Chapter 203

Chapter 203

That afternoon, a light snow fell on the island, and by nightfall, the temperature had plummeted to an unprecedented low.

A fierce wind howled, tearing across the glaciers and snowfields. The basic thermal suits, uniformly distributed by the organizing committee before the competition, were utterly inadequate for such a long, frigid night. Schools that had the foresight to exchange for advanced thermal suits in the previous round could, after consuming the human-faced fish, still manage to move about outside. The remaining schools, however, were confined to their heated bases, fuming in helpless frustration as they awaited daybreak.

Perhaps due to excessive hunting on the first day, the number of human-faced fish monsters was significantly lower today. However, for the First Empire Academy team, hunting these creatures was not their primary objective tonight.

In the vast, snowy expanse, a group of figures clad in white, almost indistinguishable from their surroundings, traversed the moonlit night. They meticulously observed the surrounding landmarks and environmental features, relaying their findings back to the base center via their wrist communicators.

"East, approximately sixty li (about 30 kilometers), encircling a central iceberg. At its furthest point, there's another base—it looks small, roughly a quarter the size of ours..."

After just a few words, his tongue was already numb with cold.

Dick vigorously slapped his own pale, bloodless face until the frozen, insensate skin nerves finally registered a faint, stinging warmth. He then grunted and continued with difficulty, "It should be the base of the former Imperial Arts and Sciences, now Imperial University of Science and Technology. Should we proceed to investigate?"

"No need," a voice as smooth and gentle as flowing water came from the other end of the communicator. "Our sole purpose is to map the island's topography. We needn't concern ourselves with other schools; they are irrelevant to our mission."

"Understood, Chief."

All five school bases were situated along the coastline. From the vantage point of the high glaciers, one could easily survey the flat, snowy plains.

This was the last unrecorded landmark. First Empire Academy demonstrated remarkable efficiency, dividing their team into five groups of four. In just half a day, they had roughly charted the island's terrain.

Inside the base, Anthony sat in an armchair, chin resting on his hand, watching Lorca hang the completed map on the wall.

The five school bases were positioned at various points around the island. Using these as vertices and the glacier formations as outlines, arcs extended towards the island's center, forming shapes reminiscent of small, elliptical leaves.

Even Anthony noticed the unusual configuration: "Is this... an olive leaf?"

"Mm," Lorca studied the map intently for a moment, then picked up a black pen from the table. Following the endpoints at the base of the leaf, he connected the five points into a smooth arc. His pen didn't stop there; it continued its trajectory downwards until it reached a specific point near the coastline. The black ink bled slightly, and the distance from this endpoint to the sea was precisely the same as the distance from the bases to the sea. "This is it."

Though the organizing committee's hidden secret remained unknown, the shape strongly suggested a connection to the underwater ghost ship.

"In the legends of the Old Era, as the floodwaters receded, the owner of the ark released a dove. The dove returned with an olive branch, signaling the flood's abatement," Lorca explained. "Some from our school have already emerged from the second round of challenges. This round provided more information than the first, confirming that the ghost ship's theme is indeed based on the ark narrative. To conclude this story, we must locate the 'olive leaf.'"

Anthony sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. The icy island was vast, and not everyone possessed the patience to meticulously survey its entire topography. By posing the challenge this way, wasn't the organizing committee concerned that no student would even consider this angle before the competition ended?

Overthinking was unproductive. He grabbed the thick thermal suit hanging by the wall and, while putting it on, instructed Lorca, "Understood. I'll arrange for personnel and equipment to begin excavation immediately."

Lorca replied, "Time is precious. Lu Qing and I will enter the sea. Contact us via wrist device once you've made a discovery."

No sooner had he spoken than Anthony's wrist device beeped. As they were from the same school and on the same team, there was no need for secrecy. Lorca gestured for Anthony to answer the call directly in front of him.

After a mere glance at the device, Anthony's expression abruptly changed.

"What's wrong?" Lorca asked, observing his reaction. "Did something unexpected happen?"

Anthony exhaled heavily, his mood unsettled. "Zhou Huixue has returned from the ghost ship."

"The ghost ship allows mid-challenge departures?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling she wouldn't be eliminated so easily. Perhaps she also sensed something amiss." Despite their past and recent animosity, Anthony had to concede that Zhou Huixue posed a significant threat in puzzle-oriented competitions. "We need to accelerate our efforts."

Only after the hurried footsteps completely faded from the second floor did Lorca release a weary sigh. He slumped into the chair behind him, gently massaging his temples.

To have drawn such a comprehensive map based solely on the verbal descriptions of scattered teams required immense mental effort. Yet, this wasn't solely for the league's victory; it was also a pretext to send the base members out ahead of time.

