Yuying University
CHapter 437: Oh my, it’s so embarrassing.
“……”
Hugo’s pupils shrank in shock.
He stared at the unyielding young man before him, his lips pressed into a hard, rigid line. His terrifyingly sharp gaze slowly scanned every inch of the other’s face, as if searching for the slightest hint of a lie.
Since entering this instance, he had always been cold, distant, and expressionless. Whether facing his teammates or under the threat of life-and-death danger, Hugo seemed to handle everything with ease.
But this time, his effortless composure finally cracked, revealing a sliver of astonishment and disbelief.
The light fell upon the two who were locked in confrontation, the atmosphere taut and ready to snap.
Wei Cheng looked lost, his head turning between the two, overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events.
He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to speak, but his voice caught in his throat—he didn’t know what to say.
Su Cheng braced a hand against the window and glanced outside.
Beyond the dark glass, everything was dead silent. The vice principal and the others were nowhere to be seen.
He withdrew his gaze and was the first to break the silence: “There’s no time. You’d better make a decision quickly.”
“We already have.”
Wen Jianyan stared back at him without flinching. His pale face showed no expression, his eyes rimmed red, yet his pupils burned bright like ghostfire.
He curled the corners of his mouth, his tone returning to calmness:
“Right?”
It sounded like a question, but carried the tone of a challenge.
Following his gaze, the others turned to look at Hugo.
“……”
Hugo continued to stare at the young man before him. Beneath his brow, his iron-gray eyes flickered with shadows. Finally, after one last, deep look at Wen Jianyan, he looked away.
“Right,” he said, smiling—not in anger, but with a chilling curve to his lips.
His brief lapse in composure was now fully hidden.
Hugo stepped away from the window and took the lead toward the door, his voice devoid of emotion:
“To the second floor.”
Although no one knew exactly what Wen Jianyan had said to change Hugo’s mind, at least now the two leaders were on the same page, which, for the rest of them, could only be seen as a good thing.
After a brief moment of relief, the group quickly sprang back into action.
They kicked aside the ash-gray smoke at the doorway, opening the vice principal’s office once more from the inside.
The third floor was pitch black, with not a sound in the air.
Yet the icy, bone-chilling terror from before had completely vanished.
The gatekeeper was gone.
But… if their prediction was correct, the time left for the administration building to remain in this school was running out.
After all, they had found this place only because the vice principal had temporarily left his office. Now, with the conclusion of the Morality and Ethics class, the administration building would soon return to being untraceable and inaccessible. The time left was rapidly dwindling.
Wen Jianyan leaned heavily on Su Cheng.
This was the second time his sanity value had dropped into the single digits.
The confrontation with Hugo had exhausted his last bit of strength. His complexion was deathly pale, breath weak, black lashes casting shadows on his snow-white skin. All signs of the sharp, aggressive edge from earlier had vanished—now he just looked weak and pitiful.
However, perhaps due to having experienced it once before, and becoming somewhat desensitized, he was more mobile than last time. At least he wasn’t a completely limp corpse that needed two people to carry him.
Now, even though the principal’s office was right in front of them and their terrifying pursuers had disappeared, not one of them even glanced at the opposite side.
Regretful as it was—they had missed their chance.
The fragile balance they’d previously managed to maintain had shattered. The vice principal and student council members were returning to the administration building. Danger could strike at any moment. In such a situation, venturing into an unfamiliar and possibly deadly room was no longer a risk they could take.
Yet as they passed the principal’s office, Wen Jianyan seemed to sense something.
He turned slightly, glancing at the door.
The principal’s office sat quietly in place. The gap beneath the door was pitch black, peaceful as if no danger lurked behind it, just waiting to be opened.
Wen Jianyan blinked.
The next second, everything changed.
—What?
He froze, eyes widening.
In his blurred, chaotic, near-collapsing vision, what should have been the principal’s office had changed entirely.
There was no door.
Just a smooth, flawless wall.
A chill climbed his spine, every hair on his body standing on end.
He had already sensed something off when Bai Xue had given the hint “right,” but even so, his guesses had been things like: “There’s a danger inside they can’t yet handle,” or “Even though the vice principal left, the principal might still be inside.”
He had never imagined that—now that his sanity was so low—what he would see was this.
The principal’s office… was a wall?
What did that even mean?
Was it implying that the principal’s office at Yuying University never existed?
But… that couldn’t be.
If the office didn’t exist, why would their mission involve entering it to retrieve a hidden item?
As Wen Jianyan struggled through this chaotic whirlwind of thoughts, Su Cheng’s voice sounded beside him:
“Hey.”
Wen Jianyan instinctively turned his head.
“It’s time to go,” Su Cheng said softly, looking at him.
“…Right.” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and forced himself to look away from the now-nonexistent “principal’s office.” With effort, he dragged his weakened legs forward to follow the others.
They headed down the stairs the same way they came.
This time, without the gatekeeper’s pursuit, their descent was smooth—but none of them felt relief.
