Chapter Two: Death at Lightning Speed

The girl who scored a 9 in charm according to the glasses was indeed quite beautiful. Of course, Wu Hui didn’t yet know whether 9 was considered high or low.

He glanced at his reflection in the nearby mirror.

"Wu Hui
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Charm: 8
Intellect: 8
Physicality: 5
Perception: 6
Willpower: 7
Mystery: 1
Status: Calm, Exhausted, Abrasion on right arm"

It seemed that 9 was quite high. Wu Hui nodded silently, evidently confident in both his looks and intellect.

The exhaustion was from running, and the abrasion on his right arm was from bumping into a door. These glasses were certainly useful, though not particularly helpful with the current predicament…

Li Xiaojing still held her baseball bat, growing angrier the more she thought about it. She had just been about to change before going out to check what was happening when this man suddenly barged in.

Even if he was anxious to find playing cards as per these so-called game rules, could he at least have knocked?

And what was with suddenly putting on glasses? Was he not seeing her clearly enough?

Wu Hui glanced at the bat in Li Xiaojing’s hand, silently wondering why a girls’ dorm had something like that, then noticed the soccer ball, basketball, and volleyball in the corner.

So, she was an athletic girl—her physicality was two points higher than his; he probably couldn’t win in a fight. But a fight was unlikely.

"You should leave," Li Xiaojing said, gritting her teeth, but ultimately didn’t get physical with Wu Hui. No matter what, she wanted to finish changing first.

Wu Hui agreed immediately, even thoughtfully pulling the door closed behind him.

After a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t leave. Since Li Xiaojing had seen him find the playing card, she’d likely guess he was the "Hero" mentioned in the game rules. If he slipped away now, she could spread that information—troublesome.

Damn, why wasn’t she in class at this hour? The entire dorm was empty except for her—skipping class, wasn’t she? Freshman year already acting like this…

Wu Hui grumbled to himself, reflecting inwardly. He kept telling himself to stay calm, but his anxiety had caused this slip-up.

He couldn’t help it—he was still a student. It was normal to be unnerved in such a situation.

Lingering by the door too long, especially after making noise bumping into it, would be hard to explain if others noticed. If he had to make up an excuse, this junior might not cooperate.

Pondering this, he began to test the glasses’ functions. On close inspection, they could reveal basic data—material, length, weight, and so forth—of any object.

When looking at people, the other attributes were self-explanatory, but what did “Mystery” stand for? He was at 1, Li Xiaojing at 2… Too few samples to analyze for now.

Wu Hui was fortunate, or perhaps it was simply chaotic enough that no one noticed him. Li Xiaojing opened the door with her bat still in hand, her expression rather unfriendly.

But her face was very attractive. After changing into a sports T-shirt, her figure was less apparent.

"Hello, my name is Wu Hui, sophomore, mathematics major. I was randomly selected as the ‘Hero’ in this game." Wu Hui stepped back, keeping a distance out of reach from both her arm and bat.

"I figured as much." Li Xiaojing pursed her lips, no longer intent on fighting, nor bringing up the door incident. "Can you tell where the playing cards are?"

"Once in a while, I can locate one," Wu Hui guessed she wanted to follow him. He didn’t refuse outright, nor did he share many details: "You saw the clown outside, right? Every time the countdown ends, someone dies. It might be random, or it might target those trying to maintain order."

The English teacher and the principal had both died like this, but with only two cases, he couldn’t be sure.

Li Xiaojing took a deep breath, standing to the side gripping her bat. The chaos had only begun less than twenty minutes ago. Few could compose themselves as quickly as Wu Hui.

She still suspected she was dreaming.

"This is definitely not a dream, at least not an ordinary one," Wu Hui seemed to read her thoughts. "You don’t feel this clear-headed in dreams, nor do you see so many details you’ve never encountered before."

"You don’t need to say more," Li Xiaojing replied, taking a deep breath, then remembering she hadn’t introduced herself. "I’m Li Xiaojing, freshman, design and arts major."

You look more like a sports major, Wu Hui thought, but our school doesn’t have one. Li Xiaojing’s short sleeves revealed faint muscle definition in her arms—her physique and skin were excellent. She’d have no trouble handling Wu Hui.

He was at least passable in all physical activities, yet she still had two points over him. She must be at the level of an athletic recruit.

Pushing up his glasses, Wu Hui calculated and extended his hand. "Let’s cooperate. If we find any playing cards, I’ll give you a third of the spoils. If we run into other dangers, you get half."

Her physicality was high, but her intellect was two points lower than his. Even if something went wrong, he could judge by her status and favorability.

This was why Wu Hui chose to rope this junior into an alliance.

More importantly, now that she knew his identity as the Hero, unless Wu Hui silenced her, the only way to stop her from spreading it was to tie her to his side.

Before Li Xiaojing could agree, a scream rang out nearby—someone else had died.

And Wu Hui received another hint.

How many does that clown kill at a time?

No, something else must be killing people, too.

This time, the hint was: Comprehensive Building, Club Activities Room 209, third row of the bookshelf.

According to the rules, each hint meant ten people had died. Barely twenty minutes in, and already an average of one death per minute—who could withstand that pace?

Where were all these bodies? The campus was large, but hiding over twenty corpses wasn’t easy.

"What’s the point of these playing cards? What about the one you just found?" Li Xiaojing asked as they walked. She only knew of three deaths, so her sense of crisis wasn’t acute.

"Each card does something different," Wu Hui replied, not intending to tell her too much.

"Oh." Li Xiaojing saw through his evasiveness. "You’re only bringing me along because you realized I know you’re the ‘Hero’, right?"

This girl wasn’t stupid—six points in intellect was above average. Wu Hui reflected again, realizing he sometimes underestimated others, a mindset he needed to change.

Well, it didn’t matter if she saw through him. Wu Hui glanced at her, noticing her favorability had reached 40 (a slightly annoying collaborator).

The Comprehensive Building was as far from the dorm as any other; Wu Hui had nearly exhausted himself running here from the classroom building earlier, and now the trek back left him short of breath, though he said nothing. Having a vehicle would have made things easier.

People were out in droves, many searching for playing cards, though without Wu Hui’s precise hints, their efforts were inefficient.

Blending into the crowd, they passed the sports field and saw someone retrieve a card from the top of a basketball hoop.

That person acted decisively, using it immediately; lightning crackled around him—quite a spectacle.

Many, upon acquiring something magical, would hold onto it and wait, only to have it stolen.

With nearly ten thousand staff and students on campus, Wu Hui’s plan was to find the next card in the Comprehensive Building, then stockpile two or three days’ worth of food before order completely collapsed—at least he wouldn’t have to waste time looking for food.

No need to hoard more; the game would surely end within two or three days. If not, preemptive stockpiling would be meaningless—it would be a fight for survival.

"Xiaojing!" A pretty girl suddenly walked up to them.

Oddly, despite the stifling June heat, she wore long sleeves.

She was Li Xiaojing’s classmate, not especially close but familiar. Li Xiaojing was about to greet her when Wu Hui suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Hmm?" Li Xiaojing frowned, pulling her arm free and stepping away. "What are you doing?"

Wu Hui was silent for a moment. "Nothing. Just don’t get too close, and please don’t reveal my identity."

His glasses scanned the girl walking toward them.

"Tang Ling
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Charm: 7
Intellect: 5
Physicality: 5
Perception: 5
Willpower: 0
Mystery: 4
Status: Deceased
Favorability: 0"