Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

"what way?"

Yan Jun hurriedly asked.

His life was at stake, so he couldn't help but be nervous.

"It's just a simple reasoning problem."

Fan Xiao said, "Of the five players who disappeared before, besides you, two others survived. You were in the same classroom as them, right?"

“That’s right,” Yan Jun nodded, “They’re eating right now.”

He pointed to a corner of the cafeteria in the distance.

Fan Xiao glanced over there, nodded, and said, "Why didn't they remind you that your hair color has changed? It wouldn't have done them any harm by just reminding you, would it?"

Chapter 177 The counterattack begins

Fan Xiao's question immediately jolted Yan Jun awake.

Yes, why didn't the other two survivors remind themselves about their hair?

Since we've all fallen into this difficult situation together, there's no point in hiding the crisis from him.

"The answer is simple."

Fan Xiao stated directly: "Because they are more deeply affected than you. The world in their eyes may have become black, white, and gray, and they themselves are completely unaware of this. They may even believe that black, white, and gray is what the normal world should look like."

“You are ‘normal’ in their eyes, so naturally they won’t remind you of anything.”

"But……"

Yan Jun asked doubtfully, "My vision is still normal, and I can see other colors. I didn't see any color changes on them. If they were affected more severely than me... their hair color should have changed by now, right?"

"Who says changes have to start with the hair?" Fan Xiao said. "Can you see the body hidden by clothes? Are you sure there haven't been any changes in them?"

"This……"

Yan Jun realized that he had fallen into a cognitive trap.

Yes, change doesn't necessarily start with uniform hair.

This may vary from person to person.

"Let's put aside the question of where to begin the change for now."

Fan Xiao continued, "The time you disappeared from the real world was roughly the same, and the time you spent playing the role of students was probably also roughly the same."

"So why were you less affected than them? What caused this phenomenon?"

Without waiting for Yan Jun to think it over and answer, he gave the answer directly: "It's the number of times you broke the rules that's the only difference between you two."

"Based on your previous description of your experience, you violated the rules twice, while they only violated them once, so they were more affected than you."

“Proactive violations can reduce the degree of assimilation.”

"This shouldn't be considered a method, right?"

Mercury warned Vanshaw, "Deliberately violating the rules is against 'it's' common sense, and it will attract the attention of 'it' and the monsters, leading to an attack, which is even more dangerous!"

"Moreover, the more violations there are, the shorter the time the projection device in the swimming pool can maintain after being turned on will become."

"After the second violation, the activation time is only 2 minutes. If you're not lucky, it will be very difficult for players to find a new student ID, and then they're doomed!"

"There is a way to break this deadlock."

Fan Xiao pointed to the black clothes he was wearing and said, "Remember that evasion method we failed to verify in the surface world?"

"You mean..."

Mercury immediately realized: "Paint yourself black and then hide in the darkness!"

"By the way, this method should work. It didn't work before because I covered myself up and hid. It only works in the inner world."

“Players pretend to be students during the day and hide in the dark at night. This act of hiding may itself be against the rules.”

"Hiding overnight means continuing to violate the rules. The 'assimilation rate' that increases during the day will likely all come down overnight."

"It really is a series of interconnected events..."

After listening to Mercury's analysis, Jinna exclaimed, "All the details we found outside can be used in the inner world. This dungeon is hard to pass by brute force, but easy by reasoning."

"Paint the paint, sneak into the darkness at night..."

After muttering something under his breath, Yan Jun looked at Fan Xiao expectantly and asked, "I remember you found some oil before, Brother Fan..."

"We don't plan to use this method."

Fan Xiao interrupted him.

"Huh?" Yan Jun was taken aback: "Why? Isn't this the solution to clear the level?"

"It is indeed a solution to clear the level, but it can only be used for the first mission condition."

Fan Xiao said, "Do you think we were passively dragged into this? No, we came here voluntarily, for the sake of the second mission condition."

He patted Yan Jun on the shoulder and said, "Aim higher."

"...I'm already struggling just to survive."

Yan Jun swallowed hard, swallowing only bitterness.

For the first time, he felt the gap between players so acutely.

While he was desperately trying to survive, others were already thinking about how to achieve higher dungeon ratings.

Is he bad at the game?

No, it's just that this guy in front of me is too strong!

“Don’t worry,” Fan Xiao said, “I’ll take you with me since you provided the information. Let’s go eat first.”

After saying that, he walked into the cafeteria.

Mercury, Jinna, and Luo Hao followed.

Yan Jun walked at the very back.

As they walked, Jinna asked, "Are we really going to eat the food here?"

