Seeing this, the fear in the hearts of the three commoners gradually faded. They slowly crawled out of the tree hollow, fell to their knees before Lin Deyou, and thanked him repeatedly.
“Thank you for your great kindness, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master!”
“Once we return, we will surely set up a longevity plaque in your honor!”
Lin Deyou smiled faintly, accepting their gratitude on the surface, but he didn't take it to heart at all.
After all, these three were as good as dead.
“Let's go.”
The group quickly returned to the campfire.
Bai Liu did not say a single word throughout the entire journey.
Lin Deyou settled the three commoners down in a spot slightly further away. The commoners had no objections; they were already highly satisfied to be allowed so close to the group.
Zuo Lin'an, however, saw right through their petty scheme.
The three commoners were placed further away, while the six of them huddled close together by the campfire.
Wasn't it obvious they wanted the specter to target the three commoners first?
That way, they could observe how this specter appeared, how it killed, and identify its Death Rule.
When Zuo Lin'an chose “Time” as his novice benefit, he had already anticipated that clever people might figure out his rule, but he didn't care.
He didn't need players to trigger a rule or be under a Death Lock to kill them!
Even if these people figured out the rule, so what?
Wouldn't they still just be counting down the time until their deaths?
Zuo Lin'an let out a soft chuckle. He didn't feel like he was being outsmarted by the players.
To him, it made no difference who died first anyway.
When the time came, he could use his specter aura to isolate all sound and movement. Even if these players huddled close together, they wouldn't realize that the person right next to them was being killed bit by bit by a specter.
Zuo Lin'an thought for a moment, then stood up and walked into the white mist. At this moment, his specter body happened to be right at the edge of the fog.
He handed his work phone to his specter body, then returned to his original spot to sit and rest.
The specter body carried the phone back to its previous position and began taking photos. Although the distance was far, the images were very clear.
Naturally, the photos he took included a large close-up of Lin Deyou.
Then, he posted a thread on the forum and uploaded the photo.
【Does anyone recognize this person? His name is Lin Deyou, and he seems to be from some Duke's Manor. It looks like he's trying to carry the woman next to him through the dungeon this time.】
Not long after the thread was posted, someone replied.
【Oh, I know this guy. Lin Deyou is indeed a young master from the Duke's Manor, the third-born. He's a Second-Rate martial artist, which is decent. He's insidious and cunning, good at disguises, and especially loves pretending to be harmless.】
【Wait! Oh my god, the OP's level is 1! Are you a newcomer?】
Zuo Lin'an quickly replied.
【Yes, this is my first time hosting a dungeon. I'm feeling a bit nervous. Does anyone have any advice?】
The thread immediately blew up.
【Don't be afraid, little brother! Although this Lin Deyou is skilled and smart, his talent is just a common one: Lie Detection. It only allows him to determine if someone is lying, and he can only use it three times a day.】
【If he triggers your Death Rule, just go right in and take him out!】
【Don't talk nonsense, upstairs! This Lin Deyou previously obtained a consumable specter item from my dungeon. It's a piece of candy. As long as he eats it, it makes specters ignore him. The effect only wears off when he's the only one left in the entire dungeon.】
【My god, are you insane? Giving out a specter item with such a powerful effect... What a bastard! I curse your entire family!】
Soon, someone noticed more details.
【Huh? Am I seeing things? Aside from Lin Deyou, there are three burly men who don't look like ordinary people. They seem to be martial artists too!】
Zuo Lin'an quickly replied.
【Yes, they are three martial artists. The one in the middle is Second-Rate, and the two on the sides are Third-Rate.】
The thread exploded even further.
【I say, newcomer brother, aren't you way too unlucky? What kind of novice boss gets arranged into such a hellish starting scenario for their very first dungeon?】
【Oh, what a coincidence! Aside from that seductive-looking woman, I actually know the other five.】
Zuo Lin'an quickly asked.
【Big brother, please tell me about them. I really don't know what to do right now.】
This “big brother” was also very enthusiastic.
【Lin Deyou indeed has that candy specter item. You need to watch out for it.】
【Those three martial artists previously cleared some of my friends' One-Star dungeons, so I know their talents. Two have Colossal Strength, and one has Rapid Speed.】
Zuo Lin'an knew that the Colossal Strength talent increased strength by three times for five minutes, with a five-hour cooldown.
Rapid Speed tripled speed, with the same duration and cooldown as Colossal Strength.
Simply put, they were useless, common talents.
【The three of them only have the most ordinary talents, so you don't need to worry. Plus, there's a high probability they don't have any powerful specter items, or maybe none at all.】
【As for that Princess Jinyang, I saw someone post about her on the forum before, but not many people paid attention. The post back then said... she's ruthless but ultimately useless.】
【Her talent is also a common one, called Perception.】
Zuo Lin'an nodded silently.
The Perception talent could be used three times a day to roughly determine the direction and distance of a specter.
The closer the distance, the more accurate the location; the further away, the more blurred the location would be.
【I've told you everything I know. I hope you can successfully wipe out all of these players.】
Zuo Lin'an really hadn't expected the forum to be this helpful.
He had just taken a single photo and casually typed a question, yet he managed to find out the talents of several players, their previous clears, whether they carried specter items, and even the specific effects of those items.
Of course, it might not be a hundred percent accurate—after all, they might have already used up their consumable specter items in other dungeons—but knowing this information greatly reduced his pressure!
【Thank you, big brother. I know what to do now.】
Everyone in the thread cheered for Zuo Lin'an, the newcomer, and he thanked them one by one.
Before long, a very unique sensation suddenly welled up in his heart.
In the next moment, he realized it was his rule.
It was his rule reminding him that the top of the hour was approaching.
Zuo Lin'an blinked. This was his first time experiencing such a feeling. It seemed that once one possessed a rule, they no longer needed to check the time to kill.
His body would naturally produce a profound, inexplicable sensation.
The specter body casually pocketed the phone and slowly stood up.
At this moment, the six people huddled around the campfire were still gathered together, and some were even whispering in low voices.
Specifically, Zi Yao.
She was leaning completely into Lin Deyou's embrace, her eyes closed in sleep.
They probably thought Lin Deyou's deduction was correct, believing that the specter would only appear once every shichen.
But unfortunately for them, his rule was to strike once every hour.
And one shichen was two hours!
However, he didn't plan on making a move on those six just yet.
Zuo Lin'an concealed his figure and slowly drew near, while his specter aura quietly spread, isolating all sound and movement.
Rate on N.U.
