Dawn had broken.

In the Infinite Horror Game, especially in supernatural type dungeons, daytime was far safer than night.

When Lin Zhou and Han Yi saw the first light spreading across the horizon, they both let out heavy breaths. Their tightly wound bodies finally relaxed slightly.

Su Xiao’s legs gave out completely. She dropped straight onto the ground, dust instantly staining her pants.

She did not even care how dirty the ground was.

Her heart was pounding violently. The night’s extreme tension had pushed her to the brink. The fact that she had not completely collapsed already meant she was stronger than she looked.

It had been terrifying.

Entering the dungeon at night was bad enough. They had run into danger almost immediately. They had nearly lost their lives before even seeing daylight.

Being able to watch the sun rise felt like a blessing.

Lin Zhou and Han Yi were not new players. They were far steadier. Even so, their expressions were grim. Bloodshot veins filled their eyes, and their faces were grave.

They had gained almost nothing the entire night.

They had followed the direction Su Xiao had pointed out.

They found no clues.

They saw no one.

As for this horrifying dungeon, they still knew next to nothing.

Lin Zhou was silent for a moment, suppressing the anxiety and irritation in his chest.

"When I entered the dungeon earlier, I added that player in the black suit as a friend. I’ll contact him and see where they are. Maybe we can exchange some clues."

"Okay."

Han Yi and Su Xiao both agreed. They watched as Lin Zhou took out his phone and opened the Player App.

After becoming Players, they each received an independent Player App. Even without internet, it allowed messaging and access to the Player Forum.

However, while inside a dungeon, Players could not contact anyone outside. They could only communicate with other Players in the same dungeon. Many relied on this to exchange information.

Lin Zhou often added other Players upon entering a dungeon under the pretense of mutual assistance.

He scrolled to the contact he had added.

Before he could tap the chat window, he noticed something.

The avatar was dark.

Online status in the Player App could not be manually set.

There was only one reason for a dark avatar.

Dead.

Lin Zhou’s heartbeat skipped violently. His body went rigid. His fingers hurriedly scrolled down, searching for other Players he had added.

But all he saw was a sea of gray.

Every Player he had added in this dungeon had a dark avatar.

Lin Zhou swallowed with difficulty. A trace of fear flashed through his eyes. He looked up at Su Xiao and Han Yi, his voice dry.

"They’re dead."

Han Yi frowned. Death inside a dungeon was common. He did not understand why Lin Zhou looked like that.

Just as he was about to ask, Lin Zhou spoke again, his voice trembling faintly.

"All of them."

"Every Player I added. Their avatars… they’re all dark."

Su Xiao’s eyes widened instantly. Cold sweat burst out across her skin. Her voice shook with disbelief.

"So many people… all dead?"

"Most likely…"

Lin Zhou could barely believe it himself, but it was the truth.

"The ones I added are all dead. As for the others I didn’t add… I don’t know."

Those people had fled together.

If part of the group had died, the rest likely shared the same fate.

It was very possible they had been completely wiped out.

Which meant—

In this Infinite Horror dungeon, they might be the only three left alive.

The three of them fell into a suffocating silence.

Even under the sunlight, they felt no warmth.

It had only been one night.

Not even twenty four hours.

"Surviving seven days might not be realistic at all," Han Yi said after taking a deep breath, forcibly pressing down the chill in his chest. His tone was decisive.

"We must find a key clue before nightfall today."

"Let’s split up," Lin Zhou immediately suggested.

"Time is too tight. The three of us moving together is inefficient. Splitting up gives us a better chance."

Han Yi had no objection. In supernatural dungeons, daytime was far safer. Searching separately during the day should not be too dangerous.

"Split up?" Su Xiao’s face turned pale. She clutched the corner of her clothes unconsciously.

"I… I’m a little scared alone."

She was sharp and meticulous, but her courage was truly lacking. Her ability was also limited.

If she were alone, even daytime might not be safe.

