Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Mu Yuan stroked the blade with a faint smile. "I won't kill you, but tell me everything in detail."

The wind and snow were still fierce, and Xi Yu, walking alone on the path ahead, was filled with an endless determination.

Although he was equally exhausted, his condition was far better than that of Luo Xi and Xu Tu, who were covered in blood. He thought to himself: This game was originally meant for real humans. If they can clear it, why can't I? I'm no worse than them in any way!

Of course, the live stream audience had no idea of Xi Yu's thoughts, but they were likely moved by his determined and restrained expression.

Carrying Bai Qi’s body and enduring the cold, Xi Yu pushed forward with determination, dodging three or four waves of reckless, murderous streamers along the way. After six or seven hours, he finally reached the farthest east of Nightmare Island.

Opening the Bagua mirror again, he saw that only 337 streamers remained, which wasn’t good.

Xi Yu narrowed his eyes, trying to find his direction through the wind.

This area had the lowest temperature on the entire island. The icy winds howled, and the blood-red moon would occasionally disappear into the clouds, making everything seem eerie and unclear.

Enduring the biting cold, Xi Yu pressed forward toward the coldest place. Eventually, his efforts paid off, and he saw a chilling, ominous sight in the blood-red snow: Three circles of wooden stakes were draped with red silk, covered with countless different talismans. They seemed to bear a heavy mission, surrounding a swirling mass of black mist that continuously emitted blue light. The mist was writhing, struggling to escape, bound by crimson chains. Scattered across the ground were numerous human bones, large and small—this must be the place where Snow Prince was sealed.

Xi Yu carefully placed Bai Qi down before approaching to count the bones. There were over a hundred, matching the number shown by the Bagua mirror. The system required 206, which was exactly the number of bones in a person’s body, meaning the Snow Prince would be freed soon.

He hurriedly took action, first pouring out the 100 ice crystals that Xu Tu had collected. He then removed the Snow Prince's new clothes and placed Ah Ming’s heart wrapped in cloth on top. Finally, he took out the blood talisman given by Du Li, desperately trying to ignite it by lighting the fire stick.

But the wind was so strong and chaotic that it was difficult to shield the fire.

Xi Yu, desperate, shook his freezing hands to shield himself from the wind, blowing desperately. Finally, a spark flew out and landed on the blood talisman!

Suddenly, the blood talisman ignited, setting the heart and other materials ablaze, lighting up the desolate night with a brilliant fire.

Xi Yu stepped back in surprise. As the flame turned blue-green, a human figure began to emerge from the fire. He tensed up, gripping his knife, prepared for any unexpected developments.

Fortunately, as the figure became clearer, the fire weakened.

It was the Snow Prince’s physical form!

Xi Yu felt a surge of joy in his heart.

At that moment, the whole server broadcast sounded.

[Streamer Xi Yu is the first to complete one of the "Five Miracles of Mirror Lake" spells.]

Xi Yu, unable to help himself, bit his lip, making eye contact for two seconds, and unexpectedly stretched out his hand to hug him tightly.

The two of them embraced silently in the cold wind, only wanting to wait for the final outcome of the game in such a wordless, intimate closeness.

Just when they were immersed in this rare warmth, a terrifying broadcast sounded again.

【Player Sun Xiuyan drew the last bone of the Snow Prince】

【The seal of the Snow Prince is about to be broken】

【The Snow Prince is about to launch indiscriminate attacks until the number of survivors is reduced to three hundred】

Upon hearing this news, the three were shocked.

Luo Xi reacted first: “Rabbit, quickly save A Qi! Xi Yu, use the bow!”

At the moment of his words, the iron chains deep within the evil formation were broken by a huge force. The struggling black shadow in the center, accompanied by a sharp scream, rushed into the night, and then turned into a ghostly figure with snow-white long hair, charging straight at Xu Tu!

The evil spirit of the Snow Prince is a large BOSS meant to clear the map, and it’s probably not on the same level as the players' power system.

Xi Yu, his mood heavy but still composed, quickly drew A Ming's black arrow and aimed, immediately shooting directly at the Snow Prince!

