Word Spirit: Bullet

[3...2...1...0]

As the countdown hit zero, it was as if someone had abruptly flipped the switch on the world.

Darkness swallowed everything, followed by a sudden sensation of weightlessness.

"Ugh!"

After an unknown amount of time, when Jiangnan opened his eyes again, the first thing he heard was the shrill, repeated cawing of birds.

"Caw! Caw!"

They were crows, but their cries were sharper than those of the crows on Blue Star!

The bus fell silent, then erupted in a chorus of screams.

"Where are we?!"

"The sun! Look at the sun outside!"

Jiangnan looked out the window.

Mount Tai was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the highway.

The bus was now stopped in a strange forest covered in dark purple vines.

Every tree was twisted in a grotesque, diseased way, like countless bodies writhing together in agony.

A dim yellow sunset hung in the sky, lifeless, bathing the entire forest in blood-red light.

This was the Twilight Kingdom.

Before anyone could recover from their shock, that voice rang out in everyone's minds.

[Welcome to the Barbaric Realm, Novice Landing Zone 199.]

[Two hours remain until nightfall.]

[Special notice: The darkness here conceals "things" beyond your imagination.]

[Before nightfall, you must find safe shelter or reinforce your defenses with the resources at hand.]

[Wishing you all a pleasant night.]

The instant the voice disappeared, a foul, fishy wind blew through the gaps in the windows, and the temperature inside the bus plummeted.

"Ugh!"

A girl in the front row finally couldn't hold it in and threw up into a trash bag.

The weightlessness and drastic change in their surroundings had left most of them mentally stunned.

"W-where are we?"

"Where's Mount Tai? The signal! There's no signal on my phone!"

The microphone in class monitor Li Xin's hand fell to the floor, letting out a piercing screech.

He stiffly turned his head and stared out at the purple trees that looked like twisted human bodies, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

Just then, a bespectacled, chubby boy sitting behind Li Xin—

the class's resident webnovel expert, Wang Meng—suddenly blurted out,

"Holy crap, Mount Tai, a bus, the whole class transmigrating..."

"Is our next step to go rummage around the Great Thunder Monastery, then ride the Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin to the Big Dipper Starfield?"

His wildly irreverent remark loosened the frozen air inside the bus a little.

"Wang Meng, how can you joke around at a time like this?"

Teacher Chen Tong stood up, her face deathly pale, gripping the back of a seat. "Everyone, calm down! First, check whether anyone's hurt!"

"I'm not joking, Teacher Chen."

Wang Meng pointed at the eerie red glow outside, his voice trembling.

"The smell's so strong. I can't shake the feeling that in the next second, a classmate named Ye Hei is going to take us all off to cultivate..."

"Cultivate my ass!"

Driver Wang Shifu let out a low growl.

He frantically tugged at the bus door, then frantically leaned on the horn.

"Beep! Beep!"

The piercing honks carried far through the silent forest.

"The door won't open! Damn it! It won't open!"

Wang Shifu was drenched in sweat. "My wife and kid are waiting at home for me to have dinner... What the hell is this place?!"

"I want to go home! I want to go home!"

Fear was contagious.

Seeing the normally steady driver break down, the students finally realized this wasn't a drill or a movie shoot.

Panic began to fester in the cramped bus.

"Don't panic!"

Just then, class monitor Li Xin sprang to his feet.

His face was pale, but his eyes were shining with excitement.

He strode to the front of the bus and clapped his hands hard, trying to draw everyone's attention.

"Classmates! Teacher Chen, Wang Shifu!"

"The situation is obvious: we've transmigrated! And we're in a very dangerous place!"

Li Xin swept his gaze across the bus, raising his voice. "That voice said there'd be danger at night!"

"We're all grasshoppers tied to the same string. We can't just sit around and wait to die! We have to band together if we want to survive!"

At the words "band together," quite a few students who'd been at a loss seemed to find someone to rely on, and nodded one after another.

"The class monitor's right. What should we do?"

