WTNL Chapter 9.2

Decai Middle School
Chapter 9.2: 408

Before Su Cheng could breathe a sigh of relief, those silhouettes reappeared in the next classroom. They still stood shoulder-to-shoulder, but this time, they were even closer to the front.

And in the next room.

And the next.

With every classroom they passed, the silhouettes took a step forward. Those bizarre shadows gradually magnified, creeping steadily closer.

In their ears, bizarre, rustling sounds began to faintly echo, sounding like low giggles or malicious murmurs. Meaningless syllables drifted from the far end of the corridor, closing in bit by bit—

“Run!”

Wen Jianyan barked.

The moment the word fell, both of them sprinted for their lives.

Their peripheral vision blurred, yet they could still see the dark silhouettes pursuing relentlessly, drawing closer, closer, and closer still.

In the end, the shadows had magnified to the height of normal humans, pressing right against the windows facing the corridor, as if ready to step out into the hallway at any moment.

Those eerie, rustling human voices amplified repeatedly, swirling through the empty corridor and attacking from all directions. The source of the sound was nowhere to be found, yet it chilled their bodies to the bone, shaking their minds.

“This way!”

The young man running ahead made a sharp turn, pulling Su Cheng into the stairwell.

The stairwell was dark and cramped. Peeled green wall paint revealed messy graffiti. The ceiling light flickered overhead, buzzing softly.

Aside from that, it was dead silent.

The whispering voices vanished.

Those closing shadows didn’t seem to follow.

Su Cheng leaned against the wall in shock, his voice shaking: “What the hell were those things?!”

Wen Jianyan didn’t answer.

He looked up at the stairs ascending before him.

The top of the crooked staircase was swallowed by darkness, appearing seemingly infinite.

The adrenaline rush from sprinting earlier had dissipated, and an icy chill began creeping up from the soles of his feet.

Although he still maintained a trained, calm composure on his face, Wen Jianyan was inwardly panicking.

…If possible, he really didn’t want to go up there at all.

He remembered the mission’s time limit, felt the hard outline of the key in his pocket, gritted his teeth, and forced out a few words:

“…Let’s go upstairs.”

Su Cheng looked at the young man beside him in shock.

Mr. NPC, are you seriously not afraid at all?

“Your… mental fortitude is truly incredible,” he said, offering heartfelt praise.

Wen Jianyan: “…”

Heh.

Fortitude my ass.

I’m just forced to be stubborn, alright!

The corner of his mouth twitched, and he replied with a strained smile: “You flatter me.”

The chat erupted into laughter:

[Hahahahahahahahahahaha why is this so funny?]

[What kind of wonderfully bizarre comedic effect is this!]

[In a sense, the guy actually hit the truth. The streamer’s psychological fortitude is indeed strong, it’s just all invested into lying without batting an eye.]

[But him being scared of ghosts is also totally real, hahaha!]

After entering the stairwell, no more strange sounds or anomalous sights appeared along the way.

However, whenever they tried to leave the stairwell and step into the corridors of the second or third floors, they would plunge right back into their previous predicament.

Those shadows became distinct and imminent, writhing in the darkness of the corridors and classrooms, gazing at them greedily and yearningly, waiting for an opportunity to drag them into the dark.

During this process, Su Cheng secretly pulled out his ID card to check a few times.

He discovered that every time he entered the territory of the black shadows, a large chunk of his remaining survival time was gnawed away. Entering the teaching building had only happened a few minutes ago, yet nearly half an hour had already vanished from his card.

A chill ran down his spine, extinguishing any thoughts of exploring the second and third floors.

Soon, the fourth floor was right before their eyes.

“4”.

The faded red paint had peeled, illuminated by the flickering corridor lights, appearing exceptionally ominous.

Wen Jianyan took a slow, deep breath, cautiously took a step forward, and carefully sidestepped out of the stairwell.

It was very quiet around them, free of layered murmurs and low laughter.

Motion-sensor lights flicked on one by one, lighting up the empty corridor.

No dark shadows.

To be precise, after leaving the stairwell, nothing happened. Compared to the other three floors, it was unnervingly peaceful and quiet.

Yet Wen Jianyan didn’t feel the slightest bit relaxed.

For this place to be so quiet, there were only two possibilities: either those dark shadows had intended to herd them to the fourth floor from the very beginning, or there was something far more vicious lurking here that even they dared not approach.

Either way, it wouldn’t be easy to deal with.

The cold overhead light remained steady and continuous.

The empty corridor stretched out to both sides, its ends swallowed by darkness. None of the classrooms on either side had clear markings; they would have to check them one by one.

Wen Jianyan turned to look at Su Cheng:

“Let’s split up to look for Classroom 408. If you run into anything unusual, don’t act rashly—shout for me.”