The black arrow sparked with brilliant golden light in the darkness.

It seemed the Snow Prince was struck by some impact, flinching in pain. Naturally, it redirected its anger and rushed straight toward Xi Yu and Luo Xi.

Xi Yu broke into a cold sweat and shot two more arrows. While it slowed the evil spirit's approach, it didn’t change the situation.

Luo Xi frowned and suddenly pushed Xi Yu aside: “Run!”

Xi Yu stumbled, seeing him enduring his injuries and whipping the Snow Prince with Mr. Fu's whip. He quickly drew a new arrow and shot again!

The Snow Prince was completely enraged, letting out an icy and vengeful voice: “You’re his accomplice—You’re his accomplice—!! I’ll kill you!!!”

“Spare him!” Xi Yu saw the evil spirit expand, charging toward Luo Xi. Acting purely on instinct, he jumped to tackle Luo Xi, shielding him with his back, shouting, “We’re not accomplices, stop killing! A Ming doesn’t want to see you like this!”

The vengeful spirit of the Snow Prince blocked the light from the red moon above them and growled coldly: “A Ming is already dead!!!”

Of course, Xi Yu wouldn't admit who killed A Ming. Seeing that the BOSS could still be communicated with, he quickly shouted, “He didn’t die. He’s been waiting for you! This bow, this bow is what he’s been keeping for you! A Ming even made an ice sculpture for you. You are the kindest and most perfect in his heart. Please, stop the killing! This island is already ruined because of you!”

These words slightly affected the Snow Prince’s judgment, but the mission to eliminate the players took precedence above all. The evil spirit let out a few eerie cries, but still, with a tragic scream, dispelled its delusions and viciously grabbed Xi Yu by the neck, lifting him into the air!

Luo Xi's eyes widened. It felt like everything he saw had slowed down, and he didn’t even have a chance to pull Xi Yu back!

Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, a series of notifications sounded across the entire server.

【The remaining streamers have reached three hundred】

【This round of the game is about to end early】

【A heroic resurrection! Streamer Bai Qi is alive!】

【The Snow Prince is about to launch indiscriminate attacks until the number of survivors is reduced to three hundred】

【The remaining streamers have reached three hundred】

【This round of the game is about to end early】

Xi Yu fell to the ground.

They were left speechless after hearing these repeated announcements. The evil spirit of the Snow Prince dispersed and gathered again, finally disappearing into the darkness.

It seemed that the news of elimination had stirred the remaining streamers. No one wanted to be unlucky, so they began attacking the other visible streamers, causing the number of survivors to quickly decrease to meet the requirement.

As for the last person replaced by Bai Qi, it was the non-lucky god who was even worse off than Luo Xi.

Xu Tu, covered in blood, sat in the snow, crying, “Finally... Finally... we did it…”

Silver light flashed across the rigid body, and Bai Qi, with a confused face, sat up while adjusting his glasses, saying, “Where am I? It’s so cold, has the game started?”

Xu Tu, enduring the pain in his hands, slapped him twice: “Idiot! The game’s already over! I’m going to kill you!”

Bai Qi instantly looked like a pig’s head: “...???”

Xi Yu, who had finally regained his life, laughed. He smiled at Luo Xi beside him, then once again jumped into his arms, holding him tightly, and softly said, “Take care, see you next round.”

【Sea Selection Round 2 Ended】

【Peak audience count: 3048171981 viewers】

【The list of selected streamers and hidden rankings will be announced on the official website】

【The third round of the sea selection will begin in ten minutes】

【The game copyright and final explanation rights are owned by Cyber Information Technology Co., Ltd.】

【Thank you for watching】

182 felt wronged and pouted, then began peeking around, looking for other potential people to strike up a conversation with.

At this moment, Xiyu noticed a few other streamers checking their school uniforms, so he quickly searched through his pockets and pulled out a new item aside from the chocolate: an old-fashioned full-screen mobile phone.

This phone had no other apps installed. The screen only displayed the time, and a cartoon rose icon was all that remained.

Unfortunately, when he tried to click on it, a prompt appeared: "This app is not yet unlocked."

