Chapter 62
Chapter 62
The Dean’s leap came without warning and happened too quickly. Even Qin Musong failed to catch her.
Everyone crowded around the window. The Dean’s body lay below, surrounded by an enormous spreading stain of blood. It resembled a flower in bloom, decadent and beautiful in a way that did not belong here.
“Did we… eliminate the source of the curse?”
Chen Yu stared blankly at the corpse, still unable to believe it. She had expected a brutal battle and prepared herself for the possibility that they might never return. She had never imagined it would be this simple.
Freckles tilted her head. Without hesitation, she removed her outer shirt, knelt, and scrubbed the blood-soaked array until its design blurred.
“This should be enough, right? The array is gone, and so is the person who cast the curse. Doesn’t that mean the curse is gone too?”
Freckles wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, smearing blood across it. Chen Yu pulled a tissue from her pocket, crouched, and cleaned Freckles’s face.
“She probably jumped because the truth came out and she lost all hope. As an NPC, she was still human. She couldn’t fight so many of us.” Qiao Jin studied the office on her second visit. “But lifting the curse doesn’t seem to have been our final objective, because we’re still here.”
The atmosphere sagged. She was right. Even though the culprit had jumped to her death, they remained inside the instance. The Game had not ended.
“There are two possibilities.” Cheng Miao organized her thoughts, speaking slowly. Fortunately, everyone still alive had the patience to listen. “First, the Dean’s resentment was so powerful that even her death couldn’t dissolve the curse.”
“The second possibility is connected to the announcement we heard when we first entered. Do you remember exactly what it said?”
When Cheng Miao looked at her, Qi Jiajia unconsciously straightened her back. She failed to notice that everyone else was watching as though Cheng Miao had trained a vicious dog into a loyal hound. “Players must survive four days inside the instance to clear it.”
Cheng Miao nodded. Qi Jiajia and Lin Zhu both had excellent memories and were exceptionally cautious. For Lin Zhu, caution came naturally. Qi Jiajia needed it to support her wildly reckless approach to clearing instances.
“The instance requires us to survive four days. Half of the final day still remains.”
Qiao Jin’s expression darkened as she added, “Meaning we have to find the true way out, then leave at night.”
“Any ideas?” Qiao Jin looked at Cheng Miao. She liked this newcomer, not because she wanted her as a teammate, but from pure admiration and the hope that Cheng Miao would travel farther.
Cheng Miao smiled bitterly. “Don’t you have an idea too?”
For once, Qiao Jin acted almost childish. She pouted. “I want to hear you say it.”
Cheng Miao sighed helplessly. “I think it may be connected to the nighttime rule. We won’t know the details until tonight.”
She looked at the two girls hugging nearby. “The three of us are the only ones who haven’t entered a nighttime dream. Tonight will be extremely dangerous for us. Remember every rule we’ve identified. This is the end. Don’t get careless.”
The two girls nodded. Different faces held the same determination and hunger to survive.
The wait for night felt exceptionally long. When the players returned to the dorm building, unease still clung to them. “What if we don’t go back? What if we miss the right time and can never leave the instance?”
Only Cheng Miao, Chen Yu, and Freckles had not entered a nightmare. Lin Zhu was deeply worried that if circumstances changed, they would be unable to help Cheng Miao.
“Cheng Miao, why are you still here?” The class monitor ran out of the boys’ dormitory and approached the group gathered downstairs.
“What’s wrong?” Chen Yu and Freckles, now practically joined at the hip, asked together.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Good thing I ran into you, or I’d have had to make another trip. We’re holding a memorial vigil for Tan Tao in the gym tonight. Everyone has to attend.”
When they realized they would not have to separate, both Chen Yu and Lin Zhu relaxed, one for herself and the other for Cheng Miao.
By the time the players reached the gym, more than half the seats were occupied. The lights were off, and everyone held a candle. The scene looked both eerie and dangerously flammable.
Lin Zhu’s hand nearly cramped around his candle. He was terrified he might drop it and start a fire.
Firelight danced over Cheng Miao’s impassive face. What was coming could not be avoided. Only three people remained who had not entered a nightmare, and she did not know what form the final one would take.
Perhaps her nerves had been taut for too long, or perhaps she was genuinely exhausted. Somehow, Cheng Miao dozed off while still holding her candle.
“Miaomiao, wake up.”
Deeply asleep, Cheng Miao felt someone shake her. She instinctively tightened her grip on the candle, then snapped awake.
The candle was gone.
Cheng Miao jerked her head up. Her sharp gaze went blank the instant it met the person across from her. This was… her home?
The faint murderous edge in Cheng Miao’s eyes startled her mother. Patting her chest, she complained, “Honestly, child. Why are you looking at me like that?”
Cheng Miao said nothing. She sat up in her own bedroom.
Her blankets smelled of sunshine and home. The alarm clock on her bedside table read eleven thirty. Her cat paced across the headboard on tiny paws.
“It’s almost noon. Get up and eat!” Her mother turned toward the door. “You came home so late after going out yesterday, and now you’re sleeping half the day away.”
Cheng Miao’s head throbbed. She rubbed her temples.
Of course. Her last memory of reality was drinking with friends. She had crept home, washed, and gone to bed. Then she had awakened to the cockroach brothers.
Had the Survival Inn merely been a nightmare, or was it real?
Had she returned to reality now, or was she still inside the instance?
The thought sharpened her expression. If she was still in Tan Tao’s School Life, then everything had to be reversed. She could not show the slightest longing for this place, or she might remain trapped here forever.
Her head hurt too badly to think rationally.
She slowly climbed out of bed and dressed. Her father had made hot-and-sour noodles, and the tempting aroma awakened an appetite long deprived of decent food.
She looked down at the cat meowing at her feet. The chubby animal noticed her attention and happily rubbed against her legs.
Cheng Miao crouched. Her cat rose on its hind legs and allowed itself to be lifted into her arms, purring loudly.
Cheng Miao stroked its head once, and tears streamed down her face.
This was definitely still the instance. Her cat had never been so affectionate, much less begged to be held.
She set the cat down and glanced at her father working in the kitchen and her mother watering the flowerpots. Her eyes grew damp for an instant, but her hand settled on the front door.
“Where are you going? You came home late last night, and now you’re running off without a word! If you leave, don’t bother coming back!”
Cheng Miao looked at her furious mother, and her resolve wavered slightly.
The next second, she turned the lock. Endless darkness waited outside, accompanied by the strange scraping of something being dragged.
“Come back, Miaomiao.” Her father rushed from the kitchen to plead with her. Cheng Miao’s heart ached, and tears nearly spilled again.
She wanted so badly to go home.
Cheng Miao gave them one last look, then turned and hurled herself into the darkness concealing endless terror.