Chapter 294

After both teams left, Su Bei didn’t feign compliance; he leisurely walked towards the rollercoaster. It had to be said, not having to queue in an amusement park was truly refreshing. Walking through the winding corridors and stairs to the inside, Su Bei was surprised to see a clown.

After a moment’s pause, he had a sudden realization. No wonder he hadn’t seen the clown Jilam mentioned earlier. So, the clowns were inside the rides!

Su Bei couldn’t help but chuckle. This was a happy accident. However, those focused solely on completing the competition would probably have a hard time finding the clowns. He didn’t think they’d be idle enough to wander into the amusement facilities.

He sent a message to the others through the watch group chat, informing them that the clowns might be in the amusement rides, and then proactively approached the clown. From a distance, the clown exuded a cheerful atmosphere. But the closer he got, the creepier it felt.

A white-painted face, blood-red sausage lips, strange starry eyes… There was a good reason why clowns appeared as horror elements in so many scary movies.

Su Bei activated his ability and glanced at the top of the clown’s head. There was a Destiny Compass! This was good news for him. Before entering the illusion, Su Bei had been slightly worried that the Nightmare Beasts and attackable creatures within the illusion wouldn’t have a Destiny Compass. If they didn’t, he would have to rely solely on his gears for attacks.

But on second thought, it made sense. Back when he was playing games, even characters controlled by players had a Destiny Compass, let alone the creatures in this illusion.

However, this meant he couldn’t distinguish which Nightmare Beasts were created by Jilam’s illusion and which were real. So, he could just kill any Nightmare Beast he saw. That way, whether it was real or fake, it couldn’t harm him.

But accurately identifying the real Nightmare Beasts could effectively help him figure out their plan. After all, he only knew they had plans both inside and outside the competition, but he was unaware of the specific details.

“Lovely little friend, Mr. Clown is at your service!” Just as Su Bei walked up to the clown, before he could even speak, the clown proactively welcomed him in a slightly comical yet ornate and passionate male voice.

Su Bei blinked. Instead of asking if he could use the amusement ride, he first asked a serious question: “Can my companions complete the mission I accept here?”

“Of course! And since you’re the first person to talk to me, here’s a little tip for you,” the clown said with a grin. “The points obtained from completing missions will not be reduced for any reason.”

At these words, Su Bei’s brow twitched. There were two ways points could be reduced in this competition: one was voluntary gifting, and the other was being halved automatically upon death. That the points from missions wouldn’t be reduced meant that these points couldn’t be gifted, nor would they be dropped upon death.

Without a doubt, the points obtained from completing missions were far more valuable than those from eliminating Nightmare Beasts or defeating opponents. He just didn’t know if these missions were limited in number, or if they could be transferred. If the answers to both were yes, then another bloodbath was undoubtedly on the horizon.

With that in mind, he spoke without hesitation, “I want to accept a mission.”

“A spirited young friend! Please take out your watch.” The clown, with a huge smile on his face, grabbed Su Bei’s wrist with the watch and tapped it on a nearby machine.

A “Beep” sounded, and a mission promptly appeared on his watch—

“Mission: Please ride the rollercoaster once and eliminate one Nightmare Beast during the ride. (0/3)

Reward: 10 points, 1 chance to display the first place’s position“

The points weren’t many, but their strength lay in the fact that they couldn’t be stolen. Besides, normally, eliminating one Advanced Nightmare Beast only awarded 10 points, so in that sense, it was actually quite a lot.

Plus, there was an item for finding people that would be very important later on. It could already be considered a generous reward.

“What does the number after the mission mean?” Su Bei asked in confusion, referring to the “(0/3)”.

The clown dutifully replied, “It means there are only three chances to complete the mission in total. If you fail to complete this mission after three rollercoaster rides, the mission will fail, and your entire team will not be able to accept it again!”

So that was it. It wasn’t something you could complete indefinitely. Su Bei nodded thoughtfully and continued to ask, “Then if I complete the mission, can I accept it again? Also, how many people in total can complete this mission you have?”

Regarding these competition-related questions, the clown answered honestly, “Once completed, the same team cannot accept it again. Each mission can only be completed by ten teams.”

So it was still a race. Whoever got the information on where to find the clowns and complete missions first would have the upper hand, allowing them to earn more fixed points as quickly as possible. Among them, Su Bei was clearly the luckiest one.

He smiled, “Then I’ll start completing the mission.”

The clown led Su Bei to the rollercoaster, helped him fasten his seatbelt, and then operated the controller to start the ride.

