Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Time ticked by, second after second. Nothing seemed to happen. The entire world was terrifyingly quiet, and everyone began discussing things again.

At that moment, the career woman walked up to Wei Sen and extended a hand. “I’m Bai Xue, president of a listed company.”

“Wei Sen.” Wei Sen gave only her name by way of introduction.

“Somethin’ ain’t right about this place…” A girl holding a compass and speaking with a Sichuan accent stepped out from the crowd.

She looked down at the compass in her hands, then turned a grave gaze toward Wei Sen, who was in the middle of shaking hands. “There’s a ghost here.”

In an instant, the entire sports field fell silent. Everyone went quiet, the girl’s casual remark making the hair on their bodies stand on end.

“Ah!” At the same time, Xia Susu’s piercing scream came from within the fog.

“Let’s go take a look!” Huang Mao stepped forward. He had narrow, slit-like eyes, and the lines of muscle on his arms were clearly defined.

“Wait!” Bai Xue called him back.

“Something happened! We need to hurry over and see what’s going on!” Huang Mao said anxiously.

“We don’t know which rule they broke that got them into trouble. Don’t rush over recklessly!” Bai Xue said sternly.

Wei Sen glanced at Bai Xue. This woman was rather cautious.

Those people had said they wanted to leave the school, but after they walked into the fog, who knew whether they had found the school gate or run into something else in the mist…

Or perhaps, like this Sichuan Girl had said, a ghost?

Wei Sen looked toward the Sichuan Girl holding the compass. It seemed she really did have some skill.

Huang Mao calmed down a little after hearing that, but he still stared worriedly into the fog. “The one thing I can’t stand is seeing a beautiful woman in danger. What do we do?”

“Wait and see,” Bai Xue said.

Everyone watched the direction where the group had disappeared with grave expressions.

“Help! Help!” From within the fog, Xia Susu and the other two came running back at full speed.

Their faces were filled with terror, as if they had seen something horrifying.

“What happened?!” Huang Mao strode forward and caught Xia Susu just as she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Wei Sen, however, took a wary step back.

Xia Susu’s face was deathly pale. Trembling, she said, “Dead… He’s dead…”

The other two who had run back were equally shaken. One of them said nervously, “That man called Ah Qiang opened the iron gate and went out… and in an instant, he died!”

Everyone sucked in a cold breath at the news.

Only the Sichuan Girl held her compass and looked in the direction of the fog. “I told you. There’s a ghost.”

“Yes! It has to be a ghost!” said the other person who had run back, eyes wide. “He was standing right in front of us, telling us to go out. I watched with my own eyes as he suddenly grabbed his own throat, and his eyeballs bulged out! It had to be a ghost!”

“Oh my god, that’s way too scary!” A sweet-looking Southern Little Potato, who appeared to be about five foot one, fearfully edged closer to the Sichuan Girl. “Big Sis, are you a Taoist priest?”

The Sichuan Girl nodded. “Mm, but even I don’t know what’s goin’ on with our current situation. Anyway, everyone should avoid acting rashly for now.”

“Call the police!”

“I’m guessing none of you have your phones on you either, right?” Bai Xue looked at the others.

Wei Sen patted her pockets. Sure enough, she did not have one.

The others likewise failed to find any phones on themselves.

“Boohoo! What do we do?! There really is a ghost! This is too scary!” Xia Susu buried herself in Huang Mao’s arms and began crying in fear.

“You were the one who didn’t believe it just now, and that’s why that man called Ah Qiang died. Why are you scared now?” Southern Little Potato said with a dissatisfied look.

Xia Susu answered righteously, “How was I supposed to know ghosts really existed in this world?!”

“Then you’d better be careful. What if that man called Ah Qiang turns into a ghost too and comes back to settle the score with you?” Xiao Tudou said, raising an eyebrow.

“Shut up, you short little melon!” Xia Susu stamped her foot in fear.

Xiao Tudou instantly got angry. “What did you call me?!”

“Hey, hey, ladies, don’t fight!” Huang Mao stood between them. “Now’s not the time to argue!”

Bai Xue nodded solemnly and said, “That’s right. Everyone calm down first. We can’t break the rules now, or we’ll all die here!”

The crowd fell silent again. An air of terror hung over their surroundings.

Someone had just died, and fog was everywhere. No one dared to act rashly anymore.

