53 (Update)
Regardless, the massive Nightmare Snake successfully intimidated the people by the river. Even those who didn’t want them to join and take up space didn’t dare say anything.
After all, if they had the power to kill a Nightmares, dealing with these people would be like brushing off minor obstacles. Confronting them now would be akin to courting death.
As the snake meat sizzled over the fire, its enticing aroma gradually spread with the wind.
In this forest, there were no other animals besides the Nightmares. The people by the river had been running from these beasts all day and were now exhausted and starving. The smell of roasting meat made them swallow hard, and their stomachs grumbled in response.
The green-haired boy thickened his skin and approached, “Can you spare me some? I can share some information with you.”
He knew that directly asking for food would likely result in ridicule, so he immediately revealed his trump card.
“What kind of information?” Jiang Tianming asked, intrigued. They had more than enough snake meat, and carrying it all was inconvenient. If they could exchange some for useful information, they’d be more than willing.
But first, the information had to be valuable.
The green-haired boy confidently said, “We found a mission tablet that rewards 1,000 points! Interested?”1,000 points?
Jiang Tianming was stunned. They had only earned 500 points for killing five beasts. What kind of mission offered 1,000 points?
“Alright, I’m interested. What’s the mission? Did you complete it?”
As he spoke, Su Bei checked the points leaderboard. Sure enough, the top three teams had thousands of points, indicating they had likely taken on this mission. His team, along with Si Zhaohua’s team, were far behind.
The green-haired boy nodded proudly, “Of course, and it’s a simple task—just turn in your watch.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Tianming and his team realized none of the people by the river had watches on their wrists. It wasn’t due to their oversight; they usually kept their watches under their sleeves to prevent the glass from getting damaged.
“Why would such a mission offer 1,000 points?” Mu Tieren frowned, sensing something was off.
The green-haired boy explained matter-of-factly, “Isn’t it obvious? With the watch, we can locate teammates, complete tasks, and steal others’ points. Without it, we can’t do any of these. If we lose that ability, we deserve some compensation!”
It made some sense. However, Jiang Tianming noticed a flaw: “Why not wait until the last moment to complete the task? That way, you can earn the previous points and still complete this mission.”
The green-haired boy’s eyes darted nervously before he answered, “Because the earlier you turn in the watch, the more points you get. The first to turn it in gets 1,000 points, the second 950, and so on, decreasing by 50 points each time.”
That explained why he was willing to share the information. Enough time had passed since he took the mission, so it probably didn’t offer as many points now compared to what his team had already earned. Otherwise, he’d be foolish to share such a lucrative tip.
“I see,” Jiang Tianming realized. “So, you plan to stick together until the end of the three days?”
“Exactly!” The green-haired boy chuckled. “That’s also why I’m telling you this. I can lead you to complete the mission, and then you can stay with us until the exam ends safely.”
“You just want free bodyguards,” Jiang Tianming said, rolling his eyes.
The green-haired boy didn’t deny it and eagerly asked, “So, what do you say?”
He knew this team well. Despite most being from Class F, they ranked in the top ten of the individual battles. With them around, he wouldn’t have to worry about being eliminated on the last day.
In reality, even if they were eliminated, it wouldn’t matter much. Their watches weren’t with them, so they couldn’t lose points. At most, they’d be deducted a few points, which wouldn’t significantly affect their ranking.
Jiang Tianming hesitated. Although it seemed like the green-haired boy was right and completing the mission now wouldn’t yield many points, giving up their watches didn’t mean they couldn’t earn more points. They could still gain points by eliminating beasts or other students. The benefits outweighed the risks.
However, something about the mission felt off. Why would the exam need to boost the scores of weaker students?
“No.”
While he hesitated, Su Bei spoke up, smiling with interest. “But we want to see that tablet.”
As he spoke, he tossed a grilled fish that Mo Xiaotian had just handed him to the green-haired boy. He used his mental power to control it, but the green-haired boy didn’t know this, catching it clumsily. “Hey, hey! You can’t just throw it. What if it fell?”
Ignoring him, Su Bei continued, “Consider this your payment for guiding us separately from Jiang Tianming’s promise.”
“Deal!” The green-haired boy agreed readily. He had planned to lead them there anyway, and earning an extra piece of snake meat was a bonus.
