Yuying University
Chapter 502: Damn it, he’s tricked me again!!
Finally, after repeatedly confirming through various means, the group reluctantly accepted the fact…
The person before them seemed to be, apparently, indeed human?
Not far away, the young man’s face was ashen, his eyes an unnatural, deep black, and a vivid red armband was on his arm. His entire being exuded a chilling, ghostly aura.
He leisurely put away his phone and smiled.
“So, are you all reassured now?”
Everyone: “…”
Not at all.
“So,” Chen Cheng crossed his arms, maintaining a safe, neither-too-close-nor-too-far distance from Wen Jianyan. He sized him up, his expression a mixture of vigilance and bewilderment.
“What’s going on with you?”
Wen Jianyan just smiled, not answering directly.
“All you need to know is that my current state won’t hinder you in any way… in fact, it might even provide a lot of help. That’s enough.”
Chen Cheng stared at him for a few seconds, then relented. “Fine.”
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[Uh, is it just me, or has the alienation affected more than just the anchor’s appearance? His whole vibe has become much scarier than before. Just listening to him talk gives me the creeps.]
[Not your illusion, definitely not your illusion.]
“Alright, now that the question of my identity is settled,” Wen Jianyan clapped his hands, his tone light, “what about you all? What are you planning to do next?”
The anchors exchanged glances but didn’t speak, their fear apparently not yet subsided.
In the end, it was Chen Cheng who answered his question.
“Finish the thesis.”
The third academic year lasted only one day, much shorter than the other two.
And that day was nearing its end.
Based on experience—both from real life and from the instances—the fourth academic year would only be shorter. It was even highly likely that the so-called “graduation ceremony” would begin immediately upon entering the fourth year.
In other words, they had to finish their thesis before midnight tonight, or they might not be able to graduate.
And failing to graduate naturally meant failing to clear the instance.
“I figured as much.”
Wen Jianyan nodded, unsurprised by Chen Cheng’s statement.
“Since you need to finish your thesis, you’ll need a safe place next, right?”
This was based on his own experience completing his thesis—
Wherever the candidate disappears, that’s where they will reappear.
No one wanted to face a new crisis immediately after dealing with the dangers of the thesis. If the location wasn’t safe enough, the probability of death would increase exponentially.
The group exchanged glances and nodded, having evidently thought of the same problem.
“In that case,” Wen Jianyan said, “let me show you the way.”
Wen Jianyan always repaid kindness with kindness.
He knew that after he left the administration building and they realized he wasn’t following, these anchors could have just turned and left. But they chose to wait. For that reason, Wen Jianyan didn’t mind offering them a little help.
“First, don’t wander around on the paths. Get inside a building.”
Wen Jianyan held up one finger.
He had seen it with his own eyes: the dark sky was filled with a dense array of fleshy tubes, extending downwards to connect to indescribably colossal beings.
These behemoths could not be caught by sight; they roamed aimlessly outside the buildings, searching for humans as food.
“In short, just imagine this is a moral education class.”
As long as you were outside in the dark, you were at risk of being hunted.
“Second, the gym and the library are core danger zones. No matter what, don’t go there.”
The library went without saying; it was a place of death that even Hugo dared not enter, where their group had almost been wiped out.
Although Wen Jianyan had burned the building outside, the two worlds were now intertwined. He couldn’t guarantee what remained there now, or if even worse changes had occurred.
And the gym was a core area related to the instance’s origin, and also the most likely destination for the two mirror images…
The danger level was only higher, not lower.
“The cafeteria is slightly less dangerous, but not by much,”
Wen Jianyan said after a moment’s thought.
The cafeteria had a path leading to the underground warehouse. That alone made it dangerous enough.
“As for the classroom building…”
Wen Jianyan’s gaze drifted.
The classroom building should, in theory, be the least dangerous—but there was a small problem.
You see, before Wen Jianyan went to the administration building, he had just caused some trouble for the Student Council members who were spreading grave dirt in the classroom building… which meant, if Chen Cheng and his group went to the classroom building next, they would most likely encounter one of two situations:
Either they would run into the returning Student Council members, or they would encounter the living dead who hadn’t been suppressed by the grave dirt and were no longer in a deep slumber.
Wen Jianyan coughed lightly and said righteously, “It’s probably best not to go there either.”
“…”
Listening to Wen Jianyan list off every location in the school, the group’s expressions were a mixture of awe and shock.
This… this was the difficulty of a double-S-rank instance?
