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"You can roam around where You can see me, but remember to return immediately if You encounter danger."
Yang Tao was instructing Conan and Eric, who actually knew little about Level 1; they were equally clueless.
He continued his demolition work with an iron pickaxe, but he always felt like he had overlooked something.
He had overlooked Conan's inherent 'Death Magnet Elementary Schooler' attribute.
Where he goes, death follows, and that's no joke.
Currently, there were three people here. Conan, being the initiator of the Death attribute, would not be affected, and Yang Tao's digitized body could not be targeted. However, Eric was a genuine ordinary human.
As Conan and Eric observed the Level 1 environment, the abandoned warehouse had nothing special about it; it was just an empty space that made people feel uncomfortable.
Aside from the occasional sound of water dripping onto the ground, the entire abandoned warehouse was filled only with Yang Tao's thudding against the wall and the footsteps of the two.
A sense of oppression enveloped Conan's heart.
Conan suddenly pointed at a cardboard box on the shelf and said, "I remember... that box wasn't there when we came in earlier."
As a detective, above-average memory is a fundamental quality. Conan pushed up the glasses on his nose, his eyes filled with solemnity.
'Yang Tao warned that supernatural events would occur in this place, but this is happening too quickly.'
He didn't know that this was just normal resource refreshing; the real danger had not yet arrived.
Eric, standing beside Conan, looked at the cardboard box Conan mentioned and explained, "This is a naturally refreshed supply box in Level 1. You can find some supplies inside, but I've only seen Yang Tao open them before. I don't know if there's any danger. I think it's best to call Yang Tao over."
Conan immediately agreed with Eric's suggestion. In this surreal world, one must never be careless.
Just as they were about to leave together to find Yang Tao, a figure suddenly emerged from the corner of the warehouse and walked towards them.
"Hey, hello!"
In the empty warehouse, this abrupt voice startled both of them.
The person extended a hand to greet them, and seeing another human, Eric's face showed a hint of excitement. This was his first time encountering another Wanderer in the Backrooms.
The person looked about forty, their clothes were somewhat tattered, and a Smile was on their face as they slowly walked towards their position.
The person's lips moved slightly as he continued to ask, "Are You alright?"
Eric replied, "I'm fine, friend, how are You?"
For some reason, the person did not respond. Conan, who was more observant, reached out and grabbed Eric's sleeve, saying, "The person ahead of us feels off."
"Their tattered clothes prove that this person must have experienced some unpleasant things before."
"Normally, encountering a stranger in an environment like Level 1 would evoke caution or excitement like yours."
"But their expression is very stiff, like... like..."
"Like a forced Smile, Conan, your observation skills are truly excellent. You live up to your name as a great detective."
Yang Tao's voice came from behind them.
"Eric, remember to be cautious in these Backrooms, after all, You only have one life."
The man in the distance continued to walk towards them step by step, his Smile unchanging, like a machine. Through the icon on the mini-map, Yang Tao could easily discern his identity.
Yang Tao sighed, took out an iron axe from his backpack, and said, "Eric, record this: Number 10, Peeler."
Both Eric and Conan were startled, unable to help but exclaim in unison, "Peeler?"
"Skin Stealers are large humanoid Entities that wear the flesh of their victims as a disguise. They feed on human flesh when hungry, and when they don't need to eat, they wander aimlessly."
Conan also understood why the man in front of him felt so strange. After looking at the man again, he felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
Peeling off human skin and wearing it on oneself...
"The way to distinguish them is simple: their blood is translucent. Although they can imitate human voices, they can only imitate sounds they've heard and cannot understand their meaning."
This is also the simplest way to distinguish a Peeler. As long as You ask a few more questions before contact, if it's truly a Skin Stealer, they won't be able to answer.
The Skin Stealer was already less than ten meters away from them. Yang Tao, holding an axe in one hand and a shield in the other, sneered and said, "Remember: if the blood is bright red, they are still human. If the blood is transparent, run away quickly."
With that, he quickly rushed towards the Skin Stealer in front of him. Clearly, the Skin Stealer was enraged by his sudden movement and spread its arms, attempting to restrain Yang Tao.
But before it could reach Yang Tao, the iron axe had already landed on its hand. With a 'thud', the thin human skin was torn, revealing the yellowish skin underneath.
The skin was covered with small suction cup-like things, a single glance of which could trigger trypophobia instantly.
These protrusions would adhere to the skin peeled from humans and pull it back and forth until it conformed to the Skin Stealer's body, making the Skin Stealer look like a human.
"That's freaking disgusting!"
Looking at the yellowish, pus-like liquid flowing from the Skin Stealer's wound, Yang Tao couldn't help but take a step back and quickly activated full data-ization mode.
"If that stuff accidentally got into my mouth... tsk tsk!"
The Skin Stealer's strength was not great, and its health was only 40 points. It mainly relied on sneak attacks and assassinating lone humans. A single Smile could easily kill several or even more than ten Skin Stealers.
However, these two creatures wouldn't fight each other, mainly because their hunting habits differed.
Suppressing his disgust, Yang Tao charged again. The Skin Stealer, no longer disguised, was still quite fast, at least able to counterattack under Yang Tao's assault.
However, all its attacks were blocked by the shield.
After clearing the Skin Stealer's health, its body fell straight down, and the human skin that had covered its body also slid off weakly.
Honestly, Yang Tao couldn't stand the sight and couldn't help but dry heave twice.
"Damn it, these Skin Stealers should be eradicated!"
Yang Tao didn't have much of a reaction to monsters eating people, because sometimes he also wanted to taste monsters, but skinning was truly too disgusting.
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