“Everyone, let’s go to sleep,” Yan Wei said.
Zhou Tian and Gao Ming nodded and returned to their beds. Yu Feizhou was about to turn around when Yan Wei called out to him, “Wait a moment.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve already obtained three Moon Wheel Fragments. The others might not know, but you and Lin Zhen do,” he smiled casually, as if discussing something trivial. “Previously, some people could use props to send a word or two into the building’s world. Now that everyone knows there’s a Legendary Item in circulation, major organizations should be able to squeeze out some props to communicate with the dungeon and the building’s world, right? You represent Xuan Niao coming in; it’s impossible that you have no news, right?”
Yu Feizhou was taken aback, then smiled back, just about to respond when Lin Zhen, who was lying on the bed, suddenly interjected, “What are you asking him for? I’m the one responsible for communication. Such props for internal and external communication are quite rare and can’t really establish a connection; at most, they can send a word or two. We did bring one in, but, oh, you might not believe it, I didn’t say anything, and strangely enough, Xuan Niao hasn’t said a word to me either.”
Lin Zhen’s voice grew softer, and his last words were almost indistinguishable from a mumble: “…That guy even said Xuan Niao is determined to get the Legendary Item, but now it seems he’s completely unconcerned. So why should I worry? Just take it and play with it.”
Yan Wei found it amusing and didn’t say anything more. He turned over and lay down on his bed, accidentally kicking Yan Mingguang, who was still sitting at the foot of the bed.
The man’s dark eyes were gazing at him, with an endless depth in them.
Yan Wei suddenly recalled the dream he had thought of earlier, and the scene in the dream where Yan Mingguang was kissing him.
Was that a figment of imagination born from a mix of familiarity and confusion, or was it a fragment unearthed from the depths of his mind, buried during those missing three years? Regardless of which it was, the information buried within pointed to the same conclusion.
Unfortunately, the impression of that dream wasn’t very vivid; he only vaguely remembered the image of Yan Mingguang leaning down to kiss him, without recalling what the feeling was like.
Yan Wei looked at Yan Mingguang, who had turned to look at him after being lightly kicked.
Under the moonlight, the man’s silver hair seemed to be coated with a layer of chill, accentuating his sharp and distant features. Yet, the silver-framed glasses obscured some of his sharpness and edge, adding a touch of gentleness in the dim light. And those eyes behind the lenses…
They were simply deep and focused, yet they were looking at him.
It was a captivating feeling, like a pine tree that should be standing in the vibrant spring, instead standing alone in a vast expanse of icy snow.
Yan Mingguang was indeed someone who made him want to get closer, to see what expressions or emotional changes this person would have. Back during the corridor hotel dungeon, when he collaborated with Yan Mingguang, he believed in the other’s strength, but there was also a sense of curiosity about the person himself.
Thinking of this, the scene in the dream where Yan Mingguang kissed him in the bathroom resurfaced. Yan Wei suddenly felt a bit warm in his cheeks.
At the foot of the bed, Yan Mingguang subtly adjusted the blanket for him and turned to get up.
Just as Yan Wei, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up, he reached out and grabbed Yan Mingguang’s arm, leaning in close to Yan Mingguang’s shoulder, looking at his profile from a very short distance.
Yan Mingguang seemed taken aback for a moment, turning his head to look at him with a puzzled expression.
“I…” Yan Wei swallowed hard, feeling playful, and moved a bit closer, almost to Yan Mingguang’s ear, and said, “Just wanted to say goodnight.”
In the next moment, Yan Mingguang raised his hand and pressed down on his shoulder, firmly but gently pushing him back down. The man was much stronger than him; with just that light push, Yan Wei found himself unable to break free.
The other’s cool voice was low, carrying a tone of authority: “Lie down and go to sleep.”
Morning.
When the first rays of sunlight streamed in, Yan Wei and the others quickly got up.
“Since we’ve activated this racing mode, we can’t take it slow,” Yan Wei put on his school uniform and walked to the washstand, casually running his fingers through his hair. “Zhou Tian, according to the two things we discussed yesterday, let’s head to the archive room first. I’ll send you in to check the data, and then we can do other things.”
Zhou Tian smiled, his eyes slightly curved, and said, “Sure, I’m quite good at this.”