This was where the advantage of being fearless showed. Su Bei wasn’t afraid of heights, ghosts, or bugs. Even on a speeding rollercoaster, he could observe his surroundings for any signs of Nightmare Beasts with a calm expression and a steady heart.

Due to the rollercoaster’s considerable height, to eliminate a Nightmare Beast while riding it, one would either have to be a long-range attack type Ability user, or the Nightmare Beast would have to be located on the rollercoaster tracks itself.

However, after one full ride, Su Bei didn’t even see a shadow of a Nightmare Beast. He did spot several on the ground from up high, but the distance was too great, making it difficult to control his gears to kill them precisely.

Could it be that this mission could only be completed by long-range attackers? That wasn’t impossible. A team of five could easily include one long-range attacker if the team composition was decent. The organizers never specified that only the person who accepted the mission could complete it.

But Su Bei wanted to try again. If it really didn’t work, he would drag the others over for the third try. With all four of them on the rollercoaster, someone was bound to complete the mission.

Before trying again, however, he had to think about where the Nightmare Beast could possibly be.

Since it didn’t appear in the open, it was either an Intermediate or higher-tier Nightmare Beast with the ability to hide, or it was tucked away in some nook or cranny that wasn’t immediately obvious.

From the start of the ride to its ascent and descent, the entire journey was on the tracks. And just now, while riding, he had specifically released his Mental Energy to cover the tracks but hadn’t seen any Nightmare Beasts on them. He even activated his ability but saw no Destiny Compass.

That could only mean the Nightmare Beast was hidden in an unexpected place, a place where he couldn’t see it with his naked eye, and thus couldn’t see its Destiny Compass.

Where on this rollercoaster was such a place?

Instantly, two possibilities flashed through Su Bei’s mind. The first was inside the rollercoaster’s tracks, i.e., in the hollow pipes. The second was inside the rollercoaster car he was currently riding.

If it was the first possibility, Su Bei could only admit defeat. He certainly didn’t have the power to cut through steel tracks, and even if he did, he couldn’t possibly cut the track while riding the rollercoaster. That would be suicidal!

But if it was the second—Su Bei sat down in the rollercoaster again, but he didn’t let Mr. Clown start it immediately. Instead, he first inspected the car thoroughly.

Soon, he saw what he was looking for. Confirming that his judgment was correct, a hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes. “We can start now.”

The moment the rollercoaster started moving, Su Bei, sitting in the very front seat, directly opened the drawer under the steering wheel. An Intermediate bird-type Nightmare Beast immediately jumped out and launched an attack.

In mid-air, this type of bird Nightmare Beast had a huge advantage, especially on a rollercoaster where many Ability users would be terrified and prone to making mistakes. But Su Bei was clearly not one of them. A “Targeting Gear” shot out, and the Nightmare Beast died on the spot.

Su Bei looked down at his watch; the mission had been automatically completed. Ten points were credited. These ten points, being fixed assets, were not only displayed in the upper half of the watch’s main interface but also in parentheses next to it, clearly to distinguish fixed points from other points.

As for the “1 chance to display the first place’s position” item, it had turned into a button, lying quietly on the main interface of the watch. It could be displayed with a click.

Having successfully completed the mission, he relaxed and enjoyed the rollercoaster ride. Although he wasn’t afraid of heights, things like rollercoasters that could stimulate one’s adrenaline were exciting even for those who weren’t scared.

Most importantly, it was a thrill without any danger.

After getting off the rollercoaster, Su Bei sent all the information he had just obtained to the group chat. Jiang Tianming and the others knew he had completed the mission the moment they saw the points, so they had been waiting by their watches for his feedback.

Upon seeing the message, the group chat immediately became lively.

Lan Subing: So our top priority now is to accept the clown’s missions?

Si Zhaohua: Since the missions are limited in number, it’s definitely better to accept them as early as possible. Later on, the major mission locations might be guarded by teams from other academies.

Jiang Tianming: And then they’ll charge an “entrance fee”.

Wu Mingbai: And after they complete the mission, we can eliminate them.

[Si Zhaohua replying to Wu Mingbai]: If we decide to do that, the “ticket” will definitely be very expensive to squeeze the opponents as much as possible.

[Lan Subing replying to Si Zhaohua]: Definitely. Although all points are equal, given that fixed points don’t drop, trying to complete a mission controlled by a major academy will surely cost far more than ten regular points.

[Su Bei]: Aren’t you three together? Why can’t you just talk face-to-face?

[Su Bei]: You’re busy strategizing for other schools here. You’ll sing a different tune when they demand to see your chat history.

Jiang Tianming: I forgot. Is there a way to clear the chat history?

