(4)
Yuying Univesity
Chapter 482: PVP God of War
Library, inside the reading room.
The pale lights buzzed overhead, illuminating the empty reading room below, as well as the scattered, cold silhouettes sitting at the tables.
Behind the curved front desk, the door to the librarian’s office was tightly shut.
Suddenly, with a bang, the office door was violently pushed open from the inside, and two figures, one tall and one short, rushed out.
The taller figure stumbled and fell over.
Wen Jianyan helped him up.
“I… I can’t do it anymore,”
Arnold used Wen Jianyan’s strength to prop himself up. Though his limbs were intact and there were no obvious wounds on his body, his face was a spectacular and colorful mix of pale white, green, and blue.
He grabbed onto Wen Jianyan like a drowning man clutching a life-saving straw.
“I really can’t die anymore…”
Wen Jianyan comforted him in a warm voice, “Believe in yourself, you can do it.”
Arnold: “…”
I can’t, I really can’t!
He looked towards Orange Candy behind them. “How did it go?”
“…”
Orange Candy shook her head with a grim face.
Arnold looked up, his face filled with terror. “?”
However, this time Wen Jianyan did not, as he had the previous times, force Arnold and Orange Candy to continue entering the librarian’s office with that gentle yet unyielding firmness. Instead, he lowered his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.
Since waking Arnold, this was already their third time entering the librarian’s office.
Except for getting one slip on the first try, Orange Candy had come back empty-handed the following times.
The repeated failures had pushed her anger to its limit, just short of an explosion.
“What exactly happened? Tell me in detail.”
Wen Jianyan looked at Orange Candy and said.
“Everything went smoothly, I even got the borrowing slips!” Just thinking about what had just happened, Orange Candy couldn’t help but grit her teeth in anger. “But just like before, it was snatched away before I could leave… Damn it, next time I definitely won’t—”
Wen Jianyan said thoughtfully, “If I remember correctly, the librarian has no physical form, right?”
Orange Candy: “Right.”
She suddenly paused. “Wait a minute, you mean…”
Logically, the formless entity that snatched the borrowing slip from Orange Candy’s hand should be the equally invisible librarian.
In fact, that’s what Wen Jianyan had thought when Orange Candy came out last time.
Until now.
For a anchor of Orange Candy’s skill level, one mistake might be an accident, but a second and third time definitely could not be.
“Yes.”
Wen Jianyan nodded and slowly voiced his speculation.
“I suspect, this might be the limit to the number of borrowing slips we can get.”
“Huh? But we only got one this time, didn’t we? How is that the limit?”
Now, even the tormented Arnold was confused.
He looked up and asked with a puzzled face.
“Didn’t you guys get two last time?”
“Yes.”
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, and said, “But the problem is, that time, before we entered the librarian’s office, we hadn’t started borrowing books yet.”
If this were the real world.
Students in a library need borrowing slips to borrow books.
In the instance, this rule still existed, but the order was reversed—from needing a borrowing slip to borrow a book, it became, only students who have not borrowed a book can obtain a borrowing slip.
So, last time, Orange Candy and the others hadn’t stayed in the borrowing area for ten minutes, so they naturally weren’t forced to borrow any books. That’s why they were able to get multiple borrowing slips from the librarian’s office.
But it was different now.
Wen Jianyan looked at the two people in front of him and said, “This time, the only person who hasn’t borrowed a book is me.”
Orange Candy and Arnold had both used borrowing slips; only he hadn’t.
And because of this, they could only get one slip from the administrator’s office. Even if they wanted to take more, the slips would be taken away by the rules before they could leave the office.
Because the maximum they could obtain was one.
As soon as these words were spoken, the hearts of the few people present sank.
If that was the case, then this was terrible.
Even if they used the slip they got on one of them and woke them up, it wouldn’t increase the upper limit of borrowing slips they could obtain.
This was simply a dead end.
“What’s next then? What do we do?” Arnold asked.
