Chapter 53: Illusion

A round and flat thing that was emitting hot air appeared in the ponytail girl’s hand. She immediately stuffed it into her mouth without caring about her appearance.

After eating quickly, she turned to look at Zhou Chen and the young man in the military uniform.

“Killing this ice monster can give us food! The taste is not bad either! I plan to take the initiative to attack!”

With that said, she charged into the fog with her glaive.

Zhou Chen and the young man quickly reacted and charged into the fog.

After being hungry for a few days, even plain white rice would taste fragrant, let alone the meat buns. The few of them were instantly filled with motivation to kill the monsters.

After walking in the fog alone for a while, Zhou Chen sensed an abnormal movement behind him. He held the spear in both hands, quickly turned it around, and stabbed, piercing through an ice wolf that jumped over.

The wolf monster formed from ice quickly shattered after being heavily injured by him. At the same time, it brought a system announcement:

[You have killed the Ice Lake Wolf Spirit. Reward: 1 Candle (Low Bronze).]

Zhou Chen couldn’t help but frown after reading the reward. That girl obtained a fragrant meat bun when killing a monster, while he obtained an useless candle. It really made him feel that this system was filled with malice.

“However, getting drops from killing monsters is also good. It’s better than finding trouble with the tree demons.”

Zhou Chen had originally wanted to challenge the tree demons because he wanted to make more gains in this dungeon. But now, a monster that was easier to kill than a tree demon had appeared, so he did not need to take the risk.

After continuing to walk in the fog for a while, Zhou Chen encountered ice monsters that looked like large cats and deers. After spending some effort to kill them, he gained nothing from one monster, while he got food from the other monster. It was not a fragrant meat bun but a slice of butter bread.

Zhou Chen swallowed the bread quickly and longed for more.

“The Survival mission this time is not bad. It did not let us starve on purpose. Looks like the system still wants to use battle to test us.”

While he was thinking, Zhou Chen continued to walk in the fog, searching for more monsters.

However, over the following period, he realized that it was neither difficult to find monsters nor was it hard to kill them. However, the drop rate of the items began to decrease. After killing nearly ten ice monsters, only a roasted potato dropped.

“Is it trying to persuade me to retreat? With such a drop rate, the rewards from killing monsters can’t keep up with my stamina consumption.”

After some thought, Zhou Chen began to think about returning.

The temperature in this fog was quite low. Walking in it would cause one to be stained with water vapor, making one feel particularly cold. If not for the reward for killing the monsters, Zhou Chen would have long returned to warm himself near the fire.

As for how to return, he was already prepared. On one hand, he could retrace his footprints, and on the other hand, he had left other marks as well.

After spending some time and killing two ice monsters that did not drop anything, Zhou Chen returned to the fire site.

However, when he returned, he realized that the fire had long been extinguished. The entire area seemed to be drenched in water.

“There’s no way to start a fire here. I have to change locations.”

Zhou Chen thought inwardly, but he did not leave immediately because he wanted to wait for the other two to return.

In this Survival mission, he felt that it would be easier if there were more people.

After waiting in the cold fog for about three minutes, he heard footsteps and quickly saw two approaching figures.

“Hey, don’t stay here. Come with me to a good place!”

In the fog, the first to appear was the ponytail girl. She had a smile on her face and looked very happy.

Beside her, the young man in the green military uniform stood quietly. His eyes were very calm, as if he was waiting for Zhou Chen to reply.

Zhou Chen immediately walked towards them, but he stopped two meters away.

“Why are your clothes intact? Weren’t they tattered?”

Zhou Chen stared at their almost intact clothes and frowned.

“Two repair cards dropped just now, so we restored our clothes.”

The girl replied immediately.

“Repair Card? There’s such a thing?”

Zhou Chen still looked at the two with doubt.

“Of course! Don’t dawdle. The others are waiting for us.”

The girl urged when she saw that Zhou Chen still did not move.

“The others? Who?”

Zhou Chen was even more suspicious when he heard the girl.

“Who else? The white coat, the smiley masked man, and the underwear man.”

The girl replied impatiently.

“Hehe.”

Zhou Chen immediately chuckled when he heard her reply. He pierced the spear straight through her chest, and then quickly pulled it out, before swiping the tip of the spear across the neck of the suited man beside him like lightning.

Blood splattered. As the man and woman fell, Zhou Chen felt some warmth on his face.

“How can this be? Aren’t they both fake?”

Zhou Chen was somewhat stunned as he looked at his two companions who had been killed and fell to the ground. These two were clearly fake, but why did they seem to be real after being pierced by his spear?

“No, my judgment is correct. These two are definitely fake!”

After some thought, Zhou Chen confirmed his belief. He knew what was wrong with him.

He turned the spear in his hand and gently swiped his arm. Under the stimulation of pain and blood, he felt his mind clear. The two corpses on the ground before him also changed.

There were no corpses of the girl and the young man on the ground. There were only some ice shards that were stained with dirt.

“I didn’t expect that some of these monsters could create hallucinations. I really underestimated them.”

He looked back at the drenched fire site and felt that he might not be able to wait for the two of them.

“I wonder if they also encountered this monster that can create hallucinations. What would I encounter if I had followed this monster?”

“However, this monster’s disguise has a rather obvious flaw. The two of them will definitely be able to tell.”

After some thought, Zhou Chen decided to wait for a while.

After about half an hour, Zhou Chen did not see the two Survivors. He only saw another ice monster that came to claim its death, but it did not drop anything.

“Alright, I have waited enough. Those two might be still fighting monsters or are lost. There is no way to reunite with them in a short period.”

It was not compulsory for Zhou Chen to cooperate with others. Since no one arrived, he prepared to continue the mission alone.