Zong Jiu's response to the devil's invitation was concise with only one word.
"Get out."
Faced with this merciless rejection, No. 1's deep dark golden eyes slowly narrowed.
After a moment, he seemed to have thought of something and the corners of his mouth curled up again.
"It's okay, you don't have to give me an answer so early."
Even though he said that, the man's gloved fingers continued to press on the corners of his eyes mercilessly, outlining the magician's long and narrow eyes. His other hand tightly locked onto the white-haired youth's slender and pale wrist as he pressed the youth against the back of the metal door, imprisoning him in the narrow space.
The devil's breath was as cold as his body temperature, so cold that there was no warmth at all.
He lovingly retracted his fingers and inadvertently brushed past the youth's rolling Adam's apple.
Zong Jiu's eyes were filled with displeasure.
No.1 was stepping on his minefield and jumping around with all his might. Collaboration? It was more like a dream if he went back now.
However, in order to show his magnanimity, the devil slowly let go of the hand that shackled the youth.
In the next second, Zong Jiu immediately turned around and bent his knee to kick forward.
The white edges of the poker cards between his fingers glowed coldly in the dim stairwell, like the approaching footsteps of the Grim Reaper. Wrapped in the cold air, they swept forward with the force of a thousand catties.
No. 1 had already anticipated this wave of attack, so he took an especially large step back, retreating until he was three steps away from Zong Jiu's attack range like a ghost.
"I'll wait for the final answer in the trainee dorm, you can change your mind at any time."
After turning his head nimbly to dodge three poker cards that were aimed at his scalp, the man in the suit smiled and bowed in a gentlemanly manner. His figure melted like a ghost and melted into the shadows behind him.
This was the second time Zong Jiu saw the devil use the ability to travel through shadows. Just like the last time, he didn't see any other restrictions on this ability.
The white-haired young man did not move. He maintained the posture of holding the poker card in his hand for a long time before he slowly lowered his right hand. He rubbed his wrist that had turned red from the man's grip and squeezed out a sneer from his throat.
If it were an ordinary person, they would have agreed to No.1's request without hesitation. After all, that was No.1.
No one knew the name of this person. Due to the overwhelming fear and longing, everyone only referred to him as "Demon".
Such absolute strength was undoubtedly at the peak of the entire Infinite Loop. This was why even though the demons knew about the prophecy, they were still indifferent and never took it to heart. They were always arrogant and condescending.
Making an enemy out of such an existence was undoubtedly an extremely foolish thing to do.
Zong Jiu had a premonition that the previous fights were just small skirmishes. The demon had never been serious, nor did he really want to kill him. Of course, this short period of tenderness might just be him killing time, and he just found it interesting.
If a lunatic like the demon really wanted to kill someone, he would definitely not waste his breath. He only needed a few puppet strings to silently manipulate anyone to their death. Even the rules and regulations set by the main system could not stop him.
That was why Zong Jiu laughed.
Out of all the sentences that No.1 said, only one sentence from Zong Jiu gave him a clear affirmation.
The demon played the human world in the Infinite Loop. He controlled puppets to stir up trouble and watched from behind the scenes. He enjoyed the ugliness of those who sought to survive in desperate situations. He easily evoked the deepest darkness in people's hearts.
The magician used this place as his grandest stage in history. He loved to deceive and disguise. He used words to play with everyone in the palm of his hand. Not only did he use the identity of a mole in the Barren Village instance dungeon, but he also used a disguise to gain more benefits in Las Vegas. Zong Jiu was already very familiar with this trick when he was a magician in the real world.
This world of despair and terror only gave him more room to display his abilities.
They were indeed the same kind from head to toe.
Many times, other people could not understand No.1's actions, but it was easy for Zong Jiu to understand.
He could even stand in No.1's perspective and simulate the deeper meaning behind his actions.
The logic of a lunatic was very simple. It was only divided into interesting and boring, fun and not fun. They were not like normal people who acted from the perspective of self-interest, morality, or other motives.
They were not bound by anything.
It was because of this that Zong Jiu laughed so mockingly.
For the two of them, the word "cooperation" was a paradox in itself.
They would never let another person share the glory of the throne with them. They would never cooperate like weaklings to win.
Think about it, if Zong Jiu was a demon and he said the word "cooperation" to someone, there would only be two situations.
First, the other party was worth using, so he would use the word "cooperation" to fool them. When they were no longer useful, he would throw them away like trash.
Second, he would think that the other party was interesting. He would use cooperation to confuse the other party and take the opportunity to stab them in the back. He would be able to enjoy the other party's stunned expression.
If the other party was his own kind, the word "cooperation" would only be more interesting.
Zong Jiu was one hundred percent sure that if he agreed to cooperate with the demon, he would most likely not survive this instance dungeon.
Because in that case, the interest attached to the person "Zong Jiu" would be greatly reduced in the eyes of No. 1.
Of course, there was no need for boring people to exist.
Not to mention, they would never trust anyone other than themselves.
