Chapter 19: The approach

The Disappearance, Silent...

But before anyone could scream in fear, the man reappeared mysteriously by the edge of the pond.

He looked at his own body with an incredulous expression on his face.

Then, he shifted his gaze towards the pond, recalling the moment when he was swallowed whole by the giant fish, and quickly turned back, running towards the others.

"What... What just happened?"

Trần Bình An looked at the man reappearing in disbelief.

Just seconds ago, they had witnessed the man being swallowed by the goldfish!

But now,

The man suddenly appeared by the pond...

Everyone saw him running towards them, automatically avoiding him.

"Why are you all avoiding me?! I'm not a ghost!"

The man gasped for breath as he approached the others, still in a daze, wiping off the rainwater from his face with his hand.

In that moment,

He thought he was about to die.

Faced with the terror in his heart, he felt his legs trembling.

Seeing the man disappear and then reappear, the others had a strange expression on their faces.

They couldn't understand why they had just seen the man being swallowed by the goldfish, and now he stood vividly before them.

"I can't take it anymore!"

Someone couldn't bear the psychological impact and sat down on the ground, pounding it forcefully, reaching the limits of what he could endure in this inexplicable situation.

"Phwew..."

Footsteps resounded once again.

Everyone turned their heads nervously towards the staircase of the lecture building. In the darkness, it seemed as though someone was slowly emerging.

"Is it following us?!"

Trần Bình An remembered the strange creature resembling the "monkey" in the classroom, he stared at the entrance of the lecture building, now standing still, unsure whether to run or not.

The footsteps were like stepping on the hearts of everyone, each person feeling on edge...

As the figure became more distinct,

They saw a person standing at the entrance of the building.

"He... he's not dead?!"

Looking at Hoàng Tuân approaching from the building entrance with a large backpack on his back, their thoughts became chaotic.

After Hoàng Tuân descended the stairs, he glanced at the terrified crowd before him.

Oh... there were nineteen of them.

All alive.

...

[He's really stupid, daring to approach that creature.]

[Fools like him are suitable as its food.]

[Haha, how satisfying!]

[He got eaten by it...]

[Automatically edited]

[Remaining character count: 3]

[Haha, how satisfying!]

[He didn't get eaten by it...]

...

It must be said.

If Hoàng Tuân had read the contents of the novel a little later, the man would probably have died. Fortunately, he arrived just in time before the man was digested, and Hoàng Tuân used a word to save him.

The answer to the question about the pond...

Hoàng Tuân could see it.

This was the only question that Hoàng Tuân could see the answer to in the novel.

The total number of fish in the pond plus the giant fish indeed amounted to twenty, but after the man was swallowed, the count had become twenty-one.

Perhaps, those fish were originally human.

Careful consideration.

If Hoàng Tuân hadn't saved the man, then to answer this question correctly, they would have needed to throw nine more people into the pond to reach the number thirty and choose answer C.

A total of ten people would have to die in the pond.

From a certain perspective, Hoàng Tuân was truly selfish...

If given the choice between oneself and others, he wouldn't hesitate to choose himself.

The hero's sacrifice, only the brave can accomplish it.

Hoàng Tuân admitted that he was not a brave person.

Using his power to save people, if it weren't for this special situation, he would probably have ignored it like witnessing Trần Công Hùng's death.

Of course,

If something like the girl earlier appeared, he would still try to help, as long as it didn't violate his basic principles, he wouldn't care too much.

That was also why he had given that "monkey" creature a swing of the axe...

"Why are you still alive?!"

The man whom Hoàng Tuân had blocked in the classroom asked Hoàng Tuân, unable to understand how Hoàng Tuân, after being chased by that bizarre entity, could still survive.

Hoàng Tuân responded with a question of his own: "Is it so strange that I'm still alive?"

"No, not really..."

The man wanted to explain, but due to the fear of Hoàng Tuân's second appearance, he couldn't utter a word.

It had to be admitted.

In the eyes of the others, although they found Hoàng Tuân peculiar, after the incident in the classroom, regarding this returning stranger, they felt slightly more secure in their minds.

"Don't look at me like that anymore, believe that I'm just a normal person, is it that difficult?"

Hoàng Tuân reproached with a sentence, he didn't understand why what he said was so similar to Trần Công Hùng, but these people still kept their distance, not daring to approach him.

Where had the problem occurred...

"Your axe..."

"It has blood on it."

Trần Bình An spoke, revealing the reason for the initial concern.

This statement immediately resolved the doubts in Hoàng Tuân's mind.

"Oh, so that's it." Hoàng Tuân raised the axe in his hand, making everyone recoil and take a few steps back. He examined it carefully and felt that the axe did indeed look frightening, holding such an object in his hand, it was understandable to be misunderstood.

"I've told you already, this is the second time I've entered this horror world, and this is from the first time. It's already assumed to have blood on it." Hoàng Tuân replied and put the axe down.

"Can things from this world be brought out?!"

Someone couldn't help but ask.

Facing this question, Hoàng Tuân simply nodded, not explaining further.

At present, what he wanted was to try to survive and lead everyone out of this place.

As for the relationship between the horror world and the real world...

He didn't understand it clearly, and it didn't need to be said right now.

"Alright, let's get back to the main issue."

Hoàng Tuân walked up to everyone, looked towards the nearby pond, and began to speak seriously.

"If you want to survive, listen to what I say. I know more about this world than all of you, and everything I say is true. Until you have proper reasoning to refute me, don't doubt my words."

Everyone listened to Hoàng Tuân's words, through the explanation just now, coupled with his rescue of the girl, they had reduced their initial wariness towards Hoàng Tuân.

After experiencing the incident in the classroom and the pond, they had also determined that this was a world where a bit of horror existed.

And towards Hoàng Tuân.

Although they found him somewhat peculiar, because he had returned after entering from the previous time, they were not the ones to oppose, subconsciously choosing to trust in Hoàng Tuân.

Hoàng Tuân looked at their state and couldn't help but feel relieved, finally able to bring the situation under control.

Next, he continued speaking: "Now, everyone, state your personal information, from here we will start, this is the most important thing to survive in this world."

Hoàng Tuân stared at everyone.

He slowly extended the index finger on his right hand and touched his forehead. "Simply put, it's an approach."

"The approach of the horror story's plot and..."

"The approach of character setting."