Even if the group didn’t trust her, Huang Yueran still swallowed a mouthful of metaphorical blood and insisted on staying.
She’d rather stick with clever people who didn’t like her than join those two airheaded morons—the buzz-cut and the glasses guy—who practically radiated ignorance.
Feeling a bit guilty, Qiu Yi still assigned her a task. “Alright, then help keep an eye on Xiao Xiao.”
“Once her mom shows up, we’ll do this, then this…”
The thirty-minute long break flew by.
The NPC students finished their run. Not one of them was sweating—at most, they let out a few mechanical complaints about being tired. Only the three real players were left panting like dogs… and had to rush back to class—the fourth period was about to begin.
The buzz-cut guy was jogging when he spotted Fu Changxun by the absence sheet on the first floor.
He instinctively slowed down and tugged at his friend’s sleeve. “Hey, isn’t that one of those players?”
Glasses squinted in their direction, still gasping for breath. “This is fucked up. Why didn’t they run laps? And they’re totally fine?”
The first male player said nothing—he was too injured.
At the start of the run, the discipline head NPC had specifically warned: no falling behind, no breaking formation.
They’d assumed it was just a normal jog—but the moment it began, the NPCs bolted across the field at full sprint. A hundred-meter-dash pace. All of them.
Forget keeping formation—just keeping up was impossible.
The male player struggled to run for five minutes before he inevitably fell behind.
The instant he did, the discipline head appeared before him in a flash and snapped one of his fingers clean off.
“Fell behind. Point deduction.”
He screamed in agony, but didn’t dare resist. He could only grit his teeth and try to keep up.
And that was just the beginning.
By the end of the run, every finger on his left hand had been broken. Even his right pinky was gone.
Sweat beaded on his forehead from the pain, but the buzz-cut and glasses guy only gave him a cold stare—no sympathy at all.
“He told you not to fall behind,” buzz-cut said flatly. “Try not to drag us down next time.”
The injured player pulled out his last healing item—the one Fu Changxun had bought him—and barely managed to knit the bones back together.
As for the flesh wounds? There was no time. The item was completely used up.
Only now did he realize just how terribly wrong his earlier decision had been.
Back at the school building, the moment he saw Fu Changxun, a thought struck him: If I listen in on what they’re saying… maybe I can switch teams later.
Glasses was still muttering. “They must’ve used some kind of item. But I haven’t seen anything like that in the Game Shop. Did they find a loophole?”
Buzz-cut: “Should we go ask them?”
His teammate looked at him like he was a complete idiot. Buzz-cut flushed with embarrassment.
“That guy’s obviously not the cold-blooded type. Just ask him. He’ll definitely tell us something.”
Glasses adjusted his frames. “Makes sense. So who’s going?”
“Not me.”
He couldn’t swallow his pride.
Buzz-cut turned toward the injured player, who was still clutching his mangled hand.
The male player: “…” This was MY plan!
***
One minute later, the injured male player made his way to the hallway near the absence sheet.
“Uh, hey, can I ask what stage you guys are at? We’re totally lost over here…” He paused, nervously. “I know this is probably rude to ask—”
“We’re discussing the first ghost story,” Fu Changxun said flatly. “Go back to class.”
“Oh, okay—wait, what?”
Fu Changxun glanced at his dazed expression and couldn’t resist toying with him. “I mean, by the time your class ends, the first ghost story should be resolved. The one that nearly killed you. I imagine you wouldn’t want to face it again, right?”
The ghost tale that left him covered in blood? The male player’s face turned green.
He sprinted back to the classroom, leaving buzz-cut and glasses behind without a word.
Fu Changxun cackled in the hallway.
Even Xiao Xiao stopped crying and looked amused.
The fourth period finally arrived—something everyone had been eagerly awaiting.
This time, the “monster” didn’t hide. She appeared in full view, just like before—no aggression, just that same tilted-head stare focused entirely on Xiao Xiao.
Fu Changxun took a breath and stepped forward.
“Hello. Are you Xiao Xiao’s mother?”
The woman echoed blankly, “Mother?”
He pressed his lips together and changed his question. “Are you Xu Zhengyi’s wife?”
The moment the name Xu Zhengyi left his lips, something shifted in the woman.
“Ah.”
Her lifeless eyes flickered with faint light.
“Xu… Xu Zhengyi… I… I… I…”
That reaction was as good as confirmation.
Fu Changxun felt both lighter and heavier at the same time—relieved to know this really was Xiao Xiao’s mother… and burdened by the truth.
Because she was an NPC. And NPCs were almost impossible to bring out of an instance.
Characters like the black cat or the dandelion—non-human, fringe figures without boss status—were relatively easy to smuggle out. But an NPC with a name, a face, and the identity of a ghost tale boss? How the hell was he supposed to bring her out?
When the nine-day countdown ended, they’d be forcibly extracted from the instance.
How heartbroken would Xiao Xiao be then?
Fu Changxun couldn’t think of a perfect solution. All he could do was sigh softly.
