Today, the morning light at Morning Dawn High School is quieter than ever.
This time, the mobile dungeon attracted a large number of players who came specifically for the Legendary Item. However, because the players were eager to search everywhere, after the gambling house increased the difficulty of the dungeon, the number of players dying has nearly doubled every day.
By this morning, only a few dozen players were still alive.
Wu Hua stood at the door of the now-empty dormitory 407, receiving the estimated survival situation from his companions, his brow furrowed: “Let’s first find a few players we’ve worked with before. If we can gather more people, we can act more efficiently.”
“Wu Hua, you don’t look too good. Did Yan Mingguang and Lin Zhen say anything just now?”
Wu Hua raised his hand to rub his forehead: “Just now… do you remember Yan Wei?”
“Isn’t he that useless guy who always falls over?”
“He told me he is Yan, and Yan Mingguang didn’t refute it.”
“No way!? Maybe he just wanted to provoke you—”
“No,” Wu Hua shook his head, “Before you came back, I stood here and thought for a while. Perhaps… we’ve all been deceived. The number of people entering from Moonlight this time is more than from other organizations, but now they’ve all been wiped out. You remember, at the beginning, Yan Wei came in with Moonlight, and now all the players from Moonlight are dead, yet Yan Wei is safe and sound. Moreover, when they left just now, I saw clearly that although Yan Wei’s strength doesn’t seem high, Lin Zhen, Yu Feizhou, and Yan Mingguang are all known for their high physical stats, yet all three subconsciously followed Yan Wei.”
“From the very beginning, they used Yan Mingguang to divert attention, hiding in the shadows during two dungeons, playing Moonlight around in circles, and ultimately getting to the clue of the punishment list before we did…”
A glint of sharpness flashed in Wu Hua’s eyes as he said, “People like this, we either don’t provoke, or we crush them early.”
“What do you mean…”
“Speed racing rules: survive and be the fastest. You have to be alive first to compete in speed. If the other players we’re competing against are dead, can’t we leisurely break the game? We can’t repeat Moonlight’s mistakes. To win, we have to be ruthless.”
Wu Hua’s gaze grew darker, his eyes revealing no hint of a smile, and his already fierce face now bore an additional layer of murderous intent.
“Do you remember what we discovered before? There’s a small space next to the grove where many players entered but never came out. As long as we can lure Yan Wei, Yan Mingguang, and Lin Zhen into it, we can do it. Yu Feizhou is too soft-hearted, and the other two can’t fight at all.”
After he finished speaking, the other two Broken Scythe players exchanged glances and finally gritted their teeth: “Let’s do it.”
Yan Wei and the others first went to the archive room.
They had already prepared to play the game again, but unexpectedly, the “Student” guarding the door didn’t stop them at all and let them in directly.
Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang ascended the building too quickly, and they didn’t have many props on hand, so only Yu Feizhou and Lin Zhen took two relatively rare props to give to Zhou Tian and Gao Ming for self-defense. Subsequently, Zhou Tian and Gao Ming stayed in the archive room while Yan Wei led the other three out of the office building and intercepted the first player they saw not far away.
This person also didn’t know that Yan Wei was Yan; he just looked at the indifferent Yan Mingguang and asked in confusion, “Yan, I don’t have any grievances with you, do I?”
Yan Mingguang glanced at Yan Wei.
Yan Wei understood, chuckled lightly, and stepped forward, taking out a piece of paper that simply detailed matters related to He Luo, Qian Xuanxuan, and the punishment list. There were dozens of such papers, which Yan Wei had just printed in the office building.
This simple description saved them the time of constantly repeating themselves.
The intercepted player instinctively took the paper, glanced at its contents, and the prompt sound from the building echoed in Yan Wei and the others’ minds.
[Detected that a new player has discovered the “punishment list” clue, triggering speed racing mode. The newly triggered player must choose to join one of the two sides in speed racing mode and cannot form a new team. The current player is making a choice.]
Yan Wei’s eyes shifted slightly, and he remained silent for the moment.
This prompt sound should have been heard by Broken Scythe as well, and the player he had directly informed about the punishment list clue should also have heard about the speed racing mode. At this moment, his expression was serious, seemingly pondering something.
Lin Zhen impatiently dug at his ear: “Have you made up your mind?”
