Listening to Lin Xiao's analysis, Dou Wenbo curled his lips into a mocking arc, clearly unimpressed by her deduction.
Lin Xiao could understand why Dou Wenbo disagreed—in this instance world filled with weirdness and unscientific phenomena, relying solely on the rule "violence is prohibited" made it difficult to guarantee there were no other fatal dangers within the narrow car.
Perhaps it was the arrogance in Dou Wenbo's bones that made him too lazy to correct her, or perhaps he felt that letting the others stay docile for a moment due to this "good news" was harmless; either way, he did not express his thoughts directly.
Because of Lin Xiao's earlier words, Zhang Zhiyuan and the others felt a vague sense of trust toward her and couldn't help asking, "The countdown is half over. What should we do now?"
Lin Xiao thought for a moment and said, "Judging by the subsequent rules, passengers will have to leave the car sooner or later. We can first determine which floor our destination is on."
Lin Yunfei immediately asked, "How do we determine that? Is there a hint up there?"
Of course, the black instruction plate did not contain hints regarding any specific passenger's target floor. However, there was some explanatory text printed next to the floor buttons. According to the labels, B1 and B2 were parking lots. The descriptions for the other floors were: "1F Jewelry, Watches, International Luxury ▇▇▇▇", "2F Trendy Clothing", "3F Supermarket, Home Furnishings, Smart Appliances", "4F Parent-Child, Leisure, Anime Park, Children's Center", "5F Desserts, Coffee, Fashion Bar", "6F Chinese Cuisine", "7F Western Cuisine", "8F Film & TV World ▇▇▇▇".
The content corresponding to some floors was blurred by stains, looking like clumps of black, withered insect corpses stuck to the surface.
Lin Xiao swept her gaze over the floor buttons and said, "Actually, following normal shopping logic, passengers should know which floor their destination is on themselves."
"..."
Ji Youran blinked her heterochromatic cat eyes and remained silent.
The others began to whisper among themselves. Zhao Yiming hadn't quite grasped Lin Xiao's meaning and instinctively retorted, "If this were Xinyuan Mall, of course I'd know which floor to go to, but this obviously isn't the same place!"
Lin Xiao looked at him and made a gesture to lower her voice.
Seeing this, Zhao Yiming suddenly realized that his volume had been a bit high just now.
—"Mall Escalator Regulations", Article 2: Loud noise is prohibited.
Zhao Yiming's face trembled uncontrollably. "I didn't... I was just... and just now, that shouldn't count as loud noise, right?"
He explained himself stammeringly, while looking left and right, trying hard to seek validation from others.
Dou Wenbo sneered, "You've already shouted. It's useless to regret it now."
Lin Xiao glanced at him and reassured, "Don't worry. The countdown isn't over yet, so the instance may not have officially started—have you felt anything else wrong?"
Zhao Yiming quickly shook his head. "No, nothing at all!"
His tone was still hurried, but his voice was deliberately lowered, as if he wished he could speak only in aspirated sounds.
Lin Xiao's gaze rested on Zhao Yiming. After a moment, she revealed a faint smile. "That's good if you haven't."
While speaking, Lin Xiao had quietly activated [Insight Eye].
In her vision, the surrounding environment appeared exceptionally dim. Grayish-black mist still permeated the car, and everyone stood unknowingly within this grayish-black haze.
Ominous mist drifted through the air, flowing over the passengers' bodies. When Zhao Yiming was anxious earlier, he seemed to turn into a vortex; the surrounding mist was attracted to him at a faster speed, wrapping around him.
However, after Zhao Yiming calmed down, the color of the mist around him faded.
Lin Xiao also noticed that the mist seemed to want to condense into longer lines that were easier to interpret, but they always dispersed at the last moment.
She felt this was related to her insufficient skill proficiency.
While observing Zhao Yiming, Lin Xiao didn't neglect the others in the car.
Compared to Zhao Yiming and the others who wore panic on their faces, Dou Wenbo and Ji Youran stood out as unusually calm.
However, the moment Lin Xiao's sight landed on Dou Wenbo, she snapped her eyes shut as if stimulated by something.
Standing nearby, Lin Yunfei noticed that the steady young man who called himself Xu Liang lowered his head and rubbed his eyes.
Rubbing one's eyes isn't an unusual behavior. After rubbing them, Xu Liang's eyes were a bit red, as if he had accidentally used too much force and failed to protect his fragile mucous membranes.
Actually, while observing Dou Wenbo, Lin Xiao didn't see anything, but the observation of the former gave her an extremely uncomfortable feeling, causing the skill to be forcibly interrupted.
She recalled the system's prompt.
The current level of [Insight Eye] was too low and susceptible to interference from external factors.
There might be something special about Dou Wenbo that affected Lin Xiao's ability. It just wasn't certain yet whether this specialty originated from Dou Wenbo himself or from certain items on his person.
There were one minute and forty-six seconds left on the countdown in the car.
After concluding that "passengers should know their target floor," Lin Xiao reached into her pockets and opened her backpack. After rummaging through them, she pulled out two leaflets she hadn't seen before.
