When the game prompt appeared, Guo Guo was shocked: "He died too? Is this considered suicide?"
She had thought there would be a big battle, but the original murderer died so quickly that she was a little slow to react.
Tang Xin Jue: "Do you think he is dead?"
Guo Guo: “…”
Guo Guo struggled to think, and said with difficulty, "Is he dead... or not?"
Judging from the game notification, the increase in the death toll must be caused by this sinister boy who just disappeared.
But... Guo Guo frowned. If she was not mistaken, the boy clearly took out the props and disappeared on his own initiative. It was very likely that he withdrew from the competition directly with the help of the props. Does this also count as "death"?
Sharing the same perspective, Zhang You, who had watched all this, fell into deep thought and quickly concluded, "Whether killed during the competition or withdrawing midway, the system will consider them [dead]. But according to this logic, candidates who died during the competition may not be truly dead."
After all, the system didn't provide a detailed explanation of the competition mechanics, and the existing rules were almost entirely guesswork. Even after witnessing the sinister boy withdraw from the competition, she wasn't sure her guess was correct.
Tang Xinjue withdrew his mental power to observe, and saw whispers on other balconies. Fine rustling sounds intertwined and spread between the two buildings, making people more clearly aware of the large number of candidates here.
These vivid, living brains and minds, processing diverse information, all appeared as balls of fire within his mental field of vision. Tang Xin Jue had immediately attempted to maximize his sensing range, but found it impossible to reach the other dormitory building. On his own side, it could only cover a few nearby balconies, unable to detect anyone inside.
This was already the limit of her current ability. The more Tang Xinjue realized this, the clearer her mind became, and she knew the direction of the next step: she had to strengthen her mental power to the power that this talent truly deserved, in order to ensure that the dangerous sickle would 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 required a large amount of points, and the prerequisite for getting points was exams and competitions like the one at this moment.
As her thoughts gathered, Tang Xinjue heard a sudden slight cry of surprise from the balcony opposite. She immediately followed their line of sight and "looked" towards the fifth floor, only to see that the balcony window where the sinister 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, who was standing next to him, took a deep breath and finally realized where the lingering strange feeling came from: the phone screen had been stuck on the system notification interface, and the cursor kept flashing on the last line.
The competition notification is not over yet!
At this moment, the notification sounded again after a brief silence:
[A [Snitch]'s dormitory has disappeared, and all participating students will learn three additional hidden rules. Please note that the information you have obtained this time is:]
[1. In this competition, students are divided into good students and informants. Their identities are determined at the beginning of the competition and cannot be changed.]
[2. The informer kills two good students and immediately gets a chance to clear the level]
[3. Students who pass the level will advance to the next mission stage. The remaining students will automatically pass the level at 9:00 with the mission items.]
Finally, the system's mechanical voice happily fell:
Welcome to the Dormitory Friendship League. Our motto is: Friendship first, competition second!
The newly appeared competition notification once again disrupted the strangely balanced atmosphere.
A heated argument erupted almost instantly, with every dormitory rapidly reviewing their opinions on the new information. Students who weren't as quick to react were practically dizzy. However, the vast majority of dormitories were united in one specific reaction: they retreated to their dormitories with lightning speed.
The dormitory building, which had just become lively, returned to silence in an instant.
Seeing the window closed again, Guo Guo finally felt relieved: "This competition is so deceptive!"
It turns out that the informer only needs to kill two candidates and can pass directly to the next stage. No wonder the Yinzhi boys' dormitory acted so quickly. Once the raid is successful, the benefits will be almost a huge profit.
They were standing outside and were accidentally killed by a prop thrown at them. The murderer was immediately released and the rest of the people didn't even have a chance to take revenge. Is there any law here?
Tang Xin Jue looked at the time: "It's still more than thirty minutes to nine o'clock."
The "important item" mentioned in the hint was likely the black cloak they had retrieved from the heavy rain earlier. According to the rules, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they would automatically advance to the next stage once the timer expired.
Then the safest way is undoubtedly to hide in the dormitory and stay still like a mountain, not giving the "informer" any chance to take advantage.
"I'm feeling a bit confused right now." Zhang You frowned and wrote 1234 on the paper, then crossed it out and looked up. "Heart Sutra, can you help me sort it out?"
Tang Xin Jue nodded, "It's normal to feel confused, because that's the purpose of the competition."
"What's the purpose of the competition?"
"Didn't you feel it?" Tang Xinjue smiled. "From the beginning of the game until now, who has been stirring up trouble and fanning the flames?"
It's the rules of the game.
It goes without saying that the identities of the candidates are divided and opposed. The few times that the system prompts appear, either make the candidates furious or make everyone feel insecure and suspicious of each other.
Obviously, although the game says "friendship first, competition second", it does not intend to really make the candidates get along harmoniously.
"The purpose of setting up multiple snitch dormitories and hiding their identities is to prevent us from cooperating."
"Giving the informer a chance to advance while forcing everyone else to wait is to prevent the stronger candidates on both sides from standing idly by." Tang Xin Jue put it in a more understandable way: "If you were an ambitious [good student] aiming for first place in the competition, and you saw an [informer] about to advance, the information gap between you would widen—what would you do?"
Zhang You frowned, "...it's better to strike first."
"Similarly," Tang Xin Jue turned to Zheng Wanqing, "if [an informer] kills us in front of you in order to pass the level, but you can't change the rules of the game, what will you do?"
