TSA Chapter 49

Gu Le said, “Class president, I’ll accompany Ran Qi to the infirmary.”

“Fine,” the class president said with a headache, waving them off to quickly take Ran Qi away.

With Gu Le supporting him, Ran Qi left the training hall and headed toward the infirmary.

“Ran Ran, are you okay?” Gu Le asked softly once they were out of earshot.

Zhang Shuo had bumped into him so hard earlier, and the difference in their physical constitutions made Gu Le genuinely worried.

“I’m fine, just a little sore. If something were really wrong, I wouldn’t have let him off so easily,” Ran Qi replied, having already rubbed his shoulder to confirm that there was no bone damage—just some bruising.

“That’s good to hear,” Gu Le said with relief. “But it’s still better to get it checked at the infirmary.”

“En.”

Since they had already told the class president they were going to the infirmary, they had to follow through. If the teacher got curious and decided to verify their visit with the school doctor, skipping it would cause trouble.

It was class time, so the school doctor was in their office. Seeing Gu Le helping Ran Qi inside, they quickly stood up. “What happened?”

“Got bumped,” Ran Qi explained. “It shouldn’t be serious, just a bit sore.”

“You’re not the one to decide whether it’s serious or not,” the school doctor said sternly. They remembered Ran Qi well—his strikingly attractive face wasn’t easy to forget. Besides, he was the only student at the school with double-E aptitude, and his father, Ran Shaojun, had privately asked the teachers to keep an eye on him.

For most students, a bump like this would be a minor incident. But for Ran Qi, it could be serious. The school had many physically strong students, including some with S-level constitutions who could withstand over a ton of pressure and even achieve temporary immunity to weapons. If someone with an S-level constitution collided with Ran Qi, who was only E-level, injuries like fractures or worse would be inevitable.

“Pull your uniform down a bit so I can take a look.”

Ran Qi unzipped his uniform, revealing his right shoulder. His pale skin showed a large, vivid bruise that stood out starkly.

The school doctor frowned and gently pressed on the bruise. Seeing that Ran Qi only winced slightly without showing severe pain, they relaxed.

“It seems to be just a bruise, but to be safe, let’s do a thorough check,” the doctor said, activating an advanced diagnostic scanner. Far superior to X-rays or MRIs, it scanned the entire body inside and out in just five seconds, rendering a 3D model of every organ and blood vessel.

Fortunately, apart from subcutaneous bleeding on the shoulder, there were no other issues. However, upon closer inspection, faint marks on Ran Qi’s leg bones and the back of his skull were visible—lingering injuries from his earlier accident.

“Nothing serious. A bit of medication should do the trick. Rest well afterward,” the doctor said, taking out a bottle of pain-relief spray. They applied it generously to Ran Qi’s shoulder, and the bruise visibly faded in seconds.

Ran Qi moved his arm, feeling no more pain. He stood up and thanked the doctor. “Alright, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Just be more careful next time.”

Since the doctor advised rest, Ran Qi dutifully complied.

So, he returned to his dorm and hopped into his game pod to ‘rest properly.’

******

Night Owl and the others were grinding levels in the wilderness when they saw Ran Qi and Gu Le log in. They couldn’t help but flood the team chat with question marks.

Soul Chaser asked curiously, “Brother Ran, Coke, weren’t you two watching the selection match? Why are you back so soon?”

“Nothing much to see. We just snuck away,” Ran Qi replied casually, not wanting to dwell on the unpleasant events from earlier.

“Hahaha, that’s because your school’s players are so weak. The matches were boring. Wait until the regional tournament; we’ll show you what real experts look like!” Soul Chaser laughed arrogantly, his tone brimming with confidence.

So what if Zhang Shuo made it through the school selection? With Night Owl and the others being so strong, they would undoubtedly teach him a lesson on the battlefield.

With that thought, Ran Qi suddenly found himself looking forward to the regional tournament.

“Why are you all online every day? Don’t you need to participate in school selection matches?” Gu Le finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked.

“Hahahaha, because we’re too strong!” Soul Chaser replied with the same smugness.

Gu Le: “……”

“We’ve competed multiple times already, and every time we’ve come out as group champions. To avoid crushing the morale of the new students, our teachers gave us special permission to skip straight to the finals. So, we only need to log off for the finals day.”

冉骐&顾乐：“……”

Ran Qi and Gu Le: “…”

Alright then, their imaginations were clearly limited by their lack of skill…

Night Owl asked, “Shall we run the Black-and-White World dungeon?”

Two days had passed, and Night Owl had reached level 40, while Ran Qi and Gu Le had climbed to level 35, unlocking access to the new dungeon.

“Let’s go!” Everyone responded enthusiastically, except Ran Qi, who furrowed his brow slightly.

