After realizing that the "survive for five days" clearance method was unlikely to work, no one blamed Firefly.
On the contrary, in a situation requiring everyone's cooperation to overcome the challenge, internal strife would be the most foolish course of action. Even if mistakes were made, as long as no one deliberately dragged their teammates to their deaths, the focus should be on finding solutions rather than engaging in pointless arguments.
As Invincible Bro had mentioned earlier, surviving for five days might only be one of several clearance methods. Dimensional Rifts leading to Otherworlds typically offered multiple ways to succeed. With this in mind, Firefly suddenly asked, "Hey, Invincible Bro and Shu Cat, you've both met the Principal, right? Do you know where he is? If we just kill him directly, would that count as clearing the Rift?"
Invincible Bro: "..."
Lü Heng: "..."
They had to admit, this clearance method had never crossed their minds. Or rather, they had never considered such a possibility.
Having experienced several Otherworld Dimensional Rifts, their experience had led them to focus on following the established rules and progressing step-by-step.
In stark contrast, Shu Cat, who was experiencing an Otherworld Dimensional Rift for the first time, instantly grasped and supported Firefly's idea. What was wrong with confronting the Boss directly?
"I remember seeing the Principal walking away from the main building at the end of the Long Break," Shu Cat said. "I don't know exactly where he went, but he's definitely not in this building. We can look for him outside."
"Let's go!" Soup Dumpling chimed in. "Move, move, move! I don't want to stay in this dump for another second!"
Even as she spoke, Firefly had already begun gathering her Tarot cards from the desk, while Shu Cat and Soup Dumpling headed toward the classroom door. Witnessing this, Invincible Bro exclaimed in astonishment, "Wait, you're serious?!"
During the Long Break, Invincible Bro had checked the Principal's status panel. The man was undoubtedly terrifying. He quickly shared what he had seen:
Name: Flesh Derivative -
Type: Evil God's Familiar
Status: Bound by the Principal's rules
Ability: Its essence is a discarded piece of flesh from Hades, the god of Flesh. Originally meant to obey the god's will, it is now bound by the rules, possessing abilities such as infection, mutation, devouring, summoning, and more.
In Invincible Bro's vision, the list of abilities stretched for an entire page, numbering at least a dozen.
The "Principal" appeared to be an ordinary old man. But in a Dimensional Rift teeming with monsters, such normalcy was the most unnatural thing of all.
Invincible Bro suspected that the moment the Principal broke free from the rules and entered combat, he would shed his disguise and transform into a colossal monster composed of living flesh.
After explaining the Principal's abilities, Invincible Bro turned to Firefly. "Even knowing all this, are you still confident you can take him down?"
Though Invincible Bro could see Firefly's status panel, her Outsider identity prevented him from viewing it fully. He knew she was no ordinary person, but he had no real understanding of her true strength.
After hearing the detailed information about the Boss, Firefly finished packing her Tarot cards. She tapped her chin thoughtfully and said, "Hmm, I don't think it'll be too much of a problem."
It sounded intimidating, but essentially, wasn't the Boss just a piece of "dead skin" that had fallen off some evil god's familiar?
Invincible Bro stared at the calm girl before him. She clearly wasn't lying, or rather, who would joke about something like this with their life on the line?
"Then let's go," Lü Heng agreed. "In times like these, we need to trust our teammates, right?"
The five of them left the classroom through the back door and headed straight for the exit of the teaching building.
They passed the Giant's corpse and walked past First-Year Class Two and First-Year Class One. Suddenly, Invincible Bro stopped. "Wait a minute... there's something here."
First-Year Class One wasn't the closest room to the building's entrance; a teachers' office stood between them. Invincible Bro frowned at the office's half-open door, slowly approached it, and pushed it open.
Creak...
The teacher's office was small. Invincible Bro stepped inside, his eyes falling on the dusty desk that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages. He opened the top drawer, and in the next instant, his eyes widened in shock as he whirled around to Firefly and the others, his face contorted in horror.
"Careful, there's something..."
Bang!
Without warning, the office door suddenly slammed shut, as if pulled by some unseen force, like in a horror movie or game, intent on forcing the group to separate.
But Firefly and the others were standing right in the doorway. The moment she saw the door slamming shut, she kicked it with full force.
The bang wasn't the sound of the door slamming shut—it was the sound of Firefly's kick shattering it.
Splintered wood and a cloud of sawdust filled the air. Then, Firefly clearly noticed a clump of wet, seaweed-like black hair dangling from the ceiling above Invincible Bro's head. An identical female ghost to the one she had recently killed materialized from the ceiling and lunged at him.
Without hesitation, Firefly summoned her Transformation Device, and her Lightsaber sprang into existence. She leaped forward and swung the blade, decapitating the female ghost once again.
The severed head plummeted, striking Invincible Bro below with a sickening crunch, like two watermelons colliding. But there was no time to dwell on such details. Invincible Bro immediately warned, "Careful! We're not alone here. There's someone else!"
He glanced up at the female ghost's torso, still lodged in the ceiling, then at her rolling head on the floor. His expression turned grave. "This female ghost isn't a native creature of this Dimensional Rift. It's a summoned being—someone else brought it here. And their target... is us!"
"Huh?" Everyone froze, Firefly included. Lü Heng, in particular, was stunned. When Invincible Bro had shouted about others being present, he'd assumed it meant more civilians had been pulled into the Rift.
But the truth was far more unsettling: another Evolver was in this Dimensional Rift, and their objective was to kill them all?!
What kind of sick joke is this?