Chapter 138: Dormitory Friendship League
"Xinjue...?"
Zheng Wanqing's eyes widened in shock. She reached out her right hand to pull Tang Xinjue, but Zhang You quickly intercepted her wrist, her grip so tight it hurt.
"She's not!"
Zhang You's voice was low, but clear in the dark and cramped space.
"She's not Tang Xinjue."
Her gaze was fixed on the girl in front of her—Tang Xinjue's body was unharmed, the only change seemingly being her pupils, which had suddenly turned copper-yellow.
But there was more than that... there was also her aura.
Cold, unfamiliar, as if all life had been drained away from her. This feeling could never belong to Tang Xinjue.
Guo Guo swallowed hard. "No, if it's not Xinjue..."
Then who could it be?
Zhang You didn't answer. In the shadows of her pocket, she curled her fingers around a pale golden card.
[League Resurrection Card]
[Holding a dorm card grants one additional chance to resurrect during the league. This card must be manually triggered before death.]
This was the item they had obtained after the previous raid, originally stored in Tang Xinjue's possession. After being locked onto by the sudden appearance of the blood-red eye, Zhang You had already prepared herself for death and resurrection.
But just as the black energy began to surge into the dormitory, Tang Xinjue gave her a subtle touch, and the card slipped from her fingertips into her palm.
Before she could react, the black energy enveloped her—but then, without warning, it retreated, hovering fearfully around her.
Only then did Zhang You regain consciousness from her shock and assess the situation.
Tang Xinjue had transferred the resurrection card at the critical moment for two possible reasons:
either she didn't need it,
or she couldn't guarantee she would be able to use it.
The resurrection card must be activated by the holder while they are still alive and conscious.
Zhang You didn't know what had happened to Tang Xinjue, but the next second, her logic clicked, and she realized the hint she was giving:
— She might have another way to resolve this impasse, one that didn't necessarily require the use of a revive card, but it would also come with significant risks.
And if she failed, she would need someone else to activate it.
Panting heavily, Zhang You's gaze fixed on Tang Xinjue.
...So now, had she succeeded, or failed?
Her blood-red eyeball froze in mid-air.
Even for a moment, the backlash of the dormitory's rules had reached a terrifying level.
The enormous eyeball, once a person's height, had been corroded to a fraction of its original size. The black energy vanished as it touched the dormitory wall. This was why their vision had quickly cleared—the dormitory's protective mechanism was taking effect!
The eyeball knew it couldn't stay any longer. Its pupils made a terrifying hissing sound, staring at Tang Xinjue, nearly bulging out.
But it couldn't continue its attack. No other creature here understood the aura within the girl's dark yellow pupils better than it.
That being, a higher-ranking being, possessed absolute power and authority; it was the purpose of its journey, the reason for what was happening now, was it...
had that one come in person?
Biological instinct compelled it to retreat and flee, but something it rarely encountered, something humans called logic, gave it a lingering sense of dissonance.
If that one had decided to act personally, then why did they need it to come?
If the student's body was now possessed by "that one," then why weren't they issuing orders?
Only when those dark yellow eyes glared coldly at it did it confirm once again that the girl no longer held any trace of life, only the power belonging to "them"—an undeniable fact.
Though a hint of unease remained, it obediently lowered its head and retreated.
From an outsider's perspective, the scene appeared to be a pause for a few seconds before it slumped to the ground, its bloody remains tangled into a mass, slowly dragging itself backwards in a strange, unsteady motion.
Had the attack ceased?
Zhang You gritted her teeth and quietly moved directly behind Tang Xinjue. Just as Blood-Red Eyeball was about to retreat to the dormitory window, she, in the dim light of the room, flipped open the other side of the resurrection card.
Then she heard Tang Xinjue's mental imprint.
Tang Xinjue said, "Wake me up."
...
Outside the dormitory building, silence enveloped the competition arena for tens of seconds, and no one uttered a single sound.
