(3/5)
Yuying University
Chapter 464: The purpose of “chef”
The air seemed to stagnate.
In the back kitchen filled with steam and blood, the student council member’s gaze fell on Wen Jianyan, as if tangible.
“…”
In that moment, Wen Jianyan’s reason and intuition told him:
…He couldn’t refuse to go.
Before leaving, he glanced back.
The iron door connecting to the downward passage was tightly closed, giving no hint that someone was hiding behind it. The three chefs were lying behind the stove, still showing no signs of activity—however, the chef whose uniform had been stripped off had many dark red cracks appearing on his fat, heavy body, as if he were gradually disintegrating.
Looking at this, it probably wouldn’t threaten Hugo’s life for the time being.
Wen Jianyan withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, braced himself, and slowly walked forward under the student council member’s stare.
“Push it.”
The student council member said.
Wen Jianyan took a step forward and took the cart from him.
Then, they left the back kitchen, and the heavy door slowly closed behind them.
Since it wasn’t opening hours, the lights in the cafeteria were off. Visibility was low, with only a faint glimmer of light leaking from the windows above, barely illuminating the cafeteria’s main hall.
The long tables and chairs were neatly arranged in the darkness, creating an invisible pressure.
The two walked one behind the other down the aisle. In the dark hall, only the sound of wheels rolling and scraping against the ground could be heard.
Wen Jianyan pushed the cart, following closely behind the student council member.
It was a very simple sheet-metal handcart, covered in rust spots. The cloth bag was placed squarely on top, the cabinet door in the middle was locked tight, and the wheels below, in disrepair, let out a monotonous “creak, creak” sound.
As Wen Jianyan walked forward, his brain was spinning rapidly.
Where were they going? What were they going to do?
He didn’t know.
The space for the answer was a blank.
However…
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the cloth bag.
The grave soil, exchanged for human lives from the graveyard, would not be simply placed in an underground warehouse to rot and gather dust.
No matter what, it was meant to be “used.”
The student council member came to a side door, reached out and pushed it open. Wen Jianyan passed through the side door with him and came out of the cafeteria.
But the moment he stepped out of the cafeteria, Wen Jianyan realized something was wrong.
A nameless tremor rose from the soles of his feet and crawled up his spine.
He subconsciously looked up at the sky.
—The sky was red.
An illusion?
No, it wasn’t.
The hair on Wen Jianyan’s body stood on end.
The originally gray, hazy sky was now as if shrouded in a layer of red light, causing the entire campus to be submerged in an ominous bloody color. It was hazy, quiet, grotesque, and utterly terrifying.
But it gave Wen Jianyan a strange sense of familiarity. As for where this familiarity came from, he couldn’t recall for a moment.
“Let’s go.”
Beside him, the student council member urged.
Wen Jianyan snapped out of his daze. He immediately withdrew his gaze, forced himself to remain calm, and pushed the cart in his hands, slowly walking out from the side door.
He lowered his head and flexed his fingers slightly. His palms were clammy with nervous sweat.
Had something happened?
Or had the instance undergone some kind of change during this time?
Countless thoughts swirled in his mind.
The student council member walked in front, unaware of the storm brewing in the mind of the person behind him.
The campus was dead silent. Only the sound of the rolling tires could be heard.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
No, it shouldn’t be some kind of change.
Wen Jianyan pushed the cart, coming to a conclusion in his mind.
The special scene had just ended, and he had just refreshed the instance’s exploration progress. According to Nightmare’s system broadcast, so far, in the [Yuying Comprehensive University] instance, their team still held the record for exploration progress.
Because of this, the possibility of the instance changing was very low.
More importantly…
Wen Jianyan discreetly turned his head and looked around.
It was too quiet.
According to the time, the first class of the afternoon should be starting soon. But on this campus shrouded in a grotesque bloody color, there wasn’t a single person in sight, not even a human voice or the sound of footsteps.
An invisible, dead silence enveloped the entire campus. The only sounds were the footsteps of the student council member in front and the sound of the cart in his hands. It was so quiet it was suffocating.
—It shouldn’t be like this.
