(2/10)
Yuying University
Chapter 416: “Can everyone please focus on the instance?”
“Wait a minute,” Wei Cheng paused at the words, then immediately reacted. “You mean the movie’s scenes change each time you enter it, right?”
“It seems that way now, yes,” Suo Suo nodded, speaking very solemnly.
—If that’s the case, Brave Richard should have changed too.
Wen Jianyan frowned slightly.
The last time they entered the movie, they only experienced two scenes: Richard waking up in the lecture hall and rushing to the bathroom to vomit, and the final scene where Richard died in the boys’ dormitory’s fifth-floor washroom.
The entire plot was very short, and even the end of the last scene wasn’t strictly very dangerous. It only caused some sanity and health loss, but they would quickly return to the classroom.
If the scenes changed… that would mean the movie’s flow became longer, and the number of plot points increased. Then, the danger would definitely escalate as well.
Wen Jianyan blinked, a look of realization dawning on him.
In that case, the mechanism of the [Film Appreciation Elective] made sense.
Wen Jianyan had found it strange then: why was the entire movie so short? Why did it need to give streamers a “half-time break”? Now it seemed this break was most likely for streamers to use when entering the movie a second time, not for them to use while doing their homework…
Presumably, even the instance hadn’t anticipated that someone would talk to an NPC after entering the instance for the first time, gaining the identity of a “movie character.”
Then, using that identity, they would return to the “movie scene” while doing their homework. And then seize the opportunity to “go to the bathroom during class break” to complete all their homework progress at once.
In other words, he actually utilized a bug in the instance rules every single time, half guessing, entirely relying on his mastery of instance rules and experience in outsmarting nightmares, relying on intuition to carve out a speedrun path that could uncover all the rules.
“…” Wen Jianyan scratched the tip of his nose, a little embarrassed.
He seemed to finally understand now why Teacher Sun’s expression was so foul when he saw him during that “break”…
No wonder the other party was so easily provoked into wanting to kill him during this class, even willing to let him attend the same class again.
As Wen Jianyan was deep in thought, Wei Cheng spoke up.
“Since that’s the case, why don’t you tell us about the scenes you encountered the last time you entered this movie?”
“Actually, the last movie wasn’t long, and there wasn’t much plot. It was only very dangerous in one later part; other times, it was very safe,” Suo Suo said.
“Our first scene after entering the movie was in the library.”
The library.
Wen Jianyan and the others were all startled.
They exchanged glances.
That’s right, there was a library in the Yu Ying Comprehensive University instance, but like most of the map’s scenes in this instance, the library here was inaccessible, and so far, they hadn’t found any side quests that would allow them to enter the library.
Could it be related to the movie A Day in the Life of Wang Ni?
“What happened in the library?”
“Nothing special, really,” Suo Suo shook his head.
“But the library was very large, and we couldn’t find the protagonist, so we had to search table by table. However, before we could find her, a girl from the North District suddenly put down her book and ran out of the library very quickly.”
So, that must be the protagonist of this movie, Wang Ni.
Suo Suo: “After we followed her out, the scene changed, and we arrived in the swimming area of the gymnasium.”
Wen Jianyan listened intently. “And then?”
“There was no one in the swimming area, only the sound of water coming from the showers. We followed the sound,” Suo Suo’s expression grew more solemn as he spoke.
“We found Wang Ni’s body in one of the lockers in the changing room.”
This matched what Wen Jianyan had seen and heard in the gymnasium.
It seemed that in their first film appreciation class, A Day in the Life of Wang Ni, like Brave Richard, consisted of two truncated scenes, with the second act ending in the protagonist’s death.
“Then, the water in the pool and the water in the shower room started flowing,” Suo Suo said, still seemingly shaken by the memory of the scene.
“Wang Ni’s corpse also started moving. Jiang Yu was almost dragged into the water and drowned, so she used the ‘go to the bathroom’ opportunity you asked about in class earlier, and that’s how she narrowly survived.”
