Inside Room No. 7, Xiao Qi complained in Mo Bai’s mind, “The player is being way too reckless. In this plan, if even a single step went wrong, it could all fall apart.”

Mo Bai replied, “Aren’t we not allowed to talk casually inside the instance?”

Xiao Qi replied, “I couldn’t help it. Besides, Xiao Qi doesn't have any information that players don't know. I'm just chatting. If the Main System wants to punish me, it doesn’t have any reason to do so.”

“You even know how to exploit loopholes in the rules now?” Mo Bai said in surprise.

She felt that Xiao Qi was becoming more and more human-like, as if it had learned many things from her.

But Mo Bai didn’t suspect anything. Back when she was alive, the real world already had many artificial intelligences. With constant training and information input, those AIs become more innovative and intelligent.

The technology of the Infinite World was far more advanced than the reality she came from, so it was only natural that Xiao Qi was more intelligent than the AIs she knew. The changes in Xiao Qi were probably influenced by Mo Bai’s own way of doing things.

Xiao Qi said, “Still, the player really is something. Before making plans, are you really not afraid of failure? During the Playing House instance, you were taking a huge risk too!”

“I was afraid,” Mo Bai said matter-of-factly. “I knew I was gambling. If I won, everyone would be happy. If I lost… well, it wouldn’t really matter. We could still clear the instance.”

“How could that be?” Xiao Qi questioned. “If you lost, you’d most likely face simultaneous attacks from No. 11 and 2 A-rank monsters. How could you possibly clear it?”

“Because the others could,” Mo Bai said. “The Phantom Butterfly only hates me, and the Count hates me the most as well. If the plan failed, as long as the Count chose me as his puppet, the others would be able to clear the instance.”

That was exactly why Mo Bai dared to take the risk.

In the Playing House game, she also felt that losing didn’t really matter. But winning would be a huge gain.

She admitted that she did need a bit of luck. But even if luck failed her and everything went in the worst possible direction, it wouldn’t matter.

“What I consider losing isn’t dying in the instance,” Mo Bai said. “It’s losing to the cowardly version of myself. If I couldn’t think of a way out and could only accept my fate, then I’d just cling to life. But I was able to think of a way, and this plan keeps on echoing in my head. If there is clearly a way to defy fate, then I would always choose to act.”

“That’s just… too bold,” Xiao Qi said weakly.

Mo Bai replied, “It’s not that I’m bold. I’m also scared. I’m afraid I’ll drag down teammates who trust me. That’s why the only thing I can do is draw all the hatred onto myself. I absolutely can’t let my teammates take risks.”

Mo Bai excluded Gu Tiandong from this plan because he was also part of the observation group. Aside from her, he was the most likely to be targeted by monsters, so he had to stay hidden in the shadows.

As for the other two teammates, Ye Pingjun had only attracted the hatred of No. 11 alone. Mo Bai wasn’t bragging, but with the strength of the four of them, dealing with two A-rank monsters would be difficult, but handling just No. 11 was more than manageable.

Even if the operation failed and Mo Bai died, Ding Xun, Ye Pingjun, and Gu Tiandong working together would still be able to successfully kill No. 11.

As for Ding Xun, she had already drawn the hatred of the maid and the butler earlier and had long become a thorn in the monsters’ eyes. Taking risks alongside Mo Bai and causing chaos wouldn’t increase her hatred much more. Going all out might even give her a slim chance at survival.

Mo Bai’s plan was indeed extremely dangerous, like dancing on a tightrope, but she had calculated everyone’s survival chances.

If they won, everyone cleared together.

If they lost, the others would still clear, and the loss wouldn’t be just Mo Bai’s life alone.

“I dare to do this because no matter whether I win or lose, I can bear the consequences,” Mo Bai said.

It was precisely because of this attitude that Ye Pingjun was willing to lend all his luck to Mo Bai.

Ye Pingjun was a reserved person by nature. His ability meant that he wouldn’t take risks easily, nor would he easily trust other players.

Both he and Ding Xun were kind at heart. Even in this world, they weren’t truly ruthless people. They didn’t want to harm others, but they also didn’t want to be dragged down. They just wanted to survive.

Ding Xun still had a bit of hot-blooded impulsiveness in her personality, but Ye Pingjun was extremely calm and rational. He wasn’t someone who acted on impulse.

They dared to act alongside Mo Bai because Mo Bai's determination moved them. Her willingness to bear the consequences of failure inspired them and made them willing to take a gamble.

People all had that fighting spirit. With hope right in front of them and no need to bear the consequences of failure, who wouldn’t want to fight at least once?

“If I don’t die tonight, then tomorrow will be a new challenge,” Mo Bai said softly.

She struggled onto Ding Xun’s bed and fell asleep peacefully.

She decided not to worry about whether the plan succeeded, whether Ding Xun and Ye Pingjun had attracted the monsters’ attention, whether the Count had expelled the Phantom Butterfly, whether No. 11 was gone, or whether Gu Tiandong had successfully gotten his midnight snack.

The plan was already in motion.

She might as well rest and recover her energy to be in better shape.

After all, even if the plan succeeded, it only meant that two hidden monsters and one Phantom Butterfly had died. The real threat in the instance remained, and they had to make another plan.

If she is greeted by sunlight in the morning, then she would have succeeded.

 If she is greeted by the Count or the Phantom Butterfly, then that wouldn’t matter either.