At this point, Jiang Tianming returned to Su Bei’s side and told the green-haired boy, “We need to discuss something. Go ahead and fill your stomach first.”
Once the green-haired boy left, Jiang Tianming turned to Su Bei with a serious expression. “Why didn’t you accept the mission? Did you notice something?”
Su Bei paused for a moment to consider his words, then replied playfully, “All of them have fallen into deep misfortune.”
He wasn’t lying. Normally, Su Bei didn’t intentionally check other people’s fate compasses. But when he heard that their mission involved removing their watches, he immediately sensed something was off.
He had previously confirmed that the teleportation system worked fine, so he had been wondering how the mastermind behind this would execute their plan. Upon hearing about this mission, it all became clear.
Sure enough, when he glanced at their fate compasses, the needles were spinning wildly to the right, all the way to the farthest edge. Calling it “deep misfortune” was an understatement.
Though Su Bei appeared relaxed on the surface, he was internally burdened. As expected, this group exam had a hidden agenda, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get out of it unscathed.
“Misfortune?” Hearing their conversation, Mu Tieren walked over, wondering if the mission was problematic.
Before Su Bei could respond, they heard Wu Mingbai’s voice: “We’ve been on the road since early morning and finally made it back to the main group!”
A slightly disheveled Lan Subing nodded energetically beside him. She leaned in and whispered, “We noticed you all gathered together this morning. Did something happen?”
Jiang Tianming nodded and handed each of them a piece of grilled snake meat. He briefly explained what had transpired earlier.
Once he finished, he turned to Su Bei again, waiting for an answer.
Su Bei shook his head. “I’m not sure yet. That’s why we need to take a closer look.”
He couldn’t outright say he suspected a conspiracy—that would sound baseless. Still, he was almost certain this mission was problematic. He’d bet his ten years of manga-reading experience on it!
Seeing Su Bei’s hesitation, Mo Xiaotian raised his hand. “Then let me try it. I’ll take on the mission, and you can check if I’m cursed by misfortune. How about that—ow! Class rep, what are you doing?!”
Before he could finish, Mo Xiaotian clutched his head and looked pitifully at Mu Tieren.
Mu Tieren retracted the hand that had smacked him on the head and, for once, looked genuinely disapproving. “That’s your punishment for being reckless.”
Wu Mingbai added with a sneer, “Knowing that the mission might be dangerous and still wanting to test it—you think you’re some kind of hero?”
Mo Xiaotian ignored his taunts and said sincerely, “I just thought it was the simplest way to test it. Sorry for worrying you all.”
His earnest response left even those who disagreed with his method unable to stay angry. Jiang Tianming sighed, “Just think more about yourself next time.”
After finishing their discussion, the group followed the green-haired boy to the mission tablet he mentioned. The location wasn’t far, and the boy had cleverly marked the way to avoid getting lost.
When they arrived, there was no one else around. The stone tablet stood alone in a small clearing. Su Bei walked closer and found it identical to the one they had seen on the first day, except the content was different.
Mission 30: Collect watches. Tap the watch against the screen to recycle it. Recycled participants will either be eliminated or transported out of the alternate space after three days.
Reward: 650 points.
“How about that? I wasn’t lying, was I?” The green-haired boy grinned. “You should just take the mission. It’s 650 points! If you wait too long, the reward will be less.”
Staring at the words on the tablet, Su Bei’s expression turned grim. He looked at the green-haired boy as if he wanted to say something but ultimately held back.
Perhaps sensing Su Bei’s hesitation, Mu Tieren tactfully led the green-haired boy away. Once they were gone, Su Bei switched back to a relaxed demeanor. “Do you remember what the dean said about how we could leave the alternate space?”
Everyone remembered clearly. Jiang Tianming repeated from memory, “Breaking the watch’s glass cover, receiving a fatal attack, eliminating all students, killing all Nightmares, or waiting until the three days are over—those are the five ways to leave.”
His recall was spot-on, and Su Bei nodded approvingly. He had been worried someone might forget a method, which would make his explanation unnecessarily complicated.
“Now, which of these methods involve our watches?”
At first glance, only the first two methods did, but there was more to it. After thinking for a moment, Jiang Tianming replied, “Breaking the watch or receiving a fatal attack… and probably leaving after three days would require the watch too.”
