The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 505: Sporeggar Mill

What happened?

Suuankou was still a little dazed.

His mind went blank from that hit.

The brain stopped abruptly, like a sudden power outage, which also terminated some of his thinking processes. In the end, Suuankou stared blankly at the puppet bear.

—and the toy knife in the puppet bear’s hand.

“Do you have an answer?”

As the expression of the puppet bear changed to -v-, she spoke in a voice like a silver bell again, “If you give me the victim’s name, I will tell you the secret of how to be saved.”

“The victim’s name…” Suuankou murmured.

His eyes gradually focused on the toy knife in the hand of the puppet bear.

Then, he raised his head and looked at the puppet bear.

He asked softly, “Is that you…

“Alice?”

“It’s me! Correct answer! Correct answer!” The little bear grinned and raised her hands in cheers. “Then, the next step is how to be saved!”

“What is it?”

“It’s the liver~” The little bear spoke in a sweet voice, “The antidote to poison is the liver…

“—Do you believe me?” She raised the toy knife and chopped Suuankou’s limbs under a few attacks.

But the strange thing was that no blood spewed out every time the knife fell.

On the contrary, Suuankou’s torso collapsed after each cut.

After the four cuts, Suuankou’s body had become as tattered as the puppet bear on the bed.

“—” He opened his mouth but could not speak.

Suuankou’s eyes went dark, and he returned to the Black Mushroom Mill again.

Two new statuses appeared before his eyes:

[Broken Limbs: Your limbs have been severed.]

[Missing liver: Your liver has been stolen.]

Suuankou felt a sticky sensation on his shoulder.

He touched it and found a red line appeared on his shoulder.

It was like a limb that was cut and hastily glued back later.

Every time he walked, he felt the sensation from his legs gradually fade away. Similarly, Suuankou felt his right hand becoming weaker whenever he wanted to pick up something—for example, reaching out to open the door.

Suuankou reacted quickly.

Is this the restriction on the number of steps I can take and the number of times I can investigate around?

This is also a common approach in a pixelated puzzle game.

For example, the player has to take something in a room full of flames or walk through a poisonous pool after wearing a pair of glass shoes.

If there is such a setting, then there is probably a hidden item.

Do I need to pick a set route?

But in any case, I can’t waste the steps count available to me.

Suuankou thought to himself.

Judging from the reaction of the previous bullet text, the live stream should not be cut off even when he could not see the bullet text. In other words, he could still fulfill the primary goal of “leaving footage behind”.

Then, what Suuankou had to do was locate the traps.

Thus, death was nothing to be feared.

He did not approach the shovel near the corner this time.

Instead, he came to the stairs.

Then, he saw several flour sacks piled together.

Strange mushrooms grew on the top of the highest flour sack in its pile.

Suuankou had never seen such a mushroom before.

It appeared in a dark green hue.

But on a closer look, it looked more like transparent skin with dark green liquid stored inside. The transparent epidermis was like dehydrated, chapped skin in white net-like patterns as if it would burst in the next moment.

“Mushrooms…” Suuankou whispered thoughtfully.

Then, he approached the stairs.

Scattered mushrooms grew on the hollowed-out wooden stairs. It spread upward in a line. Its number was abundant on the plank above the flour sack, and only a few mushrooms appeared intermittently further up.

It is blood.

Suuankou soon realized the truth.

This time, he had restored the scene.

There was supposed to be someone here who bled profusely after an injury. Then, the person followed the stairs and went up. The blood left behind had strange mushrooms grow out of it for some reason.

Then, Suuankou walked up the stairs.

He could have easily jumped over the two steps covered with mushrooms. Even though his limbs were severed, the broth he drank from the Three Bears’ House allowed him to jump up a few steps in this state.

But after all, not everyone could take the same route as him.

As a pathfinder, Suuankou did not avoid the mushrooms.

Instead, he stepped on them directly.

Those mushrooms produced an awful crackling sound. It was like trampling on a section of intestines, splashing out the dark green liquid.

However, Suuankou suddenly reacted.

The “mushroom fragrance” I smelled outside the mill is precisely the smell left by this mushroom!

Without hesitation, he followed the route led by the mushrooms on the ground and walked to the second floor.

The space on the second floor was much narrower than that on the first floor.

There was no empty hall but only two residential rooms: a narrow toolroom and a toilet. At the end of the corridor, there was a wooden wall that was hammered open.

A square slot-shaped opening could be seen below this wooden wall. It appeared to be used for dumping black mushrooms. Behind the wooden wall was a gear machine buzzing and rotating.

The gears were roaring.

Suuankou was about to walk over to check on it.

He suddenly felt a little itchy in his calf.

He bent down and scratched it subconsciously.

But he soon realized something.

Then, he raised his arm and assessed it carefully.

After expending an “investigation” count, Suuankou realized there were chickenpox spots on his forearm’s skin.

Is it because I stepped on those mushrooms?

Or is it because I broke them and I’m [missing a liver]?

Then, would I not be affected by these mushrooms if I drank the bowl of cold “scrappy soup” in the Three Little Bears’ house?

So, what if I drank bone broth?

Does that mean “my limbs” won’t be severed?

“I see…” Suuankou murmured.

He finally understood.

The scene in the previous “passage” might provide him an ability or a buff that could be used against various traps in the Sporeggar Mill.

But if the person did not enter the Three Little Bears’ room, he would not have his limbs cut off, right?

Or perhaps different passages offered varying debuffs.

Based on the choices in the early stage of the passage level, the state when entering the mill would change.

Just when Suuankou thought about it, his left arm was visibly swollen.

The itchy feeling gradually turned into numbness and swelling. He soon lost his sensation on the skin under the blisters.

“Is there a time limit?” Suuankou murmured.

The next moment, his left arm exploded.

Then, he respawned again in front of the mill.

So, I have died again.