Chapter 119
Chapter 119
Just as his Jinx Ability had always functioned properly, nothing went wrong when Fan Jiangnan took the exam.
Sure enough, when the scores were announced, Qi Yu had scored 666.
A very meme-worthy score.
And Yu Min’s own score wasn’t bad either, so Fan Jiangnan wouldn’t end up in last place.
Ning Shuo looked toward Yu Min’s seat.
It was empty.
The experienced Yu Min clearly understood the importance of maintaining his character setting. He had asked for leave early, saying he would be back before first period.
Ning Shuo glanced again at the seats where the other Zone B members sat.
The others were still wary of Zone F, and most people from both zones were also participating in the Star Zone Arena for the first time. Although they all knew about the character setting, they still couldn’t help worrying about Yu Min.
Jiang Zong, however, smiled at him, then raised a hand and said to the teacher, “Teacher, I’m going outside to memorize some vocabulary.”
By the time the bell rang to end morning reading, the fresh corpse of the NPC outside the window was still there, but those two still had yet to return.
Ning Shuo tapped his fingers lightly on the desk. Noticing how restless Fan Jiangnan looked, he comforted her. “Nothing will happen.”
Two minutes before the bell for first period rang, Yu Min and Jiang Zong finally came back.
Jiang Zong’s hand was bent at an unnatural angle too. From the look of it, just like Ning Wang and the others, he had experienced being possessed by You Ge.
Since they were cooperating, Zone F had not hidden this matter from Zone B.
When Yu Min entered the classroom, he first went to find Song Zhu and spent a large amount of Heat Points to exchange for medical services from Imperial Physician Song for Jiang Zong.
The class bell rang. The two returned to their seats, and as Yu Min passed by Ning Shuo, he said, “Now I finally know how you learned the plot of the Script so quickly.”
Ning Shuo sighed softly. “The Knight of this King nearly lost his life as well.”
Yu Min exhaled a breath of stale air. “Thanks for the warning.”
On the other side of the classroom, Ning Wang was drawing stick figures. As he drew, he thought childishly, If you’re thanking him, just thank him. Why aren’t you thanking me? Does saying thanks need to take that long?
The days passed little by little. After that, their only goals were avoiding You Ge and studying, studying, studying.
Driven by the pressure of survival, and given that these Player participants were all elites from their respective zones to begin with, by the final week, the entire class had surpassed the cutoff for top-tier universities.
The day before the college entrance exam, all members of Zone B and Zone F held a meeting.
Rao Lin spoke first. “Then from here on, our cooperation ends. During the college entrance exam, when it comes to finding the Notary Office, each side relies on its own ability.”
Yu Min said, “Agreed. A gentleman’s agreement.”
Jiang Zong said, “Whoever finds the Notary Office first wins. When the time comes, whoever finds it makes the Accusation.”
Ning Shuo added one final reminder. “Lastly, for the safety of the Murderer on both sides, you two should remember to stay together after tomorrow’s exam.”
Rao Lin patted Luo Li on the head. “Little Flower, work hard for the next three days.”
Expressionless, Luo Li brushed his hand away and said to Song Zhu, “Keep your Li Hua under control.”
The three days slipped by quietly. This time, Ning Shuo did not hold back his score.
Or rather, he was aiming for 667 and above from the start.
The mission time limit lasted until the college entrance exam. In other words, the final day of the exam was their last chance.
Ning Shuo went to find Fan Jiangnan. “Did you suppress your score?”
Fan Jiangnan shook her head, then hesitated before saying, “No. But will this really let us see You Ge again?”
Ning Shuo said, “The Vanished Subject, the unsurpassable score that everyone has forgotten, and the student who is forgotten by everyone once someone surpasses her. We will definitely be able to see her.”
“But you can’t guarantee those people were forgotten, rather than never existing in the first place.”
“When You Ge’s records in the archives didn’t mention ballet, my guess was already confirmed.”
He really had to thank the problem Zhuang Yao had encountered.
Without that problem, Ning Shuo might not have noticed that the so-called “vanishing” meant entering another segment of spacetime.
“And then there’s the experience of you becoming friends with You Ge. How can you be sure that was a dream, rather than the ‘other segment of spacetime’ I described?”
—
Ning Wang and Yu Min stood on the highest rooftop of the College Entrance Exam Venue, looking down at their teammates.
Yu Min said, “To be honest, I’m kind of afraid of heights.”
Ning Wang said, “It’s not like I’m asking you to jump.”
“Do we have to stand this high to watch?”
“Only from up here can I see where they find the Notary Office. When the Clown comes out to look for us, I’ll be able to help you hide.”
“According to the plan, they need to make an Accusation against one of the other side’s Innocents first so we can get away in one piece, right?”
“Yeah. That’s why I need a clear view of who finds the Notary Office first. From up here, it’ll be easier for me to take anyone and hide. You did remind your team not to leave the College Entrance Exam Venue, right?”
“…I did, but how can you guarantee you’ll be able to kite the Clown?”
Ning Wang waved with easy confidence. “Naturally, because I have an undefeated record!”
In “The Clown’s Favorite Paradise,” Ning Wang had once kited the Clown.
According to Song Zhu, among the Judges, aside from 003 having the ability to open shuttle gates within a Script, none of the others had that power.
In other words, the other Jokers could only be like 013 from “The Clown’s Favorite Paradise” at most, activating some kind of drive engine.
And for the sake of the Joker’s killing speed and the intimidation he brought to each Player, the System’s settings for ordinary Jokers had always been maxed out.
Which meant that although 013 was already gone, the System had no way to raise the settings of other Jokers like 013 any higher.
Ning Wang leisurely watched the people below search for the Notary Office, but he kept feeling like he had forgotten something.
Frowning, he asked, “How many people do our two teams have now?”
“Twelve. Six on your side, six on mine. Did you forget?”
“…No. Your team used to have Yan Xingyi. Our team is missing someone.”
Who was missing?
Ning Wang frowned. He could no longer watch this play unfold at his leisure.
He opened his System Backpack. Inside was wine he had apparently put there at some point.
When had he bought it?
Ning Wang clicked through one item after another until he finally saw several books.
They were the novels he had bought at Rose Castle.
Back then… why had he gone to buy them?
Ning Wang took out one of them. He only opened to the first page before seeing a sentence written on the title page.
-Where I come from, we call the person we love the moon.
Sometimes, that sentence was like a needle-sharp command.
At Rose Castle, hearing those words had always made his heart clench for no reason.
And now, the words seemed to pierce through a veil. A flood of memories sharpened into focus. Ning Wang looked at Yu Min. “Where is Ning Shuo?!”
He hadn’t even used his code name.
Yu Min looked confused. “Who is Ning Shuo?”
Ning Shuo had been forgotten.
Even for Ning Wang, it was “again.”
“Forgetting” was like some nightmare that dragged him down with brutal force-
He had already forgotten Ning Shuo once before.
But Ning Wang had a feeling that this might not be the most painful part.
…
Ning Shuo was walking back to the school with Fan Jiangnan.
Fan Jiangnan pointed at the pedestrians on the road. “They don’t seem to be able to see us.”
Because they were disappearing.
There was a certain magic to the Script’s exam papers. As soon as they finished the test, they could tell roughly what score they had gotten from the Script’s reaction.
Ning Shuo hadn’t expected “disappearing” to come so suddenly. He had thought it would be a gradual process.
He had planned to act first and report later-take the exam first, then go find Ning Wang and tell him.
After all, if he had said it beforehand, Ning Wang most likely wouldn’t have agreed.
Who would have thought “disappearing” would happen this fast?