Chapter 26: Devil's Card

The first level was a test of courage. The terrifying sounds of ghostly whispers heard earlier were deliberately created and played when the players reached the door of Room 305.

Room 305 was indeed not on the third floor but hidden in a stairwell on the first floor. So, if players didn't discover it by chance, they would have to search and fight zombies throughout the three-story building.

Danny held Tan Yinyin's hand as they searched for the key around them.

Due to the dim lighting, Danny's vision was much better than a human's, so he quickly noticed a key between the gaps of two large boxes in the place where miscellaneous items were stored near the stairwell.

He took Tan Yinyin to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

Danny was puzzled, and Tan Yinyin said, "Brother, this doesn't seem to be the key for Room 305. Should we look for another key nearby?"

"Okay."

However, after another round of searching, they still couldn't find the key.

Tan Yinyin inadvertently saw a wooden cube-shaped box where goods were placed, and it seemed to have a keyhole. So, she suggested that Danny try inserting the key there.

With a soft click, the box opened. Danny lifted the lid, revealing a gruesome and eye-catching object inside – a blood-drenched human head with disheveled hair, round eyes staring like brass bells, lifeless.

"Ah!" Tan Yinyin screamed and once again threw herself into Danny's arms, holding him tightly.

Danny comforted her, saying, "Little one, don't be afraid. This is fake."

Saying this, Danny grabbed the strands of hair on the head and lifted it out. Underneath the head was indeed a key.

He turned the head over, showing Tan Yinyin the bowl-sized scar on the underside.

It was made of rubber.

However, the head was crafted to be extremely realistic. After Tan Yinyin calmed her inner horror, she couldn't help but ask him, "Brother, how did you know it was fake?"

"I didn't see it; I smelled it. The blood here is fake, and it doesn't have the same scent as real blood," Danny truthfully told her.

"Brother, you're amazing!" Tan Yinyin coquettishly rubbed her face against his arm, lavishly praising him.

Danny looked down at her, his eyes involuntarily indulgent, like a clear spring reflecting a sky full of stars.

Cat people have exceptionally sensitive senses of smell, able to discern subtle differences between real and fake blood. Humans lack this kind of olfactory ability and cannot distinguish between these things.

Therefore, it was evident that the first level's courage test was conducted to the fullest.

So, what test awaited them next?

After successfully using the key pressed under the human head to open the door to Room 305, the broadcast announced, "Congratulations to players 11 and 18 for passing the first level. Now, it's time for the second level – Devil's Card."

Player 18?

Danny thought it must be him. It turns out that they would assign numbers to new players even without payment.

Little did he know that not long ago, the vampire under Daisy's command had infiltrated the backstage, and hypnotized everyone there, not only allowing him, a cat person, to join the game without payment but also ensuring that after the game ended, all surveillance footage would be deleted, leaving no trace behind.

Danny and Tan Yinyin stepped over the pool of fake blood at the entrance of Room 305 and entered the room. They saw a submachine gun on the table along with ten cards.

Tan Yinyin turned on the flashlight on her phone and discovered that out of the ten cards, only one was bright gold. The other nine were dark in color, with devil illustrations on one side and simple, rough lines on the other.

Could this level be a test of intelligence?

Thinking this, Tan Yinyin began to carefully observe the devil illustrations and lines on the cards. She found that each card had a unique devil illustration, but—

She couldn't find a pattern.

Danny noticed that one card seemed a bit different, picked it up, and pointed it out to Tan Yinyin, saying, "Little one, is there only one card with a red dot on it?"

Tan Yinyin looked at all the cards again and happily exclaimed, "Yes, it's true."

"I know what the red dot means," she said.

Because Danny didn't know the meaning of that tiny red dot, but as a human who frequently used a phone, Tan Yinyin knew that it represented a specific location.

So, these nine cards were pieces of a map, and the red dot indicated the destination they needed to reach.

Thus, Tan Yinyin quickly assembled the map, took photos, and then tucked the nine cards into her pocket. With one hand holding the submachine gun from the table and the other hand not forgetting to hold Danny's hand, they set out to find the location represented by the red dot.

Neither the human nor the cat person realized they had forgotten something.

The broadcast only reported, "Players 5 and 7 are dead, confined in the terrifying dark room," and then fell silent.

So, was this level truly an intelligence test?

After Danny and Tan Yinyin left, Lin Churan and Qin Zhixuan arrived shortly afterward.

The path-opening little orange and little pomelo had already been bitten to death by zombies. Lin Churan was already unhappy, and hearing the broadcast say that Tan Yinyin had unlocked the first level made her even more upset.

And who was this player 18? There were only a total of 17 people!

Lin Churan didn't expect that she and Qin Zhixuan would also find Room 305. She complained in her heart about Qin Zhixuan's dragging pace, blaming her for not arriving earlier and beating Tan Yinyin.

Although the first level had already been unlocked, Lin Churan still refused to admit defeat. She had to go in and check. Under the illumination of her phone's flashlight, she discovered a gold card on the floor next to the table.

"What's this?" Lin Churan asked.

Qin Zhixuan naturally knew what it was, feeling somewhat surprised. She didn't expect to find something good. However, she didn't show it and casually said to Lin Churan, "I don't know, maybe it's useless. Your sister just threw it away."

Surprisingly, Lin Churan wasn't provoked to throw away the card by this comment. Instead, after careful consideration, she exclaimed with joy, "I know what this is!"