Chapter 52 Who Am I 51

"Why?"

Lin Xiangjun didn't think she was the only one who had thought of putting the corpse back together. She was smart, but other players weren't necessarily fools.

"Because it's hard to divide," Qin Jianyuan replied.

He didn't want to say much, and Lin Xiangjun didn't need him to explain in detail; she could understand with just a little thought.

Every instance has five players, and there are also five body parts in the instance. If all five players survived to the end and solved the puzzle, then five players and five body parts would allow each person to submit their task.

But if the five body parts were assembled into a whole corpse, things would change.

For example, would the complete corpse count as a shared clue for all five people, or just one clue?

It would be fine if it were a shared clue for five people, but the fear was that the corpse would only count as a single clue.

Five people, one clearance key—who lives and who dies?

Everyone had gone through countless hardships to get to this step, and they were just a bit away from clearing the instance; who would be willing to give up their life?

Besides, even if the corpse counted for all five, it wasn't certain the instance would give a reward, nor was it certain the reward could be split equally among five people.

The only fair situation would be if the assembled corpse counted for all five, the instance gave a reward upon completion, and the reward was given to everyone impartially.

The probability of that was too low.

Between a 100% chance to exit the instance and get clearance rewards versus a low probability of clearing the instance with clearance rewards and some unknown hidden reward, almost no one would choose the latter.

"Has there never been an instance where only one player survived until the end and collected all the body parts?"

Qin Jianyuan suddenly grinned.

"Of course there has."

"But he was heavily contaminated at the time and only thought about leaving the instance as quickly as possible; he didn't have time to wait for the corpse to be assembled."

Lin Xiangjun looked down at the corpse.

It took time for those red threads to stitch the corpse together, and they weren't working on all four joints at once; they only moved on to the next after one was finished.

Lin Xiangjun estimated it would take ten minutes to assemble the entire corpse.

She guessed it would be around 6:55.

"However, you aren't worried?" Qin Jianyuan said suddenly.

"Worried about what?"

"What if, once this corpse is assembled, it only counts as a clue for you alone?" Qin Jianyuan signaled for her to look at Aunt Wang with his eyes.

Aunt Wang sat on the ground; she was in very bad shape and needed Wang Min to support her shoulders, or she would collapse.

"She didn't find a single fragment, nor did she participate in the stitching process. If it only counts as one clue, she'll definitely die, won't she?"

Only now did he inappropriately show a hint of a child's innocent liveliness.

"Aren't you worried about her? I thought you specifically helped her down because you were worried she might die."

Lin Xiangjun stared at the base of the corpse's thigh.

This was the last stitching point.

She prepared to leave the instance, casually brushing him off.

"Is 'truth, goodness, and beauty' or 'being kind and helpful' still in vogue in your weird world? 'All for one and one for all, the people of the world are one family'?"

"She didn't contribute at all and didn't give me any benefits. I worked myself to death to find all the clues; why should she clear the instance just by sleeping in bed? On what grounds? Am I some kind of sucker?"

Qin Jianyuan didn't argue.

Lin Xiangjun could guess his thoughts. He only said that to disgust her before he died. If Lin Xiangjun had any conscience, she might actually feel bad.

Unfortunately, Lin Xiangjun's conscience was the rebellious, voice-activated type.

It turns off when someone accuses her and turns on when it's quiet and she's alone.

The more you try to make her feel guilty, the more rebellious and cold-blooded she becomes.

The last incision was stitched shut.

Lin Xiangjun took out the heart she had kept wrapped in her clothes and placed it into the corpse's empty chest.

The system's mechanical voice rang out right on time.

"Congratulations to the player for finding [My] complete corpse. Congratulations to the player for unlocking the hidden quest: Find me, assemble me, make me whole."

"Player Lin Xiangjun has cleared the instance with an SS-rank and has received the clearance rewards."

"All players in the instance will be teleported away in 10 seconds. Please be prepared."

"Countdown: 10, 9, 8..."

So if a player completes a hidden quest, all players can leave the instance.

She just didn't know if the reward for this hidden quest was hers alone or for everyone.

It would be fine if she were the only one, but if everyone got it...

Tsk, the feeling of being leeched off of was really unpleasant.

However, based on Lin Xiangjun's impression of Rule-based Ghost Stories, there was a high probability that this hidden reward was hers alone. The game officials weren't generous enough to give everyone a share.

But none of that was the point.

Before leaving the instance, Lin Xiangjun winked at Qin Jianyuan. "Actually, the Instance Master can't watch a player's every move at all times, right?"

She spoke with certainty. Qin Jianyuan's expression didn't change, he only asked curiously, "How did you know?"

Firstly, because it's impossible for the game to ignore game balance like that.

If the Instance Master knew every move of the players, a skill like a cheat code, wouldn't any combat requirement be a disaster?

If you know everything I do and every treasure I have, what's the point of fighting? I might as well dig a hole, lie down, throw some dirt on myself, and start the funeral feast.

Secondly, because she had lied on purpose just now.

She said Aunt Wang hadn't given her anything and that Aunt Wang was just leeching off her win.

But in fact, Aunt Wang had given her a life purse item. If Qin Jianyuan had been watching her the whole time, he couldn't have missed that.

Qin Jianyuan didn't care how Lin Xiangjun found out. Anyway, he had just said it in passing. If Lin Xiangjun had believed it, she would have faced more obstacles in future instances, and his goal would have been achieved.

If Lin Xiangjun didn't believe it, he lost nothing.

"...3, 2, 1. Countdown finished. Players have exited the instance. Rewards have been issued; please check for them."

The scene flashed, and Qin Jianyuan and the dilapidated residential area behind him vanished.

Lin Xiangjun stood on an unfamiliar piece of land, surrounded only by a few scattered concrete bungalows. They were square, with two windows and a door, and two empty vegetable plots at the entrance.

Although the houses were scattered, they all looked exactly the same, like copied and pasted models in a game.

It was exceptionally eerie.

Lin Xiangjun looked down and saw a concrete tombstone in front of her. It looked familiar.

Before entering the instance, she had sat across from this tombstone burning underworld currency and offerings for three days, nearly giving herself pink eye and dry eye syndrome.

Lin Xiangjun reached out and pressed her hand against the tombstone.

The tombstone was like a weathered pile of sand; at a touch, it peeled away layer by layer, turning into a stone stele.

She had bought a cheap concrete tombstone at the time to save money, but now it had turned into a pure black, cold stone stele. It was square without any extra decorations, with seven large characters intaglio-engraved in Song typeface:

"No. 86 Furong Village."