“It will take some time to complete the next part of the plan,” Fan Xiao said. “Not eating is against the rules, and we will be attacked by the monsters later, which will delay our plan.”

"Let's eat then."

Mercury said, "I believe your previous judgment. The food was just bait to lure us into the Otherworld. Apart from deepening our connection with the Otherworld, it should have no other side effects."

"Even if there is a solution, it will only speed up the process of us being assimilated. Since we have already found a solution, there is no need to worry too much about it."

The group arrived at the food station and received free meals using their student IDs.

Then we found a dining table and started eating.

While eating, Fan Xiao kept an eye on the activity at the cafeteria entrance.

During this process, his "Detoxification Master" earrings did not vibrate.

Yan Jun walked over to the two surviving players who were dining in the corner and told them about Fan Xiao's invitation.

After thinking for a moment, the two followed him to Fan Xiao's side, intending to join the plan.

A short while later, Fan Xiao saw the figures of the refined man and others at the entrance of the cafeteria.

They still had seven people, with no casualties, but many of them had minor or serious injuries, presumably because they had been attacked by monsters for violating the rules.

"here."

Fan Xiao called out to them.

The refined-looking man and the swordsman spotted him from the sound, nodded, and led their respective teams closer.

Fan Xiao told them to use their student IDs to get their meals first.

After they sat down together again, he said while eating, "I've figured out how to pass the level. If nothing unexpected happens, we should try to steal the teacher's certificate or employee badge that they might have."

"Students can't leave the closed school, but it's different for teachers. They are just working people. They have to go home after get off work in the afternoon. I guess there are very few teachers who will stay to work in the evening."

“We would snatch the teachers’ name tags after school and walk towards the school gate with the name tags in our hands. This was like going home after get off work. Logically speaking, this was a way to escape Hope Middle School.”

"Stealing employee badges, huh..."

The refined-looking man said, "We were just guessing it was a leave request."

“We tried asking for leave this morning,” Mercury said. “All the reasons for asking for leave didn’t work; that avenue was completely blocked.”

"What if it fails?"

The swordsman warned, "As students, attacking a teacher is definitely a serious violation. 'It' and those monsters might become even more ferocious in their attacks against us than before."

"There is always a way out even if you fail."

Fan Xiao said, "The projection equipment in the swimming pool is reusable; you just need to find a new student ID. Many of you have injuries, so I'm sure you've already experienced that, right?"

"...We do have a few people here who were attacked by monsters in the early hours of the morning for violating the rules. They went to the swimming pool and turned on the projection device again."

The swordsman said seriously, "But the device's duration has decreased! They almost didn't have time to find their new student IDs and almost fell into the hands of the monsters."

"If your plan fails, we might all be ruined this time."

"Don't worry, I won't let you follow the method until I'm sure it will work."

Fan Xiao assured him, "I will have my companions test this method first."

"If it works, I will send you a signal, which will be a blood-red flame exploding in mid-air."

"As for you... you need to split up, each of you go into a different classroom, choose a teacher, and wait for your chance to make a move."

"Remember, you must wait until school is over, and then I will give you the discovery number before you can take action."

"Also, I need you to do something for me..."

He paused for a moment and then said, "After you get the work badges, try to run slowly and attract as many monsters as possible to chase after you. Then lure them all to the area near the school gate."

"...Are you crazy?" the sword-wielding player asked in surprise. "Why do you want us to lure so many monsters? Isn't it enough to just escape? Why go out of our way to provoke them?"

"Luring monsters...is this also part of the plan?"

The refined-looking man frowned and said, "I can't understand the point of doing this."

“It means nothing to you, but it means a lot to me.”

Fan Xiao said mysteriously, "You don't need to investigate the reasons, just do it. This is the premise of cooperation."

"……All right."

The swordsman nodded.

The refined man agreed.

After finalizing the plan, everyone quickly finished their meal and then went to the spacious area in front of the school gate to scout out the location in advance.

It is still lunchtime, and students are free to move around.

Their coming here is not against the rules and will not attract the attention of "it" and the monsters.

Fan Xiao moved to a position a little distance away from the group of players, summoned the Rabbit Prince, and gave it the order to climb over the wall.

The next second, Prince Rabbit jumped onto the wall.

Thump—it bounced back.

Fan Xiao then gave it the order to storm the gate.

Bang!

Prince Rabbit was bounced back again.

There seemed to be an invisible barrier at the gate.

The players who witnessed this scene all frowned.

As expected, there was no way to get out directly!

The outer world connects to the inner world.

The outside of the inner world... is blocked off.

Without using the correct methods, it's unlikely you'll be able to leave this school.