The moment they stepped out of the cave, Mu Anqi and the others received a background audio prompt.
[Congratulations to the player for successfully killing the Night Bat Duke!~]
[There are four major bosses in the Ancient Tomb Apartment. Two bosses have now been killed, and two bosses have been released!~ Players are requested to quickly use game items to kill the bosses, complete the ritual, and successfully escape!]
Kill the bosses? Mu Anqi thought of the robe covered in crow feathers, then of the bat wings and bat teeth that had no functional effect. Perhaps the items needed for the ritual were the ones dropped by these four bosses upon their deaths.
They left the cave and returned to the apartment.
At the same time, the players who stayed in the apartment and the five-person team returning also heard this prompt.
"Already… another one killed. Was that the team that killed a boss on the first day?" The buzz-cut boy scratched his head in surprise. Before they had faced the poisonous toad, he also thought killing a boss wasn't a big deal… but now, it seemed that being able to trap a newly unsealed boss and slay it was truly impressive. "If I had been faster back then…" the poisonous toad wouldn't have escaped.
"Don't say that. If it weren't for you, the poisonous toad would have escaped from the start." His teammates all comforted him.
The buzz-cut boy sighed, but it wasn't so bad—he still had one skill left unused. If that poisonous toad came back at night for revenge… he could purify the toxin one more time.
They stepped into the apartment and saw the first-floor lobby filled with other player teams. There were a total of four teams, one with only four members, the rest six-member squads.
Moreover, the looks these players gave them were far from friendly. The buzz-cut boy recognized the emotion in their eyes all too well—it was greed.
Buzz-cut boy: "..." I thought I could save my ability for the evening, but now it seems…
The air gradually condensed, and the atmosphere became tense and serious. The female player with psychic abilities from the five-person team spoke first: "What… do you intend to do?"
"It was you who killed the two bosses, right?" The captain of the player team that had obtained the items from the coffin spoke. "We're different from the other three teams—they have nothing. We opened the coffin and got some of the items and ritual supplies left by the apartment monsters. Staying here… is just to discuss possible cooperation with you." Of course, if the cooperation failed… whether they would consider seizing the items was another matter. Among these four teams, except for the one whose two teammates died overnight, the other three teams had never truly faced a boss. In fact, because one boss died per day, they even thought killing a newly unsealed and weakened boss wasn't a big deal—a naïve "I could do it too" kind of attitude.
"We didn't kill any bosses." The psychic female player, also the captain of her team, was a bit surprised at the other team's words. "We went to the pond and fought the poisonous toad there, but it ran away."
"…?" The players in the lobby froze for a moment. Right, that announcement… two bosses had escaped.
But, it really wasn't them?
A male player from another team stepped forward. His voice was gentle as he said softly, "But words alone are unconvincing. It's hard for us to believe… why not show us the items you obtained?"
"Pfft." The buzz-cut boy accidentally laughed out loud. His laugh immediately drew the attention of the other players. He waved his hand with a smile, about to speak, but couldn't help laughing again. "Haha… no, you really… hahahaha. Show you the items? Lend them to you? Why don't you just transfer your points to me and let me use them? You don't have the ability and don't dare to explore the apartment, don't even know what the boss seal locations look like, yet you still covet our items? You're really dung beetles wearing masks—shameless."
"Hahaha, little brother is right. Indeed, some players lack strength yet covet the rewards of others." The captain of the coffin-opening team laughed, deliberately glancing at the four-person team, clearly still holding a grudge about being blocked at the door during the day. "So… do you want to cooperate with us?"
He still didn't quite believe that this team hadn't killed a boss. Four teams were guarding the apartment entrance to block them, yet they showed no fear, clearly confident in their own strength. Another thing… the last team consisted of five female players. He had observed them during the day; they all looked friendly, none were physically imposing or obviously strong. No matter how he looked at it… they didn't seem like a team capable of killing two bosses.
"Sorry, we're not considering cooperation for now," the female captain said calmly. She looked at the team still blocking the stairway. "If you want to fight, come outside. We'll settle this quickly." Although they hadn't killed the toad, the fight had already drained a lot of their energy. They didn't want to waste time here and would rather return to their rooms to rest.
"Sigh, we have twenty-two people, and you only have five… Even if player abilities differ, anyone who made it into this world isn't weak. Why… won't you listen?"
This person was amusing—once the offer of cooperation was rejected, his team immediately joined the other three player teams. Some players in those three teams looked displeased, but ultimately said nothing, tacitly accepting it.
