【Round Five of Hide-and-Seek begins. Prey, hide well!】
【Teleportation complete!】
Ye Shu's muddled mind suddenly snapped to clarity.
She remained standing in place, but the system's familiar voice—announcing her disguise for this round—was conspicuously absent.
What was going on?
Was there a delay in the system?
Also, just before she blacked out, she seemed to catch a glimpse of that person again… Ugh, of all the rotten luck!
【This is the fifth round of the game. The system will not assign any disguises to players. You will participate in your true forms. Good luck!】
What?!
Their true bodies, in the game?
Was this some kind of sick joke?
Dazed, she glanced down at her simple jeans and t-shirt—it was exactly what she’d worn before getting dragged into this survival game.
Using her own body for the first time—every other round, the system had delivered her into the NPC shell of the game’s world. Of course, this particular identity bore a remarkable, seven-tenths resemblance to her real self.
It almost felt like an alternate universe.
This whole round was starting to feel unsettling…
Ye Shu gazed out at the dense forest in the distance, lost in thought. It was nothing but an endless expanse of trees. In a human body, how could anyone hope to hide here? Besides, why hadn’t the system announced the official start of the game yet?
Could it be that the real plan was… to resist from the outset?
If they just killed the hunters, wouldn’t they clear the stage?
Five minutes passed, and still no further system prompts.
Perched uncomfortably atop a tree, Ye Shu began to lose her patience. Was the system broken or what?
She opened up her virtual screen—the chat was flooded with player complaints.
【Wolf Loves Sheep: Did you all get the message we’re playing in our real bodies this time? Something doesn’t feel right…】
【Sheep Sheep Sheep: Me too. Isn’t this supposed to be hide-and-seek? How do you hide as a human? Total scam.】
【Mao Mao: It’s like a real-life battle royale! So exciting, I love it.】
【Up Early for Work: Love my ass! This means if the hunters shoot us, we really log off for good? I’m hiding first, see ya.】
【Grassland Wrangler: Makes sense! Count me in. It's nothing but forests and swamps here—where can we possibly hide? This is a joke, really, nowhere to stay concealed.】
【Bobo Taro: No, really! I'm on an open plain, nothing but dry grass as far as the eye can see. Wait, not quite—there’s a supply box? I opened it, and inside are rations and tools!】
The comment came with a photo of the opened box. Inside the wooden chest: a few bottles of mineral water, some dry bread, a bit of paint, and assorted bits like glue and fake raffia grass.
Ye Shu couldn’t for the life of her figure out what those tools were for.
Food was clearly their sustenance, meaning this round would last well beyond two hours. And those tools… likely camouflage supplies for their very own makeshift disguises. Her gut told her the playground here was massive, with players scouring it for food, weapons, and props to evade the hunters.
【Enchanting Cashew: What the heck? I haven’t seen any chests. Is this hide-and-seek or battle royale now? Interesting, though—at least there are supplies, we’re not just cowering in the dirt.】
That message racked up over ninety-nine likes.
More players started reporting chests, and every one contained supplies—primarily food, some paints and clothing, with precious few weapons. Out of ten people, nearly no one found a usable handgun.
The system's mechanical monotone rang out again.
【Rest period over!】
【Congratulations, players, for making it to this round. Hide-and-Seek welcomes you! All play as yourselves, with supply boxes scattered across the map. Prey must locate them; inside are food and weapons. You’re free to move, and a five-meter field of vision will be provided. If hit by a hunter, you’re eliminated. Game duration: 48 hours. Good luck out there!】【The final round begins in two hours.】
Ye Shu’s pupils contracted.
Forty-eight hours…
Was this for real?
Just two hours of regular hide-and-seek had left everyone dog-tired; now it was ten times as long. Could she possibly endure?
It seemed the rest of the scattered players shared her sentiment.
【Milk Cow Milk: Damn this game! Why don’t you just kill us now?! This is hell.】
【No Power in my Data Cable: Dog system really doesn’t treat us as human. Forty-eight hours? So we’ll have to hide out here for two days, and the hunters could wipe us out in the meantime!】
【Spear Dipped in Dung, Whoever I Jab Dies: Why even bother hiding? Let’s just do what Lu Da-ge did—hunt a few hunters for fun. Maybe we’ll flip the tables.】
【Blossoming Flowers of the Homeland: Big bro, show yourself! I was the rabbit last round. We’re planning a raid on the hunters—let’s wipe them out!】
【Trendy Hotpot Shop: Big bro, it’s me, the koala, my coordinates are…】
The legend of Lu Da-ge was rapidly spreading in chat, but still, no one had revealed themselves.
Right now, Ye Shu was moving stealthily through the swamp. She and Su Bai had shared their maps: one on a grassland, the other in deep woods—worlds apart, unable to meet for now. All she could do was look for nearby supply crates.
【Ding! Congratulations, you have acquired a wooden crate ×1.】
【Ding! Congratulations, you have acquired a wooden crate ×1.】
Fishing through the muck, Ye Shu pulled out two mud-caked chests.
【Open the crate?】
【Yes.】
【Crate opened. You have obtained: raffia grass ×10 jin, sniper rifle ×1, black bread ×2, mineral water ×1, fresh orange ×1.】
Not bad—she’d scored a weapon right out of the gate.
Even though space wasn’t yet limited, it didn’t stop her from wincing at the cost of weapons. Back in Huaxia, firearm controls were strict—if it weren’t for Pang Pangzi the middleman, she’d never have gotten that batch of rocket launchers.
Peeling a wedge from the orange, Ye Shu popped it into her mouth. Sweet and tart, exactly what she needed.
.........
Outside the map.
The hunting zone.
All the hunters were now gathered.
At their head stood Lu Xiao, Lu Zhan, and Lin Qingyue. The first four rounds had been their domain; they had claimed fully half the prey on the map.
"This time, we finish off that deer—give my brothers their revenge."
"Dangerous people have slipped in among the prey. Higher-ups will send a team to investigate. Our job? Capture them alive."
"Could that person have gotten here by accident—a soul capture from another star field? Is that black tiger her mount?"
None of the hunters wanted to accept the reality that one of their own had been killed by mere prey inside the game zone.
As someone brought up killing Ye Shu, Lin Qingyue's gaze darkened, lids lowered in shadow.
He shot a contemptuous glance at the hunter standing several meters away.
Him? Take down Little Shu?
Even he had fallen to that madwoman several times.