[Countdown to Instance Closure]
[10:16:58]
[10:16:57]
[...]
Lucas was just another player in the survival game.
Only now, all his teammates were gone. Dead.
He was alone, cornered and hunted by a faceless teacher, the most terrifying entity in the instance.
Lucas had no illusions. He didn't believe he'd last another twelve hours...
Breathing heavily, Lucas stole a glance behind him—
Only to find that the faceless man chasing him had doubled!
Lucas: ???
The newcomer wore a tattered school uniform.
Its speed was eerily similar to the faceless teacher's.
Lucas screamed internally as he dashed through debris with his arms over his head.
"One faceless guy was enough! Why are there two now?! What kind of cruel joke is this?!"
[Player Lucas' mental value -2, -2, -2...]
The original faceless teacher frowned—or would have, if he had a face.
He looked at the "newcomer" with visible confusion.
Lucas, now disguised as a faceless man himself, met the teacher's gaze head-on.
Without flinching. Without fear.
Somehow, this satisfied the faceless teacher's curiosity.
He turned back to chase the 'prey'—Lucas.
Or so he thought.
---
Suddenly—
Lucas accelerated.
He overtook the faceless teacher in a flash, zeroing in on the real Lucas.
(Which is confusing. But trust me—it made perfect sense in context.)
Not to be outdone, the faceless teacher surged forward,
His desire to win ignited like a match in a gasoline-soaked room.
He pushed harder, faster,
Surpassing Lucas once more,
Until he was close enough to shout triumphantly:
"The prey is mine!"
From seemingly nowhere,
The faceless teacher produced a kitchen knife—gleaming, sharp, and unsettlingly clean.
But it wasn't enough.
He turned his head to drink in the glory of Lucas's defeated expression.
But instead of fear...
He saw Lucas holding a kitchen knife of his own.
It was soaked in blood.
The teacher's nonexistent face contorted in horror.
His own blade looked pitifully clean by comparison.
His breath caught.
"That knife... is too cruel."
---
From his hiding spot, the real Lucas (the prey) gawked.
The faceless teacher with the knife had scared him enough.
But now—Lucas No. 2 just pulled out a bloody kitchen knife?!
How many people had this new faceless man already killed?!
[Player Lucas' mental value -3, -3, -3...]
Lucas No. 2 stepped forward, raising the bloodstained blade.
The real Lucas froze.
No thoughts. No resistance. Just pure terror.
puff—
BOOM—
But... the pain never came.
Lucas peeked through trembling fingers.
The bloody knife had landed... not on him, but on the faceless teacher!
The monster lay on the floor, blood spurting from its head.
"Wh...why…" it croaked, staring at Lucas in disbelief.
"Sorry," Lucas replied coldly, yanking the knife out.
"It was cut crookedly."
The teacher's body twitched once more—
And then lay still. Forever.
---
The real Lucas was stunned.
Nothing about this was in the game manual.
He had expected to die screaming. Not to be saved by another faceless man.
Or... whatever Lucas now was.
Before he could catch his breath, the bloodstained kitchen knife was pointed at him.
The emotionless face of his savior contorted into a wicked, twisted grin.
[Player Lucas' mental value -4, -4, -4...]
"AHHHHHHH!!!" Lucas wailed.
He turned on his heels and bolted.
Lucas (the disguised one) gave chase.
---
Meanwhile, the audience in the live broadcast room watched in gleeful horror.
They had just witnessed Lucas kill a faceless teacher with chilling ease—
And then pivot to terrorizing another player without skipping a beat.
Everywhere Lucas went,
Mental values plummeted like dominoes.
"This is insane! This is the funniest survival instance I've ever seen!"
"Lucas disguising himself as a faceless man? Not even the real faceless men can tell the difference!"
"Even monsters are scared of him. Look at their expressions—oh wait, they don't have any. But still!"
---
Eventually, Lucas tired of the cat-and-mouse charade.
He found a quiet, abandoned stretch of ruins,
And returned to his normal appearance.
"Let's go deeper," he muttered, disappearing into the shadows.
The viewers were stumped.
"What's he doing now?"
---
Their question was soon answered.
Deep within the ruins,
Lucas discovered a room that had partially survived the building's collapse.
It looked like an office—perhaps once the top floor of the teaching block.
The area was empty.
Even the faceless creatures avoided it.
"Perfect spot to rest," Lucas sighed.
He dropped onto a worn leather sofa,
Closed his eyes,
And dozed off.
Just like that.
---
"IS HE REALLY ASLEEP?!"
"HOW? How can anyone sleep in a horror instance like this?!"
"That's Lucas for you…"
[472,361 people are watching the player's live broadcast]
[402,162 people are actively gifting the player, earning him 402,162 points]
[Lucas' broadcast has reached the #1 spot in the current session rankings.]
[He is now only 10,000 popularity points away from surpassing the most famous player overall.]
"You're amazing! Just a bit more to reach the top~"
---
Meanwhile, far from the chaotic humor of Lucas's livestream—
The current top-ranking player, Blue Kill, was facing a completely different scenario.
He wasn't laughing.
He was fighting for his life.
The faceless monsters weren't just strong—they were numerous.
Players were ordinary people thrown into this madness.
The odds were never in their favor.
Blue Kill found himself encircled by faceless beings.
He could barely keep his skin intact.
But he wasn't ready to give up.
"I need to find a safer place... just to breathe."
---
He whispered to himself, then activated a skill.
[Investigation – D-level skill]
[Range: Line of sight]
[Description: Reveal crimes, uncover secrets, and spot enemy weaknesses. Use it where it counts.]
This was the same skill he had used to find hidden enemies before.
Now, he hoped it would show him a path out of death's embrace.
Data streamed into his mind.
Lines of analysis.
[Investigation Results: Minimal danger detected. Potential safe zone ahead.]
Before him stood a crumbling ruin.
Without hesitation, Blue Kill stepped into the debris-strewn path,
Guided by the whisper of survival.
---
(More blood. More screams in the background.)
The instance wasn't ending anytime soon.
And not everyone was built like Lucas.
But some, like Blue Kill, were learning how to survive—
Not through power, but through cunning.
The exam was still ongoing.
And the only passing grade... was to stay alive.
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