Xiyu silently put the phone away and then heard the teacher on the podium speaking: "... This class will end here. Tomorrow will be the school's club day. As new students, you can go to the west playground to visit and interact with the clubs, choose one you like, and enrich your daily life. Of course, your studies are still the priority."

An NPC student raised their hand and asked, "Teacher Yang, do you have any recommended clubs?"

The teacher smiled, "I think the literature club is quite good."

Young people naturally prefer more interesting things, and upon hearing this, they immediately laughed in disdain.

Teacher Yang said nothing more, only gently curved his lips, and then walked out with the lesson plan.

—"Let's eat!"

—"I'm starving, this class is so boring! I almost fell asleep!"

—"Can't help it, my parents paid the sponsorship fees. I have to go along, or they'd break my legs if I caused trouble."

Xiyu listened to the students' chattering and slowly stood up.

182, who still hadn't found any companions, latched onto him again: "Hey, 084, let's go eat at the cafeteria!"

Normal streamers wouldn't be so eager—abnormal behavior means something is off.

Xiyu responded with a calm but distant gaze, saying nothing. He just followed the flow of the NPC students and left the spawn point.

In a short time, the foggy, bleak sunset had faded, leaving behind only a faint and eerie red light, casting an ominous atmosphere over the school's surroundings.

Since the crucial app hadn't been unlocked yet, and he couldn't find Luo Xi or any familiar faces, Xiyu chose to walk alone, silently observing the locked school grounds.

Right now, the easiest way to gather information was to listen to the NPCs' idle chatter.

He had to admit, if he ignored the deliberately eerie weather, the campus still looked quite peaceful. After all, it was filled with young, lively students, and the wide, clean streets with fresh designs and buildings seemed flawless, except for... the rose trees scattered along the roadside. Their tightly closed white buds were hidden among the dark green leaves, and recalling the theme of this game... Could there be vengeful spirits buried beneath these trees?While Xiyu was lost in thought, the bushes suddenly began to rustle.

He cautiously took a step back and saw a small black kitten emerge from the bushes.

Though this cat wasn’t as sweet and cute as Xiao Qi, its clumsy and goofy appearance still made Xiyu squat down instinctively, wanting to reach out and touch it.

Unfortunately, the little black cat was very wary. It immediately showed its useless little claws, scratching a couple of times before turning and running off.

Xiyu felt a little disappointed. Before he could even stand up, he heard a few girls chatting as they approached, so he decided to hide and eavesdrop.

—"Have you guys installed that game? I clicked on an ad on the campus website, and I didn't expect it to auto-download and install. Now I can't delete it."

—"I installed it. You still dare to delete it? I saw the curse on the delete button, and it made my spine chill."

—"Why delete it? It’s no big deal to try it out."

—"Don’t be foolish, it’s all a trick to deceive you!"

—"But the game just asks us to do some boring things. What benefit could the developer possibly get?"

...

Xiyu listened carefully and then took out his phone, trying to click on the rose icon, but still couldn’t get in.

He then decided to long-press and choose to delete.

Sure enough, the screen immediately glowed with unsettling red light, and a pure black prompt box appeared.

[Please enter the correct delete code. If you enter it incorrectly, Bloom will increase by 100. After that, you will become rotting waste, buried deep in the darkness, never to see the flowers bloom again.]

What is the delete code?

Xiyu had no idea what that was, so he didn’t dare to try it recklessly. Instead, he turned off the phone and stood up.

At that moment, the sound of a pleasant bell echoed across the campus, and it didn’t stop.

The system broadcast for this round was a gentle and knowledgeable female voice, sounding like a teacher, informing the players of the arrival of the first night.

[Students, the sun has set. Please return to your dorms immediately, or there will be consequences.]Xiyu lowered his gaze, thought for a moment, and decided to follow the advice. He quickly caught up with the girls and smiled, “Excuse me, where is the dormitory?”

Luckily, a handsome guy always has it easy.

The girls exchanged shy glances and one of them, the most lively, answered, “Are you a freshman?”

Xiyu nodded.

The girl enthusiastically pointed, “The male freshman dormitory is just ahead, turn left and then left again. The building with the red roof is it.”

