Because the computer room was too monotonous, filled only with computers and computer parts.
Rows of computers, rows of towers, rows of keyboards… all spotlessly clean.
Other than that, there really wasn’t any place to hide things, nothing worth exploring.
The storage room was too messy, and she couldn’t possibly search it thoroughly in a short time.
Su Yan didn’t believe that this crappy game would be so generous as to give her a ton of time to explore the map.
Rather than searching half of a complicated place, it was better to completely search a simple one.
As for the main hall?
Compared to the office, the hall was much bigger.
But at the same time, it was even easier to hide things in the hall.
Still, weighing the pros and cons, it was better not to risk wasting time in the hall.
After weighing her options, Su Yan began to observe all around the office.
She needed to remember the number and locations of the items—this way, if anything changed, she could spot it right away.
The office in this instance was the standard white-collar type, with four desks arranged in a square.
Each desk had a chair, and there was another one behind the door—five chairs in total.
There was a cute little bear-shaped pen holder on one of the desks, with several pens inside.
Other than that, there were some decorative items.
On the floor, several pots of pothos sat under the window, looking quite nice.
It was clear that the owners of this office were people with a zest for life, knowing how to add a splash of color to their otherwise dull routines.
Before she could examine anything else closely, Su Yan’s vision suddenly blurred.
The next second, she found herself in a cramped space.
Actually, the space itself wasn’t that small, but it was crowded because so many people were inside.
Su Yan only realized that all ten guests had been teleported into this small room when she bumped into the person behind her.
She blinked and looked around.
She discovered that this room was the storage room she’d glanced at earlier.
So they were teleported from the main hall to the storage room?
It was only a couple of steps away—was there really any need for such a flashy display?
All around them were scattered goods, making it hard to even move their arms and legs.
Su Yan walked over to the door and tried pushing it.
A girl standing nearby kindly reminded her, “I already tried just now, it won’t open.”
While the girl was speaking, Su Yan tried pulling the handle as well, but it really wouldn’t budge.
She nodded gratefully at the girl, then stood beside her to observe the surroundings.
The storage room itself was actually quite large, but with so many boxes and miscellaneous items stacked everywhere, it could now barely hold ten people.
But that was all—it could only just fit everyone, and if anyone wanted to actually do anything, that was impossible.
With ten people, forget about moving around—even turning around was likely to result in bumping into someone.
Su Yan sighed and tried to shrink herself into a ball, careful not to touch anyone else.
She figured that when the game started, the door would probably open.
And even if it didn’t, there had to be another way out.
Like that underground passage during her initial assessment.
She had good reason to think so; before entering the instance, she’d seen that the theme of this game was “Hide and Seek.”
Hide and Seek, no matter how it changes, is always about you hiding and me seeking.
Therefore, Su Yan dismissed the possibility that the guests would have to find their own way out.
Hide and Seek wasn’t about hiding objects—there was no reason to trap them in such a small space just to make things difficult.
Her gaze wandered around the room.
When her eyes landed on an object, Su Yan’s expression sharpened.
There was a clock hanging on the wall, but it seemed broken—the hands didn’t move at all.
Time was always a sensitive point in these games, so Su Yan paid extra attention.
Speaking of time, she thought for a moment—just now, the game only gave them five minutes to explore the map…
Su Yan’s sensitivity to time could be traced back to her high school days.
Back in her third year, the school would train them every day to develop a sense of timing so they wouldn’t go overtime during the college entrance exam.
Come to think of it, she wondered how competent the other guests were—how many of them actually made good use of the time to explore the map earlier?
If anyone didn’t explore just now, they’d definitely waste time later trying to figure out the layout.
The group waited idly in the cramped room for a while, when suddenly a “ding” sounded in everyone’s ears.
At the same time, the door that wouldn’t budge slowly creaked open, and a small figure appeared in the doorway.
This person was entirely blue, sparkling and translucent like a gemstone.
Inside the transparent body were many bubbles, moving in a strange pattern, as if these were the creature’s organs.
He spoke, his voice sharp and thin: “I am the host for this episode. Please come with me—I’ll show you the game rules.”
So they could finally leave—had they really been stuck in the storage room for five minutes?
Su Yan instinctively looked back at the clock, only to find that the hands—which had been frozen—were now moving.
At the same time, the live broadcast officially began.
“Finally, a new episode! Let’s see what the game theme is this time?”
“The host is Lan Jing… He likes setting traps for the guests.”
“Lan Jing is fine, at least he’s cold enough—he won’t give the guests any extra hints.”
“Poor souls, these guests are out of luck having to deal with this host.”