[Su Bei]: …Top right corner.

After that ride, Su Bei didn’t continue. The amusement park was so big, he certainly couldn’t waste too much time on a single attraction; that would be a sheer waste.

However, just as he walked out of the rollercoaster area, Su Bei was surrounded by a team. One of them, likely the captain, said with a smirk, “We saw you riding the rollercoaster all by yourself from afar. Speak! Did you receive some kind of mission?”

“Is it possible I just wanted to have some fun?” Su Bei glanced at the other party’s unfamiliar school emblem, feeling rather speechless.

Although their second and third years had been completely wiped out, leaving only a group of first-years to participate, as students of Endless Ability Academy, even a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. They shouldn’t be threatened by a team from some obscure school, right?

There were over fifty academies participating in this second match. Before it even started, Teacher Li had introduced quite a few of them to them. She even had them look at the emblems of several schools to avoid accidentally confronting a strong school early on.

Teacher Li had specifically introduced thirty academies, and they had seen the emblems of forty in total. With such wide coverage, any school not mentioned by Teacher Li could be considered the weakest of the weak in this competition.

And the emblem of the academy before him was just that; Su Bei had never seen it before.

It was true that they planned to show weakness to their enemies in the early stages, but that didn’t mean they had to be meek and submissive to everyone. It was one thing to pretend in front of a tiger, but if they pretended in front of a mouse, it would seem a bit fake.

The people opposite him clearly didn’t sense Su Bei’s killing intent and remained arrogant. “Who would believe that? I think you’re treating us like fools! Your academy’s main force was wiped out. If you ask me, you should’ve just withdrawn. You won’t get a good result anyway. Besides, our great ‘Endless Ability Academy’ doesn’t need to win this one competition, right?”

The last sentence was spoken with extreme sarcasm, but it couldn’t hide the jealousy in his eyes. Su Bei instantly understood why he was making things difficult. It was out of jealousy for the power of Endless Ability Academy.

But if he knew how powerful Endless Ability Academy was, why would he think that the first-years their academy sent as substitutes would be weak?

“Boss, stop wasting time with him. Who knows when this guy’s teammates will show up? Let’s just eliminate him first,” a team member behind him couldn’t help but urge. He was worried that if Su Bei’s teammates arrived and they were outnumbered, they wouldn’t even be able to defeat first-years, which would be too humiliating.

The captain shared this concern and, seizing the excuse, nodded. “Alright, then let me—”

Before he could finish, a gear shot straight from Su Bei’s hand and slit his throat.

Blood gushed out instantly. The captain’s face turned pale as he clutched his neck, his eyes filled with panic, and he croaked for help, “Quick! Healing!”

A team in a group match would naturally have a healer. A chubby boy flipped his wrist, and a medicinal herb appeared in his palm. He crushed the herb to extract its juice and smeared it on the captain’s neck, immediately staunching the flow of blood.

Only then did everyone have time to look at Su Bei again. Su Bei had an indifferent expression, as if he didn’t think he had done anything excessive. “While I don’t mind being eliminated, being eliminated by you would be a bit too disgraceful.”

The gear he had just released was a “Targeting Gear.” He had originally been worried that the captain might have some defensive measure to dodge it in time, but it turned out he had overthought it. It felt like a waste of a skill.

The reason he didn’t kill him directly was mainly to prevent the others from fighting to the death. Although he probably could have eliminated all five of them by himself, that would have been too conspicuous. Casually defeating one was no problem, though.

“You!” The captain clutched his neck with one hand, glaring at Su Bei with a mixture of shock and anger.

Su Bei grew impatient. “Are we going to continue?”

Continuing was out of the question. Su Bei was done playing, but they still wanted to play. Their academy was already weak, and they had barely made it into the top fifty percent this time. While they didn’t expect to get into the top ten, they at least wanted to make the top thirty. If they lost a member right at the start, they might as well just give up on the competition.

Originally, the captain and his teammates thought Su Bei was just a first-year filler, and he was alone, so how strong could he be? They wanted to use the name of Endless Ability Academy to boost their own prestige.

But after a single basic attack, all of them quieted down. They didn’t know how strong Su Bei was, but he could clearly handle them with ease.

If they got eliminated quickly because of a pointless provocation, their homeroom teacher would scold them to death when they got out.

Without any intention of talking to Su Bei, the group turned to leave with their tails between their legs. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out, “Did I say you could leave?”

Of course, the one familiar with this voice was Su Bei. He raised an eyebrow, turned his head, and sure enough, saw that familiar black-and-white cow cat. “Elvis?”

