It was precisely because of Ming Po's "wish" that they ended up walking right past each other.
Later, Ming Po used brute force to break open the door to the security room and smashed the desk containing the Master Key Card.
As a result, when Ai Shiping arrived, the security room door simply "opened on its own."
Because if he had tried to open the door... whether the key worked or not, he might have realized sothing was wrong.
And the "room card" he took after opening the drawer with his finger as a key... simply didn't exist at all!
This manipulation of mories clearly had flaws.
In his subconscious, Ai Shiping had no mory of actually taking the room card.
Therefore, after entering the second floor, he thought of the clue about the "fifth door," but imdiately gave up when he found it locked. Setting aside whether the clue was correct or not, Ai Shiping never even attempted to use the room card to open it.
That was because, deep down, he believed he hadn't obtained a room card at all!
This was the precise intuition of the Fox.
When the tide of snakes surged toward him, room 2018—the room he was forced to enter—also happened to be one of the two rooms with activity when Ming Po arrived on the second floor. If Ai Shiping had just walked a little further and knocked on room 2031, he could have t up with Ming Po directly!
It was only when Ai Shiping saw the "fake Ming Po" and realized it was an illusion that a second fake Ming Po "spawned" at the door. At that exact mont, Ming Po stepped out of his room and saw it. That was how he realized Ai Shiping was right there.
From that mont on, Ming Po's initial hallucination was shattered.
"That room card never existed. It was your hallucination from the very beginning. Because you wanted it to exist, it did." Ming Po stated with absolute certainty, "I've already 'seen' it."
When he picked up his own room card, an Item Description had popped up.
But Ai Shiping's "room card" displayed absolutely nothing in his hands.
Because it wasn't real.
If Ai Shiping's "wish" had been a little stronger, perhaps it could have actually functioned as a room card and opened a door. But that was impossible... because the "intuition" provided by Ai Shiping's Title caused him to unconsciously ignore the card entirely.
"...Are you saying that whatever we think becos reality?"
Ai Shiping muttered under his breath, "Could it really be that... kind?"
"Let ask you sothing."
Ming Po countered, "Have you sensed any hostility?"
Since the ga rules didn't prohibit the use of Title abilities, those abilities could trigger normally.
Just as Ming Po could see item descriptions and overdraw his stamina to directly perceive clues.
Ai Shiping's Title could also activate.
He had told Ming Po that whenever he slled hostility, it felt like breathing in freezing air, carrying a distinct scent; if the hostility was too intense, his nose would even itch and ache.
But throughout this entire ordeal, Ming Po had been watching Ai Shiping almost the entire ti.
Not once had he seen Ai Shiping helplessly rub his nose.
"You an..."
Ai Shiping's eyes widened as the realization hit him.
If he hadn't felt any hostility, that ant the "entities" here... might not have actually intended to harm him.
"It's a man-made disaster."
Ming Po asserted, "Whether it's us, or them."
The "them" he referred to were the people who had died here.
As for the two who committed suicide, it was unclear what exactly they had seen.
But the other two incidents were crystal clear.
The little girl who choked on her food and died after failed resuscitation efforts—it was either her own terror of dying or her mother's "worst-case scenario" thoughts spiraling out of control that caused the fear to beco reality.
The family that was locked inside and burned alive must have been in a situation similar to Ai Shiping's just now. Because they were terrified the door wouldn't open... they truly couldn't open it.
Just like Ai Shiping's phone. Ming Po saw it clearly—it hadn't overheated at all, yet Ai Shiping's skin was visibly flushed and burning hot.
Because Ai Shiping genuinely believed he was trapped in a raging fire, entirely forgetting that his phone should have been hot too.
And the reason they initially felt this place was terrifying and dangerous...
Partly, it was because the ga was called [Horror Stream].
But the other reason lay in the news reports of accidental deaths they had read beforehand.
Soone had deliberately placed those news articles at the entrance, cultivating their fear.
Consequently, those who entered would feel terror after reading the clippings, ultimately leading to their actual deaths here.
"Following this logic, whoever is spreading rumors of supernatural events here... likely shares the sa goal. They want the people who co here to be filled with dread, anticipating a 'ghost story'. That Monkey I saw was probably born from a similar desire," Ming Po analyzed coolly. "If this continues, these people will truly turn into ghosts."
"In a way, there might be a flawed Wish Granter here. Although this Wish Granter only induces hallucinations instead of actually fulfilling a person's desires... if soone watches a hallucination until they die, then to them, there might be no difference between the illusion and reality." Hearing this, Ai Shiping suddenly thought of sothing.
He held up his phone, hesitating slightly, "Then what about our..."
At that exact mont, Ming Po lashed out with a flying kick, sending Ai Shiping sprawling and knocking the phone straight out of his hand.
"You motherf—"
"Stop overthinking!"
Ming Po barked harshly, cutting Ai Shiping off. "Don't speak nonsense! Don't listen to nonsense! Don't look at nonsense!"
"I know, I know... couldn't you have gone a bit easier? I get the point..."
Hearing this, Ai Shiping winced and climbed to his feet, finally understanding what Ming Po was worried about.
No wonder... this dungeon emphasized that "this ga must be roleplayed," and any actions breaking character consistency could result in fatal danger.
If he genuinely started believing that these viewers might be ghosts or so high-dinsional entities, then they might actually beco dangerous.
It was exactly like how when Ai Shiping initially thought the stream chat consisted of living people, they truly were living people; but when he thought the viewers were ghosts, the chat actually beca haunted... and when he viewed them as humans again, they reverted to normal.
Conversely, if they simply treated themselves as ghost-hunting strears, they could complete the mission and survive with relative ease.
But now that he understood the chanics, Ai Shiping naturally wouldn't let his thoughts wander in that direction anymore.
Ai Shiping fell silent for a long mont before tentatively asking, "So... are we going to keep searching?"
"Why wouldn't we?"
Ming Po smiled. "We're just missing the room where the wrist-slitting happened... then we can advance or retreat as we please."
Regardless of who was plotting against them...
If the mastermind didn't show up after they finished the mission, then they could stay hidden forever.
"But the problem is... where is that room?"
Ai Shiping picked up his phone from the floor and looked up at Ming Po.
Ming Po turned around, giving him a deeply aningful look. "Does it matter?"
Since the news report hadn't ntioned a specific location, that ant... she could have died in any room.
In other words...
Any room could be the room where she died.
"I'm guessing."
Ming Po's voice was resolute, so deadpan it bordered on humorous. "She died in the room right across from us."
"...Oh."
Ai Shiping caught on.
A teasing smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I'm guessing the sa thing."
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