A gust of wind flashed by, Xie Xin only felt a chill on her neck. She didn’t have time to do anything, not even a thought of counterattacking surfaced before she collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

System: [You are dead. In 10 seconds, the exit program will initiate.]

Xie Xin: "???"

Xie Xin wanted to say something, but she found she couldn’t speak at all. In her ’dead’ state, her body was enveloped in a seemingly nonexistent transparent light membrane. This was a defensive measure provided by the arena for each student, only activated after a student’s life has been subjected to a genuinely fatal injury and has been declared dead. One purpose is to ensure the student’s safety, and another is to prevent ’dead’ students from interfering with other students’ normal competition.

While Xie Xin was at a loss, she noticed another ’corpse’ lying beside her, Zhang Wei, who had entered the arena with her.

Zhang Wei’s face also held a bewildered expression.

The two exchanged glances, both showing a hint of confusion in their eyes. Xie Xin opened her mouth and asked her question: "How did you die?"

Even though they were lying side by side, due to the barrier, Xie Xin’s voice couldn’t reach Zhang Wei’s ears. However, most military academy students have special training in lip reading, so Zhang Wei understood what Xie Xin was saying. He shook his head and asked, "How did you die? Do you know who killed you?"

Xie Xin shook her head and said, "I... have no idea how I died. Who? Who killed me?"

The two exchanged glances, then their gaze shifted slightly to the side. They discovered two more ’corpses’ lying not far from them, Xia Bingbing and Yu Cheng. The confusion was mirrored in their eyes as well.

Yu Cheng exclaimed, "Damn! How did I die?"

Xia Bingbing opened her mouth: "Is there an enemy attack?"

Yu Cheng: "Damn! Where did the enemy come from?"

Then...

The four simultaneously turned toward where Ji You was, only to find that Ji You and the people behind her all held weapons. Some of their weapons hadn’t been entirely retracted, and the student named ’Zhang Jian’ was still holding a military shovel in a striking pose.

Yu Cheng couldn’t help but stroke the back of his head: "Damn! I was killed by that shovel just now! Damn, that shovel was too blunt, I got hit 9 times! It took 9 hits to kill me!"

In just a moment, Cheng Haoyue accelerated his strikes to the extreme, landing nine lethal blows in the blink of an eye. Yu Cheng rolled his eyes, foamed at the mouth, and lay limp on the ground. Without the final lifesaving program activation, he might actually have died.

Yu Cheng glared at the military shovel in Cheng Haoyue’s hand, hands trembling: "You! You! You!"

Cheng Haoyue put away the military shovel and flashed a slight smile at the incredulous ’corpse’ Yu Cheng, saying, "Sorry, I was a bit hasty, and the weapon wasn’t sharp enough. I’ll be more careful next time."

Yu Cheng: "..."

At this point, Xia Bingbing, Xie Xin, and Wang Wei also looked stifled. Now they understood that the ones who attacked them were none other than Ji You’s group!

But!

What’s the motive?

Why would they suddenly kill us for no reason? Are they crazy? Have they lost their minds?

Obviously, it’s neither.

There’s only one truth—

The four spoke in unison, "Are you guys from the enemy camp?"

Cheng Haoyue smiled slightly, "Good eyes, fellas."

The four: "..."

"Damn!"

"Are they mocking us for being blind?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"That’s sarcasm."

"That’s absolutely sarcasm."

The four glared with fury in their eyes, and they heard Ji You, the team leader, suddenly say, "Zhang Jian, stop talking to the corpses. What’s the point of bragging to a corpse? Come over, let’s have a meeting to revise our strategy."

Cheng Haoyue: "???" Zhang Jian? Forget it, she’s still stuck in character.

The four lying on the ground: "..."

Damn!

The cruelest one here isn’t Cheng Haoyue with the military shovel, it’s team leader Ji You!

But their thoughts didn’t matter anymore.

Soon, the four were carried away by an Invisibility Mecha and transported out of the competition arena.

Ji You led Cheng Haoyue and the others back to the tilted tree encampment. The entire encampment looked as primitive as before, with no major changes. As Ji You led Cheng Haoyue, He Yu, Liu Jia, and Wang Xin toward the encampment, the four students already there stared in amazement at the startlingly efficient and decisive action Ji You’s team had displayed in dispatching Xia Bingbing and others.

Ji You maintained a stern expression, not speaking to their new four allies, but instead walking around the encampment, noticing the tilted tree encampment hadn’t changed. It was clear the four new teammates hadn’t thought about building the encampment further.

Ji You said, "Zhang Jian, report the information on the four new teammates to me."

Cheng Haoyue: "???"

Cheng Haoyue couldn’t hold back any longer, dark lines covered his face as he said, "I’m not Zhang Jian."

Ji You glanced at him, "You’re Zhang Jian now."

Cheng Haoyue’s mouth twitched, protesting, "We’re on our own turf now, please use my real name, thanks." He had reservations about the name Zhang Jian, especially when it came from Ji You’s mouth, it always carried a sense of absurdity.

Ji You said seriously, "Cheng Haoyue, how would you rate your acting skills among our group?"

Cheng Haoyue remained silent.

Ji You said, "1 point."

Cheng Haoyue frowned.

Ji You added, "On a scale of 100."

Cheng Haoyue: "..."

"Pfft—" Suddenly laughter erupted around them, and realizing what they were doing, He Yu, Liu Jia, and Wang Xin quickly raised their hands to cover their mouths.

Ji You glanced at the three, "And you guys—your acting scores are 0.5."

The three: "..."

Ji You continued calmly, "Compared to you, if it were me, I wouldn’t laugh. I’d find a hole to hide in."

The three: "..."

Ji You didn’t press the point to discourage them further but said, "Given your lackluster acting, until I officially call an end to this, I require all of you to remember your current identities. You are members of the Sixth Camp’s Seventh Team: Zhang Jian, Wang Rumei, Xie Haisheng, and Chen Junxiu."

Zhang Jian is Cheng Haoyue.

Wang Rumei is He Yu.

Xie Haisheng is Liu Jia.

Chen Junxiu is Wang Xin.

The four exchanged a look and understood Ji You’s subtext. He Yu opened his mouth, "You mean we still have to continue acting?"

Liu Jia swallowed, "So... we have to continue infiltrating the enemy camp?"

Ji You laughed: "Hmm... don’t you find it thrilling?"

Wang Xin swallowed, "It’s thrilling, alright..."

But—

It’s thrilling to the point of death.