"Nothing," the little girl shook her head.

Just then, the voice of a woman calling them to eat came from outside again, ending this conversation. Xu Huo followed the two children outside for dinner.

Shortly after dinner, two players from next door came to visit, expressing their desire to join Xu Huo in finding a way out, as they also wanted to leave here.

"But the fog will take at least two to three days to disperse," Xu Huo looked at the sky outside, "If we go out now, we won’t be able to see anything."

"That’s the tricky part," Bubble Bean said, "But before coming here, I investigated the weather around here. Sudden fog usually doesn’t last long. To be honest, we are dungeon players. This area imposes certain limitations on dungeon players but not on non-dungeon players like you. We fear not being able to get out, so we’re inviting you to join us."

The man wore a broad smile and showed some anticipation, "If you agree, we can offer you some gratitude gifts, props, or potions."

Xu Huo seemed a bit tempted but decided to refuse after considering, "Your instance must not be simple, and I don’t want to get involved."

"Don’t be quick to refuse," Bubble Bean continued, "After all, we need to go out, isn’t it better to travel together? We can look out for each other, and the Hidden Friend in the legend specifically targets solitary people. The more people, the safer it is, and it’s not a loss for you."

"Let’s go together then," Girl in the painting pressed her communicator, "In case of danger, they can be vanguard."

The words were a bit harsh. Yin Yang Master’s expression slightly darkened, while Bubble Bean remained unfazed and held his arm, agreeing, "Sister is right, we are Rank-B players, leading the way is our duty."

With that settled, the next step was to wait for the fog to clear.

In hopes of understanding the instance as much as possible, Yin Yang Master and Bubble Bean took their leave and visited the nearby residents, trying to gather clues about the "Hidden Friend."

Regarding the "Hidden Friend," most adults were like the middle-aged couple, tight-lipped, as if merely speaking the words would attract the attention of the shadowy figures in the forest. The elderly and children, however, were less restrained. The elderly had many versions, some said the shadows impersonate familiar people to lure the living away, and once they hear their name called, they lose their senses and follow the shadow into the forest depths, never to return.

Others claimed the "Hidden Friend" is actually a plant in disguise, with mutated plants mimicking human forms, using the fog to conceal themselves, and devour the person once lured over, explaining why the missing are never found.

Some confidently told players they heard voices calling in the forest, but left them unanswered, resulting in nothing happening, while a companion mysteriously responded and disappeared the next day...

Yin Yang Master and Bubble Bean asked many people, with the elderly’s stories being bizarre, and the children’s wildly imaginative, sometimes adding baseless fantasies.

The more people they questioned, the more inconsistencies emerged in the details of the rumors, leading to doubts about whether the "Hidden Friend" really exists.

"Those calling out in the woods, are they really the Hidden Friend?" Yin Yang Master couldn’t help but say, "I think it’s likely the same village people’s mischief."

"Some say they are only targeted when alone, while others say several people traveling together each heard the call, or one among them heard... The more we hear, the more fantastical it seems, like something made up."

"Human memory is the most unstable, sometimes we fill in details ourselves, and as time passes, actual events become unclear, with more imagined parts," Bubble Bean said, "But Deng Guang’s disappearance is real. Beneath the Dimension can’t reach him, so he left on his own. This just shows the instance is not as simple as we thought."

"Pity not encountering enough dungeon players," Yin Yang Master said, "When the time comes, killing a few people will lower the dungeon count, increasing the chances of clearing."

"Calm down, the instance has clearly stated that actors lose their eligibility if they kill the wrong person. Do you want to mysteriously die here?" Bubble Bean glared at him.

Before their other companion Deng Guang’s disappearance, they had considered forcibly reducing the number of people, but the problem was the instance background mentioned, "Hidden Friend" would only need one friend per day, unknown consequences would arise if actors killed more or if players caused mutual killings.

If this instance were really as simple as it seemed, why would it be ranked as Rank-B?

"Be careful," Bubble Bean saw Yin Yang Master somewhat distracted and reminded him again.

"Anyway, it’s decided you’ll clear it, as long as I don’t end up alone, there won’t be any problems," Yin Yang Master said.

Bubble Bean wanted to say more, but at that moment the game panel suddenly popped up:

[Current instance remaining players: 37.]

Xu Huo also received the notification, another person was gone. Were they killed by other players, or did the Hidden Friend change roles?

He had been keeping an eye on Bubble Bean and Yin Yang Master’s movements, and of course, had heard the stories about the "Hidden Friend." Though there were many versions, a few common points emerged.

First was the process of calling someone, anyone who heard the voice said it sounded like a familiar person’s voice, not a stranger’s; second, the instance background mentioned the "Hidden Friend" only requiring one friend per day, but in reality, the number of people called away in the village wasn’t evenly daily, not every day did a person disappear.

This could be figured out from the elderly’s narratives, since villages communicated intermittently, even if they couldn’t grasp the number of missing people in real time, during later exchanges they could clarify which people disappeared on which day.

No one mentioned the disappearance of two or more people on the same day.

In these statistics, outsiders were not included, because villagers couldn’t distinguish whether foreign players left on their own or vanished.

Bubble Bean and Yin Yang Master specifically asked whether they heard outsiders being called, and many confirmed hearing it, but stopped there, the guests at the time did not disappear, the villagers couldn’t tell what happened afterward.

From these intersecting pieces of information, when local people disappear, it’s at most only one.

There are two situations concerning hearing voices, some heard by multiple people, others by a single person. If players pretend to be the "Hidden Friend" and call other players, it’s not surprising that many hear it. Whether or not the player disappears is normal, and players can be set aside for now, focusing back on locals.

Even though locals sometimes hear simultaneous callouts, no one actually disappears when several hear it. There are two possibilities when this happens: one being with many people, the real "Hidden Friend" finds it difficult to call someone, or the callers are not genuinely the "Hidden Friend."

After such strange rumors appear, inevitably some will catch into baseless speculation or even fabricate stories for attention.

In the household where Xu Huo was staying, only the little girl heard the voice from within the same house. If verified, at least two conclusions could be drawn:

One, the real "Hidden Friend" can be solely heard by one person during each call; two, locals all recognize this fact.