Amid the low whispered discussion between Wang Zhifan and his companions, bus 444 gradually accelerated, driving through this abandoned city district.

Throughout this journey, Wang Zhifan had been paying close attention to the changing streets and directions outside, quietly memorizing them in his mind. This was actually a habit of his when taking public transportation; he liked to memorize the routes when heading to unfamiliar places. He did this often in the real world, and even more so during assignments like this.

After about half an hour, bus 444 arrived at an intersection with a rusty bus stop sign and slowly came to a stop.

"Hell Academy has arrived. Passengers who need to get on or off, please do so in an orderly manner. The next stop is: Soul Return Road."

As the pleasant female voice announced over the bus speakers and the doors slowly opened, Wang Zhifan and his group quickly saw through the bus windows that three hooded figures in black robes briskly emerged from a nearby alley, heading towards the bus where they were.

Due to the large black hoods and robes they wore, these three figures were almost completely obscured, making it difficult to discern their age or even gender. One could only ascertain from their height that they were all likely adults.

"They should be people from Hell Academy. According to the old man, Hell Academy is similar to the existence of Apartment 444 in this world. Moreover, their students are vastly different from our residents; many have undergone special transformations, and their survival rate is much higher than those of the apartment and Thirteenth Hospital..."

The young man in a school uniform, who was the most thoroughly informed, analyzed as he looked at the three approaching hooded black-robed figures outside.

"What special transformation?"

The petite Assassin girl next to him asked with some curiosity.

"The old man said it's ghost transformation, which means making a part of their body ghost-like. The process is said to be quite dangerous."

The young man in uniform explained immediately.

"Turning themselves into ghosts? These people are really crazy..."

The Assassin girl was a bit taken aback upon hearing that.

"Let's not talk about it. Those people have boarded. The old man mentioned they generally have a bad temper, so we should be cautious and avoid causing any trouble."

As soon as the young man in uniform finished speaking, the three hooded black-robed figures boarded the bus from the street-side platform and began to look for their seats.

During this process, they passed near the position of the seven apartment residents, and then, for some unknown reason, a female apartment resident suddenly screamed and began to run toward the bus door.

"Ah!!! Ghost! A ghost has boarded the bus!"

She shouted as she desperately rushed toward the door, which was nearly closed, clearly intending to escape.

Wang Zhifan had already moved near the bus door. He had originally thought, with the experience of the last stop, that these residents wouldn't stir up any trouble again, but now it seemed the situation was not so optimistic. He saw that the female resident had been blocked by the door, and the three hooded black-robed figures behind her had stopped and turned to look at her, filling the carriage with a palpable sense of malice.

When the three hooded black-robed figures turned around, Wang Zhifan caught a glimpse of their faces hidden under the robes, a truly terrifying sight.

With skin dark and semi-decayed, eyes crimson like an abyss, and red and white gums exposed through decayed lips, they bore almost no resemblance to normal humans, capable of playing evil spirits without any makeup. Yet Wang Zhifan's keen perception told him that these people were still human, albeit tainted with an ominous aura.

"I apologize, esteemed members of the Academy. Our companion here, Spirit, has a tendency to speak nonsense, please don't take it to heart. On behalf of the apartment, I express our regret."

Not wanting a battle to break out in the bus and cause unnecessary incidents, Wang Zhifan covered the mouth of the female resident who was trying to escape and pulled her to the back of the bus while nodding and smiling at the three black-robed figures who had turned to look at them.

He was confident he could handle the three robed figures before him, or completely ignore the resident's fate. But considering the tasks ahead, he needed to keep at least one resident alive. Thus, he decided to intervene to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control and to show the apartment residents that he wasn't completely cold-blooded, that he had the courage and responsibility to stand on the apartment's side. Leaving such an impression would benefit his upcoming roles as a leader and protector in future tasks.

Once Wang Zhifan finished speaking, he quickly dragged the female resident, whose mouth was covered to keep her silent, to a seat at the back of the bus and sat her down to calm her. The three hooded black-robed figures from Hell Academy observed him for a couple of seconds before silently turning around to find seats.

No one knew precisely why the infamously ill-tempered members of Hell Academy chose to suppress their anger. Perhaps they truly felt Wang Zhifan's sincerity in his apology, or they were about to partake in a challenging mission and did not want to waste their precious energy here.

Thus, the ensuing journey was relatively peaceful, with nothing unexpected occurring.

Wang Zhifan and the apartment residents remained seated on bus 444, watching as it took them past one stop after another. During the journey, the young man in a lab coat from the Thirteenth Hospital and the three hooded black-robed figures from Hell Academy disembarked one after another. The eleven apartment residents witnessed the bus continue opening and closing its doors at subsequent stops, without any additional passengers boarding or leaving.

Until midday, they finally left the previously abandoned city district, following a bumpy, water-eroded concrete road to a region scattered with withered yellow weeds in a hilly landscape. Before a towering mountain rising abruptly to nearly a thousand meters in height, at the foot of which the road terminated, bus 444 finally halted its wheels and announced the long-awaited destination:

"Wangfeng Mountain has arrived. Passengers who need to get on or off, please do so in an orderly manner. The next stop is: Bone Decay Lake."

"Everyone off the bus! Time to climb the mountain! Move together, don't wander off!"

After several hours, they finally reached their destination, and Wang Zhifan and the other three players busied themselves immediately. The four of them arranged themselves with Wang Zhifan and the petite Assassin girl at the front, the young Mage and the middle-aged Gunman at the back, enclosing the seven apartment residents in the middle. The eleven of them together began their ascent along the rocky path up the mountain.

According to the task described in the blood-written letter, they needed to reach the summit by 6 PM and watch the sunset for an hour to leave and return to the apartment. Given the time left and the height of the mountain ahead, along with the state of the pathway, it seemed this requirement wasn't difficult to meet.

However, it wasn't long before they spotted some eerie figures further up the mountain path.

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