Chapter 146: Cat and Mouse Game

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Cat and Mouse Game

Jeremy arrived back at the classroom before sitting down to read the contents of the starred post carefully.

The Hide-and-Seek Tournament had another name, the Exploration Scramble Tournament, which would commence five days from now.

The rules were as follows:

[Tournament Duration: 20 natural days.]

Participants: All first-year students of the five major departments. (This tournament replaces the midterm exam. Absence is considered skipping the exam and subject to corresponding penalties, we kindly request everyone’s mandatory participation.)

Role Selection Method: Before the tournament, everyone will randomly draw a role. The role cannot be changed throughout the process and is only visible to the person drawing it.

Factions: Completely randomizing all members of the five departments. This tournament does not use departments or classes as a basis; everything is based on the role assigned on the first day to determine factions.

[Three factions: ① Order Mouse ② Chaos Cat ③ Star-Reverser.]

◇ Mouse — Core Objective: Evade capture by their natural enemy, the Chaos Cat, survive, and collect ten elemental fragments.

Within twenty days, must gather ten fragments containing non-repeating elements. Once gathered, go to the designated area to activate the Wheel of Fortune, become the Lord of Concealment, and claim the ultimate victory.

Scoring rules: each day of survival adds twenty points. Surviving a full seven days grants a bonus of one hundred points.

Every day, the system also issues random tasks, which can be freely accepted to earn points.

Accumulated points can be exchanged for various skills and clues.

For example: Reveal full map (locating the positions of all members, extremely effective for evading capture), Forced Invisibility (evading the Chaos Cat’s target-locking skill).

The type of skill drawn is random, the clue is also random. It could be the location of an elemental fragment, or a map of a safe escape route. (Luck determines the upper limit.)

Task 2 — Collect ten elemental fragments: each fragment adds fifty points, every two different fragments gathered grant an additional eighty points. (The ten fragments are not allowed to overlap; overlapping ones are invalid.)

☆ Cat — Core Objective: Catch Mice to eliminate them from the game, simultaneously preventing the opponent from gathering all ten fragments. If after twenty days the Mice fail to activate the Wheel of Fortune, the Cats will become the Lords of the Hunt and claim victory.

Scoring rules: catching one Order Mouse adds twenty points, the daily maximum limit is one hundred points.

Task 2 — Individually accumulating the elimination of ten Mice grants a bonus of one hundred points.

Accumulated points can also be exchanged for beneficial skills and clues.

Balancing rule: If within three days a Mouse fails to find any fragments, they are directly eliminated. If within three days a Cat fails to catch any Mice, they are also considered eliminated.

(Note: The Student Council will naturally unconditionally support the weak to become stronger. Therefore, those defeated in the first fifteen days will be sent to the Monster Forest for hell-tier training~ No need to thank us.)

♧ Hidden Class: Star-Reverser (extremely low probability, maximum ten people) — Core Objective: Neutral faction of undetermined good or evil. The first seven days bear a random role; after seven days will awaken for class advancement.

After class advancement, can both help Chaos Cats catch and eliminate Mice, and help Mice escape encirclement.

During the class advancement period, must conceal their identity and do not need to collect elemental fragments. But every day must mandatorily eliminate one person, taking the fragment of a Cat or Mouse to sustain their life. Failure means elimination. (No restriction on whether the target is a Cat or a Mouse.)

Midway, if the Star-Reverser’s identity is exposed, Cats and Mice can go to Star City to report them.

But if until the final minute still no Cat or Mouse exposes the identities of seven or more Star-Reversers, then both the Cat and Mouse factions fail. The Star-Reversers will win and become the ultimate Lords.

Scoring rules: eliminating one person grants twenty points. If identity is not yet exposed, each day of survival adds twenty points.

Skills exchanged from accumulated points are random.

[Tournament Location: Island Number Seven of the City in the Sky.]

This island is a complex conglomerate — a labyrinth forest, the seabed, an underground city... No map restrictions; the entire island is the exploration site.

First Core Point: Star City.

If the Cat and Mouse factions discover a Star-Reverser, they must go to Star City to report. Upon successful reporting, the Star Guards will proceed to arrest and eliminate that person.

If the intention is discovered by the Star-Reverser before reaching Star City, the Star-Reverser has the right to forcibly eliminate that person, and Cats and Mice can also fight back.

The ultimate victory or defeat depends on actual combat.

Note: To make this tournament more interesting, after the allocation of the Cat and Mouse factions on the first day, the school will suppress the realms of anyone higher than Intermediate Stage Five-Star down to the average level, aiming to ensure the attractiveness of the match and everyone’s enthusiasm.

Second Core Point: The area to gather all ten elements and activate the Wheel of Fortune.

The route and coordinates are kept secret; please use clues as a foundation to explore on your own.

[For this tournament, point distribution and skill selection drawing will be synchronized on the Magic Spirit card. On the opening day, upon entering the island, the Magic Spirit cards of all participants will be locked; during this period only task-related software is permitted to be opened.

Furthermore, the tournament will be broadcast live synchronously on the academy’s internal network. The upperclassmen in the other five year groups are watching you, please do not cheat.]

"..."

Looking at a whole pile of rules along with these bizarre exploration games, Jeremy admitted that his understanding of this academy was still not deep enough.

"Ding dong."

Several similar notification sounds rang out simultaneously across the classroom.

Having turned off notifications yet the message still chimed meant it was sent by the school and the Student Council.

Jeremy exited to check.

As expected.

The content was the same as the post Lomita forwarded, but the rules had been specified a step further.

Aside from what was read, the second revised version of the starred post added a section introducing skills along with a series of detailed regulations.

For example, during the exploration process, aside from one’s own Sacred Weapon, borrowing any external assistance is not permitted.

During those twenty days, if you want survival supplies, you must mandatorily use accumulated points to exchange for them.

Including all medicines, provisions, equipment, and everything else.

Even during the tournament period, even clothes are only permitted to be the Cat and Mouse outfits issued by the academy.