Seeing that people were responding, Li Xin straightened his back.

"First, to make sure our resources are distributed fairly and prevent anyone from hoarding or wasting them..."

"I suggest we take all the food and water in our backpacks and pool it together for centralized management and distribution!"

At that, the students who had been nodding stiffened at once.

Everyone instinctively clutched their backpacks tighter, their eyes turning wary.

In the Peaceful Era, maybe they would have gone along with it to save face.

But now, that food could mean the difference between life and death!

"Why should we?"

In the back row, three tall boys stood up in unison.

Their leader was Yang Wei, the center on the school basketball team. At six-foot-three, he looked imposing.

He stared at Li Xin with a mocking smile and shook his head.

"Li Xin, has your brain still not caught up? This is the damn apocalypse! Why are you playing house?"

"Yang Wei, what do you mean? I'm doing this for everyone!"

Li Xin's expression darkened. "Without rules, we'll be a scattered mess. How are we supposed to make it through tonight?"

"Give me a break!"

Yang Wei scoffed, openly dropping all pretense.

"We're all adults. Don't bring that bureaucratic Student Union act of yours here."

"Put simply, sure, we're classmates, but we've known each other for less than half a year. Some of us can't even remember everyone's names."

Yang Wei pointed at the strange forest outside. "In this damn place, supplies are life!"

"You want us to let you manage them? What if you give yourself an extra bottle of water and everyone else one less bite of bread? Who starves to death then?"

"Pooling everything will only lead to conflict!"

"When people start fighting over a bite of food, we might not even be able to stay temporary allies!"

Yang Wei's words were harsh, but they stabbed like a knife into the most selfish corner of everyone's heart.

"Yeah... I've only got two bags of crackers in my backpack. I wouldn't feel safe handing them over."

"I brought my own water. Why should I give it to someone else?"

The students who'd still been wavering now turned away, guarding their supplies as if their lives depended on it, afraid someone would snatch them.

Li Xin watched, his face turning red with anger.

Having his authority challenged left the longtime top student burning with humiliation.

"Fine! You won't hand them over, huh? You think I, Li Xin, am selfish too?"

Li Xin gritted his teeth and grabbed his backpack, tipping it over onto the seat.

Potato Chips, cola, beef jerky...

A dazzling heap of snacks spilled out.

As a rich kid, he really had brought more than anyone else.

"See that? I brought the most, but I'm willing to share!"

Li Xin shouted righteously.

"Some people are so twisted inside that they refuse to work together. But don't get in the way of those who want to survive!"

His leading by example really did impress quite a few people.

Li Xin pressed his advantage. "In a situation like this, we need a strong leader to direct our actions!"

"I, Li Xin, nominate myself as temporary captain! Anyone who follows me will have water to drink and food to eat!"

As he spoke, he didn't look at Yang Wei. Instead, he turned to the driver, Wang Shifu, hunched in his seat.

Wang Shifu was a burly man, and he still had a large repair wrench in his hand.

He was the most intimidating source of muscle on the bus.

"Wang Shifu, you must be hungry too, right?"

Li Xin quickly picked out a vacuum-packed braised chicken leg from the pile of snacks, plastered on a smile, and offered it to him.

"You've worked hard driving us here. Have this chicken leg first. We need to guard the bus!"

"We can't let those people who won't follow the rules run wild. Don't you agree?"

This was a blatant attempt to win him over!

If he could get Wang Shifu on his side and secure his muscle, his position as captain would be safe!

But before Wang Shifu could reach for it—

"Smack!"

A large hand shot in from the side.

Yang Wei snatched two bags of crackers and a bottle of Lao Da Black Tea from the hands of the two boys behind him, then slapped them down in front of Wang Shifu.

"Wang Shifu! Don't listen to that hypocrite's crap! He's just got the itch to play emperor!"

Yang Wei glared at Li Xin, refusing to back down. "You want to build your own little faction?"

"I can do that too! Wang Shifu, come with us. You won't have to take orders from anyone. We'll be brothers, and we'll share whatever meat we've got!"

