Anyone who argues with me is gay.

Just as he had expected, this place was fraught with lethal danger.

During the day, horror creatures look no different from humans, and they will not attack any players.

Players can trade with them normally to exchange for necessary supplies and locate establishments run by humans.

Well, looking at it in isolation, this wasn't too bad. At least they could buy things like medicine and flashlights.

However, whether the food sold by these horror creatures was actually pork or something else was hard to say.

Places run and inhabited by humans are all locations where you can hide!

However, you must obtain the permission of the shop owner or homeowner before you can enter.

If the other party evicts you, Carnival Paradise will directly strip you of your access to that location.

Zhu Yan sneered.

Was this the so-called lowered difficulty?

He possessed storage items that most players wouldn't have, and as a Hunter, he naturally didn't fear the horror creatures.

But what about the other ordinary players?

Under conditions where the duration of safety was entirely unpredictable, they had to search through a massive number of shops and buildings to find ones run and owned by humans, and then figure out a way to get permission to stay from the human operators.

Even if they were lucky enough to find one, what if daytime only lasted for one hour, and the remaining 23 hours were night?

What shop would allow a customer to stay for such a long time?

Let alone residences—no one would agree to let a stranger into their home, especially when the stranger would likely have a panicked expression and demand to stay indefinitely.

Zhu Yan unconsciously tightened his grip on his phone.

He kept his focus and continued listening to the rest.

Students who fail to reach Xishan University before the end of the instance will be judged as having failed to clear it, resulting in a failing grade for the entrance exam.

You will die in a very natural manner. This is a special welfare benefit provided to players by Carnival Paradise.

Special welfare: a peaceful death with an intact corpse.

Zhu Yan highly suspected that these were actually the meat sources for the online mall, but he had no proof of collusion between the crematoriums and Carnival Paradise.

Special reminder: This is not a joke.

Repeat: We are serious.

By this point, the female voice had become severely distorted.

Zhu Yan had to listen incredibly carefully to distinguish even a hint of a familiar timbre.

Before seven o'clock tomorrow morning, students will receive their player badges and ability cards. Please merge with them promptly.

Lastly, all the students have worked hard, and Carnival Paradise understands the difficulties of the college entrance examination.

Therefore, we are specially offering two choices this time.

Choice one: Participate in this closed beta instance. Students who survive will receive some rewards.

Choice two: Do not participate in this closed beta instance.

Students who do not participate will not die, but they must wait for notification and report to the school in a timely manner.

The choice will be confirmed with everyone tomorrow morning.

The video ended there.

Zhu Yan instinctively distrusted that second choice.

How could that be possible?

In the broadcast following the end of the Devouring Villa instance, Carnival Paradise had quite nakedly revealed its goal of devouring the entire world.

Students not participating in the instance went completely against its goal!

Zhu Yan's finger scrolled down little by little. The freshman group chat had completely exploded.

He exhaled, calmed himself down, and carefully read through the messages one by one.

I'm at my wit's end, please have the teachers deal with this! I know it's fake, but it really scared me.

It must be a prank. I literally laughed when I heard the last sentence. If you don't participate, you won't die, just wait for the registration notice.

It was really scary at first, but the last sentence made it glaringly obvious that it was a joke.

Out of the three thousand people in the group, a significant portion remained silent.

Because of this leading narrative, the majority of those who did speak up still didn't believe it.

Zhu Yan continued reading, quickly scrolling past a bunch of messages from people losing their minds, flaming each other, and demanding that the school handle it properly and issue a statement.

The students' emotions were escalating, and the Xishan University Academic Affairs Office finally responded.

Please remain calm, students. Currently, students in both of our university's freshman groups have reported this situation, and we are investigating the relevant facts.

Our university has never set any kind of entrance examination. Please rest assured and wait at home for the registration notice in accordance with the university's official communications.

The teacher from the Xishan University Academic Affairs Office spoke with righteous indignation.

Zhu Yan watched patiently. The sound of the kitten meowing and swallowing, along with the hum of the air conditioner, brought him a sense of reality.

As the cold air slowly sank, Zhu Yan felt goosebumps rise on his arms.

He turned his head to look at the sunlight outside the window and pulled his blanket up a bit to cover his legs.

If everyone really chose not to go, would Carnival Paradise actually let everyone off?

The sun cast the shadow of the window frame onto the bed. Zhu Yan's gaze followed it, feeling as though death was following him like a shadow.

He zoned out for a moment, refocusing his eyes on the phone screen after a dozen seconds.

A few long messages had appeared in the chat interface, and they weren't from the Academic Affairs Office teacher.

Hello everyone. I advise you all to participate in the game, and I also advise the school teachers to stay out of it.

My friend is in Bailu City, and I believe everyone has heard about the incident where a large number of people died suddenly there.

I can responsibly tell you that these people died in a game instance. I myself am also a player.

Zhu Yan was startled, immediately recalling the ability card that had been posted in another group earlier.

Holy crap, what happened to the forum homepage's warning about not exposing personal privacy?

Are other people really this bold, just coming right out and outing themselves as players?

He hurriedly checked the avatar and nickname of the person who posted, only to find that their privacy was perfectly intact, without a single detail exposed.

This person's avatar was... uh, the red and white Xuexitong icon.

Nickname: Anyone Who Argues With Me Is Gay.

Zhu Yan was speechless.

This person's remarks clearly provoked some dissatisfaction.

Who are you? Trying to pick a fight? Do you have too much free time?

Don't think I won't argue with you just because of your crappy nickname. I am gay, so what?

Use your real name if you have the guts. Do you dare?

The Xuexitong icon ignored them completely, just minding their own business and finishing what they wanted to say.

I am currently in Anwu City and have just cleared a solo novice instance.

All I can say is that horror creatures are real, and the instances are incredibly perilous.

Students from Anwu City, think about the text messages you've received and the news you've seen recently.

Oh, solo novice instances were quite rare.

Most importantly, the fact that this person managed to survive meant they had already surpassed 60 percent of new players.

Zhu Yan read on with great interest.

Cannibalism, plagues, black envelopes.

Do you really think all of this is normal?

Anyway, I don't buy that nonsense about being able to opt out. The rest of you can do as you please. I've given my warning.

After leaving this warning, the person went silent.

This single stone stirred up a thousand ripples, and the freshman group chat erupted with intense emotions once again.

The difference was that this time, many people's stances began to waver.

Is this real or fake? Holy shit, don't scare me.

Is this a conspiracy theory? Can you tell us what class you're in? Please, I'm really afraid this is a troll.

One person's opinion, however, was somewhat smart.

"For everyone in the group currently in Anwu City, let's just gather at the station tomorrow at eight thirty in the morning."

"If all of this is true, we'll just bite the bullet and participate. If it's a hoax, there's no harm done, and everyone goes home happy."

"I think this is the safest bet!"

"Participate my ass!" someone quickly replied with an objection. "It said we have the option not to participate. Isn't it safer to just opt out? Even if it's a rule, it wouldn't lie to us, right!"

Zhu Yan wanted to keep scrolling down the chat.

However, a crisp female voice abruptly echoed through his world, bringing a new message.

"Greetings, Hunter!"

"Please focus your attention and listen to the Alpha Wolf's arrangements and additional information."

"If you have any objections, you may raise them verbally once the announcements have concluded."