Tang Zhen looked solemn and earnest.
“There can be no mistake, Your Majesty. Right now...”
Xuan Jingyuan gestured forward. “Tell my ministers first.”
Tang Zhen turned to look at the others sitting in Class Two and meticulously repeated what he had just said.
Upon learning of this, everyone did not panic. Instead, they silently pondered the matter, calculating the numbers in their heads.
One of them stood up. His every move exuded an elegant temperament, making it obvious at a glance that he was a civil official holding a high position.
“Your Majesty, this minister believes this matter is extremely urgent.”
Xuan Jingyuan said, “Elaborate.”
“We currently have about two hundred and twenty people. Today, we have already consumed one opportunity to enter the Scarlet Dream, which means we only have two left.”
Everyone present knew that this so-called two hundred and twenty people definitely did not include those arranged on the first floor.
Otherwise, the count would have reached three hundred.
“Furthermore, all players have a quest to repel a specter.”
“This means each of us needs to repel a specter once. However, the specters repelled previously have not reappeared, meaning that in every Scarlet Dream, all specters will only appear once.”
“This minister observed carefully during the day.”
“There are about a hundred native students, while we players number around nine hundred. Apart from the students, there are many other natives in the school, but very few of them appear in the Scarlet Dream.”
“Academic Building No. 5 only has seven teachers and one grade director, making a total of eight. Presumably, the same goes for the cafeteria and the dormitory area.”
“That adds up to twenty-four. Combined with the hundred students, there are one hundred and twenty-four opportunities to repel specters in each Scarlet Dream.”
“With time running short today, only the Scarlet Dreams of tomorrow and the day after remain for us. Those two sessions combined yield two hundred and forty-eight opportunities to repel specters.”
“Out of our two hundred and twenty people, about thirty-five completed the specter-repelling quest today. This means one hundred and eighty-five have yet to complete it.”
“Therefore, out of the total two hundred and forty-eight opportunities over the next two sessions, we must secure one hundred and eighty-five of them!”
Xuan Jingyuan nodded.
“My minister speaks the truth.”
“However, besides us, there are hundreds of other players. Monopolizing one hundred and eighty-five opportunities will likely not be easy, will it?”
At this moment, a prince sitting beside Xuan Jingyuan suggested:
“Imperial Father, if that is the case, why don't we leave the opportunities for tomorrow and the day after to the others? We can wait until they waste their three chances and can no longer enter the Scarlet Dream before we come to complete our quests.”
The minister immediately objected.
“The Third Prince is mistaken!”
“You must understand that anyone who violates a school rule will be dragged into the Scarlet Dream. This means a significant portion of our group definitely cannot guarantee they won't violate a school rule tomorrow or the day after.”
“If we are separated, subsequent arrangements will be difficult to coordinate.”
“After all, His Majesty's safety is of paramount importance. Therefore, we must enter the dream tomorrow and the day after. In fact, not a single one of us can be missing!”
“His Majesty's talent must be paired with reliable people to maximize its utility!”
Xuan Jingyuan thought of his own unique special talent and nodded seriously.
“My minister's words make sense. Let it be decided then.”
He looked to his side.
“Xuan Yi, share all the school rules we gathered today with all the other players for free tomorrow. Find a way to keep them from violating the school rules as much as possible.”
“This will reduce the number of people competing with us for specters, or at least maximize our control over the situation for tomorrow and the day after.”
Xuan Yi replied, “Understood!”
“Pass down the order: the fact that each person can only enter the Scarlet Dream three times must absolutely not be leaked before everyone completes their hunt. Otherwise, do not blame this Emperor for being merciless.”
Everyone responded in unison.
“Understood!”
Finally, Xuan Jingyuan spoke again.
“Also, prepare yourselves for the Scarlet Dream over the next two days.”
“We will hunt specters!”
Meanwhile.
Things were not going well for Zuo Lin'an and his two companions. They had come to the dormitory area to hunt players, but a mere dozen or so minutes was simply not enough.
The principal had charged several times but was repelled each time. He and Xu Youyou had only killed fewer than ten players so far.
There was no helping it; these players had already banded together. With hundreds of them grouped up, they were not so easily dealt with.
Just a moment ago, when the principal charged forward, he was sent flying back to the administrative building by a Heavenly Thunder Talisman before he could even touch a player.
The special talent 【Heavenly Thunder Talisman】 could summon a bolt of lightning from a distance to directly repel a specter, with a cooldown of only two days.
At this moment, the two of them were hiding on a rooftop, concealing their figures.
“Youyou, there's not much time left.”
Xu Youyou nodded in frustration.
“Yeah, we can only wait until tomorrow's Scarlet Dream to kill again. Seriously, having our hands tied like this is really annoying.”
“And with a bug like you on our side, I wonder how things are going in the other nine dungeon lines.”
Zuo Lin'an looked up at the sky.
A round, blood-red moon still hung in the sky.
“Let's worry about ourselves first.”
He felt the card in his pocket. Once the dream ended, he had to confirm something.
He checked the time; there were only about twenty seconds left.
Suddenly, a realization struck Zuo Lin'an. His entire body shuddered, and he turned and left without even bidding Xu Youyou goodbye.
Xu Youyou stared blankly at his departure. By the time he snapped out of it, Zuo Lin'an was already gone.
“Holy crap, why is he running so fast?”
Zuo Lin'an rushed to the gymnasium's utility room at his top speed, located the living body he had hidden there all this time, and fused with it, becoming whole again.
Then, in his living body state, he clutched the card tightly in his hand.
At that exact moment, the time reached twelve o'clock sharp.
Everyone who was still alive plunged into darkness, their consciousness blurring and senses dulling. When they regained consciousness once more, they were back on their dormitory beds.
The very first thing Zuo Lin'an did was squeeze his hand. He felt a card.
Excellent!
He had brought the card out!
A heavy weight was completely lifted from his heart.
He truly hadn't expected that he would actually be able to bring the card out of the dream.
Right.
He remembered that Xu Youyou had two other cards, which had also been looted from players killed in the cafeteria. This meant they had three cards in total!
Out of the twenty-one 【Gate Permit】 cards in the entire dungeon, only eighteen were left with the players now.
That was still quite a lot; they would need to keep working hard.
Just then, he heard some movement from Xu Youyou's bed.
Not just him, there were also slight sounds from the other beds.
However, none of them left their beds. Zuo Lin'an simply rolled over, slipped the card under his mattress, and went to sleep normally.
Of course, tonight, more than half of the players probably wouldn't be able to sleep.
Rate on N.U.
