This Damned Thirst for Survival

Chapter 19

After a five-day break, everyone boarded the coach and arrived at the venue for the second round of the competition.

They reached their destination, a boarding school named Changqing High School, in the afternoon. This school was one of the ten they had shortlisted.

Upon seeing the school, Jiang Luo recalled the information he had previously memorized.

Changqing High School, originally a key high school in the city, is located in a remote area with outdated and dilapidated facilities, yet it boasted a remarkable college entrance examination passing rate. In 2012, with funding from the Education Bureau, Changqing High School underwent an expansion that divided it into new and old campuses. The new campus hosted freshmen and sophomores, while the old campus was reserved for seniors and repeat students, providing a quieter and more secluded environment conducive to studying for exams.

However, what was supposed to be a routine expansion turned tragic when a senior girl disappeared during the construction period.

Being a boarding school, students could only go home once a month. The disappearance of a student during her stay at school caused a huge uproar at the time, and in the following three months, several more girls went missing. Two workers at the construction site also met with fatal accidents, resulting in Changqing High School being stricken from the list of key schools.

Yet, the lure of a lower admission threshold secretly pleased many students and parents, so the student population of Changqing High School did not decrease compared to other key high schools.

This year, however, Changqing High School faced another incident.

A staff member at the front announced through a megaphone, "The second round of the competition will last for three days. Within these three days, you must uncover the mystery behind the girl who disappeared in 2012, the cause behind the workers' deaths, and what exactly happened that year. After the competition concludes, we will select the top thirty participants based on your findings to advance to the next round. Your accommodations are arranged in the old campus, where the students have been relocated to the new campus for this event. The competition will also be live-streamed. Before the competition begins, please sign a death waiver agreement with us—"

"Thirty people?!"

"Fuck... Are they eliminating a hundred people just like that?"

"A one in four chance, how brutal is this round!"

The chatter exploded, suddenly drowning out the staff's voice.

Jiang Luo clicked his tongue, "A death waiver, is it that serious?"

Zhuo Zhongqiu calmly reassured everyone, "Don't worry, my dad got selected as a judge this year. I called him before the competition, asking him to look after us. No matter how dangerous this round is, we're definitely safe."

Ge Zhu sighed, "Following Sister Zhuo gives a sense of security."

Zhuo Zhongqiu smiled charmingly, "No biggie."

Hearing her words, the students of Baihua University's Class 01, who were already prepared, felt even more reassured. They boldly signed the death waiver and followed the staff to the dormitory.

The old campus dormitory was a four-person room, with two bunk beds and four desks pushed together, making the ten-square-meter room especially cramped. As soon as they entered the dormitory, a musty smell hit them.

It smelled like garbage that had been left out for too long, mixed with the stench from the sewers, making people cover their noses and sigh, "You can tell it's a boys' dorm."