“What else can we do?” Orange Candy said with a dark face. “Either we wait for a new team to enter the library, or we have to go out and find people.”
Under the restrictions of the library’s rules, only when more anchors who haven’t borrowed books enter the library can the upper limit of borrowing slips they can obtain increase.
Wen Jianyan looked down at his phone, his expression sinking slightly.
“…Probably not realistic.”
There were less than forty minutes left until the Moral Education class.
In Yuying Comprehensive University, the Moral Education class was not just an ordinary compulsory course, but a class that, if not attended, would most likely result in death.
Wen Jianyan clearly remembered how miserably the anchors who hadn’t made it to the lecture hall in time had died last school year.
He remembered, and so did others.
In this situation, no one would be willing to risk coming to the library.
Time was too tight; it was tantamount to suicide.
Orange Candy: “Then I’ll go to the lecture hall, I’ll drag a few here even if I have to tie them up—”
Wen Jianyan shook his head. “There’s not enough time.”
He raised his hand, lifted the book in front of one of the figures, and showed it to Orange Candy. “Look.”
The red had already spread from the spine to the center of the title page.
“There’s no time,” Wen Jianyan commented rationally.
Not only would they have to kidnap people, but after bringing them back, they would have to re-enter the administrator’s office, get the borrowing slips, and leave…
No matter how you calculated it, there wasn’t enough time.
“…”
Orange Candy didn’t speak, but her face was very grim.
“Of course, it’s not like there are no other methods.”
Wen Jianyan paused.
“It’s just… really dangerous.”
“?” Orange Candy was startled and turned to look over. “What?”
“Where’s your borrowing slip?” Wen Jianyan looked at Arnold beside him, held out his hand, “Lend it to me.”
Arnold didn’t understand, but he still took out the borrowing slip with his name on it and handed it to Wen Jianyan.
Wen Jianyan lowered his head, glanced at the contents of the slip, then took a deep breath, pinched the center of the slip with both hands, and then—
Rip!
The harsh sound of paper tearing echoed.
With just one pull, a tear appeared on the fragile, old, and yellowed borrowing slip, and then it was ripped in half along the tear.
“You, what are you doing!” Arnold’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. He wanted to lunge forward but was quickly held in place by Orange Candy. He could only watch helplessly as Wen Jianyan methodically tore the borrowing slip to shreds.
Wen Jianyan opened his hand, letting the paper scraps flutter from his palm.
“…”
Arnold’s face was ashen. He lost all his strength and sat down on the floor, dejected.
It’s over.
Suddenly, Arnold felt a weight in his palm.
He was stunned and looked down.
A familiar book with a deathly white cover appeared in his palm.
Wen Jianyan strode forward. “Tell me, where did you get hit before?”
Arnold was still in a daze.
“Hurry up and say it!” Wen Jianyan said sharply.
“!” Arnold finally reacted. He stammered, “South, South District, third row, shelf 19—”
Wen Jianyan snatched the book from his hand and tossed it to Orange Candy.
“Did you hear that?”
Orange Candy caught the book and nodded with a grin.
“Of course!”
Arnold sat dumbly on the floor, staring blankly as the little girl’s figure disappeared from his sight. He was dazed for a long time, until a fair, slender hand reached down from above.
“Are you alright?”
Arnold subconsciously turned his head.
The young man had his head lowered, his expression gentle, like a spring breeze turning into rain, completely different from the aggressive way he had interrogated him just now.
“…I’m, I’m fine.”
Arnold raised his hand, grasped the hand Wen Jianyan extended, and stood up with his help.
He turned to look in the direction Orange Candy had disappeared, still somewhat bewildered.
“Just now, that was—”
“What is borrowed must be returned.”
Wen Jianyan looked at him and said.
Arnold: “…Huh?”
“Borrowing a book won’t kill you, but not returning it on time will.”
Wen Jianyan patiently explained.
“Don’t forget, there’s a countdown on the borrowing slip too.”
“This means it actually only allows you to move freely during the ‘book borrowing’ period; it’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card. Once the countdown ends, you’ll still face the same danger.”