The density of high-risk areas was simply staggering. But beyond that, what shocked them even more was one thing:
Just what was the origin of the person in front of them, to have explored all these areas?
How terrifying.
Beside them, Suo Suo couldn’t help but chime in, “So… is there anywhere we can go?”
“There is.”
Wen Jianyan thought for a moment, then looked up and said slowly,
“If I were you, I would choose the dorms—and preferably the freshman dorms.”
The dorms were naturally dangerous too, containing not only sleeping zombies but also a dorm manager who revealed his terrifying true form at night. But comparatively, the danger in this building was the lowest on the entire campus.
The sophomore dorms only opened after the instance had mutated, so its difficulty likely scaled with the instance’s overall difficulty. In fact, this was a rule for the entire instance: areas that opened after the mutation were far more difficult than the areas that existed from the start.
That’s why Wen Jianyan recommended they go to the freshman dorms.
The overall difficulty here was bound to be not too high, the most likely area to conform to the original rating.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been open from the start of the instance and served as the newcomers’ living quarters.
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[…Even though I already know the anchor’s strength, I can’t help but say, this is just too incredible.]
[This kind of analysis requires someone with a deep understanding of the instance’s core mechanics, Nightmare’s basic rules, and even intel on every single area. It’s too precise, too terrifying.]
[I have to say, these anchors really hit the jackpot this time, having a top-ten Nightmare, and one known for his cunning and intelligence, analyze the situation for them. This advice is priceless, seriously precious.]
[Is this the joy of clinging to a powerful thigh? Ahhh, I’m so jealous.]
Even without knowing where Wen Jianyan got his information, everyone present still recognized the immense value behind his words.
They looked at each other, their eyes full of shock.
Chen Cheng gave him a deep look and nodded.
“Thanks.”
Suo Suo turned to leave with the others, but after only a few steps, a voice from behind stopped him.
“Hey, you, wait a second.”
“?”
Suo Suo froze and turned around.
Wen Jianyan stood not far behind him. “Where are you going?”
Suo Suo: “Uh… the freshman dorms?”
From the other’s demeanor, it seemed he planned to act alone from now on, so Suo Suo naturally didn’t have high hopes for Wen Jianyan’s earlier promise.
Of course, besides that, there were other reasons…
The young man slowly walked over, his face devoid of color, a gentle smile on his lips.
Even though his human identity had been confirmed, it was still deeply unsettling.
Suo Suo gave a dry laugh. “Actually, you don’t have to—”
“How could that be?”
Wen Jianyan smiled and draped a hand over his shoulder.
“?!”
The other’s fingers were as cold as ice, and Suo Suo couldn’t help but flinch.
He stiffly turned his head.
The young man was slightly taller than him. At this moment, he lowered his eyes slightly, his long eyelashes curling down. But the eyes beneath them were pitch-black and empty, dark and heavy.
He said with a smile,
“I promised to help you finish your graduation thesis. I can’t go back on my word… can I?”
Suo Suo: “…”
His face turned green.
Please, brother, just go back on your word.
Despite his reluctance, intimidated by Wen Jianyan’s oppressive presence, Suo Suo ultimately stopped. With a pained expression, he watched the others’ backs grow smaller in the distance.
“Uh… Big Shot, where are we heading next?”
Suo Suo wiped his face, as if resigned to his fate, and asked.
Wen Jianyan looked up at the black and red-streaked sky and answered nonchalantly,
“The gym.”
Suo Suo paused, then asked dryly, “Where?”
Wen Jianyan turned to him and patiently repeated, “The gym.”
As if to jog his memory, he even pointed into the distance. “The one on the athletic field.”
Suo Suo: “…………”
I know where the damn gym is!
Clinging to one last sliver of hope, he asked hopefully, “So, when you told those other people not to go to the gym, you were lying to them, right?”
Wen Jianyan: “Nope.”
Suo Suo: “…”
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[Hahahahaha!]
[Incredible, I’ve never seen someone’s expression get so twisted.]
[Hahahahahahaha, the other anchor: I want to escape, but I can’t get away.]
[I’m dying laughing. Why not just fight him and get it over with? At least he’d suffer less.]
[Hahahaha, I agree.]
But in the end, Suo Suo didn’t fight Wen Jianyan.
Although he really wanted to.
As a anchor who had survived this long, Suo Suo knew, more or less, what to do and what not to do in a situation like this.
He listlessly followed behind Wen Jianyan, heading towards the athletic field.
Along the way, Suo Suo fantasized countless times that some kind of accident would happen—even an attack would be fine—as long as it created an opportunity for the two of them to separate.
