Messiah wore a gentle smile, his tone mild, and his deep blue eyes were like the warm breeze blowing from the Aegean Sea on a Greek afternoon—not at all aloof, but rather refreshing and soothing. Yet no one dared to underestimate him.

Because of the S-rank badge hanging on his chest, and the small 7 beside it.

NO.7, naturally qualified.

“The main system may have set this round as a solo performance, but that doesn’t mean the difficulty of the instance is reduced.”

To help the newcomers, Messiah gave a specific example.

“Based on our veteran experience, if it’s a normal or lower-difficulty instance, the main quest is usually to escape the psychiatric hospital, or to solve a targeted puzzle involving certain items and clues. But this instance doesn’t have that. Its main quest is simply for us to survive three days.”

“—This means that trainees only need to stay alive. You don’t even need to figure out what happened in this hospital, or what truth is buried here. Because all the difficulties set by the main system are less important than survival.”

The trainees suddenly understood.

When survival is raised to the same level as puzzle-solving, it means that in this instance, staying alive is the greatest challenge.

Once they realized this, everyone couldn’t help but feel a chill run through their limbs, their whole bodies turning cold.

“With this level of difficulty, I suggest everyone stick together.”

Messiah said, “Although the purpose of a solo performance is to showcase yourself, the main system never said trainees can’t cooperate. There’s no need for us to turn on our own just to survive.”

Seeing that some newcomers were still hesitant, the blond saint pressed on, “Rest assured, everyone—the rules of the infinite loop strictly forbid survivors from killing each other. The nurse at the psychiatric hospital just mentioned this as well.”

“The enemies of survivors have never been other survivors. We have a common enemy—those things.” The blond saint hinted, “Rank evaluation is important, but what’s most important right now is to survive this instance, isn’t it?”

These words were like a wake-up call, completely rousing the dazed newcomers.

That’s right, survival is the most important thing. Rank evaluation or elimination—none of that matters if you don’t live to see it.

If they couldn’t even survive these three days, they wouldn’t even qualify for evaluation.

More and more newcomers stood behind the blond saint.

Strangely enough, after the nurse left, the entire cafeteria seemed empty.

The lunch lady at the serving window had packed up, and the burly orderlies were nowhere to be seen. They didn’t even spot a single extra patient NPC—only the trainees with badges were chattering here.

Perhaps this was common in the psychiatric hospital. As long as they didn’t break the rules the head nurse mentioned, they’d be fine.

While the newcomers made their choices, the veterans were clearly more thorough and thoughtful.

“Let’s go. This instance is obviously not that simple.”

Brian Cooper sighed, pulled Edward Foster along, and joined the group.

In the past, during the infinite loop, they always acted as a team, able to trust their backs to their own people.

The infinite loop was already terrifying enough—if they started fighting among themselves, what then?

But in this instance, the main system had clearly pointed out that there was a traitor among them, making the veterans anxious and uneasy.

It wasn’t surprising that Messiah would say all this.

Because whether or not a traitor existed, sticking together was still the best option—for both newcomers and veterans.

Henry Clark stood by, watching the whole time without making a statement, but quietly moved a few steps closer to the saint.

【Amazing, such charisma—no wonder he’s the saint】

【It’s really lucky to have a leader in this area. In the other area’s livestream, the Cursed Squad and the Night Clan are almost fighting, secretly competing with each other, and the newcomers are just cannon fodder】

【True, if it were someone else, they might not have the saint’s charisma. He’s an S-rank boss to the newcomers, and even among the veterans, many trust him】

【Am I the only one who cares about Master Zhuge... I don’t think Master Zhuge is the type to follow the rules (covers face)】

In the end, everyone had declared their stance—except for one person still standing outside the circle.

The black-haired man was as thin as bamboo, arms crossed, his eyes as deep and unfathomable as a cold pond.

While the saint was giving his passionate speech, he stood by the wall looking at the schedule. When Messiah finished, he didn’t even glance at the group that had formed an alliance—he simply turned and left, leaving behind a cold and aloof figure.

Henry Clark glanced through the crowd, confirming that direction led to the stairs.

When that figure disappeared into the darkness, someone finally whispered, “My god, that guy’s aura is intense.”

“We all chose to ally, so why is he the only one not joining in?”

Everyone was uneasy. “Didn’t the main system say someone got a different identity card? Do you think it could be...”