“The blood has the scent of corpse blood, completely devoid of vitality. It might not be due to the absence of a parasitic host, but rather because the parasitic host has the ability to turn living beings into corpses; this camouflage ability allowed her to evade the night watchman’s detection, infiltrate, and obtain the key.”
“This is also a form of deductive logic.”
“But… does she only have this camouflage ability and no combat power at all?”
Otherwise, why would she run?
Liu Shen initially thought Huo You was her greatest opponent and planned to eliminate her before deciphering the dungeon.
But… she ran.
She looked down at the bronze badge in her hand and the one on Joker’s body.
Killing her would definitely yield benefits, but the fact that she let such a good opportunity slip by shows that she truly lacks sufficient combat strength.
A misjudgment.
This person poses no real threat; as long as we guard against being outmaneuvered by her schemes, there’s nothing to worry about.
Huo You really ran.
Without any hesitation.
Brook couldn’t understand it. “Why didn’t you fight her? This is so embarrassing.”
Huo You: “Do you not know what kind of parasitic host she is?”
Brook: “Isn’t she just a C21 Forest Whisperer? I’m an S-class Brook.”
Huo You: “She’s pure-blooded; you’re mixed.”
She could tell at a glance that this Forest Whisperer’s sound penetration was quite strong.
Just now, from over ten meters away, it made her eardrums ache for a while.
One can only imagine how miserable Joker must have felt being instantly killed.
Brook wanted to say that he was also pure-blooded, but thinking about his fragmented state… well, forget it.
With his original embryo incomplete, he was no different from a mixed-blood.
Once he had enough nutrients to repair his genes to their complete state, he would tell her he was pure-blooded.
Hmph!
Huo You: “Moreover, you’ve only been awake for less than 24 hours. She’s been cultivated for at least a few years. Whether it’s physical condition, nutrient supply, or even skill application, she’s far superior to me.”
Brook: “Oh, so it’s your fault. Why didn’t you find and awaken me earlier?”
Huo You: “…..”
Alright, alright, my mixed-blood little prince Brook doesn’t internalize stress at all; he just stressed out his host.
But three years ago, I was still picking up trash and making pizzas.
Sigh.
Huo You was both amused and exasperated.
“No choice, the initial conditions weren’t great. I’m not aiming for a high score in this exam, just to pass by dealing with as many people as possible.”
“Don’t blame me for being low-level and unambitious.”
Brook: “But what if you’re exposed as having a parasitic host… I’m still Brook. If people ask why such a setup only managed to pass, ranking in the hundreds in the exam hall and tens of thousands in the region, what about our face? How will we survive in the future?”
So young, born less than 24 hours ago, and you’re already acting like a gangster?
So concerned about my face.
Huo You: “Huh? Aren’t you a Kakaroling?”
Just stick to this answer!
Brook: “…..”
Alright, he was sure his host was also a face-conscious person.
Wasn’t this excuse already prepared to save face?
Brook asked Huo You what to do next.
Huo You was on the move, seemingly avoiding Liu Shen’s pursuit, but she said Liu Shen probably didn’t have time to deal with her anymore.
The fact that she didn’t take advantage of the darkness to ambush her shows that she truly couldn’t defeat her.
This judgment indicates that her combat power poses no threat to Liu Shen, so Liu Shen naturally had to turn back to attend to more pressing matters.
“Upstairs, things are about to get chaotic.”
Brook: “Are they testing the keys? Liu Shen is quite good at hiding. Will they really fight directly?”
Huo You: “Maybe, but I’m a bit curious. Such a C-level pure-blood, well-cultivated, and with excellent control-from the burst of sound penetration to its end, all within three seconds-this isn’t something just anyone can do.”
“Her control is truly outstanding. She shouldn’t have chosen the simple level.”
This is strange.
Brook didn’t know either.
He was only concerned about whether there would be a fight upstairs, and…
“Something’s coming down.”
