Of course, as their emotions cooled down, the youths couldn’t help but feel a seed of doubt sprout in their hearts—

Such a good thing…

Could it really be possible?

However, the “Female Ghost” had said she would fulfill this wish for them in advance.

That meant they could directly verify whether this heaven-sent fortune was real.

Thus, scorching gazes turned toward the Giant Kettle.

The Rebellious Youth couldn’t resist knocking on the kettle wall again: “Everything you said is true, right? Since it’s to show your sincerity, why don’t you help us take off our watches right now and try?”

The entire Giant Kettle fell silent for a moment before the weak female voice sounded again:

“Alright. Now, walk about seven or eight meters in the direction the Kettle Spout is pointing, and you’ll find five cards.”

Cards? The youths were skeptical.

But it was only a walk of seven or eight meters…

They could come back quickly.

And this “Female Ghost” had summoned them here;
she definitely didn’t do it just to send them away.

So, under the powerful temptation, the youths quickly reached a consensus—

Go together to find the “cards” the Female Ghost mentioned!

Just like that, after walking about seven or eight meters in the direction the Kettle Spout pointed, they indeed saw five cards lying on the ground!

The Rebellious Youth was quick and nimble. In a flash, he rushed forward and picked up all five cards.

The faces of the other four youths paled. They immediately surrounded him, even showing a tendency to snatch the cards by force.

However, they soon discovered that after the Rebellious Youth looked at those five “cards,” his face also turned pale.

Then, he directly handed four of them to the remaining four:

“Look at this card…”

The youths looked, and sure enough, uniformly, their faces turned white.

On the card was clearly written—

【Time-Limited Instant Kill (Damaged)】

【Designate one player to die immediately. Three seconds later, the player revives with full status.】

【Usage Limit: (3/3)】

This…

Immediate death…

Then full status revival after 3 seconds??

To be honest, these few youths didn’t have deep exposure to or understanding of the bizarre world.

The instinct engraved in their bones was to fear death.

So even though the card clearly stated they could revive after 3 seconds…

The word “death” was still something they found hard to bear.

Thus, soon, the five youths, each with different emotions, turned back the seven or eight meters, returning to the giant wall formed by the kettle.

The Female Ghost seemed to guess the fear in their hearts from their silence.

Her weak voice asked again: “Don’t you have any detection methods? These five cards are absolutely genuine, not forged at all!”

“Or if you really doubt it, you can ask the seniors you know. They will definitely recognize this type of 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 card!”

“…”

The youths remained silent, looking at each other, hesitation and encouragement flickering in their eyes.

A youth who appeared timid encouraged the Rebellious Youth:

“Brother Zheng, you’re the bravest. How about you try it first?”

Hearing this, the Rebellious Youth instantly felt his temper flare, ready to angrily curse.

However, when the corner of his eye caught sight of the Glasses-wearing Youth nearby, pensively holding a card, his eyes suddenly gleamed.

Faced with such blatant encouragement, he actually nodded directly:

“Alright! Since I’m the bravest, let me set an example for everyone and test whether this 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 card can really help us get rid of the Prison watches!”

As he spoke…

He locked his intent on the Glasses-wearing Youth.

Feeling the heat transmitted from the card, he directly stuck the card onto the back of the Glasses-wearing Youth!

A sudden backstab sneak attack. He shouted with a chuunibyou-like fury: “【Time-Limited Instant Kill】! Kill!”

Then…

Four pairs of eyes saw together that the body of the Glasses-wearing Youth actually dissipated like light points!

And the only thing on him that didn’t vanish, the Prison watch, just fell to the ground!

This…

Had the Prison watch really been removed just like that?!

But the person? Could he still revive?!

The hearts of the four youths tightened.

These 3 seconds felt exceptionally long.

But when the 3 seconds passed, right where the Glasses-wearing Youth had disappeared, the light points scattered in the dust indeed coalesced again, reforming the figure of the Glasses-wearing Youth!

Even the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose were perfectly intact, as if they had never disappeared!

“He… he really revived! You… you…”

The Rebellious Youth stammered, suddenly taking a step back, suspicious: “Are you still Yi Min?”