That way, he could take the chance to slip away.
However, Wen Jianyan’s movements were far too unpredictable.
As they walked, he would frequently stop abruptly, look thoughtfully into the distance, halting, proceeding, and changing course for no apparent reason, almost as if…
He could see something that Suo Suo couldn’t.
And so, the two of them walked, stopping and starting.
By the time they could see the main gate of the athletic field, Suo Suo’s wish had not come true.
“…”
He stared at the familiar sight before him, his face a picture of utter despair.
Damn it, now there was truly no escape.
Beside him, Wen Jianyan seemed completely unaware of Suo Suo’s anguish and despair. He looked up towards the gym in the distance, his brow slowly furrowing.
Under the black and red sky, the dome of the gym could be faintly seen. Everything seemed no different from his memory.
But Wen Jianyan felt that something was not right.
Due to the bug he had exploited earlier, he was now in a state of being half-dead, half-alive. Because of this, Wen Jianyan could see and feel more.
And now, the feeling the gym gave him…
Was strange.
Wen Jianyan paused, pulling himself from his thoughts. “Let’s go.”
Regardless, he had to get closer to confirm his suspicions.
Suo Suo followed, his heart like dead ashes.
Soon, the two of them passed through the main gate and entered the athletic field.
Wen Jianyan walked forward.
Just as Suo Suo was about to follow, the other suddenly turned his head and said lightly,
“You’d better not.”
Only then did Suo Suo realize that the running track on the ground was a vivid, dripping red, as if soaked in blood.
A sweet, metallic smell wafted through the air.
Suo Suo was startled and seemed to realize. “Wait, this track…?”
Wen Jianyan nodded. “It’s a problem.”
As he spoke, he stepped off the track.
Suo Suo stood outside the track, looked at Wen Jianyan, then down at the blood-red track the other had just walked on, and spoke with a complicated expression.
“Then you…”
The young man smiled. “I’m different.”
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[…!]
[Damn, damn, damn, what a line, ‘I’m different.’ So just because you exploited a bug, you get to be awesome?]
[Replying for the anchor: Yes, I am awesome. You exploit a bug too if you can!]
[Damn it, he got to show off again!!]
Suo Suo looked at the blood-red track not far away and fearfully retracted his gaze. Now, he didn’t dare to act rashly anymore. He could only obediently follow behind Wen Jianyan, heading towards the gym.
To avoid the track, their path curved slightly, not heading directly for the gym’s main entrance but circling around the side.
Just as they rounded a corner, they heard the sound of a deliberately lowered conversation not far away.
Wen Jianyan’s steps paused.
Were there other anchors nearby?
Wen Jianyan turned to look at Suo Suo, beckoned him over with a friendly smile.
“…”
Suo Suo, his head hanging, shuffled over reluctantly.
At the entrance to the gym, four anchors stood.
They were outside the open doors, arguing in hushed tones.
“The psychic said before, we must not go in here—”
“Not go in? Are you serious?” one person said, his face pale and nervous, clutching a bleeding arm. His eyes were still searching the air aimlessly, like a frightened bird. “This is the only building nearby. If we don’t go in and get attacked by that invisible thing again, we’ll all die!”
“But…”
Before their argument could conclude, they heard a clear footstep from nearby.
“Who’s there?!”
They snapped.
Suo Suo, a fawning smile on his face, shuffled out from behind the building. “Calm down, calm down, I’m an anchor too.”
The group watched him intently, silent, not letting down their guard.
“Although you might not believe me, I’m really here to help you.”
Suo Suo put on a sincere expression, trying to make himself look more trustworthy.
“You’d better listen to the psychic—this isn’t a place you should be. That invisible thing isn’t near the athletic field right now. You can just leave directly. If you really want to find a building for shelter, it’s best to go to the dorms. The danger level there is lower.”
“You say those things aren’t nearby?” The other squinted suspiciously. “But they’re invisible. How do you know?”
How the hell would I know?
Suo Suo gave a dry laugh. “I can’t tell you that.”
“The dorms are too far,” a person who had been silent from the start spoke up. “It would take us at least half an hour to get there from here. It’s hard to verify if your information is true.”
He stepped forward, squinting at Suo Suo. “What if you don’t actually know anything and just want to lure us away from here? Then we’d be fooled, wouldn’t we?”
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[…]
[In a way, he’s right. Suo Suo really doesn’t know anything, and he really does want them to leave. But the conclusion he drew from that is completely wrong.]
[Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a waste of the clear path the anchor pointed out for them.]
