Chapter 293

Next, she spoke to Wu Mingbai. “Basic abilities like the elemental type have definitely been trained against in every academy. Your first year doesn’t have specialized ability training, but the second year does. So if you’re going to use your ability on someone, you’d better use some unexpected moves.”

Wu Mingbai knew Teacher Li was right. Elemental-type abilities had indeed been studied to death. Unless one was strong enough to overpower opponents with sheer force, defeating others would require more elaborate tactics.

“Subing, in the early stages, you can frequently use [Word Spirit] in front of others, but make sure its power is weak. They don’t know the true strength of your ability. As a first-year, no one will be suspicious even if your ability seems a bit weak, but it will make them lower their guard.”

After instructing her, Teacher Li continued without pause, “And Tianming, you too. Since you have multiple abilities, just use a few of them.”

Finally, she looked at Su Bei. “I want to hear your thoughts. Do you plan to stick with them or go solo?”

Because they planned to show weakness to the enemy, they had to stick together at the start. After all, you never see a weak team splitting up—wouldn’t that just be asking for death? But as the person holding everyone’s points, Su Bei had more options.

Even if others knew he held the entire team’s points, they wouldn’t immediately target Jiang Tianming and the others just because they were useless. Firstly, they could be left to clear out Nightmare Beasts, and secondly, they could be used to lure Su Bei out later on.

“Solo,” Su Bei answered without hesitation. Of course, he didn’t want to travel with the others.

Although moving with the main protagonist group would allow him to encounter events and understand the plot faster, it would also expose him to many dangers. Going solo was a different story. With his ability, even without an Invisibility Talisman, he wouldn’t face much danger on his own. On the contrary, he could slack off while getting a bird’s-eye view of the whole situation.

Teacher Li nodded. “Then what you need to do is find a way to let others know the purpose of you going solo. Don’t let them think you have some trump card up your sleeve. If they see you as a threat and can’t find you, they will definitely target the others from our academy first.”

Upon hearing this, Su Bei replied thoughtfully, “I understand.”

Teacher Li’s words had indeed served as a reminder. He couldn’t just hide; he had to make his presence known. Although the protagonist group certainly wouldn’t be wiped out because of him, he could very well be tracked down if others became wary of him!

Without the help of an Invisibility Talisman, even with his luck turned up to the maximum, Su Bei couldn’t evade everyone’s pursuit. Tracking-type abilities were not uncommon. If they were serious about catching him, Su Bei might not be able to escape.

After giving everyone their instructions, Teacher Li had nothing else to say. She thought for a moment and then looked at Qi Huang, the only one not participating in the competition. “You voluntarily gave up the chance to participate this time, so the academy will compensate you. You should know about my ability, [Reciprocal Learning]. It can help you learn new skills much faster. If you don’t mind, come find me when we get back to the academy.”

“Thank you, Teacher!” Hearing this, Qi Huang’s face lit up with a pleasantly surprised expression. Skills learned through Teacher Li’s [Reciprocal Learning] could be quickly mastered, saving a great deal of integration time. It was arguably the best teaching method.

And because of the pressure of handling two grade levels simultaneously, the option to redeem auxiliary teaching from the Dean of Students in the point shop was no longer available. This opportunity was priceless, so naturally, she was thrilled.

After Teacher Li left, Jiang Tianming stepped forward. “Alright, let’s discuss how to make the others lower their guard and think we’re no threat at all.”

Hearing this, Wu Mingbai suddenly smiled. “Now you’re talking about my area of expertise.”

The next day, the remaining fifty-odd teams stood in neat rows in the center of the venue. On the stage, the host was announcing the rules for the second match.

One noteworthy point was that to win, a team had to eliminate all contestants from the other academies. Here, ‘eliminate’ meant physically ‘killing’ the opponent. Of course, no contestant would actually die. After entering the illusion, their real bodies remained motionless; they used only their consciousness. In a sense, it was like a full-dive game.

Su Bei and the others, who already knew the rules, were forced to pretend to be listening attentively. They had no choice; many people were secretly watching them, so they had to put on a show.

The fact that all the main team members of Endless Ability Academy had been poisoned and could only be replaced by five first-year substitutes was no longer a secret. Although the Sessbia government had intended to cover it up, the incident had occurred in a crowded hotel restaurant. Endless Ability Academy was a top contender to win the championship, so they were always under scrutiny. The other academies only needed to do a little digging to find out what had happened.

Upon learning that the new lineup consisted of a group of first-year students, everyone tacitly assumed that Endless Ability Academy had given up on this competition. Sending first-years was just to give them some practice.