The Glasses-wearing Youth picked up the Prison watch that belonged to him, thoughtfully holding it in his hand, and incidentally shot the Rebellious Youth a disdainful glance:

“You don’t actually think I got my body seized by some monster in just 3 seconds, do you?”

“Uh…” The Rebellious Youth gave an awkward laugh.

The other three youths couldn’t help but crowd around the Glasses-wearing Youth, asking questions with faces full of astonishment:

“Did you really die for three seconds just now? Did you feel any discomfort after reviving?”

“And when you died, did you feel nothing at all? Or was there some terrifying near-death experience?”

“This is too incredible! To actually die instantly and revive again after 3 seconds!”

“And… the Prison watch, it really was removed!”

“So the way to get rid of the Prison watch is death! And this 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 card happens to give a 3-second death effect!”

“So this card… is just too awesome?!”

The youths all tightly gripped their own 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 cards, as if they had obtained a supreme treasure!

The key point was, each of these cards could be used 3 times!

That meant they could not only use it to remove their own Prison watches.

They would also have 2 extra chances to help others remove their Prison watches!

They might even be able to use those extra 2 chances to exchange for benefits with seniors!

Of course, these naive and foolish youths weren’t truly stupid and ignorant of the ways of the world.

They understood the principle that “a common man’s only crime is possessing a jade.”

The prerequisite for exchanging benefits with seniors was that they had sufficient strength.

Otherwise…

Powerful seniors could directly take these cards from their hands!

The youths quickly discussed and decided to jointly keep the secret about these cards.

However, the Glasses-wearing Youth soon pointed out: “Other seniors could find this place at any time.”

“Even if we want to keep this secret, will the female player trapped in the kettle keep it for us?”

The Rebellious Youth quickly reacted: “Since we’ve confirmed everything she said is true, let’s go up right now and drip blood on that so-called stone to rescue her!”

Rescuing her would grant three more wishes…

Maybe they could directly become stronger!

Make those seniors, even if they coveted their cards, unable to defeat them!

The Rebellious Youth was almost blinded by desire.

Then the weak female voice sounded again, slowly stating:

“Thank you for being willing to save me. However, actually, the more crucial reason I’m willing to take out five precious cards to help you remove your Prison watches is—”

“Only after you remove your Prison watches will the quality of your blood become purer.”

“So I hope that before dripping blood onto those three stones, you can first use 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 to take off your Prison watches.”

This request was, of course, not excessive.

It even more reasonably explained why the “Female Ghost” was willing to directly give them such precious items.

Anyway, the Glasses-wearing Youth had already tested it;
he successfully removed his Prison watch.

The remaining four youths…

After looking at each other, they prepared to use 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 on each other to also remove their Prison watches.

However, that Rebellious Youth, looking at his own 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 card, his expression changed slightly.

He directly said to the Glasses-wearing Youth: “You used up one of my card’s charges to remove your watch. So let’s swap cards back!”

The Glasses-wearing Youth shot him another disdainful glance: “That’s unnecessary.”

As he spoke, he used one hand to stick his own card onto the Rebellious Youth’s body and with the other hand snatched the card from the Rebellious Youth’s hand.

This way, he now held two 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 cards.

Each had 2 uses remaining.

With extreme speed, the Glasses-wearing Youth used those two 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 cards, totaling 4 uses, on the remaining three youths.

Watching the Rebellious Youth unexpectedly transform into light points…

Then immediately seeing the Glasses-wearing Youth act swiftly against them.

The three youths actually had a faint feeling that something was wrong…

However, the Glasses-wearing Youth was too fast!

They had no time to react before, like the Rebellious Youth, they rapidly turned into light points!

Just like that, four youths, in less than 3 seconds, were successively hit by 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】, successively turning into light points…

The Glasses-wearing Youth’s expression was cold and detached as he picked up the Prison watches they dropped after turning into light points.

And 3 seconds after the Rebellious Youth was “instantly killed”…

He indeed revived back as well.

However, his revived state was completely different from the Glasses-wearing Youth who had revived earlier without any abnormality!

He had no Prison watch on his hand…

In this Forest of Oddities filled with mist, the mist gas rapidly eroded his physical body.

He didn’t even manage to let out a single sharp scream.

Before instantly turning into a mass of blood.

The area where he existed, the milky-white mist, momentarily looked like a blood mist.