Elvis glanced at him with his two-toned eyes, then looked at the group opposite Su Bei. “Bullying the weak, are we? Well, now you’re the weak ones.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the several people behind him swarmed forward with tacit understanding, knocking their enemies to the ground with extreme speed. Then, a wood-type Ability user used vines to tie them all up.

“The ‘weak ones’, huh?” Su Bei found it a bit amusing and asked the guy next to him, “Why are you here?”

“Why can’t I be here?” Elvis snorted and said meaningfully, “You’re quite good-tempered.”

He knew Su Bei’s strength. Although the opposing team could participate in the second match, judging by the speed at which they were defeated, they likely got in through pure luck and had little actual strength. Against such opponents, Su Bei could easily take on five of them.

Hearing this, Su Bei nonchalantly released five gears, each one precisely slitting a person’s throat. “Is my temper a bit worse now?”

However, after saying this, his brow suddenly furrowed.

Noticing the change in his expression, Elvis asked strangely, “What did you discover?”

Su Bei thought for a moment but didn’t answer the question. “I’m going to continue playing. I advise you to let these people go. There’s no need to reduce numbers this early, especially when they’re so weak.”

His reason for advising them to let them go wasn’t out of kindness, but because he seemed to have discovered something incredible. Even if this discovery was still uncertain, it compelled Su Bei to stop Elvis’s actions.

The words he used were the same ones the crew-cut captain had used to persuade the braided-hair captain earlier, and now they successfully convinced the team from Alpha Ability Academy. The captain of the team looked at Elvis. “Let’s go then. We still need to find the clown.”

Elvis didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stared at Su Bei. He was sure Su Bei had discovered something, but he also knew he couldn’t get it out of him. “Tell me what you just discovered, and we’ll let them go.”

Although they were friends in private, there were no friends on the competition field. He had to be responsible for his team.

But how could Su Bei be one to accept threats? Facing an old friend who knew part of his strength, he shrugged indifferently. “If you’re not afraid of losing members, then you don’t have to let me go.”

As the saying goes, he who is barefoot is not afraid of he who wears shoes. In this competition, his persona was someone who didn’t care about being eliminated. Since that was the case, he might as well act tougher. Anyone who knew his strength should know that even if he died, he could take at least a few people with him. And for those who didn’t know his strength, it was easy for a Destiny-type to display it.

Evidently, this threat was sufficiently intimidating. The captain coughed from behind him, reminding Elvis not to truly anger Su Bei. While she didn’t know Su Bei’s strength, she knew Elvis’s. For someone that the proud and talented Elvis respected so much, their strength must not be underestimated.

Hearing the cough, Elvis withdrew his gaze and ignored Su Bei. “Let’s go.”

After they left, Su Bei’s expression suddenly darkened. He went to a secluded corner, first clearing out the Nightmare Beasts there, then summoned a gear and slashed it across his own arm.

A sharp pain shot through him, and a bleeding wound immediately appeared on his arm.

Looking at the wound, his brow furrowed even more deeply. There was no other reason than that this feeling of being injured was far too real, so real that he was beginning to suspect—this wasn’t an illusion at all.

It was precisely because the sensation of the gear cutting his skin just now felt too real that he had a faint feeling something was wrong.

As mentioned before, Su Bei’s Advanced Mental Energy was the absolute bane of any illusion-type ability. Li Shu’s kind of Illusion could barely fool him, and while an illusion master like Jilam could make him feel immersed, with the knowledge that this was just an illusion, combined with his Advanced Mental Energy, he should still be able to tear away a small part of the illusion’s facade.

Yet now, even when he focused all his Mental Energy on his arm, he couldn’t see any falsehood in his wound.

If he remembered correctly, before they entered, the host had said that everything they were experiencing was just a mental illusion, and their bodies were actually just standing in place, unharmed.

So what was with this wound on his hand that was so real that even his Advanced Mental Energy couldn’t detect a trace of falsehood?

Was Jilam’s illusion far beyond that of an ordinary person, or was there really a problem with this illusion?

If it was the latter… even Su Bei couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat. Their mission was to eliminate all opponents! If everyone in this illusion was in their real bodies, then didn’t eliminating an opponent mean actually killing them?

Su Bei suddenly remembered the words of the Gourd Nightmare Beast. It had said that the best way to avoid being affected was to win the competition.

This answer perfectly matched his speculation. Anyone who didn’t win would die, so only by winning could one return safely. But the winners wouldn’t be much better off. After killing so many Ability users, even if they didn’t suffer from deep psychological trauma, they would be drowned by the overwhelming curses and accusations from the friends and families of the deceased.

What a vicious plan!