Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Pagoda Primary School
[Third Mission]
Before February 5th, regardless of the mode of transportation used, travel to Pagoda Primary School and check in to complete the mission.
Game Participants: Gao Tian, Su Jiu, Ling Feifei, Zhou Yan.
...
After Gao Tian went downstairs, he found that a crowd of residents had already gathered in the first-floor lobby, staring at the green text that had materialized on the wall.
For ordinary people, the death rate of the third mission would skyrocket after the first two. It was a true gateway to hell. Not everyone was like Boss Jin, who had the money to hire an administrator for help.
Some wept with joy, seeing their names were not on the mission list. In the crowd, Su Jiu’s face was deathly pale. She hadn’t expected that less than a month after completing the Sapphire Mall mission, the apartment would list her as a participant for the next one. This was much sooner than she had anticipated.
Like a frightened little deer, her gaze fell upon Gao Tian’s face as he also looked at the mission board. ’Thankfully, this promising newcomer, Gao Tian, is also on this mission. With Xia Ta not around, sticking close to Gao Tian might increase my chances of survival by ten percent.’
Staring at the green words on the wall, Gao Tian knew in his heart, ’What the flask had shown me was likely a fragment of the future.’
The strange actions his future self had taken on the bus must have had some deeper meaning, one he just didn’t understand yet.
Once the crowd of residents in the lobby dispersed and returned to their own homes, the only ones left were the four participants of this mission, along with the two apartment administrators, Xia Ta and Jiang Yang.
Xia Ta had stayed behind specifically for Gao Tian. She always kept an eye on promising newcomers. Administrators could die too. If Xia Ta died during her sixth mission, the apartment would need a new expert to lead everyone forward.
The other two participants, Zhou Yan and Ling Feifei, were a couple who had recently graduated from college. They had been living in the apartment for less than a month and had smoothly passed the first two green-text missions. But there was something strange about them: all the other participants in their previous groups had died during the missions. Not a single third party had survived. Each time, it was this couple who lived to the end.
Since all the relevant people were now present, Xia Ta didn’t waste any time and spoke directly.
"Everyone, just looking at the mission’s wording, can you find any clues?"
Her gaze fell on Gao Tian. However, the first to speak was the man in the couple, Zhou Yan.
He had already searched for the words "Pagoda Primary School" on his phone. The conclusion he reached was that, let alone in Shanghai, no one in the entire Dragon Country had ever heard of this school.
"The green-text mission requires us to reach Pagoda Primary School and check in, but it never said we need to go inside and explore."
"So, the difficulty of this mission is most likely how to find the location of Pagoda Primary School."
After Zhou Yan finished sharing his thoughts, Ling Feifei, who was beside him, beamed and clapped lightly.
"Honey, you’re so smart! You figured out the approach so quickly."
This couple was quite interesting. To them, the terrifying green-text mission had become a backdrop for their public displays of affection, completely devoid of the tension and pressure the apartment’s missions usually brought.
Leaning against the wall, Jiang Yang spoke lazily.
"Your thinking is correct. This Pagoda Primary School doesn’t exist in the real world. It’s in the Inner World."
Zhou Yan’s gaze shifted to him.
"How do you know?"
Jiang Yang:
"Because my fifth mission took place there."
"The horror inside is far beyond the imagination of you newcomers. You should be thankful that this is only your third mission. The apartment only requires you to check in at the entrance to complete it; you don’t have to go inside."
Zhou Yan wanted to press him for more details about what was inside Pagoda Primary School. However, Jiang Yang didn’t want to talk about it and cut him off.
"The way to complete this mission is simple. Just take Bus 444, and it will take you into the Inner World and to Pagoda Primary School."
"The risk of death will likely be on Bus 444. It’s a bus that travels exclusively between the real world and the Inner World. There are paranormal rules on board that must be followed, or you’ll be killed by a ghost."
"However, compared to Pagoda Primary School, which is a place of certain death, just sitting on Bus 444 and following the rules gives you a relatively high chance of survival."
Zhou Yan was very distrustful of Jiang Yang’s words. He searched on his phone again and looked up, speaking confrontationally.
"Hey..."
"There’s no such thing as a Bus 444 route."
"Is your intel really accurate?"
Beside them, the timid Su Jiu unexpectedly interjected.
"He already said it’s a bus that travels between the real world and the Inner World. How could you find it on a regular bus route app?"
"It’s like our Living Persons’ Apartment. Can you find its address on a rental app?"
Zhou Yan pursed his lips and smirked.
