11: Chapter 11 Life-or-Death Choice

Chu Xuan stepped into the corridor and froze instantly, the blood seemingly draining from his body.

What kind of despair-inducing scene was this?

The walls of the entire corridor looked as if they had been doused by a crimson waterfall, covered in splattered bloodstains.

Severed limbs were scattered everywhere, and the sight of several bloody finger marks clawed into the walls made Chu Xuan's heart tremble.

The door to the dormitory opposite him was shattered, seemingly broken open by brute force; mutilated chunks of corpses were clearly visible inside.

Blood and shredded meat clung to the light tubes hanging from the ceiling, casting everything in sight into a dim, blood-colored hue.

Right by his feet, a head with its skull bitten open stared at him with empty eye sockets. A section of spinal column hung from a nearby fire cabinet, and a strand of hair matted with brain matter was hooked onto jagged glass shards.

The fire door over twenty meters away was dented and twisted, jammed by several piled-up corpses. Those bodies looked like plasticine kneaded by immense strength, their limbs entangled at anti-joint angles.

The tragic state of Wang Hua in the dormitory had been horrific enough, but compared to the hellish scene before him, it was like comparing a small wizard to a great one.

Most of the doors on both sides of the corridor were open. Not far away, more than a dozen people were gathered, their clamor mixed with shouts of "Kill him, kill him quickly!" revealing intense panic and rage.

Muffled thuds of "bang bang" came from within the crowd from time to time, sounding like some heavy object striking a person's body.

"Holy crap! This is a living Hell..." Tang Zheng's mouth hung wide open.

Chu Xuan instinctively wanted to retreat back into the room, but the soles of his shoes made a sticky "squelch." As he lifted his foot, a thin thread of dark red blood stretched out.

At the same time, someone noticed the movement and immediately roared, "The door to 412 is open!"

Gaze after gaze instantly snapped toward them.

"More people came out?"

"Why did two come out this time? Are they both monsters?"

"Doesn't matter what they are, restrain them first!"

"..."

The crowd chattered and pressed closer. Seeing Chu Xuan covered in blood and holding a blood-stained fruit knife, they became somewhat wary and refrained from doing anything too drastic for the moment.

However, everyone's emotions were highly agitated, as if they were on the verge of an explosion.

Chu Xuan's heart chilled. Originally, he had planned to head straight for the roof as fast as possible without getting entangled with anyone after leaving the room.

But the terrifyingly bloody scene in the corridor forced him to be cautious. Especially these surrounding students—the panic in their expressions was unmistakable, yet they hadn't fled. This could only mean one thing...

These people were all trapped!

Chu Xuan immediately exchanged his only 10 points of spirituality value for 1 attribute point. Without hesitation, he added it directly to Strength.

[You have used 1 attribute point]

[Your Strength +1]

[Current Strength: 9]

[Remaining Attribute Points: 0]

In an instant, his overall strength increased significantly again. Although it wasn't the intense aching sensation of gaining 3 attribute points at once like before, he felt a faint sense of his body being tightened to its limit. His breathing, in particular, felt noticeably heavier.

Chu Xuan felt this might be related to his low stamina attribute. Compared to a stamina of 4, a Strength of 9 was indeed somewhat of an overload.

But he didn't regret the choice. After all, with only one attribute point, rather than spreading it to stamina, it was better to let his Strength reach a level that could crush an ordinary person.

"What are you doing? Everyone, back off!" Tang Zheng glared, fully on guard.

"Are you monsters?" someone shouted loudly.

"Why bother with nonsense? There are definitely monsters inside all these dorms that won't open. Ma Tao, who just ran out of 403, is proof! These two must be monsters in disguise too!" another person shrieked, his neck straining as he reached out to grab Tang Zheng's arm.

"Get lost!"

Tang Zheng slapped the hand away and pointed his square club at the crowd, cursing, "Are you blind? The monster was killed by us. Chu Xuan and I are human! Open your damn eyes and look clearly!"

Tang Zheng stepped half-aside so everyone could clearly see the monster's corpse inside.

Seeing the scene inside the dorm, everyone was shocked, but the man from before continued to yell:

"Don't believe him! Who can guarantee there's only one monster per dorm? Listen to me, let's restrain these two and tie them up first!"

"Xu Fan, shut your mouth! Keep talking and see if I don't mess you up!" Tang Zheng shouted coldly.

"Try it! Do you think we're afraid of you with so many people?" Xu Fan had a vicious expression as he roared, "Come on, try and make a move!"

Chu Xuan's eyes flickered as he tightened his grip on the fruit knife, preparing to strike first to intimidate them. Otherwise, if the standoff continued and they were swarmed, they would surely suffer.

But at that moment, Chu Xuan suddenly trembled as a series of System notifications that made his scalp tingle appeared before him.

[Detected that you are at the intersection of The Gloom. Quest function enabled.]

[Quest Name: Life and Death Escape]

[Quest Description: The dormitory under the night sky is shrouded in thick fog. Over a thousand fresh lives are locked in a cage; a bloody feast has begun!

This is the killing rule of day and night, the logical reasoning of lies and truth. The existence hidden in the darkness may have already discovered you. Can you truly escape with your life?]

[Quest Objective: Escape the dormitory building]

[Quest Reward: One random transcendent skill]

[Failure Penalty: None]

[Time Limit: None]

[Do you choose to accept the quest?]

At this point, the pale blue System page suddenly froze, as if it had dropped frames. After flickering a few times, it instantly turned an eerie blood-red.

Following that, massive crimson words appeared one after another!

[Warning!]

[Warning!]

[Warning!]

[You have violated the rules. Judgment in progress...]

[Judgment complete. Forced obliteration!]

—Wait! I haven't done anything yet, how did I violate the rules?

Cold sweat poured down Chu Xuan's forehead as he tried to communicate with the System, but he received no feedback.

Oh no!

Could it be that communicating with Future Tang Zheng in the dream was what violated some rule?

Chu Xuan thought back to that sentence Future Tang Zheng had sent him in the dream—

[You must remember, we have already violated the rules!]

His entire body was unable to move, and a powerful sense of mortal crisis enveloped his heart, as if he were facing a catastrophic disaster. Just as Chu Xuan thought he was going to die again, the System page changed once more.

[Correction starting...]

[Correcting...]

[Correction complete!]

The blood-red color faded, and the System screen returned to its fluorescent pale blue. Chu Xuan felt he had regained control of his body and let out a sigh of relief, his body drenched in cold sweat.

What just happened?

In his bewilderment, Chu Xuan noticed the quest notification popped up again, but it had changed significantly from before.

[Detected that you are in the intersection of The Gloom. Forced quest enabled.]

[Quest Name: Choice of Life and Death]

[Quest Description: The dormitory under the night sky is shrouded in thick fog. Over a thousand fresh lives are locked in a cage; a bloody feast has begun!

This is the killing rule of day and night, the logical reasoning of lies and truth. The Night Demon hidden in the darkness has taken notice of you. Every decision you make will be a test of life and death! Can you truly stand against it?]

[Quest Objective: Prevent the Night Demon's advancement]

[Quest Reward: Choose one of three random God-Ascension Sequences]

[Failure Penalty: Forced obliteration]

[Time Limit: 4:00 AM]

[Quest... Start!]

[2:34:58]

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[2:34:59]

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[2:35:00]

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