Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Before they could continue discussing their next steps, the game’s voice suddenly boomed overhead.

[Attention all players.]

[In three minutes, three treasure chests will be randomly dropped again.]

[Treasure chests will remain for three minutes.]

[If not claimed within the time limit, the chests will automatically disappear.]

[Friendly reminder: In the final half hour, the hunt will be fully upgraded. If you don’t have any items, your chances of survival are slim to none.]

The announcement ended.

The three by the pit exchanged glances.

The game wasn’t just baiting the players-it was straight-up forcing them to risk their lives. It was basically saying. “If you don’t grab one, you’re dead!”

Lina took a step back. “Lyra, the hunt’s been upgraded.”

Lyra’s massive, rough trunk didn’t budge, but one of her thorn-covered branches dragged slowly through the dirt.

Lyra scratched into the dirt, “Go get it.”

Lydia stepped forward and patted her chest.

“I got this,” Lydia said.

Sergei pointed at the pit and shook his head.

“Too dangerous,” he said.

“I’m not leaving,” Lydia said.

Lina fished around in her pocket for her Firestarter.

I’ll do what I always do,” she said.

“If it drops right on top of me, you bet I’ll grab it.

“But if it’s even a bit out of reach, I’m staying put.

“I’m too slow. If I try, I’m just asking to get caught.”

With that, the plan was set.

Without wasting a second, Lyra turned and headed straight for the starting point.

Lydia grabbed a fistful of mud and covered herself thoroughly-face and neck-then spun around and made a mad dash for the pond to the southeast.

Sergei immediately ducked back into the pit.

Lina pulled the branches over the pit to cover it up.

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Chapter 48

On the other side of the forest, Lyra barreled through the thicket at full speed. Her ice tree trunk plowed through the rough terrain, smashing through bushes and breaking branches like they were nothing.

Crack!

Crack!

Before long, the trees thinned out and she burst into the clearing at the starting point.

Lyra stopped dead in the center of the clearing, her holographic heat sense flaring to life. Within about sixty-five feet, there wasn’t a single trace of abnormal heat.

The treasure chest hadn’t spawned yet.

Two minutes later, something shifted in the dense woods on the southwest edge. Lyra’s heat-sensing grid suddenly picked up two bright red human-shaped figures.

Two people, moving fast, were racing straight for the clearing.

Lyra didn’t move.

The two red blips stopped at the edge of the clearing, pressed up against a mature palm tree and tucked themselves under its massive roots, perfectly slipping into the blind spot where no one could see them.

Lyra’s hardened leaves scraped against each other, but she didn’t turn around. A few of her thorn-covered branches slowly lowered, wrapping around one of the corpses hanging from her body.

With a sudden jerk, she tossed it upward, and another branch snatched it midair-then tossed it again, caught it again, like some twisted juggling act.

She kept repeating the motion, again and again.

It was like some freakish beast messing with its prey.

Under the roots, Buzzcut Guy stared wide-eyed, clutching the tree trunk for dear life.

“Don’t even think about going over there,” he whispered.

“That thing’s a Wraith.”

Next to him, Tall Guy was panting hard, his face pale.

“No shit,” he muttered.

“Dude, I’m not blind. It’s literally messing around with a corpse!”

Buzzcut Guy swallowed hard. “Let’s go camp somewhere else for the chest.”

“No way!” Tall Guy grabbed him.

“This is the starting point.”

“Trust me, the chest’s gonna drop right here in a minute.”

Buzzcut Guy’s voice shot up. “Are you out of your mind?

“You really gonna try to grab the chest right in front of that monster?”

Tall Guy lowered his voice, speaking in a rapid, urgent whisper.

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“Don’t you get it yet?”

The authorities already sent out a warning-Wraiths only track people by their body heat

Tall Guy pointed at the clearing ahead.

“We’re hiding here. As long as that Wraith tree doesn’t come right up to us, it won’t even notice we’re here

“Once the chest hits the ground, that Wraith tree will go nuts for it,” Tall Guy whispered.

He stared at the massive gray-barked tree.

“As soon as the chest pops open, that thing will still be all over it,” Tall Guy continued.

“The Wraith will keep attacking the chest, and that’s when the loot drops.”

“We just need to wait for that exact moment.”

Tall Guy gave Buzzcut Guy a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Once it’s busy ripping open the chest, we’ll snatch the loot,” he whispered.

“Just grab it and run-it won’t even care about us.”

Buzzcut Guy looked doubtful. “Is this really gonna work?”

“We just gotta risk it,” Tall Guy said.

“The authorities said that when a chest drops, Wraiths always go for it first.”

“Plus, the hunt’s about to get way nastier in the next half hour. If we don’t grab some loot, we’re screwed anyway.”

The game’s voice boomed again.

[Countdown complete.]

[Treasure chests have been dropped.]

[Claim countdown: three minutes.]

Three massive beams of light shot down from the sky.

One of them landed dead center in the clearing.

Blistering heat blasted out, hitting everyone like a furnace.

Lyra instantly lashed out with her two thickest branches, smashing them down on the chest with brutal force, like a pair of heavy whips.

Thud!

The crash rumbled like distant thunder, but the wooden chest didn’t move an inch.

A notification popped up in Lyra’s field of vision.

[Treasure chest opening countdown: 10, 9]

Lyra’s branches twisted, and the countdown started again.

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Chapter 48

She extended a slender branch to stay in contact with the chest, monitoring the countdown, while the rest of her branches kept hammering the box like crazy.

Thud!

Thud!

The force was insane, the whole scene pure chaos and violence-just the kind of mindless rampage you’d expect from Wraith.

From under the roots, the two of them were glued to the scene, eyes wide and hearts pounding.

Buzzcut Guy’s legs were shaking like crazy.

“Man, did you see that strength?” he whispered.

“If it smacks you with one of those branches, you’d be ripped in half.”

“Let’s get out of here before it notices us.”

Tall Guy gritted his teeth. “Forget it, we’re not running.”

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