chapter 17
The Blackboard Bulletin was divided into five sections, with the Clown occupying the central area. Aside from the space designated for chalk writing, the other sections were currently blank.
Luo Jia Bai squatted down to examine the Blackboard Bulletin, reading out the newly appeared chalk words to Lu Li.
He was observing when his attention was suddenly drawn elsewhere.
“This Clown’s body is sticking out from the Blackboard Bulletin. It’s pretty strange, and it’s so big.”
“It’s also hard.” Luo Jia Bai leaned forward, carefully touching the connection between the Blackboard Bulletin and the Clown, muttering to himself, “Such a large statue-like thing is completely fused with the Blackboard Bulletin. How did they do that? I thought there was a hole in the wall and the Clown crawled out from inside.”
“The Clown only has an upper body,” Lu Li said. “From the waist down, there’s nothing.”
Luo Jia Bai suddenly thought of something and turned his head. “In the Family Portrait Photo Frame that Qi Mingda snatched, did Nuo Nuo’s father also not have a lower body in the photo?”
Even though he didn’t have the Key Item at hand,
He had caught a glimpse from afar in the previous level, and after eavesdropping on the whispers of people around Qi Mingda, Luo Jia Bai had a rough idea of what was in the Family Portrait.
“Nuo Nuo admitted just now herself that the Clown and her father can’t appear at the same time.”
Luo Jia Bai suddenly stood up and clapped his hands excitedly. “Could it be that the Clown is actually her father?”
“He knew his daughter was being bullied at School and had no friends, so he came up with this way to accompany her. Nuo Nuo even described the Clown as her best friend in her Diary. If her father approached her directly, as a family member, Nuo Nuo definitely wouldn’t see him as a best friend. But putting on the Clown costume is like taking on another identity! See, this way all the existing clues and Items are connected…”
The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. For the first time, Luo Jia Bai had reasoned out a fairly plausible answer before Lu Li, and his eyes shone with excitement. “Every strange point in the Key Items is a hint. Do you think my analysis just now makes sense?”
“Your analysis is quite good.”
Luo Jia Bai was a little proud of the praise, but Lu Li calmly added, “But without concrete evidence, the Clown is not anyone.”
Every answer had to maximize accuracy and precision based on the existing conditions.
In the Necromancer Game, if you didn’t have the support of Items, there were only two options: being correct or dying.
“The writing on the Blackboard Bulletin has changed again.”
“Only students who complete today’s assignment excellently may leave the Class in an orderly fashion and proceed to the Park.” Luo Jia Bai was bending over to read the words when he was suddenly tapped on the head. He waved his hand behind him. “Don’t touch my head.”
Lu Li said, “I didn’t touch you.”
“You clearly…” Luo Jia Bai looked up and was met with a pair of bright red lips and a gaping black mouth. He was so startled he nearly fell over, quickly stumbling back two steps to stand close to Lu Li. “It didn’t make a sound at all. How did it suddenly open its mouth?”
What had bumped Luo Jia Bai’s head just now was the Clown’s lower lip.
The Clown had silently opened its mouth.
Inside was pitch black.
Nothing could be seen.
In the darkness, suddenly one, then two slips of paper appeared.
Then more and more slips of paper spewed out from the Clown’s mouth, hundreds and thousands of them swirling through the air.
Luo Jia Bai’s face was plastered with paper. He grabbed a few and found that the contents were all the same.
[Today’s Assignment Paper]
[Current Group: Group A]
[Today’s Randomly Selected Group: Group A]
[First Assignment: Who is the underachiever in the Class?]
[Time to Complete: 10 minutes]
Lu Li also received a slip of paper. The same two lines were written on it, with a large blank space left for answers.
Luo Jia Bai asked, “Is your content the same as mine?”
The Clown’s mouth spat out a pen. Luo Jia Bai, standing close, reached out and caught it. The Clown slowly closed its mouth.
