CH 28

As Ou Ying said, they couldn’t tell from just the personal declaration whether the 2-6 Monster was one among them. They could only use it to find suspicious points to add to the count in their hearts. 

All of them had experienced a Rule World before and they knew what was up. At the very least, they weren’t going to panic and lose their heads the moment danger strikes.

Luo Yi asked the other eight people to come over; consequently, them few who were in the know, tacitly kept silent.

However, only the other four people from the student union came over. The other four non-student union students stayed in place, glaring resentfully at them.

The way these four people figured, they wouldn’t be here if not for the student union. Especially the boy who led the 2-6 Monster to the teaching building area; he made no effort to hide the hatred in his eyes. 

Even when Qin Zhou looked at him, the boy merely flinched and then glared at Qin Zhou with more intense hatred.

He was as good as dead, the boy couldn’t care less about being afraid. His only thought was that if he was going to die, he was going to make the student union pay!

“Zhou Ge, Luo Yi Ge, Ou Ying Jie.” A boy from the student union said, “Do you want us to bring them here?”

“No, we’re just doing self-introductions.” Ou Ying said, “It’s fine if they don’t want to come, I know them.”

After Ou Ying finished speaking, she still asked Qin Zhou and Luo Yi for their opinions.

“It’s fine.” Luo Yi said.

Qin Zhou withdrew his eyes from the boy.

Finding that Qin Zhou had been staring at that boy the whole time, Ou Ying apologized, “It’s my fault. I’ve been negligent in my duty.” 

Last night, Qin Zhou had asked her if she had completed the preparations but today she made such a mistake. If Qin Zhou hadn’t ordered the entire school be suspended during the release period, the people dragged into the 2-6 Rule World might even be more innocent and unlucky.

Qin Zhou said, “We’ll talk about it when we get out of here.”

Ou Ying nodded. “OK.”

Luo Yi was someone who regularly went in and out of the Rule Worlds. He took charge and said, “Everyone, get to know each other. In the future, we’re all going to have to look after one another.” 

“Let’s start with the juniors first.”

After saying so, he turned to look at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi: “!”

This was too sudden. 

This was even more sudden than being found by the rules of death the first time.

“Hello, seniors, my name is Lin Yi.” Lin Yi suddenly became nervous, “I am a freshman and I am 18 years old this year.”

He hated self-introductions!

After he stumbled through his self-introduction, the crowd around him fell into silence. Lin Yi thought he had said something wrong, when Cheng Yang next to him tugged at the corner of his clothes. “Cough… um…” 

Lin Yi: “…”

He almost forgot — he had a mute teammate with him.

“This is Cheng Yang, my classmate. His voice is hoarse from crying last night so he can’t talk.” Introducing Cheng Yang wasn’t any easier than introducing himself, but Lin Yi still found a legitimate reason for Cheng Yang not speaking.

Luo Yi looked at Cheng Yang and smiled, “You’re hoarse from crying? I wouldn’t have been able to tell.” 

Judging just from Cheng Yang’s appearance alone, Cheng Yang was a tough guy who would bleed but never cry. After hearing what Lin Yi said, everyone looked at Cheng Yang in surprise.

Sure enough, people cannot be judged by their appearance as one cannot measure the sea with a dipper.

Although Cheng Yang wasn’t all that gutsy, he did have thick skin. Not only did he not care about what Lin Yi said about him, he even played along, sniffling a couple of times and sobbing a bit.

“Jtfc Alccjc. P pblcfv atf raevfca eclbc lc atf rfmbcv rfwfrafg bo ws ogfrtwjc sfjg jcv P’w cbk j peclbg.” 

“Itbe Hljc, rjwf klat Jtfc Alccjc. Qf’gf mijrrwjafr.”

Jtfc Alccjc jcv Itbe Hljc kfgf atf akb ktb mtjrfv atf gecjkjs ybs.

“Ol Gjcu. Pa tjrc’a yffc ibcu rlcmf P pblcfv atf raevfca eclbc, jybea akb wbcatr.”

“Su Tianle, it’s been exactly two years since I joined the student union.” 

Li Dang and Su Tianle were the two who had come with Qin Zhou to intercept.

