Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 2
by Little PandaBreaking the Cage
Escape 02
Legal Hunting
The four hundred students originally on campus had been inexplicably dragged into an Alternate Dimension Campus Space. At the same time, a set of rules appeared in their minds.
- There are 400 people on campus, each possessing one clue.
- Collecting 50 clues grants the key to the exit. Note that clues must match up; clues that cannot be linked together are considered invalid.
- The 400 individuals may freely form teams of five or fewer, and may swap team members at any time.
- One person will be obliterated every night. Their clues may be given to others according to their will.
- If a prey dies during the legal hunting period, the previous rule is void.
- Anyone who resorts to foul play outside the hunting period will be obliterated.
At first, some were stunned, some were terrified, and some screamed. A crowd ran frantically toward the gate like madmen, yet no matter how hard they tried, they could not reach the campus exit.
At the same time, a campus schedule appeared on everyone’s desks.
The teachers continued their lessons as usual. No matter how the students argued or raged, they went on lecturing. No matter how much they were questioned, they only offered a smile. Even though these were familiar faces, they sent a chill down everyone’s spines.
From the original owner’s memories, Xin Lan learned that today was her second day here.
Yesterday, someone had lost control of their emotions during class and was punished by being made to stand for the entire period.
It was not a simple punishment of standing. Rather, they were forced to lie in a black coffin that had appeared out of thin air, as if glued inside it. It was utterly terrifying, and no one dared to step out of line again.
Because yesterday was the first day, everyone had cautiously observed the situation. Just as the rules stated, one person died.
Everyone had their suspicions about where his clue went, but no one spoke a word.
In a campus now left with 399 people, everyone harbored their own dark designs1.
Even originally familiar classmates now felt like strangers.
No one wanted to die, but only five or fewer people could survive.
During the designated discussion time in today’s morning reading period, everyone quickly banded together. After all, they knew there was strength in numbers; being isolated in this situation was far too disadvantageous.
“Interesting,” Xin Lan mused. “If I single-handedly kill the other 398 people and wipe them out, won’t I have my pick of the clues?”
After all, the rules had warned that some clues were invalid. Who could guarantee that the fifty clues they obtained would perfectly connect? Therefore, they had to gather more than fifty.
This was like a giant hunting ground and slaughterhouse, forcing people to massacre one another.
“Host, please calm down!!!!” Zero Nine cried.
“Do you still remember what our mission is?”
“The ex-boyfriend,” Xin Lan replied.
“Yes! Abuse him! Our mission is to abuse him, not to escape! Don’t forget!”
Zero Nine was truly terrified that her host would go off the rails again. Although Xin Lan sounded like she was joking, Zero Nine genuinely believed she was crazy enough to kill absolutely everyone.
Xin Lan began sorting through the original owner’s memories, untangling her social relationships.
The original owner was also named Xin Lan, a student in Class 3 of the second year. She was beautiful—the undisputed class beauty.
The ex-boyfriend was the school bully of Class 1. He was handsome and a fierce fighter, wearing the rebellious look of a bad boy, yet his grades were surprisingly good. The original owner caught his eye, and they dated for a month.
The original owner naturally fell hard for him, but the ex-boyfriend was only playing around. After a month, he dumped her.
When the heartbroken original owner asked why, all she received were words of disgust.
—You look so seductive, and your body is so hot. Who knows how many guys have played with you? You’ve probably dumped countless people yourself, so why are you playing innocent with me?
—It was just for fun. Did you actually take it seriously?
Thus, the girlfriend became the ex-girlfriend.
“Send me the rest of the plot,” Xin Lan said.
Zero Nine immediately transmitted the storyline to Xin Lan. From the subsequent plot, Xin Lan saw a new woman—let’s tentatively call her the Top Student.
The Top Student was ranked first in Class 1, an undisputed prodigy.
In such a bizarre world, one naturally had to team up with smart people. Therefore, the ex-boyfriend sought out the Top Student.