In other words, he was not in “reality” in the strict sense, but rather in a state very similar to when he was a “club member” before.
However, he at least knew how to resolve that previous state. As long as he took off the badge, he could return to “reality.” But it was different now. Wen Jianyan didn’t know how he had gotten in, so naturally, he didn’t know how to get out.
Wen Jianyan’s face was full of sorrow as he once again looked down at the cart in his hands.
Great.
Now his hope of slipping away halfway was also shattered.
He could only obediently follow the student council person in front of him.
After leaving the cafeteria, the student council member walked straight ahead, as if he knew his destination very well.
It was extremely quiet all around. The vast campus seemed to contain only the two of them, appearing desolate and deathly still.
Even though Wen Jianyan had already guessed this, he couldn’t help but feel panicked.
But since he had too little information and too few countermeasures right now, he could only diligently continue to push the cart.
Soon, under the guidance of the student council member, the two crossed half the campus and arrived in front of a building.
Wen Jianyan looked up and was slightly taken aback.
This place… was the teaching building.
The low, gray building was submerged in the bloody color, standing silently. The entrance to the teaching building was a black void, like the gaping mouth of an abyss.
Was this their destination?
Before Wen Jianyan could think further, the student council member in front of him continued without stopping, walking straight into the teaching building.
Wen Jianyan looked down at the cart in his hands, then at the stairs in front of him.
“…”
Wait a minute, this damn building doesn’t have a ramp.
But the student council member didn’t seem to intend to help him. He continued walking forward. Seeing the other’s back getting further and further away, Wen Jianyan couldn’t bother with anything else. He had to lift the cart himself and struggle to move it up the stairs.
…Why is this thing so heavy?
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, pulling and dragging, half-pushing and half-carrying, and finally managed to get the cart up.
Not far away, the student council member had stopped at some point and asked from a distance:
“What’s taking so long?”
“Hurry up.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Damn it, why can’t looks kill?
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Ahhhh, I’m dying, finally seeing you get put in your place, kid!]
[Hahahahahaha, you go all out on the anchor, but you’re a yes-man to the NPCs, huh!]
[Wen Jianyan: There’s no one in this world I’m afraid of! (Except ghosts)]
But circumstances were stronger than the man. Wen Jianyan could only swallow all his emotions.
He quickened his pace and caught up with the student council member.
Soon, the two arrived at the back door of a closed classroom.
The student council member reached out, turned the knob, and went in first. Wen Jianyan followed him in.
The moment he looked up, Wen Jianyan froze.
To his surprise, the classroom was full. There wasn’t a single empty seat.
How could this be?
Was his initial thought wrong?
Were they actually in “reality” right now?
No, that’s not right.
Wen Jianyan stared at the full classroom in front of him, and a sudden chill shot up his back.
Although it seemed like a “class” was in session, there was no teacher at the podium. Each student was sitting properly in their seat, but if one looked closely, they were sitting bolt upright, motionless. An invisible, cold aura emanated from their bodies.
These weren’t students.
They were dead people.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on Wen Jianyan’s skin.
The moment he realized this, fragmented, chaotic memories surfaced in his mind.
In the dark, lightless lecture hall.
Every seat was filled. Countless stiff figures sat with their backs to him, straight as corpses, motionless under the shroud of darkness.
Suddenly, without warning, they all moved in unison.
As if a switch had been flipped, the figures slowly turned their heads—
Pale, blurry faces turned directly towards him, as if they were [looking] at him. The moment he was caught by that gaze, all the danger-sensing nerves in his body screamed in alarm, and his SAN value plummeted like a cliff dive.
The world spun, his head swam.
“…What are you still waiting for?” A cold voice suddenly came from not far away.
Wen Jianyan shuddered and whipped his head around.
The student council member was standing a short distance behind him. His pale, flat face was expressionless. His two black-hole-like eyes stared straight at him, carrying a non-human sense of terror. He didn’t say anything more, but the scrutiny in his eyes was blood-chilling.
Wen Jianyan’s heart skipped a beat.
Although the other person said nothing, based on his rich experience of tricking people in instances, the other party seemed to have become suspicious of him.