The player warily scrutinized Yan Wei and the other three, only saying, “So you’ve triggered the speed racing mode for the mobile dungeon… but the dungeon prompt says there’s another side. Why should I choose you so quickly? I need to think about it.”
After saying this, he turned to leave.
Yan Wei silently curled his lips, raised his hand, and blocked the person’s path.
His clear voice now carried a layer of cold indifference as if looking down from above: “You need to choose now.”
The person was taken aback, slightly angry: “Since the rules give a choice, do you really want to force me to choose? You’re not confident and afraid of being snatched away by the other side, are you…? Step aside.”
Yan Wei’s gaze sharpened.
He took out a Student file and shook it in front of the person, saying, “Do you see your name? This is your Student file after enrollment, which records your registration information.”
“What do you want with my file?”
Yan Wei raised an eyebrow. His words carried a hint of amusement, casual and relaxed: “You should have heard the building’s prompt sound and know that the dungeon progress is over half, right? Over half means we’ve already entered the stage of breaking the game, and we’ve long resolved the Death trigger—this Student file. What I’m about to say, you can believe or not.”
“I didn’t come to negotiate with you, nor to ask you to join us. I’m here to demand that you join us, and I’m not giving you any other options.”
“The only students in this school who can be killed by ordinary Ghosts/Monsters are the students of Morning Dawn High School, while exchange students and teachers are not included. On this Student file, as long as you change your enrollment information to that of an exchange student, you can move freely at night without worrying about triggering the various death methods scattered throughout the campus.”
Seeing the player in front of him show a look of uncertainty, Yan Wei quickened his speech: “I know what you want to ask—why should you trust me, right? Yu Feizhou, help me out?”
Yu Feizhou smiled gently, took out a pen from his pocket, and twirled it in his hand.
The player’s eyes widened instantly, saying, “You can twirl a pen!?”
“So you see, our method of avoiding the Death trigger is effective. I said, I’m only giving you one choice, which is to join our side, and I’ll change your file to that of an exchange student. If you still want to see the other side or join them, fine, I’ll tear your file right now, and you’ll never have the chance to change it again. When night falls, we’ll go to your dormitory—just do something to force you to make a sound.”
As he spoke, Yan Wei’s throat rolled slightly, and his grip on the file tightened, leaving creases on the paper with his fingertips. He slightly lowered his head, not looking at the player, making it hard to discern his expression.
Behind him, Yan Mingguang stepped forward silently and patted his shoulder.
In that moment, Yan Wei suddenly felt that although Yan Mingguang didn’t see his eyes and expression, he understood his feelings at that moment.
He maintained his outward composure, ready to speak, but Yan Mingguang suddenly took the file from his hand, stepped forward, and said to the player, “Join or not, it’s one word. We still have to find others.”
Yan Wei was taken aback.
Yan Wei naturally had a pair of peach blossom eyes, and his face always carried a gentle smile. Even when he spoke these threatening and cold words with a straight face, it lacked intimidation. But even with glasses that softened his sharpness, Yan Mingguang’s cold expression could still make people shiver involuntarily.
The player couldn’t withstand Yan Mingguang’s aura and instinctively took a step back, his face alternating between pale and flushed.
After a moment, the person finally nodded: “Okay.”
The building’s prompt sound rang out simultaneously, notifying all players who triggered the speed racing mode that a new player had joined Yan Wei’s side.
Yan Mingguang took the pen from Yu Feizhou’s hand and, in front of the newly joined player, changed the student status to that of an exchange student. The moment Yan Mingguang finished writing, the player’s expression changed, clearly feeling the same lightness that Yan Wei and the others had experienced earlier.
Thus, there was no need for further proof; this person knew that Yan Wei’s earlier words were not empty.
He was exceptionally surprised: “I really don’t feel that sense of being targeted anymore!” He glanced at Yan Wei, his surprise deepening, “I’m still stuck in the stage of finding the cause of death, and you’ve already reached this step… Are you hiding your strength? This is too impressive…”
Meanwhile, Wu Hua and the other two players from Broken Scythe arrived again at the grove.
During the day, the grove looked perfectly normal, quiet with a slight rustling of leaves, sunlight filtering through the branches, casting dappled shadows. It felt like a peaceful corner of the campus, unlike the boundless hell of the night.
