Chapter 66

Chapter 66

The arrival of the newcomer was like a drop of water falling into a pond; the hall soon returned to its previous state.

After an unknown amount of time, perhaps an hour, the Eastern student with the backpack stood up to go to the restroom. A few people who had been watching him exchanged glances and quietly followed.

But someone beat them to it, entering the restroom almost simultaneously with 'Universe's First Lucky.'

The Eastern student had finished his business and was now at the sink, preening in front of the mirror as he styled his hair.

He was alone in the restroom.

There were multiple restrooms in the waiting hall, and this one, being close to the information desk, was less frequented due to the risk of accidentally making eye contact with an anomaly.

Another person entered, and the Eastern student glanced at him before continuing to wash his hands.

"Who are you? How did you get that gun?" The newcomer also approached the sink, placing his hands under the faucet. Water gushed out due to the sensor detecting his presence. "Who are you?"

The newcomer had curly chestnut hair and a refined appearance, though he seemed somewhat mature for his age, typical of Westerners. Overall, he exuded a suave demeanor.

His eyes were a shade of blue-green, and when he looked at others, he always wore a smile, giving off a gentle and harmless impression. But now, those eyes were sharp and filled with malice.

"Who gave you that gun?" The chestnut-haired man stared at his own reflection in the mirror, as well as the Eastern student standing beside him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the Eastern student replied, his expression changing slightly. He pulled his hand back and wiped it on his clothes, then tried to leave. "Move aside."

"Tell me..." The chestnut-haired man sidestepped to block his path.

_Bang._

With the sound of the gunshot, the chestnut-haired man's eyes widened in shock.

A bullet had pierced his heart from behind.

Someone had appeared behind the restroom door at some point, or perhaps they had been waiting there all along, like a hunter for their prey. And the chestnut-haired man was that prey.

The Eastern student's lips trembled, but he didn't run or show any more surprise than he already had.

It was clear that this was a setup, a script that had started the moment they stepped out of the mine elevator. The Eastern student was a participant, but he was not the one controlling the situation.

"You..." The chestnut-haired man fell to his knees, the impact producing a crisp sound. He propped himself up with both hands, desperately trying to control his muscles to turn around and see the mastermind behind everything.

"I...I knew...you would come for me..." From the moment the two others went missing, he had been waiting for 'Ji Xinghai' to show up. However, after waiting for so long without any sign of him, the attention he had gained through orchestrating this event began to wane.

He couldn't describe how he felt at the time. The plan had failed, yet he couldn't help but admire it.

It was like in his last movie, where the deranged protagonist had an adversary that he couldn't help but admire. They were the closest and farthest opponents, the ones who understood each other best.

The man believed that he and "Ji Xinghai" were just like that.

Their fates were intertwined, destined for this encounter.

The crazed look in the man's eyes frightened the Eastern student, who ran toward the second person.

The chestnut-haired man finally collapsed onto the floor, lying on his side. This allowed him to see the person he wanted to see, even if it was just a blurry silhouette. He was certain that this was the one worthy of taking his life.

"My name is..."

"I don't care." The newcomer tossed the gun to the Eastern student.

The chestnut-haired man froze for a moment, his expression turning to anger and resentment. "You should know, Ji Xinghai..."

Ji Xinghai could hear the chaotic footsteps outside. His gaze calmly swept over the still-living man on the ground. Suddenly, he reached out, using the Eastern student's hand to chamber another round.

_Bang._

This was the second shot, the one that ended the man's life.

The Eastern student's face paled, his hand holding the gun trembling. The hand covering his was warm, but a chill ran straight to his heart.

"You did well. Do you know what to do next?"

The Eastern student stiffly turned his head. The newcomer was calmly wiping the gunpowder residue from his fingers with one hand. Despite his handsome features and youthful innocence, his smile was unnervingly gentle.

Two minutes earlier, outside the restroom:

"That must be Universe's First Lucky. He's the one who's been trolling on the channel. I'm going to give him a good beating."

