Girls' Dormitory Escape - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Four Seasons Protection Guide (4)

    "Fuck! Intentionally voted wrong?" Zheng Wanqing slapped the table irritably: "They want us to freeze to death? Are they still human?"

    After being irritable, she found that both roommates were silent. Tang Xinjue's eyes were quiet, as if she had expected it. On the other hand, Guo Guo's face was pale, and she didn't know if she was frozen or scared.

    She gradually realized that something was wrong, "Did I say something wrong?"

    "Wuwu, you are right." Guo Guo wanted to cry without tears, "Because it's obvious that they are really not human!" Those who could vote here, either a student who was doing the dungeon, or an NPC. In the game, almost all the NPCs they encountered were Xiaohong, supermarket owners, and malicious existences like the student council.

    Thinking about it with the back of their heads, they would definitely prefer to see students freeze to death.

    After realizing it, Zheng Wanqing felt a chill down her spine: "Then do we still have hope?" The only clue to the mission was to play them like monkeys under the control of a group of NPCs. The students were f*cked...

    This time, Tang Xinjue's answer was also firm:

    "Yes."

    Even the current situation was one of the best in her judgment, second only to the fact that all the voters were normal candidates.

    Roommate: "???"

    Tang Xinjue kept calm: "The worst case is that the number of votes for the four options is almost the same, so no information can be drawn from the votes."

    "As it is now, it can only represent that the majority of voters are NPCs, and NPCs are different from regular test takers. They know a lot of test information that students don't know - for example, which answer is most likely to be correct and which must be wrong.

    "Under these conditions, in order to make us die faster, there will be a ratio of votes - the wrong option will have the highest number of votes, and the correct option will have the lowest number of votes."

    With Tang Xinjue's analysis, her roommates' eyes gradually lit up:

    "In other words, [School Swamp] is definitely the wrong answer, and the [Lounge] with the lowest votes is the most likely correct answer!"

    "That's right." Tang Xinjue nodded.

    The malicious vote of the NPC, on the one hand, digs a hole*, but on the other hand, it made the correct answer come to the surface without any effort.

*create a trap for them

    The Student Council will only investigate one location at a time, and the first time the investigation will most likely fail. What they need to wait for is a second chance to vote.

     "But," Guo Guo suddenly thought of a question: "Even if there is a second vote, there are still these NPCs among the voters, right? What if they deliberately vote for the wrong option?" There was a huge disparity between the numbers of the two parties, so wouldn't they have to be led by the nose all the time?

    "At that time, it's time to fight for subjective initiative."

    Tang Xinjue smiled. She wasn't too worried about voting. In contrast, the upcoming swamp inspection made the danger warning in her heart even stronger.

    If from the answer of "the birth of the monster in the wind and snow affects the heating", this specific location was derived, then nine out of ten, it was inseparable from the "monster".

    They, who stayed in the dormitory, didn't need to have direct contact, but Zhang You might face the danger directly.

    At two o'clock in the afternoon, the indoor temperature was minus 54 degrees.

    The radio creaked twice, and Lili reappeared: "Ding dong~ Hello everyone who is still alive, this is the site of the student union inspection."

    You also know that the longer the time passes, the more casualties the candidates will suffer. You wish we could die sooner. The three looked indifferent (at her greeting).

    "Wow, you can see from here that the entire swamp is covered with ice, like a huge black mirror. Hee hee, it's really beautiful..."

    After being reminded by other reporters, Lili turned back to the topic from the nonsense: "Cough cough, then next. Please, the student who gave this answer, go to the swamp to explore in person and report the results to us~"

    "Wait, am I the only one who went there?" Another boy panicked, "It's too dark inside, and I can only step on ice, in case the ice breaks..."

    "Classmate Sun, this is the answer you gave yourself. Of course, it's up to you to check whether it's right or wrong." Lili replied thoughtfully.

    Seeing that the boy was still struggling, her voice suddenly became cold: "Of course, if you insist on not cooperating, we will have to use coercion."

    After speaking, there was a few seconds of confusion and screaming on the radio, and soon, the sound of laughter covered by mouth sounded from Lili: "There was a small accident just now, but it's back on track now. Student Sun has now entered the inspection site, and now he is walking on the ice, we can hear his footsteps, oh, Classmate Sun's legs are trembling slightly, it seems that he is not very confident in his answer..."