One leaflet was for a Western restaurant, and the other was from a dessert shop.
Ji Youran seemed to sense something and asked curiously, "What are you looking for?"
Lin Xiao shook the two pieces of paper in her hand. "I wanted to confirm if there was anything extra on me." She then held up the two leaflets. "I'm quite certain that only these two items in my bag and pockets aren't my belongings, so they can only be items belonging to the identity of 'elevator passenger'."
With Lin Xiao's hint, the others' eyes lit up.
Knowing the clues were on them, the passengers began to check their belongings urgently. Dou Wenbo, for instance, simply emptied all the contents of his pockets.
Dou Wenbo said, "I originally only brought my phone and wallet. Now there are two extra leaflets."
He was probably the one most likely to notice something wrong with his pockets among everyone. After all, others might suspect their own memories were faulty, thinking they might have accidentally stuffed inconspicuous leaflets into their pockets while shopping. But the original items Dou Wenbo kept on his person, regardless of category, all shone with the "I'm very expensive" aura of a rich second-generation heir.
Lin Yunfei followed up, "Same here." She had also found extra leaflets on herself.
Those two ordinary, common advertisement papers were now tightly gripped in the palms of every passenger, as if they were holding onto a sliver of hope to leave the instance.
Zhao Yiming's eyes shone. "So this is the clue provided by the game. As long as we confirm the target floor, we can leave the elevator!"
Hearing Zhao Yiming's statement, Dou Wenbo once again revealed a mocking smile. "Clues they are, but can you really tell which floor you're going based on this? Those two leaflets of yours aren't on the same floor."
He was right. The leaflets in Zhao Yiming's hand were for a furniture city and a Chinese restaurant, located on the third and sixth floors respectively.
Zhao Yiming's expression instantly froze. He then raised his eyes, revealing a hint of barely concealed gloom in his gaze, as if his plan had failed solely because Dou Wenbo had spoken.
However, not all passengers were that unlucky.
Take Dou Wenbo, for example. Although the two leaflets in his hand came from two different bars, in the current instance building, only the fifth floor provided alcohol service.
Dou Wenbo merely swept a casual glance at Zhao Yiming before methodically putting the leaflets back into his pocket, paying no heed to the other's vague hostility.
This was, of course, because the elevator rules restricted violent behavior. Moreover, with only half a minute left before the instance officially began, Zhao Yiming didn't have time to swap floors by forcibly snatching leaflets.
Just then, Lin Yunfei suddenly let out a "Huh?" and asked Lin Xiao, "Why do you have three leaflets?"
Lin Xiao held up the third piece of paper she had found in her pocket and answered, "This isn't a leaflet; it's a coupon for Xinyuan Mall. I brought it in myself."
Lin Yunfei looked closely and saw that it indeed said "Xinyuan Mall." She nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. "So that's it."
After giving her explanation, Lin Xiao looked at the coupon in her hand with a thoughtful expression. Just as the others were about to ask what she was thinking, Lin Xiao's voice rang out in the dim elevator:
"Do you think a coupon like this can be used across different malls?"
Ji Youran seemed to want to smile. "Probably not. Although the current situation can't be explained by common sense, and there are many rules that defy normal cognition, it shouldn't distort the usage scope of ordinary items."
Zhao Yiming and the others: "..."
These two were actually having a rather serious discussion.
"...3, 2, 1."
The moment the countdown hit zero, it felt as though some invisible membrane inside the car had suddenly ruptured. A cold, sinister chill spread rapidly through the air, and Lin Xiao heard the icy sound of machinery beginning to turn.
The waiting period was over. The dungeon had awakened, and it was now studying the prey inside the elevator with open malice.
Zhao Yiming shivered for no reason. Lin Yunfei looked panicked. Even the haughty Dou Wenbo seemed noticeably more cautious.
The awakened elevator was waiting to move, and according to Rule Three, the passengers had to press a floor button within ten seconds.
There was no time to think and no time to hesitate. Before anyone else could speak, Ji Youran stepped forward and decisively pressed the button for the eighth floor.
She moved even faster than Lin Xiao.
Lin Yunfei's eyes widened. "You... you've already figured out your floor?"
She looked at Ji Youran, her eyes filled with unconcealed anxiety, and with a vague envy and yearning as well.
Ji Youran shook her head. "No. I picked the eighth floor because it's the highest floor."
She didn't know where she herself was supposed to go, but she did know that reaching the highest floor would take longer than reaching any other floor. That meant the passengers would naturally have more time to think about their next move.
The elevator lights continued to glow with sluggish delay as the car rose slowly upward. The floor display kept changing.
"B2, B1, 1, 2, 3, 4..."
As the elevator climbed, the passengers felt their bodies growing heavier and heavier. The weight made it impossible to think clearly. Even their hearts seemed gripped by something, making every breath more laborious than before.
Leaning against the wall of the elevator, Lin Xiao kept her gaze fixed on the buttons beside the display panel.