The dean hadn’t explicitly mentioned it, but when she said, “We’ll transport you out after three days,” what would that transportation rely on? Clearly, it was the watch.
Focused on this question, Jiang Tianming didn’t think further. But the others, hearing his answer, all realized something was wrong and looked increasingly uneasy.
Seeing their expressions, Su Bei smiled. “So, what do you think?”
Mu Tieren spoke with a grim expression, “The watch is the only tool ensuring we can leave this alternate space.”
They hadn’t considered this point before, but Jiang Tianming’s summary of the exit methods suddenly brought it to light. Compared to the uncontrollable options like “killing all the Nightmares” or “eliminating all the students,” the other three easy ways to leave were all connected to the watch!
This made it clear: the task requiring students to hand over their watches was definitely problematic! It essentially cut off their easiest escape routes from the alternate space.
What’s worse, if they were to encounter fatal attacks without their watches, would they still be able to leave the alternate space safely?
If they could, there wasn’t much to worry about. But if they couldn’t, it would put everyone in a very dangerous situation.
“What’s going on? Is this some test the school designed to evaluate our analytical skills?” Wu Mingbai frowned, half-joking. “Maybe not taking this mission will earn us extra points instead.”
This was indeed a reasonable assumption most would have after realizing the issue—after all, without an omniscient perspective, who would think that enemies could exist in a school-controlled alternate space?
Su Bei neither confirmed nor denied the theory, instead fiddling with his watch. “Maybe. Anyway, I’m planning to move on my own from here.”
“What? Why!” Everyone was stunned by this sudden announcement, with Mo Xiaotian directly asking, “You’re not taking me with you?”
Su Bei nodded. “This place is pretty interesting, and I want to explore on my own. Now that the group has reunited, you can stick with everyone.”
He had been eager to regroup with the protagonist’s team earlier because he was worried about being in danger without the protection of their “plot armor.”
But after seeing the mission tablet, his anxiety eased. From the tablet’s content, it was clear the mastermind wanted to trick the students into removing their watches.
This implied that the watches’ teleportation function couldn’t be directly stopped. The mastermind had to resort to this roundabout strategy. So, as long as Su Bei kept his watch on, he wouldn’t need to worry about being unable to leave.
With that in mind, he decided to use this time to explore freely. Staying with the protagonist group guaranteed involvement in major events and plotlines, but it also lacked mystery and autonomy.
Following the protagonists too closely would inevitably make him a supporting character in their story. Only by maintaining a low profile could he create his own storyline. From the beginning, Su Bei hadn’t intended to align himself completely with the side of justice. Joining a villainous organization could provide him with more clues and might even help him accomplish his ultimate mission.
Lan Subing whispered a warning, “It’s risky to go alone.”
“Don’t worry. Worst case, I’ll just quit.” Su Bei waved his watch with a carefree smile.
After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Tianming asked, “Do you know something?”
This question was hard to answer. After a brief pause, Su Bei conjured a [Gear of Destiny] and said, “I still owe you a chance to predict fate. Let’s settle that now.”
Hearing this, Jiang Tianming’s expression grew serious. If Su Bei chose this moment to use the prediction, it meant he felt it was necessary.
If Wu Mingbai’s guess was correct and they had the advantage, there would be no need to use this rare opportunity.
This meant Wu Mingbai’s guess was wrong—critically wrong—or else Su Bei wouldn’t be doing this.
Jiang Tianming nodded. If there were indeed hidden dangers they hadn’t realized, he wanted to know them through fate’s guidance.
Su Bei channeled his mental power into the gear and directed it toward Jiang Tianming and the others. The large compass needle pointed to a specific direction. With his advanced mental power, Su Bei could now predict the fate of up to five people simultaneously instead of three.
After the gear absorbed their fates, Su Bei’s face turned pale. He released the gear, allowing it to display its findings.
The moment he let go, Su Bei felt a large portion of his mental power being drained. Despite the headache, he endured the discomfort and looked up at the gear along with everyone else.
To their surprise, this time the guidance from fate was unusually simple.
It was an arrow pointing southeast.
“What does this mean?” Mo Xiaotian scratched his head. “Are we supposed to head in that direction?”
The others shared the same thought. This was the most straightforward interpretation. They all looked at Su Bei, expecting him to explain further.
