Chapter 123 Three Against Three

Chapter 123 Three vs. Three

"Of course, we're students of Honghuai No. 1 High School." As the trio's strategist, the lanky Zhou Qingshou was pushed to the forefront, habitually adjusting his glasses to steady his nerves. "Let me tell you, our school is absolutely terrifying!"

"That building ahead is our school's gatehouse. Our security guard, Grandpa, is a retired special forces soldier!" Zhou Qingshou even mimed a boxing move. "He even has a stun baton!"

"Hey! Do you really need to call him 'Grandpa' so politely right now? It doesn't sound intimidating at all!" Ai Xiaojia whispered beside him.

"Ahem!" Zhou Qingshou awkwardly retracted his fist under the strange gazes of the three opposite them, then continued, "This terrifying school has surveillance cameras installed in every corner. Forget about secret romances, sneaking off to smoke, drink, or play with phones—they even know exactly how long you spend in the bathroom during class."

"So, if you're thinking of doing anything bad, you'd better give up now!" Zhou Qingshou declared with conviction.

"You... are humans?" The man holding the flashlight opposite them looked utterly bewildered. "This game scenario called 'Honghuai Ghost School' refers to Honghuai No. 1 High School? Honghuai City First Senior High School? The Honghuai No. 1 High School that's teeming with academic elites?"

"Hmph!" Ai Xiaojia and the other two immediately puffed out their chests, as if "Top Students Here" was emblazoned on their foreheads.

"I remember you're from Honghuai City," the man carrying the large sword said to the flashlight-holding man. "Ask them about some recent events in Honghuai City. The Nightmare World and the real world can have a time gap of several years. If they're supernatural entities from the Nightmare World, they wouldn't know about recent happenings in Honghuai City."

The flashlight-holding man nodded and immediately posed a few questions to Ai Xiaojia and the others, such as the name of the big celebrity who recently held a concert in Honghuai City and the address of the newly opened large shopping plaza.

Zhang Pan and the other two had, of course, heard about these hot topics and answered naturally.

"How is this possible?" The man carrying the axe looked incredulous. "Although this mission's difficulty isn't very high, it's certainly not a beginner-level game. How could ordinary people who know nothing about the Nightmare World appear here?"

"No, I think I've seen similar situations on the forum," the flashlight-holding man pondered. "As you know, many roads and buildings in the Nightmare World are very similar to those in the real world. There was a player on the forum who, while working the night shift at a hospital, watched the clock in the hallway strike twelve. Then the entire hospital transformed into a dilapidated and sinister place, with blood flowing on the hallway floors and the Red Moon of the Nightmare World appearing outside the hospital windows."

"That player was even attacked by a supernatural entity and, after getting injured, hid in a nearby sealed break room. He listened to all sorts of eerie cries and wails from the hospital all night. It wasn't until the next morning, probably after sunrise, that a colleague unlocked the door and angrily scolded him for disappearing during his night shift."

"Since he only encountered this situation once during many night shifts, and if not for the scar from his injury still visible, he might have thought it was just a nightmare from dozing off. Moreover, he was the only one at the hospital who experienced the terrifying change that night. So he speculated that, for some unknown reason, the hospital he worked at and the one projected in the Nightmare World overlapped that night, selectively pulling some people in."

"No game, no tasks, and the accidental overlap of the two worlds should disappear after sunrise." The flashlight-holding man seemed more composed than his weapon-carrying companions, less easily startled. "Although they're not players, could they have encountered a similar situation? And it just happened to overlap with the mission scenario we're in?"

"What, what, what, what?" Zhang Pan, who was bulkier than the Nightmare World players opposite, scratched his head in frustration. He suddenly felt the regret of not paying more attention in class, thinking his lack of academic effort was why he couldn't understand what the three opposite were saying.

So Zhang Pan, ranked last in class, and Ai Xiaojia, ranked second to last, could only look expectantly at Zhou Qingshou, who was third from last.

"I... didn't understand either," Zhou Qingshou made a pained face, whispering sheepishly. "But it seems like they're saying we can leave here after the sun rises?"

"Skinny, you're the best!" Ai Xiaojia gave Zhou Qingshou a thumbs-up, full of admiration. "No wonder you scored in the top thirty for reading comprehension in class! You're hardcore!"

...

"Whatever, they look so clueless. Even if they're supernatural entities, we can handle them. Besides, powerful supernatural entities always prefer to work alone; I've never seen them gang up." The large sword-carrying teammate seemed the most cautious of the three. After pondering a while, he took the sword off his back and held it in hand, raising his voice to ask the student trio, "Hey, what are you three doing here in the middle of the night?"

"We... we..." Although Zhang Pan and the others weren't the sharpest, they were almost adults. Once they calmed down, they realized the situation was off.

Even though they had also trespassed into Honghuai No. 1 High School at night, they were just mischievous students from the school.

But now, standing before them were three armed adults, and two of them seemed unfriendly.

"Three students, if you truly are ordinary students here, you should be able to see that this school is very eerie and likely full of dangers," said Mr. Flashlight, the friendliest of the three. "Not only are we not bad people, but we can also protect you as much as possible until sunrise."

"Our mission has a time limit, so time is money. Please explain your background and purpose here within five minutes!" The unshaven, axe-carrying brute seemed the most impatient.

Zhang Pan and the others knew the three were probably telling the truth. After all, if these three really wanted to do something... just that large sword and axe could chop them into mincemeat!

Moreover, they had already tried climbing the wall multiple times and knew they couldn't leave this Red Moon-lit campus. Having three strangers who spoke their language in front of them was much better than facing a horde of zombies or monsters.

So the trio nervously gave their names and classes, even reciting their student IDs and their rankings from last to third from last in the recent exams.

Finally, the chubby Zhang Pan cleared his throat and said, "The three of us came here because we made a bet with classmates to check in and take photos at the Seven Campus Mysteries spots in the middle of the night!"

After hearing Zhang Pan's words, the three opposite looked astonished.

Mr. Dajian, Mr. Axe, and Mr. Flashlight exchanged thoughtful glances. Then Mr. Flashlight looked oddly at Zhang Pan's trio and said, "Our mission is also to photograph the Seven Mysteries of Honghuai Ghost School, one by one."

As he spoke, Mr. Flashlight waved his other hand to show the trio the cheap plastic, old-fashioned film camera he was holding.

"Actually, the 'person' who gave us the mission didn't specify what the Seven Mysteries of this school are. Or rather, finding the Seven Mysteries is part of our mission," Mr. Flashlight suddenly thought of something and looked at the student trio with anticipation. "You wouldn't happen to know what the seven mysteries of this school are, would you?"

"Of course we do," Ai Xiaojia said naturally, spreading her hands. "There's a dedicated paranormal section on the school forum. We memorized them by heart before coming here."

The eyes of the Nightmare Game players opposite lit up instantly.

"Although they're in no particular order, I remember the first one is..." Zhou Qingshou's gaze turned to the only lit building in the distance, the library that loomed like a monster under the Red Moon. "The Midnight Library."