Han Yi was silent for a moment. He looked at the two of them, then made the decision.

"You two together."

"We’ll regroup here at five in the afternoon."

They were currently near the First Cafeteria. It was close to both the library and Yang Ruiqing’s dormitory, a relatively central location on campus.

Lin Zhou and Su Xiao nodded.

"Okay."

Han Yi’s gaze sharpened. His tone carried unquestionable authority.

"Remember. Whether you find clues or not, you must return here before six."

"Even if you have to crawl."

"Understood."

Daytime in the dungeon was indeed much safer. Third University looked as if it had come back to life. Students moved about in small groups. It looked no different from an ordinary campus.

As the campus heartthrob, information about Yang Ruiqing was easy to gather.

However, something was strange.

When they mentioned the incident of his photos being stolen, every student reacted oddly.

There was no sympathy.

No regret.

Instead, there was a faint hostility hidden in their eyes.

Like jealousy.

If it had been one or two people, it could have been bias.

But this many? Impossible to be coincidence.

Su Xiao suddenly seemed to think of something. She quickly took out her phone and paused the video she had recorded last night at a specific second. She zoomed in and handed it to a student they were questioning.

"Do you recognize these two people?"

The footage was extremely blurry. The person in the man’s arms was mostly obscured. Only a faint outline was visible.

That outline was slender and beautiful.

The student seemed to recognize the person instantly.

His face darkened. His hostility deepened. His gaze toward Su Xiao carried reproach.

"Why are you secretly filming Student Wen?"

Student Wen?

Su Xiao and Lin Zhou exchanged a glance.

So this person in the video was definitely not a random bystander.

He might even be a key NPC.

The student’s face was full of dissatisfaction. He looked at Su Xiao like she was some kind of pervert.

"Secretly filming isn’t a good habit."

"Besides, Student Wen likes Yang Ruiqing. Give it up."

Another student nearby chimed in immediately.

"Exactly. Student Wen publicly admitted he stole the photos and ran the scam just so people wouldn’t insult Yang Ruiqing. There’s no way he’d ever like you."

Lin Zhou instantly caught the key detail.

His eyes flashed with excitement.

"This Student Wen is the one who stole Yang Ruiqing’s photos for online scams?"

The student exploded immediately.

"Student Wen didn’t scam anyone! He returned all the money, okay? Don’t spread nonsense!"

"Student Wen just liked Yang Ruiqing too much. That’s why he used his photos."

"If he really wanted to scam people, he wouldn’t need to steal photos at all."

"And that ungrateful Yang Ruiqing kept stringing him along even though he didn’t like him. Getting into that car accident was karma."

Su Xiao’s heart stirred.

"So Yang Ruiqing didn’t like Student Wen?"

The student frowned slightly.

"Probably not."

"You couldn’t see any signs of it in their chat screenshots. When Student Wen went to class with him, Yang Ruiqing rejected him pretty coldly."

Su Xiao and Lin Zhou exchanged another look.

Their earlier suspicion solidified.

Most likely, Student Wen loved Yang Ruiqing but was rejected. A jealous admirer of Student Wen killed Yang Ruiqing.

They were getting closer to the truth.

Su Xiao suppressed her excitement and opened her Player Panel to check the mission progress.

[Dungeon Mission: Discover the truth behind Yang Ruiqing’s death (Current Progress: 11/100).]

Her smile froze instantly.

Eleven?

That did not even count as reaching the core.

Could it be that Yang Ruiqing’s death had nothing to do with the stolen photos at all?

That seemed like the only explanation.

There was something else behind his death.

The stolen photo scam was misleading the Players.

Su Xiao told Lin Zhou her deduction.

Lin Zhou immediately opened his own Player Panel. After confirming it, even with his decent upbringing, he could not help but curse.

"Damn."

"This dungeon is truly sinister."

The stolen photo scam lead was a dead end.

They had lost direction again.

"What do we do now?" Su Xiao asked helplessly.