Suo Suo: “No, I…”
The person clutching his wound suddenly spoke. “I say, instead of wasting time and effort verifying his information, it’s more direct to just have him scout the path for us.”
“Yeah.”
Another anchor slowly smiled. He pointed at the gym behind him, his eyes venomous and full of ill intent. “Since you want to help us, then go inside and give it a try first.”
“…?!”
Suo Suo’s heart jolted, and he took a sharp step back.
Damn it, these anchors didn’t know a good heart when they saw one. He came out with good intentions to give them a tip, but seeing him acting alone, they wanted to coerce him into being a guinea pig to scout the way!
Looking at the three in front of him, he was both angry and scared. He quickly raised his voice, calling for backup.
“Big Shot, help! Help me!”
From the corner not far away, a faint sigh could be heard.
Then, a footstep approached, unhurriedly moving forward.
The group opposite him stared, their gazes gradually becoming wary. “You have teammates? How many?”
They had just finished asking when a figure rounded the corner and walked towards them.
“…Just one person?”
After a brief silence, the four in front exchanged a glance and finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter, seemingly not expecting the other side to have only two people yet dare to adopt such an arrogant attitude.
“Hahahahahahaha!”
“One is good too,” the lead anchor stopped laughing, a malicious expression on his face. “At least with two people together, they should be able to explore longer in the gym, which would be more ‘helpful’ to us.”
As they said this, the group failed to notice the look of pity gradually forming in Suo Suo’s eyes.
Soon, the young man stepped out of the darkness and into the light.
He raised a pair of deep black eyes. His skin was devoid of any color, having the texture of a corpse. An suffocating, chilling aura emanated from him, carrying the oppressive feeling that only a monster could bring.
And on his arm, he wore a red armband.
On it, the three words [Student Council] were stark and glaring, terrifying.
In the next second, the mocking, unrestrained smiles on the anchors’ faces froze. They were like they had been choked, unable to make another sound.
…Student Council?!
The malicious, gleeful expression peeled away from their faces, revealing the fear beneath.
Having survived for so long, they understood well enough how terrifying the members of the Student Council were in this instance.
Furthermore, as the school years progressed and the instance’s mutation deepened, the original rules gradually lost their binding force. In this situation, no one wanted to go up against a Student Council member.
More crucially…
Their strength was already greatly depleted. Whether it was the attacks from an unknown source or the blood-red track they had just barely escaped from, they were no longer able to handle another battle with a Student Council member.
“Go!” the lead anchor decided instantly.
Go where?
The athletic field? No.
Not to mention the terrifying track that seemed to ooze blood, more importantly, it was too open. They were very likely to run into that invisible monster again.
The only remaining option was the gym behind them.
Don’t forget, the anchor who was with the Student Council member had tried every means to stop them from entering the gym in the first place.
In that case…
The group exchanged a look. They understood each other without needing words.
Without hesitation, they quickly turned and rushed into the gym, disappearing into its darkness in the blink of an eye.
“Hey—”
Suo Suo instinctively called out, but before he could say anything, the backs of the other anchors had already vanished into the darkness.
Suddenly, everything fell silent.
The moment seemed to last for only a brief second, yet it felt as if it had been stretched into a century.
Abruptly, black and red flames erupted from within the gym!
“!!!”
Suo Suo was horrified. As if afraid of being drawn in, he took several sharp steps back.
The flames inside the gym had no temperature, no sound. The strange flames twisted, and within them appeared countless struggling, screaming corpses and figures, violently rushing towards them. But just as they were about to cross the threshold of the gym, they seemed to be blocked by some kind of invisible, transparent barrier, and were forcibly pushed back.
“This is…”
Suo Suo was too shocked to speak.
Wen Jianyan stood where he was and sighed.
“…A pity.”
He knew that if he appeared in his current state, this was bound to happen. Even Chen Cheng and the others, who had briefly cooperated with him, had their doubts at the last moment. This group, upon seeing him, would either attack or, like now, flee headlessly into the most dangerous place.
That’s why Wen Jianyan had Suo Suo go out on his behalf. It was just a pity…
The other party didn’t seize the opportunity.
“But the good news is, they were indeed helpful.”
Wen Jianyan blinked and added.
Suo Suo: “…”
Helpful in scouting the path, right.
What a sick joke.
Wen Jianyan stared at the flames in the distance, his eyes narrowed in thought.
Perhaps Suo Suo couldn’t feel it, but he was different.
