Chapter 100: Sanitation Assault Guide (VI)
Zhang You was shocked: "You mean..."
If the red line didn't appear after everyone in the game turned into ghosts, then could it have appeared before that?
Tang Xin Jue: "A fake university that is only for the purpose of defrauding money will kill all its students in school. How can it recruit new students without being affected by the school address that has never been changed?"
Even if he deceived more students, how much money would he make from tuition fees? The money he defrauded from one student would have to bear the series of exposure and criminal risks that would follow after he imprisoned and killed her. If he really had such a powerful ability, he would not need to make money by setting up a fake university.
Zhang You frowned more and more, and finally said in a horrified tone: "The background information given to us by the copy is incomplete!"
"Most of the information we initially saw was from the students' perspective, so it was naturally incomplete. Once a mindset is formed, it is easy to ignore the inconsistencies in it."
Tang Xin Jue sneered: "When the game comes, why was this school chosen to be the copy? What does it have in common with the copies we saw before?"
Zhang You fell into deep thought. Just as Jiang and the others finished eating their share of the red line, her eyes lit up: "Before it became a copy , there were already ghosts in this dormitory building!"
They have been busy fighting the traps set by the Academic Affairs Office and have had little time to think about the overall picture of this copy. They even overlooked one point: ghosts such as Jiang did not appear after the black fog swallowed the dormitory building and the copy was formed.
Judging from the memories of the freshmen on the 9th floor, whether it was the "walking corpses" in dormitories 919 and 921 who they mistook for living people, or the sad cries every night on the 8th floor, all proved that ghosts have existed for a long time... and does the school know this as well?
Zhang You felt that she had grasped a certain clue. Following her thoughts, she realized a hypothesis that she had never thought of before: What if the school’s purpose was not at all, or was more than just to defraud money, but to torture the students to death from the very beginning?
She used to be a staunch materialist, but who says the school's administration is necessarily the same?
Not only is it possible that they know everything, but perhaps the ultimate goal of this group of people is to catalyze the existence of ghosts!
The corpse and the red line... Zhang You shuddered and stopped her thoughts from wandering, lest she become mentally disturbed. She took a deep breath and said, "The Death Record of Class 3-1, Headless Ghost Story, and this copy, are there any similarities between them?"
Li Xiaoyu from Class 1, Grade 3, Wei Xian’s master in The Headless Ghost Story, and the school in this copy.
If the first two copies could be said to be mere coincidences, then this copy almost showed them the process and core of the advent of the game and even the formation of the copy. If she couldn't think of anything after Tang Xinjue's hint, she would have gone through so many exams in vain.
After receiving Tang Xin Jue's affirmative answer, Zhang You also confirmed his guess: "...It's an evil magic."
If their guess is correct, then the origin and identity of the Academic Affairs Office are highly questionable. At least they are by no means simple school operators, but more like a gang that is proficient in evil arts!
Similar to the miserable end of Jin Wen and other three people in the Headless Ghost Story, the students of this "school" were forced to become victims of some kind of sacrifice or plan, and the entire dormitory building even became a breeding ground for poisonous insects. However, the school had planned everything but never expected that the game would come.
Wherever the black fog spreads and devours, reality is pulled into a game field. Living people become ghosts, ghosts awaken from underground, those in charge become rats fleeing in the gutter, and the weak who are exploited and harmed have a higher power.
"So the Academic Affairs Office had no choice but to use the red lines and their original abilities to urgently set up a formation that could restrict the students' ghosts. The red lines were suppressed underground, and the wronged souls here were also suppressed."
Tang Xin Jue raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "Is this operation a little familiar?"
"Isn't it very similar to those metaphysical or horror stories that Guo Guo used to like to read, where people do something wrong but are afraid of being retaliated by evil spirits, so they have to take the initiative to do it?"
When Guo Guo heard his name, he immediately came over and asked cautiously, "What's wrong with me? What are you discussing?"
She poked her head over and looked at the two of them curiously, only to see Zhang You sighing with a serious expression: "We are praising you for your foresight."
Guo Guo: “…” I’d be foolish if I believed you!
