As soon as the door closed behind them, the light faded rapidly, and the Players were soon plunged into darkness as they stood in the hall on the first floor of the building.
Nonetheless, the broad daylight outside filtered through the windows and soon, their eyes adjusted to the dim interior. Looking around, it was clear enough that the hall was just as empty as the rest of the orphanage so far, and the only features in this otherwise open space were some scattered pieces of furniture.
There were two routes that led out of the hall and to the higher levels: the first was a switchback staircase to the west, while the other way up, to the east of the hall, was a plain lift.
Knowing that there must be supernatural entities around them, only an idiot would think to try the lift. If anything were to happen in a small, cramped space like that, there would hardly be enough time for a Player to activate any of their skills.
After several more attempts at forcing the door open to no avail, Iron Blood turned around and said, frowning, "Sealed in."
"That's only to be expected." Traveler smiled as he pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up along his nose. "If the door could be opened and closed freely, then there would be nothing challenging about the first objective. The task is simply to locate the survivors and guide them out of the building, after all.
"Remember what I said about the lack of time limit? In order to do this more efficiently, I propose we search the building by splitting into smaller teams. Moving around in a group of seven is too slow, and makes us an obvious target. I think 3 teams should be the best, and we should group up based on—"
He was interrupted by the Player known as "Douchey, SoWhat", who spat a melon seed shell on the ground.
"Pah, why should we listen to you anyway?" His mocking smile and overall body language spoke strongly of a rebellious, delinquent attitude. "Watch any horror movie, it's obvious that splitting up is the dumbest thing to do. I'm against it."
Traveler looked unfazed as he patiently replied with a smile, "Sure, but as I said, the fact that there's no time limit on this quest is likely to disguise a major trap. If we keep dawdling like this, completely ineffectively, we may be safe now, but will face overwhelming odds as time goes on.
"Besides, the quest description mentioned survivors inside this very building. If normies can survive the threat level here, it shouldn't be a problem for us Players. If we get attacked precisely because we split up, it might even present an opportunity to figure out how to neutralize the six sources of strange activity. Working alone is obviously foolish, but in teams of two to three, that dramatically reduces the risk to the lowest possible while still remaining effective.
"...In that case, I'm with him."
The 16-year-old delinquent rolled his eyes and pointed at Iron Blood, who was still busy surveying the room.
He was the only one out of all the Players who carried himself like a soldier, and had the highest level. Judging by his physique alone, it seemed he was the strongest out of all of them, so for Douchey to pick him as a teammate was a no-brainer.
Iron Blood merely reacted with a silent crease of his brows.
"Very well, let's pick our own teams; at least two to a team. If any of us come across any unusual things, experience strange events, or find traces of any survivors, use these walkie-talkies to let the others know."
Traveler smiled and brought out several wireless handheld transceivers from his Inventory, handing one out to each Player. The devices were patently portable, being no bigger than your typical air conditioner remote controller, and they fit easily into the hand.
"Since we're in teams, there's no need to give each of us one device, is there? Isn't one per team enough?" remarked Bai Zhi with one raised eyebrow, even as he reached for the offered device.
"Just a precaution. After all, when it comes to supernatural entities, you can't be too careful. If anyone happens to be separated and in a pinch, this will let us find them and help them out in time."
Traveler placed his own walkie-talkie in his jacket pocket and beamed at Bai Zhi.
"Naturally, if you all realize anything or have a hunch, please feel free to share the news at any time... Alright, let's get in teams now. Partner up with whomever you like, as long as we have three teams at the end. For efficiency."
"I'm with him!" No sooner had Traveler spoken than Temperance Gentleheart raised a hand and walked decisively toward Bai Zhi.
Despite the fact that his level was the lowest out of all the Players, her last experience of a near-team wipe had made her keenly aware of the difference between a truly competent Player and a mediocre one.
Somewhat taken aback by Temperance Gentleheart's odd choice, Viridescent cast a look of surprise at Bai Zhi before walking toward Traveler herself.
The three teams were beginning to take shape, which left Daoloth as the odd one out.
"Uhh..."
Stunned by how quickly the teams had formed up, Daoloth looked from Traveler's team to Iron Blood's, then after a moment's deliberation, went toward team Iron Blood.
It appeared that Bai Zhi had been skipped over by nearly everyone, not that he minded. In fact, he had even hoped to explore the place solo, if not for Temperance's choice.
Seeing that everyone had picked their teams, Traveler nudged his glasses higher with his middle finger and said jovially, "Now that we've grouped up, next, I'd like to suggest the work assignments. Okay?
"From the outside, it looks like this building has six floors. That means with three teams between us, each team should be responsible for investigating two floors. Viridescent and I will take floors 3 and 4. As for floors 5 and 6..."
"I'll handle it." Nodding solemnly, Bai Zhi piped up before Traveler could finish speaking. "Five and Six happen to be my lucky numbers."
Traveler glanced at Bai Zhi, then composed himself and said, "Uhh... well Iron Blood's team will take Floors 1 and 2, then."
Immediately afterward, he put on a serious look.
"Remember, everyone, staying alive comes before everything else. Please be extra careful out there. If you come across anything strange, or signs of survivors, please notify the others using the walkie-talkies as soon as possible." Here, he paused, then said,"...We only have one life to live, and to stay alive, there's no precaution in excess!"