“Thank you, senior.” Xiyu was polite, and after hesitating, he asked, “Earlier, I heard you talking about a game… what does that mean?”

The girl blinked, then answered casually, “Oh, it’s nothing, just a rogue software that appeared on the campus network of Xiyuan University. It’s called the Rose Game. Honestly, it’s super boring. Once you install it, it makes you do stupid things every day, saying something about fulfilling wishes. I don’t believe it at all.”

A girl with glasses next to her shook her head, “But… wasn’t it because of the game that the girl from the Literature College jumped off the building? You can’t not believe it.”

The lively girl rolled her eyes, “That’s just spreading rumors. She clearly had a broken heart—hey, don’t say that, you might scare the younger students.”

At that moment, the bell urging students to return to their dorms became more frequent. Xiyu had no choice but to say goodbye. He had already guessed about 70-80% of what was to come.

The girls gave clear directions, and Xiyu didn’t take long to find the red-roofed dormitory building.

At that moment, a few male streamers were hurriedly entering the building, clearly fearing the approaching night.

Xiyu remained calm, walking up to the reception and asking, “Excuse me, which room do I stay in?”

The middle-aged woman sitting in the small office flipped through a book. “Room 084, you’re in room 201. Here’s your key.”

Xiyu took the key. “Thank you.”

Just as he was about to head upstairs, a familiar figure ran up, leaned against the window, and shouted, “Teacher, teacher, I’m here to check in.”

The middle-aged woman NPC remained calm, quickly flipping through her register. “Room 182… also 201. You two are roommates.”

182 looked over at Xiyu, grinning, “Bro, we really have some fate.”

Xiyu looked back helplessly, wondering: Who is he? Could it really be just a random coincidence by the system that he keeps showing up around me? Could it be Luo Xi? No, it’s impossible, Luo Xi would never be so talkative… just thinking about it feels off.

182 didn’t feel any awkwardness at all. He grabbed Xiyu’s arm and said, “Let’s go together. I’m actually a little scared.”Xiyu raised an eyebrow. "What are you afraid of?"

182 looked around nervously. "I’ve heard that the Rose Game will release tasks at midnight. I'm afraid that the software on our phones will be unlocked by then. Of course, I’m scared."

Xiyu hadn’t expected this person to be so honest, just saying whatever came to his mind. He finally softened his tone. "Since we’re here, we should take it easy. The insect swarm and the blizzards didn’t kill us. A software isn't that big of a deal."

But 182 wasn’t so optimistic. "What I’m afraid of is that human hearts are scarier than the big bugs and colder than the blizzards!"

Xiyu couldn’t refute that, so he just gave a faint smile.

182 perked up again. "It’s okay, everything is just beginning. I’ve always had good luck!"

Just like the proper university buildings, the male dormitory was decorated just right: four bunk beds with desks beneath, and independent bathrooms. There were books, guitars, basketballs, and other items scattered around, clearly a place where boys lived.

But the humanoid streamers only cared about their own survival and ignored the clutter. Xiyu was the same.

When he entered, he saw two young men had already chosen their spots. Their faces were unfamiliar, so he greeted them, "Hello, looks like we’ll be living together for the next few days."

182 immediately leaned forward, "Hey, what number are you guys?"

The slightly taller and thinner one answered generously, "009."

The other, a bit sturdier, smiled, "006."

"..." Xiyu remained silent for a moment, unable to resist saying, "Sounds like a coincidence. Maybe you two already know each other."

009 shrugged. "The system already warned us that names are the most crucial information. Let's not use such tricks, alright?"

006 nodded. "Anyway, since we’re living together, we’ll probably be closer than with other people. How about we make a pact not to ask each other’s identities, so we don’t waste brain cells?"

"Alright," Xiyu agreed easily. After closing the door, he pulled out a chair and sat down. "What do you guys think about the Rose Game?"

006 and 009 exchanged glances, then asked in unison, "What about you?"