He had to dispel this suspicion immediately, otherwise, in this bloody space filled with countless ghosts…
His situation would become very dire.
But how?
Wen Jianyan’s palms sweated with nervousness.
He knew nothing about the “chef’s” work and was completely clueless about this so-called “route” that had now opened. He didn’t know the student council member’s motives, nor did he understand the mechanism behind it. For him, it was like being completely in the dark.
So how should he proceed?
“…”
Wen Jianyan’s brain spun at high speed, almost able to see the sparks of his thoughts.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[…It’s over.]
[Indeed, it’s over.]
[If you ask me, he should have just confronted the student council member directly back at the cafeteria. It would have been a bit dangerous, but at least he wouldn’t be trapped in such a lion’s den.]
[True. Sigh, that’s how Nightmare is. The more you try to avoid danger, the faster it finds you.]
[But the anchor isn’t completely at a dead end. He is still an anchor, after all. Even though he’s facing a room full of ghosts, he at least still has his items and talents in hand. It all depends on how he counter-attacks now…]
While the comments were in a heated discussion, Wen Jianyan was seen slowly turning around to face the cart.
Then, he reached for the cloth bag, untied the opening, and put his hand inside.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[?]
[??]
The student council member stood not far away, watching him silently.
Wen Jianyan pulled his hand out of the bag. His pale fingers were already clutching a handful of soil.
The next second, the young man took a step forward, raised his hand, and the fine grave soil trickled from between his fingers, falling onto the countless corpses in the seats.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[????]
[No?? Wait?? What’s happening?]
The student council member’s gaze lingered on Wen Jianyan for a long time. Finally, he looked away.
“Continue.”
Wen Jianyan, his back to him, was already drenched in cold sweat.
He gritted his teeth and silently, stealthily let out a breath.
…He had gambled correctly.
In that life-or-death moment, he had a sudden flash of inspiration. Many clues he hadn’t noticed before surfaced.
First, these “corpses” must have been here all along.
They might be the college students who died here when the instance was first born, or they might be the anchors who entered this instance and never made it out alive… or perhaps both.
So, how were they suppressed in place, never having moved?
—Grave soil.
More importantly, this instance also had a “forced sleep” mechanism. In all the compulsory classes, all anchors sitting in their seats would fall asleep the moment the bell rang.
A very familiar mechanism, isn’t it?
It was just like those vengeful ghosts suppressed under seven feet of earth.
Finally, unlike the other NPCs in the instance, the “Chef” NPC was able to directly touch the grave soil without being suppressed—he had seen it with his own eyes in the back kitchen before, the chef was using grave soil and blood mud to knead dough.
Since the “corpses” in the classroom needed grave soil to be suppressed, and the student council member needed to bring a chef to complete the “utilization of the grave soil,” then what he needed to do was obvious.
The fragmented and messy information linked together in his mind, finally becoming unbreakable.
So, Wen Jianyan decided to take a gamble.
He opened the bag, took out the grave soil, and sprinkled it on the corpses.
—And from the looks of it now, he seemed to have succeeded.
Wen Jianyan looked down at the “corpse” in front of him.
It sat bolt upright, its face pale and blurry, seemingly staring straight ahead. As the yellowish-brown grave soil slowly fell, the corpse’s eyes closed bit by bit.
Although this classroom full of dead people made no unusual movements, Wen Jianyan still had lingering fears.
At the end of the last school year, his SAN value had dropped far too low, even approaching 0.
Because of this, after his SAN value recovered, the memories from his low-SAN state had also disintegrated along with it.
Wen Jianyan knew what he had done, knew he had seen some terrifying things, and also remembered every decision he had made.
But as for what those terrifying things were, he had no impression at all.
It was like a nightmare.
After being filtered by his awakened brain, only some incomplete images and impressions remained.
Wen Jianyan had the impression that the scene of the dead people turning their heads in unison should be what he saw before the Moral Education class ended, just as he was about to leave the lecture hall—but since the entire related segment was very blurry, it was filled with malicious illusions.
But, because his SAN value was too low at the time, Wen Jianyan wasn’t sure if it was an illusion or not.