They knew the calm was only temporary. Delay any longer, and what awaited them would be nearly impossible to handle.
The four held their breath and moved as quickly and quietly as possible. But just as they approached the iron door between the second and third floors—
Footsteps echoed from below.
Instantly, their breath caught.
“Back up—now!”
Hugo whispered sharply.
If they ran into the vice principal and student council here, the narrow staircase offered no room to maneuver. If a confrontation occurred, retreating to the third floor would be their only option.
Through the stairwell’s gaps, Wen Jianyan peered downward.
He saw a swaying, dark head of hair. Though it was still far away, the icy, spine-chilling aura was already unmistakable.
Wen Jianyan suddenly froze, then grabbed Su Cheng’s arm:
“Close the door.”
Close the door?
Everyone else was startled.
But… what good would it do?
Were they gambling that the vice principal didn’t have a key to the third floor?
It seemed unlikely. At most, it might delay them a little.
The footsteps grew louder.
But after so long working with Wen Jianyan, Su Cheng had developed a habit: act first, ask later.
Before the others could react, Su Cheng had already moved. With a swift step, he reached the half-open iron door and gently pulled it shut, slowing down just before it clicked into place.
The footsteps echoed louder and louder as shadows came into view—figures ascending from the first floor to the second.
As the oppressive chill rolled in, Su Cheng quietly returned. A few seconds longer, and they would have come face to face.
“……”
The group instinctively held their breath.
They watched as the figures reached the second floor—but the leader didn’t continue up as expected. Instead, he turned and exited the stairwell.
A pale face turned toward them in the dark, a blood-red student council armband standing out starkly.
It seemed to glance at the third-floor door.
The hallway was silent. The door was shut tight.
Then the figure turned back and followed the others.
As the footsteps faded away, everyone exhaled in relief.
Wen Jianyan did the same.
He opened his cold, sweaty hand and met his teammates’ questioning gazes.
“…Not the vice principal,” he said softly. “Just the student council.”
The hallway had been too dark, the distance too great to clearly see who was coming up the stairs.
But Wen Jianyan was different.
His sanity value was dangerously low.
Even though he couldn’t clearly see who it was, he had a feeling—if the vice principal were among them, the sense of threat would have been far greater.
Since it was just the student council, chances were they would stay on the second floor, not go up.
That’s why he had Su Cheng close the door—to hide their presence and avoid drawing attention.
The footsteps had faded completely now.
“Let’s go,” said Hugo.
The group moved stealthily down the stairs again. The iron door creaked open once more, and soon they returned to the second-floor stairwell.
“We’re here.”
Hugo bit down on an unlit cigarette and looked toward the nearby young man.
“Now what?”
“……”
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and, with Su Cheng’s help, stepped forward.
His gaze quickly fell on a nearby lit office.
The office door was tightly shut. Harsh red light streamed out from the gap below. On the wall beside the door was a metal plaque, only the word “Office” was legible—the rest too blurry to make out.
“There.”
He spoke quietly.
“Is there someone inside?” Wei Cheng asked softly.
Wen Jianyan said, “Yes.”
He answered quickly, clearly already knowing the answer.
“Then how are we supposed to get in?” Wei Cheng was stunned at first, but quickly frowned and asked.
This time they didn’t have Orange Candy, so using the same trick clearly wasn’t going to work again.
Wen Jianyan: “…Directly.”
He leaned against the wall, his face and lips pale as paper, as if those two words had already exhausted all his strength.
“…What?” Wei Cheng looked at Wen Jianyan, barely believing his ears. “Are you serious?”
Before they split up, none of them had dared to barge into a room with someone in it. Now their numbers had dwindled to only four, and the danger level inside the building had more than doubled. And now they were going to charge in headfirst?!
It sounded like a suicide mission.
Wen Jianyan wanted to explain, but just as he opened his mouth, before he could speak, another voice interrupted.
“…It’s doable.”
Everyone was stunned and turned their heads.
The one who spoke was Hugo.
He held a cigarette between his fingers, seemingly deep in thought, as if he hadn’t realized he’d spoken. But soon, Hugo lifted his eyes and slowly repeated, “A direct break-in, huh? Fine. But we can only hold for ten minutes.”
Wen Jianyan looked up at him. His lips moved: “That’s enough.”
With a snap, a bright yellow flame flared up, lighting the cigarette at Hugo’s lips. A plume of grayish-white smoke drifted out, quickly enveloping the four of them.
He said, “Move.”
Shrouded in smoke, the four of them swiftly and stealthily approached the office. Like the other offices on the second floor, this door was also unlocked. With a gentle push, it creaked open slowly.
However, unlike the bustling office full of student council members they had expected, this one was much smaller than anticipated.
Although it was located on the second floor, its layout was completely different from the other offices. The space wasn’t large, with only about eight desks in total. At a glance, the entire room was nearly empty—
Except for the last desk at the end.
A teacher sitting at the desk slowly stood up. The blood-red light from the lamp spilled over her lips and scarlet fingertips like fresh blood.