The earliest reconnaissance team was still about ten minutes from returning to base, and Anthony had just departed. This staggered timing created a nearly ten-minute window during which the base would be unattended.

Lorca clapped his hands, and a shadowy figure drifted in like a phantom. Cloaked in a long robe, only a pair of lifeless, dark eyes were visible through the silver mask—it was the substitute puppet left by Eve.

Eve was currently on the ghost ship and unable to spare the focus to control a puppet. Thus, the blood within the puppet had been replaced with Lorca's. Furthermore, "Lu Qing's" presence in this round was so minimal as to be almost nonexistent, and whenever she did appear, she was completely shrouded. Consequently, no one had noticed that the person beneath the mask had long since changed.

"Clearly, I'm neither from the Princess Manor nor do I draw a salary, yet I'm always left to clean up everyone else's messes," the black-haired young man muttered to himself. Despite his words, there was no trace of annoyance on his handsome face. Instead, a faint, almost imperceptible smile played at the corners of his lips.

"...You truly make the most of everything, little Eve."

His hourly rate was not cheap. He hoped Eve would ultimately offer him a satisfactory reward.

-

"What is this?"

In the familiar dimly lit corridor, Yan Ning took the stone slab from Eve. Like Eve, she could only discern writing on one of the slabs; the others were blank.

"It appears to be a hint regarding the entry order for the doors below," Eve said, retrieving her own slab. "And it's custom-tailored for each person."

Due to the accidental killing of an important NPC, the door had only recently appeared. All students received a notification that they must evacuate the door's world within five minutes or face mission failure. Without time to examine the slabs, Eve stepped over the charred corpse and rushed directly to the exit. Those farther away were less fortunate—Yan Ning barely managed to escape the door at the last possible second.

Since each person could only see their own hint, they quickly claimed their respective slabs. Yang Haibo took his slab and remarked, "I'm still a bit concerned about what will happen to the NPCs after the door's world collapses."

Though they had only interacted for less than a day, the life-saving bond made it natural to care about their fate. Besides, the lady of the red house had spoken some inexplicable words to him.

To Eve's surprise, the others nodded in agreement. She had assumed this group was accustomed to being heartless.

"Don't worry. If they are merely simulated NPCs, they will reset when the next task begins. If they are real, then even the collapse of a virtual world won't affect their subsequent lives," she said flatly, spreading her hands. "They'll go where they need to go, though I lean towards the latter possibility."

This was not only because she had finally recognized the source of the familiarity the lady evoked, but also because the lady had mentioned that twenty years ago, a woman from elsewhere had taken Han away during his most critical moment and raised him in a different place. That woman was most likely another challenger from the outside world. After she left, Han had lived perfectly well on his own and, twenty years later, had created a host of problems for himself and others.

No one was truly indispensable. The participants were merely passersby caught in an unexpected upheaval, yet they believed they could leave an indelible mark on others' lives—such thinking was overly self-important.

Eve opened her slab. It contained only a simple line:

"Accept all sacred missions calmly and treat them as mortal endeavors. Your path lies beneath your feet."

Was it telling her to choose randomly? But the meaning didn't seem very positive—more like, "since all paths lead to hardship, just pick one and go," with an unmistakable sense of resignation.

"【Unpolished golden child, for you, the path downhill may be more suitable than uphill. The birds will show you the way out.】" Murphy read the content on his slab, then exclaimed in annoyance, "What does this mean? This slab is too condescending. It outright tells me how to leave—does it really want me gone that badly?"

Yang Haibo said, "Mine is similar."

The game was indeed fair. During the game, the lady had already given him a private prophecy. The hint on the slab now wasn't much different from her prophecy, except the last part changed "divine realm" to "holy mountain."

"Stranger, your destiny does not lie on the holy mountain. Therefore, do not choose the door with the dove. Artificially created flaws cannot help you obtain the holy mountain’s true invitation."

Since everyone had their own customized hint and they were all cryptic, those capable of standing here had no need to copy others' work. Without much hesitation, Yang Haibo shared his hint.

Hearing that Yang Haibo was also rejected by the holy mountain, Murphy finally felt somewhat balanced. "The evaluations we received seem similar."

"Not quite. Your hint tells you to seek birds, but mine explicitly says not to seek the dove," Yang Haibo pointed out. "It seems your slab is outright dismissing you."

That did seem to be the case, especially after everyone else reported their customized slab contents. Murphy finally accepted his fate.

He couldn't understand it, muttering to himself, "Why...? It's not like I was the only one slacking off last round... Why single me out so explicitly?"