And now, this room full of dead people was the most solid proof.
What he had seen in the classroom before was real.
Looking at the corpses in front of him, Wen Jianyan suddenly shivered.
He recalled that every time they sat in their seats or lay in their beds, they would feel an inexplicable chill, as if an endless coldness was seeping in from under the chairs and bed boards.
Could it be…
because of this?
The thought of unknowingly sitting and lying on top of corpses made Wen Jianyan’s scalp tingle, and his whole being felt unwell.
Fck…*
If you looked at it this way, wasn’t this entire [Yuying Comprehensive University] filled with corpses?
It was just that these corpses were temporarily unable to move under the suppression of the grave soil.
Not to mention, this was a progress-inheritance type of instance.
In other words, as time went on, the number of corpses here would only increase.
This was perhaps the reason why the instance needed to obtain grave soil from the desolate graves.
But…
What did this instance need so many corpses for?
Wen Jianyan forced himself to pull his thoughts away from these deeper, more distant questions.
Now was not the time to think about this.
He had a more urgent crisis to deal with in front of him.
Soon, Wen Jianyan had sprinkled the grave soil throughout the entire classroom, and the grave soil in the cloth bag had only gone down a little.
Student council member: “Finished?”
Wen Jianyan nodded, cautiously not saying anything else.
“Continue.”
After speaking, the student council member turned and walked out.
Next, following the exact same process, the two went from classroom to classroom, sprinkling soil.
Later, the student council member didn’t even need to enter the classroom. He just needed to open the classroom door for Wen Jianyan and wait in the hallway.
Wen Jianyan worked diligently. As time went on, the cloth bag of grave soil gradually deflated.
Creak.
Another door was opened.
Wen Jianyan, head down, pushed the cart inside.
This time, the student council member still waited outside the door.
Wen Jianyan opened the cloth bag on the cart and glanced inside.
There wasn’t much grave soil left in the bag, probably only enough to sprinkle two or three more classrooms.
In other words, his work here was nearing its end.
And the student council…
Wen Jianyan turned his head and glanced at the door.
The student council member was still standing outside the door, seemingly not suspicious of his previous performance.
Seeing this, Wen Jianyan sighed in relief. His constantly tense nerves finally relaxed a little.
He reached into the cloth bag and grabbed a handful of soil.
As Wen Jianyan walked towards the classroom filled with corpses, he glanced at the values in his upper right corner—since leaving the back kitchen, his health and SAN values had not changed.
Even during this period of disguising himself as a chef, where he had frequent contact with the grave soil, his SAN value showed no sign of dropping.
Speaking of which, this chef identity was really something else.
Wen Jianyan thought.
You had to know, this grave soil was not some ordinary thing.
Just by coming into contact with it, a person’s body and mind would be eroded by it. Even a proper vengeful ghost would uncontrollably fall into a deep sleep when firmly suppressed under seven feet of grave soil. And the [Chef] in this instance could actually handle the grave soil with his bare hands without suffering any damage. This was simply too terrifying—
Wen Jianyan’s steps came to a sudden halt.
Wait a minute.
That’s not right.
Wen Jianyan seemed to have suddenly remembered something and stood rooted to the spot.
Was it really like that?
An existence that even Nightmare itself didn’t dare to approach, grave soil that even this instance had to go to great lengths to obtain—could it be so easily overcome by a random NPC identity in the instance?
Or was it?
In that instant, some previously ignored details surfaced one after another.
If he remembered correctly, right after he crawled out of the bag and met up with Hugo, he heard the exact same sound of wheels. Although that figure was blurry, it was not a chef. After all, the chefs were all tall and stout and could be easily identified.
In other words, the one who went in before should have been the student council member pushing the cart.
And the student council member should have no resistance to the grave soil.
That is to say, when he left, he should have also taken a chef with him.
But…
During the time Wen Jianyan was in the back kitchen, he had not seen this chef return. Even this student council member pushing the cart came back alone.
Why?
Wen Jianyan shivered.
He seemed to have thought of something. He turned his head and looked at the cart behind him.
A chill rose from the soles of his feet.