Xiyu answered calmly, "The core rules are already clear. Right now, we’re all in the fertilizer role. Whether the flower is the system or a player, our best option is to avoid completing tasks and not get punished, so our Bloom value doesn’t increase. But knowing this company’s usual cruelty, I’m afraid punishment won’t be so easy to avoid. So, the second layer of insurance is to find a way to become the flower, tricking our target fertilizer into getting caught, to reduce the Bloom value."

What he said was mostly redundant, not mentioning the game’s deletion code or the girl who had committed suicide, but his clear and structured attitude still won him the favor of his "roommates."

182 nodded seriously, "Exactly, we all need to try to become flowers."006 chuckled, "If I’m not mistaken, to become someone's flower, you need to know their name."

"Those game planners really went to a lot of trouble to mess with us," 009 said gruffly, stretching lazily. "After all, many of the streamers who made it this far already know each other. To pick out the tough characters, they set up such a rule—it's ruthless."

182 didn’t seem to understand. "Why ruthless?"

Xiyu lowered his gaze. "Because we have no other way to identify people. We can only rely on our knowledge of others and try to spot any clues, but the person we know best is probably the one closest to us."

"I see..." 182 scratched his head. "But I don’t have many close friends..."

Is he also a new streamer?

Xiyu raised his head, noticing that 009 and 006 were also eyeing 182 with interest. He stood up and said, "Since we don’t have any other ideas, let’s wash up and sleep. The night is still long."

182 realized he had misspoken, and not bothering to wash his face, he muttered and climbed into bed. "Hey, something’s probably going to happen at midnight. If I’m not awake by then, you guys have to wake me up."

Xiyu wasn’t in the mood to respond to him. After all, the game rules were more dangerous for the experienced streamers. Right now, he didn’t know how many people could figure out Luo Xi’s identity, so he was determined to come up with a plan and meet Luo Xi as soon as possible.

The night covered the closed campus, and the fog became denser and more humid.

The indistinct colors outside the window made Xiyu uneasy.

After a light nap, Xiyu soon woke up, staring blankly at his phone, poking it absentmindedly.

There was also light by the beds of 006 and 009, indicating that everyone wasn’t as calm as they appeared.

Only 182, who was worrying aimlessly, slept soundly, even snoring contentedly.

Xiyu raised an eyebrow, debating whether to wake him up. At that moment, the system's gentle, knowledgeable voice suddenly rang out.

[Ten streamers have been eliminated. The new rule is now announced.]

[Any player who suspects another player's identity can send an inquiry: "Are you xxx, number xx?"]

[If the guess is correct, the two will form a CP relationship and become acquaintances.]

[If the guess is wrong, the inquirer will gain 50 Bloom points.]

When Xiyu heard the first part of the announcement, he was curious about how anyone could have been eliminated, but the rest quickly made him realize: some streamers must have been unable to hold back, asking people around them random questions, which caused their Bloom value to skyrocket.The sound of the loud broadcast woke 182 from his deep sleep. He sat up in a panic, exclaiming, "W-what happened?!"

006 sighed from the bed across the room. "Looks like the system wants us to judge things based on facts, not encourage random guessing."

009 snorted dismissively. "Interesting."

Xiyu remained silent. He realized that this new rule made it even harder to recognize Luo Xi, which put him in a bad mood.

As everyone quietly pondered their own thoughts, midnight finally arrived.

Ding ding—

Four notification sounds came from their phones in succession.

Xiyu quickly raised his phone and looked closely. Sure enough, the Rose Game app had been unlocked. He clicked into it and first saw an animation of rose petals falling, followed by a welcome message: "Welcome, Student 084."

Two seconds later, the main interface appeared.

At the top of the screen, there were two tabs: "Fertilizer" and "Flower," but the "Flower" tab had a small lock symbol, indicating it was restricted.

Xiyu tried to click on it, and immediately, a new window popped up.

[Do you want to become a flower? First, you need to find your exclusive fertilizer…]

[Enter the broadcaster's information you’ve guessed. If the information is correct, you will become the only flower for the target broadcaster.]

[If the information is incorrect, your Bloom value will increase by 50 points.]

The name and number fields in the input box were empty, awaiting entry.

It was another high-threshold task that wasn’t easy to try out.

