The Otherworldly Adventures of a Super Naive Girl

473: Killing Monsters

Screams filled the night. Countless contestants died under the claws and jaws of monsters that roamed night while bringing with them endless slaughter. From time to time, contestants would appear in the resurrection area with a bewildered expression.

Only half of the original contestants were active in the arena now. The number kept dwindling as more lost their lives and were booted out.

The same time the monsters appeared, a leaderboard also appeared next to the display screen for the audience. The names of contestants and the number of monsters each killed were tallied on the board.

The rankings changed throughout the night, but the gap between contestants was minimal. No one had managed to break out and dominate the board as the difference was generally less than ten kills between the contestants.

Feng Wu touched her belly; her eyes were a little aggrieved. She was hungry. . . 

Both Ink and Melis stood stock still next to Feng Wu as they stared at the enemies outside.

The monsters were no longer concentrated in certain areas, but had spread out all around the desert. There weren’t as many monsters guarding the demon skeleton as there was at the beginning. Most had wandered off to other places, but were still close enough to cause distress.

A leaderboard, eye-catchingly gold and sparkly, had also appeared inside the arena. Names and kills were listed in numerical order. The order constantly shifted because of the competitive players.

They understood that the top ten was calculated on the board. If they wanted to get into the top then, they would have to kill as many monsters as they could.

“Do we kill the monsters to get out?” Melis asked uncertainly.

She knew her strength. With so many seniors in front of her, there was no way she could break into the top ten. Her goal would be to live to the end of the challenge. And if she wanted to join Star Marshall hall, surviving to the end would be an achievement she could point to when making her case.

Ink thought for a few seconds before nodding.

He wanted to compete for top ten, but the possibility of him making it was so low, it was practically nonexistent. Feng Wu, on the other hand. . .  He knew how strong she was. Maybe she could do it?

Even if neither of them could break into the top ten, they could always retreat back to their shelter. There was no loss or danger in the action.

Ink turned to Feng Wu and asked, “Xiao Wu, do you want to kill some monsters?”

“I’m hungry. . . ”

“Er. . .  eat after killing the monsters?” Ink suggested uncertainly.

Feng Wu nodded her agreement. Then she took her sword, jumped out of her hiding spot, and began slashing at the zombies in her vicinity.

Even if her martial qi was gone, Feng Wu still had excellent swordsmanship, physical strength, and stamina. She dispatched two zombies easily.

The zombies in the arena were easier to deal with because their heads were a weak spot. All you had to do was cut off their heads and they were done for. Monsters, on the other hand, were more dexterous and had thick skin.

Feng Wu laid into the zombie group and easily dispatched them with a graceful and fluid sword art. This combined with her agility meant she killed many more than Ink did.

Though Ink managed to kill some monsters, he wasn’t as talented as Feng Wu, so it was only natural his kill count would be less than hers.

Ming Xi and Tian Ya were also making their move. They rushed in after choosing a group of monsters, which they quickly dispatched with their smooth swordsmanship. In a short period, dead monsters littered the sand.

Ai Lin gave her best because she knew how useful the rare lottery would be for the next part of the challenge.

Zi Cheng was the heroine, so it was natural she would take part and try to earn points.

Yifu didn’t dare move out from her hiding spot. The monsters were so scary that she was shaking in fear. Their mouths were open and the smell of blood and gore radiated off of them. She was far too frightened to dare compete for the top ten. Her only goal was to stay alive to the end.

However, because of her 100% rating with Zi Cheng, she watched in awe and amazement, completely forgetting about her own safety, as Zi Cheng killed one monster after another.

It was one of the benefits Zi Cheng had for reaching 100% with a person.

Yifu would always put Zi Cheng first even if she was scared to death herself. She would have gladly died for her friend and would have rushed out to save her without hesitation if she thought Zi Cheng was in danger.

Aside from these guys, other strong fifth and sixth years were also fighting to get into the top ten. How could they, as seniors, cower and hide away when their juniors were out there fighting. They’d be a laughingstock if they hid like that!

After observing the situation from their hidden positions, the seniors came out and began scoring points.

The battles became fierce as everyone was rushing to get into the top ten. Their martial qi and magic were sealed so it was a hard fight and even the fifth and sixth years suffered heavy casualties.

Despite it being a rare opportunity, few seventh years entered the challenge. The few that did, only did so out of boredom. They were the graduating class and didn’t need to prove their strength. The fact that they were graduating was proof enough. Most seventh years stayed behind to help the teachers or to watch the event from the sidelines.

In the arena, most people chose to fight, but there were plenty who chose to ride it out in their hiding spots. They wanted to continue on in the challenge, so they needed to survive until the morning. Their method of choice was hiding.

Feng Wu didn’t think about what anyone else was doing; she was immersed in fighting monsters and zombies. These creatures couldn’t talk and had no sentience so she didn’t feel bad about killing them one bit. She was a lolli who liked cute animals, and these guys did not fit the bill, so she was merciless in killing them.

The spring water she picked up from the chests also kept her energy level up. She had given some to Ink to use as well. Though he did not squeeze into the top ten, with her help, he did do well.

Half an hour before dawn, a silver light shot out from the sky and changed the earth. It caused all ground cover to disappear and effectively exposed everyone to the monsters and zombies.

Those who originally sought safety in hiding turned pale. They hurriedly picked up their weapons to fight.