She thought the two were just fooling her, and turned to look at the door with a pout. She saw that Jiang and the others stood there after swallowing the red line. They did not take any action immediately and did not show any other expression. Instead, they lowered their heads and could not see their expressions clearly. She didn't know what happened.
……This is?
Someone wanted to go over to check the situation, but was stopped by Tang Xinjue.
Tang Xinjue shook his head: "Wait a little longer."
After about three minutes, Jiang and the other two girls slowly raised their heads. However, their eyes were full of bloodshot, and they looked extremely scary.
"I remember now."
Jiang spoke in a hoarse voice, which was rare without too many ups and downs in emotion, but it made people feel the calm before the storm.
Tang Xin Jue: "Do you remember everything?"
Jiang curled his lips and said, "Part of it. The power and memories in our souls are sealed together. The more we eat, the more we recover. If I want to recover everything, I'm afraid I'll have to eat until I explode."
The cold air floated back and forth above her head, as if to comfort her.
"It's okay. I'm very rational now and won't do anything to hurt myself." Jiang showed his white teeth. "Thanks to your reminder, I'm mentally prepared. If I find the red line and eat it myself, I might be overwhelmed by the anger in my memory. I would rather self-destruct to gain full power and seek revenge on the Academic Affairs Office... But now, I don't want to do that."
She opened her arms and looked into the air: "Besides me, there are many, many girls here. Some died earlier than me, and some died later than me. They have never left here, and some of them have even stopped thinking and have forgotten why they exist."
"They need strength, and they need to leave this cage... Red Line can't give it to them, but I can."
After saying that, Jiang smiled brightly and looked at the figures that ordinary people could not see: "From now on, you can use my power at will. My ability is your ability, and my freedom is your freedom. Leave here and seek revenge!"
Some invisible power poured out from her fingertips, and her eyes quickly grew weaker and dim. At the same time, the cold air current that already existed in the room became more and more obvious, and the wind blew even stronger than before, and a translucent figure seemed to appear faintly in the air.
The two girls attached to No. 5 and No. 6 also looked at each other and silently took Jiang's hand.
They are the first to awaken among many ghosts, and they are also the most powerful and the leaders who have been guiding everyone's actions. But they know that these seemingly not very smart souls are not really stupid or clumsy. It was these companions who gave them strength at the beginning, but stayed in the dark corners, which allowed them to persist until now. Without the gathering and mutual influence of all the female ghosts, no one would wake up, let alone the hope today.
They don't have to kill their enemies themselves, but all of their companions must have the possibility of freedom and revenge, no one can be left behind!
With the joining of the two girls, more and more power was transformed and released from the red line , and the bustling shadows in the air turned into visible entities one after another.
Some of them were still in a state of death, some looked around in a daze, some wanted to rush over to stop Jiang and the other two, and some hugged each other, laughing out loud or crying silently.
When the last phantom was transformed, No. 10's body fell to the ground as if it had lost its support, and the same happened to No. 5 and No. 6. Everyone rushed forward to support the three people, only to find that the ghosts attached to their bodies had disappeared.
No. 5 choked and opened his eyes, and asked weakly and confusedly: "What is going on?"
They also received some of the power bestowed by these ghosts, and their lives that were about to end were extended a little longer.
Guo Guo, who witnessed the whole process, opened his eyes wide, but no matter how he used his Yin-Yang eyes, he could not see the shadows of the three ghosts: "Could it be that Jiang and the others..."
Did it just disappear like that?
Tang Xin Jue looked up as if sensing something, and used his mental power to sense the surrounding environment. Although he did not see any figure, he seemed to hear a girl's voice:
[Don't worry, we've only become our weakest, so we can take a break. This place is going to be dangerous soon, so leave as soon as possible.]
The voice dissipated like the wind, and the group of female ghosts who had just obtained the power of real shadows and red lines had reached the exit and took the first step.
Walk out successfully.