—Jiang Yu was the female streamer who had just talked to Wen Jianyan.
Although he hadn’t personally witnessed the content of the movie A Day in the Life of Wang Ni, based on his previous experience in the gymnasium, Wen Jianyan could largely piece together the scenes.
Clearly, compared to Brave Richard, A Day in the Life of Wang Ni was more dangerous during its first viewing.
“All in all, that’s pretty much the situation,” Suo Suo spread his hands.
“So, you see, we never entered the girls’ dormitory from start to finish, and we wouldn’t know where this Wang Ni is.”
As he spoke, he looked at Orange Candy warily, seemingly afraid she wouldn’t be satisfied with his answer and would beat him up again.
Wei Cheng frowned.
“Then, are we just going to have to do a carpet search?”
Not to mention the search area, the main issue was time…
Wen Jianyan, as if seeing through his thoughts, spoke up from the side.
“Didn’t you notice? We’ve been here for so long, and there’s no sign of the scene changing.”
Everyone paused.
Indeed.
“Either this part of the plot is very, very long and hasn’t ended yet.”
But this possibility wasn’t very high.
After all, strictly speaking, a considerable amount of time had passed since Wen Jianyan opened his eyes, and it wasn’t normal for nothing to have happened by now.
“Or…” Wen Jianyan paused, “the movie’s plot requires a mechanism to trigger.”
Suo Suo was startled.
“What mechanism?”
Wen Jianyan: “Find the protagonist.”
After all, the protagonist of the movie needed to be in the spotlight for the plot to continue smoothly.
“Then let’s not waste any more time,” Orange Candy eagerly rolled up her sleeves. “Let’s go in!”
Wen Jianyan: “Well…”
He glanced towards the dormitory building, a hesitant expression on his face.
In the “Integrity First” live room barrage:
[Didn’t expect it, did you? Your strategist got banned!]
[Hahahahahahahaha, the old unlucky guy is back online.]
Since the two sides had already established a collaboration for information exchange, Wen Jianyan fully disclosed how he acquired his identity within the movie, along with its pros and cons.
“So…” Suo Suo raised a hand to his forehead. “You’re now recognized as male by this movie, so you can’t enter the girls’ dormitory?”
Wen Jianyan nodded sorrowfully. “Yes.”
“Is that so?” Orange Candy frowned.
“That’s a bit problematic.”
Although they could leave Wen Jianyan waiting at the door, the problem was that once they found the protagonist, the plot would run on its own.
At that time, if they could enter the next scene without leaving the dormitory, then Wen Jianyan, left at the dorm building entrance, would likely be swallowed by the white film void.
“But… it’s not entirely impossible?” At that moment, a thoughtful voice came from the side. Several people turned to look. It was Jiang Yu.
“You can’t enter the dorm, mainly because your identity card is fixed and you can’t use your appearance, right?” She tilted her head, scrutinizing Wen Jianyan up and down, making him inexplicably feel his hair stand on end.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Jiang Yu: “Actually, it’s not impossible.”
Wen Jianyan: “…” He had a familiar ominous feeling.
“Wait, what do you mean—”
“I mean, to disguise yourself as a girl, you don’t necessarily need an appearance item,” Jiang Yu said in a very ordinary tone, uttering something quite extraordinary.
As she spoke, she looked Wen Jianyan up and down, a calculating, unsettling glint in her eyes.
“You have a good foundation, don’t worry, it’ll be easy.”
Wen Jianyan: “…” His ominous premonition came true.
Along with the mechanical voice of [Film Appreciation About to Begin], the view immediately darkened.
When vision returned, the scene had already changed.
Su Cheng opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings, then frowned slightly.
This wasn’t their first time entering the movie Brave Richard, but last time, the first scene in the movie was a lecture hall full of people.
This time, however, the surroundings had changed.
It was no longer a bustling classroom but a dead silent library.
