Chapter 791: Waiting Begins

Not everyone knew the news that the death match would surround and kill him.

Much of the information was only discussed secretly among the high level, and even some small war zones were not qualified to participate in the anonymous meetings.

Therefore, in the eyes of ordinary trial-takers, Lin An, who could shine brilliantly in two trials and even take first place, was obviously worthy of their attention.

"Lord Lin An, Miss Fiona, would you like to team up with us?"

He squeezed out a friendly smile on his face.

A short, slight middle-aged man with a short staff tucked at his waist cautiously sat cross-legged beside Lin An, then pointed to a young man with sunken eye sockets behind him.

"Although I don't know what this trial's content is, I think having more people is never wrong."

He swallowed his throat, the short-staff man unconsciously glanced at Fiona's face.

"I am Agassi, an Awakened One of the Kesamya War Zone in the European Union; of course, we are nominally part of the Northern Europe War Zone."

Somewhat uneasy, after speaking the short-staff man eagerly looked at Lin An.

To them, these inconspicuous lower-tier war zone Awakened Ones, Lin An and Fiona were practically big shots in their eyes.

His will attribute was very low; one could say he only made it to the qualification threshold thanks to equipment scrounged from the whole Safe Zone.

He neither refused nor agreed.

In silence.

Lin An stared ahead; in the dim corner of the living room sat a hunched old woman, as if fixed to her chair, sitting quietly.

She faced an iron bucket, from which some firelight rose.

Bent at the waist, she stretched out her wrinkled hands, like old ginger, and held them stiffly over the flame to roast.

Flames licked her palms, making a sizzling sound.

Not far away, Lin An could even smell a faint scent of scorching.

If he hadn't heard her voice before entering, Lin An would have thought she was already dead.

No Awakened One around paid attention to this; obviously, they had grown accustomed to everything here.

A strong sense of unease welled up in Fiona's heart.

She couldn't help but blurt out, asking the bearded short-staff man:

"How long have you been here?"

She saw a pile of bones hidden in the shadows at the corner of the living room, picked clean.

Silence, silence.

Fiona's question seemed to make him a little hesitant.

The others, aside from showing anger when Lin An first entered, after staring fixedly at him and Fiona for a second, each scattered and sat on the ground.

Many people, even some dull and repressed, kept knocking their heads against the wall behind them.

Crackle, in the sound of burning firewood, a white-haired youth leaning against the wall corner slowly turned his head to stare at her:

"21 days and 6 hours."

Having said that, he cracked his mouth open, revealing an inexplicable smile:

"You are very lucky."

"You've only just arrived."

Hearing this, Fiona's eyes suddenly flashed with strong vigilance.

Lin An, who had not spoken beside her, also instantly furrowed his brow:

"21 days? No food?"

"Did the system malfunction and fail to release a mission?"

"So you've been eating people?"

Reacting extremely quickly, after a brief thought Lin An stared straight at the short-staff man:

"No."

"The system could not possibly fail to release a mission."

"Then..."

"Someone killed others before the mission started, causing the participant count to fall short, so the mission could not be opened."

"So you've been trapped here?"

"Only when the numbers are filled can the mission be opened to resolve the current situation?"

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this; obviously they hadn't expected Lin An to react so quickly.

Squatting beside him, the short-staff man gaped in astonishment:

"You... how did you know?"

They didn't disclose any information, and nobody had the strength to explain it to Lin An.

Or rather, they were unwilling to mention what had happened here.

Lin An, where did you get that information guess!?

"It's simple."

His tone was flat.

Lin An glanced at the bones piled up in the corner:

"Before I came in, you said you'd been waiting a long time. (Just missing you)"

"You have many people, but you're just sitting here doing nothing, which shows the mission hasn't started."

"It's obvious you received, or rather the system stipulated a mission that requires a certain number of participants to open."

"Combined with the fact that you saw only me and Fiona and showed obvious disappointment,"

"that means the number is still insufficient."

The old man roasting his fingers like a sculpture, Lin An frowned slightly:

"She's probably a mission NPC, right?"

"You're so indifferent to her abnormality, which shows she hardly communicates or interacts with you, right?"

"Without any extra information, you can only wait."

After a brief pause, Lin An shifted his gaze back:

"There are human bones, very clean."

"You were clearly waiting for someone, yet someone died..."

"You also clearly know the number of people needed to start the mission."

"That can only mean that when the required number was initially met, someone maliciously killed others, disrupting the mission's progress."

"And the NPC doesn't care about you..."

"If my guess is correct."

"Among that pile of bones, there should be the original killer."

Hearing Lin An's calm analysis, everyone couldn't help but turn to look.

That's right, the mission requires 30 people.

That old lady, besides saying "you've come," can't say anything else.

And 21 days ago, when the mission was about to start, a 'madman' inexplicably killed someone.

Before that 'crazed' Awakened One could kill anyone else, everyone had to join forces to kill him.

But afterward, they desperately discovered that they were short on numbers...

Moreover, the system never replenished the trial participants, leaving them completely trapped here.

His eyes flickering, the short‑staff man grew more enthusiastic, a grim smile appearing on his face:

"Correct."

"After you arrived, the trial still lacks one person to start."

"Really... too regrettable."

"We've searched everywhere around here and found nothing."

"Or rather, we don't dare go out."

Frustrated, he weakly pounded the wooden floor; the short‑stick man Ajiaxi gulped, licking his lips.

As a reflex, Feiouna recalled how, when everyone saw her, they instinctively swallowed, and her expression instantly turned grim.

"Ah!"

Ajiaxi noticed Feiouna's icy glare and waved his hands repeatedly:

"You don't need to worry."

"No matter how hungry we get, we won't eat people, after all, no one knows when the next Awakened One will appear."

"If we don't start the mission to end the trial, we'll all die."

Having said that, he slumped against the wall:

"This damned system..."

"All we can do now is pray for the last Awakened One to come quickly..."

"I also don't know why people are sent in batches at intervals..."

He turned his head and gave a placating smile:

"Lord Lin An."

"Thanks to the system for sending you over, giving us a bit of hope... otherwise... we'd have gone mad..."

"Heh-heh-heh..."

In the dim light, the laughter was creepy.