Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Ning Zhu politely smiled at Yuan Xiao Na and said nothing.

The countdown began. They were about to enter the Island Card.

Ning Zhu had watched so many matches, but this was her first time actually “going in” herself.

Even though there were layers of ambushes inside, she was still quite excited.

Before coming to the Spirit Card Academy, Ning Zhu used to love playing games.

She had played most of the popular games on the market, including many well-known competitive titles, and she was quite skilled at them.

Playing games actually had a lot of benefits.

Especially competitive games—reaching the top level wasn’t easy. It required mechanics, awareness, and an extremely strong mentality.

Ning Zhu had all three. Not being “flashy” would’ve been difficult for her.

After the Perception Card was activated, Ning Zhu only felt her vision go dark. Then her sight suddenly opened up, and the scenery changed from the cramped “cinema” into a deserted island.

This was completely different from viewing it through a screen.

The sense of reality of actually being inside it made it feel like she had been transported into another world.

Curiously, Ning Zhu looked down. When she saw her Character Card, that sense of reality instantly shattered, replaced by a strange absurd feeling.

She had become a Character Card—and it looked like she was a Sorcerer Card.

Sorcerer was fine; the body type was relatively slim, making movement more agile.

In the Island Card, all Character Cards were just vessels. They had no specific skills or attributes, only the same health value.

As for mobility…

Ning Zhu tried it briefly and found the Perception Card was quite impressive. It perfectly synced with her body, with no sense of lag at all. It really felt like she was physically running, and the exertion was completely real.

After a short period of adjustment, Ning Zhu began observing her surroundings.

Her landing point was decent—in an abandoned small town.

The buildings in the town had been looted. Locks were torn off, windows were gone, furniture was scattered everywhere, and anything valuable had been completely stripped away.

Ning Zhu didn’t rush inside any buildings. Instead, she found a corner to hide in and prepared to observe the situation first.

White Calamity: “I’ll go take a look for you.”

Ning Zhu: “!”

She didn’t expect the white cat to have come in too!

Outside, there was a live broadcast, so she couldn’t speak out loud. She could only blink hard.

White Calamity naturally understood what she was thinking and said, “A mere Perception Card—think it can stop me? What a cosmic-level joke! I am a Star God Card Spirit, Star—God—Card—Spirit!” It especially emphasized the word “god” repeatedly.

Ning Zhu: “……”

White Calamity continued, “Wait here. I’ll check inside the houses… ah…”

Ning Zhu: “?”

White Calamity paused. “I can’t go far.”

Ning Zhu: “…………”

White Calamity cleared its throat again. “Not my problem! It’s this broken Perception Card’s capacity issue—it can’t handle my divine load! It can’t carry me, a god-tier Card Spirit!”

Ning Zhu had nothing to say and could only let the cat rant.

In reality, White Calamity couldn’t move too far from her anyway.

Wherever the Star Card was, it was. But at least it used to have the range of a dorm room.

Unlike in the Island Card, where White Calamity could only circle around her.

White Calamity huffed angrily: “I can’t scout! You figure it out yourself! I’m going to sleep! What a trash card!”

It muttered for a long while, then curled up on top of the Character Card, forming a ball. After that, it still complained in disdain: “So hard!”

Ning Zhu really couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

Coincidentally, this scene was shown in a super close-up on the giant screen at the sports arena.

Originally, Character Cards had no facial features.

In the Island Card, in order to make them look more human, eyes, nose, and mouth were added—but these stone-like features still looked quite creepy.

It was only natural that the camera focused on Ning Zhu.

She was under heavy attention; both teachers and students in the arena wanted to see what she was capable of.

Gu Ling Yue and Bi Ke Man had initially been seriously explaining:

“Student Ning Zhu’s landing point is quite good. This small town’s terrain has advantages—we just don’t know how the card distribution will be…”

Gu Ling Yue said:

“There are more than ten students landing in this town. Everyone is moving very quickly and already spreading out to collect cards.”

Bi Ke Man said:

“These people are so reckless. Aren’t they afraid of running into others? They’re just grabbing cards without any caution!”

Down below, Li Le Yang and the others were watching nervously.

As expected…

Everyone in Group Twelve had already been arranged by Luo Yu.

Why were they so bold in collecting cards without scouting?

Because “our people don’t hit our people,” and their goal in the first three circles was simply to collect as many cards as possible, leaving Ning Zhu with nothing to use.

