Chapter 113: Dormitory Friendship League
As the game prompt appeared, Guo Guo was shocked: "He died too? Does this count as suicide?"
She had thought there would be a big battle, but the original killer died so quickly that she couldn’t react.
Tang Xinjue: "Do you think he's dead?"
Guo Guo: "..."
Guo Guo tried to think hard, and said with difficulty: "Is he dead... or not?"
Judging from the game notification, the increase in the number of deaths must have come from the gloomy boy who just disappeared.
But... Guo Guo frowned. If she was not mistaken, the boy had taken out the props and disappeared on his own initiative. It was very likely that he withdrew from the game directly with the help of the props. Does this count as "death"?
Zhang You, who also shared the same vision and saw all this, fell into deep thought and quickly concluded: "Whether they were killed in the game or withdrew midway, they would be considered [dead] by the system. But according to this logic, the candidates who died in the game may not be really dead."
After all, the system did not provide a detailed explanation of the competition mechanism, and the existing rules were almost entirely guesswork. Even though she saw the gloomy boy withdraw from the competition, she was not sure that her guess was right.
Tang Xinjue withdrew her mental power to observe, and saw whispers on other balconies. The dense rustling sound spread between the two buildings, making her more clearly aware of the large number of candidates here.
——These vivid, fresh minds and thoughts that process different information, they all exist in the form of fireballs in her mental field of vision. At the beginning of the game, Tang Xinjue tried to extend the sensing range to the maximum, but found that she could not break through to the dormitory building on the other side. On her side, it could only cover a few nearby balconies and could not detect people in the dormitory.
This was already the limit of her current ability. The more Tang Xinjue realized this clearly, the clearer her mind was, and she knew the direction of the next step: she must strengthen her mental power to the power that this talent really should have, to ensure that the dangerous sickle will not fall on 606's head.
She wanted to make all the obstacles covering her eyes and heart disappear, break through the obstacles and fog of the game, and control everything she saw - of course, this requires a lot of points, and the premise for getting points was the exams and competitions like the one at this moment.
Thinking back, Tang Xinjue heard a slight exclamation suddenly aroused from the balcony opposite. She immediately followed their vision and "looked" to the fifth floor, but saw that the balcony window where the gloomy boy disappeared had turned into a dilapidated gray, with two very thick red cross marks on it, like two large seals.
[Ding, the informer dormitory 506 has been wiped out!]
Guo Guo next to her took a breath and finally realized where the lingering strange feeling came from: the mobile phone screen has been stuck on the system notification interface, and the cursor continues to flash on the last line.
The competition notification was not over yet!
At this moment, the notification sounded again after a short silence:
[A [informer] dormitory disappeared, and all participating students can learn three additional hidden rules. Please note that the information you have obtained this time is:
1. In this game, students are divided into good students and informers. Their identities are generated at the beginning of the game and cannot be changed.
2. Informers who kill two good students immediately get a chance to pass the level.
3. Those who pass the level will enter the next mission stage in advance, and the remaining students with the important mission props will automatically pass the level at 9:00.
Finally, the mechanical voice of the system fell happily:
Welcome to the dormitory friendship league. Our slogan is: friendship first, competition second!
The new competition notification broke the atmosphere in a weird balance again.
The fierce dispute spread almost instantly, and each dormitory was quickly checking their views on the new information. Students who were not quick-reacting almost felt dizzy. However, most of the dormitories achieved a high degree of unity in their reactions in one aspect: they hid back in their dormitories at lightning speed.
The dormitory building, which had just become lively, returned to silence in an instant.
Seeing the window closed again, Guo Guo was relieved: "This competition is too deceptive!"
It turned out that only two candidates need to be killed, and the informer can pass directly to the next stage. No wonder the gloomy boys' dormitory acted so hastily. Once the raid succeeds, the benefits are almost a profit.
They were standing outside and were accidentally killed by a prop. The murderer passed directly, and the rest of the people didn't even have a chance to retaliate. Is there any rule in this?
Tang Xinjue looked at the time: "It's more than 30 minutes before nine o'clock."
The "important prop" mentioned in the prompt should be the black cloak they got from the heavy rain before. According to the rules, as long as there was no accident, they would automatically pass to the next stage when the time is up.
Then the safest way was undoubtedly to hide in the dormitory and not give the "informer" a chance to take advantage.
"I feel a little confused now." Zhang You frowned and wrote 1234 on the paper, then crossed it out and looked up: "Xinjue, can you sort it out?"
Tang Xinjue nodded, "It's normal to feel confused, because this is the purpose of the game."
"The purpose of the game?"
"Don't you feel it?" Tang Xinjue smiled, "From the beginning of the game to now, who has been leading the rhythm and fanning the flames?"
It was the rule of the game.
It goes without saying that the identities of the candidates are divided and opposed. The system prompts appear a few times, either making the candidates furious or everyone is in danger and suspicious of each other.
Obviously, although it says "friendship first, competition second", the game did not really intend to let the candidates get along harmoniously.
"Setting up multiple informant dormitories and hiding their identities is to prevent us from cooperating."
"Allowing informants to have the opportunity to clear the level early while others can only be forced to wait is to prevent the strong candidates on both sides from standing idly by." Tang Xinjue used a more understandable statement: "If you are an ambitious [good student] who wants to compete for the first place in the competition, when you see that an [informer] is about to pass the level, knowing that the information gap between you will become larger and larger - what will you choose at this time?"
Zhang You frowned: "... strike first to gain the upper hand."
"Similarly," Tang Xinjue turned to Zheng Wanqing: "If an [informer] kills us in front of you to pass the level, but you can't stop the rules of the game, what will you do then?"
Zheng Wanqing did not hesitate: "Kill them first at all costs!"
