Horror :The Cautious Titan

As Lucas moved silently from door to door, knocking ever so gently, his presence sent invisible ripples through the cruise ship.

Inside several rooms, even though no one had seen him directly, no one could sleep.

---

Room 203

Inside, Jason was curled up beneath the blanket, trembling. The entire door had been barricaded from the inside with a desk and two chairs. But no matter how high the furniture was piled, it did little to calm the storm raging inside his mind.

Outside, footsteps stopped by his room.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Jason held his breath, eyes wide open in the darkness.

"He can't get in… right?"

He stared at the door like it might suddenly burst open.

Only when the footsteps moved on did Jason dare to breathe again. His body, drenched in cold sweat, shuddered.

He hadn't even realized he was soaked.

But then—

A scream shattered the hallway.

Zhao Lingyun's voice.

It came out of nowhere—sharp and chilling.

Jason bolted upright, heart pounding like a war drum.

He pressed his ear to the wall, straining to hear what came next.

But no more sound followed.

No second scream. No footsteps. No words.

"No way… no way…" Jason whispered, gripping his head as visions filled his mind—horrific, bloody images of what might've happened behind that door.

[Player Jason was frightened by Player Lucas. Mental value -6, -6, -6…]

His hands shook uncontrollably.

This man… Lucas… he's a ghost. He has to be.

How am I supposed to survive tomorrow night?

---

Room 202

Marco sat on the edge of the bed, a cigarette burning slowly between his fingers. He hadn't moved when the knocking began. He already knew who it was.

Lucas.

The calm, rhythmic knocking echoed through the corridor.

One door… then another… and another.

Marco didn't answer. Of course he didn't.

Instead, he exhaled a long breath and looked at the ceiling.

"Room 205… Mark's room."

Is he really opening the door for Lucas?

Moments later, the faint creak of a door opening reached his ears.

Marco's brows furrowed.

"So Mark's still alive? Still one of them?"

His earlier confidence began to crumble.

All of Marco's analytical instincts—so reliable in every game before—kept failing when it came to Lucas.

No matter how he evaluated the situation, the man was unpredictable.

Suddenly—

A short, sharp scream pierced the silence.

Marco flinched.

His hand twitched, and the cigarette ash fell onto his skin, burning him.

"Why would Jasmine open the door now of all times?"

He clenched his teeth. A second later, Jasmine's scream echoed through the corridor.

Then—nothing.

It was as if she had been swallowed by the night.

His mind drifted to a darker time… back to when he and Lucas had shared the same room in an earlier round.

He remembered the bodies.

Nathan. Natalie.

Soaked in blood. Faces twisted in agony.

Back then, he thought they had been killed by something else.

But now…

That could have been me lying there.

[Player Marco reflected on the past. Mental value -8, -8, -8…]

The silence returned. Unbroken. Heavy.

Marco lit another cigarette. He didn't even take a drag.

---

Meanwhile, outside the game, the panel stats of the players in the dungeon were updating constantly.

Spectators watching the live broadcast had a clear view of everything.

"Lucas is terrifying. Marco and Jason didn't even see him face to face, but just hearing his footsteps made their mental values plummet!"

"And isn't Lucas supposed to be a human? Why does he feel more like a ghost than the actual ghosts?!"

Even the viewers began to feel cold sweat forming on their backs.

If it was this scary to watch through a screen, how horrifying must it be for those still inside the dungeon?

---

[103,961 new viewers have joined Player Lucas's live stream.]

[89,421 new followers added.]

[61,123 viewers have sent rewards. Total reward points: 61,123.]

Everyone was talking about the insane mental damage Lucas had caused.

But then—someone noticed something else entirely.

"Wait a minute. Am I seeing things… or is Lucas's mental value at 109?!"

"It really is! It used to be 100 max, right? How is it going up?"

Speculation broke out across the chat.

"Does mental value regenerate automatically now?!"

"No way. From what I remember, attributes like strength and stamina can be trained. But mental value? That usually only increases from mission rewards."

"Could it be a bug?"

"Lucas's panel used to be unreadable by the system. Maybe the backend glitched again?"

A massive wave of users submitted reports to the live broadcast system, requesting confirmation.

Then, two system announcements appeared at the top of Lucas's stream.

---

[System Notice: After thorough background testing, no issues were found in Player Lucas's panel. His current mental value of 109 is accurate.]

[System Notice: Similar to strength and endurance, mental value can now also be improved through player action and conditioning.]

---

"Don't tell me… Lucas actually increased his mental value by killing people?!"

"That can't be it. This isn't even the first time he's killed someone."

"I don't know how he's doing it. But what I do know—Lucas is the first player in the game's history to increase his mental value this way!"

---

Even the long-time veterans in the audience were stunned.

Every round of this thriller game introduced something new… but no one expected this.

Lucas wasn't just surviving.

He was growing stronger. Mentally stronger. And more terrifying.

---

Tonight, no one sleeps.

Not the players in the game.

Not the players watching outside.

And certainly not the developers, now scrambling to understand the enigma that was Lucas.

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