"Me too. I've been annoyed by that guy for a while now."

The two who had followed the Eastern student had planned to teach him a lesson for his bragging. They wanted to show him that there were consequences for saying the wrong things.

However, just a few meters away from the restroom, a gunshot suddenly rang out.

Not only did the two of them stop, but everyone else in the hall also paused and turned to look in the direction of the gunshot.

"No way..."

"Should we go in and check?"

They were ordinary students, law-abiding citizens in real life. Although they had some minor offenses on their records, they hadn't fully adapted to the brutal environment of the Hunger Games.

Then, the second gunshot sounded.

The two standing at the restroom entrance took a step back in fright. Two consecutive shots meant either two people were dead, or one person had been shot twice.

Would the shooter, in a fit of bloodlust, harm innocent bystanders? Or how vicious would they have to be to shoot someone twice?

These two hesitated, unable to move. However, the other official students didn't hesitate. Within moments, they had located the source of the gunshots and crowded into the restroom, women included, without any reservations.

On the gleaming white tile floor lay a motionless student, his heart no longer beating. With brown hair and pale skin, he was clearly a Caucasian male. The one holding the gun was the Eastern student who had entered earlier.

The situation seemed pretty straightforward.

"Did you kill him?"

The Eastern student's lips quivered slightly. He stole a glance at the amputee student who had emerged from behind the restroom door and blended into the crowd. He raised his chin defiantly and said, "We had a grudge. He tried to sabotage me, so I took my revenge. What's the problem? Are you here to uphold justice?"

There wasn't really a problem with that, except that most people settled personal disputes in private. He had done it in broad daylight, in front of everyone...

And did he really do it? The man on the ground had been shot twice, once straight through the forehead and once through the back, piercing his heart. It was the work of an expert. Yet the person in front of them held the gun awkwardly, the barrel wavering and pointed towards the crowd—a cardinal sin when handling firearms.

What appeared to be a simple case was riddled with intriguing details. But the simulation was almost over, and nobody wanted any trouble.

"I hope there won't be a next time."

"There won't be," the Eastern student replied as he slipped the unloaded pistol back into his pocket. He wanted nothing more than to avoid further conflict.

Everyone dispersed as they had arrived, blending back into the crowd, unnoticed.

"Such a hassle, I have to clean up again." The anomalous creature behind the information desk grumbled, annoyed that the student had added to its workload.

"The universe's luckiest has been taken care of just like that? He didn't even use the tracking item. Isn't he afraid of making a mistake?" the spectators outside remarked in surprise.

While it was expected given their understanding of Ji Xinghai, wasn't it too easy? Was murder such a simple matter?

"He wouldn't make a mistake. Anyone seeing that signature silver-plated pistol would assume the student is 'the universe's luckiest.' Only the universe's luckiest would suspect the student is 'Ji Xinghai.' Their reactions would be markedly different, easily pinpointing the target. The conversations confirmed this. There's only one thing that's strange: this universe's luckiest's attitude toward Ji Xinghai doesn't seem like that of an enemy."

"That guy's mentally deranged; his sanity score is less than 80. Cough, not that I'm talking about Brother Hai, he's different."

"It's okay to say it. Brother Hai's mental state is indeed precarious."

"Hey, whatever. As long as things are resolved smoothly."

Luring the snake out of its den and using someone else's knife, two moves in a row, and the universe's luckiest was down. All attention and hatred were now focused on the Y Continent student.

Despite such impressive maneuvers, Ji Xinghai's fans remained calm and unsurprised, having little to say.

The universe's luckiest had no presence among Ji Xinghai and his followers.

"...He wouldn't even listen to his real name, Armand Jonah."

"It's all the same. Names are just labels. Which country are you from? Don't worry, Brother Hai doesn't hold grudges. This killing settles it. Look, he hasn't continued bothering Zhang Ziqing."

"Those who cause trouble and get killed deserve it."