As if he had thought of something, Wen Jianyan darted forward, bent down in front of the cart, and skillfully began to pick the lock. With a nimble twist, turn, and flick of his fingers, a soft “click” was heard. The already simple lock on the cart was picked and slowly swung open.
The metal walls inside the cart were corroded beyond recognition, so mottled that their original color was almost impossible to make out. Inside the cabinet was a large urn. Wen Jianyan mustered his courage and lifted the lid of the urn—
A thick, rotten, and bloody smell assaulted him.
Wen Jianyan covered his mouth and nose and looked closely.
The urn was not full. It was filled with dark red, viscous blood clots, looking exactly like the stuff the chefs used to knead dough before.
However…
Wen Jianyan endured the nausea and used his fingertip to pick up a piece of cloth from the urn’s opening.
The cloth was now stained dark red with blood clots and was still dripping blood, but one could still vaguely recognize that it should be the style of a chef’s uniform.
A wave of revulsion washed over Wen Jianyan. He let go, and the clothes fell back into the urn with a dull “plop.”
Now he knew at least three things.
First, what the blood mud for kneading dough was.
Second, where the chef who had left the back kitchen with the student council member had gone.
And third…
why this stupid cart was so heavy.
*
Five minutes later.
With the creaking of wheels, the back door of the classroom opened, and the young man in the white chef’s uniform pushed the cart out of the classroom.
“Finished? Cont—”
The moment the student council member turned his head, in the next second, Wen Jianyan suddenly raised his hand and grabbed the cloth bag.
The yellowish-brown grave soil was instantly and unreservedly poured onto him.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!”
A sharp, grotesque scream came from under the student council member’s dirt-covered face.
Behind the cart, the young man silently raised his eyes.
Just like before, his expression was still calm and docile, like a tool without a will of its own, without a hint of resistance.
Because of this, the sudden attack now seemed so abrupt.
—Without warning, and without hesitation.
But the moment he bared his fangs, it was a fatal blow.
The student council member began to stagger back, raising his hands to try and wipe the grave soil off his face, but Wen Jianyan gave him no such chance.
He propped one hand on top of the cart, vaulted nimbly over it with a side flip.
The chipped kitchen knife appeared in Wen Jianyan’s lowered palm. He weighed it in his hand and suddenly smiled.
That face, which had been overly calm before, suddenly became vivid. But beneath that gentle, brilliant smile, there was a sharpness that seemed capable of cutting a person.
“What a coincidence.”
Wen Jianyan lifted his eyelids, and a reflection of blood light silently appeared in his light-colored eyes.
He said with a smile:
“Just the thing to test my knife.”
The chipped blade pressed against the student council member’s neck and then pushed down hard. With a “squelch,” the sound of bone and flesh tearing was heard. Black liquid spurted out from below, and the skin began to shrivel at a visible rate.
The viewers in the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Hiss!]
[Holy crap…]
[So violent!]
But even with its neck severed, the other party still didn’t stop moving.
Black blood landed on the back of his hand, and a cold sensation spread. Wen Jianyan was shocked and glanced at the upper right corner—his SAN value was starting to drop.
This seemed to be an opportunity.
The black liquid that had flowed out began to slowly flow back. Beneath the face covered in grave soil, an eyeball rotated viciously, staring deadly at Wen Jianyan in front of him, as if wanting to flay him and pull out his bones.
It was clear that although they were both from the same instance, the level of terror of this kitchen knife was still no match for an official student council member.
So what was it afraid of?
Thoughts spun in his mind, and Wen Jianyan seemed to suddenly understand something.
—Why could a mere handful of grave soil have such an effect?
—Why did the student council member never follow him into the classroom afterward?
Wen Jianyan pressed down on the knife with one hand, while his other hand reached for the cloth bag on the cart. This time, he unsparingly grabbed all the remaining grave soil.
Then, he pinched the student council member’s chin, forcing his mouth open.
“Say ‘ah’ for me—”
Dark red blood splattered on his fair cheek. Paired with the smile at the corner of his mouth, he looked incomparably ferocious.
The next second, Wen Jianyan applied force with his palm and viciously stuffed all the grave soil into the student council member’s mouth.
