When Ning Su and Ling Xiao returned, it was already close to midnight.
Ning Changfeng, who had been waiting for them, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing them and immediately asked, "How did it go?"
Ning Su recounted the useful information they had gathered in the small dark room.
Ning Changfeng also explained what they had discovered on their side.
"After Jiang Ming was kicked down by Ling Xiao, he was sent to the school infirmary. The Gu Witch followed him under the guise of a classmate taking care of him."
"He asked Jiang Ming how the school transferred his memory. He couldn't explain it clearly, only saying that it was done in the small dark room."
Ning Changfeng said, "He probably wasn’t lying. After all, the Gu Witch does have his methods."
Thinking about how the Gu Witch had spent the past two weeks collecting ants and earthworms at school, Ning Su couldn't help but shiver internally.
He also believed that Jiang Ming had confessed everything. Under the Gu Witch’s scrutiny, it was impossible for him to hide anything.
Sure enough, the memory transfer took place in the small dark room.
No wonder they weren’t taking the exams in the usual classroom building. Besides the convenience of the large lecture hall for monitoring, that building was very close to the small dark room. During the break between the two exams, it was possible to transfer memories there.
Ning Changfeng remarked, "It seems that memory transfer isn’t difficult, happens quickly, and doesn’t cause any apparent rejection effects."
The candidate in the second exam hall who lost his memory during the Chinese test had his knowledge-based memory used by Jiang Ming in the second math exam.
He said, "I suppose that’s good news, right?"
Ning Su replied, "It’s not necessarily without any reaction. The one who received Wang Zhiqiu’s memories turns his head reflexively every time someone calls Wang Zhiqiu's name."
Ning Changfeng agreed, "True."
Ji Zeming said, "The next memory transfer will be during the next assessment. We can only wait until then to figure out a way to observe it."
Lu Yue asked, "How will we observe it?"
That was a problem.
Based on what Gui Sheng saw, they could basically confirm that the memory transfer happened on the second floor of the small dark room.
Gui Sheng was naturally born half-yin and half-yang, as reflected in his mismatched eyes of slightly different colors. The yin-aligned eye had an unusual trait—it could be removed from its socket at will.
If the eyeball were still intact, it might have been possible to deduce which wealthy student’s memory was being transferred and take the opportunity to place the eyeball on them.
However, for some reason, the eyeball exploded. With the Gui Sheng's sluggish and slow nature, who knows when it will regenerate.
When there were no skill restrictions, they had various methods at their disposal, such as the Gu Witch's venomous insects. But now, since the Gu Witch wasn't using her skill-raised insects, while they might be great for torturing people, they couldn’t substitute for sight.
Ning Su said, “There are a lot of instructors and security guards guarding outside the small dark room. Ordinary people can’t get in.”
There weren’t many people inside the small dark room because, at the time, the only two students in there—he and Ling Xiao—were locked in the Reflection Hall.
Locking the door also showed that the school was constantly on guard against the students.
Ning Changfeng warned, “In any case, you can’t go. If you go again, it’ll be your second time. Going would mean missing at least one more test, which could push you into the bottom 100 rankings. If that happens, you’ll be sent in a third time, and who knows what the Reflection Hall will do to you on the third visit.”
Ning Su glanced at him unhappily. “Who says missing one test would push me into the bottom 100?”
“…”
Got silenced by the ordinary logic.
Ning Changfeng said, “Breaking into the small dark room is against school rules; you’d be sent in again!”
Ning Su was about to say more but was interrupted by Ning Changfeng. “Let’s wait and see. Maybe there’s another way.”
Lu Yue agreed, “There’s really no need to rush. Even if we figure out how to transfer memories, we can’t act too soon. If we steal the memories, the school might have time to figure it out. What if they take the memories back? What if we’re sent to the Reflection Hall again?”
Ji Zeming looked distressed. “The more I think about it, the harder it gets.”
For the moment, they were at a loss, seemingly left with no choice but to wait.
Ning Changfeng pulled Ning Su aside and said to him, “I know you’re being proactive because you want to help Shi Tianzhu and Ling Xiao get a share of the memory knowledge. But first, you need to protect yourself.”
Ning Su nodded. “Alright, let’s wait and see.”
