This special item was like the 【Talent Advancement Stone】, an item that could only be obtained in the National War Dungeon, named the 【Specter Elimination Stone】.
As long as this item was brought back to the real world, it could eliminate ten times the number of specters as the number of players who cleared the current dungeon.
This was also one of the very few methods currently known to players that could eliminate specters in the real world.
Zuo Lin'an still remembered the parts of the information that had been specially emphasized.
No matter how many times the Scarlet Dream was opened, the items obtained from within—whether cards, item shards, or advancement stones—were all unique.
In other words, drops could only be obtained the very first time a specter was repelled.
No matter how many times they were repelled afterward, there would be no more rewards.
And adding up the dormitory, the cafeteria, and the academic building, there were twenty-one common mobs in total.
Therefore, there were only twenty-one 【Gate Permit】 cards in the entire dungeon!
Of course, besides this, the information also introduced some other ways to obtain the 【Gate Permit】 cards, such as reporting other players who violated the school rules.
This way, they could receive 【Gate Permit】 cards as a reward.
However, there were criteria for these reports.
For example, it had to be something that had a certain impact on the school. Simply skipping meals, chasing and roughhousing, and the like did not meet the criteria for obtaining a card.
Therefore, in Zuo Lin'an's view, these players from ancient backgrounds probably wouldn't be able to achieve this.
It wasn't that they lacked the ability, but rather that they wouldn't even think in this direction in the first place.
The players who survived being hunted by specters in the Scarlet Dream tonight would only be more vigilant when facing NPCs like them; they wouldn't even think about making reports.
In other words, even if these nine hundred players had heaven-defying luck, at most only twenty-one players could clear the dungeon in the end.
Thus, the maximum quota of players who could clear the National War Dungeon had a clear upper limit from the very beginning.
Of course, this was not the result those at the top wanted.
After all, with ten dungeon lines, if all twenty-one player slots were cleared in every single line, wouldn't arranging NPCs like them be entirely redundant?
So the ultimate goal remained the same: kill more players, reduce the number of players who could clear the dungeon to the absolute minimum, or even wipe them out completely!
Yes, a complete wipeout.
This was the true purpose of the higher-ups arranging for their group of students.
Although Zuo Lin'an's eyes were fixed on the textbook, his mind had actually drifted far away.
And Gu Hedao, being of the Xiantian Rank, naturally noticed that he was spacing out.
But he didn't say anything, simply waiting in silence.
Zuo Lin'an subconsciously reached for his chin and continued to ponder his previous thoughts.
He could also enter the Scarlet Dream, so could he claim the 【Gate Permit】 cards for himself?
Of course, he couldn't hunt the specters inside.
Therefore, he could only wait. Once a player repelled a specter and obtained a card, he would strike, targeting those players who had acquired the cards, killing them one by one to snatch the cards away.
At this thought, Zuo Lin'an's eyes lit up.
Yes!
That was exactly it!
Their true mission was to wipe out the players. While this could indeed be understood as killing them all, a wipeout could actually be interpreted in another way—simply preventing any player from clearing the dungeon.
There were many veteran players in this dungeon, and their hidden methods were bound to be countless.
Trying to kill every single player would actually be extremely difficult.
Since killing them all was too difficult, he would completely block their final step—the step of leaving the school.
In other words, the cards.
Zuo Lin'an planned to specifically hunt down players who obtained the cards, keeping all of them under his own control!
Thinking of this, he relaxed completely.
He could only blame his homeroom teacher and the others. From the very beginning, they had kept talking about killing all the players, which had caused his train of thought to drift off course.
Fortunately, the first Scarlet Dream had not yet begun. It was not too late for him to realize this now.
Gu Hedao suddenly noticed that the way Zuo Lin'an looked at the textbook had become somewhat excited, though he quickly masked his expression again.
“Classmate Zuo?”
Having figured everything out, Zuo Lin'an offered him a friendly smile.
“Oh, you mean this part? I get it, I get it. Let me tell you...”
Having sorted out his thoughts, he explained the contents of the textbook in great detail.
Gu Hedao did not believe him blindly.
After all, Zuo Lin'an's previous actions had made it hard to trust him. Thus, as he listened, he constantly cross-referenced the explanation with the textbook.
But after the explanation, he found that Zuo Lin'an's words were well-founded and completely without error.
“Th-Thank you.”
Zuo Lin'an waved his hand. “It's nothing. As classmates, we should definitely help each other out.”
Right now, he truly looked like a shining, good-hearted person.
It was as if the farce at the school gate earlier had truly been nothing more than a joke.
This scene greatly surprised the other players sitting nearby. They hadn't expected this native to have a friendly attitude toward them.
In addition to communicating with Gu Hedao, Zuo Lin'an also spoke with His Majesty the Emperor, Xuan Jingyuan, on the other side for a long time. Of course, their conversation was strictly about the textbook knowledge.
As time ticked by, his relationship with the players became much more harmonious.
Zuo Lin'an's reasoning was simple: since he had already thought of an excellent way to wipe out the players, there was no need to remain hostile toward them.
Although he couldn't die, he didn't want to provoke the players too much and end up getting jumped.
When eight o'clock arrived, Xuan Er left the classroom, seemingly going to gather whatever school rules he could find.
As for Zuo Lin'an, he continued to chat with the other players.
The good temper he had displayed earlier gave them an opportunity to fish for information.
Of course, aside from textbook knowledge, he didn't say anything else.
Meanwhile, Xu Youyou hadn't returned since sneaking out earlier. It wasn't until class ended at nine o'clock and Zuo Lin'an walked out of the classroom that he saw Xu Youyou walking over from the other end of the corridor.
“Where did you go?”
Xu Youyou replied, “You know me, I hate studying the most. I just went out for a random stroll.”
Zuo Lin'an wore a skeptical expression.
Xu Youyou chuckled without explaining much, but his expression made it obvious that he had definitely gone out to cause some mischief.
With players everywhere right now, Zuo Lin'an couldn't ask too many questions.
“Alright, let's go.”
At this moment, Zuo Lin'an was considering how he could tell Xu Youyou about the excellent idea he had just come up with.
After all, these things couldn't be said directly.
And they didn't share any telepathic link to communicate directly with their minds.
However, he realized that the players who could repel specters to obtain cards would likely be experts among the veteran players. If Xu Youyou tried to hunt them down, there was a high probability he would be repelled instead.
Therefore, Xu Youyou was not suited to hunt down this type of player.
Ultimately, Zuo Lin'an decided not to tell him.
This guy was rather dim-witted; it was better for him to stick to their original agreement and hunt those foolish newbie players. That would be safer and allow him to kill more players.
Zuo Lin'an sighed inwardly. He was truly worrying himself sick over this.
For now, he should focus on thinking about where to hide his living body, which was carrying the gold hairpin, once he entered the Scarlet Dream.
To him, this was what was truly crucial.
Rate on N.U.