Brook’s sensory perception was stronger than Huo You’s, after all, Huo You’s perception enhancement came from him.
But as long as he was around, the S-class Brook’s innate abilities, even as passive skills, were far superior to the specialized abilities of other parasitic hosts.
So, while moving with Huo You, he heard the commotion.
In an instant, Huo You frowned and immediately slipped into a dark corridor nearby.
Behind them, in the basement, various chaotic noises emerged from the maze of passageways.
Climbing, jumping, crawling…
They were coming down.
The night watchman from the morgue was indeed following the commotion.
Some were surely lured away by Qi Dao and the others, while others were attracted by the sound waves Liu Shen had just released.
But… some would definitely follow Huo You.
Huo You rubbed her wound, knowing that the scent of blood would eventually attract these monsters.
This simple level had become strange ever since Liu Shen, a candidate with brains and a C-level parasitic host, appeared.
“Everything stems from the system’s high mobility. It adjusts the difficulty based on the candidates’ performance and plot changes, making the monster system’s interference creatures respond differently. So, what’s called the simple level actually isn’t simple.”
“Chosen as simple, but in reality, it’s not simple.”
“Liu Shen is such a hassle.”
Huo You was a bit resentful of Liu Shen.
Brook: “Exactly, she’s too much. With a C-level parasitic host and good grades, there’s no need for her to mix in the simple level. Now she’s dragging us down. I just saw that her bronze badge has 40 points.”
Huo You: “Right.”
As she said this, the bronze badge hidden in her sleeve showed a score of 58.8 points.
Glimmering faintly.
Resentment aside, the pursuing noises were getting closer.
Unless Huo You activated the “corpse” state, consuming the last precious three minutes, she couldn’t shake them off.
They had no vision, but their sense of smell was truly formidable.
“It’s no use, you need to use ‘corpse’. At most, I’ll exhaust myself to create another ‘corpse’, but I’ll need to hibernate for a month. The main thing is to pass this exam.”
Brook could sense Huo You’s urgency to pass the first level of this college entrance exam dungeon.
Because her situation outside was truly dire, hence the meticulous planning and retreat.
Being cautious because she couldn’t afford to lose.
In that case, even if it meant damaging her foundation, she had to overcome this hurdle.
“Use it quickly. I’ll start creating another corpse, which should give us at least five minutes of effect.”
Brook was ready to sacrifice his equipment, still maintaining his dignity, and shouted.
“Just remember to tell everyone I’m a Kakaroling, okay?!”
He couldn’t afford to lose face!
Huo You, who had been focused on escaping, paused upon hearing this. “No need.”
“They won’t keep chasing me.”
Brook: “? They’re right behind you…”
Huo You had already reached the staircase leading from the basement to the upper floors.
The 30-degree inclined staircase folded upwards, and the night watchman-controlled corpses were grunting and emerging from various dark spaces.
In the third second after Brook warned Huo You.
Bang!
One of them burst through the stairwell door, appearing at the base of the stairs.
It stood motionless, its skinned nose twitching…
It didn’t chase upwards, which meant it suspected its prey was still here.
Suddenly, its head tilted, looking towards the front corner.
At that moment… in the dark shadows.
The person crouching in the space under the 30-degree staircase.
Huo You, less than 2.5 meters away from it.
Her finger wound was completely bandaged.
But the “corpse” state wasn’t activated.
Its skinless leg was about to take a step forward, moving closer.
Both Brook and Huo You remained utterly silent… Brook thought she would activate the “corpse” state at the last second to mask her living presence, tricking it into leaving once it got close.
But.
1,2,3…
It took a step, the terrifying skinless corpse about to bend down and look under the stairs.
Huo You, with Brook’s enhanced night vision, could already see its legs.
Any creature without skin, no matter how perfectly shaped, appears horrifying but she noticed that their skinless flesh and blood vessels, aside from being covered in dust and emitting a methanol smell along with varying degrees of decay, had nothing else.