"You!"

Li Xin was furious. "Yang Wei, are you doing this just to spite me?!"

"I just can't stand your fake, sanctimonious act!"

The two faced off, ready to throw punches.

The bus split into two camps, the atmosphere so tense it felt like a fight could break out any second.

But no one noticed that Wang Shifu, still hunched in the driver's seat, was shaking violently.

His bloodshot eyes weren't fixed on the chicken leg or the tea.

They were locked on the twisted, dark purple trees beyond the windshield.

"Beep! Beep!"

Wang Shifu suddenly went berserk and leaned on the horn twice.

"Shut up, all of you!"

He didn't accept anything from either side. Instead, he reached back for the large repair wrench and slowly stood up.

After years behind the wheel, Wang Shifu had grown quite stout. Now that he was standing tall,

his face twisted with sheer terror, and he radiated a pressure even more frightening than Yang Wei's.

"W-Wang Shifu?"

Li Xin jumped, his hand holding out the chicken leg frozen in midair.

"Drive where? Huh? Tell me, where am I supposed to drive?!"

Wang Shifu's eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at the highway that had vanished outside, his voice hoarse with rage.

"Can't you see? The road's gone! Mount Tai's gone too! I've been driving for twenty years and I've never seen a place like this!"

"I want to go home... My wife and kid are waiting for me to have dinner. Why are you brats talking about being in charge?"

"What brothers?"

Wang Shifu swung the wrench hard, smashing it against the fare box and sending sparks flying.

"That voice said we have to survive until the sun rises tomorrow... Right. Survive."

"Only if I survive can I go home! Only then can I see my family! Hahaha!"

He sat on the ground, nearly out of his mind, clutching his head and laughing foolishly.

Yang Wei and Li Xin didn't dare speak. They lowered their heads, lost in thought.

Chen Tong had made her way to the front row. She rubbed her forehead helplessly, feeling her temples throb.

She knew that, as a frail English teacher, no one was listening to her anymore.

"Honestly, couldn't everyone just calm down a little..."

Chen Tong sighed and instinctively glanced back at Jiangnan, sitting in the corner of the last row.

That boy who was always so quiet was still curled up in the corner, hugging his backpack.

Expressionless, not competing for anything, and not panicking.

"If only everyone could be like Jiangnan. He doesn't say anything, but at least he doesn't make trouble. Wouldn't that be nice."

Chen Tong thought bitterly to herself.

Little did she know.

The well-behaved Jiangnan in Chen Tong's eyes was staring into the void at that very moment, his heart filled with wild joy.

Just moments ago, as the bus had finally come to a complete stop on the land of the "Barbaric Realm," the Progress Bar had reached its end.

[Environment analysis complete.]

[Sign-in System activated!]

[Current location: Twisted Jungle]

[Sign in?]

Jiangnan didn't hesitate for a moment. He shouted fiercely in his heart:

"Sign in!"

The next second, a pleasant notification rang out in his mind, like heavenly music.

[Ding! Sign-in successful!]

[Congratulations, host. You have obtained the A-Class Word Spirit "Bullet"!]

As the notification sounded, a warm current surged through Jiangnan's entire body.

Detailed information appeared on the light screen.

[Word Spirit: Bullet (A-Class)]

Effect: Compresses Word Spirit power and fires a colorless, invisible, silent Air Bullet that ignores physical defenses.

Trait: Travels in an absolutely straight line, unaffected by wind or gravity.

Range: 100 meters.

Cost: 1 character per shot (current balance: 6666).

Activation method: Raise your hand, form a pistol shape, aim at the target, and say the Activation Word "Bang!"

Jiangnan slowly raised his right hand, discreetly forming a pistol shape behind the cover of his seat.

He aimed at the crow outside the window, cawing loudly on a branch.

Colorless, invisible, silent.

Ignored defenses.

A hundred-meter range.

Most importantly...

This thing only took one character!

And could take someone's life!