007 frowned slightly.

Gu Mian also looked thoughtful as he turned his gaze towards Yue Nu.

He remembered when Chu Changge had first received the game rules from 007, she had brought up the very point Yue Nu was now making.

Civilians cannot kill, but a ghost can kill anyone.

Civilians could use this rule to identify the ghost.

And now, it seemed Yue Nu intended to start using this rule.

She spoke up, "Setting aside Zhang Pingfan and Pan Yue, who aren't here, there are eight of us present. We eight can use the rule 'Civilians cannot kill other players; ghosts can kill any player' to find the ghost hiding among us."

Keke, who sat by the window deep in thought, glanced over, seemingly anticipating Yue Nu's idea. "Are you saying… we should use this rule to actively attack other players?"

Li Yibai looked at Yue Nu, somewhat shocked.

Yue Nu continued, "Exactly. The rules state civilians cannot kill other players. So, if you're a civilian, you can't kill anyone. Even if you try to stab another player with a knife, you won't succeed. Conversely, any player who *can* stab and kill another after eight in the evening is definitely a ghost…"

Yuan Qinghua, who was closest to Yue Nu, widened her eyes slightly. "Are you suggesting that, once the time comes, we should… stab one another?"

Yue Nu paused briefly before resuming, "Well... essentially, that's the idea. If a civilian poses a life-threatening risk to another player, the game will definitely intervene."

So, those who could not stab another to death were civilians, and those who could were ghosts.

Upon hearing Yue Nu's words, Li Yibai shot up from his seat. "No! Absolutely not! This is preposterous! If the game prevents civilians from killing, then who knows how it does it? By directly eliminating any civilian who tries to kill?"

Before last night, none of those present had taken the term "eliminated" very seriously.

But after witnessing Li Wentao being voted out and eliminated, none of them could ignore the word any longer.

To be eliminated meant death.

Li Yibai could still vividly recall the grotesque, twisted form of Li Wentao's body just before his death, and the tears streaming from his eyes.

At this point, Gu Mian also spoke up, "I remember in games I've played before, people who broke the rules would be directly eliminated, right? So, I guess the game prevents civilians from killing by directly eliminating any civilian who is about to kill someone."

007 also turned to Yue Nu. "Yes, this method shouldn't be attempted lightly."

Yue Nu's brow tightened for a moment, then relaxed. "I suspected you might not agree with my idea, but that's alright... Just remember that only civilians cannot kill other players. If anyone sees someone kill another person, then that person is definitely a ghost."

She paused a moment before continuing, "So, I suggest we all stick together tonight. If we all stay together, the ghost won't dare to show itself and kill."

Keke frowned. "We were all together last night, but then the ghost split us up. Even if we want to stay together, there's no guarantee we'll succeed."

Yue Nu nodded slightly. "Although I wasn't with you last night, Lin Qi told me everything that happened. The ghost will separate people after 8 PM."

007 and Yue Nu were classmates, so they had more opportunities to interact. Thus, 007 had recounted most of what happened the previous night to Yue Nu.

Yue Nu said, lowering her voice, "If we do get separated, I hope everyone, no matter where you end up, will try to return to this classroom and regroup. Ideally, we should all be gathered here by the time of the second vote at 3 AM tonight."

"But that's impossible!" Li Yibai exclaimed anxiously. "Just like yesterday, we were all transported a great distance from the school and couldn't even go downstairs. There's no way we could have made it back to this classroom under those circumstances."

If it wanted to, the ghost had a thousand ways to prevent them from regrouping.

Yue Nu spoke to soothe the agitated Li Yibai. "I know. That's why I'm just asking you to try your best to return here before the vote at 3 AM. If you can't make it back, then you'll just have to vote as you see fit. I won't be able to help."

007 seemed to detect a hidden meaning in Yue Nu's words. She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Are you implying that if we manage to gather here before 3 AM, you'll provide some clues for the vote?"

Yue Nu nodded. "After we were scattered at noon today, I discovered that this game has usable items."

Usable items? Gu Mian frowned.

He knew that instance players could use special items, but he hadn't noticed any available items in this game, and the rules didn't mention them either. Was Yue Nu bluffing, or did such things truly exist? Everyone had dispersed at noon today. Yue Nu was the last to return to the classroom, giving her plenty of free time. Perhaps she found the "item" she mentioned during that period.

Li Yibai immediately asked, "You found an item? What is it?"

Yue Nu shook her head slightly. "I can't disclose it right now. But with this item, I will certainly be able to identify one of the three ghosts tonight…"

As she said this, Gu Mian suddenly interrupted, "Since you've said all that, the ghost's target tonight will definitely be you. There's a high probability you'll die tonight, so you won't even get to use the item in your hand. You don't actually believe there isn't a ghost among the eight of us here, do you? Why would you say something like this now?"

Yue Nu was momentarily taken aback. She didn't know the identities of the others, but she was certain of her own: she was a civilian. This instance was a bit unique; it was the only one she'd experienced where the mission wouldn't necessarily fail even if a player died. Because even if she died, as long as the remaining living civilians managed to vote out all the ghosts, the instance mission would be considered complete. If the surviving civilians were clever enough, she could win the instance even as a corpse. Yue Nu could tell there were a few enigmatic individuals among the instance players this time, but she couldn't determine if they were human or ghost. Therefore, she hadn't planned on just coasting to victory as a corpse. Even though she had said such things in front of everyone, she didn't intend to be eliminated tonight. At the very least, she had to survive until the next round.

Yue Nu thought to herself for a moment, then said aloud, "Of course, I don't want to die. So, today, I'll randomly give this thing I'm holding to one of you here."

As she spoke, she took out seven nearly identical small paper squares from her pocket. No one could tell if anything was wrapped inside them. "The 'item' I mentioned is among these," she continued. "I will distribute them randomly among you now. This way, even I won't know whose hands the 'item' will ultimately fall into."