Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Almost all the students in the cafeteria were on the move, stepping forward to collect their free meat soup.

Some streamers followed the crowd, many joining the queue to get a bowl.

Seeing that neither Qiao Yu nor Shang Yan moved, No. 15 lowered his foot and continued eating the food on his tray.

Eating while standing had one clear effect: everyone ate very quickly.

After the three of them finished, they lined up to return their trays. The long queue advanced slowly. Qiao Yu looked down at his toes, feeling somewhat listless and bored.

Just then, a loud *clatter* echoed from up ahead.

Because the cafeteria was so quiet, the sound of the tray hitting the floor was amplified a thousandfold. Soup splattered everywhere, leaving a chaotic mess on the ground.

“Leftovers are prohibited. Eat it.”

A member of the Execution Squad, dressed in a black T-shirt, spoke expressionlessly to the student in front of him.

The student’s uniform was marked with No. 32. He was clearly a streamer from Class F; his expression was vivid and full of life, unlike the local students who looked like they had all been cast from the same mold.

His eyes widened in shock as he pointed at the dust-covered chunks of meat on the floor. “You want me to eat that?” he asked, incredulous.

“Yes. Eat it.”

No. 32 shook his head, trying to reason with the man. “It’s dirty. How can I eat it?”

Suddenly, the sound of something whistling through the air rang out. By the time the crowd realized what had happened, No. 32 was already on the ground, clutching his back and howling in agony.

The Execution Squad member was slowly tucking his telescopic baton back into his waistband.

“It hurts, it hurts so much!” No. 32’s face turned ashen. As time passed, a bloody welt slowly seeped through the back of his shirt.

At that moment, the Execution Squad member crouched down and picked up a piece of meat. Under the horrified gazes of the onlookers, he forced it into No. 32’s mouth.

No. 32 tried to spit it out, but his mouth and nose were held shut. He wasn’t released until the meat slid down his throat.

“Will you eat it yourself, or do I have to feed you?” the guard asked.

No. 32 shivered at the words. He stole a cautious glance at the man before reaching out a trembling, humiliated hand toward the other pieces of meat on the floor.

Even though he had submitted, he still took another blow to the back. “Hurry up! Everyone is waiting on you.”

“Ugh! I… I understand!” Enduring the pain in his back, No. 32 quickly scooped up the scattered pieces of meat and wolfed them down.

Perhaps because he realized the meat was just chicken, the fear in No. 32’s eyes dissipated slightly…

“Phew, that was the most suffocating meal I’ve ever had.” The moment they stepped out of the cafeteria, No. 15 kept thumping his chest, taking deep gulps of fresh air.

Those hulking brutes standing in the aisles were like human sensors, watching everyone’s every move. No sitting, no talking, no leftovers-this wasn’t a school; it was a prison, wasn’t it?

“Hey, did you two know each other from the start?” After venting his frustrations, No. 15 nudged Qiao Yu with his elbow and whispered, “Is he always like this?”

Qiao Yu followed his gaze to a certain someone who was acting like he owned the place, and he couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

“Have you finished memorizing the School Rules?”

The grin on No. 15’s face stiffened. “Crap, I almost forgot. I can’t talk to you guys anymore; I have to go back and memorize the School Rules.”

With that, the fellow ran off in a frantic hurry.

Qiao Yu turned to look at Shang Yan’s face-a face so smug it invited a punch, yet so handsome he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Suppressing his irritation, he asked patiently, “What’s your ID?”

Shang Yan raised an eyebrow. “S-Y-N-Z-S.”

“Shang… Yan… Ni… Zhen… Sao?” Qiao Yu looked at him with a complicated expression. “Well, at least you’re self-aware.”

Shang Yan: “…”

*It clearly stands for ‘Shang Yan, You’re So Handsome’ (Shang Yan Ni Zhen Shuai)!* o(╥﹏╥)o

Qiao Yu didn’t bother with him further. He pulled up the streamer list and scanned the neatly arranged IDs. After searching for a long time without finding it, he blinked in surprise. “Are you lying to me? Your ID isn’t here.”

Shang Yan shrugged. “It wouldn’t be. I used an item to get in. In this Instance, I’m a Stowaway.”

“You can do that?” Qiao Yu stood still, staring at him intently while stroking his chin.

Being watched like that made Shang Yan’s skin crawl. “What is it?”

*What is it?*

If Shang Yan managed to become the Director of the Special Security Bureau, he must have plenty of good stuff on him.

