In less than half a minute, nearly twenty players had already died here.
It made sense. Aside from him, there were many other specters in the crowd. After all, there had been quite a few NPCs who snatched the rosters earlier.
Although there were many players here, caught off guard, they had still suffered heavy casualties.
Zuo Lin'an had no intention of lingering.
After a brief scan of his surroundings, he took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him and ran toward the far-off gymnasium and sports field.
There were fewer people over there, making it easier to hide without being spotted.
In truth, Zuo Lin'an had originally wanted to run to the nearest guardroom or the administrative building not far away.
But there were too many specters here, and they were hot on everyone's heels.
Buildings like houses naturally provided a strong sense of security, so the nearest guardroom and administrative building became the players' first choices.
Consequently, the majority of the players fled toward those two locations.
Zuo Lin'an, of course, could not choose to run there.
Fortunately, though the gymnasium was a bit farther away, his unique constitution allowed him to reach it in no time once he burst into a full sprint.
Upon reaching the exterior of the gymnasium, he did not act rashly. Instead, he concealed himself within the greenery along the side of the building and sensed the surrounding area.
Once he confirmed there was no trace of living auras, he switched to his specter form, slipped quietly into the gymnasium, and found a random utility room to hide in along with his gold hairpin.
Inside the empty utility room, Zuo Lin'an controlled his specter body to separate. Leaving his physical body behind, his specter form flickered as it sped directly toward the academic building.
Along the way, he heard several agonizing, inhuman shrieks echoing from the direction of the administrative building.
“Those screams?”
It had to be the specters hunting the players getting repelled due to carelessness.
But it didn't matter.
Even if they were repelled today, there was always tomorrow. They could enter the Scarlet Dream every single day as specters to hunt players. Those few specters just now were simply unlucky.
Their very first run in the Scarlet Dream had ended almost as soon as it began.
Zuo Lin'an merely frowned slightly, paying no further attention to that direction as he continued pressing toward the academic building.
As he drew closer to Academic Building No. 5, the air became filled with countless agonizing wails and piercing shrieks.
Looking up, he saw numerous players screaming and fleeing along the corridors. He even witnessed a player hoisting desks and chairs to fight off a specter, only to be slaughtered in a couple of moves.
Severed limbs and broken bodies were strewn everywhere as blood and flesh splattered across the walls!
Some players even jumped straight out of the windows—some willingly, others pushed by those behind them because they ran too slowly.
They crashed onto the ground below, turning into soft piles of mangled flesh.
It was a literal living hell.
Of course, not all players were completely helpless.
Quite a few of them were martial artists who leaped down directly from the upper floors. Even so, the specter transformed from the grade director was patrolling below.
Anyone who fled from the academic building would be instantly targeted by him.
However, with so many players, there were bound to be moments when he couldn't kill them all at once.
Just as Zuo Lin'an approached the academic building, he crossed paths with a player who seemed panicked yet was somehow able to exploit various blind spots to slip out.
Though this person seemed a bit odd, they looked timid and cowardly, hardly resembling anyone of actual capability.
But it didn't matter. Even if there was something off about them, he could handle it.
Zuo Lin'an reached out into the empty air, and a boning knife materialized in his grip.
The dungeon prompt had stated that the method of execution was up to him, so he decided to use his own knife. However, he would have to adjust the execution process slightly.
It needed to be a bit more efficient.
Just then, the player Zuo Lin'an had targeted finally noticed the figure standing under the blood-red moonlight.
It was a specter!
“Ah!”
The sight gave him a massive fright.
Under the hazy, crimson moonlight, this stiff-limbed specter possessed deathly pale skin and held a bizarre knife in its hand.
What was worse was the pair of eyes staring intently at him—they were crimson slit-pupils, radiating an incomparable chill and dread that made him feel his limbs gradually locking up.
“A ghost!!”
Screaming in terror, he scrambled to adjust his posture, pivoting to flee in another direction.
Zuo Lin'an took a step forward, instantly materializing behind him. The boning knife in his hand flashed with a cold light as he plunged it deep into the gap between the player's shoulder and neck.
The player's eyes bulged. Clutching his neck with both hands, he let out a few incoherent gurgles from his throat before collapsing to the ground, twitching on the verge of death.
Zuo Lin'an hadn't expected to kill a player so easily.
Seeing how this player had safely escaped the academic building, he had assumed they might have some tricks up their sleeve, but now it seemed they had simply been lucky.
However, the moment the player drew his last breath, Zuo Lin'an suddenly received a dungeon prompt.
【This player possesses the special talent "Go to the Grave Together". The one who kills him shall die with him!】
【Triggered special effect one of the specter item "Gold Hairpin Token of Love": True death only occurs if both bound individuals are killed simultaneously. The player's talent has failed to take effect.】
Zuo Lin'an was initially surprised that he could receive such detailed dungeon prompts within the Scarlet Dream.
It had even revealed the player's talent to him.
Secondly, he was astonished by the player's talent.
【Go to the Grave Together】
His lips twitched. He couldn't help but feel this talent was rather absurd.
While it seemed highly aggressive, guaranteeing mutual destruction, a talent that could only be used upon one's own death was practically useless in his eyes.
Zuo Lin'an flicked the blood off his knife and turned back to observe the academic building.
By now, the academic building was covered in splattered blood from the inside out, with corpses and severed body parts scattered everywhere.
The heavy, metallic scent of blood mingled with the crimson moonlight, creating an incredibly eerie atmosphere.
Yet, Zuo Lin'an noticed something off.
Silence.
The academic building was dead silent.
It had been in utter chaos just moments ago, but now it had fallen into an eerie silence.
Zuo Lin'an's heart skipped a beat as a foreboding premonition washed over him.
He immediately concealed his presence, slipping into the shadow of a nearby tree.
After confirming that no players had spotted him, he quietly looked up to observe the academic building, only to see numerous vigilant players pacing back and forth along the corridors.
No way...
Had they cleared out the specters in the academic building already?!
As Zuo Lin'an's gaze swept across the building, he noticed several players gathered in small groups on the corridors of each floor, seemingly looking at something.
“Are those...”
Cards!
Zuo Lin'an had sharp eyes. He spotted the items in the hands of a few players—they were cards.
However, he didn't act rashly. Instead, he quietly locked onto several targets. He would wait for an opportunity to launch a precise strike, kill them, and then take their cards.
It was a pity that the materials provided by their homeroom teacher hadn't clearly stated whether student NPCs could take cards after entering the Scarlet Dream. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to waste time testing it now.
Zuo Lin'an looked around, trying to locate the grade director, but he quickly spotted a familiar figure instead.
It was Gu Hedao.
He was standing on a gravel path between Academic Building No. 5 and Academic Building No. 3, holding a shard of a Specter Elimination Stone in his hand. This shard could only be obtained by repelling the grade director.
In other words, the grade director, who had been on a killing spree just moments ago, had already been repelled by him.
Rate on N.U.
