Not 919?!
A single word woke the dreamer up, and the others soon realized that something was wrong.
"Is this an illusion? Or has 919 been diverted? Are Jiang and the others in danger?"
Guo Guo immediately searched through a series of possibilities in his mind and asked a series of questions in rapid succession.
Tang Xin Jue shook his head. "It's not an illusion. Everything we see now is real. The entire corridor, whether it's the walls, the floor, or the black liquid, is completely real—it's always like this. But sometimes, reality doesn't mean correctness."
It's always like this... Jiang Lan repeated it silently in her mind, and suddenly realized something: "We don't go through the same corridor every time?"
"No, it shouldn't just be the corridor," she immediately denied herself, her eyes flickering slightly before finally coming to a conclusion:
“It’s the floor!”
Their eyes met, and Tang Xinjue nodded and said, "Yes, it's the floor."
They were indeed in this dormitory building, in a corridor specially designed by the Academic Affairs Office.
This corridor connects the women's dormitory in the front and the men's dormitory in the back. The layout is no different from what they saw when they just broke out of 919.
But this is not the 9th floor.
Upon hearing this news, everyone was briefly unable to accept it for two seconds, and all the previous incongruities flooded back into their minds:
The traces of the corridor that refreshed every time I came out of the door, the walls that suddenly became solid and difficult to penetrate, the black liquid gushing out from the wall of the former women's dormitory, and a mountain of inexplicable questions piled up... But what if it wasn't the 9th floor at all?
All the questions suddenly had answers.
"If it's not the 9th floor, then which floor are we on now? When was it moved?"
Guo Guo's brain raced, trying to catch up. "Could it be when we just came out and entered the men's dormitory? No, the men's dormitory ghost was still pointing the way then. If there was a problem with the floor, he would definitely notice it."
"When you came out of the men's dormitory?"
Zhang You made a guess.
It was at this time that they first noticed something strange in the corridor.
Jiang Lan continued, "But when we hid in the repairman's room and came out again, the traces we left behind disappeared for the second time. Does this prove that the floors have been switched twice?"
If this is the case, then the traces they left on the wall did not automatically recover at all, but every time they came here, they did not see the same wall!
Number 7 interrupted their speculation and raised a question: "Wait a moment. All the premises you are talking about now are based on one foundation, and that is Tang Xinjue's conclusion just now."
She turned to look at Tang Xinjue: "Once we believe your conclusion, it will affect our very important choices and actions. So, how can you be sure that your speculation is correct?"
“It’s easy to verify.”
Tang Xinjue smiled and stood in front of the cracked wall.
"The Academic Affairs Office killed the male dorm ghosts who were free to roam freely because they were familiar with the dormitory building and would immediately discover the truth. But we are not familiar with this building, so even if we discovered the problem, we would not be able to confirm which floor it was, let alone find a way to leave."
If the Academic Affairs Office could really manipulate the floor changes at will, they would just need to move them to any floor and trap the candidates forever.
"Obviously, this doesn't conform to the balance and logic of the exam. The Academic Affairs Office can't be that powerful. Or rather, the more powerful the ability, the more restrictions there must be on its use."
Tang Xin Jue said, "So my speculation has another premise, which is that there is only one fixed critical point for floor switching. And once it is triggered, the floor must be switched regardless of whether the school wants to or not."
"If you want to verify whether my guess is right, just break this critical point and see if everything changes."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Xinjue swung the hammer again and hit the crack hard!
Dong, dong, dong. Holding the hammer handle thicker than her two arms tied together, the girl stared expressionlessly at the largest crack on the wall, hitting it precisely with each blow.
Without the black liquid inside, the wall seemed much more fragile. The cracks grew larger and larger, and soon a gaping hole appeared, revealing the jagged concrete structure and specks of dried black liquid.
Just when the crack exceeded the depth left by everyone last time, the dark and silent hole confirmed that there was no living person on the other side of the wall, let alone the dormitory 919 that they were familiar with.
At this moment, the wall suddenly changed.
The white paint on the ceiling seemed to fall down layer by layer as if it was shaken, and pungent dust rose up. They subconsciously stepped back to avoid it, but in just two moments, the front was already covered in white.
When No. 10 used his water ability to disperse the dust, a complete, smooth wall without any traces appeared in front of everyone.
Refresh again!
"Ahem, this dormitory building only has nine floors at its highest."
Jiang Lan vigorously brushed away the remaining dust, her already hoarse voice choking and becoming intermittent, but she continued to analyze stubbornly, holding her nose. "Based on these past few situations, it's highly likely that each floor refresh won't repeat. So, we'll only experience eight refreshes at most."
By the ninth time, even if the Academic Affairs Office was reluctant, they had to send them back to the ninth floor.
"I see. So it doesn't really matter what level we're on right now!" Guo Guo's eyes lit up, and he counted on his fingers: "The most important thing is whether we can survive the remaining 12345... 6 refreshes!"