But soon, this small patch of blood mist was diluted by the seemingly endless mist of the entire Forest of Oddities until no trace of blood color remained.

Similarly.

When the remaining three youths revived from the 【Time-Limited Instant Kill】 state, they were also instantly devoured by the mist due to losing their Prison watches.

One by one, the process of turning into blood mist, and then the blood mist being completely diluted by the mist, didn’t even take 3 seconds.

That is, in less than 6 seconds.

Four youths permanently vanished into the mist.

At the moment of death, they didn’t even know why they died…

Of course, they might have vaguely thought—

It was the “Female Ghost” in the kettle who deceived them and took their lives.

But they probably would never have thought—

What truly caused their deaths wasn’t the Female Ghost.

But rather, losing the protection of the Prison watch…

And the Glasses-wearing Youth who orchestrated all this and picked up the 4 Prison watches maintained a cold, detached expression throughout.

Until from within the kettle, the “Female Ghost’s” voice, still weak but now seeming somewhat ethereal, sounded again:

“Have you all… taken off your watches?”

The Glasses-wearing Youth replied: “All taken off.”

This time, his voice was undisguisedly cold.

The next second, the youth made a jumping motion and leaped up onto the Kettle Spout, seven or eight meters high.

He threw the four watches from the Kettle Spout into the kettle.

Inside the Giant Kettle was a world isolated from the mist.

No mist enveloped it, yet it was a pitch-black darkness impervious to light.

In the pitch black, four invisible hands reached out from somewhere, each catching one of the four watches.

The four Prison watches belonging to the four youths were placed onto four invisible hands.

Then immediately after, four human figures crawled out from the kettle mouth at the top of the Giant Kettle.

They were exactly the appearances of the four youths who had previously been devoured by the mist!

Among them, the “Rebellious Youth” looked astonished, rubbing his face and hands, exclaiming in shock:

“This… this Prison watch is just too awesome! Not only does it let players move freely through the mist, it actually perfectly suppresses the Lightburn effect!”

“When that black cloth suppresses Lightburn, the parts covered directly lose sensation…”

“With this Prison watch on, my whole body feels comfortable, no discomfort at all!”

“So why on earth did the ‘ancient players’ of this era have a death wish, actually wanting to get rid of the Prison watches??”

Another youth who appeared timid also rubbed his face, then shouted out excitedly and joyfully as if having survived a disaster:

“Damn! It wasn’t easy! I finally have a body that belongs only to me again! I’m free!”

Amid this rather unimpressive shouting, the timid youth noticed a familiar disdainful glance directed at him.

He immediately addressed that youth, initiating recognition: “Brother Chao? Is that you?”

“Never thought a small Calamities like me, plagued by bad luck, could have such an incredible experience as traveling through time after clinging to your thigh!”

The youth called “Brother Chao” shot him another disdainful glance, looking like he didn’t really want to engage.

Meanwhile, the Glasses-wearing Youth on the Kettle Spout leaped down again, landing steadily among the four youths.

He said solemnly: “Since everyone has a new identity, let’s briefly introduce both the old and new identities.”

As he spoke, he directly pointed at the youth who looked somewhat cold and aloof: “You, you should be Yang Wenchao, right? What’s your current identity?”

Yang Wenchao didn’t answer but directly displayed the data on his Prison watch.

It showed the name: Tu Tianyou.

Then, the timid youth immediately chimed in: “I’m Wan Xin. Now I’m Gao Xiang.”

The Rebellious Youth fell silent for a moment, then also introduced himself: “Previously Liu Re. Now Zheng Yiming.”

The remaining youth with a stiff expression introduced himself in an equally stiff voice: “Wang Lingling. Now Kong Xingyu.”

The Glasses-wearing Youth nodded slightly and finally introduced himself: “Lin Jing. This current body is named Yi Min.”

As he spoke, he suddenly made a gentle waving motion toward the direction of the entire Giant Kettle.

The entire Giant Kettle rapidly shrank to the size of a palm and fell into his hand.

Lin Jing’s face was expressionless. His gaze, passing through the lenses of his glasses, directly fell upon this new version of Yang Wenchao.

After a moment of silence, he said solemnly: “Shall we first compare the information each of us received from the mysterious existence at the burial ground?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep