(6/7)
Yuying University
Chapter 407: Temperature change
A few minutes ago.
At the entrance of the gymnasium.
Hugo braced the door with one hand. As time passed, the veins on the back of his hand bulged more and more, as if the weight of the iron door was steadily increasing.
He stared heavily into the interior of the gymnasium, as though trying to pierce the darkness within with his gaze. His brows knit tightly together:
“Something’s not right.”
Based on the previous situation, he had estimated they’d have ten minutes of safety left. But now…
The activity inside the gymnasium seemed to have become unnervingly “lively.”
“He doesn’t have ten minutes left,” Hugo said.
“?!!”
Everyone was startled by Hugo’s words.
Su Cheng instantly lost his composure. He sharply turned his head, frowning at Hugo. “What did you say?”
Orange Candy also frowned, folding her arms as she asked, “You’re serious?”
“I’ll go in and get him.” Yun Bilan stood up. Her pale face showed no expression, but blood-red thorns writhed and twisted wildly around her.
As she spoke, she stepped toward the door.
Hugo said coldly, “If you go in now, it’s nothing but suicide.”
Yun Bilan turned her head slightly and let out a cold laugh: “Dying because of your misjudgment is meaningful, then?”
Tian Ye, who had just stepped forward to try and dissuade her, froze, shivering slightly at the sharp smell of gunpowder in the air.
Yun Bilan’s attitude was cutting, but Hugo remained unmoved.
The tension in the air made it almost impossible for anyone to breathe.
“Creak—”
Suddenly, the heavy iron door let out a harsh groan and shifted a few more inches forward.
The muscles on Hugo’s shoulders bulged, but he could no longer stop the door’s closing momentum.
It looked like the door was about to shut completely.
Yun Bilan’s expression changed. She immediately stepped forward, trying to rush inside by force.
Orange Candy frowned and tilted her chin up. The rest of the team also stepped forward, trying to block Yun Bilan. Yun Bilan sneered coldly and showed no sign of giving way. The conflict was about to explode.
Suddenly, a voice from the distance broke the suffocating tension.
“Calm down, all of you.”
It was Su Cheng.
He stepped forward and grabbed Yun Bilan’s arm. The usual warmth on his face had disappeared, replaced by cold, dark eyes. He looked straight at Hugo and asked,
“‘Going in now is meaningless suicide,’ what exactly do you mean?”
“Creak—”
The door frame let out another sharp screech.
Hugo’s expression changed slightly. He immediately stepped forward and braced the door with both hands.
Yun Bilan stared at the narrow gap—barely wide enough for one person—with clenched teeth. She instinctively took another step forward, clearly unwilling to give up this last chance.
“Do you have any other way to get in?”
Su Cheng tightened his grip on Yun Bilan’s arm but kept his eyes locked on Hugo.
Hugo turned his head slightly and gave him a glance.
“…There is. But it’s risky. Very risky.”
“But…”
Yun Bilan stared at Hugo with deep distrust. After all, it was his misjudgment that had put two of their teammates in danger.
Not to mention that one of them was Wen Jianyan.
For just a moment of hesitation, the heavy iron door exceeded what human strength could resist. Under some invisible, enormous force, it suddenly slammed shut.
Hugo quickly retreated a step.
The next second, with a loud bang, the iron door was firmly sealed. Blue-black mold oozed from the lock and slowly spread to the handle.
With two minutes left until the original ten-minute deadline, the back door was now locked tight, leaving no way to enter.
“…”
Yun Bilan stood in place, taking a deep breath to suppress the surging rage and frustration in her chest.
She looked at Hugo and asked,
“What now?”
Inside the gymnasium, at the now-sealed front entrance…
Wei Cheng stood in place, nervously watching Wen Jianyan fiddling with the lock, while behind them, the anomalies inside the gymnasium grew even worse.
The temperature had already dropped to the point where they were trembling all over. Clearly, the windows on all sides were sealed, yet an invisible cold wind brushed past, lifting the loose, torn netting as if drawn by some strange force, slowly drifting toward them.
On the dust-covered floor, dense footprints began to appear, gathering one by one toward the door.
Plap, plap.
Strangely enough, the prints in the dust were not from shoes, but bare feet, overlapping in chaos, as if countless unseen shadows were walking about.
“How’s it going?”
