Zuo Lin'an spoke with a hint of teasing.
“The school only had us come a day early. It's obvious they never intended for us to study this seriously.”
Hearing this, Xu Youyou put down his phone.
“You mean... disguising ourselves as players is just for show? We don't actually need to be that convincing?”
Zuo Lin'an nodded.
“Exactly. What we really need to do boils down to two things.
“First, during the day, get as many players as possible to violate the school rules and trigger the Death Rules.
“Second, during the Scarlet Dream, kill as many players as possible.
“As for pretending to be players, that's all just surface-level stuff.
“And this detailed information might seem like it's prepared for this National War Dungeon, but in reality, we can use it in the future when we open our own Daily Dungeons.”
Xu Youyou blinked. “In that case, I guess I'll just skim through it a bit.”
The two slowly strolled back. When they passed the cafeteria, they saw a sign placed outside.
“Cafeteria is free.”
Zuo Lin'an paused. “Come on, let's go eat.”
They had set off in the morning, and it was already noon, making it the perfect time for lunch. Come to think of it, this was the first time either of them had eaten at school without having to pay.
After eating, they wandered around the school some more.
This time, they focused on checking the school rules—specifically, those slogans posted in various corners of the campus that they usually ignored.
Xu Youyou looked them over and felt quite surprised.
“How did I never notice before that the school had so many rules? Just looking at them all is making my head spin.”
Zuo Lin'an replied, “For a lot of things, the school teachers just turn a eye. As long as you don't cause trouble right in front of them or make a huge scene, it's as if nothing happened.
“But a dungeon is different.”
Xu Youyou took a deep breath. “Thankfully, we don't have to follow the school rules.”
Saying this, he chuckled, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
“Then again, I really want to see what it's like when those players from an ancient world arrive at a modern high school like this.
“Our homeroom teacher mentioned before that players entering this dungeon would be given some memories related to the school. I wonder how detailed those memories will actually be.
“Probably not too much. After all, the goal this time is to kill off more veteran players. Veteran players are the smartest and shrewdest. Giving them too many memories would work too much in their favor.”
...
Zuo Lin'an stroked his chin, pondering how he should deal with the players once the dungeon officially began.
Seeing him silent, Xu Youyou leaned closer.
“Brother An?”
“Quiet,” Zuo Lin'an said.
“What's wrong? What are you thinking about?” Xu Youyou asked.
“I'm trying to make a rough estimate of the players' strength in this National War Dungeon.
“How much do you remember of what our homeroom teacher told us earlier?”
Xu Youyou shook his head. “I didn't remember a single thing.”
Zuo Lin'an seemed long accustomed to his carefree attitude.
“Our homeroom teacher said earlier that the original number of players was supposed to be three thousand.
“Back then, the crisis hadn't occurred yet, so the situation of those three thousand players should be quite easy to guess. The vast majority of them would definitely be newbies—around eighty to ninety percent.
“Even if we assume it's eighty percent, that means there are about two thousand four hundred newbies. We can ignore that group.
“The ones we need to watch out for are the six hundred veteran players.
“But because the crisis emerged later, another six thousand players were added. Our homeroom teacher said only one thousand of those six thousand are newbies, which means the remaining five thousand are all veteran players.
“Adding the six hundred from before, that makes five thousand six hundred. Since there will be ten dungeon lines for this opening...
“Averaging it out, among the nine hundred players in each dungeon line, there will be five hundred and sixty veteran players!”
Saying this, Zuo Lin'an's expression grew solemn.
“Youyou, do you have any idea what five hundred and sixty veteran players actually means?
“Anyone our homeroom teacher calls a veteran player has a high probability of owning a permanent specter item. Even if they don't, they'll at least have one or two specter items capable of repelling specters.
“And special talents.
“Why don't you guess how many of those five hundred and sixty veteran players, who have managed to survive until now, possess a special talent?
“Perhaps even a unique special talent.”
Xu Youyou knew about unique special talents.
They were talents that were one-of-a-kind among all players in the entire Wuxia World, with uniquely powerful special effects.
Zuo Lin'an sighed inwardly. “And there's one more thing we both overlooked.”
Xu Youyou was quick on the uptake this time.
“I know this one! We overlooked... Specter Masters.”
Zuo Lin'an raised an eyebrow. “You're not entirely hopeless.
“Exactly. That's what I wanted to say. It has been nearly three years since the assimilation of the Wuxia World began.
“The difficulty of this National War Dungeon has already reached Four-Star. You have to realize that to open a Four-Star National War Dungeon, the highest difficulty of the Daily Dungeons the players have cleared must have reached Three-Star.
“This means that quite a few veteran players in the Wuxia World have already cleared Three-Star difficulty Daily Dungeons and obtained two permanent specter items.
“For a player, possessing two permanent specter items allows them to use the items' power to suppress a specter within their body, thereby enabling them to utilize the specter's rules.”
Xu Youyou also began to realize the implications.
“So, out of so many veteran players, there will definitely be some who possess two or even more permanent specter items, or even have a specter suppressed inside them?”
Zuo Lin'an let out a long breath and nodded slowly.
“I'm fine, personally. After all, I brought the gold hairpin. When we enter the Scarlet Dream, I'll have my living body hide with the gold hairpin while my specter body goes out to kill players.
“As long as the players can't kill both my living body and specter body at the same time, I won't be defeated.
“But you're different...”
Xu Youyou instantly froze.
“Huh?”
Zuo Lin'an spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “You don't have the gold hairpin or anything else to use, so you can only rely on perfect fusion—switching back and forth between your two states.
“But!
“There are too many veteran players here. If you switch states the moment a player uses a talent or a specter item on you, they'll immediately notice your unusual condition.”
Xu Youyou frowned, showing a rare moment of seriousness.
“Then what should I do?”
The corners of Zuo Lin'an's mouth curled upward.
“What should you do? It's simple!”
Xu Youyou's eyes lit up, looking at Zuo Lin'an as if he had just seen a beacon of hope.
“Teach me, Brother An!”
Zuo Lin'an looked deeply at the excited Xu Youyou and let out a soft sigh. When he was very young, he had been kidnapped by Aunt Mei's enemies and thrown into an abandoned dungeon for twelve years.
Although it had only been twelve days to the outside world, to him, twelve years had truly passed.
Rate on N.U.
