Where's the cute girl we were promised? She's completely wiped out S-rank dungeons!

I never expected that the amazing item I got yesterday would come in handy here. The puppeteer, with an expression of astonishment like a parent seeing their child, whom they'd raised from infancy, walk for the first time, nodded thoughtfully, chin in hand.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot I gave you this. Looks like I've shot myself in the foot?"

Song Yuan calmly said, "Stop talking nonsense. Aren't you just trying to get us to get the key faster so you can easily steal it? So, are you going to use it or not?"

The puppeteer smiled and raised his hand: "Yes, yes, yes~ Okay, I swear, my puppet strings won't control any of you players, is that alright?"

The oath had been sworn, and the [warning sign for the swearer] was in effect. Song Yuan picked up the whip and tossed it to An Xiaoyou:

"Use this, shoot as fast as you can, try to get the key before dawn!"

An Xiaoyou, panting heavily, looked pale and said, "Faster! Are you exploiting us?! Is this how you use 88 luck points?!"

Although she said that, her hands moved quickly. An Xiaoyou took the whip and swung it a few times before realizing that this weapon was indeed not on the same level as their homemade daggers; a light swipe could knock off a whole bunch of keys. She could kill them all by herself, while the other three could easily find them.

This brief period of harmony lasted only about an hour. A key with a red-edged note and handwritten notes fell out among the keys. Qiao Ran quickly turned to block it after flipping it over, but this slight movement still attracted the attention of the person on the other side.

Song Yuan and Qiao Ran exchanged a glance. After a brief exchange of glances, Qiao Ran understood what she meant and decisively tossed the key over. Song Yuan grabbed it and ran towards the door.

The next moment, the horde of monsters suddenly let out shrill screams, as if something important had been taken from them. An Xiaoyou suddenly realized that these monsters weren't so easy to kill; one or two slashes weren't enough to kill them!

At the same time, the puppet strings in her hand seemed to come alive, flowing from her grasp and merging with the other half in the puppeteer's hand to form a complete "whip." The puppeteer simply said one word to Liu Gaosheng beside her:

"Walk."

The two of them rushed towards the rooftop door like a blur.

[Player "Xu Tai'an" used the talent "Healing" on player "Song Yuan". The system is checking player "Xu Tai'an's" stamina. It has been detected that player "Xu Tai'an" has very little stamina left. After using the talent, player "Xu Tai'an" will be depleted of stamina and temporarily lose the ability to move.]

After Song Yuan ran away alone, Xu Tai'an used his talent on her again, raising her health from 17 to 47, before collapsing from exhaustion.

"Hey... are you alright?"

Qiao Ran quickly stepped forward to support her. An Xiaoyou was still a little dazed, but the monsters' attacks continued, so she had no choice but to pick up her dagger to defend herself.

"Wait, why did she leave alone? Even with her stats off the charts, she'd have a hard time getting two S-ranks, right?"

"It's definitely a bit risky," Qiao Ran said, supporting Xu Tai'an and carrying him on her back after getting his consent. She then lowered her head to think, "It happened so suddenly, we didn't discuss tactics. We have to find a way to get her."

The person who went to the power distribution room could only be Song Yuan, because only she was quick enough to ensure that she wouldn't be caught by the two of them on the way.

An Xiaoyou's focus suddenly shifted: "You actually managed to carry a living person on your back... Didn't you say you couldn't even lift twenty pounds?"

Qiao Ran: "...Who told you that? I'm not that sick yet. Besides, I have a plan. Cover for me while I go and call those students over there."

the other side.

If 17 health points made running a bit inconvenient, then 47 health points, with most of the wounds healed, was enough for Song Yuan to run at full speed.

During the chase, Liu Gaosheng was surprised to find that Song Yuan and the puppeteer's agility was almost the same as his, a player with the "snake-like" talent; the initial distance hadn't increased much despite their pursuit. They quickly reached the fifth-floor electrical room door. Song Yuan inserted the key into the lock, kicked the door open, and rushed inside.

The interior furnishings are similar to a modern electrical room, with motion-activated lights. On the opposite wall is a large red switch with two words written on it in red and yellow stickers:

Main switch.

Song Yuan: "..." How perfunctory, as if she was afraid the players wouldn't know.

She pulled the main switch, and the entire campus was plunged into darkness instantly. Liu Gaosheng's running speed slowed down a beat because of the sudden darkness—although he could move like a snake, he wasn't a real snake and didn't have night vision.

But the puppeteer acted without hesitation; Song Yuan had just run out of the power distribution room when he arrived at the door. The two began fighting in the darkness without a word.

[Ding~ Player "Liu Gaosheng" has used the item "Firefly Street Lamp"]

A lamp with small wings slowly rose, illuminating the corridor. This was the first time Liu Gaosheng had ever seen a player capable of directly confronting the puppeteer.

He was a star member of Midnight Ghosts, and he knew about the Puppeteer. This guy's attack power and agility were unknown, but they were later tested at a specialized training facility, revealing a grip strength of three tons and an agility exceeding four thousand...

Are these two monsters?! Without skills and talent, is this really something a human could do?! And he can't even get involved; if he takes a step forward, he'll be 100% cut by the puppeteer's puppet strings, and he'll just get in the way!

Even while fighting, the puppeteers had the leisure to chat with Song Yuan. Their tone remained light and cheerful: "Has Tai'an joined your little team? I'm so envious, almost jealous."

"Why are you so concerned about her affairs?"

Song Yuan dodged the puppet strings that were slashing down at her; the thin strings sliced ​​off a lock of her black hair like a knife, leaving a bloody gash on her shoulder.

"Is it because she's your enemy?"

"How can you say that? She's the one I love. I just don't like having so many irrelevant people standing between us."

Song Yuan retorted sarcastically, "Then your way of treating your lover is quite unique."

The puppeteer was delighted and said, "Thank you for the compliment~ I knew you would understand me."

Song Yuan didn't want to waste any more words with this pervert. Although Xu Tai'an had restored her health, the "Puppet Strings" weapon had a high attack range, deducting three health points per hit. If she continued fighting like this, the end result would definitely be that she would lose all her health and die. Not having a weapon was a disadvantage, especially against a high-attack, high-defense player like a Puppet Master; being without a weapon was a huge disadvantage!

"You seem very calm," the puppeteer said, observing her with curiosity as he continued fighting. "Are you waiting for something? For your teammates to come and rescue you? I'm afraid even if they did, they wouldn't be of much use."

After all, even a player of Liu Gaosheng's level couldn't get involved in their fight. Xu Tai'an, the only one who could attack him from a distance, had exhausted his strength while restoring Song Yuan's stamina. Even if he could fire a gun, could he hit him?

Liu Gaosheng quietly held up his lamp, waiting for the predictable duel to end. Suddenly, a piercing whistling sound came from the end of the corridor:

He turned around at the sound and was immediately horrified by what he saw:

Countless monsters, like a black mist, were crammed into the narrow corridor. In the middle of this black mist, all the surviving students on the rooftop formed a circle, surrounding Qiao Ran and An Xiaomei, and ran forward together.

The monsters showed no interest in the students, completely ignoring Qiao Ran and An Xiaomei on the inner layer, and headed straight for Liu Gaosheng. Liu Gaosheng's already pale face darkened further.

"President! Maybe we should stop fighting for now... this situation is unavoidable!"