Wei Cheng lowered his voice, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings as he asked.
“No good.”
Wen Jianyan bent over, pale forehead beading with cold sweat.
In the “Integrity First” live room barrage:
[Not working, huh? After clearing so many instances, don’t they know by now that ordinary iron wires are useless against this sort of thing?]
[It’s not just wires this time, it’s an actual tool!]
[Wow, there are hidden tools like this in Nightmares? The host’s skill choices are just too fitting.]
[Hahaha I’m dead, but yeah, this probably came from trading with other anchors. No idea what tier this item is though.]
[Judging by this result… probably not high.”]The bullet comments guessed half right.
Indeed, Wen Jianyan had bought this item from the trading market before entering this instance, spending a considerable amount of points.
But the problem was…
Wen Jianyan straightened up slightly, eyes flickering.
Although they were all high-difficulty hidden items, the tools came from instances of varying levels. Once brought into a different instance, their effectiveness was no longer guaranteed.
If the instance level was lower than the item’s origin, the item would exert 200% power.
If the instance level was equal, the item would work as intended.
But if a low-level item was brought into a higher-level instance, its power would be greatly reduced—or even completely fail depending on the severity of the phenomenon encountered.
【Lockpicking Tool (For unlocking the door in front of you) Remaining uses: 1/1】
【Origin instance Level: A】
Its source instance was rated A-level, the same difficulty as the Yuying Comprehensive University instance. However… within this gymnasium, this supposedly A-level item was utterly useless.
Wen Jianyan pressed his lips together, stowing the unused tool back into his inventory.
Perhaps this tool was faulty from the start—or worse, the gymnasium they were in was rated even higher than A-level in terms of danger.
Could it be that this seemingly simple instance, where even low-level, inexperienced anchors could survive with ease, wasn’t as harmless as it appeared on the surface…?
Cold sweat soaked Wen Jianyan’s back.
At that moment—
Gurgle, gurgle…
A sound of flowing water came from Area C. Pitch-black water quietly began to overflow from the edge of the swimming pool, seeping silently in their direction.
“What now?”
Wei Cheng turned to Wen Jianyan, asking, “Should we…?”
Wen Jianyan didn’t answer.
He knew exactly what Wei Cheng meant. For them—veteran anchors with rich resources—this situation wasn’t yet hopeless. After all, his epic-level items and talents hadn’t been used.
But should he use them now?
Had this been before the door locked, Wen Jianyan might have agreed.
But… after realizing that the Yuying Comprehensive University instance likely hid dangers far beyond its apparent level rating, he no longer dared.
His talent probably carried hidden costs, not to mention that epic-grade items had limited uses within a single instance. If he used them now, they’d be gone when needed later.
While Wen Jianyan was weighing his options, the black water had already spread across the floor, flowing over the dusty badminton court.
Strangely, the barefoot prints slowly disappeared beneath the water.
Whether they were covered or erased for some other reason, no one could tell.
Wei Cheng stared at the black water, tense. His talent hadn’t triggered a warning yet, but the instincts sharpened by repeated activations made his hair stand on end—he felt deeply uneasy.
A thin layer of black water coated the floor. It was only two or three centimeters deep at most—yet perhaps an illusion—but inside it, faint pale limbs seemed to drift beneath the surface.
Whatever they were, they definitely weren’t anything good.
“I think we’d better…”
Wei Cheng had just opened his mouth when Wen Jianyan interrupted:
“Hey.”
“…?”
Wei Cheng froze and turned.
Wen Jianyan was looking up, staring at a spot high above the gym.
There, shrouded in gray haze, was a pane of glass no human could reach. Faint light trickled through it.
“Look there.” Wen Jianyan blinked and shifted his gaze to the nearby wall. “I think we can climb up. What do you think?”
Wei Cheng hesitated. “But… how do you know we can get out that way?”
Wen Jianyan said, “I don’t. But…”
He raised his hand, stretching it toward the ceiling. His pale fingers gleamed in the dim light, as if sensing something.
Ever since his sanity points dropped to half, Wen Jianyan realized he’d become highly sensitive to temperature changes. While inside this gymnasium, he felt as if he’d fallen into an ice cellar.
But…
His lowered eyelids trembled. A thoughtful look crossed his face:
“It feels… like the temperature is just slightly higher… in that direction.”