With this mindset, Mo Bai slept until dawn.

When she woke up, twelve hours had passed since she last used her ability, and her ability had fully recovered.

After waking up, there was neither the Count nor the Phantom Butterfly, but also no sunlight. The castle’s design was very peculiar. The layout of the rooms was precisely designed to avoid every ray of sunlight.

What woke Mo Bai was a knock on the door.

To make things easier for Mo Bai, Ding Xun had moved the bed next to the door. Mo Bai didn’t need to get out of bed. She just had to sit up and open the door, which was within her arm’s reach.

When Mo Bai opened the door, she saw Ding Xun standing there, beaming with excitement. “Let’s go eat!”

After saying that, Ding Xun walked into the room, picked Mo Bai up, and placed her into a wheelchair.

Mo Bai wheeled herself outside and saw that Gu Tiandong, Ye Pingjun, and Ding Xun were all safe and sound.

Mo Bai smiled knowingly and said, “4123567.”

Ding Xun said, “7654321.”

Ye Pingjun said, “0123456.”

Gu Tiandong also said, “5123467.”

Only then did the four of them completely relax.

This was the code they had agreed on beforehand.

The Phanotom Butterfly had the ability to disguise itself as other people. Mo Bai was worried that if the operation failed and the Phanotom Butterfly wasn’t expelled, it might turn into one of them to torment their group.

Of course, the most likely target was Mo Bai, since it hated her the most.

But she couldn’t rule out the possibility that these twisted monsters would kill her teammates and disguise themselves as them to infiltrate the group and mentally torment her. So Mo Bai came up with a numeric code. Each person memorized a sequence and confirmed identities upon meeting.

Everyone successfully gave the correct code.

Mo Bai looked around and saw the maid and the butler glaring fiercely at these guests who didn’t even sleep in their own rooms, especially at Gu Tiandong, who had demanded a midnight snack.

Players No. 3 and No. 8 huddled together for comfort. After waking up, they found that the beautiful No. 6 and the brutal No. 11 were both gone. Clearly, a lot had happened overnight.

In less than a day, four out of ten players had already disappeared. They didn’t know how long they themselves could survive and were trembling with fear.

“Let’s go take a look at Room No. 10,” Mo Bai said to Ding Xun.

Ding Xun quickly pushed Mo Bai to the door of Room No. 10. Mo Bai glanced inside and saw that it looked like it had been completely ransacked. The table and bed were shattered, No. 11’s clothes were torn to pieces, and his body was nowhere to be found. He was probably taken away by the Count, just like No. 12.

The Ironhide Skin was also gone, likely taken by the Phanotom Butterfly since it originally belonged to it.

The Corrosive Claw was almost completely worn out as well, and all three cards in Mo Bai’s possession had been fully used.

The maid seemed eager to get rid of the four of them and hurried ahead. Mo Bai and Ding Xun caught up with the main group before everyone turned the corner.

Now that everyone’s identities were out in the open and there were no rules forbidding conversation on the way, the four of them simply chatted openly.

Ding Xun took out a shattered pair of glasses from her clothes. “Last night, after Gu Tiandong yelled that he wanted a midnight snack, the Prying Lenses broke.”

“Just as expected,” Ye Pingjun said while glancing at Mo Bai.

This was also something Mo Bai had anticipated.

After everything that happened overnight, the Count couldn’t remain indifferent. Even if he couldn’t visit other players’ rooms or let the maid and butler discover his undignified late-night visit to a guest’s room, as the final boss of the instance, the Count could still do something.

An instance boss had the ability to seal one card.

In this instance, the card that played the decisive role was Ding Xun’s Prying Lenses. All of their plans relied on it.

Losing those glasses was like losing their eyes.

But the four of them weren’t panicked, because they had already been mentally prepared for this. And since the Count could destroy this card, it meant he couldn't seal any more cards.

Everything was still under control.

Before entering the dining hall, Mo Bai lowered her voice and said, “Everyone remembers their seats, right?”

Her teammates nodded.

With two hidden monsters dead, the Count could no longer waste food on them. However, he still had other ways to eliminate players, and that was through the seating arrangement at the table.

When they returned to their original seats and touched the underside of the table, they found that the marks they had left before had indeed changed.

Since the marks had all been altered, they quickly searched and soon found their correct seats.

Ding Xun’s seat had moved to No. 3’s position. She grabbed No. 3, who had already sat down, and said, “This is my seat. Go sit over there.”

Ye Pingjun also said to No. 8, “Your seat is on the other side.”

During last night’s dinner, Ye Pingjun had already added marks to the seats.

Not only that, during the meal, Gu Tiandong (No. 5) and Ye Pingjun (No. 10) also took the opportunity to leave marks under the tables closest to No. 3 and No. 8, just in case these two clueless players sat in the wrong seats.

After having their seats taken, No. 3 and No. 8 looked completely at a loss. The dining rules clearly stated that sitting in the wrong seat was forbidden.

At that moment, Mo Bai looked at them kindly and said, “If you don’t want to die, sit where I point. Trust me.”

Mo Bai’s voice was clearly gentle, yet for some reason, No. 3 and No. 8 felt their legs go weak and obediently sat down.

When the Count arrived for breakfast and saw that everyone was seated correctly, he couldn’t help but reveal a sinister smile.

Mo Bai and the others pretended not to notice his expression. They quietly lowered their heads to eat and made sure to finish the food at the empty seats as well.