Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Elsewhere, No. 40, who had narrowly escaped with his life, found the nearest classroom and hid inside. In the darkness, he gulped for air.

He was afraid, panicked, exhausted… but he did not feel the slightest bit guilty.

There was no helping it. The more Instances he survived, the more cold-blooded he seemed to become.

He had no remarkable stamina and no exceptional intelligence. The only thing he really had going for him was his own callousness. To stay alive, there was nothing he would not do.

As he waited, he prayed over and over that someone would successfully piece together the truth.

Then he would BE able to escape this damned Instance.

Truly, this Instance was terrifying. There was one Ghost after another, so many streamers had died, and there were so many rules they had to follow. Hidden beneath those rules were countless Additional Clauses, and he did not even have the courage to go out looking for clues.

What was more, he had realized that any streamer who had drunk the free soup in the cafeteria would be found by a Ghost first.

Unfortunately, he had drunk that soup too…

As if trying to reassure himself, he checked the survival status of the streamers in the backend: 37 people.

There were still 37 people alive in the Instance. That calmed him a little. At least the death rate was not too high.

Suddenly, his phone rang like a death knell. On instinct, he wanted to imitate No. 17 and throw the phone out the window.

But the classroom windows were shut. In his panic, he hurriedly hung up the call.

Cold sweat slid from his forehead down to the tip of his nose. After waiting a while and seeing that nothing had happened, he decided to quietly open the window and throw his phone away.

All at once, a voice so cold it seemed to come from hell drifted out of the phone. “Students who violate the School Rules will be punished!”

His spine went rigid in an instant. Only then did he realize the call had actually connected.

What was going on? He had clearly hung up!

The next second, he flung the phone out the window as though it had burned his hand…

Unfortunately, a bluish-white hand abruptly clamped down on his shoulder.

When he turned his head, he saw that strange neck, as thin as a drinking straw. Then his hand was bitten, chewed…

But the Ghost could not swallow anything at all. It actually spat the minced flesh back out, then began tearing at his body like a mad thing. “Hungry! So hungry! I’m so hungry!”

The pain drove No. 40 toward unconsciousness. Terror clogged his throat, trapped there with nowhere to go.

In the end, he never managed to make even the slightest sound…

**

At some point, the dark clouds had drifted just past the moon, revealing a long, slender crescent.

A hazy arc of moonlight spilled into the teaching building, casting a cold, eerie blue over the quiet corridor.

No. 23 ran and skipped along the empty hallway. Occasionally, he could see one or two curious heads poking out from the doors and windows of the classrooms along the way.

They all stared at No. 23 as if he were insane, looking like they wanted to say something but thought better of it.

No. 23 was wailing inwardly, but he did not dare disobey.

Because compared to the nameless Ghost in the teaching building, Big Shot Qiao, standing opposite him with impatience in his eyes, was obviously far more terrifying!

Seeing that the other party might be about to lose his temper, No. 23 seemed to run even harder.

His messy footsteps perfectly covered up another set of slower ones. No. 23 charged forward with his head down, and just as he was about to turn the corner, a bluish-white mountain of flesh suddenly appeared.

The Ghost in front of him had an enormous head. Its eyes stared straight at him as its mouth kept crying, “Hungry… so hungry… I’m so hungry!”

No. 23 could almost see the pale pink shreds of flesh still stuck between its teeth.

He hurriedly stopped and turned to run back, but the Ghost behind him was frighteningly fast. In practically an instant, it closed the distance between them.

“Aaaaaah-Big Shot Qiao, help!”

Hearing him, Qiao Yu leisurely poked his head out, his eyes lighting up with surprise. “Well, well. We actually caught one!”

Seeing that Big Shot Qiao was still miles away from him, No. 23 hurriedly pulled out his life-saving Immobilization Talisman.
Thank God. This time, it really did go smoother than ever.

With a sharp smack, he slapped the talisman onto the Ghost right in front of him.

