In the dream, the burly men who had come to the mountain to "search for treasure" walked past Lin Yu while chatting and laughing, as if he didn't exist at all.

Lin Yu stood still, deep in thought.

"Is this just a dream caused by my excessive focus on this dungeon puzzle?"

"No... probably not."

Having suddenly experienced such a "lucid dream" related to the current game under these circumstances, Lin Yu absolutely couldn't treat it as just an ordinary dream.

"My perspective seems to be that of a detached observer, and at this time the burly man appears to still be alive..."

"Is this a fragment of the past?"

Lin Yu pondered as he followed the group through the snowstorm.

He counted their numbers - exactly thirteen people.

These thirteen men quickly split up after entering Extreme Winter Mountain.

"We can't travel together here!"

"Right, it would be bad if we attracted that monster called Chate."

"But we should actually thank that monster. If not for it, the rich folks wouldn't be offering such high prices for black oil!"

"True enough, haha... Let's hope we all make it back alive!"

"Wishing everyone good finds."

The thirteen men headed in different directions, their figures soon swallowed by the snowstorm.

After some thought, Lin Yu chose to follow the familiar burly man he had first encountered.

At the very least, he wanted to see how this guy had "died."

After all, from examining the corpse earlier, Lin Yu couldn't determine the exact "method of death."

Following the burly man, Lin Yu soon witnessed the complete process of searching for black oil.

The man took out a broom-like tool that Lin Yu had previously seen with the player called Dolphin, and began moving around while consulting a map.

When he reached areas with particularly deep snow accumulation, he would use the tool to sweep aside the snow.

Occasionally he would uncover some firewood or food, though Lin Yu hadn't seen him find any black oil yet.

Soon, night fell, and the man carrying firewood took out a torch from his backpack.

"Need to find a place to make a fire and rest."

Muttering to himself, he then examined the map by torchlight and seemed to choose a direction.

Watching the man's actions, Lin Yu felt something was odd.

"So he doesn't plan to go to a 'base,' but intends to make his own fire?"

As Lin Yu considered this, a belated realization struck him.

"Wait, in this 'time period' when the man was still alive, it seems there were no 'bases' in this mountain yet!"

Following the man all this way, Lin Yu hadn't seen any wooden cabins or similar structures.

Those man-made bases didn't exist at this point.

This realization made Lin Yu even more curious.

"So where is this man planning to go now?"

After following him just a few more steps, Lin Yu froze.

Because the burly man walked up to a massive rock that provided shelter from the snowstorm, arranged the collected firewood into a campfire, and began warming himself while eating the food he'd found during the day.

Lin Yu was astonished.

Because the rock where the man was currently staying...

If Lin Yu remembered correctly, this was exactly where his corpse had been found!

This filled Lin Yu with intense curiosity.

After eating his fill, the man extinguished his torch, hugged it to his chest, and fell asleep leaning against the burning campfire.

Then...

The night deepened.

Observing the man, Lin Yu saw he had fallen into deep sleep.

And then...

In the middle of the night, an expression of terror suddenly appeared on the man's face!

As if he was having a nightmare!

But instead of waking up, the man seemed unable to rouse himself, his mouth opening in a silent scream!

A few more minutes passed...

After maintaining this terrified expression for a while, it suddenly froze on his face.

Lin Yu was stunned.

Several more minutes passed before he realized.

This burly man... had just died.

The passing of life could be so simple.

Although the lives encountered in this game were called "NPCs" by players...

Based on countless players' experiences, they were definitely not pre-programmed entities.

All these "NPCs" were essentially living beings.

Lin Yu sighed.

"This game is truly cruel."

He crouched down to carefully examine the man's corpse.

"So Chate's method of killing is to murder people in their sleep without leaving traces?"

"It seems this monster, despite boasting about how terrifying it is, actually specializes in 'mental attacks'... But that makes sense. When it was disguised as Furbollo earlier, its actual combat ability seemed nearly nonexistent - it shattered completely after being shot once."

As Lin Yu pondered, he reached a conclusion.

"So Chate kills people by doing something in their 'dreams,' creating fear and inescapable nightmares, right?"

At this thought, Lin Yu suddenly realized something extremely, extremely bad.

"Oh no, I seem to be dreaming right now!"

An indescribable terror instantly sprouted in his heart.

But the moment this "fear" emotion emerged, Lin Yu immediately activated his Corporate Drone skill.

Even in this "dream," the Corporate Drone's professional ability could take effect.

Lin Yu immediately felt himself calm down, his thoughts becoming clear and stable.

"This skill might seem weak, but as I suspected... it's actually god-tier."

"Emotions" themselves could already affect judgment in many situations.

And in the Death Game, life and death could be decided by the most minute judgments!

Moreover...

Many dungeons' difficulties might inherently lie in "emotions"!

Just like the current dungeon.

Whether the "fear" on the man's face before death was the cause of his demise or the result of what killed him, Lin Yu couldn't tell.

But he would absolutely avoid letting himself feel any "fear" emotion as much as possible.

The Corporate Drone skill had a cooldown of once per day, lasting one hour after activation.

So Lin Yu didn't hesitate to use it now.

Having forcibly calmed himself, Lin Yu exhaled and stated his conclusion.

"So Chate can only kill people in their dreams, right?"

Then, through the snowy dreamscape, a voice spoke.

"Your guess is correct."

The sudden voice seemed to come from far away, yet rang clearly in Lin Yu's ears.

If not for the "emotional stability" provided by his Corporate Drone ability, Lin Yu would probably have jumped in fright.

But now, he remained perfectly calm.

He looked around but saw no one.

After some thought, Lin Yu directly asked,

"Who are you?"

The voice indeed responded.

"Who I am isn't important. What matters is that you remember my clue."

"You're the smartest among this group... I hope you can escape - or perhaps, end all this."

As the voice spoke these words...

Lin Yu opened his eyes in bed.

He had woken up naturally, and looked to the side.

The clock by his bedside showed 3:35.