Capítulo 24: Chapter 24: The Eerie Family Photo
Although he had used up his free communication attempts, Hanson did not give up on his job.
He meticulously documented the status of each player as thoroughly as possible.
This way, he could use the players' behaviors as a control group to filter out the correct rules and identify dangerous elements to be aware of.
Hanson watched Jon's live feed, where Jon seemed to be facing a dilemma, thinking with a serious expression.
The Black Goat had already mentioned that if someone volunteered to sacrifice themselves, they could earn another communication attempt, and if the player could win the challenge, the sacrificed person could be revived.
If it really came down to a life-or-death situation,
Hanson would rather try to see if his own life could provide Jon with a chance to create a miracle, than see everyone die together.
So far, Jon was the last player left in Exam Room 42.
The Black Goat seemed a bit bored, he briefly tallied the remaining classes and sighed.
"Sigh, the quality of these students is really poor. So many got eliminated in just one night." the Black Goat shook his head, his attention mostly focused on Jon.
After all, Jon was the only player who was still somewhat watchable.
Moreover, Jon's progress was ahead of all the other players, he was very close to beating the game.
The Black Goat watched the live feed as Jon pulled out a photo album, flipping through it with a solemn expression.
Seeing this, the Black Goat nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad, it seems he has roughly discovered the secret behind this small house..."
...
A little while ago, in the instance Jon was in.
Jon was still searching through the entire small house, he had already collected quite a few items.
These were all things that could be useful in the outside world.
Although there were still a few days left, he planned to make thorough preparations in advance.
Placing all the collected items on the dining table in the living room, he began to review them one by one.
"Hemp rope, knife, a kerosene lamp, small mirror, matches, candles..." Jon packed all the useful items into the canvas backpack he found.
The backpack had limited capacity, and Jon knew that his physical fitness was average, somewhat below average among his peers.
Traveling through the cold, snowy forest would consume a lot of energy and heat.
Even for mountaineers, they need the appropriate equipment to support them, otherwise, they wouldn't risk their lives.
Since he didn't have professional gear, he had to be extremely cautious to increase his chances of survival.
The lighter the load, the better, unnecessary items could be left behind.
After packing the backpack simply, Jon felt that he needed thicker clothes.
In this small house, only his grandmother's wardrobe had clothes.
Jon headed to the second floor, entered his grandmother's room, and began searching for some warm clothes.
Actually, the clothes he was wearing were winter clothes, Jon's university was near the Arctic Circle, where it was cold year-round, with nearly six months of winter.
So Jon's clothes were quite warm, but his shoes and socks were inadequate.
The shoes had low tops, and the socks were just a thin layer.
As a result, snow could easily get inside, and once the temperature of his feet melted the snow, the icy water would soak through his shoes and socks, making his toes prone to frostbite.
In cold temperatures, the body will adjust its functions, prioritizing blood flow to the internal organs to maintain core body temperature.
Therefore, extremities like fingers, toes, nose, and ears are the most susceptible to frostbite and necrosis.
Such damage is irreversible, and further complications can be life-threatening.
Jon wanted to find some thicker socks, and it would be even better if he could find some sturdy boots.
At this moment, Jon opened the bottom drawer of the cabinet.
He took out the entire drawer, and inside were neatly folded socks.
They were thick wool socks, looking brand new as if they had never been worn.
Jon took out a few pairs, feeling that they should be quite warm. When he looked up, he noticed a photo album in the hidden compartment under the drawer.
"Oh? Hidden in such a place, it would be hard to find normally..." Jon muttered softly.
He had a strong premonition that this album must contain some kind of secret.
After all, if it didn't hold any secrets, it wouldn't be hidden in such a concealed place.
Jon opened the album, and the first page featured a large black-and-white photo with five people in it.
But the eerie thing was—
The faces of everyone in the photo looked like smeared oil paint, resembling chaotic whirlpools, completely obscuring their actual appearances.
Jon could only judge from their bodies and clothing whether they were male or female and what their identities might be.
The photo showed three adults and two children.
Sitting in the center of the photo on a chair was an elderly person in a gray sweater, with a slightly plump and short stature and white hair.
Two younger individuals stood to the left and right behind the elderly person.
Judging from their clothes and body shapes, the person on the left seemed to be a tall, strong man, while the person on the right was a woman with long curly hair. Their bodies were close together, suggesting they were a couple.
In front of this couple stood two children.
The children looked quite young, probably around three or four years old. Although their faces were unclear, they seemed to be boys.
From the intimate actions in the photo, Jon could almost instantly determine that this was a family photo.
Moreover, he looked at the elderly person's clothes in the photo, who was seated in the central chair.
Jon opened the wardrobe directly and precisely found a light pink sweater with the same pattern in the left-side second cabinet among a pile of neatly folded clothes.
Because the photo was black-and-white, the sweater appeared gray in it.
It seemed that the elderly person in the photo was indeed his grandmother.
Confirming that this was his grandmother, the identities of the others in the photo naturally became clear.
The young couple should be his "parents."
As for the children in front of them, one was himself, and the other was his brother.
At this moment, the puppy also ran in from outside the door.
The puppy came next to Jon and glanced at the album in his hand.
Its wagging tail paused for a few seconds, and a hint of confusion flashed in its eyes, along with some highly human-like emotions that shouldn't appear in a dog's eyes.
Jon's keen senses caught this fleeting emotion.
"Hey, is this you?" Jon extended his hand and pointed at one of the children in the picture.
The puppy didn't answer, just looked at Jon with a silly grin, continuing to wag its tail, its eyes crystal clear.
"Cough, cough, cough—ugh!"
At this moment, the puppy suddenly started gagging and vomited a mouthful of yellowish mucus again.
Jon set the album aside temporarily, knowing that this was a symptom of the puppy's garlic poisoning. During this time, the puppy's psychic energy would be at a very low level.
And at such times, the puppy could easily be controlled by "it."
They couldn't feed it any more garlic now, they would have to wait until bedtime. Otherwise, the puppy could be in danger from ingesting too much garlic toxin.
Jon knew that at this point, he would need to manually replenish the puppy's psychic energy.
He extended his hand and petted the puppy's head.
Sure enough, a subtle sensation emerged.
Jon felt as if a barely perceptible energy was flowing from his palm, quickly absorbed by the puppy.
The puppy's poisoned state visibly improved, and it soon regained its vitality.
Jon quickly lifted his hand, cutting off the supply of psychic energy.
He needed to maintain a high level of psychic energy himself to avoid severe cognitive contamination.
The puppy needed to maintain a relatively low level of psychic energy to ensure it wouldn't turn into a werewolf or be controlled by "it." which was the safest approach.
The puppy sat on the ground, looking at Jon with its tongue out, wagging its tail incessantly.
Jon couldn't help but smile, he now completely trusted the puppy.
According to his grandmother's previous subtle hints—
The puppy is part of our family, and you need to get along well with him.
After seeing the family photo, Jon understood that this puppy was supposed to be his "brother" in the setting.
"Woof, woof, woof—bark! Bark!"
Suddenly, the puppy started barking furiously without any warning.
It looked at Jon with a fierce expression, growling continuously, baring its sharp teeth as if it had spotted a dangerous enemy.
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