Considering the ex-boyfriend’s martial prowess as the school bully, the Top Student formed an alliance with him. Their team began a powerful collaboration.
The two constantly adjusted to each other until they fought in perfect sync. The school bully began to pursue romance in this dangerous world.
The Top Student was smart and beautiful. The ex-boyfriend had been interested in her for a long time, but because she had always acted completely uninterested in romance, he had never made a move. In this strange space, he protected her desperately and murmured sweet nothings from time to time, ultimately succeeding in winning her heart.
In the end, the team led by the two gathered enough clues and successfully escaped through the school gates.
As for the original owner, a gorgeous girl with the combat power of five scum2, she was raped and murdered for her clue. While she struggled, her ex-boyfriend watched from the sidelines, then walked away with cold indifference.
If reading about the original owner being dumped had merely caused Xin Lan slight displeasure—chalked up to simply meeting the wrong person—seeing the original owner’s ending put her in a truly foul mood.
“When the time comes, tell me who murdered the original owner,” Xin Lan said.
“Understood. Also, Host, after that person killed the original owner, the scumbag robbed him and took both clues at once! It’s too much!” Zero Nine added.
The pen in Xin Lan’s hand twirled between her fingers. Her slightly messy hair concealed the chilling frost on her face.
“Host! You absolutely must not let him die peacefully!” Zero Nine exclaimed. “I have walkthrough guides here! Cuckolding, seduction, heartthrob, Shura field3—I’ve got it all! You can have whichever you want!”
“Can I steal the Top Student?” Xin Lan asked.
“What????”
“Steal his woman.”
“????”
The script was not written this way; this did not follow the standard tropes.
“Is it not allowed?” Xin Lan retorted. “Didn’t you say to inflict emotional abuse? Isn’t he pursuing romance? Then I’ll make sure he has no romance.”
“If I can’t do that, then I’ll humiliate him, abuse him, threaten him, imprison him, torture him…”
“Let’s discuss how to steal his woman,” Zero Nine said.
Zero Nine shivered, remembering the scumbag from their first mission who had been beaten into a howling dog in his room. She decided that conventional guides probably wouldn’t work for her host. It was better to go with the unconventional.
Breaking the wings of the trash ex-boyfriend’s love and making him regret everything!
In theory, it was wonderful.
Xin Lan didn’t get to discuss the details with Zero Nine, because the bell rang.
The teacher walked out of the classroom right on time, without a second of hesitation. The crisp, efficient movement would put any teacher who loved dragging out class for ‘just one more minute’ to shame.
All sound ceased, like a silent film.
During non-discussion periods, one could not speak about anything regarding tactics; otherwise, they would be ‘silenced.’
This was a cautionary tale someone had left for the crowd yesterday, using their own body as the example.
Someone walked out of the classroom first, and then the rest sparsely trickled out, showing zero enthusiasm.
“Let’s go.”
Someone knocked on Xin Lan’s desk. It was a boy wearing glasses.
This was the leader of the team the original owner had joined. She had initially wanted to find her ex-boyfriend, but after he shot her a contemptuous glare, she returned in a fit of pique.
There were forty seats in a class, and the four hundred people were divided into ten classes. Xin Lan was not in the same class as the ex-boyfriend or the Top Student.
Personnel were allowed to move freely, but very few people formed cross-class teams unless they were close acquaintances or wanted to cling to someone powerful.
Xin Lan nodded and followed behind the boy.
The team Xin Lan was in had not yet exchanged clues with one another. Whether it was because there hadn’t been enough time in the morning or because they were all guarding against each other was unknown, but for Xin Lan, this was great news.
Having a clue meant you could become prey at any time, but having no clue meant you could only wait to die.
“Why do I feel like you’re a bit different now?” the boy asked, pushing his glasses up with a thoughtful look.
“Different how?”
“You seem a lot calmer all of a sudden.”
“Things are already like this. Being frantic won’t change anything.”
Xin Lan tugged at the corners of her lips, offering a perfunctory smile.