There were few people in the library, and only the rustling sound of turning pages could be heard.
Su Cheng looked around and quickly spotted his teammates sitting at other tables.
They had also located him.
Su Cheng stood up and walked forward, his finger subtly brushing across one of the tables.
An eraser “clattered” to the floor.
Before the person at the table could react, Su Cheng bent down and picked up the eraser. “Sorry.”
The person shook their head.
“It’s fine.”
Su Cheng placed the eraser on the table and glanced at the books on the other person’s table.
“Are you from the literature department?”
The person paused.
“Yes.”
Su Cheng smiled.
His eyes were dark, his demeanor eerie, and his smile inexplicably seemed a little cold.
“What a coincidence, me too.”
“Oh… oh.”
The other person seemed a bit confused, clearly not understanding why this stranger had suddenly started a conversation.
Su Cheng nodded to him, stopped smiling, and left.
Turning around, he pulled out his phone and opened his identity card.
[Identity Card]
Name: Su Cheng
Age: 18
Identity: Yu Ying Comprehensive University Freshman (Literature Department Student)
This was the method Wen Jianyan had taught them before entering the movie.
They were able to touch objects and people within the movie, but they couldn’t influence the movie’s plot.
That is to say, during the plot’s progression, they couldn’t interfere with character actions or take props out of the movie.
However, outside the movie’s camera, they could “bestow” themselves an identity within the movie by talking to NPCs who were originally oblivious to them, and gaining their trust.
Wen Jianyan had done this before.
Su Cheng put his phone away and walked towards his other teammates.
Under Wen Jianyan’s guidance, although a bit unpracticed, they had also completed the task and obtained their identities within the movie.
“Are you all done?”
“Mm.”
“Then we next…”
The three hadn’t spoken many words before someone in the distance glared at them, pointing to a sign on the wall.
[No Loud Noises]
Su Cheng quieted his voice and waved to the others.
They silently passed through the reading room and arrived in the hallway.
“What’s going on?” Tian Ye finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.
He looked around, asking in confusion, “Did we enter the wrong movie? Why are the surrounding scenes different from last time?”
“instance mechanism, probably,” Yun Bilan squinted, saying.
“I knew it, this movie definitely couldn’t have only two acts.”
“It seems this is why we had to split into two teams,” Su Cheng withdrew his gaze, saying thoughtfully, “Although it’s the same movie, the content shown is different after entering twice.”
“Moreover, when we leave the movie and start completing our homework, we can use our in-movie identities to leave the fixed scenes and specifically explore based on the information we got from A Day in the Life of Wang Ni.”
“Oh…” Tian Ye looked enlightened.
“So that’s how it is.”
Yun Bilan glanced at him expressionlessly.
Frankly, this kind of situation was enough for just her and Su Cheng.
The reason Tian Ye was allowed to follow was that his current skill level wasn’t suitable for entering a dangerous, unknown new movie, so he had to be with the second team.
She looked at Su Cheng.
“Oh, right, I just saw Richard in there—”
But before Yun Bilan could finish speaking, a sudden “crash” echoed from the reading room behind them.
The sound was extremely loud, standing out sharply in the dead silence of the library.
The few of them were startled.
With practiced tacit understanding, they quickly turned and rushed back into the reading room.
“Where… where…!”
A hoarse, somewhat terrifying voice, raspy from screaming, rang out.
It was Richard.
The floor was strewn with scattered books.
The students who had just been studying looked stunned, turning their heads in shock to stare in the direction of the sound.
But Richard, in the center of their vision, seemed completely unaware.
He frantically pushed over another entire bookshelf with a “boom,” his hair disheveled, his eyes bloodshot and flickering, looking utterly insane.
“No, no, no no no no! Can’t find it—”
Find? Su Cheng and Yun Bilan exchanged glances. What was Richard looking for in the library?
Just then, a hushed voice came from behind them: “Hey!”
Su Cheng’s eyes turned cold.