For example… hosting other bacteria.
What they showed now were just the normal decay processes of their own bacterial flora, not the strange infections she had often seen since coming to this world, or the various inflammations, skin, and tissue issues others had repeatedly suffered over the past three years.
Huh?
The skin is the most important protective layer, whether for the living or the dead.
They weren’t infected, which means the air quality in this dormitory building was quite healthy.
This might be the most humane aspect of the fourth college entrance exam system.
After all, it’s the simple level.
Huo You was pondering this.
The corpse’s head was also tilting downward…
That horrifying, disgusting scene… didn’t happen.
Boom!
A loud noise came from the first floor.
Whoosh!
It immediately turned its head towards the stairs above, grunting, its bloody breath coming in and out, and with a roar, it dashed upwards.
The other “corpses” followed closely behind.
All of them went up.
Once they were all gone.
Only then did Brook ask Huo You in his mind:
“Did you know the fight upstairs would break out so quickly?”
Just two minutes ago, he was still talking to her about it, and now it had already started…
Huo You: “Yes.”
Brook: “Why?”
Huo You: “Because, among the keys I gave them… there was a real one.”
Brook: “!”
Brook was shocked, sensing that she seemed to have other plans, at least she had her own ideas about the plot’s rhythm.
“There are 20 minutes left until the dungeon ends.”
“And there’s one last wave of 30 questions.”
“Time is tight.”
Huo You: “Not tight. I can make it tighter.”
Brook: “?”
She exited the stairwell, went around, and reached the basement elevator.
She pressed the button to open it, squeezed some blood from her finger, and smeared it heavily on the elevator wall.
At the same time, the system popped up with the second wave of side-quest answer requests.
Her actions had triggered it.
Because she had pushed the final plot forward-the door was about to be opened.
Now even the night watchman had been lured upstairs…
They were all gathering together.
And since she had previously chosen to trigger side-quests without limits, this meant their number and triggering rhythm depended on her own performance.
Extra points were great, but not easy to get.
Side-quest question four began…
Do you think opening the door with the key means the dungeon ends?
Do you think the night watchman, once appearing, can successfully open the door?
What do you think are the possible ways to end the dungeon?
When do you think the remaining 30 questions will appear?
What?
These weren’t normal knowledge-based questions but soft knowledge detached from hard facts, reflecting a comprehensive understanding and prediction of the dungeon’s rules and the candidate group…
Brook thought the system was a bit quirky.
Wasn’t this a waste of side-quest questions?
They were hard to answer.
After all, if one could answer them correctly, wouldn’t that mean the host could control the entire situation?
Huo You also frowned.
She looked up.
The stairs were dim, with only the cold light from the first floor, where the corpses had burst through the stairwell door, slanting down.
She answered the first question.
“It won’t end because this building has two main doors, north and south, but I only got one key.”
In such a large structure, she naturally didn’t have time to cover both ends, but that didn’t stop her from knowing this fact.
Huo You remembered that after taking the key to the basement, she had opened the storage cabinet in the supply room and found a pegboard with many keychains.
Five floors, 25 rooms each, 125 keys, 125 pegs, but the pegboard had more than 125 pegs.
The simple level’s hints followed certain rules, not too convoluted or bizarre.
“127 pegs, with two empty ones left for the two main doors. This is the hint.”
“A dungeon doesn’t need to leave two key clues to solve it. The simple level isn’t that tricky.”
“Which means that one key is real, but also fake.”
Brook: ???!!!
Bad news: She gave away the real key.
Good news: The real key is also fake.
Huo You continued to express her emotions:
“The night watchman is scheming against us candidates. It’s shameless.”
That fake key, the night watchman really left it!
While Huo You thought the night watchman was despicable, she didn’t think she had any issues.
A scholar’s adaptability during the college entrance exam, how could that be called despicable?
That’s called elegance.
As for the commotion upstairs…
Were people starting to die?
The night watchman is truly evil!
Trash!