I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

Su Ya instinctively wanted to refute.

She wanted to say, "The task was decided by a vote of everyone."

She wanted to say, "I never expected it to turn out like this," and "I got infected just like you."

But the words stuck in his throat.

I originally thought their team was in the best situation, with more people and more strength, and they would definitely be able to leave the instance as soon as possible.

But she forgot one thing, or rather, ignored the fact that everyone has their own hidden thoughts.

The other players exchanged glances, none of them speaking up for her, their eyes filled with accusation.

A strong sense of responsibility gripped Suya's throat like a hand, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

She opened her mouth, her voice a little hoarse: "I'm sorry. I... I didn't know that doing the mission would turn me into a rat."

She really doesn't know.

In the previous Taiping Cemetery instance, although there were also quests involving encounters with ghosts, there was never this rat-like curse.

Suya would naturally believe that doing quests is the best and fastest way to leave the instance.

……

"Is a simple 'sorry' all it takes?!"

Some players, eager to kick someone when they're down, unleashed their pent-up frustration: "If we all turn into rats, can you afford to compensate us?!"

"Exactly, you're a veteran player, how could you make a mistake?"

Someone chimed in, "I think you're doing this on purpose. You want the reward yourself, but you're dragging us down with you!"

"Are you out of your minds? Even my pigs know right from wrong."

Yang Asha stepped forward, blocking Su Ya's path, her face taut.

"Who would have thought there would be problems with the mission? Besides, if it weren't for Sister Suya, you would have died on the first day."

"For our own good?"

Xiao Ding sneered, glanced at Yang Asha sideways, and said sarcastically, "Of course you'd speak up for her, you two are in cahoots."

Don't think I didn't see what you two were eating behind everyone's back.

Now look what's happened, you two have both turned into hairy-faced monsters, satisfied—huh?!

Yang Asha is a child who grew up in the mountains. She has a wild streak and knows how to protect herself. She never suffers a loss.

Before Xiao Ding could finish speaking, Yang Asha grabbed his hair and yanked it hard—"I told you not to talk nonsense! Evil people have black hearts!"

When the crowd saw how fierce she was, attacking without saying a word, they were so frightened that they quickly came over and pulled the two apart.

"All they're good at is talking. They don't even do the task well, yet they still have the nerve to complain."

Yang Asha casually tossed a large clump of hair from her hand and spat at the players:

"Can you force a cow to drink water if it doesn't want to? Were you all going to follow me, Sister Su Ya, forever? Now that something's happened, you're blaming her? Have you no shame?"

These words made the group blush. Xiao Ding, clutching his messy hair, was about to make a scene when Lin Jianguo suddenly spoke up:

"What's all this commotion about?"

He seemed completely unconcerned about the rat hair on his face, and looked at the group: "It's just like doing business. No one objected at the time, but now that something's gone wrong, it's not appropriate to blame it all on Su Ya, a young person."

After saying that, he gave Su Ya a meaningful look: "And you, you just apologize when someone asks you to? Is it your fault?"

Su Ya knew that Lin Jianguo was helping her, so she kept quiet.

"Why isn't it suitable?"

One player muttered, "She's a veteran player! She knows a lot! She should be responsible!"

Suya was only a little angry at first, but she couldn't hold back when she heard this.

She glanced at Xiao Ding's furious face, then at the undisguised gloating in the eyes of the other players, and at Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Qian's subtle condemnation.

— Earning points for these tasks is really difficult.

Su Ya felt both bitter and cold inside.

She initially thought that "many hands make light work," but reality gave her a harsh slap in the face.

A strong sense of frustration and guilt clung to her, making her feel suffocated.

A day and a night passed with a series of death announcements and bizarre events... Everyone was seething with anger.

Now, this fire has finally found an outlet.

The ten-person team quietly split into two groups.

The four "mutants"—Su Ya, Yang Asha, Lin Jianguo, and Yang Hexuan—form one side.

Xiao Ding led the other five players who hadn't been turned into rats, forming the other side.

They are clearly distinct, yet there seems to be an invisible chasm separating them.

……

Yang Hexuan was initially hesitant, clearly unsure of which side to take.

After all, he was also afraid of turning into a rat.

People are complex. Even though he rationally knew he shouldn't blame Su Ya, he couldn't help but think, what if he hadn't listened to Su Ya and hadn't done the mission...

Lin Jianguo glared at the guy, who immediately backed down, obediently standing over, his face slightly flushed.

If it weren't for Su Ya, he wouldn't even have grown rat fur; he would have died long ago.

"I believe in Sister Suya," he said, his neck stiff. "Even turning into a rat is better than dying in a dungeon."

— Suya had previously shared information about "Taiping Cemetery", so everyone knew that two players who had undergone abnormal changes were still alive after leaving the instance.

One of them is made of paper, and the other has an umbilical cord growing from its neck.

Thinking about it that way, it doesn't seem like growing a little hair is such a big deal.

At worst, you can just shave every day, like you would shave your beard.

……

Su Ya glanced at the group of people and felt a little better.

She took a deep breath and addressed Xiao Ding and the others:

"I take responsibility for this. I admit it was my misjudgment."

"But now is not the time for infighting and assigning blame. The most urgent task is to find a way to break the curse, figure out the other rules of this instance, complete the main quest, and get out alive."

She tried to reassure everyone with a calm tone, mimicking Chen Xi, in an attempt to bring the situation back on track.

But the person on the other side clearly didn't think that way.

"Get out alive?"

Xiao Ding scoffed, a hint of desperation on his face: "If I keep doing missions with you, I'll turn into a rat before we even get out."

"I see now, this dungeon doesn't require any quests at all."

She raised her voice, as if trying to convince everyone: "Those who didn't do their tasks yesterday are still alive and well, aren't they?"

"Maybe this instance doesn't require solving any puzzles at all. We can just stay quietly until the seventh day, and after the old lady's birthday banquet, we can go home."

"The more you struggle, the faster you die! The more missions you complete, the heavier the curse becomes!"

These words resonated with many people.

Players immediately nodded in agreement:

"I think Xiao Ding is right! Not doing the quests is fine, but doing them turns you into a monster. Let whoever wants to do the quests do them; I'm not doing them!"

"I'm not doing it anymore!"

"Just stay put for seven days and lie low. Why take the risk?"

"Exactly! We'll just forgo the reward; our lives are the most important!"

Many people are already afraid, and even less willing to take the risk of doing the mission.

Now that I have the excuse that "doing tasks will turn me into a mouse," I can comfortably choose to lie down.

It's so much better to just lie low.

The villagers are hospitable, and there's a place to stay, so there's no need to worry about freezing to death. You can stay in the village peacefully for seven days and then leave.

Only a fool would do a mission.

Looking at them, Su Ya felt a wave of disappointment and exhaustion.

"So, what do you mean now?"

She looked at them calmly and asked, "What exactly do you want? Are you going to stop doing missions?"

Xiao Ding's eyes flickered.

She hadn't actually figured out exactly what she wanted to do.

She was just scared, wanted to find someone to take the blame, and didn't want to do the task.

But when Suya asked this question, she suddenly remembered something—something she had been observing and thinking about for a long time.

Her gaze unconsciously fell on Su Ya's neckline:

She kept her neck covered, and there seemed to be something hanging from the bottom of her collar with a rope.