He sharply turned his head and grabbed the hand that had landed on his shoulder.
“Ouch, ouch!” The scarred anchor cried out in pain. “Let go, let go, my hand’s going to break!”
Su Cheng’s gaze swept over his face before he slowly released his grip.
“It’s you?”
This was the anchor who had provoked Orange Candy during the last Brave Richard movie and ended up getting beaten up.
“It’s me, it’s me.”
The scarred man frowned, rubbing his reddened wrist.
He nervously looked around, then lowered his voice and said, “I’ve been looking for you for a long time, finally found you. I thought and thought, and now, now only you can save us…”
“Save?”
Su Cheng’s sympathy for outsiders was clearly not very high. He looked at the other party and asked bluntly, “What can you offer?”
The scarred man took a deep breath, wiped his face with a hand, and gritted his teeth, as if having made up his mind.
“I can give you information.”
“Information about Richard, a side quest that no one else knows.”
“But before that, we have to leave quickly,” the scarred man nervously tugged at Su Cheng, whispering, “If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late—”
As if to confirm his words, the previously hysterical Richard suddenly quieted down.
Su Cheng instinctively turned his head to look behind him. Time seemed to freeze.
All the students were firmly fixed in place, their faces still holding expressions of bewilderment and shock.
However, the spot where Richard had just stood was empty. In its place was a puddle of black, dirty water.
“Drip, drop.”
A faint sound of dripping water echoed from deep within the library.
—
Everything was ready.
“Hahahahahahahaha!” Orange Candy burst into laughter, her expression mischievous and utterly joyful. She looked at Wen Jianyan. “Not bad, not bad, you look good, really good!”
Wen Jianyan stood still, expressionless.
“It’s true.” Jiang Yu nodded sincerely. “It really is goo—”
“Alright, that’s enough.” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and cut her off.
“Stop talking.”
This kind of praise couldn’t heal any of his psychological trauma at all, okay?!
Although Wen Jianyan couldn’t exchange for appearance items now, the system store was still open, fully stocked with clothes, various daily necessities, and makeup tools.
Jiang Yu was clearly very skilled in this area.
She used shadows to conceal Wen Jianyan’s masculine features, softening his facial lines.
Plus, Wen Jianyan naturally had good features; he wasn’t the type with sharp, hard contours, but rather the handsome and refined kind.
After Jiang Yu’s skillful transformation, judging purely by his face, he could easily be mistaken for a female.
The only obstacles were probably his male physique and his height of one-point-eight meters.
“It’s fine, just change clothes,” Jiang Yu comforted him. “I have a way to make you look slender visually.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
In the “Integrity First” live room barrage:
[Hahahahahahahahaha!]
[The anchor vividly demonstrates what it means to be alive and wish for death, and to be utterly disheartened.]
[Laughing so hard, although the anchor has been forced to cross-dress before, it was either everyone cross-dressing together, or it was done without teammates watching. This is probably the first time he’s been dressed up like a doll with an audience, right?]
[Wen Jianyan: Please, just let me go.]
[Screenshots saved, comrades! One more for the ‘Socially Embarrassing Cross-dressing’ album!]
While Wen Jianyan was being dressed up expressionlessly, Orange Candy had already happily opened the system store and started picking out clothes.
“Ah, this bow is pretty!” She widened her eyes: “Stockings… I think they’ll work! Wait, there’s also this—”
“Stop, stop, stop!” Wen Jianyan’s eyes went dark, cutting off Orange Candy’s dangerous remarks. He was on the verge of collapse.
“Can everyone please focus on the instance?”
Please!!!
Just as Wen Jianyan’s endurance was approaching its breaking point, this overly torturous process finally ended.
Except for seeming a bit too tall, Wen Jianyan’s “disguise” looked quite perfect, even bearing a three or four-tenths resemblance to his previously favored “Wen Wen” appearance, though it was distinctly sharper and more aggressive.