“Give me an Inventory Slot, quick.” Those things could store food, but they were too expensive. Saving up gold coins to buy one wasn’t realistic; it was much more satisfying to just snatch one.

“…” Shang Yan pursed his lips, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated. “A Stowaway can’t open their Live Stream Room.”

Qiao Yu: “?”

“So, you have to protect me in this Instance.”
Qiao Yu: ??

Then what did you come in here for? Are you kidding me?!

Shang Yan had truly reached the pinnacle of the art of infuriating him.

**

At ten o’clock in the evening, the incandescent lights in the dormitory went out with a sharp *snap*.

No one in Dormitory 306 was asleep yet. Man-Eating Crocodile glared at the three streamers blocking his path and said impatiently, “Move aside, I want to sleep.”

“Why so hostile?” No. 22, taking advantage of his height to block the ladder to the bunk, refused to let Man-Eating Crocodile go to bed. He reached out and rested a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder, a smile playing on his lips. “What items did you buy? Mind sharing them with us?”

Brother Crocodile looked at him in surprise. It took him a long moment to realize these people were actually planning to rob him of his items. “Share what? Are you trying to take them by force?”

He was to blame for his own naivety regarding the wickedness of the world. In his first Instance, he had encountered seniors with decent character who looked after him. In his second Instance, he had managed to latch onto a powerhouse and coasted all the way to a win, even leaping up to become a Blue-Name Streamer.

In reality, there were many people in Instances who bullied the weak through numbers or seniority.

Seeing that Brother Crocodile looked thin, small, and seemingly incompetent, these men had immediately harbored ill intentions, planning to snatch his items away.

“You’re going to die in this Instance sooner or later anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to share your resources and help others?”

Man-Eating Crocodile broke free from the other man’s grip in a fit of rage. “I’m warning you, don’t mess with me, or I’ll fight back.”

His strength was actually quite formidable. Without proper control, he swiped No. 22’s arm against the bed frame. No. 22’s expression immediately twisted in pain. “Fuck, I gave you a chance and you blew it, didn’t you?”

Several people lunged at once. Man-Eating Crocodile let out a small whimper and threw a punch. In the next second, the shouting No. 22 was sent flying, hitting the wall with a loud *thud*.

Everyone in the dormitory was stunned. Their expressions were complicated as they watched No. 20, who was crying while knocking people down one by one with single punches. Their lips twitched.

Lying on the floor, No. 22 caught sight of his two companions’ miserable fates and quickly squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to be a corpse.

After knocking everyone down, Man-Eating Crocodile wiped his tears, sobbing as if he might faint at any moment. “I told you… *hic*… I told you not to mess with me! I told you I’d fight back!”

Everyone: “…”

Once he had finished his cry and saw that it was ten past ten, he hurriedly climbed into bed.

His father had strictly warned him: he must be in bed after ten o’clock, and he must not answer any incoming calls.

Some time passed until a faint snoring sound came from bed No. 20. Only then did No. 22 dare to open his eyes, intending to return to his bed silently.

However, his phone suddenly let out a loud *ring-ring*. He instinctively hung up, looking toward No. 20’s bed in a panic.

Thank goodness… that ‘Hercules’ hadn’t been woken up.

Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the phone rang again like a death knell. The volume was so loud it felt like it would blow the roof off. He cursed under his breath, wondering who was being such a prick as to call him in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.

But the moment he saw the caller ID, he froze in place, a chill racing down his spine.

Suddenly, the ringing stopped. He thought the caller had hung up, but when he looked at the screen, he found that the call had somehow been connected.

A weird, raspy voice came from the other end, sounding like it crawled out of hell: “Caught one who didn’t go to sleep on time… Jie-jie-jie.”

“Students who violate the School Rules will be punished!”

He frantically tried to hang up, nearly dropping his phone in the process. At the same time, an absurd thought crossed his mind: with the ringtone being so loud just now, why hadn’t anyone else in the dormitory woken up?

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. His peripheral vision inadvertently caught something beside him, and his scalp went numb instantly.

Maintaining his slightly hunched posture, he tremulously turned his neck, only to come face-to-face with a pair of crimson eyes.

“I said, students who violate the School Rules will be punished!”

In the final moment of his life, he heard that malicious, hellish voice once more.

**

After the lights went out in 305, everyone had gone to bed as one.

As someone who enjoyed sharing, Qiao Yu had directly explained the Additional Clauses of the School Rules he had seen before entering the Instance.