Wen Jianyan could clearly feel the terrifying heat of the flames rushing towards him, as if they wanted to ignite and melt him. This meant that the flames weren’t just targeting the anchors; even though he was now, to some extent, assimilated with the instance, he could still feel a strong threat from them.
Just as he had guessed, during the assimilation process of the instance and the outside world, the gym had indeed undergone a mutation—and it was a mutation for the worse.
It could be said that the instance of [Yuying Comprehensive University] was gradually shedding its disguise and returning to its original form.
Therefore, the flames that had originally existed only in memory were now also present in the instance.
The library was probably not much different.
—These two places had become certain death zones, absolutely untouchable.
While feeling relieved, Wen Jianyan also frowned.
He had come to the gym because he guessed that his and Orange Candy’s mirror image was here.
And the mirror image should now be holding the item they needed.
But now that the gym had become like this, the possibility of the mirror image coming here was very low.
You see, this fire was one of the key turning points that had turned the campus into a instance. Since he, as a half-alienated being, would feel fear towards it, the mirror image should feel the same.
That was strange…
If it didn’t come to the gym, then where did the mirror image go?
Wen Jianyan was puzzled.
Perhaps because the “fuel” had run out, the flames inside the gym quickly disappeared.
Everything returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.
Feeling the heat on his face gradually fade, Wen Jianyan seemed to think of something. He paused slightly and looked up at the gym in the distance.
Wait a minute…
Strictly speaking, he had not actually seen Wang Ni’s mirror image enter the gym.
At that time, due to the side effects of the badge, Wen Jianyan had lost consciousness on the spot. By the time he recovered, the mirror image was already gone.
He had followed Richard himself to the gym.
And as soon as he got close to the gym, Wen Jianyan was kept outside the door by a strong repulsive force. Soon, the fire started. He hadn’t seen what happened inside the gym at all.
The more Wen Jianyan thought about it, the more alarmed he became.
Because he soon realized another point.
Su Cheng had told him before that Richard was the last one to die.
Wait.
Wen Jianyan jolted, a chill creeping up his back.
That’s right, he had personally seen Richard’s death.
His eyes were gouged out, his stomach was bloated, and he had died, soaking wet, in the bathroom of the dormitory—not burned to death.
Although in the repeated playthroughs of the instance, the role of “Richard” had been replaced several times, the manner of the character’s death should not have changed.
In other words, Richard hadn’t actually died in the gym fire? He had survived it?
What was going on?
“Uh…” Beside him, Suo Suo finally couldn’t bear the silence and broke it.
He carefully observed Wen Jianyan’s expression and cautiously asked, “So, Big Shot, are we still going into the gym next?”
Suo Suo’s voice pulled Wen Jianyan from his thoughts.
Wen Jianyan came back to his senses and shook his head. “No.”
The gym had become a death trap, and the mirror image was clearly not here. Therefore, Wen Jianyan no longer had a reason to enter the gym.
So what to do next?
How could he find the mirror image’s location?
After a brief moment of thought, Wen Jianyan seemed to have an idea. He looked up and extended his hand towards Suo Suo.
“Your thesis grade sheet?”
Suo Suo knew he had no choice but to obey, so he obediently handed over his thesis grade sheet with both hands.
Wen Jianyan took the grade sheet and quickly scanned it.
He had seen it once before, but this time, his focus was no longer on whether the subjective questions had been graded, but on the objective questions themselves.
[Thesis Title: “First Love: Our Eternal Love]
[1. In “First Love: Our Eternal Love,” do the protagonists end up together? (20 points)]
[2. In the film, what sacrifices do the protagonists make for each other? (20 points)]
[3. Please write your thoughts after watching (60 points)]
After reading the questions carefully, Wen Jianyan looked up and handed the grade sheet back to Suo Suo.
“Let’s begin.”
“…Huh?”
Suo Suo was stunned, not quite reacting.
Wen Jianyan looked at him sincerely, a harmless smile on his face. “I promised to help you finish your thesis before, don’t you remember?”
He had let Suo Suo choose this movie as his graduation thesis precisely for this reason.
Wen Jianyan knew that although he had already sorted out the basic plot of the movie, there were still a few blind spots—and his intuition told him that these blind spots might be the key to answering his current questions.
And now was the perfect time for him to find the answers.
Wen Jianyan looked utterly sincere. “Don’t worry, I will do my best.”
He urged, “Are you ready? Let’s begin.”
“…”
Suo Suo stood there frozen, holding his thesis, his face blank.
He regretted it, he really did.
He should never have clung to this thigh!!!