Tall, beautiful, and expressionless.
Jiang Yu crossed her arms.
“Not bad, right? I used to be a stylist in the real world; my skill level is very high.”
Orange Candy “tsk-tsked” twice, mimicking her in crossing her arms, putting on a mature, grown-up look.
“Very good, very good.”
Wen Jianyan: “.” Life was meaningless.
In the “Integrity First” live room barrage:
[…It-it really isn’t bad.]
[I’m used to seeing the anchor use appearance items, I didn’t expect him to actually pull it off in person!]
[Too bad, just thinking of…”
[I’m different, I’m even more excited.]
[?]
[?]
After everything was prepared, the group once again walked towards the dormitory.
The dorm manager, who had personally pulled Wen Jianyan out earlier, sat on the first floor, cracking melon seeds.
“Hello, Auntie,” Orange Candy greeted obediently.
Dorm Manager: “You’re new, which department are you from?”
“Business Management,” Jiang Yu said.
Next, through some very simple conversation, Orange Candy, Jiang Yu, and another girl from the team all easily obtained their in-movie identities.
Suo Suo, Wei Cheng, and other male anchors did not go forward to talk.
Wen Jianyan’s prior experience was still right there as a warning.
Although they couldn’t actively influence the movie’s plot, with Orange Candy and the others, it wasn’t a huge problem.
But if they were denied access to certain scenes because of their identity, the loss would be significant.
Moreover… they glanced at Wen Jianyan at the back of the team, who looked utterly disheartened.
Their own “foundations” weren’t that good.
What if they disguised themselves as a monster and disgusted their livestream fans? What would they do then?
The dorm manager’s gaze lingered on Wen Jianyan for a long time.
Just as his hair stood on end and he started to feel uncomfortable, she finally mercifully withdrew her gaze and let them in.
Wen Jianyan let out a long sigh, his constantly tense shoulders finally relaxing.
Next, the group ascended the stairs.
“What now?” Suo Suo asked.
“A carpet search?”
“Shut up,” Orange Candy suddenly said.
The few of them paused.
Orange Candy pointed ahead.
“Listen.”
At her words, everyone held their breath, listening carefully.
From the empty, dark stairwell, a faint, weeping-like sound could be heard.
The sound was intermittent, eerie, very low, and very soft, inexplicably sending chills down their spines.
“It should be the second floor.”
Orange Candy looked up, seemingly estimating in her mind, and said, “Let’s go.”
Under her lead, the group quickly rushed to the second floor.
Like the first floor, the second floor was also empty.
The faint crying sound became clearer, seemingly coming from the direction of the restroom.
Everyone started running down the hallway.
Soon, they stopped in front of the restroom.
The sobbing was indeed coming from inside the door.
The few of them exchanged glances, about to push the door open, but suddenly, the light bulb overhead flickered twice with a “sizzle.”
The hallway suddenly darkened.
“Don’t go in yet,” Wen Jianyan suddenly said, his expression slightly solemn.
“Be careful, the movie is different from last time.”
Which meant… not only the final act was dangerous.
The movie was adapted from the instance’s past but was definitely not entirely based on real events: otherwise, in the final act of Brave Richard, they wouldn’t have plummeted in sanity from being grabbed by hair.
Orange Candy also understood this.
She withdrew her hand, cautiously taking a step back. But before she could retreat many steps, a “thump” sounded.
The door in front of them shook, as if something had hit it from the inside.
The sound broke the dead silence, making everyone’s hearts jump involuntarily.
“Thump!” Another sound.
The thing was hitting the door, one after another.
But the sound and movement were very light, not like a person, but rather like…
Suddenly, Wen Jianyan seemed to realize something. He slightly held his breath, hugged his skirt to his chest, and then slowly bent down—
Through the crack in the door, he saw a pair of cloudy eyes. Upside down, staring directly at him.
Inside the door, a faint voice spoke.
“Hehehe, I see you.”