The immobilized Ghost snarled viciously in place. Only then did No. 23 notice that the name badge on its chest actually read: “Principal: Lai Xinrong.”

He stood there trembling and raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

That had scared him to death. Truly scared him to death!

He swore he would never, ever be the “prey” again, even if it killed him.

While he was still reeling, Qiao Yu had already walked over.

Boss Qiao, with absolutely no regard for his own life, leaned in close to Lai Xinrong. Seeing that the other party was frozen in place, his gaze naturally slid to the thin talisman on him. “So this is the Immobilization Talisman?”

No. 23 steadied his breathing and warned, “The talisman only lasts ten minutes. I want to find somewhere to hide first…”

Hiss-

Would that work… ∑(っ°Д°;)っ Holy shit!

He wasn’t even surprised.

He really had been brainwashed by Boss Qiao.

No. 23 thought sorrowfully.

“What exactly is the principle behind this talisman?”

No. 23 stared speechlessly at the talisman Qiao Yu was holding. Amid Lai Xinrong’s snarls, his knees gave out and he dropped to the floor.

Just as he watched that charred black hand reach toward him in utter despair and terror, a thin white card suddenly appeared in front of him. “I want a recap.”

Lai Xinrong withdrew his hand slowly, as if he had been injected with a sedative. His voice was hoarse and grating. “Countdown: twenty minutes.”

Qiao Yu didn’t even look at him. Like a curious baby, he slapped the Immobilization Talisman in his hand onto Shang Yan’s forehead and declared with perfect confidence, “Sacrificing my ex-boyfriend to the heavens. Boundless magical power!”

“…So in the end, my being alive was holding you back.”

Shang Yan sighed, then added, “Also, don’t say ‘ex.’ It hurts our relationship.”

Qiao Yu ignored that. His grape-like, crystal-clear eyes were filled with inquiry. “What do you feel right now?”

Shang Yan slowly reached up and peeled the spent talisman off his forehead. With a solemn expression, he said, “I feel like you’ve lost weight. Once we’re out of the Instance, I’ll take you out for something good.”

Qiao Yu: “…”

Everyone: “……….”

-love brain is terrifying!

-Li Xiaoqin: Congratulations, everyone. Our love-brain tribe has gained another fierce general.

-I’m dying, what kind of bizarre conversation is this?

-Tsk, tsk, tsk. Watching these two flirt is giving me a toothache.

-Gambling Ghost: Why do I kind of want to ship them all of a sudden? Bets are open, bets are open. Streamer is a 1, odds 1 to -0.5. Streamer is a 0, odds 1 to 100. I’m buying the second one. Who wants to be the banker?

-Sadako: ?? Neighbor, you’ve changed. Love makes ghosts perverted!

-No one’s going to be the banker. Who here has so much money they can’t spend it all?

-…Wuwuwu, worse than the CP I ship going BE is: the CP I ship switched positions! (cry.jpg)

Lai Xinrong urged from the side, “Hurry up and recap!”

Luo Yunmeng covered her face in despair, snatched the talisman Qiao Yu was still studying, and explained, “Talismans can’t be used twice.”

Only then did Qiao Yu give up. He curled his lip and shook his head. “Sure enough, the shop’s items have traps.”

Then he looked at No. 23, who was sitting on the floor, scared stupid, with blatant schadenfreude all over his face. “You really have too much money and nowhere to spend it. A hundred gold coins can be exchanged for ten thousand yuan. Are you stupid?”

No. 23: “…Ah-bah, ah-bah.”

“Are any of you even listening to me?! Are we recapping or not? If not, I’ll eat you all right now, especially you…” Drool trickled from the corner of Lai Xinrong’s mouth as he looked at Qiao Yu. “You must be delicious.”

Qiao Yu impatiently dug at his ear. “It’s not that I’m looking down on you, but what exactly can you eat with that scrawny little neck of yours? Even a strand of yarn would get stuck in your throat, wouldn’t it?”