Chapter 94: The Terrifying Campus, Sunny Doll (32)

Upon hearing the verdict, everyone was momentarily stunned.

No one was surprised that Jing You had been stabbed to death with scissors.

But why was Yin Juncai eliminated?

No one had attacked Yin Juncai.

So, did Yin Juncai eliminate himself?

After Yin Juncai vanished on the spot, the players present couldn’t help but flip over his cards to see exactly what he had played.

His numbered cards were 1, 2, 3, and 7, along with four attack cards: boiling oil, scissors, stone thorn, and cliff.

Yet these numbers left everyone puzzled.

Yin Juncai had both the “1” and “2” cards, which should have been enough to kill Zi Yushu twice.

So why was Zi Yushu still alive?

Tang Mu remarked that Zi Yushu was indeed extraordinarily lucky.

“The Seer’s cards can only plant bombs on the squares,” the teacher explained, seeing their confused expressions.

“Yin Juncai played the ‘2’ card in the first round, the ‘1’ card in the second, the ‘7’ card in the third, and the ‘3’ card in the fourth. According to the bomb planting rule, bombs trigger only when the subsequent players land on squares 2, 3, 10, and 13, because 2; 2+1=3; 3+7=10; 10+3=13.”

“However, it’s obvious that Yin Juncai didn’t understand the Seer’s gameplay rules in the previous round, causing him to miss multiple opportunities to plant bombs.”

“For example, during the first and second bomb placements at squares 2 and 3, Zi Yushu landed on square 3 before the bomb was planted, causing Yin Juncai to miss two bomb triggers.”

“His third bomb was planted on square 10, but none of you reached square 10, so a third opportunity was missed.”

“During the fourth round, the bomb was planted on square 13. Indeed, Yi Hongbo landed on 13, but again, it was before the bomb was planted. Therefore, none of Yin Juncai’s four bombs detonated on any player, leading to his elimination with cards still unplayed!”

“But teacher, 1 + 2 + 3 + 7 is not 21. Even if he played all his cards, he wouldn’t pass the level,” someone questioned.

“The Seer doesn’t need to reach 21,” the teacher declared coldly. “He only needs to plant bombs properly to kill you all.”

“Any other questions?”

...

Silence fell for a few seconds among the players.

Then realization dawned.

Tang Mu smiled lightly. “Forget it. No matter how unlucky Yin Juncai was or how lucky we are.”

She glanced at Jing You, whose eyes brimmed with tears, but her heart remained unmoved. She only asked the teacher, “Why did Yin Juncai vanish upon elimination, but Jing You wasn’t killed by the scissors I played?”

The teacher fell silent for a moment.

Her lips pressed tightly, as if hesitating to speak.

Seeing this, Tang Mu grew a little displeased.

“Teacher, we’re supposed to follow the game rules, right?”

“Jing You didn’t die because she wanted to bind with you.”

Bind?

Tang Mu’s face showed confusion.

What did binding mean?

Don’t player characters dissolve into paper scraps immediately after leaving the dungeon?

“She wants to merge with your [Red Thread Bell (A)] item. Your [Red Thread Bell (A)] will upgrade to [Red Thread Bell (A+)], becoming a stronger item that can exterminate specters.”

An A+ level item?

Tang Mu’s heart stirred intensely.

Yet, even amid the excitement, she remained calm.

“What price must I pay?”

“No price at all,” the teacher said. “This is Jing You’s voluntary choice.”

It seemed that spirits voluntarily becoming items was generally discouraged among player characters.

Teacher Li’s face was full of sorrow and helplessness.

“If she chooses you, she forfeits her chance at reincarnation. Though players can’t reincarnate in the dungeon, if someone uncovers the dungeon’s core secret, a special magnetic field can emerge to allow rebirth.”

But now...

Enough.

Teacher Li didn’t want to say more.

It was a personal choice.

She couldn’t force Jing You not to contract with Tang Mu.

“Since you’re going to merge, how do we proceed?”

As Tang Mu asked, Teacher Li looked toward Jing You.

Jing You spoke softly, “You don’t have to do anything. I’ll do it myself.”

She stood still as her form gradually grew faint, eventually transforming into a spherical light that flew into the red wristband on Tang Mu’s arm...

Everything felt so natural and harmonious.

Meanwhile, Zi Yushu suddenly burst into a strange laugh.

“Ha.”

His laughter was different from others’.

“Never thought others would scheme to upgrade their items only to end up either dead or with broken items. But Tang Mu, you actually have them willingly become your spirits. That’s truly unexpected.”

Tang Mu glared at Zi Yushu, her eyes sharp.

“What’s this? Showing your true colors? Not even calling me ‘Miss Tang Mu’ anymore?”

“No need,” Zi Yushu tossed all his cards onto the table.

“If I’m not mistaken, you still have a curse card like me. Unfortunately, you play before me, so you’ll definitely use it to stop me from playing my Exchange card to swap your cards.”

He shrugged.

“So, happily telling you, you won.”

As Zi Yushu said, “Tang Mu wins,” the entire campus scene began to blur.

The desks, chairs, blackboards, and fans all transformed from their original materials into paper.

The only difference was that some paper was stiff enough to bear weight, while others were thin and tore easily.

Even the NPCs in the audience turned into paper figures.

Yet Teacher Li, the referee, remained solid and human, not a paper figure.

Tang Mu understood this meant she had to complete the journey.

She did indeed play a curse card to stop Zi Yushu’s Exchange card.

Then, advancing from 3 to 6, 6 to 14, and 14 to 21.

She used all her cards precisely and landed exactly on square 21.

Tang Mu was victorious!

At the moment of Tang Mu’s victory, a raging fire began to engulf the paper school from below.

Just like the time she had ignited her diary with a lighter.

This school, built from trillions of sheets of white paper, was slowly consumed by flames, turning to ash along with the memories buried deep within.

“Congratulations, Tang Mu.”

But what irritated Tang Mu greatly was that Zi Yushu was not dead.

His voice lingered in her ear.

Though his body was being devoured by flames, he kept a bloodthirsty, hateful smile, looking down upon Tang Mu from beyond the fire with contempt.

“You’ve resolved your childhood knot, but I’m still alive,” he said. “I will meet you again, to give you the freshest sensory experience.”

His lips curled, like a demon crawling out from hell.

“So, are you looking forward to my return?”