Everyone Must Die

Seeing everyone look at her eagerly, Xie Lingxi pursed her lips and spoke in her clear, sweet girl's voice: "In the old guide, the Spirit Realm walkers needed to get through the underground parking garage. During this process, an Autobot appears once every three minutes, chasing down any Spirit Realm walker who entered the garage. Anyone caught is eliminated. "Before everyone is eliminated, the walkers have to find the controller and shut off the Autobot's power. The controller is hidden inside one of the cars in the garage." The hot-tempered Huo Mo came to an understanding and said, "So all we have to do is find the controller and shut down the Autobot, right? Wang Tai, what do you think?" The others had been pondering the situation, but hearing this, they immediately turned their gazes toward Zhang Yuanqing. They wanted to see what insightful view this capable young man, who had handled the crisis in the first quest so smoothly, might have. *Crude Fire Master, your way of extracting the core point is practically brutal...* Zhang Yuanqing phrased his thoughts carefully: "In the old version of the amusement park, elimination meant deducting experience points, not death. But now that the difficulty has changed to S-rank, the correct interpretation of one person being eliminated is that someone will die every three minutes." Xi Shi's charming face shifted slightly. "Then at most, we only have eighteen minutes..." Ashamed to Be a Father slowly shook his head. "No, we'd better not lose anyone in this stage. The more people who make it into the haunted house, the higher the chance of coming out alive." *Old Father, you practically said out loud that the haunted house needs cannon fodder...* Zhang Yuanqing sighed. "Little Sister Lingxi, will our skills be sealed in the parking garage?" Xie Lingxi recalled for a moment and shook her head. "The guide didn't say." Huo Mo thought it over and proposed: "Once we enter the garage, let's split up. That way, we can find the key faster." Great Sage Equal to Heaven hurriedly shook his head. "In a dangerous place like this, splitting up is courting death." Huo Mo glared with disdain. "You're just scared of dying, useless piece of trash." A flash of anger crossed Great Sage Equal to Heaven's eyes, but wary of Huo Mo, he coldly huffed, "Regardless, I don't recommend splitting up." *Splitting up is the more reasonable approach—assuming there's no traitor among us...* Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand to nip the argument in the bud and suggested: "Let's head in first. Having enough information is the prerequisite for making a plan." He took the lead, heading down the steep slope and entering the underground parking garage illuminated by stark white lights. Walking down the gentle incline, Zhang Yuanqing looked around, the corners of his mouth twitching violently. The underground parking garage was massive, just like one in a large shopping mall. As far as the eye could see, car after car was parked in orderly rows. There was an endless variety of vehicle models, their roofs coated in a thick layer of dust. Xie Lingxi and the others followed him into the garage. Seeing the scene before them, Huo Mo's face darkened. "There are so many cars. How long is this going to take to search?" Xi Shi's bright eyes flickered, worry showing on her charming face. "Should we split up after all? With so many cars, who knows how long it'll take?" The others said nothing, because a notification chime from the instance rang out for all of them at once: [Ding! The team has entered the underground parking garage. The experience begins. Extraneous items have been cleared for you.] [Clue 1: Controller. Clue 2: Car Key. Good luck!] [Countdown: 00:02:55] "Our active skills are sealed again..." "The inventory won't open either. Damn it, another skill seal..." The expressions of several team members changed slightly, but Zhang Yuanqing's attention was drawn to the two clues. *There are actually clues? The old guide never mentioned any clues in this stage...* An S-rank instance would never give obvious hints. Spirit Realm walkers had to observe and think for themselves, deduce the underlying rules, and find a way out alive. For the underground parking garage to outright give two clear clues like "controller" and "car key" meant the danger level was extraordinarily high. Otherwise, the Spirit Realm would never have provided hints. Zhang Yuanqing said in a low voice, "Everyone, things don't look good." The group froze, only then snapping out of their panic over their sealed skills. After carefully mulling over the instance prompt, their faces grew grave. "Car key..." The impatient Huo Mo strode quickly toward the nearest business van and tried to open the door, but it was locked. He turned sideways and threw an elbow, trying to smash the window. *Clang!