“Achoo!”
Fu Changxun suddenly turned his head and sneezed just as he was reaching out to grab their takeout at the school gates.
Sniffling, he accepted the food and gave the delivery NPC a polite nod. “Thanks.”
Even the delivery guy looked exactly the same as the one from years ago. It confirmed it—this instance was a full-scale recreation of a specific time in the real world, right down to the layout of the school and the surrounding streets.
With that theory confirmed, everyone finally got a meal in their stomachs. But Fu Changxun didn’t look the least bit pleased.
Where the hell had Dong Zi been warped off to?
Was this some kind of sabotage?
The group snuck off with their lunchboxes and found a hidden corner behind the school building—no patrolling teachers, no students wandering by.
Dong Zi had discovered this spot back in high school. They used to sneak off here together now and then to chill out.
“You’re seriously amazing,” Huang Yue said, still dazed. She was halfway through her meal, but couldn’t stop staring. “Your ability can manifest as a phone? How does that even work? I’ve never seen anything like it…”
Fu Changxun shoved a jianbing into his mouth and finished it in just a few bites, casually changing the topic. “Anyone feel like livestreaming this round?”
Livestreaming wasn’t mandatory—once every three instances was enough. Since they’d streamed during the last one, this was clearly aimed at Huang Yue.
She shook her head. “I’m good. I streamed the last round too. I’ll follow whatever you guys decide.”
Xiao Xiao sipped her soup quietly. For some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about this jiejie. She instinctively edged a little farther away.
Fu Changxun noticed and beckoned her over, pulling her back to his side.
Qiu Yi chimed in, backing him up. “I’d rather not either. This instance is too dangerous. A livestream would just divide our focus and increase the chances of something going wrong. Let’s skip it.”
“Alright,” Fu Changxun said, setting down his disposable chopsticks. “Let’s finish up and take a walk. See if we can uncover any other ‘horror tales.’”
His old high school wasn’t that big. A full lap took about thirty minutes.
But the place was a maze of mismatched buildings and hidden corners—plenty of nooks and crannies to search.
The problem was, due to the danger level of the instance, none of them dared to split up.
Which meant their search efficiency was drastically reduced.
As they walked, Fu Changxun said, “Most of the campus ghost stories were centered around the girls’ dorm. Right now, only you and Xiao Xiao can get in, but we’re not comfortable with that.”
Huang Yue gave an awkward smile. “Sorry, I really am weak. If I were stronger—”
“It’s not about that,” Fu Changxun said quickly, apologetic. “I just don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone with Xiao Xiao. I’m her ge—hope you understand.”
Huang Yue’s words caught in her throat. She nearly coughed up blood from sheer frustration.
Sure, this guy was strong—but he was also hiding a ton of stuff. His ability, his uncanny familiarity with the place, and all the impossible things he’d done so far… none of it added up. And that brutally straightforward way he spoke—if words could kill, his were murder weapons.
Shouldn’t most guys feel at least a little protective when they saw a weak, delicate girl like her?
Forget it. This guy clearly had no romantic instincts. He was dragging a kid around, too. No point trying to get cozy with him.
With that in mind, she quietly fell to the back of the group.
Fu Changxun pulled Xiao Xiao aside and lowered his voice. “What’s up with that jiejie?”
Xiao Xiao shook her head. “I don’t know either, but… she feels like she’s hiding something too.”
“No worries. We’ll just stay alert,” Fu Changxun said softly. “Try not to be alone with her. If anything happens, call me right away.”
Maybe it was some lingering trauma from Xu Zhengyi, but he couldn’t help being on edge about a repeat situation.
Xiao Xiao nodded hard.
They circled the entire campus but only found one odd thing on the field—no couples out during lunch break.
In Fu Changxun’s memory, lunch and break times always meant a dozen couples wandering the field, hand in hand. That was when the disciplinary head had the highest catch rate—just a quick round, and you’d definitely catch at least one.
But in this replica of the school, while there were students on the field, they were only playing basketball.
No couples. That didn’t make sense.
Fu Changxun frowned, but didn’t mention it out loud. It was too specific a detail. He might just be overthinking it.
By 12:30, all the students were heading back to the dorms for the official midday break. Xiao Xiao had no way of entering the boys’ dorm, obviously.
And they still hadn’t identified her “parent.” They’d asked around, but none of the NPC students could name a teacher who had a daughter Xiao Xiao’s age.
“It’s okay, ge. I can handle it.” Xiao Xiao was the one comforting him now. “I’ve got an NPC daughter disguise buff on me, remember? Nothing’s gonna happen!”
Fu Changxun immediately crouched down and covered her mouth. “Okay, okay, stop. No flag-raising.”
Xiao Xiao zipped her lips and mimed locking them with a key.
Even though he didn’t trust Huang Yue entirely, Fu Changxun still gave her a few basic defensive props—one for physical defense, one for mental defense, and one hybrid.
They were meant to help her protect Xiao Xiao. If they weren’t used, she could keep them.
Huang Yue: “……”
Nice. Free loot for doing nothing.
