…The essential nature of games?

Cheng Weicai froze.

“It’s competition, Teacher Cheng.” Bai Youwei sighed lightly. The way she looked at Cheng Weicai and Tu Dan was like looking at two naive children.

“Eliminating one group of people while letting another group clear—if that’s not competition, what is?” Bai Youwei said unhurriedly. “The rewarded tools become part of competitive strength. If everyone has frog clay, Teacher Cheng, you’ll lose a huge advantage in future games.”

Tu Dan slowly came to her senses, her voice lowering: “That’s right… exactly so. It’s like everyone taking an exam together—some people know how to solve a certain problem, so this becomes their scoring advantage. But if everyone knows, then the advantage completely disappears.”

Once people realize this point, they absolutely won’t easily share information.

Because the next time a game begins, those who shared information might become one’s own competitors. To preserve one’s advantage, naturally one must guard the game’s secrets.

This was a very simple principle. Those present weren’t necessarily unable to think of it—it was just that the world’s anomalies had only recently begun, and everyone’s mindset was still in the “friendly mutual assistance” peaceful era.

Of course, friendly mutual assistance could exist in the apocalypse too.

—Friendly mutual assistance in the apocalypse was rarer and therefore more precious.

Bai Youwei rubbed the rabbit in her arms, sighing softly: “Ah… I wonder which game that beast-summoning tool came from. I really want it.”

Tu Dan’s gaze at Bai Youwei became even more cautious.

A girl who looked only in her teens daring to say such things… More importantly, her tone sounded very confident.

“I’m not too clear either. He summoned a cat once and a tiger once, to snatch mushrooms from our hands.” Tu Dan said.

Bai Youwei lost some interest, propping her chin: “Teacher Tu, tell us about your other game.”

Tu Dan was slightly stunned.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Youwei looked at her. “Don’t tell me you’ve only been in one game. With that tone when you said ‘what game isn’t dangerous’—that’s not something someone who’s only been in one game could say.”

Tu Dan’s eyes widened involuntarily, stunned and surprised.

Had she said that? She didn’t even remember!

Bai Youwei: “You said it yourself. Thanking Teacher Cheng for using a tool to save your student, because you don’t have tools to help us, you’d chat with us about games as repayment—just now you shared one game, and we also shared one game, so we’re even. If you still want to express thanks, of course you need to tell another game. That’s the logic of repayment, isn’t it?”

Tu Dan: “……”

It seemed she’d encountered a ruthless person.

Tu Dan came downstairs to thank them personally and reveal games she’d experienced to establish sincere, friendly, and harmonious relations with Shen Mo’s group.

But with Bai Youwei disrupting things this way, it seemed like she was deliberately hiding something. This trip would not only fail to achieve the expected result but would leave behind misgivings!

Even the most upright and honest Teacher Cheng would doubt her sincerity because of this.

Unless she didn’t care about offending these people before her, otherwise… she really had no choice but to tell.

Tu Dan fell silent for a moment, weighing things in her heart.

Tan Xiao and Teacher Cheng both looked at her curiously.

“Teacher Tu…” Teacher Cheng asked in surprise. “You and your students have encountered games many times?”

“Amazing.” Tan Xiao also exclaimed. “I almost died after encountering it once. Really can’t tell—someone so refined as you…”

Tu Dan finally smiled bitterly, replying: “It’s not that I meant to hide it from you. It’s that game… even if I tell you, it won’t help you.”