The next moment, all these figures flew into the corridor with a shriek, and the entire corridor began to tremble slightly, causing the space to hum and vibrate. Tang Xinjue immediately turned around and grabbed his roommate, who also looked for each other at the same time. They followed the ghosts out of the girls' dormitory and re-entered the corridor. Others also reacted very quickly and swarmed out.
Jiang Lan and Ke Ke supported Anian, No. 5 and the other two supported each other, No. 11 and No. 12 pulled No. 13 and No. 15 who had just woken up, and No. 7 ran in quickly and dragged up Ou Ruofei... When the last person stepped out of the girls' dormitory, the wall that had already cracked a big hole made a loud noise and collapsed!
The broken cement and structure blocked the junction of the two spaces tightly. Without looking, one could guess that the dormitory inside had most likely collapsed into ruins, and its fate was the same as that of the men's dormitory.
"Let's go quickly! The corridor is about to collapse!"
The person in front turned around to warn the people behind him, his voice intermittent in the whistling air flow.
For some unknown reason, as the girl's ghost emerged and moved, the originally solidified air almost turned into a sharp knife-like gale, blocking everyone's steps forward. Every step seemed to be walking on a cliff, resisting the airflow and speaking with difficulty.
"Ahem, I can't see the road, there's so much dust!" No. 5 covered her mouth. They only had extremely weak strength left, and in this environment they quickly fell to the back of the team.
Just when the three of them were struggling to move forward, a powerful pushing force suddenly appeared behind No. 5. She turned around in surprise and saw No. 7 who had retreated with Orophie at some point.
No. 7 nodded briefly, his voice still as cold as ever: "Go."
Although the girl was not good at speaking, No. 5 had already seen that she was just like Keke, with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. If he hadn't had the energy to do anything extra, he would have jumped on her and kissed her gratefully. Even so, he said excitedly: "Thank you! If, ahem, I can pass the level in the future, I will definitely treat you to a meal when we meet again. White Rabbit and Golden Monkey candies are guaranteed..."
No. 7 put more force on his hands: "Just make sure you guys get through safely first! I don't want to..."
No. 5 didn’t hear clearly: “Never think about anything again?”
No. 7 did not answer. He pushed the three people with one hand and grabbed Orofei with the other hand, and said in a barely audible voice:
"...I don't want to lose my companions again."
Tang Xinjue and his companions walked in the front.
The crazy airflow in the corridor was like the final counterattack of the Academic Affairs Office hiding in the dark. Sharp objects that could cause injuries were mixed in from time to time in the strong wind, most of which were blocked by Tang Xinjue's hammer and Zhang You's dictionary. Zheng Wanqing was also eager to fight the strong wind head-on with her fists, but after looking behind her, she chose to use it to protect Guo Guo, who looked like he could be blown away at any time.
Guo Guo covered his wrist wound and held Zheng Wanqing's arm as he tried to move forward, fearing that he would drag the team back. After walking for a long time, he heard Zheng Wanqing remind him, "Lift your head up a little."
Guo Guo shook his head frantically: "I won't lift it!"
If she didn't look at the road in front of her, she might have been a little braver. But if she saw something scary, her legs would become physiologically weak and she would be even more unable to walk!
Zheng Wanqing was silent for a moment: "Are you really not going to lift it?"
"No! Unless you will die if you don't lift it!"
"It's not like he's going to die... well then."
After an unknown amount of time, Guo Guo felt that the air currents around him seemed to be smaller, and the shrill howling sounds in the air currents were no longer so scary. His roommate's pace also slowed down, as if he had seen something.
She then raised her head cautiously, and before she could see the scene clearly, she felt a chill on her head.
No, it's too cold.
Guo Guo raised his hand blankly and touched his head. He didn't feel the familiar hair, but felt a little cool and smooth.
Guo Guo: “???”
She was bleached bald by the wind? ?
Facing Guo Guo's devastated look, Zheng Wanqing shrugged: "I won't die, but I'll become bald."
“…”
Tang Xinjue, who was at the front, suddenly stopped, interrupting the thoughts of everyone behind him.
The dust in the air gradually dissipated, revealing the scene ahead.
At the end of the corridor in front of them, there was an extra door.
A red-painted, locked iron door.