“However, there’s a very crucial problem. After using the borrowing slip, the book in hand also disappears, which means we can’t return it early. If we can’t return it early and we immediately lose our ability to move again after the slip expires, then this place would be an unbreakable death trap. So, the instance will most likely leave us time to return the book.”
Wen Jianyan thought for a moment and added, “…Though it probably won’t be very long.”
Arnold stared at Wen Jianyan, dumbfounded.
He really found it hard to imagine that someone could analyze so much just from the countdown on a borrowing slip…
This was a bit too terrifying.
He hesitated for a moment and asked carefully, “You… aren’t you worried you might be wrong?”
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes. Under his silver-white lashes, a pair of light-colored eyes sparkled in the light.
He smiled.
“Of course not.”
Arnold was stunned, awed by the powerful confidence radiating from the other person, from his words to his expression.
This guy—
Before he could sort out his chaotic thoughts, he heard the young man in front of him continue.
“Of course, if I’m really wrong…”
“Then thank you for your contribution.”
Wen Jianyan raised his hand and patted his shoulder, his expression still confident, his eyes still sincere.
“I will definitely remember you forever, my good brother.”
Arnold: “………………”
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[…]
[Ahhhh, you brat, no wonder you didn’t tear Orange Candy’s borrowing slip just now. You’re taking advantage of the fact that he can die repeatedly and be used as a test subject, right?]
[Be a decent human being, I’m begging you.]
Orange Candy sprinted all the way to the South District.
Based on the location Arnold provided, she searched quickly among the rows of pitch-black bookshelves. Soon, her gaze locked onto one of the rows—there, there was a very obvious gap between the books.
Found it!
Orange Candy’s heart pounded wildly.
She took a step forward, stood on her tiptoes, and gently inserted the book into the gap.
A perfect fit.
The moment the book was inserted into the shelf, the thick bloody color that had spread to the cover began to fade slowly. On the spine, Arnold’s name also began to lighten until it disappeared completely.
In the end, it once again became a dusty, ordinary book.
…Success.
Orange Candy slowly let out a breath of relief.
She took two steps back, turned around, and prepared to return the way she came.
Suddenly, a dark figure appeared at the end of the bookshelf.
It looked very short, but for some reason, it also seemed vaguely familiar.
“Who?”
Orange Candy’s eyes sharpened.
“…” The other side did not answer.
Orange Candy frowned and took a step forward.
The beam of her flashlight swept past, cutting through the darkness and landing on the figure not far away, illuminating the other person’s face.
Orange hair, a high ponytail, a childish face, an innocent smile.
Almost without thinking, Orange Candy immediately understood everything.
She scoffed, and in the next second, she kicked off her back foot, her whole body leaping out like an arrow released from a bow.
A gleaming long knife appeared in the darkness, its sharp blade tearing through the air, making a crisp sound like fabric being ripped.
The chilling blade was aimed straight at the girl’s neck.
Suddenly, Orange Candy’s pupils shrank.
As if she had sensed something, her already swinging wrist stopped dead in mid-air, the veins on the back of her hand bulging. The blade stopped just a millimeter away from the other person.
“Tsk.”
A ghostly sigh sounded from not far away.
“What a pity.”
Along with the sound of light footsteps, the Mason’s pale face gradually emerged from the darkness behind. He smiled, “—I thought you would have noticed a little later.”
“…”
Orange Candy stood her ground, staring at the other party with a blank expression.
On her slender white neck, a crimson gash slowly split open. A thin trickle of blood, like a red snake, flowed slowly down her neck, gradually soaking the edge of her collar.
Not far away, on the neck of her mirror image, there was an identical cut.
The only difference was that the wound on the mirror image was slowly healing, while the wound on Orange Candy’s neck was still bleeding.
“Generally speaking, mirror images cannot be killed,”
The Mason’s gaze fell on the knife in Orange Candy’s hand, the smile on his lips deepening. “But, if it’s you, perhaps it’s really possible.”
