Reward

Disconnected.

Zhu Yan suddenly felt a chill running down his spine.

Having been in contact with the broadcast system for this long, Zhu Yan had once earned the reward of "defining the broadcast," and the broadcast had also let slip talk of "clocking in and clocking out."

Though he had no idea what kind of horrifying creature lurked behind that female voice, the broadcast was undeniably a vital tool and the voice of will for 【Carnival Paradise】.

Something like that could potentially be used as a tool to mess with players and creatures alike, deliberately airing false information.

But disconnecting...

Disconnection, followed by an identical voice cutting in to air an obviously bogus announcement, and about none other than Zhu Yan's personal enemy.

In Zhu Yan's eyes, this felt less like an accident and more like a warning, a notice, or an outright declaration of war.

"...Ji Qingting is a player?" Chen Zhaoxing's puzzled voice came through.

"Impossible." Yang Zhanbai's denial was absolute. "If a player could climb to that level, their ranking would definitely be above Zhu Zeyu's."

Yuan Chen asked, "Does anyone know this person?"

Zhu Yan didn't chime in, and no one answered Yuan Chen's question either.

The atmosphere in the dormitory sank into a subtle silence, until the broadcast woman's voice rang out once more.

"Next, we will announce the collective rewards for this event."

The female voice read it out as casually as if the brief disconnection had truly been nothing more than a harmless little glitch.

"For all students who failed this examination, 【Carnival Paradise】 will nonetheless mercifully grant a 10-minute revival window."

"If a student's corpse is incomplete, then 【Carnival Paradise】 will preserve the head, or bestow a temporary head that can be used for expression."

"Considering that many students' actual cities of residence are far across mountains and rivers, we have decided, in our mercy, to deliver revived students directly to their family members."

"This reward will be distributed immediately following this broadcast."

As much as he'd witnessed plenty of sickening, brutal scenes, Zhu Yan still felt a wave of nausea.

He thought of those students who'd been killed and dismembered by the Porcelain Doll Xingzi.

If a cleaned-up head suddenly appeared in front of their parents...

"For all students who passed this examination, we will reward each of you with ten days of vacation."

"During the vacation period, students may freely enter and exit the campus, but it is strictly prohibited to bring off-campus players or humans onto school grounds."

"Students ranked in the top thirty of the four-school overall leaderboard will receive one month of waived dormitory rent."

The voice paused: "The leaderboard will be announced above each school in 15 minutes. Students may also learn about individual rent waiver rewards in advance through the private channel broadcast."

"Please keep an eye on your private channel broadcasts for other individual rewards. Goodbye."

Nice.

Zhu Yan was feeling nice.

This 【Carnival Paradise】—how was it even saving him money?

Under the bed, Yang Zhanbai was eagerly asking Chen Zhaoxing: "You two wanna come live with us? Seems like five people could squeeze in, right?"

Then came Chen Zhaoxing's refusal.

"No thanks, we can have a whole ten-person room to ourselves—spacious and cheaper."

"What?"

This time, Chen Zhaoxing fell strangely silent.

Zhu Yan heard the rustle of fabric, and Yang Zhanbai seemed ready to ask again.

Zhu Yan curiously leaned a little closer, but before Chen Zhaoxing could answer, his ears were occupied once more by the female voice.

"Congratulations, your account has been logged out."

"Now, I will broadcast your generous individual rewards!"

Oh oh oh.

Compared to Chen Zhaoxing's sneaky little schemes, the lure of the rewards was far more thrilling!

"In this examination, you played three roles single-handedly, achieving outstanding results with decent flair."

"You helped the audience of 【Court of Many Performances】 win their bets, so they have generously decided to give you a cut."

"Congratulations, you have received a base reward of 600 bone gold coins and a dividend of 10,000 bone gold coins."

Holy crap.

Ten thousand bone gold coins—converted to human currency, that's a million.

How much gear could that buy?

"Bone gold coins have many uses."

The female voice reminded him with measured emphasis.

"You achieved first and second place in this examination. Therefore, 【Xishan University】 will waive two months of your rent."

That's only a few dozen bone gold coins.

But even a mosquito has meat on it; Zhu Yan was so pleased his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Your player level has risen to Level 8. Congratulations!"

"At Level 7, you might need to hide and duck around—at Level 8..."

The voice paused. "Apologies, but before the eyes of creatures, Level 8 still means hiding and ducking around. However, against top players from Baima City, you can now hold your own."

That was enough.

Zhu Yan still remembered the scene from a few days ago when he and his uncanny-valley friend had gone to the 【Hall of Mourning】.

At the time, they'd been eavesdropping on a conversation among a group of second-generation rich kids.

Those people had said that in a month's time, there would be a large dungeon where abilities could be contested and seized.

Indeed, Zhu Yan had accumulated quite a few abilities by now.

But when it came to abilities, he never had too many.

He wouldn't mind having a few more!

Reaching player Level 8 meant that in a dungeon rife with conflict like this, he could be just a bit more secure.

"During dungeon completion, you used abilities 【Impersonation】, 【Complaint】, 【Bullying】, abilities 【Telekinesis】, 【Honoring One's Ancestors】, 【I Must Take This Bargain】, 【Affair】, and ability 【Shield】."

Right, and there was also 【Everyone Has Their Fate】—Zhu Yan just never found a chance to use it.

"Congratulations, some of your abilities have been upgraded."

"For specific upgrade details, please check the 【Player Personal Center】 at your convenience."

Huh, not bad.

"Additionally." The female voice's pitch dipped slightly, almost sounding serious.

"Due to this dungeon's completion, your 【Hunter】 rank has risen to Level 2, and the difficulty of 【Hunter】 missions will increase."

"Dear 【Hunter】, considering the tasks you will need to execute in the future, we have prepared an upgrade gift pack for you."

Now this was something good?

Zhu Yan sighed inwardly.

After all this time, finally some 【Hunter】 perks?

"What kind of talk is that?" the female voice giggled back in his mind.

"To ensure you can walk among the mortal world with greater ease, we have perfected and whitewashed the loopholes in the identity profile for 【Zhu Zeyu】."

"Among it, the biological information belonging to 【Zhu Yan】 has been blurred out, while 【Zhu Zeyu】's biological information has been re-edited."

"Please make your way to the 【Declaration Stage】 within three days to collect your new profile and memorize it, ensuring you don't slip up."

"And please remember to collect the next 【Hunter】 mission."

This was indeed a generous gift.

But what kind of mission did 【Carnival Paradise】 need him to carry out that warranted such a fuss?

"Lastly, the overall player leaderboard will soon be open."

"Good luck, dear 【Hunter】. Don't let 【Carnival Paradise】 down!"

The voice faded.

Zhu Yan let out a long breath and slowly climbed down from his bed.

The rewards were rich.

However, he still had to pay a visit to the art students over there, and also clean out whatever needed looting.

"The broadcast's over—get some rest," he said, patting Yuan Chen and Qin Yang on the shoulders, using a perfectly solid excuse.

"You two, come with me. The passage will only stay open for 24 hours, so I'll send you both back."