There was no need for Qin Zhou, Luo Yi and Ou Ying to introduce themselves. Everyone present knew each other.

Then Ou Ying introduced to them, “That’s Gao Xu, a sophomore. He’s ranked last in the university.”

Gao Xu was the boy who had run away. Ou Ying said, “Deductions were made mostly because of his conduct. He hardly goes to class, so there’s no need to speak of his grades. He had done a vile thing by stabbing his roommate. It just so happened that I was in-charge of investigating this incident…” 

Ou Ying briefly explained to them.

Fearing that he would encounter a Rule Monster, Gao Xu almost never went to class during his freshman year. He asked his roommate to help him cheat attendance. All his meals were also brought to him by his roommate.

Unfortunately, his roommate ran into the frequently-appearing 7-7 Rule and didn’t make it back.

The double rooms are very popular in the Unnatural Engineering University. A vacancy will immediately be scooped up. 

His new roommate wasn’t used to Gao Xu nor was he afraid of Gao Xu’s threats.

Gao Xu, increasingly pissed at being deducted points for absenteeism, finally stole a small knife from the cafeteria one day and stabbed his new roommate.

Fortunately, he had missed his new roommate’s vitals.

“After the incident, he was assigned a single room.” Ou Ying said, “Gao Xu has been nursing his resentment in his heart. Everyone should watch out for him.” 

Lin Yi waited and when Ou Ying was about to introduce the next student, he hurriedly said, “Xue–Xue Jie.”

Ou Ying paused. “What is it?”

Everyone looked at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi asked, “…Can you attack your teammates in the Rule World?” 

He thought that someone would ask before him; but no, he had to ask himself. “I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just asking.”

Luo Yi answered for Ou Ying. “Yes, you can.”

“But if he does, there may be other punishments.”

Luo Yi didn’t specify what the punishments were nor did he mention the 2-6 Monster but Lin Yi understood. 

Rule Monsters had their fun watching the participants violate the rules it had made. If a participant killed another participant, it would diminish the Monster’s fun. The Monster would never let him or her off.

In the same way, if they did something to an NPC, it would result in the same end.

“I see.” Lin Yi said obediently and politely, “Thank you, Xue Zhang.”

After Lin Yi finished speaking, Qin Zhou took a look at Lin Yi. Lin Yi noticed that Qin Zhou was looking at him. When the two of them locked eyes, Qin Zhou, behind the assembled group, let out a soft “Ah”. 

Lin Yi: “?”

It was a bit baffling.

Ou Ying continued with her introductions, “The boy in the white shirt is called Zeng Jing, a junior. Like Gao Xu, he doesn’t attend class but he hasn’t got any issues aside from that.”

“The one to Zeng Jing’s left is called He Mei. He’s had fights with others before.” 

“The last one with the glasses is called Ye Qiong. He cheated on his finals.”

After introducing the problem students, Ou Ying said, “The number of students to be releases in total is 36. They were divided into three batches. Each time, 12 students and one member of the patrol team were to be sent to the Rule World. It’s my fault that everyone was involved. I’m sorry.”

She leaned over and bowed ninety degrees in apology to everyone. “I will do my best to keep everyone safe.”

Ou Ying apologized twice. 

The first apology was to Qin Zhou for failing to live up to his expectations.

The second apology was to everyone for getting them involved.

Lin Yi’s personality was somewhat warped; when praised profusely by others, he would feel very embarrassed and ill at ease. Along the same vein, an apology made him feel the same, especially a formal apology from Ou Ying.

But at this time, Lin Yi didn’t feel embarrassed and not only that, his good impression of Ou Ying rose to its utmost. 

Perhaps Chen Jinnan, Zhou Qian, Li Dang and Su Tianle had some resentment towards Ou Ying at first, but Ou Ying’s sincere apology made their resentment vanish and they all offered words of comfort.

After all, their task today had been to assist Ou Ying in sending out the low-level students. If something goes wrong, everyone is responsible. One girl cannot be made to take all the blame alone.

The only truly unlucky people were Lin Yi and Cheng Yang.

“To the two Xue Di, I’m sorry.”. 

“Lin Yi, Cheng Yang, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Lin Yi was beginning to feel overwhelmed by this display.