Everyone froze.
This office… actually belonged to her—the same red-clothed female teacher they had encountered earlier in the student council office!
The teacher’s cold gaze fell on the open doorway, as though able to see through Hugo’s smoke. Her voice was flat and emotionless:
“Entering without knocking? How rude.”
Wen Jianyan tossed the set of keys in his hand to Hugo. “Take it.”
Hugo caught the keys and looked at him.
“Whatever you three do next, just make sure for the next ten minutes, she doesn’t notice me.” Wen Jianyan forced himself to stay upright, his bloodshot eyes staring intently as he spoke in a low voice, word by word.
“Got it.”
Hugo gave him a long look and said.
A wisp of pale smoke drifted off and wrapped around Wen Jianyan’s body.
Click.
Suddenly, the teacher took a step forward. Her high heels clacked against the floor with a crisp sound, sending a chill down everyone’s spine.
Hugo clenched the cigarette between his teeth. A spark flared briefly.
In the next instant, he strode toward the red-clothed teacher.
Click.
The sound of high heels came closer again.
Wei Cheng’s pupils contracted. He shouted, “Watch out!”
In just a flash, a deadly threat had already arrived.
But none of that was Wen Jianyan’s concern anymore.
He rushed toward the back of the office. Wei Cheng’s voice faded behind him.
At the end of his chaotic, hallucination-filled vision stood the desk where the red-clothed teacher had been sitting moments ago.
Thanks to the smoke, Wen Jianyan reached the desk without trouble.
He staggered and braced himself on the surface to keep from collapsing.
His vision was still a blur. His ears rang with whispers of malice, and strange shapes flickered at the edges of his sight.
With his SAN value critically low, his nerves were hypersensitive. Even though the teacher had her back turned, the terrifying, cold aura emanating from her still cut into his skin like a knife.
His instincts screamed:
Run!
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay put. His fingers, white from strain, clutched the desk. His gaze was unfocused, but a faint spark of determination still flickered in his eyes.
…Time was limited.
Everything he had to do needed to be completed in the next ten minutes.
He took a deep breath, crouched down, and began frantically searching the drawers.
Finally, in the last drawer, a stack of red paper—radiating an ominous, cold aura—appeared before him.
As he stared at the red paper, a chill ran down his spine.
Found it.
Meanwhile.
The red-clothed teacher stood in the center of the office. Her ashen eyes turned slowly, searching:
“Student, stop hiding. If you keep this up, the teacher will get angry.”
Inside the smoke, Hugo was tense. Sweat beaded on his forehead without him realizing, and the cigarette between his lips had nearly burned down.
Just moments ago, he’d used his ability to directly counter her attack.
Until now, he’d only fought student council members within the instance. This was his first time confronting a “teacher.” And now, he finally understood the massive gap in power between them.
Their previous suspicions were right—within the Yuying Comprehensive University instance, the suppression from hierarchical “identity” differences was nearly impossible to overcome.
Even a teacher was this powerful. Hugo couldn’t begin to imagine the strength of higher roles like the vice-principal or principal.
Hugo removed the cigarette from his lips.
In the next instant, his fingers twitched, and a brilliant spark exploded from the tip of the cigarette. The sharp fire pierced through the gray smoke like a bolt of lightning and shot toward the red-clothed teacher.
The flame touched her crimson dress, and fire erupted instantly. It seemed alive, burrowing deep into her body.
In seconds, the air reeked of charred flesh.
Hugo gritted his teeth and lowered his trembling hand.
The fingers that had held the cigarette spasmed at his side. Burned black, the corruption spread rapidly up his arm, as if the attack had also devoured his own flesh in return.
The teacher’s steps paused.
She looked down at the gaping, scorched hole in her chest. Beneath the burned fabric was not human skin, but writhing red tissue.
However, the flames were soon snuffed out by an unseen force, disappearing one by one.
Then, the red dress began to shift like flowing tissue, gradually covering the wound.
She looked up, slowly curling her crimson lips into a grin:
“Found you.”
“…!”
Shit!
Hugo’s pupils contracted. He jerked backward—but whether from the injury or strain, his reaction was slightly slower than before.
In just those few seconds, the deadly strike was already upon him.
“Move!”
A sharp voice shouted from nearby.
The next second, scarlet vines burst up from the ground, rapidly growing across the wall. They formed a thick barrier between Hugo and the teacher, blocking the fatal blow just in time.
Breathing heavily, Hugo turned to look.
In the open doorway stood several familiar figures.
At the front was a tall, cold-faced woman. Pale vines curled along her jawline, giving her an eerie beauty.
Yun Bilan.
She stared intently at the scene. Her teeth clenched. Her eyes glowed a strange, unnatural red.
Clearly, it was she who had summoned the vine wall that saved Hugo.
Beside her stood a petite, orange-haired girl with a giant, rusted broadsword slung over her shoulder. Grinning wickedly, she tilted her head and said:
“Aiya, how pathetic.”
“So pitiful… Want me, your big sister, to come save you?”
