Chapter 6: Since You're Already Here

During the lunch break in Dormitory 302

The left hand of [Wind and Freedom] hung limply: “These damned creatures are so cunning. The moment you break a rule, they use that very rule to make you commit even more mistakes.”

Recalling the scene when he was delayed entering class due to the bloodstained test paper and then chased by Teacher Wang, he still felt a chill.

If he hadn’t used his skill to escape in time and returned to the classroom while adhering to the rules, the price might have been more than just losing an arm.

[Berserker Five-Kill], with his bald head and face marked by burns, complained bitterly: “This pitiful E-level Twilight Game is so tough! Can people even survive this?”

[No Questions About the Future], though physically unharmed, looked pale: “Actually, managing to avoid an attack after breaking the rules suggests the difficulty isn’t as high as we imagined.”

“According to official statistics, the clearance rate for novice missions is 40%, and for the second mission, it reaches 60%.”

“The limiting factor for us is intelligence. The key is to trade the fewest rule violations for the most intelligence, thereby cracking the mission’s conditions.”

“Unfortunately, we lost two people right at the start. Losing one F-level player is understandable, but the other…”

[No Questions About the Future] glanced at [Iris]. Although she was unharmed, she lay on the bed taking a nap.

Her excuse was to conserve energy for afternoon classes and she asked [No Questions About the Future] and the others not to disturb her.

[Berserker Five-Kill] couldn’t stand her and knocked her out. He vented, “She’s useless. As a level 2 player with a willpower stat of 2, she can’t even withstand basic mental pollution!”

“She sobered up only to fall back into it—what a burden! I don’t even know how she passed the novice mission. She must have hitched a ride on some big shot and scraped a D-level rating!”

“Damn… &%&()”

No one stopped [Berserker Five-Kill] from venting.

As for [No Heaven], the legendary F-level player, supposedly rarer than S-levels, being useless was to be expected.

He’s probably dead by now, so there’s nothing more to say.

But for a level 2 player with a D-level rating to be so useless, contributing nothing and falling so easily, how could anyone not be annoyed?

Eventually, [Wind Whisper] put an end to the farce. She was also a player who, despite breaking rules on site, remained physically intact.

“All right, everyone, let’s gather the intelligence and analyze it together before dividing up tasks. We need to minimize active rule violations.”

“I checked the stack of test papers the teacher gave us and found Bai Xiaozhi’s test paper was dirty.”

“There are traces of garbage being dumped inside Bai Xiaozhi’s desk.”

“I found something in the girls’ bathroom…”

“…”

“So that’s it. After being bullied, her resentment became a core of grudges? It seems we need to reconstruct the bullying incident to dispel the grudges before we can leave the school.”

“This process will inevitably involve rule violations; we have to collect intelligence as much as possible to reduce the number of violations.”

“Then let’s set the third day as the time to start dispelling the grudges after gathering all the clues.”

…

“What are you looking at? Want some compressed biscuits?”

“Come sit here, I’ll share with you!”

Bai Ming patted the mat beneath him and continued munching on the compressed biscuits.

Players’ [Inventory] space is 0.1 cubic meters. According to information on the [Player Forum], it’s best to use this space to carry food.

The food inside the dungeon might be harmless, but if it’s harmful, you could easily die.

Therefore, even though the school has a cafeteria, Bai Ming had no intention of eating there.

He planned to spend these days eating, drinking, relieving himself, and sleeping all in the gymnasium.

From his observations, probably due to Rule Seven, this gymnasium hadn’t been used for a long time.

Other players feared violating Rule Seven, and coupled with the need to explore intelligence, even if they found this place, they dared not stay.

But Bai Ming didn’t care and refused to return to the dormitory.

Since the dormitory was mentioned in the rules, it was likely dangerous. Bai Ming certainly didn’t want to live there.

“Hey, if you don’t come over, are you disrespecting me?”

Seeing Bai Xiaozhi timidly standing by, Bai Ming immediately scolded her.

Her name was naturally found on her student card, obtained from the dirty clothes she changed out of.

Currently, Bai Xiaozhi’s clothes were ones Bai Ming found in the gym, probably left behind by a former athlete.

“What, you really won’t show me any respect? Then I’ll tell the teacher!”

Hearing this, Bai Xiaozhi could only timidly shuffle over and carefully sit beside Bai Ming.

Her disheveled hair hid her expression, showing only one blood-red eye lowered.

Bai Ming forcefully stuffed a new compressed biscuit into Bai Xiaozhi’s bony hand.

“According to School Rule Five: ‘Students should get along amicably,’ if you don’t eat this, you’re disrespecting me and refusing to get along with me. Do you want to break school rules?”

Bai Xiaozhi could only hold the biscuit with both hands, bringing it to her mouth like a frightened fawn, chewing delicately without making a sound.

Seeing this, Bai Ming stopped paying attention to her, finished his biscuit, drank a bottle of mineral water, then lay back on the mat, arms and legs spread out, pondering over the information about the Twilight Game.

The Twilight Game is dangerous, but it’s not one where the single-death rate exceeds 90%.

According to official statistics, after completing five missions, the clearance rate is 80%.

Of course, even with an 80% clearance rate, the survival rate after ten missions is only 11%.

This explains why players are willing to join organizations.

After all, death is inevitable; at least they want to take care of their affairs.

So even at the second E-level mission, if the player doesn’t intervene, others still have a high chance of clearing it, right?

Makes sense. Just from seeing Bai Xiaozhi, Bai Ming could infer many details.

These players from the relevant departments are trained and able to find relevant clues without trouble.

So should he be more aggressive in completing missions?

No, accidents are everywhere, and he’s not invincible. Once he has a stable way to clear missions, there’s no need to be so reckless.

As for Bai Xiaozhi, he needs to hold onto her. First, because only he can control her well; second, to prevent her departure from destabilizing their success rate.

“Huh, you finished eating.”

Bai Ming took six seconds to retrieve a new compressed biscuit from his [Inventory]. This is a fixed limitation of the [Inventory], preventing players from exploiting it for trickery.

Moreover, the items stored must be ones the player can physically carry.

“Here, I still have some.”

This time Bai Xiaozhi didn’t wait for Bai Ming to urge her. She voluntarily took the compressed biscuit and began eating.

After she finished, another biscuit appeared before her eyes.

“Keep eating, I’ve got plenty.”

Bai Xiaozhi visibly hesitated, her exposed single eye reddening, a strong iron-rust scent rising.

Bai Ming chuckled: “I know you’re so moved your eyes turned red, but since you’re here, don’t be shy.”

“If you keep being shy, I’ll tell the teacher you’re unwilling to get along with your classmates.”

Bai Xiaozhi’s second red eye started to show beneath her hair, but eventually, a dry, hoarse voice escaped her lips: “Water.”