Chapter 5

Chapter 5

This was the first time in a long while that you stood under the night sky, looking up at the moon.

The moonlight was soft, reminding you of countless summer nights filled with the chirping of insects.

Helan Shan tapped you on the shoulder. In the moonlight, you saw the cold indifference in his eyes. “Let’s move.”

“How did you all wake up?” you asked.

Helan Shan didn’t speak.

Zhang Wenjie hopped onto his bicycle, the crisp ring of the bell drifting through the night wind.

“I woke up the second day. My roommate came back and took off his shoes, and I just asked him why his feet didn’t stink today, and then I woke up…” He shook his head with a click of his tongue. “You should have seen the look on his face, like he wanted to devour me. Talk about a grudge.”

Laughter broke out from the others, momentarily thinning the heavy, oppressive atmosphere.

You all knew that for most friends and family, the odds of survival were grim.

This kind of joke was perhaps the final humorous way to remember them.

City No. 1 Middle School was located inside the West Ring Road, near the city center. Standing at the school gates, you saw dilapidated buildings and dark, gaping windows with shattered glass.

The night wind howled through the frames, blowing out the classroom curtains. They fluttered and swayed like a woman’s long hair.

Suddenly, the Twins cried out in alarm and pointed upward. Following their gaze, you saw the roof of the teaching building crowded with dense black shadows. One by one, they began to plummet like dumplings into a pot.

Dull thuds echoed from all directions, audible even from a distance.

After witnessing one bloody scene after another, you felt somewhat numb. Those things couldn’t even be called human anymore.

Helan Shan didn’t even blink. He reached out and pushed open the slightly ajar iron gates. “Let’s make this quick.”

You still didn’t understand what you were supposed to do. An absurd thought rose in your mind-perhaps this was another Illusion Realm, just another way for the monsters to consume you.

All that running for nothing.

The moment you stepped onto the campus, everyone received a text message: “Dear Survivors, the Second Layer Illusion has been activated for you. Discover and point out at least 5 paradoxes to survive. Please find a place to hide immediately; Escape and Kill Mode will begin in 5 minutes.”

“Boss, I’ll leave the newbie to you. Six people, one paradox each isn’t asking too much.” Zhang Wenjie gave a brief instruction before nimbly vaulting through a window of the dormitory building and disappearing inside.

At the same time, the Twins and the refined-looking boy paired up and headed toward the nearest cafeteria.

Only you and Helan Shan were left in the open space.

That teaching building, as lively as a New Year’s celebration with all the falling bodies, was left to the two of you.

It was basically Hell Mode.

“Are you always… this welcoming to newcomers?”

Helan Shan handed you a pair of sunglasses. “The level of the Illusion Realm is determined by the lowest-ranked Survivor present. In other words, every time a newcomer appears, we have to go through a stupid Escape and Kill Mode. It’s only natural for newcomers to be resented.”

A flash of realization hit you. “Do you mean it’s based on the lowest level within a specific group, or the lowest level of all Survivors worldwide?”

Without looking back, Helan Shan said, “If the whole world has fallen, then it’s the latter. In the early hours of the 28th, the Illusion Realm all of humanity fell into was the first layer. Since 99% of humanity failed to survive, the Second Layer Illusion is currently the lowest level among Survivors. As you suspect, if we enter a Second Layer Illusion every night, it means that new Survivors are still constantly appearing in this world.”

“That’s a good thing,” you said.

Helan Shan remained noncommittal. “When despair and a chance at life coexist, it’s hard to say how good of a thing it really is.”