The boy figured that made sense and didn’t ask further.
People walked in twos and threes on the way to the cafeteria. Aside from a few who were chatting, the vast majority remained silent.
Xin Lan kept her hands in her school uniform pockets, gripping the original owner’s clue.
At the very beginning, the original owner had seen a slip of paper. The clue written on it was ‘Under the first sink in the third-floor girls’ dormitory restroom.’ Following the instructions, the original owner had retrieved her clue.
It was something resembling a map fragment.
Xin Lan relaxed her grip, her expression placid.
They were a five-person team. Aside from Xin Lan, there was also a short girl.
Xin Lan filed their names and nicknames away in her mind: Little Glasses Cai Yang, Acne Guo Ming, Dark and Stout Chen Zhihong, and Little Shorty Zhou Mingfang.
Little Shorty walked on the other side of Little Glasses, while Dark and Stout and Acne brought up the rear.
Seeing Little Glasses Cai Yang unconsciously drifting closer to her again, Xin Lan took a large stride and entered the cafeteria first.
Being beautiful was sometimes a great advantage. For instance, in situations like this, people automatically came knocking. However, Xin Lan preferred being the boss.
She rarely operated as a lone wolf. When she was a General, she had commanded many subordinates; when she was a villain, she had no shortage of lackeys and throngs of followers.
She was accustomed to being the dominant force, but she disliked leading disobedient, useless people who couldn’t be helped.
The people behind her all harbored their own thoughts. Xin Lan wouldn’t necessarily stick with this temporary team.
Since she had already made up her mind to clash with the ex-boyfriend, she needed to form a team formidable enough to rival his, and then poach the Top Student over.
“Jiujiu, I’m going to dismantle his team and poach his people. What do you think of this plan?” Xin Lan asked.
“Why not just join the ex-boyfriend’s team directly?” Zero Nine suggested. “You could prepare to stab him in the back at any moment, steal the Top Student, and anger him to death! Aren’t you his ex-girlfriend? Just go become besties with his goddess, and then talk trash about him to the Top Student. Wouldn’t that be better!”
“…I think you’re perfectly capable of handling this mission yourself,” Xin Lan replied.
Such a talent—being a System was a sheer waste of her abilities.
Xin Lan had a bit of conventional thinking herself. To her, there were three types of villains: the first type teamed up with the protagonist only to betray and backstab them later; the second type was a boss waiting to be farmed by the protagonist; and the third type stood on the opposite side of the protagonist as a mortal enemy. She wasn’t too fond of the first type. She felt that rather than having a tangled web of love and hate, it was better to hate straight to the bitter end.
She could take Zero Nine’s suggestion into consideration, but her optimal scenario was still to kick the ex-boyfriend to the curb and abuse him to death as a hostile enemy.
“Keep it low-profile,” Zero Nine said. “After all, I’m just a humble System hiding my merits and fame4.”
Real heroes never look back at explosions, and real Systems never abuse scumbags themselves.
The author has something to say:
The weather has turned cold. This shivering author is hugging her adorable dumpling readers to forcefully absorb their warmth = w =
Footnotes
- An idiom meaning to harbor sinister designs or hidden motives; literally 'to carry a ghost in one's heart' (xīnhuái guǐtāi).
- Originating from a popular manga phrase, 'zhàn wǔ zhā' (combat power of five scum) is a slang term used to describe someone who is completely useless or hopelessly weak in a fight.
- A term borrowed from Buddhist mythology (the realm of the Asuras) and popularized in anime and internet slang. A 'Shura field' (xiūluóchǎng) refers to a chaotic, intensely competitive romantic entanglement, often involving a love triangle or multiple suitors clashing in dramatic fashion.
- Derived from Li Bai's poem 'Ode to Gallantry' (Xiákè xíng), 'hiding one's merits and fame' (shēn cáng gōng yǔ míng) is a popular internet slang phrase used when someone humbly downplays their achievements.
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