Ji Xinghai's live stream was filled with harmony, but the atmosphere in the hall was far from peaceful.

Despite appearing friendly and jovial, everyone was on guard against each other. The game wasn't over until the very last second, and students had to watch out not only for the Hungry Academy's tricks but also their fellow students.

Especially those like the Eastern student deemed responsible for the shooting. No one dared sit within ten meters of him.

Who knew if anyone present had a "personal grudge" against him and might find an opportunity to take him out?

It was impossible to guard against everything!

Ji Xinghai was different.

Huddled in a corner, he quietly ate an expiring loaf of bread. His forlorn and hungry appearance was incredibly misleading, and no one considered him a threat.

So he could stay in his corner, eating and observing everyone without drawing any attention.

The second simulation was indeed harsher than the first. Even with Ji Xinghai's cheat code, only slightly more than half of the students remained in the hall, waiting to board the ark.

Approximately half of the students had perished outside.

A simple racing game, and the Hungry Academy managed to create a frog-in-boiling-water effect.

Apart from extreme weather, the Hungry Academy didn't pull any lethal stunts. Everything progressed gradually, giving students the freedom to fight monsters or search for resource crates.

When students started helping each other, the Hungry Academy didn't interfere.

But in this gentle mode, large numbers of students died silently.

And yet, to the outside world, this was a great victory for humanity.

Almost half of the survivors brought back two or more treasure chests for their countries. Even without considering Ji Xinghai's impact, the number of chests obtained this time would still rank first in history.

"According to the real-time data, eighty-six countries have obtained treasure chests, seventeen of which are bronze. Excluding jiuZhou, twelve countries have secured more than ten chests. In the two years and two months since humanity clashed with the Hungry Academy, this is the most fruitful outcome."

"Pity. If it weren't for some fool speculating about limited spots on the ark, those elites could have fought until the last two days like Ji Xinghai. They would have obtained even more chests."

"You can't call them fools. The Hungry Academy might actually impose a limit. They don't have an omniscient perspective."

Compared to the treasure chests, the number of survivors was even more reassuring. Although not as high as in the first simulation, it still ranked in the top five historically.

According to the Command Units' estimates, this simulation was initially aimed at eliminating at least two-thirds, if not more, of the students. In the past two years, the Hungry Academy had nearly wiped out the students on several occasions.

And this time, there were troublemakers like the universe's luckiest and Paul Friesen.

Surviving with more than half of the students was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

"Brother Hai is the GOAT!"

Even the most stubborn racists refrained from spoiling the mood upon seeing this message scroll across the screen.

To be fair, information sharing and trading information for ark tickets were initiatives led by the jiuZhou students and carried out until the end.

"A thank you is due to the jiuZhou students; otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy to gather those few tickets for our national students."

"This was the students' own choice," the head of jiuZhou's Foreign Affairs Department said with composure and dignity.

Indeed, as the final tally approached, these people convened once again in the virtual meeting hall. Because the student had helped countless nations avoid abnormal natural disasters within the venue, the jiuZhou representative basked in the spotlight, much to the chagrin of representatives from countries at odds with jiuZhou.

The national fortune of jiuZhou was truly unfathomable. Having just suffered the Federation's treachery, they then drew the SS-rank Seasonal Sea.

He stood out in the first scenario, and the second one seemed tailor-made to fill jiuZhou's coffers – a model where defeating monsters yields treasure chests suited his power perfectly, not to mention the cheat-like ability that added an item to the jiuZhou citizens' inventory with each monster devoured.

They couldn't fathom how this jiuZhou student knew so much about Western monsters, able to slaughter them even with a missing limb. What would it hurt to share some of that knowledge?

Sharing was out of the question; jiuZhou could handle any amount of success.

The jiuZhou representative sipped clear tea from a white porcelain cup, content. These past two months had been a string of good fortune: their student dominated, they won the public opinion battle, and they foiled the Federation's plot to slander their student.

In just one day, their student would top the high-score list yet again.

How could life be so sweet?!