For a moment, the table was silent. The others stared at Jin Nan, and the atmosphere became inexplicably chilly.
"Ka...ka!" The loudspeaker in the cafeteria suddenly sounded, startling several people.
"—Dear students, dear students! Focus on studying. Don't listen, don't look, don't think!!"
The rough and hoarse male voice was exactly the same as the voice that came from the loudspeaker during recess.
But to be honest, if it is emphasized too many times, this broadcast will not serve the purpose of reminder and warning at all.
The devilish loud voice poured into the head, which was like poison. After the brain went blank for a moment, it couldn't help but start thinking more.
Xia Jing raised his head and looked around, and found that there was a loudspeaker in each of the four corners of the cafeteria.
No wonder this voice is so much louder than in the classroom.
Jia Qing came back to his senses and held his head. "What the hell? What the hell? He suddenly walked towards the supernatural. This is not a mystery novel at all! What do you mean by staring at him in the middle of the night? Is Huang Mo possessed by a ghost?"
Wang Yueran's face turned pale: "I would rather fight Godzilla than fight a supernatural copy!!"
Liu Yi and Xu Jin's expressions were not very good either, especially Xu Jin. She didn't know what she was thinking about, and her expression was particularly uneasy.
Jin Nan smiled in a particularly evil way, as if he found this very funny.
The old lady quickly reassured the two girls, "The theme of 'Don't think about it' doesn't sound like it has anything to do with being possessed by a ghost. Don't be afraid, kids. It's probably not the case."
Jin Nan's expression immediately turned cold, and he said disdainfully, "Old man, you've only been through a few dungeons, what do you know?"
At this time, Xia Jing repeated Jin Nan's words in his voice with a hint of laughter.
"Huang Mo's eyes are clearly black and white, but at night, they look like light bulbs?"
Jin Nan glanced at Xia Jing and squinted his eyes, "Why, Fatty, do you have something to say too?"
Song Yang leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "Even if a person is possessed by a ghost, they won't suddenly change. Their eyes won't turn into lightbulbs. This sounds exaggerated. Is there any point in retelling it purely to increase the horror effect?"
After Song Yang said this, the others were stunned for a moment before they reacted.
Jin Nan curled his lips and snorted coldly.
——This guy is deliberately trying to scare them! !
Suddenly, several angry eyes focused on Jin Nan.
The latter was completely exposed, so he just gave up and drank Coke, acting as if it had nothing to do with him.
Jia Qing gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to hit someone, and said in a muffled voice, "But Brother Yang, what's the point of getting up in the middle of the night and staring at someone?"
Song Yang opened his mouth and wanted to answer, but then stopped. For some reason, he glanced at Xia Jing.
Xia Jing received his gaze, silently savored it, and raised his eyebrows.
Jia Qing looked at the two of them in confusion. What were they doing? Why were they flirting with each other?
Xia Jing gently twisted his index finger and thumb.
He chuckled, adjusted his sitting position, and said, "First, we still need to determine the actual start time of the dungeon."
Everyone looked at him.
The young man...his face was unbearable to look at - of course, most of the people present who knew about the existence of the "safe house" had already noticed the small human face mark on the back of the young man's neck, and knew that this face was most likely a mask, and that deliberately making the mask like this was a bit of a bad taste.
——But the young man has a slender figure, a straight back, a clean temperament, and always speaks in a gentle tone, which inexplicably makes people calm down and listen to him.
Xia Jing said calmly, "The way this dungeon begins is very subtle. We woke directly from sleep, making it difficult to determine when the dungeon actually began. However, a player's death can only be experienced by themselves. This is an eternal and unchanging dungeon principle, and it can help us sort out the clues."
"The time of Huang Mo's death—at that time, the copy must have already started running."
"So, assuming Huang Mo died this morning, we can only confirm that the replica had already begun running at that time in the morning, but we have no evidence to prove that the replica started running at midnight. The midnight incident that Mr. Jin just recounted is most likely just a 'preliminary summary', just like the phone ringing twice in a row. It may be related to the replica, or it may not be related to the replica, and it is just a distraction."
"But assuming Huang Mo died last night, right after he woke up from his sitting position—then, the act of waking up from his sitting position couldn't possibly be a disruption. It's highly likely that the dungeon had already begun, and the Huang Mo who woke up from his sitting position was the player himself. In other words, he must have encountered something at that moment."
What kind of unusual situation did Huang Mo encounter in the middle of the night that caused him to suddenly wake up in his dormitory bed, sit up and stare at his roommate, and then die?
Was it the cell phone ringing twice that woke him up?
Did someone call him in the middle of the night? Who could it be? A monster?
Unfortunately, everything happened too quickly that morning. After they were kicked out of the dormitory, the phone must have been taken away by the NPC.