Therefore, Zong Jiu not only had to reject the demon, but he also had to give him a big gift.
As for the consequences of declaring war with No. 1?
Who cared? It wasn't the first time he had done so.
####
Zong Jiu was not in a hurry to return to class. He first went to a blind spot in the bathroom and opened the clue that Fan Zhuo had given him.
This was a letter that had been around for quite some time. Just like that old diary, it was hard to tell which one was older at the moment.
Last week, the school organized a cleanup. Otherwise, it would not have been so easy to find so many clues. In contrast, Zong Jiu believed that this was the arrangement of the main system. Because the mid-term exams were approaching, it was time to start digging for deeper information after they had adapted to the cruel pace of the group dungeon. It was not as if they were not given a way out.
The letter was not long.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a farewell letter.
[To everyone who reads this letter: By the time you see this letter, I will already be dead.]
[A month before the mid-term exams, the first [Anomaly] appeared in the grade and became the first in the grade. The following exams became more and more difficult until this time, under the high score requirements and cruel competition, the entire grade made a choice.]
[The people in the class have been isolating me, trying to turn me into an [Anomaly] so that they can survive.]
[A classmate falsely accused me of being in love. Because his grades were better than mine, I was given a demerit. Perhaps this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Looking at those selfish faces, I felt disgusted … In order to survive and raise the average grade of the class, they have already forced the person above me to become an [Anomaly]. I am the only one who uses a knife to carve words on my wrist every night, telling myself over and over again that I can't turn into an existence that has lost my personality.]
[In the end, I decided to commit suicide. Haha, because I am such a useless coward.]
I don't have any last words that I want to leave behind. My parents are repeating their mediocre life, but they're always ignoring my wishes and trying to control my life. They want me to become the successful person in their eyes. It's as if I've been reborn as well.
[Everyone is like a ghost in human skin, their blood is cold. No one cares if I am truly alive or not, no one asks for my opinion, and no one asks if I want to become a 'useful person to society.' In their eyes, poor students don't deserve to live.]
[I can only use the method of destroying myself to complete my revenge on this world. Because I can't control anything except my life. Haha.]
After the word 'haha', the letter came to an end. There was no follow up.
Zong Jiu knew that this letter might have really reached the end of the letter. The person who wrote this letter committed suicide. He used the most extreme method to express his desire not to become a faceless person and caused his parents to lose the child that they had raised for so many years. In his mind, he had completed his' revenge on the world. '
The appearance of the faceless people made it clear to Zong Jiu what the 'otherworldlings' in the diary and the letter were.
Even though the situations of the two classes were completely different, they all walked toward the same ending.
The atmosphere of the class recorded in the diary was very good. The students were harmonious and friendly, and they would cheer each other on.
In the end, No.1 Middle School's exam requirement became higher and higher. The people in the class even volunteered to become faceless to raise the average score of the class.
Therefore, in the end, the girl who wrote the diary wrote on the 4th of July, 'If the three of us don't change, the whole class will die.'
However, when it was time to take the graduation photo on the 5th of July, the remaining three students all chose to become faceless, including the girl who only had half a face left. Everyone was working hard for the sake of the class.
Finally, at the end of the diary, she said, 'They used themselves to save the class and me. Now, it's my turn. '
This sentence also foreshadowed the ending of the whole class becoming faceless.
At first glance, these two clues did not seem to have much in common, but after careful study, one could at least come to a conclusion.
The next two exams must be very harsh and difficult. The cutoff requirements must be unimaginably high.
Especially the final exam. The girl's academic performance was very good. Even though it was not close to a perfect score like the faceless people, it was definitely not bad. Under such circumstances, if a non-faceless student could not survive, it meant that the exam itself was a dead end.
This meant that if they did not know the solution before the final exam, they would either die under the whip or become faceless people without self-awareness.
Zong Jiu refolded the letter and put it back in his pocket.
Recalling a precious clue in the diary, he thought that he had some idea of how to solve the problem.
But the headache was that this method could only be used during the final exam.
Before that, they would have to at least survive the mid-term exams and the second monthly exam.
####
Soon, in this nervous and hurried process of studying, the mid-term exam arrived.
This time in the exam room, the nervousness on the trainees' faces could not be concealed.
Last time, only the last class was eliminated, and the top few classes were able to sit back and relax. This time, a straight line was drawn. Ups and downs in the exam room were common, and several classes were stuck close to the line of 600 points. If they made a mistake this time, it would be the end of the whole class.
During the exam, the last few Class 9 students had sweaty palms and were panicking.
Before the mid-term exam, they secretly spent two evening self-study sessions to do a set of mock papers. In the end, their total score was narrowly over 600 points.
So, if they made a mistake this time, they would be greeted with a tragic ending.
On the other hand, Zong Jiu did not panic at all.
Because before the exam, he used tarot cards to predict the future, so when he wrote the paper, he was calm and not afraid at all.
# On the Magic of Tarot Cards #