Gao Ming poked his head out: “Can I go too? I’m still just a low-level player, and I can’t help you with anything, so I might as well help you find files in the archive room.”
Yan Wei nodded, “Alright, thanks.”
He raised his eyes, habitually wanting to fix his hair, but upon seeing the blank wall behind the washstand, he remembered that the dormitory at Morning Dawn High School didn’t have a mirror.
He puffed his cheeks and turned around, colliding directly with Yan Mingguang, who was walking over.
Yan Mingguang raised his hand to steady him, and Yan Wei instinctively grabbed the other’s arm, slightly tilting his head to get closer.
“…What are you doing?”
“There’s no mirror,” Yan Wei blinked, “I thought I could use the reflection from your glasses.”
Yan Mingguang’s expression remained unchanged, silent. He seemed genuinely casual as he stared at the spot where Yan Mingguang’s eyes were, before finally retracting his gaze and stepping back.
Before long, everyone was ready, but Yan Wei showed no intention of moving.
“Hey, little pet, didn’t you just say we can’t take it slow? Aren’t we going to start moving?”
Yan Wei raised an eyebrow: “What are the rules of the racing mode?”
“Compete against the other players with the same clues. The two sides cannot share any clues or progress, cannot cooperate, and whoever breaks the case first wins. We are one side… and then?”
As Lin Zhen spoke, Yan Mingguang remained expressionless, while Yu Feizhou and Zhou Tian suddenly turned serious.
“Not being able to share any clues or progress means we can’t communicate with the other side about breaking the case…” Yu Feizhou frowned, his tone growing more serious, “We have no way of knowing if the other side’s direction is correct.”
Yan Wei nodded heavily.
“Why is it that just after we received the disciplinary notice, another side of players got this information? The world inside the dungeon has never had coincidences.”
He took out a coin from his pocket, tossing it casually in his hand, his thoughts flowing smoothly with the rhythmic motion. He continued, “I suspect that the other side might have been directly exposed by He Luo. This means that the other side, like us, has seen He Luo’s retrospective illusion, knows about the partial history of He Luo and Qian Xuanxuan from back then, and then the racing mode was activated.”
“Don’t you think the settlement method of this racing mode is a bit off? The winner gets a reward, while the loser seems to have no consequences. If one side does nothing and waits for the other side to finish, they can still get a guaranteed reward—how can that be a good deal?”
Yan Mingguang: “The restriction on clue sharing.”
“Right, the restriction on sharing clues and progress means that if we don’t trust He Luo, and they do trust He Luo and follow everything he says… then we’re not actually racing against players, but racing against players who are unconsciously helping Ghost/Monster.”
Gao Ming was confused: “In that case, wouldn’t it be better to act quickly? Why are we still in the dormitory?”
This time, without Yan Wei saying anything, Yu Feizhou understood. His gentle voice was filled with concern: “What Yan Wei means is that we should wait here and see if the other side of players will find this dormitory based on the traces of Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang’s actions in the small grove last night, right? After we learned about the racing mode, our first reaction was to hurry to resolve the disciplinary notice and complete what happened back then because we know He Luo lied.”
“But if we didn’t think He Luo lied and activated the racing mode, what would our reaction be? We would only think this is a competition of speed in breaking the case, and everyone’s direction is the same; whoever is faster wins. So if someone from the other side comes to find us later, instead of rushing to act after getting up, it indicates—”
Yu Feizhou’s voice suddenly stopped.
Before he could finish, footsteps approached outside dormitory 407, eventually stopping in front of their door.
Yu Feizhou sighed.
Yan Wei’s expression shifted slightly, his eyes narrowing. He said, “It seems that the other side of players racing against us… they care about the opponent in the racing mode, not Ghost/Monster.”
That meant these people believed He Luo’s words.
It meant they not only needed to quickly obtain the disciplinary notice and complete what happened back then, but also needed to simultaneously prevent the other side from unknowingly helping Ghost/Monster.
Yan Wei glanced at Yan Mingguang, who immediately understood, and walked slowly to the door to open it.
Wu Hua’s hand was resting on the doorknob, and he was taken aback when the door was opened by someone inside, his posture suddenly stiffening.