The next day, a more difficult situation unfolded.
The results of last night’s third mock exam came out, including the memory loss status of players in the bottom 100 rankings who had been sent to the Reflection Hall.
For those entering the Reflection Hall a second time, half still experienced memory loss. However, for those entering the Reflection Hall a third time, every single player showed signs of memory loss. Moreover, the number of people sent in a third time was significant—36 players in total.
As of this round, 15 players had died, 69 had lost their memories, and only 16 remained completely intact.
Among these 16 players, 4 had already been to the Reflection Hall.
The entire day, the atmosphere among the players was particularly gloomy, and despair grew in the midst of the gloom.
That evening, someone organized another gathering for the players in the small study room of the library.
A male player stood up, looked at Ning Changfeng, Ning Su, and the Gu Witch one by one, and said, “I’m sorry, starting tomorrow, I’m going to focus entirely on studying and preparing for the college entrance exam.”
In other words, he was done with everything else.
He would no longer teach the amnesiac players or look into the matter of transferring memories.
Ning Su knew his academic performance: in the three mock exams, he had scored 571, 595, and 611, respectively.
As long as he studied hard, he had a high chance of completing the main task and leaving the instance.
Moreover, he was far from being in the bottom 100. Even if all these amnesiac players failed to take the exam, he wouldn’t fall into the bottom 100 and get sent to the Reflection Hall.
Under such circumstances, ignoring everything else and focusing solely on the college entrance exam was indeed the better choice.
In fact, among the players who had never been to the Reflection Hall, many were in a similar situation. Either they were consistently scoring above 600 or were close enough to reach it with a bit more effort.
Another player in a similar situation stood up and said, “Me too.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
...
Last time, Shi Tianzhu had organized everyone here to encourage cooperation.
This time, someone had called them together to divide them.
This meeting would definitely not attract any teachers because the study room had remained quiet throughout.
Especially after the series of “me too” responses.
Many fully amnesiac players looked bewildered, not realizing they had been abandoned.
Players who were already weak due to their amnesia slowly began to show despair on their faces, and two of them even lowered their heads and started crying.
They understood that this group of players—who were about to become useless—had finally been forsaken.
Despair was contagious. The completely amnesiac players, as innocent and simple as children, also began to feel uneasy.
Amid a wave of quiet sobbing, the six players stood up and left the classroom, leaving behind a single sentence:
“We hope you won’t affect our college entrance exams—don’t disrupt our studies, and don’t hinder us from taking the exams smoothly.”
As they walked away resolutely, their departing figures left the self-study room feeling even more oppressive.
The 69 amnesiac players cautiously watched them, their eyes filled with unease, despair, and a mixture of both open and subtle pleas.
For the first time, Ning Su felt what it was like to be regarded as someone’s savior.
From the very beginning until he entered the self-study room, his only plan had been to help Ling Xiao and Shi Tianzhu recover their memories.
Should they even try to save so many amnesiac people who knew nothing—not even their own names?
Even if they wanted to save them, could they manage to save so many without it affecting themselves?
A male player stood up and said, “I still have my memories right now, so I can take responsibility for my words. If you don’t have the capacity, don’t worry about me. I was alone in the original world—no family, no friends. It doesn’t matter to me. If you can save others, save them first.”
A female player stood up as well, crying as she said, “Honestly, I don’t want to keep struggling in this infinite game anymore. You don’t need to save me either.”
An older player stood up, his tone calm. “I’m the oldest among us in this instance. That’s enough—I shouldn’t be causing any more trouble in this game. Leave the chance for the younger ones.”
A teenager stood up next. “I’m the weakest among us. In this Level 6 instance, if anyone’s going to die, it should be me.”
…
Anyone who still had even a shred of memory and understood the situation of this instance knew how hard it would be for the remaining few to save such a large group.
One by one, people began to stand up and relinquish their chances, knowing that the fewer people who needed saving, the higher the likelihood that the others might actually make it—even if that chance was still uncertain.
Among those who stood up were two players who had previously bullied the amnesiac players. Only when they themselves experienced the terror and despair of amnesia did they truly understand how horrifying it was.
Facing death and the brink of becoming someone like them, entering a blank and empty existence, they said: “Perhaps… we should give them the chance instead.”
