The Price of Reality

Xiang Qi was roused from her sleep.

Opening her hazy, sleep-filled eyes, her mind felt muddled, heavy and disinclined to think.

Many people had experienced this: when woken before their natural rhythm, their reactions were considerably slower than usual, and they became unusually irritable.

This was precisely her state now. She sat there, dazed, watching everyone rush about, momentarily unable to grasp what was happening.

No one approached her, either. Whatever had transpired so early in the morning weighed heavily on everyone’s spirits.

After a while, Xiang Qi finally recovered her wits. She focused her mind, realizing that something significant must have occurred.

‘Had someone died?’ Her eyes held a strange glint as she considered the possibility.

She wasn’t worried at all about the Hunters attacking. Having convinced herself she‘d figured out the game’s traps, Miss Xiang now felt incredibly secure. As long as she didn’t court disaster, she believed she wouldn’t fail.

As for food, if one truly desired it, wouldn’t it still be easy to acquire?

Despite this thought, she had no intention of acting on it.

She hadn’t anticipated, however, that her body would suffer from low blood sugar—a considerable nuisance. Rubbing her stomach, which was devoid of even an ounce of fat, Xiang Qi patted her white dress and unhurriedly walked towards where the others had gathered.

‘Perhaps it’s because I didn’t eat yesterday. I feel so hungry…’

Upon reaching her destination, Xiang Qi immediately spotted the body, surrounded by people.

The location was not far from the living room, merely twenty meters away, making it easy to reach.

When choosing their stronghold, they had specifically selected a larger villa. This was to ensure ample space for setting up traps to accommodate the group of thirteen people.

Though she didn’t entirely agree with the strategy, Xiang Qi had diligently placed the traps.

‘With an informant within the team, setting traps would be utterly useless,’ she thought to herself.

Sure enough, despite a death having occurred, all the traps remained intact, showing no sign of having been triggered.

‘How careless. This Mr. Hunter is truly too naive.’ Xiang Qi was now certain of her conjecture: the Hunter must be disguised as an informant within the team. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to be so thoroughly aware of the trap layouts, avoiding every single one.

If it were her, she would surely have feigned ignorance and triggered a few, no matter what. Even if she could spot many clumsy placements at a glance, there were still some that, with a slight misstep, would leave a trace.

To have avoided them all—wasn’t that explicitly telling everyone there was a problem?

She couldn’t decide whether to call them clever or foolish.

Clearly, the seriousness of the situation was evident from the blue-haired youth’s furrowed brow. Even Xiang Ke showed a hint of surprise, having apparently discovered something.

‘But when did your relationship become so good?’ Xiang Qi’s eyes were filled with a strange emotion, sensing a threat.

Previously, she hadn’t worried about becoming a target. A ‘flower vase’ whose ornamental value outweighed its practical use was rarely taken seriously, and under Xiang Qi’s facade, no one had yet discovered her terrible, vile personality.

Who would deliberately target a young, beautiful girl? Well… except for someone like Ji Hua.

In everyone’s eyes, being a useless ‘flower vase’ made Xiang Qi exceptionally safe. Firstly, the leaders of both sides wouldn’t target her for any specific actions.

Furthermore, any potential Hunter wouldn’t have designs on her. People always prioritized eliminating high-threat targets; according to the optimal killing order, it wouldn’t be her turn to face the knife early on.

One had to save her own life before she could consider other things. Xiang Qi didn’t yet have a good method to deal with the Hunter, but she believed she would always find one.

Naturally, her own life was her foremost concern.

Now, however, an unexpected situation had arisen.

The leaders of the two teams had, at some unknown point, found a way to coalesce, indicating the imminent rise of a dominant faction. This was clearly not what she desired.

Only with the two teams checking each other could Xiang Qi fish in troubled waters, calmly securing the greatest benefits for herself.

‘Now, I can only think positively,’ Xiang Qi mused, stroking her fair, delicate chin, her eyes glinting.

‘This way, the team’s cohesion will greatly improve, and that informant might not find it so easy to maintain their disguise.’

‘Well, maybe they‘ll expose themselves in a day or two.’

The atmosphere was somewhat peculiar. Although the newcomers had previously accepted the situation, they largely held onto a glimmer of hope, lacking any real sense of mortality.

Now, the naked corpse lying on the ground shattered their illusions, making them realize the game’s cruelty.

This was no joke. Death was truly irreversible.

A man clapped a hand over his mouth and ran to the side, retching, but only acidic bile came up from his stomach.

No one bothered to laugh at him. Even the more experienced individuals looked grim, the undeniable reduction in their numbers making them realize the gravity of the problem.

And a faint sense of unease.

“I have a question,” the driver uncle said, frowning, his expression quite unnatural. “Who were on night watch last night?”

It seemed this uncle truly didn’t understand the mood. Xiang Qi glanced sideways, a hint of discomfort in her eyes.

‘Didn’t he see that some of those people’s faces had turned green?’

The others subtly shifted a couple of steps, widening the distance between themselves and the night watchers.

Xiang Qi naturally followed suit, her expression betraying a hint of unease and suspicion. And it had to be said, a beautiful girl making such an expression was incredibly impactful.

At least Chen Anhe, the young man who had previously defended Xiang Qi, fell for it. His fists clenched and unclenched, his expression filled with struggle.

He wanted to rush forward and punch those two, demanding to know why they had done it.

“N-no, it wasn’t me… I didn’t…”

One of the newcomers on night watch hastily waved his hands, vehemently denying it, yet the more he tried to explain, the darker it looked, only increasing his suspicion.

Even if he clarified later, the seed of doubt had already been sown.

“If it wasn’t you, then did the Hunter attack?” Ignoring Xiang Ke’s frantic warning glances, Wu Jiancheng felt like Conan had possessed him, convinced he had grasped the truth of the world. He instinctively reached for a cigarette, only to realize he had none left.

No cigarettes were particularly agonizing for a smoker, and combined with the lack of food and water, it made him intensely anxious, desperate to break free from the situation.

“Besides you night watchmen having this opportunity, could it be…”

“Wait a minute.”

His words were cut short.