Lin Zhen turned to look: “Oh, isn’t this the grandson of Broken Scythe? Why are you the only one here? Didn’t the others rush off to beat the racing mode? Isn’t that a bit too urgent? You don’t even take your time when reincarnating?”
Wu Hua glanced at Lin Zhen, then looked at Yan Mingguang in front of him, and said in a deep voice, “Yan, is the other side of the racing mode you guys?”
Yan Mingguang remained silent.
“I tracked you down based on the footprints you left in the small grove yesterday. It seems everyone is clear now; we are the opponents in the racing mode.” Wu Hua raised his chin slightly, his tone quite confident, “We will do our utmost to break this case. My companions are already looking for methods and clues. You and Broken Scythe have no grievances; the lack of strength of our Broken Scythe members at the archive room entrance is our own fault. We won’t casually blame you like Moonlight. How about we make a deal—Broken Scythe will break the case, and you can wait safely for the rewards after the dungeon ends, how about that?”
Yan Mingguang lowered his gaze, not even glancing at the three players from Broken Scythe.
Yan Wei casually walked forward with his hands in his pockets, saying, “That’s a bit too optimistic, isn’t it? How about we switch things up? You guys can just eat and drink well in the dormitory, and wait for us to break the case and pass through without any injuries, how about that?”
Wu Hua’s expression changed. He looked at Yan Wei, first surprised, then dismissively ignoring him—Yan Wei being Yan was something the players watching the betting building projection in the building world were more aware of; among the players still alive in the dungeon, no one else knew.
“How did you go from relying on Moonlight to coming back to Yan? Don’t interrupt me while I’m discussing serious matters with Yan.” Wu Hua scoffed, “Are we negotiating, or are you the one calling the shots?”
Yan Wei raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
Beside him, Yan Mingguang said calmly, “Yes, he is calling the shots.”
Wu Hua was taken aback, his expression slightly brightening as he looked at Yan Mingguang and said in a low voice, “I’m not here to conflict with you; I genuinely came to negotiate with you. Shouldn’t we show some respect to players outside of Moonlight? Every minute and second is precious now, Yan—”
“Stop,” Yan Wei suddenly interrupted him, “Since you’re talking to me, can you look at me while you speak?”
“You’re not—”
Yan Mingguang calmly interjected, “He is Yan, I am not.”
After saying that, Yan Mingguang directly walked past the Broken Scythe members and exited the dormitory, one hand in his pocket, the other pulling out a cigarette as he leaned against the corridor wall. He looked at the area outside the dormitory building, not giving Wu Hua even a glance.
Wu Hua’s eyes widened, clearly not reacting immediately. In his memory, Yan Wei was clearly a useless player who could only rely on Yan Mingguang to get this far; how did Yan Mingguang suddenly say Yan Wei was Yan?
“…What Yan?”
Yan Wei curled his lip.
He was waiting in the dormitory to see what the other side of players was up to, not genuinely planning to cooperate or chat with them. Now that he had gotten the answer—Wu Hua and his group must have believed He Luo—he no longer delayed and simply waved his hand: “Let’s go.”
Leaving the three members of Broken Scythe still standing there, unable to recover.
Stepping out of the dormitory building, Yan Wei walked briskly in the morning sunlight, his voice crisp: “If Wu Hua is the first to get the disciplinary notice, he’s likely to hand it directly to He Luo. We must get the disciplinary notice before them. According to the plan, Zhou Tian and Gao Ming will go to the archive room. Remember, I only need the files from three years ago when we were in the first year of high school, everything related to Tang Yizhuo, He Luo, and Qian Xuanxuan. Any form of files, even scraps of paper with their names on it, must be dug out.”
Zhou Tian nodded: “With the exact class and time frame, it should be enough to find these in a day.”
Yan Wei continued, “As for the remaining four of us, before we get the disciplinary notice, we need to do one thing first.”
Lin Zhen paused: “What do we need to do??”
Yan Wei pulled out the stack of Student files he had snuck out from the archive room from the Black Ring.
This included all the Student files played by the players.
He shook the files in his hand, chuckling lightly, and said unhurriedly, “Racing mode rules—’From now on, if other players discover relevant clues, they can only choose to join one side of the players.’ Of course, we’ll take these Immunity Tokens and isolate those poor little Broken Scythe members.”