“Look at your watches,” Wei Sen, who had remained silent all this time, finally said.

While they had been arguing, she had already studied the watch thoroughly.
It was a smartwatch with no network connection.

On the surface, it displayed each person’s Merit Points. After tapping in, there were also functions like memos, camera, group chats, and contacts.

The most unsettling part was that every single one of them was in a group chat called [Zhihui Primary School Instance]. Wei Sen was also in a smaller group chat named [Group B] with six other people.

Wei Sen didn’t know whether the watch had appeared because this was a multiplayer Instance, or whether there was some fundamental difference between the Dark Fairy Tale and Zhihui Primary School Instances.

By then, everyone had begun studying their watches. Xia Susu hurriedly picked up the watch she had thrown on the ground earlier.

Suddenly, all their watches vibrated at once.

In the [Zhihui Primary School Instance] group chat, Wei Sen sent a “1,” and the chat automatically displayed her name.

“Holy crap! We can receive messages!” Huang Mao exclaimed.

“Can this watch call the police?”

Wei Sen said, “I tried. The watch’s functions are limited. It’s more like a tool this world provided to help us escape. It can’t contact the outside.”

“Seriously… Did you name this group chat?” Huang Mao looked at Wei Sen.

“No. It was already there.”

“So we’re really inside an Eerie World Instance!” Xiao Tudou said, shrinking even closer to Sichuan Girl in fear.

“Then what does this Group A side chat mean? Who pulled me in?” someone asked.

“I’m in Group C!” someone else spoke up.

Bai Xue counted the people present. One had died, leaving nineteen. “Everyone in Group A, raise your hands.”

Including Bai Xue, a total of six people raised their hands.

She continued, “Group A, put your hands down. Group B, raise your hands.”

Wei Sen, Huang Mao, Xiao Tudou, Sichuan Girl, Xia Susu, and a girl wearing glasses who had not spoken this entire time all raised their hands. There were six of them as well.

“Group C, please raise your hands.” The remaining seven people raised their hands.

Bai Xue then picked up the watch Ah Qiang had thrown on the ground. The number on it had already changed to a “-.”

After tapping into it and taking a look, she said, “The groups should be random too. Ah Qiang was in Group A. The number on the watch should be something like our health points. Ah Qiang’s has already turned into a dash.”

Everyone fell silent once more.

An eerie world of rules, where death could come at any time, and they did not even know how to escape!

“How about this?” Bai Xue broke the silence again. “We’ll investigate according to the groups it assigned us. Since this is an Instance, there has to be a way to clear it!”

“I’m not going. I’m not going anywhere!” Xia Susu had been badly frightened by what had just happened and shook her head over and over.

“As long as we don’t break the rules, we should be fine,” Bai Xue said, looking at her.

“For all we know, there are ghosts everywhere! I’m not going to my death!” Xia Susu said agitatedly, clutching Huang Mao’s arm beside her. In a commanding tone, she said, “You stay here with me. Not going anywhere is the safest!”

“This… I…” Huang Mao looked deeply troubled.

“If you want to stay, stay by yourself. Stop dragging other people down!” Xiao Tudou rolled their eyes, imitating Xia Susu.

“You!”

Just as the two were about to start arguing again, a soccer ball suddenly rolled out of the fog and stopped in the middle of the group.

Instantly, everyone held their breath and stared at the soccer ball that had rolled over out of nowhere. Their gazes slowly shifted toward the fog.

A short figure gradually emerged within the mist, and a young boy’s voice drifted over. “Teachers, could you please kick the ball back to me?”

“Rule Number Five: You cannot refuse any request from a student during recess!” someone said, stepping forward and picking up the soccer ball.

“Wait!” Wei Sen frowned and stopped him. “How do you know today isn’t the weekend?”

Among all the rules, one had been made by “It”-and clearly, “It” probably wasn’t anything good.

Rule Number Seven: There are no students at school on weekends. If you see a student, run away immediately!

Rule Number Ten: One of the above rules was made by “It.” Please be sure to distinguish carefully!

The person stopped in his tracks and swallowed nervously as he looked at the soccer ball in his hands, not knowing what to do.

Everyone else also held their breath and looked into the fog. That figure was slowly walking toward them, yet the fog remained completely silent. Not even the faintest sound of footsteps could be heard.