Player Qualification

Strictly speaking, Bai Zhi was feeling a bit of a headache regarding the current situation.

This little boy, who looked quite cute with his backpack, had turned over a dozen students—including himself—into dolls in one go. If he hadn't managed to escape from that bizarre world in the shortest time possible, it looked like those two official personnel would have been finished off by the boy as well.

It was mostly a matter of coincidence; had he come out even a few seconds later, those two seemingly formidable guys would likely have fallen at the hands of the little boy. At that point, even if he had managed to escape, it would have been useless, as he had absolutely no idea how to deal with such an Anomaly.

One had to know that although he had swung that stool leg with all his might, the little boy's head hadn't even shown a single red mark. After all, this little boy was not like the previous Anomaly that lacked combat power without the presence of fear; to him, this was a truly dangerous character.

"Hm? These dolls seem to be gradually recovering..."

Before Bai Zhi could even get close, he noticed that the bodies of the scattered dolls around him were beginning to change, appearing as if they were gradually restoring themselves.

Picking up the little boy's backpack, Bai Zhi took out all the dolls inside and laid them neatly on the ground. At the very bottom of the bag, he also found the dolls of the two missing classmates from his class.

"I wonder what the fate of these people will be afterward..."

Frowning slightly, Bai Zhi turned his gaze toward the little boy on the ground, only to find the boy glaring at him with an extremely venomous look.

He didn't know what kind of secret was behind the punch Wu Hua had landed on the boy's face earlier, but at this moment, half of the little boy's face had vanished. The missing part was covered in something like pitch-black ink, and the originally cute face had instantly transformed into that of a hideous and terrifying Yin-realm Evil Spirit.

"What a pity, just a few seconds short..."

Staring fixedly at his face for a few seconds as if trying to memorize his appearance completely, the little boy uttered this sentence before his body instantly turned into fly ash, as if it had been thrown into a fire. Along with the backpack in his hand, all that remained in place was a white, diamond-shaped crystal, faintly tinged with red, hovering and slowly rotating above the ground.

"No way, do monsters drop loot when defeated? And it's even in a hovering state? At this rate, Newton's coffin lid is going to fly off again..."

Looking at that white crystal, Bai Zhi felt his worldview being refreshed once more.

However, no sooner had he finished this thought than the white diamond-shaped crystal suddenly flew up on its own and quickly merged into the palm of his hand.

Immediately afterward, a virtual screen that only he could see appeared rapidly before his eyes.

[Player Qualification granted, User logging in...]
[User Initial Name: Bai Zhi]
[User ID: KM4553※※※※※352]
[User Level: Lv1]
[Current Experience: 50/100]
[Current Game Coins: 0]
[Equipment: None]
[Items: None]
[Skills: None]
[Inventory: "Shadow Realm Pass" ×1, "Shadow Realm Permanent Deed" ×1]
[Newbie Protection Countdown: 72:00:00]

"A player? Has this world really turned into a game?"

Seeing this screen that had suddenly appeared before him, Bai Zhi couldn't help but think of the Scuttle Crab he had seen right when he first transmigrated.

He had considered possibilities like a supernatural resurgence, superpowers, or ancient martial arts, but he never expected it to be some inexplicable player system.

"The 50 experience points must have been from my stool-leg strike being counted as part of the attack... though that might not be right. The items in the inventory must be the loot dropped by the monster, and I still haven't figured out what the Newbie Protection Countdown is..."

After pondering the panel in front of him for a long time, Bai Zhi attempted to take the "Shadow Realm Pass" and "Shadow Realm Permanent Deed" out of his inventory.

[Item Name: Shadow Realm Pass] [Type: Special Item] [Quality: Extremely Rare] [Description: An essential item for passing through the Shadow Realm] [Equipment Condition: None] [Automatically bound to Player ID, cannot be traded, cannot be dropped, cannot be transferred]

[Item Name: Shadow Realm Permanent Deed] [Type: Special Item] [Quality: None] [Description: The holder gains permanent usage rights to a region within the Shadow Realm] [Equipment Condition: None] [Automatically bound to Player ID, cannot be traded, cannot be dropped, cannot be transferred]

"These two things might have been deliberately given to me by that thing... which means it will come back later, right?"

After reading through the descriptions of the only two items in his inventory, Bai Zhi subconsciously glanced at the spot where the little boy had been lying earlier.

It was quite clear that the place he had been sent to by the boy earlier was this so-called Shadow Realm. Seemingly knowing it was doomed, the boy had quite decisively committed suicide—who knows where he ran off to—while leaving these two items for him, waiting to take them back when it returned next time. The final line in the descriptions was proof of that.

"Tsk, this little thing is quite vengeful, even though it was the one who provoked me first..."

Curling his lips, Bai Zhi shoved the two items back into his Inventory, operating on the logic that one does not worry about the weight of debt when already burdened, nor does one fear more lice when already infested. He then straightened his back and scanned his surroundings.

At this moment, all the dolls had reverted to their original forms, yet among the dozen or so students scattered across the Rooftop, not a single one showed any sign of waking. They all remained in a deep coma with their eyes tightly shut, leaving it unclear whether there would be any lingering aftereffects.

Just then, a beam of golden Sunlight pierced through the clouds and struck him, the brilliant glare appearing somewhat blinding.

"...Is it noon already?"

Squinting slightly, Bai Zhi placed the back of his right hand against his forehead to block the glare and looked up at the Sky.

It was at this very moment that a figure came running up the stairs, panting slightly, and arrived at the Stairwell Entrance just in time to see Bai Zhi standing in the center of the Rooftop, bathed in the direct rays of the sun.

It must be said that the angle was truly perfect; Bai Zhi was already a handsome man, and with the soft halo of light and the students lying across the ground around him, a layer of incredibly mysterious radiance was added to his presence.

Staring blankly at the figure standing in the center of the Rooftop, Lin Xiaoyi found herself momentarily lost in a daze.