What's more, the NPC had made a clear request that they were not allowed to take anything away. If they disobeyed, they would most likely be locked up in a small dark room after a conflict.
Xia Jing said slowly, "Only by clarifying this point can we pick out truly effective clues and think further."
In order to understand which clues are valid, we must first understand when the copy actually started running.
In order to figure out the time when the copy started, they had to figure out the time when Huang Mo died.
That's the whole idea.
Everyone swallowed and thought about it, feeling weird and confused.
Xia Jing's eyes turned, and he smiled gently and asked, "What do you think of my answer, Brother Yang?"
Song Yang: "..."
When the young man's rough voice slowly chewed out the two words "Brother Yang", Song Yang inexplicably felt itchy all over his body.
He adjusted his sitting position uncomfortably, cleared his throat, and asked casually, "Have you been playing between one-star and two-star dungeons before?"
"What do you mean?" Xia Jing glanced at him.
Song Yang was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking about how to organize his words. Finally, he said bluntly, "Your brain waves are quite compatible with mine."
He and this young man had not had much communication so far, but whether it was the young man's behavior of testing the female teacher in the morning or the conversations just now, the thinking of this young man named Xia Jing seemed to be exactly the same as his.
This feeling is quite smooth and wonderful.
The young man looked calm and experienced, not like someone who only frequented one-star and two-star dungeons. The fact that he deliberately wore a human skin mask to enter the dungeon - perhaps Song Yang was too sensitive. He couldn't help but wonder if Xia Jing was one of the ones with the highest points ranking, and "Xia Jing" was just a fake name.
He couldn't say who they were, but they had all seen each other before.
If it really was one of them...
Song Yang felt a little unhappy that the other party knew his identity but he didn't know who the other party was.
But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that even those people didn't seem to have brain waves that were in sync with his to this extent.
Song Yang stared at Xia Jing with an inquiring look.
After hearing what Song Yang said, Xia Jing showed a very surprised expression, and then said sincerely: "Thank you for the compliment."
Song Yang: "..."
That's it?
Xia Jing turned his head, looking as if he was listening carefully to the other players' speeches, but the curve at the corner of his lips was getting bigger and bigger.
——Are you teasing him?
Song Yang black line.
Then, he straightened his face and said to the few people, "Everyone has a cell phone in their belongings, right?"
After hearing what he said, everyone stopped their chattering and nodded quickly.
The rules of each copy world are different.
In some copies, players can even bring in the holographic screen of Smiley City.
Of course, this copy does not have this permitted rule, but every player present found a mobile phone in their pocket when they woke up.
Song Yang: "I checked my phone this morning, and there's not a single contact in my address book."
The others nodded quickly, and it was obvious that their situation was the same.
Song Yang said clearly, "But since we've been given a phone, it means we've been given a way to communicate. Who can we contact?"
After a few people thought about it, Xu Jin's eyes lit up and he said, "...the home-school contact book!"
Song Yang nodded.
They couldn't possibly call 110 directly in this dungeon world. In a campus dungeon, the most likely external contact method that would appear in the school was the home-school contact book registered by the school.
"We need to find out when and how the player died. We can't rely on the teachers and students at school, but our 'parents' might be one of the channels for us to get clues. It's lunch break now, so we can take this opportunity to go to the office and find a way to get the home-school contact book."
However, although Teacher Zhang was ruled out as a monster, no one could guarantee whether the monster would be another teacher.
When they thought about the dangers that going to the office meant, the group hesitated again - after all, they couldn't let Song Yang break into the office alone, at least they had to act together.
As Song Yang's friend, Jia Qing was also afraid, but he was still the first to raise his hand: "Brother Yang, I'll go with you!"
Liu Yi gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go too. It's safer with more people."
Jin Nan rolled his eyes and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Song Yang.
Song Yang nodded and said to the others in a straightforward manner, "Then why don't you all take this opportunity to walk around the school, get to know the terrain, and look for other clues, okay?"
Wang Yueran, Xu Jin and others nodded quickly.
Jin Nan secretly clenched his fists.
The plan to act separately was decided, but at this moment, Xia Jing suddenly grabbed the wrist of a passing student NPC. This bold move scared everyone.
The student NPC was so frightened that he almost knocked over the plate in his hand.
Xia Jing, however, smiled and looked kind. He immediately asked, "Excuse me, how do I get to the campus broadcasting room?"
When he said this, everyone was stunned.
It was Xia Jing's question that reminded Song Yang of the same question that had left a doubt in his heart.
——The source of that demonic, gruff male voice that sounded like a warning but actually made people more concerned and more likely to "think about" it.
Campus radio room.
Thinking of this, several people's faces changed and they became nervous.
——By the way, that voice is very strange!
The owner of that voice is most likely a monster!