* The glass rang with a loud crash, yet it didn't shatter; it didn't even show a single crack. "Can't smash it open. Looking at this, to find the controller, we have to find the car key first." Huo Mo spat and cursed, "I suggest we split up." Zhang Yuanqing glanced around at everyone and, seeing they all shared the same thought, immediately said: "We can, but don't scatter too far. Make sure you stay in each other's line of sight at all times. We don't have much time, let's move!" The countdown hung over them like a death sentence. The six Spirit Realm walkers delayed no further and began searching the parking garage. The vast garage was dead silent, save for the sound of their footsteps. Zhang Yuanqing deliberately lagged behind to keep everyone in view. While monitoring his teammates' every move, he didn't slack off on searching for car keys. *Something's off about this quest. The underground parking garage is huge. It's impossible for us to find the controller in three minutes. Even if we're completely wiped out here, we might not find it...* Just as Zhang Yuanqing was thinking, he suddenly heard Xie Lingxi drop to the ground ahead to his left. She crawled under a car, and a few seconds later, gave a delighted cheer: "I found a car key! It was under this SUV!" She raised her fair, tender arm, holding up the car key. At the same time, she pressed the unlock button on the key. The parking garage remained dead silent. None of the vehicles responded. Xie Lingxi's little face turned crestfallen. Pitifully, she said, "The car isn't near me..." Seeing this, the others continued searching. Soon, Great Sage Equal to Heaven called out loudly: "I found a car key!" He pressed the unlock button. Two beeps sounded beside him, and a car's taillights flashed. The crowd swarmed forward, pulled open all four doors, and swept their gazes across the interior. Ashamed to Be a Father said disappointedly, "Nothing here." "Wait a minute..." Xie Lingxi had sharp eyes. She leaned the upper half of her body into the cabin, sticking up her small rear, and retrieved a card from beneath the seat. It was a metallic card coated in gold paint, with a pool of clear water depicted in the center. Staring at the card, a message surfaced before everyone's eyes: [Life Concentrate] [Type: Potion] [Function: Healing] [Description: A potion brimming with immense vitality, capable of healing all external injuries.] [Note: As a consumable, it carries no side effects.] "Life Concentrate?" Xi Shi's eyes brightened. "I remember Life Essence is an item from the Musician class. To think we could find consumables inside the cars! Do you think the other cars have them too?" If that was the case, their chances of clearing the instance would increase dramatically. *Is Life Concentrate related to Musicians? I thought the Musician's ability at the Transcendent stage was singing...* Zhang Yuanqing suppressed the urge to ask. After all, Wang Tai was supposed to be a veteran walker who had cleared multiple Spirit Realms, a dependable partner. If his teammates found out that the guiding figure of their group was actually a rookie entering the Spirit Realm for only the second time, who knew how they would react. "Put it away for now." Zhang Yuanqing checked the countdown. "Keep looking for keys. We don't have much time left." The group dispersed once more, swiftly hunting for car keys. As Zhang Yuanqing searched for keys, he pondered: *First clues, now consumables. The danger of this stage is probably going to exceed all expectations. The killer can likely sense it too. I hope they don't try to take anyone out for now and preserve as many lives as possible. Otherwise, there's no way we'll survive the haunted house...* Time ticked away second by second, but no third key turned up. The Spirit Realm walkers grew more and more anxious, their search becoming increasingly frantic. Right then, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who had been watching the countdown, cried out in alarm: "Time's up!" The next instant, the deep, thunderous roar of an engine came from the distance. Their hearts trembled as they turned toward the sound. At the entrance of the underground parking garage, a towering figure appeared. It stood a full two meters tall, covered in metal, with glowing red eyes and a three-foot-long chainsaw in its grip. "Everyone must die! Everyone must die!" An electronic voice echoed from the speaker on its chest. "A Transformer?!" Xie Lingxi cried. *Vroom, vroom, vroom!* The engine roared. The Autobot slid forward on its feet, rocketing across dozens of meters and charging straight at the group. "Scatter!" Zhang Yuanqing roared. The group exploded in all directions like bowling pins struck by a ball. Xie Lingxi's physical stats were evidently inferior to the others, and her reaction was half a beat too slow. As she dodged, the robot slammed into her. With a muffled grunt, her lower back crashed hard against a car. Her vision went black, and she was in too much pain to stand. Vents at the Autobot's ankles blasted out bursts of gas, neutralizing its inertia and executing a sudden stop impossible for any human. It raised the chainsaw in its hands and brought it hacking down with all its might. The whine of the chainsaw's motor sounded like the whisper of the Grim Reaper. The young girl's face turned deathly pale, filled with despair.