Chapter 60: The Guinea Pig is a Guinea Pig Again

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: The Guinea Pig is a Guinea Pig Again

"Hey, we’re all brothers here. No need to kick a man when he’s down."

"Yeah, yeah, Julian’s just got a short temper. He’s not a bad guy or anything, and it’s not like he said anything nasty to you, right?"

"We’re all good buddies, no need for this. Really, there’s no need."

’These comments are so cringe...’

Seraphina Sinclair frowned. She didn’t really want to watch anymore, but she was also a little curious about Julian Lowell’s reaction. After a moment’s thought, she decided not to close the regional channel.

These people were just talking amongst themselves, so Seraphina Sinclair simply looked away.

Outside the window, the black mist churned as usual, but Seraphina Sinclair couldn’t shake the feeling that tonight’s fog was denser than before. She pulled the curtains tight and lay down on the bed, intending to get some rest.

In her peripheral vision, the regional channel suddenly began scrolling extremely fast.

Seraphina Sinclair turned her head to look. It was Julian Lowell, who was completely ignoring the chaotic chatter and spamming the channel:

[Julian Lowell]: You animals! Are you happy now that I’m about to die?! @everyone

[Julian Lowell]: The deadhings are going to catch up to me tomorrow! Even if I escape, moving the day after tomorrow will have double the negative effects!

[Julian Lowell]: I’ll fuck your ancestors for eighteen generations! I won’t let you off even as a ghost!

Seraphina Sinclair shook her head. Just as she was about to close the channel, a message from Chaos once again caught her attention:

[Chaos]: What’s the point of cursing now? Better to think about how to survive.

Julian Lowell seemed to have grasped at a life-saving straw.

[Julian Lowell]: Chaos! Chaos, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that during the day! Please, show me a way out!

[Chaos]: Fortify your cabin, prepare your weapons, and fight the deadhings to the death tomorrow during the day. Or... while you can still move, take the initiative and strike out now.

The channel instantly erupted in an uproar:

"Move now? Are you crazy? It’s nighttime!"

"Isn’t moving at night just suicide? Besides, wasn’t he forbidden from moving today? Does nighttime not count?"

"Exactly, who knows what’s out there in the black mist right now."

"Chaos, your suggestion is too dangerous..."

[Julian Lowell]: You #&@*, I’ll #&@& *#

Seraphina Sinclair: "..."

’So Julian Lowell’s dropped the act.’

But in Seraphina Sinclair’s view, if it were truly possible to move now, this was indeed Julian Lowell’s only path to survival.

’It’s better to actively seek survival than to passively wait for death. It all depends on his choice.’

No one had ever actually moved at night before, and one by one, they started getting ideas.

"Julian! What he said isn’t wrong, you know!"

"But he’s already been forbidden from moving today, so how can he move?"

"Hello? Has no one really noticed? Moving the cabin requires sunshine, and generating sunshine depends on the Sunflower to restore your Hunger Level! This means they both operate on the same system! Since the Sunflower restores your Hunger Level at 8 AM, we can totally assume that as long as you finish moving before 8 AM, it still counts as moving on the same day!"

"The person above is a logic master!"

"But it really could be possible..."

"Julian! Give it a try! This is the only path you have left. Struggling a bit is always better than just dying outright during the day!"

"Of the methods Chaos suggested, only the latter makes a little sense. What’s with the first one? If Julian Lowell had the ability to fight the deadhings to the death..."

He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone could guess the rest, and it certainly wasn’t anything good.

As Seraphina Sinclair read through these messages from top to bottom, her first reaction was...

’Whoa, these people are something else.’

’Julian Lowell is already the guinea pig, so why not have him be the guinea pig one more time? Help everyone test out the consequences of moving at night?’

’This Chaos guy seemed like he didn’t hold grudges, but he’s actually already gotten his revenge on the sly.’

Messages spammed the regional channel. Seraphina Sinclair leaned against her headboard, watching this group of people pull the same old tricks.

But Julian Lowell had already been burned once, and he was clearly much more vigilant now.

[Julian Lowell]: You #&@* just want me to die! Screwing me over once during the day wasn’t enough, you have to come at me again at night?!

"Julian, you’ve got it wrong. During the day, everyone just made a mistake in judgment. Now, we’re truly thinking about what’s best for you!"

"Yeah, Julian, if you don’t risk it all now, you’re dead for sure in the morning. If you risk it, you have a glimmer of hope. The math isn’t hard, is it?"

Seraphina Sinclair noticed that Chaos hadn’t posted again, seeming to have lost interest in the farce.

But the others’ enthusiasm was unusually high, with messages popping up one after another.

"Julian~ I think you’re super brave! You dared to be the first to try during the day, so you can definitely do it at night too!"

"Logically speaking, since the system only said you can’t move tomorrow and didn’t explicitly say you can’t move tonight, then it should be possible. It’s a loophole in the rules!"

"Julian, I support you! If you succeed, you’ll be the first person on the entire server to move at night. You’ll definitely go down in history!"

"Yeah! Just like those top ten players on the server, your ID will be remembered by everyone forever! And who knows, maybe this is just some kind of trick from the system, saying you can’t move at night just to scare us survivors! You’ve got to be the trailblazer!"

’The things they were saying were really...’

Seraphina Sinclair was speechless with amazement.

She recognized these IDs. This was the same group that had hoisted Julian Lowell onto the pyre during the day, and now they were continuing to hype him up without even blinking.

Julian Lowell’s replies became less frequent, as if he were going through an intense internal struggle.

[Julian Lowell]: ...Are you guys sure moving at night won’t just trigger some instant-death mechanic?

"No way! If the system wanted to kill you, it would just do it. Why would it go through so much trouble?"

"Yeah, the rules only say it’s ’best not to move’ at night, it doesn’t say it’s ’forbidden.’ Dangerous and forbidden are two different things!"

"The main thing is, Julian, your situation doesn’t allow for careful consideration. If there were no danger, we’d all just move obediently during the day. But right now, your only choice is to take a gamble, isn’t it?"

The atmosphere in the channel grew more and more feverish, as if Julian Lowell wasn’t going on a risky adventure, but to accept an award.

"Go for it, Julian! If you succeed, then I... I could team up with you~ ❤️"

"Julian, I’ve done the math for you. If you move now and rest tomorrow, you’ll perfectly avoid the time with the double negative effects!"

"Yeah! Doesn’t that solve it perfectly? Julian, this is a blessing in disguise for you!"

Seraphina Sinclair stared at that message for a moment, unable to figure out the logic behind it, but it was the very thing that convinced Julian Lowell.

[Julian Lowell]: ...Fine! I’ll do it! It’s death either way, might as well go for broke!

[Julian Lowell]: But if I die, I’ll come back as a ghost and I won’t let any of you bastards off!

Seraphina Sinclair shook her head softly.

’Typical gambler’s mentality: after losing once, you think you can win it all back by raising the stakes.’

’Unfortunately, in The Black Mist World, the house is always the one who makes the rules.’

’And the winner is always the one with a brain.’