The requirement for changing floors is to destroy this wall, and once the wall is damaged enough, everyone will be attacked. Only by continuously withstanding these waves can they return to 919 and hand over the red thread that allows the ghosts to move freely to Jiang and the others.
"There are still six more times?" Zhang You had a headache.
Six consecutive dangerous incidents didn't simply add up to two. They were just trying to get back to the ninth floor, and now they couldn't even find the Academic Affairs Office.
No matter how determined they are to pass the level, they can't help but have some self-doubt: Can they really complete the final mission of the dungeon amidst such seemingly endless obstacles and dangers?
Tang Xinjue rubbed his arm, which was swollen from excessive exertion. His eyes were exceptionally bright, even surprisingly sharp, despite his calm expression.
“There are no levels where you are sure to die, and no dungeons that are impossible to clear.”
From the first exam to now, her understanding of the game has grown from nothing to something, and she has always insisted on this even in seemingly unsolvable situations.
Just like the countless hopeless dark nightmares in the past three years, as long as you try your best to persevere to the end, there will always be a moment to chop off the monster's head, and it will also be the moment to return to reality.
"Although the exam isn't student-friendly, it's not normal to set up such a huge disparity in strength. A dungeon boss that can arbitrarily control the dungeon's structure, set countless traps and ambushes, and even easily imprison the opposing ghost camp can't be just at the level of a C-rank group battle dungeon."
After Tang Xin Jue finished speaking, Ke Ke, who had rarely spoken since using her Word Spirit, hung up her unanswered call to An Nian for the nth time. "I agree with that. Those idiots in the girls' dormitory, their IQ isn't anything to be said, and their strength doesn't seem outrageous. Even if they have a suppressive effect on the Academic Affairs Office, based on what I've seen in this instance, I don't think there's anything there for them to hide behind."
She shrugged. "I don't need to explain what this means. If the Academic Affairs Office were as powerful as it appears, it would have already gone to heaven. There's no need to play tricks on the students here."
Following Keke's words, Tang Xinjue raised the corner of his mouth:
“So, when we find their true form, we will most likely see an extremely weak Academic Affairs Office.
——This is also one of the secrets they want to hide."
As soon as she finished speaking, the wall, which had been calm and flawless just now, suddenly cracked with a creaking sound at the point where it connected to the ceiling.
Everyone: “…”
The defense is broken?
After a brief analysis and discussion, everyone reached a consensus beneath the wall that was so angry that it was cracking.
No matter what the Academic Affairs Office has in mind, it cannot affect their unwavering goals and determined course of action.
The goal exists, the action begins.
Zheng Wanqing took the initiative to take over the task of smashing the wall, allowing Tang Xinjue, who had been smashing for two consecutive rounds, to take a break first. Then she swung her gradually solid right hand and began to destroy the wall without mercy.
The dust that had just dissipated filled the entire space again, forcing everyone to cover their noses and cough. Guo Guo wanted to find No. 10 to use his precipitation ability to alleviate the pressure, but he couldn't find No. 10 in the dust for a while.
"Ah, I suddenly remembered that I don't know the names of the three people in their dormitory yet."
Guo Guo covered his nose and looked around, while speaking belatedly in the chat group in his mind.
From the time the exam started until now, she only knew that the other party's bed numbers were 5, 6 and 10.
Everyone seemed to have introduced themselves briefly during the meal, but now I only have a rough impression and can't match the specific names and information.
Zhang You found a stack of masks from his storage bag and distributed them while calmly saying, "It's okay. Once we defeat the dungeon boss, we'll have time to get to know our new friends."
Guo Guo: "Then I'm going to eat an extra bowl of rice at the celebration banquet. No, three bowls!"
Although she may not be the MVP in the exam, she is still very confident in her eating ability.
As they were chatting, the masks had almost all been distributed. Zhang You, clutching the last few masks that hadn't been distributed, began searching for the other people in the dust, just like Guo Guo had done. "Student No. 5? Student No. 10? Where are you?"
“Cough cough cough… cough cough…”
There was no answer in the air, only a faint cough.
Zhang You frowned slightly: "Student No. 5?"
“Cough cough…cough cough cough!”
The coughing became louder and louder, attracting the attention of several people. Tang Xinjue's expression changed slightly: "The one coughing is No. 5."
She took a step and headed towards the coughing sound, followed closely by the others. They soon spotted two figures, bent over and trembling. Number 10 was helping them frantically search for props, and then looked at the two people bent over and coughing violently. It was Number 5 and Number 6!
"What’s wrong with you?"
Several people immediately stepped forward to help them up, but No. 5 reacted violently by shrinking back. She coughed so hard that she couldn't speak, and could only shake her head vigorously to refuse everyone from approaching.
In full view of everyone, dark red blood gushed out from between the fingers of No. 5 who was covering his mouth.
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