Nothing happened.

They looked at each other, then hesitatingly took a second step.

Still nothing went wrong.

The group was still far from the demoness, and while there was no need to rush for the lead position from the start, falling too far behind wasn’t good either. Seeing companions around them gradually moving forward, some followed with a few steps.

They couldn’t move too quickly. The ground was uneven, and one unlucky person slipped and fell, flailing out to grab something—and dragged a companion down with them. Both lay on the ground in a cold sweat, terrified they were about to turn to stone.

After waiting a moment with no reaction from the demoness, they shakily rose back to their feet.

Seeing this, the others silently spread out a bit, avoiding being too close—unwilling to be dragged down by those beside them.

Only Shen Mo remained in place, unmoving.

He had been observing Medusa all along.

Her soft, white body was conspicuous in the cave, and that dense mass of serpent hair was impossible to ignore—snakes crawled along her skin and coiled around each other, their tongues flicking. The demoness’s exquisitely beautiful face wore a faint smile.

Her gaze remained level, fixed straight ahead, with no apparent notice of Shen Mo’s stare.

Was she not noticing, or… could she not see?

Shen Mo was pondering this when the demoness’s head began to turn—

The moment she moved, everyone froze and watched her warily.

Then they watched, helpless, as the demoness’s head rotated nearly 180 degrees—and on the back of her skull was another face.

A face covered in snake scales.

Golden vertical pupils stared at them coldly, like a giant python sizing up a tasty afternoon snack.

The cave was so quiet a pin drop would have echoed.

Even breathing was held.

After approximately a minute, that terrifying face finally slowly turned back, and the demoness’s hauntingly beautiful visage reappeared before everyone. All released a breath of relief.

“You’re all quite adaptable,” the demoness said with a smile. “It seems you’ve understood how this game is played.”

Shen Mo frowned slightly.

Understood, yes—but wasn’t this game’s flaw a bit too obvious?

The distance was only eighty meters in total. Given his physical conditioning, he could simply charge straight at her and strike.

The demoness’s rotation speed wasn’t fast. As long as a player stopped before she completed the turn and maintained their balance, they would be in an invincible position.

So where exactly was the difficulty in this game?

There were so many human-shaped stalactites in this cave. Some of them were surely players whose physical abilities had been enhanced through labyrinths. If this truly were an ordinary “Red Light, Green Light” game, it couldn’t have eliminated so many players…

“Still, it’s somewhat unfortunate…” the demoness spoke again. “Since no one was closest to me, the question reward is forfeit this round. Everyone try harder next round.”

The game had just begun, and everyone was being very cautious. The frontmost players were roughly in a line, with no one having surged particularly far ahead.

Shen Mo frowned, studying the people around him, somewhat hesitant about whether to move to the front.

His agility was excellent. Even with the rough and slippery ground, claiming the leading position wasn’t a difficult feat. It was just that he still felt a lingering unease—something about this game felt off.

“Snake!”

Someone suddenly screamed.

Everyone was startled and looked frantically around. Sure enough, they saw black snakes the thickness of a finger crawling out from the dark crevices.

Within mere seconds, snakes were everywhere.

Everyone scrambled to avoid them, terrified of having them climb onto their bodies.

And at precisely this moment, Medusa silently turned her head. Those golden vertical pupils looked down at them, revealing a venomous smile—

In an instant, at least ten or more people were frozen in place.

From the feet upward—then legs, waist, abdomen—until their horror-stricken faces were fully petrified.

No screaming.

No cries.

The cave was eerily silent.

Bead-sized drops of sweat slid from foreheads. The living stared at Medusa without blinking, not daring to let their gaze wander for even a moment…

—