“…”
In the face of blessings, several people in the dormitory did not feel the joy of the holiday, but rather felt more like myocardial infarction.
What was this? A stage accident? A sudden attack? A flying head?
Tang Xinjue silently pulled out the toilet plunger and raised a gentle, harmless smile: "Hello, how can I help you?"
Looking at the toilet plunger that exuded an ominous aura of ghosts, Little Red Riding Hood felt a chill on her head: "..."
She pursed her lips, held back the tears in her eyes, and tried to make her head spin. Her head quickly took off, drilled back into the TV screen, and returned to her stunned body.
The little girl on the stage straightened her head and apologized tearfully: "I'm sorry, it's my first time performing on stage and I made a mistake."
As she was crying, she became excited and her head, which had just been put back in place, fell down again and she sobbed on the ground.
A non-mainstream girl with fiery red hair and smoky makeup ran onto the stage, lifted Little Red Riding Hood's head with one hand, supported her body with the other, and bowed to the audience to apologize:
"Hahaha, everyone, please forgive me. This is the debut performance of our artist Little Red Riding Hood. If you like this performance, please pay attention to the first 101 talent show in University Town to be held soon and cast your precious vote for Little Red Riding Hood!"
Before the two dark figures could rush over to chase them away, the non-mainstream girl quickly grabbed a handful of colorful paper from her pocket and threw it out: "You must come and support us! It's best to come to the scene! When Little Red Riding Hood becomes popular, you will be the oldest fans... I'll treat you all to dinner!"
As they were pushed away, the piece of paper also penetrated the TV screen and slowly fell into Tang Xinjue's hands.
——Suichao Entertainment, welcome your attention!
The handwriting on the scrap of paper was unruly, looking as if it had been scribbled with a colored pen, giving it a cheap and unreliable feel. It looked like both a business card and an invitation.
As for the specific competition address, it turned into a column of blurry garbled characters when it appeared on the screen, making it difficult to see clearly.
When I looked up at the TV again, the stage was empty. Two fishmen walked onto the stage with easy steps: "Today's party celebration ends here. Thank you for watching!"
???
The entire celebration consisted of only one unreliable performance?
The black curtain fell and the channel program list popped up - it turned out that there was only this one program throughout the whole day.
After briefly shedding a tear of sympathy for the "university town residents"' poor spiritual and entertainment life, they quickly shifted their attention back to the information they had currently obtained.
The rustling sound stopped after a few minutes. Tang Xinjue shook the tip of his pen and tore off a map from the table.
“If the world we live in right now, and all the information we have access to, were condensed into a single image, this is what it would look like.”
Following Tang Xinjue's pen, the structure radiates outward from the "dormitory survival game" and is divided into first-tier, second-tier and third-tier universities.
Four heads gathered in front of the paper, reading intently.
"Due to our current level, we can only access a portion of the exams."
There are two question marks after the first and second tier universities, and the structure is concentrated in the [third tier universities] section.
Tang Xin Jue continued, "Currently, the only way to level up is through exams and competitions. The exams are part of the university's internal courses, and the content consists of dungeons and ghostly NPCs."
"For some exams, when we enter, we find that our dormitories have also become part of the dungeon. At these times, the exam background is usually inside [a third-tier university], which can be said to be the real-life background of the game."
For example, in "Dormitory Civility Rules" and "Four Seasons Protection Guide," the ghostly NPCs they encounter are mostly on-campus. For example, Xiaohong was originally supposed to be a student at a third-tier university, but later switched to "Classic Movie Appreciation," becoming a bathroom mirror ghost.
"Movies like 'Classic Movie Appreciation' are like the other world within the game world. The ghosts and NPCs there are more brutal and lethal."
After a pause, Tang Xin Jue pondered, "According to this distinction, we can temporarily draw an analogy between private enterprises and civil servants."
Private companies generally have a serious internal competition caused by the 996 work schedule, and their employees are highly aggressive. Civil servants, on the other hand, are relatively relaxed, with stable jobs as long as they don't make major mistakes, while their NPCs are subject to more stringent regulations.
Guo Guo and the other two: "..."
Can we make such an analogy?
Zhang You thought about it and tried to say, "So, the more difficult the exam, the stronger the ghost NPC is. Does that mean it can be considered a higher position?"
In fact, the first time they had a vague understanding of the school in the game was in the "Four Seasons Protection Guide", an A-level exam they accidentally entered, where they first came into contact with the student union, heaters... and even the reapers.
In Tang Xinjue's mind map, the three branches finally converged and connected to a name: University Town.
"Based on the information available, the [university town] in the game is a concept that is somewhat similar to reality, but even more bizarre."
It has three universities, countless NPC residents, a shopping mall, and even a dedicated TV station and entertainment company.
The students are forced to enter it and subtly become part of it, but they have to face the dangers lurking here.
If they wanted to survive, the exams would inevitably become increasingly difficult. Therefore, the information they possessed at this moment, whether from A-level copies or television, was of inestimable value.
After reading the map, Guo Guo sighed softly, "I don't know why. I know more now, but I feel even more confused. Oh no, have I been infected by the young lady?"
Zheng Wanqing: "?? Look at the difference in our professional course scores. Do you think your IQ is higher than mine?"
She is reckless, but not mentally retarded!
Guo Guo was unconvinced: "A good man never brags about his past achievements. Besides, I didn't study hard enough back then, so that doesn't mean IQ can be judged."
Zheng Wanqing: "Oh, then why don't you study hard?"
Guo Guo: "I was..."
Seeing that the two were about to deviate from the topic again due to a disagreement, Zhang You looked at Tang Xinjue helplessly.
