Chapter 72: Entering the Battlefield

The transformation was accomplished solely by the genius student Wu; even Liu Zong hadn't witnessed the final process. All he received was a green card and an apologetic remark from Wu: "Sorry, you were unlucky—I couldn't help you convert it into a blue card."

The card now in Liu Zong's hand still featured the same young girl, but she was entirely different. She remained dressed in her gothic attire, yet the toy bear was no longer in her arms. Instead, it now towered over her, bound tightly to her back by a black iron chain.

[Ghostly Girl with Bear on Her Back (Green)]
[Race: Undead]
[Level: Lv0 (10 stars)]
[Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 1, Constitution 3, Spirit 3]
[Description: This modified girl has had her toy bear fused with a decade-old coffin, granting it the ability to devour corpses and restore her life. The iron chain binding her and the bear serves not only for attacks but also to restrain enemies. At this point, the girl has truly become a ghostly fiend.]

After receiving the card, Liu Zong paid it little further attention. He knew that this undead follower was, at best, a temporary companion; once he advanced in his profession, he would no longer need such an undead. In fact, he might not even have to wait that long—he was confident the battlefield map spanning ten years would yield more suitable undead followers.

Another seven or eight days passed swiftly. Early one morning, Liu Zong and the others were summoned to the school's athletic field, where they lined up to await further instructions. In the very center of the vast grounds of Yang City No. 3 Middle School, a massive portal towered high. Beyond the portal stood a cluster of palaces dominated by gold and crimson hues, though their architecture was clearly not of human origin.

Standing before the portal, the bald principal was rallying the entire student body with a final pre-battle address. Each student held a list of team members for the battlefield as well as their week’s mission objectives. Liu Zong had reviewed his own objectives and noticed that they had strict time requirements; many tasks even mandated success at all costs, even in the face of death.

Though it was his first time participating in such a battle, Liu Zong understood that once combat began, it was all about racing against time, comparing task completion rates, and competing in every possible way. The school’s stringent mission requirements were only to be expected.

Moreover, the school wasn’t sending students to complete missions solo; most tasks this time required team efforts. Liu Zong had already arranged with the students on the affinity-for-darkness side to form a group as soon as they entered the map, then work together on the assignments.

Time seemed to fly by. The countdown in front of the portal now displayed 3,650 days, and the first wave—composed entirely of Level 1 students—charged through the portal. Next came the more prominent departments, such as those with fire or water affinity, followed by smaller ones like the darkness affinity.

By the time Liu Zong followed the main group through the portal, about ten minutes had passed. The moment he stepped into the portal, his vision blurred, something flickered before his eyes, and then he found himself standing on a hard floor.

Looking around, he saw it was indeed the palace of gold and crimson he’d glimpsed beyond the portal. Perhaps due to the influx of newcomers, patrols had already begun within the palace. Liu Zong noticed these guards weren’t human, but rather humanoids with locust heads. Their skin was a pale gold, their eyes glowed red, and they wielded weapons made of crystal—spears or scythes. Their limbs were slender, covered in chitinous golden armor accented with red patterns and gemstones at the joints. Clearly, their civilization had veered down some peculiar technological path.

At this point, there would usually be a guide to explain the history of this map, or at least the origins of their own faction. But pressed for time, all such formalities were omitted. As soon as things stabilized, a Level 1 student with darkness affinity shouted to everyone present:

“Everyone, drink your potions now! Those with physical affinity, follow me; those with magical affinity, stay behind us! Release your undead followers—we’re about to go to war!”

At the student’s command, everyone drank the potion provided by the school before entering the map. This special concoction allowed Level 0 darkness affinity players to freely move between the realms of yin and yang. Once at Level 1, most players would have their own abilities to traverse these realms and would no longer need the potion.

After downing the potion, Liu Zong’s vision dimmed and shadows quickly shrouded the entire palace. Where gold and crimson had dominated, now everything turned to shades of gray and white. His classmates became vague, as if cloaked in black mantles.

While donning the weapons and equipment provided by the school, Liu Zong summoned the ghostly girl he had just received. In reality, she looked even more beautiful than she had on the card, though her complexion was pale and the enormous bear strapped to her back dripped with fresh blood, as if it had just devoured someone.

Once summoned, she obediently followed Liu Zong, always keeping half a step’s distance from him no matter where he went. Liu Zong didn’t try to converse with her, knowing that undead followers only gained speech at blue quality or above, and true intelligence at purple quality or higher. As an ordinary person, he had no way to bend the rules of the game.

With the ghostly girl in tow, Liu Zong quickly joined his team. Under the leader’s direction, they charged toward the palace gates.

Outside the palace lay a cemetery, which served as the last resurrection point for each school. At its center, a white battle flag stood planted in the ground. The thirty-two Level 1 darkness affinity players who had entered first were already locked in battle with the soldiers guarding the graveyard.

The soldiers at the cemetery resembled the locust men within the palace, but lacked any consciousness and had no strange technological advancements. Their weapons were made from locust teeth or bone spikes, chitinous and primitive, and their fighting style relied heavily on agility and evasion.

Their numbers were not great, and after being drawn aside by the Level 1 players, Liu Zong and his group stepped in to fill the breach. Several players who knew their tasks moved quickly—one replaced the cemetery’s central flag with the flag of Yang City No. 3 Middle School, while another began directing the magic-affinity darkness players to set up a magic circle.

The remaining physically inclined darkness players, with their undead followers, plunged into the surrounding gray mist to hunt down the undead converging on their position.