He made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand, as if very much looking forward to Orange Candy beheading herself.
But this time, Orange Candy did not look at him.
Her gaze shifted discreetly backward, falling on the figures behind the Mason.
In the darkness, more figures emerged from behind.
The Mason’s entire team was present.
And among them, there was another, more familiar figure.
A handsome face, a gentle smile, looking as pleasant as a spring breeze.
Wen Jianyan.
—Or rather, his mirror image.
“Everyone says I’m crazy,” Orange Candy said, holding her long knife and tilting her head with a grin. “But in my opinion, your mind is even more abnormal.”
Actually helping a ghost from the mirror invade reality, this was not something a sane person would do.
“Perhaps,” the Mason grinned, showing his teeth. He put his hand on “Wen Jianyan’s” shoulder and said, “These two treasures said they could find you, what could I do?”
As Orange Candy listened, she observed the positioning of the Mason’s teammates behind him, evaluating them in her mind.
One against six, a bit much.
But she couldn’t die.
More importantly, she had the home-field advantage.
The library’s rules were still in effect, and the Mason knew nothing about it.
In other words, as long as she could stall these people here for ten minutes, the other party would be completely wiped out. And she had a borrowing slip, so she wouldn’t be restricted by the rules.
The Mason opened his mouth as if to say something more, but before he could make a sound, his vision blurred. A slender figure floated past like a phantom, gentle yet swift, leaving a cold, bright afterimage.
“!”
The Mason’s pupils shrank, and he jerked backward.
But he was wrong.
He wasn’t the target.
The blade licked lightly across a neck. Before the person could even raise a hand, hot, fresh blood spurted from the wound on their neck, splashing onto the nearby bookshelf.
A dull thud.
A head, its eyes still wide with incomprehension, fell to the ground with a thud and rolled to the side.
The heavy, headless corpse fell like a heavy sack of cloth into a steaming pool of blood.
The girl tilted her head with an innocent smile. A drop of blood she hadn’t avoided landed on her face, slowly leaving a terrifying streak of blood.
“Oops.”
Five left.
“…”
Staring at the demonic girl not far away, the Mason’s expression twisted for a moment, his eyes turning vicious. “It seems you have no intention of talking things out.”
“If it were that guy, he might be interested,” Orange Candy shouldered her long knife and pouted with great disinterest. “But me… forget it.”
Her fingers tightened slightly, and the blade flashed with a clang.
The girl grinned.
“Compared to using my brain, fighting is more my style!”
As soon as her voice fell, another spray of hot blood erupted.
Thump.
Another sound.
A anchor clutched his shoulder, his face pale, and staggered backward.
“What, you dodged so fast,” Orange Candy pouted as if throwing a tantrum, stepping over the right arm that had flown to her feet. “You’re making me lose my aim.”
But it would be difficult to resist now.
Four left.
Orange Candy’s Livestream:
[Ahhh, anchor is awesome!]
[Ahhh, as expected of the PVP god, Sister Orange Candy is awesome!]
Suddenly, Orange Candy seemed to feel something.
She was stunned, her just-started step halting. She subconsciously looked down at her hand.
She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but in the darkness, her palm seemed to… have become somewhat transparent.
“!”
As if realizing something, Orange Candy’s pupils shrank.
Wait a minute!
She snapped her head around and looked not far away.
A few meters away, the orange-haired girl who looked exactly like her also looked back at her, her expression horrified. Her lowered right hand clenched in the empty air, as if holding an invisible long knife.
The same face, the same action, the same expression.
The only difference was that the real Orange Candy was gradually becoming transparent and ethereal, while the fake mirror image was gradually becoming fuller and more real.
Crap!
The Mason was also stalling for time!!
“One person and an arm, in exchange for a top-ten Nightmare anchor,” the Mason’s cold, smiling voice came from not far away. He wiped the blood of his teammate that had splashed onto his face and said slowly,
“Worth it.”
Smart villians we love. Go girl beat his ass