After Blood-Red Eyeball personally entered, Dormitory 606 didn't erupt in the blood-curdling screams that had erupted from the previous dormitory chosen for punishment. But no one doubted that it must be a different kind of hell.
Being chosen by a ghostly boss like Eyeball was like being sounded the death knell by the Grim Reaper, not much different from being wiped out in the game. None of their dormitories would have been so lucky as to believe they still had a chance to survive.
At that moment, they didn't know whether to be horrified or relieved. Was it fortunate that not having the best grades meant they could actually survive longer?
On the balcony of 307, Yue Qiong quietly lowered his head, listening to the sounds from above.
He wouldn't be foolish enough to use the cursed black mist to investigate, unless he also wanted to be noticed by the red eye.
The so-called partnership between the informant and the Elf House was more of a game setting. They were essentially students, and the other party was a ghost. How could a beast truly cooperate with its prey?
Especially when the blood-red eye appeared in its true form, a growing sense of foreboding settled over him, though he couldn't pinpoint its source.
"Could it be that they're really dead?"
he whispered softly to himself, his expression unclear beneath his mask.
"Summoning wolves to kill people, but you don't believe people can be killed."
All he heard was the shield girl's sharp, cold voice: "Why don't you try it yourself in the wolf's mouth and see if you're dead or not?"
Yue Qiong, drawn back to his senses by the murderous intent beside him, glanced at the girl sharpening her knife. He then collected his thoughts and smiled nonchalantly: "It seems I overestimated them."
He'd only been tricked a few times, and he'd subconsciously assumed the person's strength was immense. Perhaps he was just paranoid.
That's right. Compared to the already doomed opponent, the most pressing issue is how to deal with this cheap neighbor who’s about to go berserk.
It would be best if the third dorm to be punished fell squarely on the shield girl, saving him the trouble of having to take action. Yue Qiong's eyes flickered slightly. Unfortunately, he still couldn't find a way to control the "Elf House"...
His fragmented thoughts had barely escaped him when an inhuman scream suddenly erupted from far above, piercing the air and flooding his ears!
Yue Qiong's eyelids twitched, and like all the other students, he immediately looked upward—
and then a scene he had never imagined, not even imagined, entered his field of vision.
On the shattered balcony of Room 606, a ball-sized chunk of red flesh was desperately wriggling outward. The faint trace of a pupil could be seen beneath the surface tissue, melting and bleeding.
A thin layer of black air protected the rotting flesh, which clung to the balcony, fleeing in panic, as if some ferocious beast within the dormitory was about to devour it.
This, this is…
The candidates who recognized it opened their mouths in astonishment.
Is this that blood-red eyeball?
"What the hell is this? It scared me!"
Guo Liang gasped, staring out the balcony window of Room 303. He turned away quickly, not daring to look.
In shock, he almost forgot the small white bowl he was holding, causing the steaming water in it to nearly spill. A cold sweat immediately broke out on the tip of his nose.
"Fortunately, fortunately. If it had spilled, that spiritual master would be in danger."
This was a big deal, much more profitable than Brother Bai's business dealings with games, his daily grind as a barefoot doctor, and odd maintaining jobs in dungeons.
"Put it away."
A familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind him. Guo Liang turned in surprise to see Brother Bai had withdrawn his healing ability and returned it to the protective formation. His voice was calm, "They're all fine over there."
Guo Liang: "???"
"Did I hear correctly, or are you kidding? An eyeball that large entered Dormitory 606, rotting all the doors and windows. How could it be fine... Wait," Guo Liang paused, then realized, "That eyeball..."
"That thing that was clinging to Dormitory 606's window was that blood-red eyeball?"
Guo Liang turned sharply to look outside. The piece of flesh on Dormitory 606's window had shrunk even smaller. Although it was still struggling to escape, it seemed to be sucked in by something behind it, unable to escape the dormitory.
This scene didn't seem like the students inside were being pursued by the blood-red eyeball, but rather that the eyeball was being... persecuted by the students?
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