Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned in unison toward the players standing in the corridor. Nothing but black pupils filled the girls’ eyes, deep and bottomless, devouring everything.
The uniformed students tilted their heads slightly. The lights overhead began to dim as oily filth seeped from their scalps.
Greasy and foul-smelling, it oozed from the tops of their heads like a curse born of darkness. Droplets struck the floor with a horrifying patter.
“Aaaah! Mom! Help! I want to go home!”
The players in the corridor nearly went mad with fear. They cried out in strangled voices and scrambled into the classroom, not daring to look outside.
Within moments, every last one had fled the corridor.
Just as they thought they were safe, the students slowly approached the classroom windows. One by one, they pressed themselves against the glass and stared inside, spying on everyone in the room.
The night air seemed to freeze. The players’ faces turned ashen, their tongues went stiff, and cold sweat poured down their backs. Gooseflesh spread over their bodies as their hearts hammered wildly.
Everything had been normal only a minute ago.
How had these background NPCs revealed their true forms in the blink of an eye, each seemingly determined to scare them to death?
“It’s all his fault! That Xiao Huai bastard! Why else would the NPCs suddenly change? It has to be because he touched the body!”
Someone had already begun shifting the blame onto Xiao Huai. Ning Gaoqiang promptly added fuel to the fire.
“I knew that bastard was trouble. He’s trying to get us all killed.”
The easiest way to drive out fear was to replace it with anger. Soon everyone was denouncing Xiao Huai’s reckless behavior.
Then Xiao Huai appeared outside the window.
“Look! H-he’s back!”
Xiao Huai regarded the female students clinging to the glass, his eyes widening slightly. To everyone’s astonishment, he leaned close to them.
And took a gentle sniff.
The players: “…?”
Was something wrong with him?
Other people sniffed cats. Was he out here sniffing monsters?
The students did not react much to Xiao Huai’s sudden sniff. They remained plastered to the windows like sticky insects.
Their pupils were pure black, making it impossible to tell whom they were watching.
But Xiao Huai slowly turned his head and looked into the classroom.
Every scalp tingled under his gaze. “Wh-what is he looking at? Do those monsters… want something?”
Xiao Huai smiled. “More precisely, someone.”
“What do you mean?” Ning Gaoqiang had never liked Xiao Huai. This pretty boy was always acting so calm, as if he were some kind of badass. What a joke. Ning Gaoqiang could stab him to death with one thrust.
If the classroom door could be locked, he would have left Xiao Huai outside without hesitation.
Ignoring every stare, Xiao Huai returned to the classroom. From beginning to end, the monsters outside did not spare him a glance.
“The person they want was just standing in the corridor. Why else would they still be here?”
Even the greatest fools among them understood his meaning. But two-thirds of the class had gone into the corridor.
Finding the exact person the monsters wanted would be impossible in a single night.
“Then… what would they do if we found that person?” Hu Jiang asked weakly.
Xiao Huai returned to his seat and shrugged. “How would I know? Worst case, they get eaten.”
Eaten??? Who would dare go outside now?!
Leaning lazily against the back of his chair, Xiao Huai said, “Instead of worrying about the monsters, shouldn’t you be more concerned about whether the school rules are true? Rule Six.”
[6. Students may visit other classrooms at will.]
If Xiao Huai was right and the students had already been dead before they jumped, then the girls outside were probably not alive either. And if they were not alive, they were monsters.
Yet the school rules said students could wander into other classrooms whenever they pleased. How was that any different from telling someone they were free to dance on other people’s graves?
It might as well deliver the players straight into the monsters’ mouths.
“That can’t be right… How could the school rules contain false information?” Hu Jiang muttered in disbelief.
Xiao Huai’s actions had inadvertently revealed a problem with the school rules. Without question, it was critical information.
Suddenly, a fat man slammed his palm on a desk. “Impossible!”
Most people turned toward him at the sound.
He was a veteran who had cleared a second-floor instance. “That’s impossible! This is a mere first-floor instance, and the easiest survival mode at that. How could it give us false rules?”
“N-no, it isn’t impossible. What if a higher-floor player is here?” someone said quietly.
The speaker wore black-framed glasses, and his expression was grave.
He lowered his voice. “Hello, everyone. My name is Pan Qing. I’ve cleared a second-floor instance. I only came here to pad my playtime… Ahem. I mean, I happened to join this instance. Normally, all the information in the school rules for a first-floor instance should be true.
“Unless someone altered them.”
The fat man immediately challenged him. “Someone altered them? You mean one of us really did receive an identity card?”
Pan Qing nodded. “Yes. It’s rare in a first-floor instance, but we can’t rule it out. And the player holding that identity card is most likely… the enemy of every one of us.”
He continued, “Of course, all of this depends on a higher-floor player having entered this instance and forced the system to adjust the difficulty.”
The novices quickly understood his implication.
Had they become nothing more than cannon fodder for some higher-floor player?
Pan Qing said, “As far as I know, first-floor instances are idiot-level difficulty. Ahem… I mean, they’re relatively easy. So as long as we find the higher-floor player and let the system’s rules erase them, the difficulty will automatically return to normal.”
Rules One and Two had already been verified. To kill the higher-floor player, all they had to do was strip off that person’s uniform.
“But there are thirty players left. How are we supposed to find the higher-floor player?” Hu Jiang asked softly.
Pan Qing turned his gaze toward Xiao Huai in the corner.
“To my knowledge… no, according to big data analysis, the calmer a person is, the stronger their nerves and the richer their gaming experience. A player who can remain calm enough to make the right judgment in a situation like this is very likely from a higher floor.”
Pan Qing spoke with heavy deliberation, enunciating each word. “Whether or not they received an identity card, the very existence of a higher-floor player makes them the enemy of us all.”
The instant he finished, the way everyone looked at Xiao Huai changed.