Lin Zhou forced himself to calm down and analyze rationally.

"There are generally four motives for murder. Sexual assault can be ruled out immediately."

"The second is the most common—crime of passion. But we’ve already uncovered the stolen photo issue, and the progress barely moved. We can probably rule that out too."

"That leaves revenge and financial motive."

"We start there."

Su Xiao agreed.

They continued asking around and quickly learned where Yang Ruiqing had been struck by the car.

It was not far from his dormitory building.

The ground had already been cleaned thoroughly. There were no bloodstains left.

No trace that an accident had happened at all.

Standing by the roadside, Su Xiao’s eyes swept the surroundings.

She finally noticed a surveillance camera facing that stretch of road.

Using the excuse of police investigation, they went to the campus logistics monitoring department and successfully obtained last night’s footage.

The footage was extremely clear.

From Yang Ruiqing walking toward the intersection to the moment he was struck and sent flying, everything was captured.

The driver had been drunk.

After hitting him, the driver fled immediately.

Because the streetlights were dim and the car was moving too fast, the driver’s face was not captured.

Su Xiao watched the video carefully.

After finishing once, she dragged the timeline back to the beginning.

Before the accident.

Yang Ruiqing stood at the intersection, as if waiting for someone.

He kept looking in the same direction.

That was why he had not noticed the car approaching from the side.

He was sent flying without warning.

Even after being hit—

His gaze remained fixed in that direction.

As if he desperately wanted to see something.

What… was he looking at?

Su Xiao dragged the timeline to after the impact.

The collision was loud. Students rushed over and surrounded him.

There were too many people to distinguish clearly.

But Su Xiao did not give up. She stared at each figure carefully.

Then—

Her eyes widened.

She quickly took out the video she had recorded last night.

One of the silhouettes in the surveillance footage matched perfectly with the person in her recording.

Yang Ruiqing had been waiting for that person.

Even after death, his eyes remained open—

Staring straight at that person’s direction.

The person who escorted that figure away—

Was the same student they had encountered last night while investigating Yang Ruiqing’s dormitory.

Who exactly was he?

Just as Su Xiao was deep in thought, Lin Zhou’s urgent voice sounded beside her.

"Rewind a few seconds."

She did so immediately.

"Yes, there."

"Zoom in on that spot."

Lin Zhou pointed to the second floor of the dormitory building beside the road.

"Zoom further."

She enlarged the image.

A faint reflection flashed briefly.

After zooming fully, they could clearly see a silhouette standing there.

The figure was holding up a phone—

Filming the accident scene.

"Play it again," Lin Zhou said.

The footage replayed in zoomed mode.

This time, it was clear.

Before the accident even happened, that person had already been standing on the second floor.

Waiting.

As if they knew Yang Ruiqing would be hit.

The camera had been prepared in advance.

This person was absolutely connected to Yang Ruiqing’s death.

Possibly even the mastermind.

But the dormitory hallway lights were off, and the surveillance was too far away.

They could not see the person’s face.

They could not even tell whether it was a man or a woman.

They had no choice but to temporarily give up and investigate the student surnamed Wen.

Yet the moment they mentioned him, previously cooperative students became wary and refused to say a word.

Even when told they were police.

After an entire morning of effort, they only learned his name.

Wen Ruyu.

Nothing more.

The sun slowly tilted westward.

Afternoon approached.

It was nearly time to regroup.

Su Xiao and Lin Zhou gave up and headed back toward the First Cafeteria, organizing their clues as they walked.

Less than a hundred meters away—

Su Xiao’s peripheral vision caught two figures walking from the side.

Her steps stopped abruptly.

Her eyes widened.

She locked onto a figure ahead.

That silhouette was exquisitely slender.

Even from behind—

It was enough to seize attention.

Almost instantly—

She knew.

This was the person from the video.

The one they had been searching for.

The one no one would talk about.

Wen Ruyu.

Chapter 39

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