They stopped at the edge of the grove.
Wu Hua said, “It’s right here. The last time I passed by, I saw seeds from other organizations go in and never come out again.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the three suddenly paused—they heard the prompt sound indicating that Yan Wei’s side had gained a new player.
“How is this possible? They pulled in an ally so quickly!?”
Wu Hua gritted his teeth: “It might just be a player they had some cooperation with before. Just one, and there are still a dozen players alive. That group of Yan’s isn’t relying on any organization; how many organizations would be willing to cooperate with them? With their scattered forces, finding one is impossible, let alone ten or twenty.”
“Let’s set it on fire.”
After Yan Mingguang finished modifying the file, he handed it to the player himself.
Lin Zhen yawned, pulling out several other players’ Student files from Yan Wei’s hands and casually stuffing them into the hands of this “new member,” saying, “Hey, we’re all on the same side now. You remember how we tricked you earlier, right? You’re responsible for these people.”
This was their plan.
They would casually find a few players without organizations or with few remaining members, let these people join their side, and then have them each take responsibility for some other players. Using the Student files to take down these players one by one, they would quickly pull almost all players to their side, thereby isolating Broken Scythe.
Even if a few stubborn ones knew the importance of the files and refused to cooperate, as long as these people saw that most chose to join their side, they naturally wouldn’t go against themselves. Ultimately, even if it wasn’t for the Student files, but for the sake of winning, those who initially refused would also make choices favorable to them.
The Student files that Yan Wei possessed had already placed him in an absolute advantage in this seemingly equal starting point of the speed racing mode.
The newly joined player clearly understood this point instantly. He took the Student files of several players and transformed from his initial unwillingness into astonishment.
He didn’t dawdle, taking the files to find those players.
Lin Zhen watched the figure leave and clicked his tongue: “Little pet, you’re really too cunning. These files are more than just Immunity Tokens; they’re practically free labor. It’s truly something you could pull off.”
This time, Yan Wei surprisingly didn’t retort Lin Zhen.
He turned to glance at Yan Mingguang.
This person stood beside him, his tall figure blocking some sunlight, and he could still faintly smell the refreshing scent on him in the shadow.
He said, “What you just…” he paused, then said, “Forget it, let’s hurry and find other players.”
Actually, there was no need to ask.
Yan Mingguang’s actions earlier clearly showed his struggle.
His method was indeed effective, but when there were few people at the beginning, simple discussions and persuasion couldn’t convince these players who had fought their way through. In the world of the building, kindness was never taken seriously; the best way to cooperate was through benefits and threats.
What they needed to fight for now was time, and the fastest way was through coercion and inducement.
Earlier, he said that if this player didn’t agree, he would deliberately force this player to make a sound to trigger death after nightfall. This method was indeed quite sinister, but if they didn’t succeed at the start, he would still have to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.
He could watch people die without changing his expression, yet he still couldn’t bring himself to do something that crossed the line.
Yan Mingguang clearly sensed that he wasn’t very willing to continue with coercion and inducement. This person evidently couldn’t stand such behavior either, yet he still helped him complete this step.
If those vague dreams he had during this time were indeed related to the three years he was missing, what kind of relationship did Yan Mingguang have with him to act in such a way?
Yan Wei slowly shook his head, temporarily suppressing these mixed thoughts in his mind—what he needed to do now was to break the game as quickly as possible!
He said, “Let’s go, we’re looking for the next one—”
His voice paused.
With the highest Perception, Yan Wei turned to look in the direction of the grove.
—A plume of black smoke was rising there.
“Oh no, the grove is on fire?” Lin Zhen raised an eyebrow, a hint of anger flashing in his dark red pupils, “The punishment list is still hidden inside; which blind fool is looking for death like this?”
Yan Wei’s eyes narrowed, and his expression suddenly darkened.
“No one would burn a problem-free place for no reason. Who do you think it is? With a fire like this, players who don’t know there’s a problem in the grove won’t rush to put it out; do you think they’re burning it for whom?”
In just a moment, he saw through this group’s clumsy scheme, sneering: “Broken Scythe… openly choosing not to select, yet deliberately taking this shortcut…”
Then he would let Wu Hua see who the real clown was in this dungeon.
