Official Notice

Zhu Yan's mind buzzed.

All the previous instances had only been announced through secretive broadcasts.

Was it going to be this blatant this time, using an app directly?

Zhu Yan's fingers moved faster than his brain, scrolling down bit by bit to read the messages.

Below, some students followed suit by posting screenshots, echoing with comments like "I have the same situation" and "Same question."

Someone even opened the course video and recorded a three-minute screen capture.

"I recorded the screen, can a teacher take a look? Is this some kind of prank, or did the school simply make a mistake? Please handle it!"

Zhu Yan's heart skipped a beat.

He stared at the screen, feeling a chill in his heart.

It couldn't be an instance notification, could it?

The tuxedo cat sensed Zhu Yan's emotions and slowly walked over from the other end of the bed to rub against him.

"Meow," it said.

Zhu Yan took out a small bag of fried ribs from his ring and gave it to the cat, letting it eat on the floor first.

He then clicked on the video himself. The next second, a familiar, crisp female voice echoed throughout the room.

"Congratulations to all the students who worked hard to get into a higher education institution like Xishan University."

"The large-scale closed beta instance [What's the Time, Mr. Wolf] is about to begin. This is your entrance exam."

"Considering how hard you all have studied, [Carnival Paradise] has decided to lower the difficulty of this instance."

Zhu Yan didn't dare to get distracted at all, maintaining a high level of concentration.

"Lower the difficulty"—he didn't believe those words for a single second.

"We have specially designed a considerate rule: during the day, you will not suffer any harm."

"Please listen carefully to the requirements, freshmen."

The female voice, which originally had a 3D surround sound effect in his ears, now came out of the phone's speaker, carrying the unique fuzziness of an online class recording and the faint static of a microphone.

Zhu Yan noticed that compared to the previous broadcasts, the pitch of the female voice had been raised a notch.

Its speaking speed and intonation remained unchanged, presenting an overall sense of fake, mechanical cheerfulness.

A slight chill exploded down Zhu Yan's back.

He stared at the screen, guessing what new tricks [Carnival Paradise] was going to play this time.

"Instance: [What's the Time, Mr. Wolf]."

"Instance Location: Parts of the urban area in Anwu City."

"Participants: Freshmen from four schools, including Xishan University. We have chosen to notify them separately."

No wonder the task on [The Recitative] stated twenty thousand people.

The survival rate for novice instances was originally only around 40%.

Zhu Yan had experienced the blow of losing both parents in his early years, and had developed quite formidable stress resistance and reaction skills while living at his aunt's house. He considered his psychological resilience to be quite good.

But what about the other students?

An instance of twenty thousand people, in the eyes of terrifying creatures, would just be a lavish buffet.

If calculated based on a 40% survival rate...

Zhu Yan thought of a scene where blood flowed like a river, instinctively feeling fear.

He wanted to dry heave, but for some reason, a sudden euphoria rose from the soles of his feet.

As a weak current of joy slowly climbed upwards, he felt every bundle of muscles from his calves to the sides of his spine completely relax.

This was the power of [Thrilling Euphoria]; the [Euphoria] part seemed to have intensified once again.

Zhu Yan bit the tip of his tongue to keep himself awake.

He focused his attention and continued watching the video.

"Instance Start Time: Tomorrow, August 20th, at exactly 9:00 AM."

"Taking into consideration that some students have a long journey, we are specially notifying you 18 hours in advance. Please purchase your tickets promptly and arrive at Anwu North Station before the instance begins. This is also the starting point of the instance."

"Heartfelt Advice: Do not bring too much luggage. Excess items will become your burden."

The starting point of the instance was Anwu North Station.

Zhu Yan swallowed hard, unable to help but feel curious about the instance's content again.

Experience told him that at this time, the words of [Carnival Paradise] had to be heeded.

Not bringing too much luggage probably meant that players needed to run or move quickly to avoid danger.

This sentence clashed with the statement "you will not suffer any harm during the day," creating a subtle sense of contradiction.

If they wouldn't suffer any harm during the day, then why was it still not recommended to bring luggage?

Zhu Yan smiled slightly, thinking of the game "What's the Time, Mr. Wolf" he used to play as a child.

He often played the role of the "Old Wolf" under his younger brother's tyrannical coercion, while his brother and his cronies played the humans.

Zhu Yan had to stand 30 meters away with his back to them. After the game started, his brother would lead the group forward, and with every step they took, they would ask, "What's the time, Mr. Wolf?"

Zhu Yan then had to call out the time. One o'clock to eleven o'clock was daytime, during which he had to stand still and couldn't move.

Once he said "It's dark," he could turn around and chase them.

If the humans patted the Old Wolf's shoulder before dark, the humans won.

If the humans were caught by the wolf after dark, the humans lost.

Nighttime was the time for the "wolf" to catch people.

Players couldn't bring too many things, likely because it would be hard for them to find shelter at night and they would need to maintain high-speed movement!

Zhu Yan took off the [Storage Silver Ring] on his left hand, threaded it onto a chain, and hung it around his neck.

With this storage ring that could hold a bunch of things, it was indeed much more convenient.

On the pitch-black screen, the broadcast continued.

"Anwu City has no sun, only the [Floating Clock]."

"The [Floating Clock] will announce the time according to the will of the Alpha Wolf."

"Among them, one o'clock to eleven o'clock is daytime."

"If the [Floating Clock] shouts 'Twelve o'clock, it's dark!', then night will fall immediately."

Zhu Yan had seen the [Floating Clock] in the [Thriller Map].

It was that giant clock floating below Anwu North Station. The clock face was painted with a heavily colored, exaggeratedly laughing human face, possessing the same superficial, hypocritical happiness as the female broadcast voice.

Zhu Yan knew that the time called out by the "wolf" did not follow any particular pattern.

The "wolf" could easily call out "One o'clock" the first time, and directly shout "It's dark!" the second time, then turn around to catch people.

Such erratic timekeeping and unannounced darkness would only reap more lives!

Lowered the difficulty? Where was it lowered?

Faint static sounds came from the center of the screen as the female voice continued broadcasting with a crackle, reminding Zhu Yan of old-fashioned televisions or radios from his childhood.

Its timbre had already changed somewhat.

Zhu Yan knew that trembling in fear was the normal reaction, but that voice stirred up euphoria; a slight joy washed over every bundle of his muscles like warm water.

Zhu Yan thought of the words spoken by the art student.

He hurriedly shifted his attention back to the screen and felt much better.

"Students, you need to walk from the instance's starting point, Anwu North Station, to the instance's destination, Xishan University, within the specified time."

The broadcast did not state how long the "specified time" was.

Zhu Yan recalled that on the task slip given by [The Recitative], it was stated that "the task will last for three to five days."

But whether it was exactly three days or five days, Zhu Yan did not know either.

...Why?

"Attention, daytime is the time you can travel."

"Please find a hiding place in advance before dark, because the nights in Anwu City are very dangerous!"

"The streets of Anwu City are far from desolate. The avenues and alleys are lined with countless restaurants, convenience stores, pharmacies, clinics, cafes, and flower shops, alongside everyday infrastructure like residential complexes and public parks."

"However, the proprietors of these shops might not necessarily be human, and the residential buildings might not house human tenants either."

"We have unleashed terrifying creatures for you!"