474: The End of the Great Escape

Melis’s reaction was good. She drew her sword the moment the bones around her disappeared. Sister Alpaca was also on alert, scraping the ground with her hoof.

Fortunately, most of the monsters had been cleared away, but that wasn’t to say all danger was gone.

Yifu was unlucky. She thought she had hidden away very well so she took no precautions and thus was taken completely by surprise. Zi Cheng was surprised by the geography change as well. She was focused on killing monsters and never thought the ground cover would disappear so there was no way for her to protect Yifu.

She was too far away. As a result, Yifu barely got a scream out before she was scratched and then chomped on by the monsters.

The final part of the desert challenge had been activated. Everything that could be used as shelter or hiding spots were taken away. The contestants had to survive the last half hour on their own.

The delicate magicians in the Magic division wanted to cry. They were just little magicians with fragile skin and thin blood. Why did they have to use weapons to fight these monsters?!

Woo! So unfair! They protested in their hearts.

“So unfair! Our Magic division has poor physique but we’re expected to compete in killing those monsters by hand alongside the Sword division guys?! There’s no reason for this!”

“This is not fair! Why should our Magic division kill these monsters the same way as the Sword division?! Why can’t we use magic?! How can we kill anything?!”

The two magicians began complaining to their friends as soon as they left the resurrection area. They felt the school was biased in favor of the Sword division. Otherwise, how could the challenge be shaped the way it was shaped?

Putting sealed magicians in the same arena as sword users where they had to fight monsters was unfair. Even if Sword division students couldn’t use their martial qi, they still had their stupid, strong, bodies, so obviously, their odds of surviving would be greater than any of the magicians.

And yet the administrators expected Magic division students to do the same thing as Sword division students! The magic students were not satisfied!

A chorus of dissatisfied voices rose from amongst the crowd. The loudest came from the Magic division students. They normally felt superior to the Sword division, after all, having the ability to become a magician was practically godly.

The Sword division guys were just a bunch of guys with no latent magic talent who had to resort to curating martial qi.

Who didn’t know magicians were the most respected? Pharmacists and alchemist chose to learn magic and rarely did any chose to learn sword mastery.

Because they had been endowed with talents others didn’t have, students in the Magic division felt they were more noble, a fact they were quite proud of. Their future achievements would most assuredly be greater than other departments.

But now they were being trampled on and by the Sword division no less! Most contestants still on the field were sword users and the only magicians still left were the dual magic/sword users.

They were all geniuses who stood on top of the school as all the average people had been eliminated.

It was just the second map and so many people were already out. Things could only get worse.

The half hour passed quickly. At the end of it all, only one person managed to make it through without killing a single monster. She had managed to stay hidden the entire night.

Thanks to her invisibility cloak, Zhu-en was the most relaxed that night. It helped her a lot. The God of the virtual world took away all the ground cover but he did not touch any of the contestants’ personal items. The invisibility cloak was an item Zhu-en found inside a chest, so the god left it alone and allowed her to use it on the field.

Zhu-en was the only person still on the field who managed to do so with zero points. The zero didn’t look good, but as long as she could stay in the challenge, she didn’t care.

“That invisibility cloak is too overpowered! How can such a cheat object be allowed?!” Someone in the audience who noticed Zhu-en’s invisibility cloak called out.

“Isn’t it? She can survive to the end as long as she has her cloak. That’s unfair to the other contestants.”

“Yes! Unfair!”

Some people began questioning whether the cloak should have been counted as a personal object. It was too much of a cheat item and really unfair to everyone else in the challenge.

Others thought luck was a kind of strength. A lot of people got chests as well, but it was Zhu-en who managed to get the chest with the invisibility cloak. It was fair; she was lucky!

Wasn’t luck a criterion in the school’s entrance exams as well? Therefore Zhu-en’s invisibility cloak was fair.

People on both sides argued.

Tamansha also asked the same question.

“Vice Principal, many in the audience question whether the invisibility cloak should exist as a personal item. The cloak’s ability is too powerful within the challenge and they are concerned if the person can use it to go all the way to the end of the challenge by wearing it, after all with it on, the person won’t have to worry about dangers such as monsters..”

“Actually, although the invisibility cloak seems advantageous at the beginning, it won’t be useful in the subsequent parts of the challenge, so the students need not worry. Various possibilities have already been taken into consideration.

We would never let someone win just because they had a powerful item. This is a very serious challenge and no such possibility was allowed to exist,” said the vice principal as he stroked his beard solemnly. He was thinking what a dignified and solemn image he must present. The students must admire him so much.

The audience: . . .  Principal, we want to report the vice principal for posing again!

The audience was relieved to know the cloak wouldn’t be as useful in the later maps and that the challenge would be fair.

They believed what the vice principal said. He was often unreliable, but he wouldn’t cheat when it came to big events.

The smaller things though, you couldn’t be sure.

Those in the school who knew the vice principal were careful because they knew he liked to stab you with the trivial things. Anyone who offended him always suffered.

In the arena, the first rays of sunlight appeared in the sky and the contestants felt like they had survived a calamity when they saw it.

OMG! I thought I was going to expire! was a constant refrain from the contestants.

The guys nearly cried manly tears of relief. The girls were exhausted. Well, everyone was exhausted. They couldn’t remember how many monsters they had killed or how many times they had been injured. It didn’t even feel like their bodies were their own.