Su Cheng was startled at first, then nodded quickly: “No problem.”

Truthfully, in such a creepy place, splitting up was the last thing he wanted to do.

After all, acting alone was a guaranteed death flag in horror films.

However, Su Cheng urgently needed to verify the remaining points and time on his ID card and buy some lifesaving items from the shop, so the other’s suggestion played right into his hands.

Parting ways with Wen Jianyan, Su Cheng inconspicuously breathed a sigh of relief and walked toward one side of the corridor.

Great, what I’m about to do next can’t be seen by that NPC. Not only would it be hard to explain, but it could easily arouse suspicion.

Thinking this, he pulled open his livestream panel.

What Su Cheng didn’t know was that, out of his sight, that very “NPC” was doing the exact same thing—

Opening his livestream panel.

It had been a while since he last checked it. The moment Wen Jianyan logged in, an overwhelming flood of comments met his eyes, leaving him temporarily dazzled.

[Ohhhh the streamer turned on the chat!]

[!!! [Tipped 50 points]]

[Streamer, look here!]

[Ahhhh I love the streamer’s style, professing my love from the front row!]

He spared a glance at the online viewer count.

Good grief. It was only around two thousand last time, and now it had doubled, bordering on nearly six thousand!

Wen Jianyan skimmed through the comments.

After the initial wave of enthusiastic remarks passed, the remaining chat became more substantive.

Some were enthusiastic, some cold, some malicious, some skeptical, while most were just watching the spectacle with keen interest—nothing particularly useful could be extracted from them.

The comments this time held little practical value.

There was no need for much interaction, but… he couldn’t be too obviously dismissive either.

“Thank you.”

The handsome young man smiled faintly and lowered his eyes, letting his long eyelashes veil the shimmering light in his gaze. He pressed a fingertip lightly against his curved lips, casually blowing a kiss, mouthing:

“…Love you guys too.”

The cold, righteous disguise from before was stripped away, revealing a hint of rich, roguish playfulness that didn’t belong to that fake persona.

It wasn’t serious, carrying a careless sense of distance instead, like a casual tease—yet it was…

Inexplicably bewitching.

Immediately after, the interface was closed without the slightest hesitation.

The chat fell into a brief blank.

[…Damn, he knows how to play us. [Tipped 50 points]]

[Dammit, this streamer is way too skilled at baiting tips! Family, don’t get tricked! [Tipped 50 points]]

[Normally I rarely tip such new live rooms, but… [Tipped 50 points]]

[The streamer’s mouth, a deceitful ghost! [Tipped 100 points]]

Listening to the crisp chimes of incoming points in his ear, Wen Jianyan cheerfully pulled up the shop interface.

Perhaps due to his increased savings, more sections of the shop had unlocked this time.

After careful selection, Wen Jianyan added a lifesaving item to his cart. After all, he might run into danger later, so taking out some insurance beforehand was essential.

He stared at the shop interface in contemplation, then added another item to the cart:

[Guiding Hand].

Although this thing wasn’t cheap, as time went on, its necessity grew stronger.

Wen Jianyan had already collected the Hard-tier hidden item, and the Epic-tier hidden item quest was underway. With victory in sight, only the Normal-tier hidden item remained.

Under such circumstances, if he didn’t collect all the hidden items in this instance, it would be a disservice to all his life-risking efforts.

Wen Jianyan tapped to purchase.

[Item placed in backpack.]

The system notification rang out. Watching 7,000 points swiftly deducted from his account, his heart ached slightly.

Almost there, almost there. Just a few dozen minutes left until the points settle again.

Wen Jianyan comforted himself inwardly.

Just then, Su Cheng’s shout came from behind:

“Here! 408 is over here!”

Snapping back to reality, Wen Jianyan closed the interface and turned to walk toward Su Cheng’s location.

Su Cheng pointed to a faded metal plate attached to the closed door in front of him.

Sure enough, this was the room he was looking for.

Wen Jianyan nodded, took a step forward, and placed his hand on the doorknob.

The cold metallic sensation transmitted from his palm, spreading a chill that made him shudder slightly.

He took a deep breath, and just as he was about to press down on the handle, a thought struck his mind like a bolt of lightning.

Wen Jianyan froze, his eyes widening slightly.

Wait…

He turned his head to look.

This was the fourth floor… the second room on the right.

That was right. That terrifying figure he had seen from the dormitory building, the one standing in the teaching building with its face pressed against the glass… the room it occupied was also…

The fourth floor, second room on the right.

Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on the door before him, where the faded red paint on the metal plate stood out.

It was this very room.

Room 408.

__

Author’s Note:

In the past:

Audience: Family, don’t get bewitched by this dog!!! Scammer, get out!

Later:

Audience: Wife, scam me!!!

Support me on Ko-fi