit strange, they figured he still had items and that leaving wouldn't be a problem.
However, the items now only allow three people to leave the instance.
Li Wu and Lou Yanchuan have taken up two spots, so are the rest of the people going to compete for the remaining ones?
Or should we simply follow the human-cat's advice, secretly open the box, and let the other party fulfill our wish?
Or perhaps they'll scheme to eliminate Li Wu and Lou Yanchuan, and then get their hands on the props first?
"I'm sorry, I only withheld this information to avoid causing you panic," Lou Yanchuan said, bowing his head.
"Liar," Yan Xun thought.
If he was truly afraid that the props would cause panic among his teammates, he would have kept it a secret for at least four days, instead of announcing the problem with the props in the early hours of the next day.
He's deliberately creating panic.
"All we can do now is try our best to complete the mission," Li Wu said, seemingly already aware of the item's failure before Lou Yanchuan's confession.
"That's how you leave the instance."
His words sounded like reassurance, but to those who had already seen through the scheme, they were nothing more than empty promises.
“There’s another way,” Lou Yanchuan said after thinking for a moment. “We need to cooperate with the madman on the other side.”
"This way, as long as we train one cat, we can ensure that we all leave the instance."
Although Su Yumin knew that Lou Yanchuan was just making empty promises, he couldn't think of a way to circumvent it for the time being, so he could only nod unhappily.
He glanced at the box again before looking away.
Sun Yue quietly leaned against Yan Xun.
She quietly tugged at Yan Xun's sleeve.
Yan Xun leaned down, and then she told Yan Xun her idea.
“I have a skill that allows me to control people with poison, making them lose their consciousness and only obey my commands…” Sun Yue said softly, “but I’m not sure how long this effect lasts.”
"Does it work on those angels?"
Yan Xun thought that if this skill was useful to angels, he could try to trick an angel into coming over as a test subject.
However, the warning that opening the box would result in the death of the cat and human still prevented him from making a decision.
—If the human and cat really die after the box is opened, and no new human and cat are ever born.
Then they'll have to consider stealing the Angel Guild's chests.
Thinking of this, Yan Xun used the "Only Mother is Good in the World" skill on the box.
The system panel display is invalid.
It seems the box isn't a monster right now, Yan Xun thought.
Sun Zhao noticed Sun Yue and Yan Xun whispering to each other. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm thinking about whether to steal the box over there," Yan Xun said, half-jokingly.
"But how can we cooperate with the Angel Guild?" Gu Jia asked. "Didn't we say from the beginning that we wouldn't interfere with each other?"
Lou Yanchuan looked at Yan Xun.
Yan Xun raised his hand.
"I have a way."