In the end, it all came down to profit.
The team's mage sighed. What was the use of having more people? As long as the captains could hold off the other players and give him time to charge and chant a large-scale spell… victory wasn't impossible. Besides, a team formed temporarily for mutual benefit was nothing more than a pile of loose sand.
"Then so be it, let's go fight," a male player from the six-person team said, glancing at the fickle team that had obtained the sixth-floor items, then shifting his gaze to the female captain of the five-person team, speaking calmly.
They stepped out of the apartment's front door and ran straight into Mu Anqi and the others, who were planning to return to their rooms to rest.
"…Hmm?" A huge crowd suddenly poured out of the apartment. Mu Anqi was a bit puzzled. "What's going on? Is the apartment on fire?" She hadn't seen any smoke or heard a fire alarm.
The psychic female player looked at Mu Anqi and her group with a momentary surprise, then, with certainty in her voice, said, "It was you who killed the two bosses."
"?!" Mu Anqi froze, instinctively looking back at Wu Sansheng, but Wu Sansheng hadn't even put on the crow-feathered robe. At that moment, Xia Yun drew her soul-bound sword, stepped forward to block Mu Anqi, and glanced at the players behind them. Now, all the player teams in this game had gathered together—hardly something to ignore.
"Are you trying to rob us?"
That was as good as an admission.
"No, we're the ones being robbed," the female captain said with a smile, pointing at the four teams behind her. "They're planning to farm our team… this team's bosses."
—"That's impossible. You killed two bosses?!"
"This team… uh, ladies, this joke isn't funny at all." A male player wearing a black baseball cap couldn't help speaking up. "Do you have any proof? Slaying bosses should give you plenty of items, right? If you really killed those bosses, at least show us a few talismans. Otherwise, there's no way you can safely return to the apartment."
"…How strange." Mu Anqi didn't quite understand the mindset of these players. "We killed two bosses—one was the Crow Taoist in the wasteland, the other was the Night Bat Duke in the cave. And you… I mean, we could actually kill bosses, yet you still think about robbing us?"
Mu Anqi shrugged, straightened her expression, flipped her hand, and loaded three ordinary bullet cards into her rifle, showing a friendly smile. "There are three hundred rounds in this rifle. Do you think you can safely return to the apartment under my firepower suppression?"
"…"
"…"
Silence. Every player fell silent.
Including the five-person team.
"This is… a gun? Was it… dropped, or is it… the one in the weapon shop that sells for 2,000…" The buzz-cut boy's eyes went wide, stammering as he asked. He knew the weapons in the shop very well, clearly having spent plenty of time drooling over them.
"Of course it was bought from the weapon shop." Mu Anqi glanced at him. This player unexpectedly had a good eye for quality, so in a good mood, she also drew her demon blade. "Have you seen this one?"
"Isn't this the Half-Price Section Demon Blade: Ghost Slayer?! Last time I checked, it was gone—I thought the weapon shop had refreshed its stock…" The buzz-cut boy exclaimed in full cooperation, no longer scratching his head, looking at Mu Anqi with complete admiration! A player who could buy such powerful items—surely their game-end ratings weren't all S? Otherwise, how could they have so many points! Th-this… is a top-tier player!
With the buzz-cut boy's words, the gazes of the players present shifted again and again, burning with intensity as they looked at Mu Anqi. They no longer doubted that these five female players had killed the bosses. Some, feeling confident in their own appearance, looked at Mu Anqi as if she were a young, beautiful, moving rich lady, practically wishing they could cling to her to ride her coattails.
"…It's only three hundred bullets! We have defensive items and defensive players! Those bullets were bought with points too, right? I just don't believe you have that many points—buying the weapon and still having enough for all those bullets!" Some players were intimidated, while others grew even more eager. "Those aren't items limited to use in this game! Once you get them, you're basically stealing thousands of points!"
"Sigh." Mu Anqi truly didn't want to fight the players unless necessary. She quietly activated her Rich Lady Aura, and amid the dazzling, dreamlike advanced special effects, the players' attention was indeed drawn toward her…
"Sword formation!"
"Meow~"
Xia Yun and Si Suying struck at the same time. Wu Sansheng expressionlessly extended her mental protection to cover everyone in the team, then silently attached a normal bullet card to her gun. Zhao Guogu pulled one ordinary crafted hand grenade after another from her backpack—these were obviously made by Si Maomao. She had packed a full backpack, thinking she wouldn't need them… [T/N:…Are they here to destroy and annihilate a village?]