However, even with that thought, when the five of them appeared before the crowd, people couldn’t help but stare a little longer. It wasn’t just curiosity; it was more about observation.

Because Su Bei and the others had competed in the individual matches before, those paying attention to Endless Ability Academy weren’t complete strangers to them. In the individual matches, their opponents were generally much weaker, so their full strength couldn’t be gauged. But it was clear that these first-years possessed powerful abilities.

Therefore, while no one thought a few first-years could make any significant waves, they still maintained a certain level of vigilance towards them.

Under their gazes, Si Zhaohua wore a stern, extremely serious, and solemn expression. Lan Subing kept her head down, hiding behind the others, her body trembling slightly. Su Bei, on the other hand, had a nonchalant look, exuding a sense of ‘it’s the participation that counts’.

In a way, the three of them were acting naturally. Meanwhile, the master actors Jiang Tianming and Wu Mingbai deliberately put on a display of nervousness, fear, and a hint of excitement, perfectly portraying the look of being tasked with a mission in a crisis, knowing they had no chance of winning, but unable to help holding onto a sliver of hope.

Those watching them didn’t think they were acting; they just assumed it was because they were young and couldn’t hide their emotions. After seeing their performance, everyone couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

It was good that they lacked confidence and knew to be scared. It was obvious they had been thrown in at the deep end with no chance of winning. If they had all appeared calm and composed or full of confidence, that’s when the others would have started to worry.

Once the rules were announced, a dark-skinned foreigner walked out. He was Jilam, the creator of the illusion for the second match. With a wave of his hand, an illusion that looked like a water mirror materialized on the field.

The scene within the water mirror was startling—it was an amusement park! Roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, a drop tower, it had everything. They were to compete inside an amusement park.

This was undoubtedly a very novel map. Su Bei and the others had been to many illusions before, but they were usually set in a city. The map would typically only contain various buildings that served as little more than cover. It was rare to see a map with such high entertainment value.

“Isn’t it a bit too small?” Lan Subing mumbled softly. Although he trembled in crowded environments, after a year of training, he could still speak. The trembling was just an involuntary reaction.

Su Bei also thought it was too small. Over fifty teams meant nearly two hundred people. The number didn’t sound like much; a larger amusement park could accommodate one or two thousand people at once.

But the problem was that these nearly two hundred people weren’t here for fun. Most battles required ample space. Besides, Nightmare Beasts should also be counted as part of the population, right? Including the Nightmare Beasts, the space was indeed a bit insufficient. They couldn’t be expected to compete with a Nightmare Beast every two steps and an enemy every three, could they?

“The amusement park for the competition will definitely be larger than a normal one,” Wu Mingbai shook his head. “Besides, since it’s an amusement park, the airspace should also count as part of the area.”

A map like an amusement park was quite suitable for aerial combat, whether it was fighting on a roller coaster, on a flying carousel, or even on a drop tower…

Of course, that was assuming the amusement park had no power. If it did, that was another story. At the very least, Si Zhaohua wouldn’t be able to use his ability on a high-speed roller coaster. While he wasn’t afraid of heights, he had never done anything that dangerous.

Many people on the field were whispering, but it wasn’t out of place, as the audience in the stands was whispering too. Jilam didn’t bother to explain much. He clapped his hands and announced loudly, “There are clowns in mascot costumes in the amusement park. Contestants need to find the clowns to accept missions and receive rewards upon completion. Please do not harm our lovely staff members. Harming them will result in a penalty!”

Amidst the crowd’s amused laughter, Jilam announced the start of the match. Everyone walked into the water mirror in an orderly fashion. It felt as if they had naturally arrived at the amusement park—a completely seamless transition without any sense of abruptness. The illusion master’s skills were truly worthy of his reputation. If they had encountered this under normal circumstances, they might not have even realized they had unknowingly entered an illusion.

Upon arriving in a new environment, the first task was always to observe the surroundings. Su Bei gave a quick scan; he was currently in a haunted house. Jiang Tianming and the others were right beside him. It seemed each team was teleported together at the start.

“This haunted house… is a bit big,” Lan Subing said, looking up at the seven or eight-meter-high ceiling with genuine surprise. Haunted houses were usually layered, making it hard to judge their size from one spot. But the ceiling of this one was so high, it was obvious the area was not small. If nothing unexpected happened, they would be spending some time here.

Jiang Tianming frowned slightly. “A haunted house this big probably contains more than just our team. Even if there are no other teams, there will certainly be plenty of Nightmare Beasts.”