Su Bei had indeed pieced together some ideas. The hint was too obvious. However, he needed time to plan, so he said cryptically, “When the time comes, its meaning will be clear.”
Hearing this, Jiang Tianming couldn’t help but recall their first prophecy. At the time, they couldn’t make sense of it, but when they saw the murderer’s purple-red eyes, they immediately understood what the prophecy had meant.
Hearing this, he didn’t feel rushed anymore and asked, “Got it. After seeing this ‘fate,’ will you still leave?”
Su Bei nodded lazily, waved at everyone, and turned to disappear into the dense forest.
After he left, Mo Xiaotian glanced at the direction the arrow had pointed earlier. “So, do we keep heading in that direction now?”
He hadn’t fully understood Su Bei’s intentions, especially whether he was suggesting they follow the prompts or not.
Jiang Tianming shook his head. “No. That hint may not be meant for us yet. Even if we go now, it might not matter. When the time comes for us to act, we’ll naturally figure it out.”
Meanwhile, Su Bei had circled back and was heading in the direction the arrow had pointed earlier.
If his guess was right, this was the base of the mastermind. Eventually, the protagonist group would have to deal with this threat, so fate had pointed them this way.
There was no doubt this path was dangerous, but Su Bei had to investigate. This was his best chance to approach the villain organization. If he played his cards right, he might even unlock a hidden storyline.
The opposing side wouldn’t expect anyone to discover them this early, just on the second morning. Their defenses would likely be inadequate. Su Bei’s plan was to first confirm their identities before deciding on his next move.
If he were discovered, it wouldn’t be a big deal—he could simply exit the alternate space. While that would mean losing his screen time in the story, at least his life wouldn’t be in danger.
More importantly, readers wouldn’t know why he had exited the test. They would likely come up with various theories. By combining this with explanations from his forum account, he might even gain unexpected benefits.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, his limited mental power suddenly detected something approaching at high speed. Frowning, Su Bei turned to see a swarm of pitch-black wasps emerging from the forest.
Wasps were already troublesome enough, but Nightmare Wasps?
“Buzz, buzz, buzz—”
The collective buzzing was deafening, leaving Su Bei with a splitting headache and dizziness.
Wait a second.
He quickly realized something was wrong. Even though he had used up a lot of mental power earlier, there was no way mere noise could affect him like this.
It seemed this swarm of Nightmare Wasps had a unique ability—how troublesome. Su Bei ran forward while tossing a few gears behind him. The sharp gears, powered by his mental power, had strong penetrative force, cutting through the swarm and killing many wasps.
However, the wasps were too numerous and not densely packed. Su Bei’s control over his mental power wasn’t precise enough to hit every wasp with a few gears.
On top of that, his mental power was already severely depleted.
This couldn’t go on!
Su Bei immediately changed direction, heading toward the river he’d passed earlier. Unlike Jiang Tianming, he wasn’t great at remembering routes, but finding a large river wasn’t too hard.
After running for a while, a woman’s voice suddenly shouted from up ahead: “Move aside!”
Upon hearing the warning, Su Bei flipped sideways to dodge. The next moment, a stream of fire shot past, incinerating the swarm of wasps into ashes.
It was Qi Huang.
After eliminating the wasps, Qi Huang crossed her arms and looked at Su Bei with an amused expression. “Well, well! Isn’t this our classmate Su Bei? How did you end up in such a sorry state after just one day?”
Su Bei didn’t pay any attention to her teasing. He brushed some leaves off himself and said, “Thanks. Where are your teammates? Why are you here alone?”
Seeing his casual response, Qi Huang lost interest and pouted. “They’re not far. I heard some commotion and came to check. But what about you? Where’s your team?”
Su Bei didn’t answer her question. Instead, he gave her a thoughtful look, then checked his watch. A moment later, a knowing expression appeared on his face. “Did someone in your group take that mission?”
Qi Huang wasn’t surprised that Su Bei knew about “that mission.” She didn’t bother lying and nodded. “Yeah, a few people thought that even if they couldn’t kill the Nightmares, they wouldn’t be eliminated either, so they accepted it.”
Su Bei raised an eyebrow and, after some thought, offered a word of advice in return for her earlier help. “If you don’t want anything to happen to them, you’d better not stray too far from your team.”
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