With No. 16 there to vouch for him, although the others were still somewhat skeptical, they followed the advice to go to bed and turned off their phones.

Without phones to play with, everyone soon grew drowsy. In that hazy state between wakefulness and sleep, someone’s phone suddenly let out a piercing ring.

*Ring-ring-*
No. 15 jumped in fright, then, as if realizing something, he looked toward the bedside.

His ringtone was the latest single from a girl group; it wasn’t this generic, primitive ringtone at all!

And… he had clearly turned his phone off just now!

Cold sweat instantly began to slide down his forehead…

Suddenly, the ringing stopped. He cautiously glanced at the screen, only to see it had switched to call mode. The phone number was: 1414114.

He immediately covered his mouth, his other hand tightly clutching the corner of his quilt as he curled into a ball.

After about a minute, the phone screen went black.

He swallowed hard, still not making a sound.

After an unknown amount of time, the screen lit up again, displaying his lock screen wallpaper of a female celebrity.

Phew-

No. 15 let out a long sigh of relief and raised a hand to wipe the fine beads of sweat from his forehead. “F*ck, that scared me to death…”

Ring ring ring- Ring ring ring- Ring ring ring!

Someone else’s phone started ringing. This time, it was No. 16’s phone.

No. 15 immediately fell silent, shrinking back into his quilt, still shaken.

No. 16 lay stiff and motionless on his bed, not even looking at his phone. He was prepared to not say a single word tonight, no matter what.

The entire dormitory was filled with No. 16’s generic ringtone, eerie and hair-raising. Everyone was wide awake now, wondering when the ringing would finally stop.

Qiao Yu frowned as he lay in bed. Irritated, he reached out to cover his ears, but it did little to help.

No. 16’s phone finally went quiet. Fortunately, the call hadn’t been answered.

Qiao Yu’s furrowed brow slowly relaxed as he tried to fall asleep, following his usual biological clock.

But before long, his own phone started ringing too.

Seriously… is there no end to this!

Qiao Yu rolled over and grabbed his phone. “Hello?”

No. 14, No. 15, No. 16, No. 17: !!!

Shang Yan: “…”

No. 15 was completely stunned.

Hadn’t he just repeatedly warned them not to answer the phone? Why did he answer it himself?

Why why why? Was he lying to me??

No. 15 desperately wanted to ask Qiao Yu why he answered, but he didn’t dare.

There was no voice on the other end of the line, only a crackling, static sound.

“Speak up. If you don’t talk, I’m hanging up.”

“Crackle, sizzle-”

Qiao Yu hung up without hesitation.

No. 15 seized the moment and asked, “How could you…”

Ring ring ring-

…answer the phone?

“Hello?”

“Crackle, sizzle.”

“Is there something wrong with you?”

This time, a raspy voice came from the other end, making everyone who heard it feel a chill run down their spine: “You aren’t sleeping. I caught you, jie jie jie…”

“You keep calling over and over, who the hell could sleep through this?”

“Jie jie jie… students who violate the School Rules will be punished!”

The voice on the other end ignored whatever Qiao Yu said and continued to mutter to itself. Qiao Yu rolled his eyes and pulled out his other phone.

That’s right-the 200-yuan burner phone for seniors.

While listening to the blood-curdling voice on one phone, he pressed a string of numbers on the burner phone: 1818118.

The call was connected almost immediately.

“Hey, not asleep yet?”

Sadako: ??

“Since you’re awake, that makes things easier.”

On the other end, Sadako calmed her racing heart and said tremulously, “Is that gei gei?”

Qiao Yu let out a yawn and mimicked Sister Sadako’s high-pitched, cutesy voice. “It’s not gei gei. I found a little sister for you. She can’t sleep and is here pretending to be the ghost from The Ring. I thought I’d call you to expose this fraud. Anyway, you two chat, I’m going to sleep.”

With that, he pressed the burner phone against his newly bought second-hand smartphone. He didn’t hang up; he simply closed his eyes.

Phone Ghost: ??

At that moment, Sadako’s voice sounded like it had been scraped by sandpaper, suddenly becoming heavy with overwhelming pressure: “I heard you’re impersonating me?”

Phone Ghost: …

It trembled, wanting to hang up the phone.

However, Sadako cleverly anticipated the Phone Ghost’s move and threatened viciously, “Don’t you dare hang up! You have ten minutes to explain yourself, or you’re finished!”

Phone Ghost: ………..!!!