Perhaps because others were unsuited to continue—lacking either the necessary skills or sufficient capabilities. Unlike this guy, whose contributions in the first two rounds were minimal. Even the ghost ship couldn't tolerate it and decided to send him packing.

Such words would harm camaraderie among classmates. Eve lightly coughed and changed the subject. "So, when do you plan to enter the next door?"

"Don't you need any rest at all? I don't care—I probably need quite a while. The door we just finished was utterly exhausting," Yan Ning leaned against the corner and slid down like a soft, boneless creature, then sat on the floor motionless, as if throwing a tantrum. "If you want to keep challenging, go ahead. I'm physically and mentally drained—I can't play anymore."

First, there was the battle royale in the red house, followed by the dust explosion case and scrambling to make it through the checkpoint before time ran out. Yan Ning might still appear all smiles, but in reality, she was running on empty.

Eve had no choice but to turn her inquiring gaze to the others. Surprisingly, the first to step forward was Ludwig.

"My hint said that next round, I could try following the instructions of a cold-blooded animal, and wouldn't you know it, there's one right here."

Just like at the end of the last round, the corridor seemed endless, but in reality, only a few animals kept cycling through, leaving limited options.

Ludwig tapped on the door to his right. On the brown wooden board, a slender, dark black animal caught everyone’s attention—it was a snake. "I know my way around snakes, so I’d like to try this one first."

"Snakes aren't exactly creatures of virtue. If you choose it, you'd better be prepared for the consequences," Eve mused for a moment before speaking.

Ludwig: "I know."

The others also had their own picks in mind. Some copied someone else's answer, while others chose doors purely based on personal preference. By the end, in the dimly lit corridor, only Eve and Yan Ning, who was sitting cross-legged in the corner, remained outside.

"Sister Eve, why haven't you entered yet?" Yan Ning asked with a grin. "Surely you're not waiting out of courtesy for me to choose first, are you?"

That was indeed part of it, and this one kept making excuses to stay behind—wasn't it for the same reason?

"You go first; I'll enter after you," Eve said bluntly. "The ghost ship tends to match people of similar strength. Even though different groups might end up in the same shared instance, you and I are on opposing sides. If we enter the same door, there's a high chance we'll be matched as teammates again, and that's not what I want."

She felt this response was polite and respectful enough, but Yan Ning just cackled.

"So that's how it is," Yan Ning said, feigning sincerity. "But I'd really love to be paired with Sister Eve again. The ghost ship probably forbids attacks outside of instances, right? You can't force me into one, can you?"

"…"

"Besides, the waiting time in the corridor is limited. If you don't enter by the deadline, you'll be forcibly packaged together and thrown into a random door. How about we just sit here and wait for the forced assignment? Let's see how likely it is we end up in the same door."

"…"

Eve took a deep breath, a vein throbbing at her temples, forcing herself not to punch this infuriating creature right then and there.

The more this happened, the more determined she became never to enter the same door as this unruly little hellion again—Yan Ning had no sense of rules, could turn on a dime at any moment, and Eve couldn't rely on someone so unstable.

Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, the ghost ship shuddered into motion.

A dull roar like spring thunder echoed from behind the walls and beneath the floor, assailing their eardrums from all directions. The doors embedded in the walls abruptly retracted and vanished, startling Yan Ning into instinctively leaping away from the wall and warily eyeing the new doors that reappeared.

The original six or seven animal choices had now dwindled to just one. A black-scaled snake was coiled across the doorface, coldly flicking its forked tongue. Opposite the row of snake doors, a five-leaf olive branch quietly adhered to the icon position on the door panel.

This was the first plant icon to appear on the ghost ship since the competition began.

"What's going on…" Yan Ning exclaimed in surprise, but suddenly heard the rush of wind behind her. Seizing the moment she was distracted, Eve struck without hesitation: "Since when do you fight with honor?"

"Sorry, special times call for special methods for special cases," Eve said without a hint of remorse, her expression even polite. "Besides, you're not exactly the most ethical person either, are you?"

Remembering the ghost ship's rule against fighting outside instances, Eve checked her strike just before it would have slammed into Yan Ning's face. Instead, she pivoted and swept her leg out, hooking Yan Ning's ankle effortlessly.

At the same time, a pitch-black snake door, yawning like some great beast's maw, silently swung open. In the next second, Yan Ning, caught off guard, stumbled and was ensnared by black tentacles emerging from the door.

"Wait… hey!"

"Wait for what? No more waiting," Eve twisted open the door adorned with a peaceful olive branch, finally allowing a relieved smile to spread across her face. "No fate means no fate."

Before fully descending into the new darkness, she didn't forget to nod politely to Yan Ning: "Happy trails."

And don't come back.