    "Ah," she said, with a strange excitement: "The ice surface cracks!"

    In the dormitory, everyone's expressions wasn't very good.

    The student council should have tied the microphone to the boy, and from outside the radio, everything that happened on the swamp ice could be clearly heard.

    At first, only the rapid breathing of the boy and the slow creaking of the ice surface came over, and then suddenly there was the sound of gurgling water and churning in the receiver.

    But on the ice, how could there be the sound of water?

    Tang Xinjue's eyes were gloomy: "Unless, there is something swimming with people under the ice."

    ——That something was still a behemoth that can penetrate the frozen swamp.

    "Click-click--"

    As if several cracks suddenly appeared, the boy's footsteps froze.

    "Yeah, the ice surface is cracked."

    Then, in Lili's schadenfreude commentary, the footsteps suddenly became faster, as if the boy was running hurriedly on the ice, and behind him, the cracking sound of the ice surface continued to superimpose, and the grunting sound under the ice surface was also getting louder.

    Suddenly, the boy let out a scream, and then fell heavily on the ice, his body still trying to move forward.

    "Bang!"

    This was the sound of another heavy object falling on the ice.

    "Hsssssssssssssssssss--" This was the sound of the object sliding on ice.

    After four or five seconds, the boy's voice did not appear again, only the heavy friction and squirming of something left, and finally sank into the swamp again.

    Tang Xinjue closed her eyes and took a deep breath to prevent nausea.

    Immediately, she took out the toilet plunger and slammed it on the desk!

    Guo Guo and Zheng Wanqing, whose expressions were painful and dazed, shook their bodies and woke up.

    They had just followed the sound of the radio, surrounded by the cold, sticky and immersive tension and pain, almost breathless, and their stomachs were churning. If it wasn't for being suddenly awakened by Tang Xinjue, they didn't know how they would indulge.

    Zheng Wanqing stretched out her hand, and the blood on it quickly solidified at low temperature. She had just cut into her hand unconsciously.

    Guo Guo tried to swallow twice, but couldn't hold back, she bent down and retched.

    On the [Dormitory Member Status] interface, except for Tang Xinjue, everyone has added different degrees of negative status. The most serious is Zhang You:

    [mental damage: your health value -10, san value has been reduced]

    [look at monsters: immunity -5, stamina -3, response -3. Your physique has been greatly reduced, and the danger of the environment to you has increased. ]

    Even without direct contact with the monster, or even just receiving information over the radio, they may be injured.

    Decisions must be made immediately, they couldn't follow the opponent's rhythm. Tang Xinjue made a decision in her heart.

    The radio continues.

    Lili's voice sounded very satisfied, with a gluttonous feeling as if she just had a full meal: "It seems a pity that Student Sun's answer is not correct, and the heating process has not progressed. Student Zhang, what do you think?"

    Lili didn't wait for Zhang You's answer, she said to herself: "But it doesn't matter, let's see where the next place we are going to investigate is!"

    "One, the power generation room; two, the water supply room; three, the rest room. The right to choose is in the hands of the classmates listening to the radio, then, the voting begins—"

    The bell interrupted Lili's voice, she froze, "Who called the radio?"

    After a rustling sound, Lili answered the call, The voice revealed reluctance visible to the naked eye: "Hehe, it seems that the students responded enthusiastically to the radio station. Let's see who the caller is this time..."

    "Hello."

    In front of the radio, Tang Xinjue held the phone and said in a calm tone.

    "..." Lili wanted to hang up immediately.

    There was another rustling, but she finally endured it and asked with a smirk, "Hello, may I ask you to contact us suddenly because..."

    "The situation is urgent." Tang Xinjue interrupted her, "I just found out, There is an abnormal situation in the heating staff's lounge, which is likely to be the truth to solve the heating problem."

    "Is that so——" Lili stretched her tone, "But the inspection site can only be selected by voting, so it's a pity..."

    "But isn't the purpose of the student union today to solve the heating problem?" Tang Xinjue interrupted her again, but her tone was calm: "Logically speaking, it should be the process that serves the result."

    Lili: ... She was now a reporter, she was not angry, she could bear it!