Xiyu looked at the Bloom value at the bottom of the app: 0/100. He took a deep breath and silently clicked on the "Rose Mission" icon in the middle that kept flashing. A second later, a line of blood-red text slowly appeared.

[My fertilizer, please sit on the edge of the Literary Building’s rooftop at 4 AM and wait with me for the sunrise.]

Xiyu placed his hand on his forehead and smiled lightly.

At that moment, 182 let out a wail. "What kind of twisted task is this? So creepy!"006 immediately asked, "What's going on? Mine is fine."

Seeing that the game had truly begun, no one wanted to reveal anything more about themselves. 182 just muttered two disgruntled sounds and turned over, "Nothing."

Xiyu heard no further sounds from them and began to think to himself: at this point, it's unknown how severe the punishment for disobeying the mission might be. 20 Bloom is only a fifth of 100, so it might be better to just follow the rules and observe for a day.

As for his own task, it seemed like just a way to scare the timid.

Later in the night, the dormitory finally became quiet, with everyone snoring.

Xiyu, who had been trying to stay awake, suddenly sat up. He crumpled the sheet beneath him into a ball, quietly grabbed it, and slipped out the door.

006, pretending to be asleep, then spoke up, "Where's he going?"

009 answered, "Definitely has a task, whatever."

006 clicked his tongue, "This guy is calm and collected, definitely someone experienced. We should be cautious."

009 said, "No worries, he can't beat me. Go back to sleep."

The dormitory slowly returned to silence.

As Xiyu sneaked out into the night, he found the main door locked. He simply opened a second-floor window and easily jumped out.

At this time, the campus was eerily quiet, with only the faint sound of insects chirping, and not a single figure in sight.

He didn't believe he was the only one who got a task. He figured other broadcasters were also hiding in the shadows, avoiding revealing their whereabouts, so he sneaked behind the rose bushes and started looking for the campus map, heading in the direction of the Literary Building.

The clouds slowly drifted away from the moon, and the moonlight fell on the delicate flower buds.

Xiyu noticed something strange: the edges of the pure white flower buds seemed to glow with an unusual pink hue. Feeling uneasy, he quickened his pace toward the notice board with the map.

Strangely enough, although there were 300 broadcasters on campus, Xiyu didn't run into anyone as he successfully made his way into the Literary Building.

It seemed like the Literature department was taught by that teacher, Yang, during the day. The building looked a bit old and cold as he entered, emanating a musty smell from the books.

As Xiyu passed through the lobby on the first floor, he noticed a full-length mirror that served as decoration. In the dim light, he suddenly saw a red shadow float by him from behind. That soft, boneless feeling... it resembled a female ghost.

Remembering the recent incident with a girl jumping from this building, Xiyu shook his head and softly said, "You don't need to sneak around. If you have grievances, just speak up."Unfortunately, this time the victim was nothing like Xiao Yan, who was a chatterbox. Upon hearing the words, the victim seemed to disappear without a trace.

Soon, the sound of footsteps echoed on the wooden staircase, each step sounding eerily like something out of a horror movie.

Xiyu, holding the bedsheet, smiled faintly and quickly followed.

Although the relatively unlucky Literary Building only had seven floors, as he suddenly stepped onto the rooftop, the cold wind carrying a hint of blood scent brushed his face, and he could still sense an ominous feeling.

Xiyu noticed that there were many bright yellow caution tapes surrounding the rooftop, confirming that an incident had occurred. He quickly tore the bedsheet into a solid rope, tying one end around his waist and the other around the rooftop's iron railing. He tightened his grip around the rope and then climbed over the guardrail, sitting about ten meters above the ground.

The entire dark campus was covered in thick fog, and several streetlights emitted faint orange glows, resembling pairs of sneaky eyes in the mist, offering no sense of security.

He glanced at his phone: it was almost four o'clock.

Xiyu took a deep breath, and in the darkness, he once again heard the distinct sound of footsteps.

The sound gave off an indescribable chill, getting closer and closer until it finally stopped right behind him.

Xiyu tensed up, not turning around.

The person behind made no sound of breathing, which only seemed to lower the surrounding temperature by a few degrees. He wondered if it was a vengeful spirit causing trouble.

