Chapter 148
“How long until they come?”
Qin Zhou asked suddenly.
Lin Yi was slightly startled and looked up at Qin Zhou. “There are still one or two minutes…”
He had a very keen grasp of time and could often be accurate to the minute and second. Though he never reports it like that. He only ever gives a rough range of time, otherwise people would think him strange for being accurate to the second. Just like his ability to see in the dark, he explained that it was enhanced night vision caused by colorblindness. In actuality, he never had color blindness, he could see perfectly well.
Now that Qin Zhou was asking him this, Qin Zhou had obviously noticed his keen sense of time.
Lin Yi’s first reaction was to feel guilty but when he looked at Qin Zhou, he steadied himself and said seriously, “There’s still 2 minutes left.”
The eight bald men don’t enter into the room immediately. The participants are in the room for twelve minutes before they appear.
The first time, everyone had no idea what was happening. They were caught up with the missing staff. Then the boy kicked open the iron door. This entire sequence of events lasted twelve minutes.
The second time, everyone had been silent because of the boy’s disappearance and it took twelve minutes until the girl couldn’t bear the pressure and opened the door.
The discussion he had with Qin Zhou now had taken 10 minutes, which meant that eight bald men would appear in another two.
Qin Zhou reached out and patted his shoulder and said, “I’ll do it.”
Before Lin Yi could say anything, Qin Zhou said loudly, “If you don’t want to die, do as I say.”
Lin Yi looked at Qin Zhou, Qin Zhou was indeed very experienced when it came to calming a crowd. Unfamiliar environments and strange encounters are the biggest threats to life. Qin Zhou grasped everyone’s weaknesses while also giving them hope.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Two minutes was a short time, especially when it serves as a prelude to danger, then time passes even faster.
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The eight thugs had done the same thing during the first two cycles — beat them with keel whips. If they wanted to avoid being beaten, they had to compare the two cycles and see what behaviors from the participants overlapped.
During both cycles, a participant opened the door, some yelled.
Perhaps it was because them opening the door were considered by the thugs to mean that they wanted to escape, and their yelling was judged to be a form of disobedience, that they were then made to ‘wake up’.
“This way, will it …really be okay?” The girl who spoke was the one who, along with the missing boy, had demanded for a refund during the first cycle. She was also, during the second cycle, the one who had touched the iron door. She was braver than many of the girls, she was even braver than some of the boys; but after two restarts, half of her boldness and courage have been wiped away.”
Seeing the death of two people with her own eyes had shaken her confidence so much that she was finding it hard to believe she would make it out alive even if she followed Qin Zhou’s instructions.
But she had voiced what many wanted to ask. They looked at Qin Zhou expectantly. Even if Qin Zhou didn’t speak, all they needed was a slight nod from Qin Zhou.
Lin Yi followed everyone’s gaze and looked at Qin Zhou, who was once again the center of attention.
Qin Zhou said calmly, “We have to try. What else can we do?”
The light of hope in everyone’s eyes dimmed a little bit.
But Lin Yi also understood the reason why Qin Zhou hadn’t given any promises. These people weren’t students of the Unnatural Engineering University and they didn’t know who Qin Zhou was, nor did they know Qin Zhou’s strength, strength that effectively reduced the mortality rate of the patrol team to less than 50%.
So in times of danger, they might not do as Qin Zhou says. Once Qin Zhou gives them a guarantee and that guarantee is broken, Qin Zhou’s influence will be greatly reduced, and they won’t listen to a word Qin Zhou says anymore.
Now, all twenty-six people played one role and shared one identity.
This place was different from the Rule Worlds. Participants weren’t limited to dying at night, they could die at any time.
If any unforeseen incident occurs to any one of the twenty-six people, it may trigger a restart or lead to complete destruction.
And because all twenty-six held character cards with the same identity, Qin Zhou was destined to be unable to act alone to find clues, find the Monsters and do a Replay as he would have in the Rule World.
Here, all twenty-six people were one, including the Monster itself.
It was precisely because the Monster was among them that Qin Zhou directly shared with everyone that he had found possible ways to avoid the beatings and being thrown into the pool from comparing their previous experiences.
However, Monsters are Monsters and they also breed evil. Qin Zhou could not guarantee that he wouldn’t be stabbed in the back by the Monster in the end. This was why he’d told Lin Yi that he’d be the one to do it. He took the lead so that Lin Yi would escape the crowd’s notice.
Lin Yi stared closely at Qin Zhou.
As long as Qin Zhou’s ‘attempt’ succeeds, then anything Qin Zhou says in the future will be followed. Even if this attempt fails, if someone still dies even if no one touches the door or talks, Qin Zhou had only provided a suggestion for them to stay alive. No matter whether his method is successful or not, just because he was willing to share this with everyone, any ideas he proposes later would still be considered instead of dismissed outright.
The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Qin Zhou knew this very well. This was why Qin Zhou would not and could not give them hope.
After all, being struck by keel whips and being thrown into the pool couldn’t be the only levels in Xiushen Academy. Even if they pass these two levels, there must be more difficult levels waiting for them later.
“Okay.” The girl lowered her head. After a while, she looked up again. “Can I ask your name?”
Qin Zhou had nothing to hide, so he said directly, “Qin Zhou.”
“Thank you, I’ll remember it.” The girl said, “My name is Hua Hua. Thank you for saving me in the pool last time.”
Hua Hua’s idea was also very simple. There were too many people here. Qin Zhou might not be able to remember her name if she says it. In this place, codenames were more convenient than names.
Qin Zhou nodded: “En.”
Several people had been rescued by Qin Zhou in the pool, so they all expressed their gratitude to Qin Zhou.
There were also some who thanked Lin Yi. Lin Yi had also fished out a few who almost slipped into the water. Although he failed to save everyone in the end, someone still drowned due to his injuries.
Hua Hua said, “Then, now…”
Before she finished speaking, there were footsteps outside the iron door.
The two minutes were up, the eight bald thugs were about to come in with their keel whips.
All sounds in the room suddenly disappeared and it became eerily quiet.
Lin Yi could see the expressions on the others’ faces. They were quiet but the silence also brought fear and that fear roared silently.
Everyone stared at the iron gate in fear.
A key was inserted into the lock cylinder and the spring made a “clang” sound. This common sound of a door opening made the people in the room tremble unconsciously.
Lin Yi immediately tensed. He was so nervous that a thin layer of sweat broke out on his palms.
Those eight thugs were coming in. Now, they were about to see if their silence was of any use.
If this works, everyone will acknowledge Qin Zhou’s strength and Qin Zhou will be their pillar, connecting the twenty-six individuals into one heart.
If it doesn’t work…
If it doesn’t work then…
Thank you for the chapter. This cliff😱
Thank you for the chapter!
the author left us on a cliff with an unfinished sentence 🥹
Then what ??? Then WHAT ???
Istg this cliffhanger ….