That was true. Many Nightmare Beasts preferred dark environments. Moreover, a haunted house was a great place to hide and launch surprise attacks, so the organizers would definitely have arranged for Nightmare Beasts to be lurking inside. If they were lucky, it would be some low-tier Nightmare Beasts. If they were unlucky, even an Advanced one might appear here.

Most importantly, if there were other contestants here, they would either have to act timidly and not use their full strength, or they would have to eliminate their opponents in time, which was equivalent to silencing them. “How about we… play it safe?” Wu Mingbai suggested. Who knew how many teams were in here? If they attracted unwanted attention, they could easily be the first to be eliminated.

Jiang Tianming nodded. “I have no objection. What about you guys?”

The other three also shook their heads. “No objections.”

Although there were combat enthusiasts among them, they knew when to fight and when not to. Besides, there was no rush to fight; surviving until the end was what mattered.

After shaking his head, Su Bei stretched lazily. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt an added weight on his wrist. Before he could look down, Jiang Tianming exclaimed in surprise, “Look, are these score watches on our wrists?”

Following his words, everyone looked down and indeed saw a watch on their wrist. The watches were all black, and the screen didn’t display the time but rather some buttons and numbers.

A large “0” occupied the top half of the watch face, likely representing their individual points. The bottom half had three buttons: the first was “Squad Chat,” the second was “Point Transfer,” and the third was “Mission Info.”

Everyone began to examine the buttons. Clicking on “Squad Chat” revealed an interface that only accepted voice input. There were only the five of them in the group, and members could be added or removed.

Each of them sent a message and found that everyone’s name was a string of numbers, which served as their ID for this competition.

Next was the “Point Transfer” function. By entering the opponent’s ID, they could transfer the desired amount of points. This was undoubtedly good news. They could send points remotely, so Su Bei wouldn’t have to periodically meet up with the others to collect them.

The last button, “Mission Info,” was empty when clicked. Su Bei guessed it was because they hadn’t accepted a mission yet. The panel would likely change once they did.

After understanding all the functions of the watch, Su Bei decisively bid farewell. “Alright, I’m off then. Contact me through the watch if anything comes up.”

“If you run into danger, don’t forget to call us,” Si Zhaohua reminded him as he watched his retreating back. He didn’t think Su Bei was likely to encounter danger, but going alone was, after all, more dangerous than the four of them sticking together.

Su Bei didn’t look back, just waved his hand to show he understood.

As Lan Subing had said, the haunted house was indeed huge. Su Bei walked for a long time without finding an exit, but he did make some discoveries along the way. Firstly, the amusement park outside was likely genuinely functional. The various pop-up scares in the haunted house were working, so there was no reason the rides outside wouldn’t.

It made sense, though. This was an illusion created by Jilam, so anything could happen. The prospect of a real, playable amusement park piqued a long-dormant interest in Su Bei. It had been a long time since he’d been to one, the last time being in elementary school.

He no longer needed the original reason he had concocted for going solo. He simply switched it to: seeing that Endless Ability Academy had no chance of getting a good score, he decided to slack off and treat the illusion as a vacation.

With that in mind, Su Bei, relying on his excellent luck, swaggered out of the haunted house. Finally seeing the light of day again, he stood still and first observed the scene outside.

It was much like what they had seen in the water mirror before the match began. The entire amusement park was colorful and full of childlike fun. In the distance, he could see two squads in a standoff. Spawning in the same place at the start was just bad luck for both of them.

Ability users had excellent eyesight. The moment Su Bei appeared, both teams noticed him. They hadn’t wanted to fight right now anyway, so they tacitly ceased hostilities and came over together to cause trouble for Su Bei.

Su Bei didn’t show any fear, walking forward openly. He had already scanned the amusement park and chosen his target, heading straight for the roller coaster that wasn’t too far away.

“Hey, you… from Endless Ability Academy, right? Why are you out here alone?” Perhaps because she knew Su Bei was a first-year junior, the lead girl with pigtails didn’t sound too aggressive.

Su Bei replied lazily, “Had a falling out with my teammates.”

Hearing this, a look of suspicion flashed across the girl’s face; she didn’t believe him. The buzz-cut captain of the other team questioned him directly, “A falling out? You just got in here, how could you have a falling out already?”

“We’ve had conflicts ever since we were chosen for the second match yesterday. I think since we can’t beat anyone anyway, there’s no need to be so serious. But them…” At this point, the expression on his face was a mix of helplessness and indifference, “…we don’t see eye to eye.”

Why didn’t they see eye to eye? It was obviously because the others still wanted to fight seriously! The group exchanged understanding glances. That was indeed something worth arguing about. And Su Bei coming out alone now was clearly a sign that he intended to slack off.

