Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Xiao Huai raised a brow. The System Shop had previously been locked, but after the Mad Hatter tipped him Survival Coins, a subtle change appeared in his interface.

An item shop had been added.

His System Shop was Level One, allowing him to purchase only basic supplies and resources.

Most goods on ordinary shopping apps were marked down. In the System Shop, every last item had been marked up.

[Hamburger: 10 Survival Coins. Current Price: 30.]

If he had to explain why, it was because they were inside a game.

Buying supplies during a game was both a player benefit and a means of cheating.

Every game required balance. Raising the prices was one way to preserve fairness.

Ning Gaoqiang snorted. “That bitch really was a liar. She wanted all of us to die in this game.”

No wonder Xiao Huai had said they would die even after killing him.

The novices looked stunned.

Hui Yulian had only participated in a few games and had finally managed to attract a god’s attention.

She had wanted to win that god’s favor and demonstrate her abilities.

How had it ended like this?

Grinning, Xiao Huai patted Hui Yulian on the shoulder. “Don’t be afraid. If getting cursed meant an NPC would eat you, no one would dare entertain the gods. If you don’t believe me, look for yourself.”

At his words, Hui Yulian followed his gaze toward the windows.

Some of the monsters clinging outside had already begun reverting to their former expressionless state.

Pan Qing pushed up his glasses. After some thought, he said, “Even so, I still believe there’s a higher-floor player in this instance. Otherwise, why would Hui Yulian do any of this?”

Xiao Huai yawned, returned to his seat, and pulled up the notification showing that he had entered the Newcomer Zone.

“Have you ever seen a higher-floor player listed in the Newcomer Zone?”

Pan Qing had no answer. Xiao Huai continued, “Everything you’ve said is speculation. Other than Hui Yulian tampering with a few things, has any NPC hunted you? Has survival mode turned into a battle royale?”

The three questions left Pan Qing looking increasingly ill. Just as he prepared to respond, Xiao Huai chuckled.

“You’re awfully certain it’s me. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for me. Or… do you have a special identity too?”

Pan Qing’s eyes widened. “What? I… I don’t. No. I don’t.”

Out of more than thirty players, was there truly only one identity-card holder?

Once a seed of suspicion took root, it was almost impossible to dig out.

Pan Qing noticed several unfriendly gazes and nearly wished he had admitted to being in love with Xiao Huai.

Being taken for a pervert was safer than being taken for a traitor.

Fortunately, the click of dress shoes came from the doorway. He Lecheng entered with the test papers and a smile.

His gaze swept across the players, lingering a few seconds longer on Hui Yulian and Xiao Huai.

“Students, evening study is about to begin. Is there anything else you’d like to say?”

It was almost six thirty. No matter how much they wanted to continue, no one would dare cause a scene now.

This exam was just as difficult as the one on their first night, absurdly so.

Xiao Huai did not sleep through the entire test this time.

But he did not do much better.

After answering a few Chinese questions, he laid his head down and slept soundly.

When the exam ended, Pan Qing picked up the Student Handbook that Xiao Huai had casually tossed onto the floor. He was not alone; many others crowded around.
The true school rules did not require everyone to return to the dormitory immediately after evening study.

The dormitory rules did, however, require them back before eleven.

That meant students could move freely around the school between nine thirty and eleven.

Most novices had no desire to tour the campus at night.

Five school rules differed from the forged version.

[3. Do not play hide-and-seek in the teaching building after evening study.]

[4. Do not disturb Miss Hanako unless you wish to play a game with her.]

[6. Do not visit other classrooms without good reason.]

[8. Do not play with fire.]

[9. The school pays special attention to students transferred from No. 1 High School. On the standardized exam, one of them must place first in the entire school.]

Forgery itself was not frightening. A mixture of truth and lies was.

Several players panicked when they saw Rule Nine.

Did it mean their entire class would be wiped out if none of them ranked first in the school?

The fat man frowned deeply. “Fuck, what kind of first-floor instance is this? The difficulty is completely insane. Doesn’t this mean we have to find the exam questions? Hey! Do you know them?”

Now that Hui Yulian’s identity had been exposed, she became the target of the players’ hostility.

She shook her head vigorously. Her face was still pale; clearly, she had not recovered from her earlier terror.

“No. Other than the school rules, I truly don’t know anything.”

Xiao Huai gave her a long look, then glanced at He Lecheng disappearing down the corridor.

The faintest smile suddenly touched his lips.

Faint or not, a smile at a time like this was anything but normal.

A chill ran through Ning Gaoqiang. “What are you laughing at?”

Xiao Huai looked at them. “I’m laughing because I was wrong.”

“You were wrong?” Pan Qing frowned in confusion.

Xiao Huai turned to Hui Yulian. “We only managed to bluff her into revealing her identity card because of the three dead players. When I say I was wrong, I mean I overlooked something from the start.”

“What?” The more Ning Gaoqiang heard, the more desperate he became to understand.

Xiao Huai spoke slowly. “Have you forgotten what He Lecheng said at the beginning?”

He had told them, “Some of the students among you are exceptionally talented. A few have even memorized the entire question bank. Why not ask them for help?”

Them.

Some students.

Plural pronouns. More than one person.

Which meant Hui Yulian was never the only one with a special identity. She had merely been the most obvious and held the most dangerous card.

Xiao Huai raised his eyes slightly and asked in a low voice, “Have you ever played the tabletop game Werewolf?”

Werewolf was a multiplayer social-deduction game containing roles such as werewolves, seers, villagers, witches, hunters, idiots, guards, and knights.

“The gods enjoy using Earth’s games and urban legends as material even more than I imagined. The identity cards are probably modeled after Werewolf.

“Identity cards in horror games aren’t identical to Werewolf roles, but they share certain features. For example, both have a werewolf faction and a divine-role faction.

“In higher-floor instances, many players receive identities. The cards may bear different names, but the final division into factions remains similar.

“A game would never kill every player. That would be a little too boring.

“If I were a god, I’d add a few subtle touches and do everything possible to make the humans slaughter and suspect one another in every round.

“That kind of game would be much more interesting, wouldn’t it?”