Hopefully no dumb ghost showed up during nap time. She wanted to quietly pocket the goods and move on.
The group split up. Fu Changxun and Qiu Yi returned to the boys’ dorm and found their assigned beds.
Aside from them, there were four NPC roommates, all lying perfectly still in bed. If it weren’t for the faint rise and fall of their chests, you’d think the instance had set them as corpses.
The two exchanged a glance, then climbed into their bunks.
To their surprise, nothing happened during the nap hour. Qiu Yi lay there with his eyes open for an entire hour. Aside from the NPCs snoring, not a single sound.
He glanced at the lower bunk across from him. Fu Changxun seemed to be asleep.
But he felt… sleepy?
Qiu Yi’s inner alarm bells went off. He hadn’t taken a midday nap since he was twenty. There was no way he’d suddenly get sleepy inside a life-or-death game instance.
It had to be the “student identity” affecting him again.
He tried to resist the drowsiness with all his might. For over an hour, he fought it tooth and nail.
But in the final twenty minutes, his steel-like willpower suddenly crumbled like soggy tofu. His head tipped to the side—and he was out cold.
Five minutes after Qiu Yi fell asleep, a shadowy figure silently appeared at the small window in the dorm door.
It lingered there for a full minute, then drifted away without a sound.
Only after the shadow vanished did Fu Changxun exhale quietly, the sound barely audible.
“Ding—”
2:00 p.m. The wake-up bell blared, and Qiu Yi bolted upright from the dream.
“Fuck—I fell asleep?!”
He stared in disbelief. “I never nap. I was military, for god’s sake…”
This couldn’t be happening. It went against everything he’d drilled into himself over the years.
Seeing Director Qiu spiral into self-doubt, Fu Changxun quickly cut him off before he overthought it. “It’s normal. Just the instance’s setup. I almost nodded off too.”
Qiu Yi looked even more distressed. “You didn’t fall asleep? How the hell did you resist that kind of drowsiness?”
Fu Changxun cleared his throat. “…Maybe it’s because I studied psychology. I know a little self-hypnosis.”
He’d noticed it right away—lying in bed made him sleepy almost instantly. So he’d quickly given himself a mental cue to simulate sleep without actually slipping under.
The instance’s forced setting was definitely strong. But with constant self-suggestion, he’d managed to hold out.
And because of that, he’d been able to catch a glimpse—through mostly closed eyelids—of that dark, shadowy figure.
As they followed the NPCs back out, Fu Changxun filled Qiu Yi in on what he’d seen at noon.
Qiu Yi sighed, visibly frustrated by his lapse in self-control.
“So far,” Fu Changxun said, calmly analyzing, “I’ve got three current leads: the hallway monster during class, the dorm shadow during nap time, and a potential anomaly on the field. None of them are confirmed.”
Qiu Yi shook his head. “The hallway monster’s real. It attacked people. That one’s legit.”
By now, they’d arrived at the girls’ dorm.
Xiao Xiao and Huang Yue had just come out. Huang Yue didn’t look great.
“I fell asleep,” she admitted, frowning. “I slept through the entire break—and I had a dream.”
Dreams in instances often had something to do with hidden clues or puzzle elements. But what unsettled Huang Yue most was this—
She remembered having a dream.
But couldn’t recall a single detail of it.
This was like seeing a question on an exam that you knew you’d studied—and still drawing a blank on the answer.
Frustrating. He remembered dreaming and remembered the pain, but the contents of the dream itself? Gone. And somehow, that was even more painful.
Xiao Xiao, on the other hand, got nothing at all—fell asleep instantly, woke up just as fast.
The four of them discussed it for a while, but came away empty-handed. With no better leads, they headed toward the classroom building.
“So that means,” Huang Yue said, “the first confirmed strange tale… is that monster in the hallway.”
But when it came to actually figuring it out… they were completely at a loss.
What they did know: the hallway monster only appeared during class hours. It moved fast, was armed with something sharp, and showed no mercy to any “truant” students—it attacked to kill.
But all of this was still just speculation, based on what that previously punished player had said. It wasn’t verified.
To confirm it, they’d have to actually go out there and confront the thing head-on.
“So, we’re saying we need to take the initiative now, right?” Huang Yue asked.
Fu Changxun nodded. “I’ll get ready. This afternoon, I’m going to violate school rules. I can probably last about three minutes—that’s my upper limit. If I don’t come back, I probably ran off somewhere else. The odds of me dying are low.”
He wasn’t just bragging. He had the black cat, the dandelion, and plenty of Points he could use to buy defensive items. Judging by the injuries that earlier player had sustained, he’d be fine.
Qiu Yi frowned. “Maybe I should go. Your stamina stat’s not that high. I’m a little worried.”
“What are you talking about?” Fu Changxun replied lazily. “Obviously we’re going together. Two people have a better shot against a monster. Why would I go alone?”
Qiu Yi: “……”
So much for that moment of being moved. He really thought Doctor Fu was about to be the lone, noble hero this time.