“Ahhhhh Chu Shen! I actually caught Chu Shen’s live broadcast!”
“Chu Shen, oh my god! The ratings are going to explode this episode.”
“Isn’t Chu Shen just here to stomp newbies? Everyone else looks like a rookie, right?”
“Who are the other guests? Isn’t this just Chu Shen’s slaughterhouse?”
“Wait, did I just see a truly infamous face!”
“Chu Shen is unbeatable! The others don’t matter.”
The ten of them followed the host out of the storage room, and outside was the same office hall they’d seen at the beginning.
Lan Jing wobbled his body, and a huge sheet of white paper appeared before Su Yan’s eyes.
Having experienced this before, she immediately understood that this paper was the rule explanation.
Hide and Seek
There are ten Shapeshifters hidden somewhere in the entire office area, excluding the storage room.
The guests must find them within thirty minutes.
Once you think you’ve found a Shapeshifter, just touch it and loudly declare your confirmation.
That will count as a successful identification.
Each guest has only three chances to confirm.
After thirty minutes, any guest who has found at least one Shapeshifter wins; anyone who hasn’t found any is considered to have failed.
The game will proceed in three rounds.
After each round, the Shapeshifters will reveal their true forms in front of the guests.
The guests must then return to the storage room and wait for five minutes before starting again.
The game uses a best-of-three format.
When she saw the thirty-minute limit, Su Yan suddenly realized something.
She tapped her feet, anxiously pacing in place.
But thinking about it, since there were ten Shapeshifters in total, and each guest only needed to find one to pass…
Her furrowed brow relaxed.
This meant that as long as no guest messed around or deliberately sabotaged things, there was actually no competition between them.
That was good news—no need for internal rivalry.
Sure enough, everyone else understood the hint as well, and the tension on their faces eased.
A boy spoke up first, “Since there are ten, we can totally cooperate. There’s no need to fight each other.”
Everyone nodded.
Dealing with Nick Star people was already troublesome enough—if they had to fight among themselves too, this game would be impossible.
With that consensus reached, the atmosphere lightened considerably.
Host Lan Jing saw everyone was silent, quickly glanced at the tall boy, and then said, “If you don’t have anything to say, I’ll be leaving now.”
Hearing this, Su Yan was about to leave herself, but suddenly felt something was off.
By rights, there was no need for him to ask that question.
Normally, would a host care if the guests had any questions?
Thinking of this, she warily turned around. “Wait, let me check again.”
As she spoke, she looked again at the sheet with the rules.
As soon as she said this, everyone turned to look at Su Yan, curious about what she might discover.
For a moment, Su Yan became the center of attention.
But everyone’s expressions were clearly different.
Most of the guests wore impatient faces that said, “Don’t waste our time,” obviously annoyed at Su Yan for making trouble out of nowhere.
One or two people, however, looked alert, thinking Su Yan might have noticed something, and also turned to reread the rules.
The tall boy from before glanced at Su Yan with a thoughtful look, then leaned back, hiding himself in the corner.
As for Lan Jing?
He looked a bit regretful.
It seemed his little trap wouldn’t work after all—how boring.
Su Yan carefully read every word on the rules, determined to find anything she didn’t understand.
Just as everyone was getting a little impatient, her gaze sharpened and she suddenly asked, “What exactly is a Shapeshifter?”
The live viewers all sighed.
“Sigh, I was hoping for some drama.”
“Turns out there’s a smart one among these guests.”
“If she didn’t ask, they’d probably all fail this round.”
“Feels like Lan Jing’s acting isn’t convincing enough!”
“I’ve decided to just watch this girl this round!”
“Chu Shen is as merciless as ever—I thought he’d give a hint.”
“Chu Shen doesn’t help losers, isn’t that his rule?”
“What should I do? Should I watch this girl or Chu Shen?”
Lan Jing heard Su Yan’s question and walked over, explaining in a matter-of-fact way: “Shapeshifters are a unique race from Nick Star. They can transform into anything around them, but can’t stray too far from their original body. Once transformed, they can’t move.”
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
A boy with an earring demanded, dissatisfied, “Why didn’t you tell us this important info earlier? If she hadn’t asked, were you just planning to gloss over it?”
His words echoed everyone’s feelings.
They all glared angrily at Lan Jing.
If Su Yan hadn’t asked, they might have thought Shapeshifters were like humans, just hiding in some corner!
Who would have guessed these things could actually transform?
Lan Jing, clearly anticipating this kind of questioning, replied calmly as ever, “If you don’t know, that’s your own ignorance. I can answer your ignorance, but I can’t predict it.”