Seeing Xiao Xiao clinging tightly to her mother, he continued gently, “Can you remember anything else? Even a little is fine.”
The woman shook her head again. She couldn’t.
“That’s okay,” Fu Changxun said kindly. “There’s no rush. We still have nine days here. During that time, Xiao Xiao’s safety will be in your hands.”
The woman visibly tensed with emotion. She couldn’t speak, but she held up nine fingers.
Only nine days??
“You’ve probably realized by now—this isn’t the real world. The real world’s been invaded by a horror game. I, Xiao Xiao, and these two companions… we were all pulled into it,” Fu Changxun explained patiently. “This place is one of the game’s instances. We encountered you here—randomly.”
Qiu Yi cut in, “Maybe not so random. Probably because of Xiao Xiao?”
Fu Changxun nodded. “Could be. This school—it’s the same one Dong Zi and I went to in high school. And the same one where you taught…”
So many threads tangled together—it made sense they’d all been drawn into this particular instance.
The woman seemed to understand, somewhat. But when it came to Xiao Xiao’s safety, she nodded vigorously.
No problem. Everything else might be uncertain—but she could absolutely protect her daughter.
There were other monsters lurking in the school, yes—but they were like her. None dared attack her recklessly.
“That’s a relief,” Qiu Yi said, finally relaxing now that even Doctor Fu had confirmed the woman’s identity. “It’s definitely safer with her mom watching over her.”
Fu Changxun, however, noticed another issue. “Can you… wear something?”
This wasn’t appropriate.
She was completely naked, her hair the only thing covering her. Earlier, the glass shards had helped obscure her figure—but now that those were gone, it was no longer decent.
Fu Changxun, being thoroughly and irreversibly gay, wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Huang Yueran and Xiao Xiao were both girls, so they didn’t care either—but Qiu Yi was a grown man, and there were still tons of student NPCs around.
This needed fixing.
Only now did Qiu Yi realize she was naked. His face turned crimson as he hastily turned away and covered his eyes.
Xiao Xiao also noticed and stepped forward to shield her mother with her own body, looking a little anxious.
The woman returned her daughter’s hug, equally at a loss.
Huang Yueran slapped her forehead. “How did I almost forget—hey, you two guys! Take off your jackets!”
Fu Changxun / Qiu Yi: “…Oh.”
At last, their brains kicked in. They quickly peeled off their uniforms and handed them over.
High school jackets were always made oversized—and luckily, they fit her just fine.
“Is that it, then?” Qiu Yi was still covering his eyes. “Is it resolved?”
“But we haven’t gotten the system notice yet,” Huang Yueran pointed out, ever practical.
“Ah. Right,” Fu Changxun said.
He turned to the woman again. “Why were you wandering around during class time?”
This time, she didn’t hesitate. “To… supervise students. So they… don’t skip class.”
[Ding-dong!]
[Campus Horror Tale 1: “Shadow in the Corridor” resolved! Players, keep up the good work. Four horror tales remain!]
The system was late as always—but no sooner had the broadcast ended than it chimed again.
[Ding-ding-ding—]
[Campus Horror Tale 2: “The Suicidal Spirit” resolved! Players, keep up the good work. Three horror tales remain!]
“It’s Dong Zi and the others!”
Fu Changxun exhaled deeply. “Looks like we’re not falling behind.”
Their side was moving just as fast—which likely meant that the five ghost tales were split across both spaces. With two already cleared, their team might only have two left to solve.
It did mean more pressure on Dong Zi’s group—but Fu Changxun trusted him.
Meanwhile, the woman was still chatting with Xiao Xiao using hand gestures. Fu Changxun asked one final question:
“What should we call you?”
They couldn’t keep referring to her as “Ghost Tale 1” or “Xiao Xiao’s mom.”
Xiao Xiao perked up too—she didn’t know her mother’s name either.
Whenever her father had spoken of her, it had always been “your mom” or “my wife.”
The woman opened her mouth slowly. “My… my name is Xiao Wen.”
Xiao Xiao. Xiao Wen.
So that was it.
Xu Zhengyi… had truly, deeply loved her.
They’d successfully recruited a boss-level NPC and cleared a ghost tale in the process. Not a bad outcome.
But Fu Changxun still reminded them all: “Don’t let your guard down. We got lucky this time—we ran into someone familiar. But this instance is still dangerous. Don’t get careless because of one win. You only get one life.”
“Agreed. Xiao Xiao and Miss Xiao Wen—this was a total fluke,” Qiu Yi added.
Now that they knew she’d been a teacher, everyone started calling her “Teacher Xiao.” Qiu Yi was no exception. “We should focus on the next ghost tale.”
Fu Changxun nodded. “Right. And when we return to the dorms tonight… we’ll finally meet Ghost Tale number two.”
That strange shadow. The one that made people fall asleep without warning.
Qiu Yi groaned. “Ugh… the one that tripped me up.”
Definitely not going to be easy.