Looking back at Ning Zhu on screen—

It was hard to tell her emotions from the stiff Character Card.

Lu Xian Le clenched her heart in worry: “Waaah, Xiao Zhu…”

Lin Ting was also nervously gripping the armrest.

Li Le Yang thought anxiously: “How could she not panic? This is 1 vs 99!”

Wang Huan and Chen Mo were also imagining things:

“Ning Shen is probably just forcing herself to stay calm. She doesn’t want us to worry… sigh, too bad we’re not in the same group… sigh, no one can help her…”

Before Wang Huan could finish, that strange scene appeared on the screen.

Bi Ke Man: “She…”

Gu Ling Yue: “She smiled!”

The entire audience: “???”

That smile on the rigid stone face looked extremely bizarre—but unexpectedly sincere.

She was genuinely happy!

Why?

What was she smiling about?

What was she so inexplicably happy about?

The uninformed crowd only thought:

“What a good mentality—she’s actually enjoying the match. As expected of someone who can make a three-star Spirit Energy Card.”

Luo Yu’s followers were panicking one after another:

“Bad… does she know something?”

Another follower replied:

“She definitely knows. Boss already leaked the information to Lucky Sheep.”

“She thinks she got reliable intel and got cocky?”

“M-maybe…”

Li Le Yang and the others looked at each other.

Wang Huan hadn’t even finished speaking—and it immediately felt like a slap in the face.

That… Ning Zhu doesn’t seem afraid?

But how could she not be afraid!

Outside, Ning Zhu had no idea what was happening.

But after White Calamity’s commotion, her mood did relax quite a bit.

1 vs 99?

Not exactly—she still had White Calamity.

With a loud clang, the door was pushed open.

Ning Zhu immediately slipped into a corner, hiding her figure.

Two Warrior Cards entered the room. They didn’t say a word and immediately began sweeping the area. After grabbing the cards, they turned and ran.

Ning Zhu froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.

So that’s how it was…

Yuan Xiao Na had deliberately misled her.

Ning Zhu had never fully trusted Yuan Xiao Na to begin with.

Putting aside what happened during the first class of the semester, even on the Somersault Cloud Express, when Ye Jian Rong got a few Spirit Energy Cards, she happily gave up her seat.

Yuan Xiao Na had definitely been bought off by Luo Yu.

No doubt about it.

The “opening class” password was fake—in fact, there was no password at all!

No password was the best password.

Luo Yu really was sharp.

Ning Zhu had already simulated many possibilities. She even considered deliberately bumping into someone and tricking them into revealing the password.

But then she thought again—it was too simple. The other side would definitely be on guard. If they required everyone to say it at the same time, she would immediately be exposed.

There was another method: eavesdropping on the password. Like now—she hid here precisely to see if anyone would come in and exchange passwords.

Clearly, Luo Yu had already accounted for all of this.

She never set any verbal password at all.

Directly grabbing resources was their “password.”

In the first three circles, the goal was to collect as many cards as possible, so there was no need to care who the other person was—just take the cards.

And Ning Zhu, knowing she was in a 1 vs 99 situation, would definitely hide carefully and observe. That created a time gap.

That time gap was enough for them to frantically grab cards.

If Ning Zhu came out, she still wouldn’t be able to act as naturally as they did.

Whether it was saying “opening class” or trying to trick out a password, she would expose herself.

After understanding all this, Ning Zhu knew what she needed to do.

Gu Ling Yue continued the commentary:

“As expected, by the twelfth match, everyone has become more mature and rational. In the first circle, there’s basically no fighting—everyone is focused on collecting the cards they need.”

Bi Ke Man replied:

“This is a bit too harmonious, isn’t it? Even when people run into each other, they don’t even exchange a single hit?”

Gu Ling Yue said:

“What’s the point of fighting? Even if you get a kill, there might be a third party waiting to ambush you, resulting in mutual loss.”

Bi Ke Man then asked:

“What about the random elimination when the circle shrinks?”

Gu Ling Yue also said:

“Conflicts will definitely break out in ten minutes!”

After hearing the commentary, the audience could also understand.

With not enough cards, fighting was just pointless.

Having enough cards meant that those who were confident of victory would definitely go for kill points.

And those without enough cards could gamble on luck—what if they didn’t get eliminated?

Li Le Yang gritted his teeth: “She calculated all of this!”

