Chapter 243 - 8: A Method to Make the Students More Anxious

Duan Fei could understand where he was coming from.

An instance with an Otherworld Machine had the potential to become a permanent one, allowing players to come in and complete various quests over and over.

The problem, however, was that this Otherworld Machine was too small and its Energy conversion rate was too low. As a result, they didn’t have enough surplus Energy to convert into Abyss Coins and hire Descenders.

Moreover, there were too few people here, which meant there was also too little anxiety to convert.

Forcing Descenders away with all sorts of harsh measures was an act of desperation. After all, this place was simply too poor.

So, Duan Fei nodded. "Alright, I promise I won’t tell anyone. But if others want to talk, I won’t stop them."

"Whew... Thanks."

The dean of students breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the first time he’d said these things to anyone.

He couldn’t tell the Descenders, and he couldn’t tell the students. If he told the students, they would no longer see the exam as just an exam, but as a contribution to their home.

Besides, if the students knew they could never go back, their despair might drive them to extremes, and all the sacrifices made would be for nothing.

Looking up, Duan Fei saw the lights gradually go out as the exam progressed, until only five remained.

This meant that besides Duan Fei, Jinghong, and Lin Daiyu, two other players had held on until the end and completed the exam.

Seeing this, the dean sighed, vexed. "There goes another twenty-five hundred Abyss Coins."

Hearing this, Duan Fei suddenly thought of something and asked, "When you use the Otherworld Machine to summon Descenders, do you pay for the final reward?"

"Yes. At least five hundred Abyss Coins each."

"I see..."

Remembering the first instance, Duan Fei now had a pretty good idea why the rewards had been so generous.

’Rongge Company is loaded.’

’So, the instances in *Abyss* aren’t independent entities. There must be some kind of underlying connection between them, maybe even a shared fundamental world view.’

’I’m a genius for figuring that out!’

’The *Abyss* dev team... You guys really went all out, setting up every little detail like this!’

Pleased with himself, Duan Fei gave himself a mental pat on the back. He looked at the Otherworld Machine and asked, "Have you ever tried to see what other kinds of Energy this thing can absorb, besides anxiety?"

"We have. But it seems it can only absorb anxiety."

"I see. Can it absorb the anxiety of Descenders?"

"It can. But you Descenders... you’re all a little *too* carefree, don’t you think? I haven’t seen a hint of anxiety from any of you."

"Well, yeah. Who gets anxious playing a game? If you can’t even focus while gaming, you owe yourself a good slap or two."

Understanding the machine’s limitations, Duan Fei told the dean to calm down and hold off on sending anyone away. He then told him to go ahead and start serving the meal for now.

A thousand or so students filed into the cafeteria in an orderly fashion. Every one of them wore a frown, discussing their exam papers.

Their anxiety would be converted into Energy, absorbed by the Otherworld Machine in the basement, and in turn become their food, forming an ingenious cycle.

While the students were eating, Duan Fei found Jinghong, Lin Daiyu, and the other two players.

The other two players were clearly a pair of friends. One was a young lady with waist-length blonde hair in a blue dress. The other was her Maid, who always kept her eyes narrowed to a squint and wore a perfect smile, her hair in braids.

They clearly weren’t Huaxia People. Since *Abyss* was a global game, it wasn’t strange to be matched with a few foreigners now and then.

And their Chinese was remarkably fluent.

With a wave of her hand, the blonde young lady declared arrogantly, "Gaze upon my magnificent self, you plebeians! I am Flora! Royal blood flows through my veins; elegance and nobility are my birthright! However, I shall still grant you this opportunity to become my servants. You should be honored! Myeh-heh-heh!"

The Maid skillfully covered the young lady’s ears and said to the others with a beaming smile, "My lady’s name is Flora. She spouts nonsense when she gets nervous. I’m her official spokesperson; I’ll translate her subtext for you. But please, don’t tell her I said this. Otherwise, she’ll spend the night writhing in bed like a maggot until dawn, and then start writing a letter of apology."

Duan Fei stared at the bizarre master-servant duo. It took him a moment before he could nod. "I’ll do my best."

"What she meant to say was, her name is Flora. And while her noble lineage is a bit... distant, she hopes you can all put aside any prejudices about her background and not look down on her. Please, try to be her friend."

At this point in her "translation," the Maid turned her head to the side and snickered. "Friends... She’s been desperate for them since she was a little girl, but she honestly doesn’t have a single one, you know."

"Is it really okay for you to talk about your master like that?" Duan Fei asked.

"She can’t hear me anyway. Besides, our relationship is purely a sordid monetary transaction. She commands my body, and I take her money. We have no other connection. By the way, playing this game with her counts as overtime. I get paid triple my usual rate, based on in-game time."

Flora, oblivious to how she was being portrayed, kept her head held high in an arrogant pose. Yet, deep in her eyes, a trace of anticipation flickered.

Duan Fei felt a pang of sympathy, but he had no desire to get any more involved.

After all, just dealing with Jinghong’s personality back in the day had been exhausting enough. He wasn’t about to go through that a second time.

Jinghong, on the other hand, seemed to relate.

Signaling for the Maid to let go of Flora’s ears, Jinghong walked over to her. She met Flora’s expectant gaze and said gravely, "I will not be your friend."

Flora instantly freaked out!

"AAAAH! That can’t be right! Why won’t you be my friend?! Are you short on cash? I can give you money! Thirty thousand a month! Please, I’m begging you, be my friend!"

"Don’t even think about it."

"Be my friend! I sense the same aura from you—one steeped in power and money! Come on, don’t make me beg you!"

"Goodbye. Why don’t you go find a hole and bury yourself in it?"

"AAAAAH!"

Watching the hysterical Flora and the full-blown queen-mode Jinghong, Lin Daiyu cautiously tugged on Duan Fei’s sleeve. "What’s gotten into Jinghong?"

"She’s just seeing a reflection of her past self. Out of pure disgust for her own cringey history, she’s developed an aggressive urge toward anyone with similar traits. Don’t worry, she’s normally quite sane."

’Looking at Duan Fei, Jinghong, and Flora, Lin Daiyu felt like she’d wandered into a place she didn’t belong.’

Once Flora had calmed down, the five players could finally start discussing their plan.

Since Duan Fei had promised the dean he wouldn’t reveal the truth, he didn’t mention his discovery directly. Instead, he broached the topic from a different angle.

"It seems this place is collecting anxiety. But because the population is only a thousand people, they’re gathering very little of it, and they’ve reached a dangerously low level. Does anyone have any good ideas?"

"That’s simple," the Maid said, smiling sweetly.

She picked up a silver dinner knife, opened her left eye, and licked the edge of the blade. "Just add a serial killer to the mix," she said with a sinister grin. "That feeling of not knowing when it’s your turn... wouldn’t that be wonderfully anxiety-inducing?"

Duan Fei didn’t know about the others, but he, for one, was starting to feel anxious.