Xiao Huai raised an eyebrow. Previously, his system mall had been locked, but after receiving survival coins from Crazy Hat, the system interface changed subtly.
A function interface for an item mall appeared.
His system mall level was level 1, allowing him to purchase only basic resources.
Most of the products on the e-commerce software were discounted, while in the system mall, everything was marked up.
“Hamburger: 10 survival coins, current price: 30.”
If one had to explain, it was because they were all in the game now.
Buying resources in the game was a form of benefit for players, but it was also a means of cheating.
No matter what game it was, there was always a balance; price increases were a way to maintain fairness.
Ning Gaoqiang snorted. “This woman is a fraud, and she wants us all to die in this game.”
No wonder Xiao Huai said that even if he died, they would die too.
The new players displayed looks of shock.
Hui Yulian had only participated in a few games and had finally gained the gods' attention.
She wanted to impress him, to showcase her abilities.
But how could it turn out like this?
Xiao Huai cheerfully patted Hui Yulian’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid. If the cursed are going to be eaten by NPCs, then no one would dare to make the gods happy. Just look for yourself.”
As his voice fell, Hui Yulian followed his gaze to look out the window.
The monsters lying at the door gradually returned to their previous, expressionless state.
Pan Qing adjusted his glasses, thinking deeply. “Even so, I still tend to believe that there are high-level players in our current dungeon; otherwise, why would Hui Yulian do these things?”
Xiao Huai yawned and returned to his seat, pulling up the screen showing that he had entered the novice zone.
“Have you ever seen a high-level player in the novice zone?”
Pan Qing was momentarily at a loss for words. Xiao Huai added, “Everything is just your speculation. Since the game started, besides Hui Yulian doing some tricks, have the NPCs hunted you down? Has the survival mode turned into a battle royale?”
His three consecutive questions caused Pan Qing's expression to darken. He had just prepared to speak when Xiao Huai chuckled lightly. “You’re so certain about me. You don’t happen to like me, do you? Or could it be—do you have some identity?”
Pan Qing's eyes widened. “What? I… I’m not, no. No.”
Out of over thirty players, only one person had an identity card?
Once the seed of doubt was sown, it was hard to eradicate.
Pan Qing sensed several unfriendly gazes and wanted nothing more than to deny what Xiao Huai had said about him possibly liking him.
It was safer to be seen as innocent than to be suspected as a traitor.
Fortunately, at that moment, the sound of leather shoes echoed as He Lecheng walked in with an exam paper, smiling.
He glanced over the players, pausing his gaze on Hui Yulian and Xiao Huai for a few seconds longer.
“Classmates, evening self-study is about to begin. Do you have anything you want to say?”
It was nearly six-thirty, and even if everyone wanted to say something, they wouldn’t create a commotion now.
The difficulty of this exam was no different from the one on the first night; both were absurdly difficult.
However, Xiao Huai didn’t sleep through the whole thing like the first night.
But it wasn’t any better.
After writing a few language questions, he slumped over the desk and fell asleep.
After the exam ended, Pan Qing picked up the student handbook that Xiao Huai had carelessly thrown on the floor. Not just him, but many students gathered around.
The actual school rules didn’t require everyone to return to the dormitory immediately after evening self-study.
However, the dormitory rules stated that students had to return by 11 PM.
This meant that between 9:30 and 11:00 PM, students were free to move around the school.
But most new players didn’t have the leisure to tour the campus at night.
The school rules had five clauses, which differed from the fabricated ones.
“3. Playing hide-and-seek in the teaching building is prohibited after evening self-study.”
“4. Please do not disturb Miss Hanako unless you want to play games with her.”
“6. Do not casually change classes.”
“8. Do not play with fire.”
“9. Students transferred from the First Middle School are under the school’s close observation; during exams, at least one person must achieve first place in the school.”
Fabrication wasn’t frightening; the frightening thing was the mixture of true and false.
Some people were in a panic upon seeing the ninth clause.
Did this mean that if their class didn’t have the top student, they would all perish?
The overweight boy frowned. “Damn it, what kind of dungeon is this? The difficulty is a bit too insane, isn’t it? Isn’t this just asking us to find the exam questions? Hey! Do you know the exam questions?”
Having her identity exposed, Hui Yulian became the target of the players’ attacks.
She vigorously shook her head, her face pale, clearly still shaken from the earlier fear.
“I don’t know! I really don’t know anything besides the school rules!”
Xiao Huai glanced deeply at her, then at He Lecheng, who had already walked away.
A faint smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth.
But even if that smile was very slight, it was abnormal to smile in such a situation.
Ning Gaoqiang felt a chill run down his spine. “What are you laughing at?”
Xiao Huai looked at them. “I’m laughing; I was wrong.”
“You were wrong?” Pan Qing asked, confused.
Xiao Huai looked at Hui Yulian. “Her identity card was revealed thanks to those three dead players. What I mean by I was wrong is that at the beginning, I overlooked one thing.”
“What thing?” Ning Gaoqiang was increasingly curious about what Xiao Huai was saying.
Xiao Huai slowly said, “Didn’t you forget what He Lecheng said at the beginning?”
He had said—“Among you, some students are particularly outstanding, even having memorized the question bank. Why not seek their help?”
They.
They.
Some students.
The pronoun ends with “men,” indicating a plural form.
So from the beginning, there was more than just Hui Yulian with an identity; however, Hui Yulian was the most obvious one and held the most dangerous card.
Xiao Huai slightly raised his gaze and said softly, “Have you played the party game Werewolf?”
Werewolf is a multiplayer deduction game in which roles include werewolves, prophets, villagers, witches, hunters, idiots, guards, and knights.
“The gods seem to enjoy using Earth’s gaming folklore for material more than I imagined. The identity cards are probably modeled after Werewolf.
The identity cards in the horror game differ from those in Werewolf, but they share similarities, such as the existence of werewolf factions and divine factions.
In high-level game dungeons, many people have identities; these identity cards might have different names, but the final faction differentiation is similar.
In a game, not all players are meant to die because that would indeed be a bit boring.
If I were a god, I would add some small details to encourage human players to kill each other and suspect one another as much as possible.
Only such a game would be more interesting, wouldn’t it?”
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