Lu Xian Le also understood and said, “So it really can’t be reported!”

At that moment, Ning Zhu on the screen moved. She came out from behind cover and quickly darted toward another building.

Gu Ling Yue said, “I wonder what cards the Ancient God Card holder can obtain?”

Li Le Yang and the others tensed up.

Lu Xian Le still couldn’t fully grasp the situation and said, “Why did Ning Ning come out? What if she gets mobbed!”

Li Le Yang: “They don’t dare.”

“But…”

“Trust her!” Lin Ting actually didn’t fully understand either, but she felt Ning Zhu would be fine. She had her own judgment and knew what she needed to do.

Just as Ning Zhu stepped out of the building, she ran straight into someone head-on.

At that moment, Lu Xian Le’s heart jumped to her throat, and she grabbed Lin Ting’s hand tightly.

Nothing happened.

They didn’t even look at each other, instead swiftly passing by and rushing off in different directions.

Lu Xian Le: “???”

Lin Ting was also confused.

After a brief pause, Li Le Yang suddenly realized: “I get it!”

“What do you mean? What is it?” the others asked.

Li Le Yang said excitedly: “This is the code!”

“Huh?”

Li Le Yang said, “Their code is: when they meet, they don’t talk or fight—just go grab cards!”

Lin Ting paused, then understood: “So smart…”

Lu Xian Le also got it and said, “So sneaky!”

They still didn’t know about Yuan Xiao Na’s involvement.

If they did, they would have been even more shocked.

If it wasn’t Ning Zhu, but any one of them, they would have fallen straight into the trap.

So this is the so-called sincerity and honesty of the White Sheep system?

Did Luo Yu join the wrong system?!

Li Le Yang couldn’t hide his excitement and began doing a small-scale commentary:

“Obviously, it’s been seen through by Ning Zhu. She’s really fierce—just rushing out like that. If she gets exposed… ah, actually even if she is exposed, it’s nothing. A 1v1 isn’t a problem for her. Worst case, she just eliminates them!”

Lu Xian Le’s throat was dry. “Then what happens next…”

Li Le Yang stared at the screen: “Let’s see what cards Ning Zhu can collect!”

Luo Yu’s followers could see the big screen, but it was useless even if they did.

They couldn’t contact Luo Yu, and were all left staring blankly in shock.

“There’s an insider?”

“What insider, you idiot!”

“Then how is she even daring to do that?”

“Who the hell knows!”

Ning Zhu wasn’t just daring—she had already blended into the “main group,” acting as if she had long received a tactical briefing. Her movements were seamless, leaving no trace of suspicion.

One card, two cards, three cards…

Before the first wave of circle shrinkage, someone finally made a move.

Ning Zhu was about to act too. She had no intention of relying on luck, nor did she need to gamble on it.

Li Le Yang looked at Ning Zhu’s card bag and read aloud: “Fire Flame Card, Speed Boost Card, Spirit Bullet Card, Armor Card…”

Lu Xian Le said excitedly: “It’s stable!”

It really was stable.

At that moment, the kill leaderboard suddenly started moving.

The scoreboard, which had been frozen for ten minutes, began to surge wildly.

Luo Yu gained five points instantly.

The camera cut, giving everyone a close-up of her side.

Bi Ke Man said: “Wow! Student Luo Yu is really lucky!”

She was using an Assassin Card, her slender frame appearing even smaller due to her crouched posture.

A replay was shown: she had perfectly used her body size advantage to ambush under a dirt mound.

Outside, five people had collided. Clearly aware that time was running out, they began firing wildly.

Their aim was terrible.

Fire Flame Cards were thrown everywhere, chaotic and inaccurate. Not only did they fail to kill anyone, but each of them was also left with less than 10 HP.

At that moment, Luo Yu rushed out. She didn’t use a Fire Flame Card—instead, she activated a Meteor Hammer Card. A massive hammer swung in her hands, and with a series of clang, clang, clang, she knocked all five of them to the ground.

The audience erupted in cheers.

Li Le Yang curled his lips in disdain: “These extras are probably making over ten thousand a day acting like this.”

Poor guy Lu Sun Yi widened his eyes: “What?!”

Li Le Yang slapped him: “What, you want to defect too?”

Chen Mo swallowed and asked: “Is it really that much?”

Li Le Yang: “………………”

He was speechless—if even his own people couldn’t resist the temptation, it was obvious how others would react.