Zheng Wanqing didn't hesitate: "Kill him first, no matter the cost!"
Tang Xin Jue rubbed Guo Guo's head. "Before the game came, we were just ordinary college students. We might not have been able to kill our own kind. But the rules of the game vaguely hinted that dying in the game doesn't necessarily mean complete death."
This gives everyone a chance to get away with it, making it easier to cross the bottom line and more likely to stimulate the evil hidden deep in the heart.
Once someone sets a precedent, boundaries no longer exist, attacks and killings may happen again at any time, and no one can risk their life to trust a stranger they met by chance.
Guo Guo's brows drooped, "Dog Games is getting more and more cunning."
It was as if this rule was specially designed to block them. The experience gained from uniting ghosts in the previous instance was basically useless here. They couldn't even confirm who the enemy was, so how could they cooperate?
Thinking about having to constantly be on guard against the malicious intent and threats from countless other students, Guo Guo felt overwhelmed. He quickly covered his cold head and tried to cheer himself up: "Don't worry, if soldiers come, I'll drown them; if water comes, I'll bury them. As long as I don't go out, no one can attack me..."
Zhang You glanced at her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "If one of the informers has the same Heart Technique as mine, are you sure you can be safe just by hiding?"
"Even if we can't reach the level of the Heart Sutra, remember Ke Ke from the last exam? If there's another person with the Word Spirit ability, we'll be in big trouble."
Guo Guo's body shuddered, and the scene from the last dungeon flashed through his mind. He felt a surge of crisis. "Will we run out of protective gear? What should we do? We can't buy them right now... Wait, can we buy them now?"
She suddenly raised her head and the four of them looked at each other.
After entering the exam instance, most functions on the phone, including the mall, will be closed. But if it is a competition...
Soon, several people knew the answer.
"...Special edition for the competition??"
In the shopping area of the [Dormitory Survival App], there was no gray lock that they were accustomed to. Instead, there was a line of bright red words:
[Special edition of the Student Mall competition to help you rank high!]
Swiping down, the complicated product categories are reduced to only a few rows, which are basically defense and healing items, such as anti-injury armor, life-saving pills and various strange curses. The types are precisely positioned and clearly defined, which obviously understands the psychology of the candidates.
But when he looked down at the price, Guo Guo almost dropped his phone: "It's increased tenfold? Why don't you just go grab it?"
A pill that cost 5 points was now priced at 50 points, and a protective shield that cost 10 points became 100 points. There was even a dedicated payment channel for the entire dorm. After seeing the price and then the reflection on the phone screen, it felt like I wasn't looking at my own face, but rather a bunch of juicy green leeks.
"First, there were bundled discounts on Pinduoduo, and now there's a group-buying competition. Will there be features like "cut the price off" or Huabei payment next time?"
Guo Guo complained loudly in disbelief, and Tang Xinjue smiled: "Be careful flag."
She had already browsed through the entire store and concluded, "It's expensive, and there's nothing useful there."
Even if it's available in the mall, it's useless if you can't buy it. The few of them immediately lost interest and turned their attention back to the game itself, continuing to study the current situation.
"Xin Jue, has your mental power been upgraded again?"
Zhang You suddenly spoke up and mentioned the shared vision incident just now.
Tang Xinjue nodded: "That's right."
Zheng Wanqing's eyes widened. "Spiritual power items are so expensive, aren't you saving up all your points? How did you upgrade them?"
Tang Xin Jue smiled slightly. "Upgrading your mental strength is indeed expensive, but there are also some advantages. For example, you can create a mental skill yourself."
"That's right!" Guo Guo suddenly realized: "Your abilities all awakened on their own!"
The biggest difference between self-awakening and purchasing skills from the mall is that the former can be upgraded automatically, like Tang Xin Jue's toilet plunger and mental strength, and Zhang You's recycling ability. However, skills that are only available for purchase from the mall, such as Zheng Wanqing's "Sandbag-sized Fists," can only be upgraded there by spending points.
[Vision Sharing] is the new ability that Tang Xin Jue gained after this autonomous upgrade.
With this ability, although their vision was limited, they were able to roughly take a look at the layout of the two buildings and the candidates, and had a general idea in their minds.
Zhang You drew the layout. "If the dormitory building is divided into two buildings, A and B, and we're in Building B, then our position is..."
Tang Xin Jue helped her add, and as he spoke, he also wanted to pick up the pen to draw, but Zhang You quickly pressed it down, "This is a more complicated picture!"
Tang Xinjue shrugged: "It's okay, you draw yours, I'll take care of the other side."
Zhang You: "No, we can't understand what you draw."
Tang Xin Jue: "..."
Guo Guo held Tang Xin Jue's hand and said, "God Jue, if it's a simple diagram, it's fine. But if it's complicated, it might be a bit too abstract for you to handle."
Tang Xinjue was silent for two seconds, then looked at Zheng Wanqing, "My painting is very abstract?"
Zheng Wanqing whistled and looked away: "I'll go see what's going on outside."
Tang Xin Jue: "...Alright."
She put down her pen in frustration and just as she was concentrating on looking at the paper, her eyes suddenly sharpened and she grabbed Zheng Wanqing who was about to leave: "Don't go over there!"
The three of them turned around in surprise and saw Tang Xinjue making a gesture to silence her. Then the mind connection was reopened and her voice rang out in their minds:
"Someone is watching us."
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