Qin Zhou helped him out. “Alright, she’s been waiting for us to finish long enough.”

Qin Zhou said no name, only using “she”. 

But who inside the Rule World would wait for them to finish other than an NPC?

Everyone fell silent immediately.

No one knew when she appeared. Standing on the second floor walkway, leaning on the railing, she was looking down at them.

Lin Yi heard Cheng Yang’s breathing turn rapid. The friendly atmosphere on the first floor seemed to submerge in stagnant water and the dull silence surged wildly in his ears. 

Wearing a red dress, in the dimly lighted unfriendly room, she was hard to miss. But no one noticed her appearance except for Qin Zhou. Lin Yi glanced at Qin Zhou.

Qin Zhou said, “I’m sorry to interrupt you.”

Everyone: “…”

She was the person Cheng Yang and Lin Yi spotted behind the pillar in the teaching building area, the 2-6 Monster. 

However, a Monster would have established itself in the plot line of the Rule World and so, Lin Yi wasn’t too surprised. The only strange thing was that compared to the vase girl, the 2-6 Monster itself appeared a little earlier.

She noticed that everyone was looking at her and she slowly smiled.

This smile made everyone’s scalp go numb instantly. Her face was pale and bloodless. When she grinned, only her mouth was elongated; her expression remained stiff and numb.

“My friends.” 

“Welcome to my house,” she said.

As soon as she opened her mouth, everyone who only felt the numbness on their scalps, suddenly felt their bodies turn cold. Her voice was sharp like a pinched audio tape.

Of course, it wasn’t just her voice that turned everyone cold. Her appearance represented the beginning of the 2-6 Rule World.

The story has begun. 

She said, “I have prepared a sumptuous lunch for everyone. Please move to the dining hall.”

After saying so, she walked down from the second floor walkway.

Her footsteps made no sound, like she had floated down. Quickly, she came to stand in front of the 13 people, “Please follow me.”

She took a few steps first and then seemed to realize that no one was following her. She turned to look at everyone. 

She didn’t rush, but waited very patiently. It was like she was waiting for Lin Yi and the others to end their harmonious and friendly chatter.

“Zhou Ge…” Luo Yi asked.

“Let’s go and have a look.” Qin Zhou said.

Qin Zhou took the lead and followed after her. When she saw Qin Zhou coming, she continued to lead the way silently. 

Luo Yi and Ou Ying also followed closely behind. Although the other four student union seniors were afraid, they each took a deep breath and followed.

Seeing someone take the lead, the four bottom-of-the-barrel students followed slowly.

In the end, only Lin Yi and Cheng Yang were left in the main hall.

Lin Yi asked, “Cheng Yang Xiong, are you okay?” 

He could hear Cheng Yang’s knees knocking together. Seeing that there was no one else around, Cheng Yang said, “Prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony…”

After he finished his recitation, he looked upon death like going home. “Now I’m a little bit better.”

“Let’s go, while I’ve still got the nerve.” Cheng Yang said.

The two of them finally arrived at the dining hall. When they entered, Cheng Yang let out a “squeak”, finally losing his nerve and passing out at Lin Yi’s feet. 

Lin Yi didn’t even have time to notice Cheng Yang. He saw the expressions of the people who entered before them crack.

She sat at the head of the table and looked up at everyone. “Don’t you like the food I prepared?”

On the dining table, there were snakes, insects and rats, all sorts of internal organs dripping with blood.

“It’s not that we don’t like it.” Luo Yi answered her. Holding back his nausea, he said, “We’ve already had lunch.” 

She turned her head to look at the delicacies on the table and said excitedly, “Ah, so that’s it.”

Luo Yi refused her delicious food. According to the development of the situation, she should be furious but she wasn’t. On the contrary, she smiled slyly out of excitement.

Her laughter made everyone tense.

Lin Yi pursed his lips. He could feel her joy. 

However, the happier she was the stranger it seemed.

It seemed they were playing into her hands by not eating her food.

Lin Yi silently glanced at the table.

It was simple to work out the reason behind her happiness. These “foods” were not the focus of the 2-6 Rule World; the focus was after the “food”. 

Unfortunately, they had lost the chance to buy themselves time.