The sound of the man's hurried escape sent ripples of panic and urgency through the air. Just like that, he quickly left the area in front of the shrubbery Nine Lives was hiding in.

Immediately after, the entity that was chasing the man caught up.

Despite having come face to face with such entities many times in past instances, Nine Lives still couldn't get used to it.

An evil, chilling presence slowly approached.

There was no sound at all.

Yet, as Nine Lives lay with his head buried in the ground, he felt an unparalleled fear, as if a resentful pair of eyes were glaring at him.

He tried to keep his trembling body under control, minimizing his movements as much as possible.

Luckily, the terrifying entity didn't linger long. It was only a moment before the sinister feeling dissipated.

It had moved on, chasing its prey.

Hidden in the bushes, Nine Lives heaved a quiet sigh of relief. It seemed like the entity had directly overlooked him—he felt incredibly lucky.

Even though he was inwardly marveling at his good fortune, he didn't make any rash moves. Instead, he remained prone in the bushes for some time, never even lifting his head.

After what felt like an eternity—when he was sure the entity had completely left—Nine Lives hesitantly lifted his head to survey his surroundings. Seeing that there wasn't a single ghostly apparition in sight, he hastily crawled out of the bushes.

"Goddammit," he muttered to himself as he brushed off the dirt clinging to his clothes. "I'm supposed to be the Hunter here. Hiding feels so out of character..."

If there were ghosts in this instance that would chase players, why on earth were the participants playing hide and seek amongst themselves?

Why not simply make the ghosts the hunters and have them chase the players around? Simple enough, right?

No time to ponder such questions now.

He emerged hastily from the bushes and walked up the steps at the entrance of the building.

"That ghost could return at any moment. I need to be quicker... The thing on the rooftop..." As Nine Lives muttered lowly to himself, he instinctively looked up.

A ghastly white face appeared in his line of sight.

Gu Mian would have sworn all he'd done was casually poke his head out from the rooftop, but the player below had suddenly sprung into action, hopping around like he'd seen a ghost—jumping even more excitedly than the liveliest frog Gu Mian had ever seen.

Of course, once Nine Lives realized the pale face belonged to the doctor player, he quickly regained his composure. In fact, he felt an overwhelming urge to punch the doctor for startling him.

By now, Nine Lives had made it up to the rooftop, where Gu Mian had been waiting.

Gu Mian had watched as the not-entirely-mature-looking, long-haired young man doggy-paddled into a bush by the teaching building, causing the entire bush to tremble along with him.

When he came out, Gu Mian poking his head out again had given him another scare.

Gu Mian had expected him to fly off the handle and confront him, but instead, the comparatively immature-looking player merely cast him silent, reproachful glances.

The unknown fabric still fluttered on the railing. Nine Lives had noticed these objects when he was on the ground floor.

"You've been on the rooftop for a while, haven't you?" Nine Lives asked Gu Mian, his eyes fixated on the railing.

He had no idea how long this doctor-looking player had been on the rooftop. It seemed like he had arrived before Nine Lives. If he had been on the rooftop when the falling noise rang out, he might have witnessed a "murder"!

Perhaps he knew some useful clues!

In response, Gu Mian touched his chin. "Not very long. Roughly around the time you dove into the bushes."

"What?"

Nine Lives thought he had misheard. "When did you get here?"

If the doctor had arrived just as he was diving into the bushes, it meant something astonishing: while the entity was chasing other players, this doctor was climbing the stairs inside the building!

While the entity wasn't chasing him then, it was still quite audacious to brazenly climb the stairs, knowing an entity was present...

Who could roam so freely in a building with an anomalous entity in it?

Gu Mian spoke again. "Just now, when I was on the first floor, I heard what sounded like another player being chased. So, I seized the opportunity to..."

Seized the opportunity?

Nine Lives felt the usage of those words was rather inappropriate. But then again, he couldn't think of a better term to describe the situation.

This doctor's way of thinking definitely seemed a bit off. It seemed best to minimize contact.

As these thoughts whirled in his head, Nine Lives glanced once more at the strip of material hanging on the railing.

It was a very thin piece of clothing. Its thinness caused it to drape into a strip that resembled a piece of torn cloth.

Just as Nine Lives took a few steps forward to get a closer look at the clothing, Gu Mian suddenly halted him. "I've already checked that piece of clothing," he said, pulling out a piece of paper. "There's only one pocket, which contained this."

Curious, Nine Lives took the piece of paper. It was a supermarket receipt.

It was very dark, so he had to bring the receipt close to be able to read the small print.

[Dajiale Supermarket Receipt]

[Bele Cucumber Chips*3]

[Yuanle Yuan Milk Ice Cream*1]

[Kang's Mineral Water*1]

[Lewang Rice Vinegar*3]

That was all.

"This is..." Nine Lives furrowed his brows. Are we supposed to find Dajiale Supermarket?

And then locate the items listed on this receipt?

But what did that have to do with hide and seek? This instance was truly puzzling.

Out of caution, Nine Lives quickly rummaged through all the clothes hanging on the rooftop railing one more time, but still found nothing.

He glanced disappointedly at the receipt in his hand.

Was this the only clue?

Finding a specific supermarket in a small city wouldn't be easy. Not to mention the possibility of there being supermarkets with similar names. This was going to be difficult. Extremely difficult.

Gu Mian also looked at the receipt in Nine Lives' hand. "Don't lose hope," he said. "The central theme of a hide-and-seek game is 'searching.' Our current clue is also guiding us to 'search.' So, the main objective remains unchanged. If you put the same effort into finding this supermarket as you do into searching for other players, it should work out. Of course, a tank is more eye-catching than a baby stroller."

Nine Lives looked up, surprised.

He noticed that this player, the doctor, seemed to be naturally slipping into the role of a kind, understanding older brother.

As a doctor, a character with less-than-ideal physical abilities, this player seemed incredibly laid-back.

Nine Lives paused, then spoke, "I thought that as a doctor, you'd be extra cautious, maybe even rely on others for protection. I guess I was wrong."

Not only did the doctor not seek protection from others, he even casually climbed up to the rooftop on his own in a building where an entity was present.

"It's just that, as a player focused on developing professional skills, you're likely not as physically strong as other players," Nine Lives mused. "So, it would be better if you stuck with someone... Even if other players can't help much, at least you'd have someone to run away with..."

At this, Gu Mian saw Nine Lives, who was in front of him, flick his own ponytail with a rather flamboyant gesture. "Would you be willing to let me lead you when we run away?" Nine Lives asked.

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