Tang Xin Jue posted the information map on the door and said calmly, "Anyone who makes any more noise will not have any spicy chicken feet tonight."
The world is quiet.
After sorting out the current situation and mindset, the four of them began to practice physical and reaction training in the limited space of the dormitory.
Zheng Wanqing used to love working out, buying dumbbells, resistance bands, small sandbags, and other tools. Now that she has lost her right forearm, she can only practice daily activities with one hand. She also gave all her tools to Guo Guo, encouraging her to practice physical strength training.
Less than an hour later, Guo Guo began to wail, "Help me, Miss! I really have no strength left!"
Zheng Wanqing sternly corrected him, "According to the data on the survival app, your current four-dimensional attributes are approximately twice that of an average person, so you can definitely handle this level of physical exertion. The reason it feels difficult is because you haven't yet correctly understood your own strength and can't fully utilize your attributes. Do you understand?"
"Don't disbelieve me, I can play with you in a sparring test," Zheng Wanqing said seriously, "I'll give you a hand."
Guo Guo: “…”
While they continued to train hard, Tang Xinjue and Zhang You were not idle either.
Tang Xinjue was helping Zhang You research a suitable weapon, but when it came to quoting a price, the latter rejected all of his proposals with a painful expression.
Tang Xin Jue: "If you continue to fight in the wild, the environment you are in will only become more and more dangerous. How can you survive without weapons?"
Zhang You pondered seriously: "...Can I run?"
Although she lacks weapons for attack, she is quite confident in her ability to roam and escape.
“…”
Finally, Tang Xinjue used their points to buy a [Danger Summoner] for 30. Once the danger level around Zhang You was too high, Tang Xinjue would receive an immediate alert.
"But on the bright side, maybe after we start this [specialization support program], the next time we have a different focus."
Tang Xin Jue joked, "Think about the output position?"
Zhang You: "...Thank you. I'll stick to playing jungle."
After a whole day of practice, in the evening, several people cut a piece of fresh bread for dinner. After a full meal, they began to make final preparations.
Tang Xinjue took out a few strands of red hair from the end of the previous exam.
Although the black hair was a dead mass, she could still feel the cold and ghostly aura lingering on it.
Throw the hair into the rubber head, and the toilet plunger will eat it up quickly.
After a while, Tang Xinjue frowned slightly.
Something seemed different this time. Although the toilet plunger had eaten something, it didn't react in any way—no hair was spit out, and no new skull symbol appeared.
She shook the plunger and pressed the spray button. After a long time, the rubber head slowly spit out a small stream of water.
The sense of abnormality became more obvious.
Finally, Tang Xin Jue asked his roommate to cover his ears and move away, then he swung the toilet plunger downwards, performing the [Ghost Scream].
Along with a shrill scream that shot straight to the ceiling, a strong wind suddenly rushed out from the rubber head, overturned the chair, and suddenly disappeared along with the scream.
"puff."
The toilet plunger slowly spit out a stream of water.
Now it wasn't just Tang Xin Jue, everyone else also realized something was wrong.
Several people slowly approached, their faces filled with shock: "What's going on? Is there something wrong with the toilet plunger?"
Tang Xinjue pursed his lips and nodded.
…
By the next morning, Tang Xin Jue still hadn't figured out the specific problem with the toilet plunger. He could only determine that it had eaten Xiao Hong's hair, which was the cause of the abnormal behavior.
Fortunately, most of its abilities are still usable, though there may be brief delays or short-lived effects.
Putting this doubt aside for the moment, Tang Xinjue looked at her phone screen. They were about to choose a new exam.
[Please select one of the following test contents. Countdown: 15 minutes]
Volume A: Road Trip Tips
Volume B: "Dead Rising: Dormitory Survival Test"
Volume C: Archaeology Begins with Grave Digging
None of the three C-level exams look easy to deal with.
"Dead Rising is a test that has appeared before, right?"
Zhang You recognized the familiar options. "It has already appeared before. If we don't choose it, it can appear again."
Unfortunately, there is no doubt that they will still directly PASS this time.
Sure enough, after one round of voting, zombies and gravedigging were all eliminated, leaving only "Road Trip Tips".
"Look at it this way," Zheng Wanqing said, encouragingly, "Maybe we can take a free road trip during the exam!"
They had fantasized about a road trip after graduation, but they didn't expect to wait for graduation, but waited for games instead.
"Then let's go."
Tang Xinjue pressed the confirmation button, and the four of them held each other's hands.
"After the exam, I'll make spicy chicken feet with yogurt for everyone."
No matter what happens or what they go through, nothing is more important than them being able to sit here intact after the exam.
Guo Guo suddenly realized: "Wait, won't this cause diarrhea..."
The words were drowned out by the surging darkness.
When Tang Xinjue opened his eyes, a slight tingling sensation almost immediately penetrated his mind.
Enduring the pain in his head, Tang Xinjue looked around and found himself sitting in the driver's seat of a convertible with a map placed on the steering wheel.
Apart from that, there was no one else around, no sign of any roommates.
Picking up the map, a note fell out, which read:
Please deliver this box of souvenirs to Grandma Mayas's house. In return, I'll lend you my car for a day. The car has plenty of gas, but the navigation system is a little broken, so you'll have to use a map to find your way. Remember to deliver the gift before dark; it's very important to Grandma Mayas!
The exclamation mark is drawn heavily to emphasize the importance of the sentence.
On the passenger seat was a purple gift box, with a red seal crossing out the joints: [It should not be opened by anyone except Grandma Mayas]
Tang Xinjue placed the note on the gift box and opened the map, which showed that it was a ring road.
After reading it carefully, Tang Xinjue's eyes darkened slightly.
There is no mark about "Grandma Mayas's house" on this map.
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