“Eat it!”
The grave soil fell into his mouth and into the gash on his neck. The suppressing effect seemed to finally manifest.
The student council member’s arms and legs twitched a few times and finally stopped struggling.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[…]
[…F*ck me, that sent a chill down my spine. You’re too ruthless, kid.]
[A ruthless man with a lot to say, huh?]
[Brother Wen is awesome! (voice crack)]
Wen Jianyan panted, stumbling to his feet. He was covered in black blood and grave soil, looking like a total mess.
…This should be enough this time.
He looked down at the “student council” on the ground.
Whether it was the effect of the kitchen knife or the grave soil, or both, the other party’s skin still shriveled up bit by bit, as if all moisture had been absorbed.
It was exactly the same as the club member who had been “eaten” by the student council member in the administration building before.
Wen Jianyan leaned against the wall, forced himself to calm down, then looked down, pulled open the collar of his chef’s uniform, and glanced inside.
As expected.
He closed his eyes, as if having made a decision. Gritting his teeth, he reached out and unbuttoned his shirt.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[?]
[???]
[He’s stripping right here? He’s really not treating us like outsiders, huh?]
[No, wait a minute. Look, something’s not right…]
What seemed to be simple cloth, the moment it was peeled off, made a “rip” sound as if flesh was being torn.
“…Ugh!”
Wen Jianyan staggered, as if enduring some intense pain. His pale fingers trembled slightly, but he continued to apply force, forcibly tearing the white cloth from his shoulder.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Huh? What is this…]
[Holy crap, the chef’s uniform has grown onto his body…]
[My god, my scalp is tingling just watching.]
[Damn, no wonder the chef identity is so OP, being able to withstand the suppression of the grave soil. It’s a completely disposable item, and a one-time deal at that. If you don’t take off the chef’s uniform quickly, you’ll be stuck with it forever. This is f*cking sinister.]
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, his trembling hand suddenly applied force, and a tragic cry of pain burst from his throat.
“Ahhhh!”
The chef’s uniform was peeled off his body. Wen Jianyan’s upper body was now bare.
He propped himself up against the wall, his skin covered in cold sweat, breathing deeply and shakily.
On his toned human torso, dark red, cracked patterns had appeared at some point, like a porcelain vessel cracking from the inside, a truly shocking sight.
But at least he was finally rid of that chef’s uniform.
Wen Jianyan slid down bit by bit and sat on the floor, struggling to breathe.
Because of the pain, he didn’t even dare to lean against the wall. He could only keep his back straight, preventing the skin on his upper body from touching anything.
He raised his hand, brushed back his sweat-drenched bangs, and began to continue his previous train of thought.
Since the corpses he saw before were not illusions, then what he saw in the lecture hall before seeing the corpses…
Was it also not an illusion?
Wen Jianyan remembered seeing a blood-red, writhing tube of flesh hanging down from the dark sky, tightly connected to the student council member’s body… and the student council members and club members were all the same, seemingly a skin bag filled with liquid.
So they were all actually connected to invisible tubes of flesh? And where did these tubes lead?
Before Wen Jianyan could figure it out, he suddenly felt a strange chill, as if he were being watched by someone.
…What’s going on?
Wen Jianyan froze and subconsciously looked up in the direction of the gaze.
The classroom door was ajar. Through it, he could vaguely see the neat rows of desks and chairs inside, with countless cold shadows sitting behind them.
At some point, those pale, blurry faces had changed direction and were looking straight over here!
Cold sweat broke out on Wen Jianyan’s back, making the wounds sting with pain.
In that instant, he immediately understood the reason for all this.
To deal with the student council member, he had not followed his original plan to sprinkle grave soil in this classroom. Instead, he had saved the grave soil to deal with the student council member. Because of this, these “corpses” had not been suppressed.
It was fine when he was wearing the chef’s uniform before, but once he took it off and returned to his human identity, the danger arrived.
Wen Jianyan heard a “buzzing” in his ears. All his nerves were screaming warnings. The originally faint bloody color around him seemed to grow thicker. He gritted his teeth, a clear thought emerging in his mind:
He had to leave immediately!