The pigtail captain’s expression was slightly complicated. On one hand, as an opponent, she fully agreed with Su Bei’s choice. Just slack off, it would save them the trouble. But on the other hand, if she were in Su Bei’s position, she would definitely choose to complete the match seriously like his other teammates, not give up like him.

Thinking of this, the pigtail captain assumed a combat stance. “Then I’ll just send you out of the match. I’ll be fulfilling your wish.”

“Hey, wait!” Before Su Bei could say anything, the buzz-cut captain stopped her. “I think it would be better to keep him around.”

“Why?” the pigtail captain asked, puzzled.

The buzz-cut captain explained calmly, “Killing him now will only get you five points. What’s the use of so few points? But if we let him be, he’s bound to encounter some Nightmare Beasts. Wouldn’t it be better to kill him later when he has more points?”

At these words, the pigtail captain instantly understood. They were planning on ‘fattening up the pig’ before the slaughter. It did make a certain amount of sense. In their eyes, Su Bei was a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, someone they could kill for his meat at any time.

But she had another question. “But how do you know we’ll run into him again later? What if he gets fattened up and someone else kills him? Wouldn’t we have done all the work for someone else?”

“What does it matter?” The buzz-cut captain shrugged. “To win in the end, you have to eliminate everyone else anyway. If someone else eliminates him, you just eliminate that person. He’s a combat asset against the Nightmare Beasts, but to us, he’s a walking ATM.”

After a moment’s thought, the pigtail captain had to admit he was right and nodded. “Alright then, we’ll spare him.”

While they were talking, Su Bei stood there the whole time, looking bored, as if completely unaware that they were discussing his life and death. This also increased the two teams’ trust in his act. Looking at Su Bei, he really didn’t seem to have any grand ambitions; he couldn’t care less about his own survival.

In reality, however, Su Bei did care. If he didn’t have a separate mission, he wouldn’t mind being eliminated at the start. After all, there was plot both inside and outside the competition; there was no need to be fixated on staying with the protagonist group.

But the problem was that he now had a mission: to protect everyone’s points and survive until the end. He had already accepted the mission, and failing to complete it would be a serious OOC moment for him.

So, while he appeared calm on the surface, he was already thinking of countermeasures in his mind.

The buzz-cut captain’s words were precisely one of the self-rescue excuses he had come up with.

Besides that, there was the pity play method, which involved saying with a desolate look that he hadn’t been to an amusement park since his father passed away and had wanted to have some fun in this one with no queues.

There was a high probability they would agree. They were all students, and most of them were a bit soft-hearted. Besides, Su Bei really didn’t seem like a threat.

The third method was to say that if he were eliminated right at the start, even if he was just a last-minute replacement, he would definitely be scolded when he got back to the academy. So he hoped they could give him a little more time. Once they agreed, he would find a chance to slip away.

Three methods, one of them was bound to succeed. Fortunately, things went smoothly, and the buzz-cut captain convinced the pigtail captain on his own.

Seeing that they had finished talking, Su Bei finally spoke up. “Are you guys done discussing? If so, can I go now?”

“What are you planning to do next?” the pigtail captain asked curiously. She had originally thought Su Bei would actively seek death. But he didn’t, which made her curious and, at the same time, a little wary. Could it be that Su Bei’s earlier performance was all an act, and he actually didn’t want to be eliminated?

The pigtail captain didn’t want to let a tiger back into the mountains because of a moment of soft-heartedness. Although she didn’t think Su Bei could be called a ‘tiger’, it was better to be safe than sorry. If Su Bei really managed to turn the tide for Endless Ability Academy in the end, and she had let him go now, she would be furious.

Su Bei pointed at the stationary roller coaster not far away. “It’s rare to find an amusement park with no queues. Of course, I have to have some fun!”

His words struck a chord with several people, and a longing look appeared in many of their eyes. A girl quietly suggested to the pigtail captain, “Killing people in the early stage is meaningless anyway. Why don’t we also…”

“No.” Although the pigtail captain was also tempted, she decisively refused. “If we’re on those rides and get targeted, it’ll be hard to even get off. He’s not afraid of being eliminated, but are you?”

Having successfully dissuaded her teammates, the pigtail captain looked back at Su Bei. “If you have nothing better to do, kill more Nightmare Beasts. Don’t make us regret letting you go.”

With that, she led her team away, with no intention of ‘rekindling their old flame’ with the buzz-cut captain’s team and continuing their standoff. Just as her teammate had said, killing people in the early stage was meaningless; it was more practical to kill more Nightmare Beasts.

The ‘fatten up and slaughter’ strategy applied not only to Su Bei but to everyone else as well.