Tang Xinjue finally rubbed Guo Guo's head: "Before the game came, we were all just ordinary college students, and perhaps we couldn't kill our own kind. But the rules of the game ambiguously hint to us that death in the game is not necessarily equivalent to complete death."
This gives everyone a chance to get lucky, making the bottom line easier to break, and the evil hidden deep in the heart is easier to be stimulated.
Once someone sets a precedent, the boundaries would no longer exist, and attacks and killings may happen again at any time. No one can risk their life to trust a stranger they met by chance.
Guo Guo drooped her brows and said, "The dog game is getting more and more cunning."
It was as if the rules were specially designed to block them. The experience of uniting with ghosts in the last dungeon was basically useless here. They couldn't even confirm who the enemy was, so how could they cooperate?
When Guo Guo thought about having to be on guard against the malice and threats from countless candidates at all times, she felt overwhelmed. She quickly covered her cold head and comforted herself, "It's okay. If the soldiers come, I will drown them, and if the water comes, I will bury them.* As long as I don't go out, no one can attack me..."
*a proverb meaning ‘there is always a solution to a problem’.
Zhang You glanced at her with a smile: "If there is one informant who has the same power as Xinjue, are you sure you can stay safe just by hiding?"
"Even if you can't reach the power of Xinjue, remember Ke Ke in the last exam? As long as there is another person with the power of words, we will be in trouble."
Guo Guo's body shuddered, and the scene of the last copy emerged in her mind. She felt a strong sense of crisis: "Then will our protective props be insufficient? What should we do? We can't buy them now... Wait, can we buy them now?"
She raised her head suddenly, and the four of them looked at each other.
After entering the exam dungeon, most functions on the mobile phone, including the mall, would be closed. But if it was a competition...
Soon, they all knew the answer.
"...Special version of the competition?"
In the mall position of [Dormitory Survival APP], there was no gray lock that they are accustomed to. Instead, there was a line of bright red characters:
[Special version of the student mall for competition, let your ranking stand out!]
Swiping down, there were only a few rows of complicated merchandise, which were basically defense and healing items, such as anti-injury armor, life-saving pills, and various strange curses. The types were precisely positioned and clearly defined, and it was obvious that they accurately understood the candidates' psychology .
But when Guo Guo looked down and saw the prices, she almost dropped her phone: "It's increased tenfold? Why don't you just go rob it?"
The 5-point pill was priced at 50 points, and the 10-point shield became 100 points. There was also a special channel for the whole dormitory to pay together. After reading the prices and then seeing the reflection of the phone screen, it seemed that what you saw for a moment was not their own face, but green leeks.
"First, it offered bundled discounts like Pinduoduo, and now it's launching a competition group purchase. Will they offer features like "cut one dollar off" or "Huabei payment" next time?"
*Pinduoduo is a Chinese online retailer, sister company to Temu. Huabei is a product that provides you with "consume first, repay later" online consumer financial services - so it’s a paylater.
Guo Guo complained loudly in disbelief, and Tang Xinjue smiled: "Be careful of flag."
*flag written literally in English, as in a sign or symbol before a specific event occurs, is used often as "an ominous signal". A bit like “don’t jinx it”.
She had already browsed through all the contents of the mall, and now concluded: "It's expensive, and there is nothing suitable."
Even if the mall has it, it's useless if you can't buy it. Several people immediately lost interest and turned their attention back to the game itself, continuing to study the current situation.
"Xinjue, has your mental power been upgraded again?" Zhang You suddenly spoke up and mentioned the shared vision just now.
Tang Xinjue nodded: "Yes."
Zheng Wanqing opened her eyes wide: "Mental power props are so expensive, didn't you save all your points? How did you upgrade?"
Tang Xinjue smiled: "Mental power upgrades are indeed expensive, but there are also some bargains to be made. For example, you can create a mental skill first."
"That's right!" Guo Guo suddenly realized: "Your abilities are all awakened autonomously!"
The biggest difference between autonomous awakening and shopping mall purchases is that the former can be upgraded by itself, such as Tang Xinjue's toilet plunger and mental power, and Zhang You's ability to recycle old items. And skills such as Zheng Wanqing's "sandbag-sized fists" that could only be purchased in the mall, now could only be upgraded in the mall by spending points.
[Vision sharing] was the new ability that Tang Xinjue gained after this autonomous upgrade.
With this ability, although their vision is limited, they roughly saw the layout of the two buildings and the candidates, and had a general idea in their minds.
Zhang You drew the location layout, "If the dormitory building is divided into two buildings, A and B, and assuming we are in building B, then our location is..."
Tang Xinjue supplemented for her, and while speaking, she also wanted to pick up the pen to draw, but Zhang You quickly pressed it down, "This is a more complicated diagram!"
Tang Xinjue shrugged, "It doesn't matter, you draw yours, and I'll be responsible for the other side."
Zhang You: "No, we can't understand what you draw."
Tang Xinjue: "..."
Guo Guo hugged Tang Xinjue's hand: "Master Jue, if it is a simple diagram, it's okay, but if it is complicated, it may be a bit abstract for you to do it."
Tang Xinjue was silent for two seconds and looked at Zheng Wanqing, "My drawing is very abstract?"
Zheng Wanqing whistled and looked away: "I'll go see the situation outside."
Tang Xinjue: "...Okay."
She put down the pen angrily. Just as she was concentrating on looking at the paper, her eyes suddenly sharpened. She grabbed Zheng Wanqing who was about to leave with her backhand: "Don't go over there!"
The three of them turned their heads in surprise and saw Tang Xinjue making a gesture to silence, and then the mental connection was reopened, and her voice rang in their minds:
"Someone is watching us."
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