Josh squinted his eyes, mimicking the others, and said, "Yeah, if you attract that thing here, you’ll get us all killed!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

As expected, the others showed no unusual reaction, except for Mina.

Some even echoed her sentiment.

Josh made another note in his system notebook.

Apart from the open-air grounds, the NPCs shouldn’t be able to detect any difference between the players and NPCs elsewhere.

Therefore, there’s something strange about the open-air grounds.

There must be something in the open-air grounds that allows these NPCs to instantly discern the difference between players and NPCs, enabling them to conduct precise, indiscriminate attacks.

What exactly is it...

"Thump thump!"

"Thump thump!"

A sudden dull sound came from outside, seemingly from above yet also from the outside, making the whole house tremble.

Josh felt a distinct tremor as he stood on the floor.

The thumping sound strangely seemed to influence their heartbeat.

That must be the thing Shanwu talked about.

Fear appeared on everyone’s faces as they huddled in the corner, not daring to make a sound.

Seeing this, Josh crouched in the corner as well, covering his mouth.

Mina wanted to get close to him but was kicked away, rolling into another corner.

She glanced at Josh with resentment, mimicking his actions by silently covering her nose and mouth.

Josh ignored her, concentrating on the sounds outside.

Every thump from the floor made his heartbeat match its rhythm, as if his heart rate was being influenced, making him incredibly uncomfortable.

The entire room, and even the whole building, fell silent, leaving only the slow, heavy thumping sound.

In the midst of the silence, there came a slight "clink" sound, followed by the electronic door creaking open.

Everyone widened their eyes in terror, covering their mouths and noses.

Josh’s network of Spider Silk filled the entire room; anyone who held their breath was immediately obvious to her.

Could the monster be capturing people based on breathing sounds?

She held her breath as well, her eyes fixed on the doorway.

It wasn’t just their room—the echoing "clink" sound indicated that the doors to all the prison cells in the building had forcibly opened.

The door stood wide open, facing the corridor.

That thing’s footsteps were drawing closer.

A faint, eerie red glow slowly approached.

Josh stared at the doorway, her hands already covered in white gloves.

It’s here!

A giant tentacle descended from above, landing at the doorway, resembling the leg of some enormous insect, radiating a red glow, and covered with fine hairs.

Following that, a huge insect head leaned in towards their open door.

Josh locked eyes with the monster, finally seeing its appearance clearly.

It was a giant insect akin to a grasshopper, its limbs long and slender, supporting a long, narrow body, yet it was unlike any grasshopper.

In the instant they made eye contact, Josh felt a shock to her mind, a buzzing sensation overwhelming her as dizziness struck.

[Warning! SSS-level Spiritual type monster detected, with unknown spiritual power level, unknown aggression, unknown species, unknown pollution capability!]

[Players are advised to stay away from the unknown monster to avoid mental pollution and being assimilated into a planar monster!]

Josh was stunned, recognizing the alert sound.

From her entry into the "God Creation Game" until now, she had only heard it once after triggering the Mermaid King in the novice instance...

In various subsequent instances, including triggers of hidden bosses and SSS-level bosses, she hadn’t heard this alert again.

Suppressing the dizziness and tinnitus, Josh looked towards the monster.

The barrage of comments exploded.

[Oh crap! It’s censored again? What exactly does that monster look like? Is there anything VIP users can’t see?]

[Exactly! Developer, come out! Remove this censored block!]

[I heard it’s to protect the audience, right? Some monsters have very strong spiritual pollution abilities; even through the screen, they can cause mental pollution to the audience. The mosaic is to protect everyone, especially from affecting kids.]

Almost the moment Josh made eye contact with the monster again, her mind was in turmoil.

The mental pollution began anew.

[Warning, you are under spiritual attack, please distance from the source of mental pollution promptly to avoid assimilation into the instance monster within half an hour.]

[Warning, your Life Value has dropped to 60, please distance from the source of mental pollution promptly.]

You see, it’s the same issue again.

Josh frowned slightly, watching her Life Value drop to 40 before diverting her gaze.

The monster merely extended its tentacle, scanning the room, and after detecting no breathing sounds, it departed.

Josh looked at her Attributes interface, frowning slightly.

She was polluted; a portion of her Spiritual Domain turned black, and her Attributes interface showed a pollution value of 30.

The feeling of dizziness and nausea was persistent.

Screams came from outside, likely someone who failed to hold their breath was captured.

Josh cautiously glanced at Mina; she used Spider Silk to sense that the nearby NPCs were holding their breath, which is why she had done the same.

But Mina hadn’t been captured, showing that she had also held her breath.

Clearly, she was more intelligent than she appeared...

Josh withdrew her gaze and exchanged for healing items to restore her Life Value.

Seeing the mental pollution interface, she paused again.

The night passed relatively peacefully.

The number of people in the instance had suddenly dropped to 15.

It indicates that besides the one who died at noon yesterday, four more died last night.

But this data couldn’t be used to make accurate judgments.

Because there are three scenarios.

1. Everyone smartly held their breath, yet four people were still captured.

If that’s the case, then whether or not you hold your breath can’t be used as a standard to avoid attacks.

2. Four people didn’t hold their breath and were captured.

According to the second scenario, it means that as long as you hold your breath, you can avoid the night’s slaughter.

3. More people didn’t hold their breath, yet only four were captured.

If this scenario is true, it means the monster’s hunting limit is four.

Josh’s eyes flickered, lowering her eyelids inconspicuously, and in her mind, she opened the system to jot down notes and reasoning clues.

As long as she could deduce the patterns of the open-air grounds and the prison slaughter, she could survive the 20 days.

The next day.

Everyone got up promptly at 6 AM, and after breakfast time, they headed out on time.

Josh discreetly observed the group, frowning deeply.

Something was off.

Today, the number of people in the corridor was exactly the same as yesterday.

Everyone came out of the prison cells, with fixed spacing, and each had a number on their backs.

Josh used her Spider Silk to check the numbers on the two people at the far back and front; astonishingly, there was no change at all.

Let alone the person who died in the open-air grounds.

Even last night, from their floor alone, four people were captured; no matter what, the number in the group shouldn’t remain completely unchanged.