    "Haha." The other side sneered, "But how do you prove that what you said must be correct? Where is your analysis basis?"

    "Someone gave me a dream." Tang Xinjue did not hesitate.

    "I have a friend named Xiaohong, and we have a very good relationship. She happened to know something about this heating, so she just gave me a dream and told me that the key to the solution lies in the lounge. As we all know, good friends don't lie, so this answer must be correct."

    Student Council: "..."

    Her roommates who watched her face unchanged throughout the story: "..."

    Lili resisted the urge to swear: "This reason doesn't seem to be very credible. "

    Wait, the student union reporter named Xiao Ming suddenly interjected: "I seem to remember that there is a classmate like Xiao Hong..."

    Lili screamed: "Shut up!"

    "Of course, I also firmly support fair decision-making. If anyone has other proposals, they can also report it by phone. I don't mind the live debate. For students who don't know how to contact the radio station, please call 7543..."

    Tang Xinjue already went off before she could stop it. Lili could only watch Tang Xinjue report the radio number in one go.

    "After all, if I'm the only one on the phone and everyone else just texts and doesn't tell who the voter is, it's unfair if someone steals dozens of cellphones to vote, isn't it? After all - our [mission] is the same."

    The accent emphasized the last sentence, without giving the other party a chance to refute, Tang Xinjue directly hung up the phone.

    She was betting that those NPCs can only fish in troubled waters by voting, and cannot directly interfere with the content of the exam - but real students can.

    At the same time, this was also gambling on the balance of the game rules - even the student union must be restricted and suppressed at some level. For example, unsolicited calls from students cannot be denied.

    For another example, the completion of the heating task couldn't be hindered by rejecting reasonable requests.

    They deliberately blurred this down, but Tang Xinjue would not ignore it. The remarks just now were not to the student council, but to test the rules of the game that might be covered in some way.

    On the radio, the student council fell into a long silence.

    After a long while, Xiao Ming said, "We still need to discuss this issue to determine whether it is more conducive to finding the heating progress. Please wait another hour, thank you."

    Tang Xinjue knew that she was right.

    Only when the pain point* was caught and there was nothing they can do, the other party could only use the right to delay time to maximize their (the players') losses.

*Pain point, as the name suggests, is a point of pain, a point of contact where users complain, dissatisfaction, and feel pain when using a product or service.

    It's best that they all freeze to death during this time, so that the student union can follow the original process.

    Seeing that the radio station was about to pause again, the calling bell suddenly rang again.

    Lili finally couldn't bear screaming from a distance: "There's no end to it! Hit you &*%$##@..."

    Xiao Ming: "Sorry, the reporter's mood is a little out of control now, Classmate Tang, is there anything else?"

    In front of the radio, Tang Xinjue raised her eyebrows.

    She's sitting here right now, not calling at all.

    The next second, a strange girl's voice sounded on the radio: "Hello. I'm not Classmate Tang, my surname is Liu. I'm calling to support Classmate Tang's suggestion. I also think that the next inspection site should be the lounge."

    Xiao Ming: "...Okay, we will remember your opinion, bye."

    Hang up the phone, without even a half-second pause, the bell suddenly rang again.

    "I also support their opinions." This time it was a simple and honest male voice: "By the way, can the student union provide us with some hot water bottles and thermal equipment? It's really not possible, you can also burn wood to the door. After all, you are the ones who serve the students....."

    Student Council: "..."

    One hour passed quickly in the endless phone calls, and they were overwhelmed by new incoming calls before they even had a chance end everything.

    Even Guo Guo and Zheng Wanqing joined the phone line, and when they heard that the student council sounded deflated, they forgot the pain of freezing for a while, and heaved a sigh of relief.

    At three o'clock in the afternoon, the phone connection was finally suspended. Xiao Ming couldn't wait to turn the microphone over to Lili, "After discussion, we decided to adopt Classmate Tang's suggestion and go directly to the heating staff lounge for this field trip!"

    "Fortunately, the lounge is near the school swamp, so we will be there soon."

    Lili tried her best to resume her professional smirk: "You can see that there is no light in the lounge, and the windows are pitch black. It's strange, aren't the staffs inside?"

    "Next, I'll invite classmate Zhang You to enter and find out the truth for us!" 

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