“Only one pen for two people?” Luo Jia Bai complained that the Necromancer Game had dragged in so many Players to risk their lives and attracted so many Ghost Audience members to spend money online, yet in the end, it couldn’t even afford a pen. “You write first, then pass it to me.”
“I don’t have to write.” Lu Li shook the paper in his hand. “I’m in Group B. Our homework won’t be spot-checked today.
“Huh?” Luo Jia Bai was dumbfounded, his nerves on edge. “I don’t think I’m as smart as you. I can’t even understand the first assignment. How about we swap papers and you write for Group A?”
It was the first time Lu Li had seen someone admit to being dumb so proactively. He tried to reassure Luo Jia Bai, “Didn’t you just do some independent reasoning? You’re actually quite smart. Don’t doubt yourself.”
“No! I’m really stupid! If you make me answer, something is bound to go wrong!” Luo Jia Bai was anxious to swap with Lu Li.
He took a step toward Lu Li but didn’t fully commit, his body wobbling unsteadily, nearly falling to the ground.
Suddenly, his legs felt as heavy as lead.
Luo Jia Bai looked down and realized that at some point, his and Lu Li’s calves had been tightly bound by Chains.
Loop after loop, five or six times around.
The Chains were the same ones that had been wrapped around the Clown when they entered, reeking of heavy rust.
He stared at the Chains, which now hung limply to the floor, looking loose.
But the moment Luo Jia Bai thought about swapping papers, the Chains tightened, preventing him from moving.
Bright red letters appeared on the paper at the same time.
[Strict discipline! Cheating is forbidden!]
Lu Li was in the same situation. He spread his hands toward Luo Jia Bai. “We can’t swap papers. You have to answer.”
“Looks like I’m the hostage.”
Lu Li walked toward the first area of the Blackboard Bulletin. The Chains no longer restricted his movement, and his voice echoed from afar, “Think carefully before you answer. My life is in your hands now.”
Luo Jia Bai gripped his pen tightly, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. He heard Lu Li calling him.
“There are reference materials here.”
Luo Jia Bai walked over as well.
The first area was filling up from top to bottom with densely packed names.
Luo Jia Bai’s hand trembled slightly as he held the pen. “So many people?”
“Don’t panic,” Lu Li said. “Those are all the classmates’ names. Now it’s writing the midterm exam rankings.”
The grade sheet was very detailed, listing each student’s score, rank, and a column showing how many places they’d risen or fallen. Declines were marked in red.
Luo Jia Bai looked on in agony. “I hated these things most when I was in School. Every time the parents got the grade sheet, it would affect my relationship with my family. What about your School?”
Lu Li tilted his head. “I’ve never been to School.”
His intellectual development had been concentrated in the Laboratory during his ninth and tenth years, where he learned everything a normal human would from elementary to university in just two years, and was still trending toward further study.
At first, it was just to facilitate giving instructions and testing the limits of his intelligence. But things got out of control.
The Researcher feared he would become too smart.
When his intelligence was only developed to 30%, they urgently called a halt and shifted the experiment toward physical enhancement.
But the Researcher discovered that with each passing year, his intelligence kept rising endlessly, and faster and faster.
They also noticed that in the first ten years, he only imitated, but in the latter ten, he began to think and stare at them through the glass for long periods. Panicked, they thickened and reinforced the tempered glass, electrified the Chains that bound him, and arranged for round-the-clock guards.
Luo Jia Bai’s thoughts were on a completely different track. He looked at Lu Li with envy. “So you had private tutors, right? You do look a bit… like a young nobleman.”
Ever since entering this Instance, he’d been secretly observing Lu Li.
Effortless, elegant, sometimes even a bit languid.
He had never seen Lu Li lose his composure.
“You didn’t even know what PUA was at first, so you probably haven’t been tormented by work. Life in your original world was worry-free, wasn’t it? Why on earth did you come to the Necromancer Game? You… sigh.” Luo Jia Bai was exasperated. “So muddle-headed.”
Lu Li glanced at the test paper.
[Time to complete: 2 minutes]
He reminded, “Time to hand in the paper is almost up.”