Black-and-White World was a level 35 dungeon, as its name suggested, a world of stark contrasts with only black and white. Its mechanics differed from previous dungeons. The space was small but labyrinthine, with the ground covered in black-and-white tiles. The monsters were all ghosts, and the boss was a large ghost with two heads—one black and one white. These heads were hostile to each other but unable to harm one another because they shared the same body.

However, they could exploit the players’ actions to absorb power from the other head.

When players entered, the color of the first tile they stepped on determined their faction. If it was white, they could only move on white tiles and attack black ghosts. Mistakes, such as stepping on the wrong tile or attacking a white ghost, would empower the black head of the boss. This would also make the next wave of black ghosts stronger. The more mistakes, the more dominant the blackhead would become.

During the final boss battle, the black head would consume the white head at the last moment, instantly restoring full health and doubling its attack power. This essentially transformed the fight from a normal mode to a hard mode.

However, if the players made no mistakes, killing black ghosts would weaken the black head over time. When the boss battle began, the white head would aid the players by consuming the black head, making the fight much easier.

In essence, as long as the players understood the mechanics, the dungeon was relatively simple.

The problem was… Ran Qi couldn’t outright explain it…

Like before, he’d have to find a way to guide them once they were inside.

The group arrived at the dungeon entrance, where Night Owl took the lead in initiating it.

When they teleported in, they were met with a world of black-and-white tiles. Every surface, from the ground to the walls, was divided into alternating squares. The pattern was so overwhelming that it induced dizziness after prolonged viewing.

“Oh my gosh, what kind of messed-up dungeon is this? It’s awful!” Soul Chaser groaned, covering his eyes.

Night Owl said, “Look at the ground, not the walls. It’ll feel much better.”

“But if I only look at the ground, how am I supposed to walk? And I won’t see the monsters either…”

“Don’t worry, just follow me,” Night Owl said confidently, stepping onto the first tile—a black one—indicating their faction as the black team.

Immediately, ghostly monsters appeared, with ten in total—five black and five white—distributed evenly.

Seeing the division of colors among the ghosts, Night Owl frowned slightly, sensing something off. But before he could figure it out, Gu Le, out of habit, charged forward with his longsword and shield raised.

After Gu Le stabilized the aggro, Soul Chaser, and the others immediately joined in, quickly clearing the wave of monsters.

“What’s going on? These monsters seem really weak,” Sword at Fleeting Time said, puzzled.

“Maybe it’s a bonus dungeon? A place to farm experience?” Plume Ink suggested optimistically.

“That’s unlikely, right? Would the game devs really be that generous?”

“Who cares, just keep going!” Soul Chaser said as he charged ahead, stepping onto a white tile.

Ran Qi watched helplessly as the group stepped on the wrong tiles multiple times. While he kept a calm expression, inwardly, he was growing increasingly anxious.

Soon, a second wave of monsters appeared. This time, the white ghosts looked more solid, while the black ghosts appeared increasingly translucent.

Before Ran Qi could say anything, Night Owl, ever vigilant, noticed the problem. “Hold on! Something’s wrong with the health bars. The white monsters’ HP is increasing, while the black monsters’ HP is decreasing.”

The group paused and carefully observed the health bars. Sure enough, the white ghosts’ health had increased by at least 20%, and their attack damage had also risen, while the black ghosts were noticeably weaker.

“What’s going on?” Everyone was baffled.

After thinking for a moment, Night Owl said, “Don’t use AoE skills. Focus on killing the white monsters first, and avoid hitting the black ones.”

“Got it.”

After eliminating the white monsters one by one, they noticed that the black ghosts didn’t attack them. Instead, they faded into the walls and disappeared.

“It seems the black monsters won’t attack us. We should focus on the white ones and avoid hitting the black ones.” While the mechanics weren’t fully clear, Night Owl made a preliminary judgment.

“Understood!”

Although they identified the issue with the monsters, they didn’t pay attention to the tiles beneath them. Watching them repeatedly step on the wrong tiles, Ran Qi held back from speaking.

By the third wave, the white ghosts had grown even stronger. Although the group could still handle them with ease due to the dungeon’s forgiving nature, the trend was becoming increasingly concerning.

As Night Owl frowned in thought, Ran Qi quickly suggested, “Could it have something to do with the tiles we’re stepping on? We should try only stepping on the black tiles.”

“That makes sense. Let’s give it a try.”

Following Ran Qi’s suggestion, they began stepping only on black tiles, finding ways to skip or jump over the white ones. With this adjustment, the white monsters stopped growing stronger and gradually weakened as they were defeated.

Once they grasped the pattern, the group progressed smoothly and soon found themselves standing before the final boss.