Just as he was fully alert, something cold and soft fell on the back of his neck, which was truly terrifying.

Xiyu’s eyes widened: it was long hair!

At the same time, a bloodied, disfigured face suddenly leaned down from above, and with an unnatural force, shoved into his back, causing Xiyu to slide off the rooftop!

Fortunately, he had anticipated such a danger at the start of the task. He immediately gripped the rope tightly and swung back toward the rooftop, bravely shouting, "Who are you?! Have you played the Rose Game too?!"

However, the female ghost standing on the rooftop didn't respond. Her school uniform was soaked in blood, her features were blurred, and her body was decaying.

Xiyu tried to gather more information, stepping forward to offer help. "I can assist you."

Unfortunately, the ghost wasn't interested in men at all. She showed no reaction, leaping toward the moon without a care!

A loud crash followed.

Xiyu peeked over the edge, only to see a disgusting, broken pile of flesh and blood below.Even more so, the female ghost didn't stop there. She struggled to get up and, like a zombie, laboriously walked through the entrance of the Literary Building, clearly intending to repeat the tragedy that had just occurred.

Xiyu silently sat down, realizing that merely relying on the common Rose Task to pry into the NPC's secrets was clearly impossible. He decided to tie himself tighter and watch the endless death show unfold at the crime scene.

From 4 AM to 6 AM, the ghost, who was barely recognizable, continued to cause havoc. Her bloodied footprints spread throughout the Literary Building. She jumped to her death seven or eight times, seemingly determined to dye the place a deep red before she would stop.

Fortunately, as the sun rose, all the abnormalities turned into black mist and vanished in an instant.

Xiyu tiredly rubbed his brows, turned to look at the now clean rooftop, and reached for his phone to check it.

The original task description had been replaced with a brand-new message.

【With the sacrifice of the fertilizer, the flower can bloom more vibrantly. Congratulations on completing today's Rose Task. Bloom value: 20 points.】

Xiyu turned off his phone, sighed deeply, and decided to untie the rope and go back to catch up on some sleep.

To his surprise, by this early hour, no one was still asleep in the dorm building.

When he opened the door to Room 201, only 182 was there, rubbing his swollen eyes while brushing his teeth, while 006 and 009 had already disappeared.

Upon seeing Xiyu, 182 seemed quite happy and mumbled, "Where did you guys go? Want to have breakfast?"

Xiyu rubbed his aching shoulder and replied, "No, I'm going to sleep for a bit."

Saying that, he quickly climbed onto his messy bed.

182 quickly finished rinsing his mouth and leaned in to say, "I heard from someone that a female ghost jumped from the building last night, just east of the school. It was really scary."

"Mm." Xiyu closed his eyes wearily and murmured, "Not scary. The female ghost was actually quite pretty."

"Really? You saw her?" 182 asked, curious.

Xiyu didn't want to engage and decided to play dead.

182, still unsatisfied, tried to strike up a conversation again, "Yesterday, the NPC gave a hint that today is Club Day. I guess there will definitely be some clues for the Rose Game. Want to go check it out?"

Xiyu remained silent.

182, feeling frustrated, asked, "Hey, should I bring you breakfast when I come back?"Xiyu finally couldn't help but softly ask, "Are you this enthusiastic about everyone? Haven't you ever suffered because of saying too much?"

182 responded confidently, "But I don't have any special skills. Dancing on the edge of a knife, the more friends I have, the more paths I can take."

Of course, Xiyu wouldn’t consider this person a friend, but he was reminded by those words and immediately sat up on the bed: he and Luo Xi didn’t have many shared memories, but there was one that others definitely didn’t know about! If Luo Xi was also looking for him at this moment, with just a bit of connection, he could confirm Xiyu's identity through this method!

The still confused 182 saw Xiyu quickly get out of bed and was quite puzzled, "Hey, where are you going? Aren't you going to sleep?"

Xiyu smiled at him and immediately rushed out of the door.

182, still confused, scratched his face and sighed, "I don’t have a single easygoing person to talk to, looks like I’ll have to rely on myself."