"Fine, I won’t argue."
"Since you’re so smart, go on. I’m all ears."
It was clear this couple was very domineering. They had a hard time listening to others’ opinions.
Jiang Yang ignored him. After all, the two apartment administrators had come down mainly for Gao Tian.
They wanted to do their best to ensure Gao Tian survived the third mission so he could grow into someone who could hold his own later on.
As for a character like Zhou Yan, if he were on a mission alone, Jiang Yang wouldn’t have bothered to even glance his way.
When it came to the rules on Bus 444, Jiang Yang’s eyes, usually narrowed to slits, became uncharacteristically serious.
"Gao Tian, get a piece of paper and write down every word I’m about to say. Ponder them over and over."
"These rules might seem simple, but they were discovered by the apartment’s old residents, one life at a time. Without the experience of those who came before, once you get on that bus, you won’t even know how you died."
Gao Tian opened the notes app on his phone. Beside him, Su Jiu also sat up straight, like an elementary school student listening intently in class.
"This bus travels through various Inner Worlds, so it carries not only human passengers but also some ghosts."
"But don’t worry. On the bus, the ghosts’ powers are greatly suppressed. As long as you master three rules, humans and ghosts can coexist peacefully."
"Also, the bus will pass through countless supernatural locations, each one as threatening as the Living Persons’ Apartment. But as long as you stay put on the bus and don’t get off, the things outside won’t dare to do anything to it."
Jiang Yang paused. There were a total of three rules on the Supernatural Bus, and each one was paid for with the blood and lives of their predecessors. He began to list them one by one.
"First, passengers on the bus must not kill each other."
"Second, there must not be more than seven passengers on the bus."
"Passengers must not be loud, destroy public property, or disturb the driver. Also, aside from getting on and off at normal stops, you must not forcibly leave the bus by prying open a window or other means."
’If passengers can’t kill each other... then since humans and ghosts are both passengers, the ghosts can’t directly kill the humans either. They can only sit there obediently.’
This was a classic paradoxical paranormal rules scenario. Gao Tian quickly spotted the problem and asked a question.
"What if the first and second rules conflict?"
"For example, what if there are already seven passengers on the bus, and at the next stop, a ghost gets on, making it eight passengers?"
"What should we do then? Try to get the eighth passenger kicked off?"
Jiang Yang shook his head.
"In that situation, it enters the voting stage."
Gao Tian:
"Voting?"
Jiang Yang:
"Yes."
"All eight passengers, including the one who just got on, will vote. Every person and ghost gets one vote to choose someone they want to kick off."
"The one with the most votes loses their passenger status. They will no longer be protected by the bus, and their fate will be tragic. The other ghosts on the bus will have their suppression lifted and can kill them directly."
"At that point, if you’re the one with the most votes, you only have two choices: either get off the bus, or stay on and become the target of a focused attack from the other ghosts."
His gaze was fixed on Gao Tian, half-joking, half-warning.
"I doubt any human can withstand an attack from four ghosts at once."
"But getting off the bus also means death. The places where the Supernatural Bus stops are mostly terrifying locations teeming with even more powerful ghosts."
Additional Information:
"If two passengers on the bus get the same number of votes, a new round of voting begins—a ’blood vote.’"
"In a blood vote, each passenger cannot vote for the same person they chose in the previous round. They must pick a new target."
"Furthermore, in this round, if two passengers tie for the most votes again, they both have their passenger status revoked."
"Once voting begins, even if the number of passengers on the bus changes during the process, at least one passenger must be chosen to have their status revoked."
Su Jiu:
"If we complete the check-in task at Pagoda Primary School, how do we get back to the real world?"
Jiang Yang:
"The gray ticket stub."
"When you go back to your rooms, you’ll find a gray ticket stub for Bus 444."
"With it, you can ride the Supernatural Bus freely for three days."
"After you get off the bus at Pagoda Primary School, if you’re fast enough, you can run to the school gate, check in, and then quickly get back on the bus to let it take you back to the real world."
"Of course, it’s okay if you don’t make it back in time. Just hold onto your ticket stub and wait for the next bus."
"Normally, at the same stop, the next bus will arrive every five to ten minutes."
Just then, Gao Tian discovered a bug in this system.
"There are four of us on this mission."
"In a situation with eight people on the bus, that means our four votes make up half the total."
"As long as we combine our four votes, the target we choose will definitely get the most votes."
"After all, the ghosts are unlikely to be as united as the human passengers."
"As long as we act in unison, we start from an unbeatable position."
