(4/5)
Yuying University
Chapter 465: You have done all kinds of bad things
The darkness in the air, which had been faint and wispy, was gradually deepening, growing thicker bit by bit.
In the classroom with the half-open door, rows of pale, empty faces with blurred features were turned towards the doorway. Even though he couldn’t see the faces of the dead clearly, Wen Jianyan could still feel one thing with certainty—
They were [watching] him.
A hair-raising sensation slithered up his spine like a snake. The wounds on his skin stung with the salt of his sweat.
Run!
The moment this thought appeared, Wen Jianyan was already in motion.
His face pale, he gritted his teeth and stumbled towards the main entrance.
The doors to the teaching building were wide open, with no one guarding them.
Through the dirty, blurry glass, he could see the deathly still campus outside.
The sky outside the corridor windows was also darkening rapidly, as if the entire world was about to be devoured. In this dim light, the originally unchanging scenery seemed to become grotesque, inspiring fear in the heart.
As if he thought of something, Wen Jianyan abruptly stopped in his tracks.
…But run where?
The young man panted from the pain and exhaustion, his dark bangs, now damp with sweat, clinging to his cheeks.
He stared intently at the world outside the door, but his feet didn’t move an inch.
Run back to the cafeteria the way he came?
That would be useless.
From the moment he stepped out of the cafeteria door, he was no longer in the same reality as everyone else.
Even if he left the teaching building, he would still be trapped in this deathly silent world, accompanied by these countless awakening corpses.
The color of the sky outside deepened, and visibility was dropping fast. The entire world seemed to be pulled into a darker, more distant abyss at an unstoppable speed.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, as if making a resolution.
Finally, he gritted his teeth hard, turned, and ran back.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Damn! Why is he going back??]
[Kid, are you afraid of dying or not?!]
The sound of lonely, urgent footsteps echoed in the deathly silent corridor as Wen Jianyan sprinted back the way he came.
His intuition screamed at him to leave quickly, to run as far as he could, but experience told him:
Running was useless.
To survive, he had to break the game.
To break the game, he had to go back.
Soon, the cart, lying crookedly in the middle of the corridor, appeared not far away.
However… the bad news was that although it had been less than a minute since Wen Jianyan had run off, the situation had already begun to slide irrevocably toward the brink of collapse.
Through the open door of the classroom, he could see that the corpses, which had previously been sitting motionless in their seats, were now all standing up, bolt upright behind their desks. A grotesque and chilling “clicking” sound came from within the classroom. Clearly, they were just one step away from moving freely.
Worse still, the same sounds were coming from the classrooms further ahead that Wen Jianyan hadn’t had time to get to…
At this rate, it wouldn’t be more than a few minutes before all the corpses “came alive.”
And in this sealed, terrifying world, Wen Jianyan was the only prey.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Ahhhhhh!]
[Ahhhhhhh run!]
[If you don’t run now, you’re f*cking done for!]
Wen Jianyan was seen taking a single bound, leaping over the cart that lay across the corridor, and rushing straight behind it.
Behind the cart lay a shriveled husk covered in grave soil. The ground was covered in a black, viscous liquid that seemed to have flowed from the flat, sack-like human husk, emitting a sickeningly sweet and foul smell.
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, squatted down, and reached out towards the pile of indescribable things.
The moment his fingertips touched the black liquid, his fingers felt as if they were being pulled in by some invisible force.
His SAN value, which had just calmed down not long ago, suddenly began to fluctuate again, and once again started to drop like a cliff dive.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[?]
[???]
[Damn, he lost almost half in five f*cking seconds. That’s not how you commit suicide, is it??!]
And, what was worse, as Wen Jianyan’s SAN value fell, the corpses in the classroom seemed to have caught his scent. Before, they were just standing still, but now, they actually started to move.
With harsh, strange clicking sounds, one blurry-faced corpse after another walked out from behind their seats, taking stiff steps, one by one, towards the classroom door.
The temperature in the air dropped rapidly. An invisible, terrifying chill spread quickly, and the faint smell of rotting corpses could be detected.
Wen Jianyan’s face was as white as paper, almost no different from a dead person’s. The side effects of his dropping SAN value quickly became apparent. Clarity began to fade from his eyes, leaving only a faint glimmer of light that he held onto with sheer willpower.
But even so, he still didn’t stop what he was doing.
A scalp-numbing, sticky, wet sound was heard as the young man’s once-pale fingers were engulfed by the dark, viscous liquid, searching for something within.
A shadow fell over him from above.
Almost instinctively, Wen Jianyan looked up.
He met a pair of empty eye sockets.
Wen Jianyan felt a wave of dizziness, and his movements paused.
Suddenly, a familiar auditory hallucination sounded in his mind.
“Don’t look.”
Wen Jianyan shuddered and snapped back to his senses.
He got vicious, biting down hard on his lip, drawing blood almost instantly.
The strong taste of iron filled his mouth.
He forced himself to look away, and at the same time, his fingers, buried deep in the black liquid and shriveled husk, seemed to suddenly touch something.
Although he couldn’t see it, Wen Jianyan’s heart leaped.
…This is it.
However, the horde of corpses had already reached him.
Just looking up and meeting their eyes would cause a massive drop in SAN value. If he were touched under these circumstances, it would undoubtedly mean certain death.
What to do?
What to do?
…
Take a gamble.
Wen Jianyan squeezed his eyes shut, then threw himself backwards. He fell back without any defense—using gravity, his hand, which had been deeply embedded in the black liquid, was pulled free.
The next second, the world spun.
His scarred back slammed heavily onto the ground.
The sharp pain, spread across almost his entire back, exploded in his mind. Every nerve in his body screamed, and the momentary impact left his mind a blank slate.
Wen Jianyan’s face was deathly pale. He reflexively cried out in pain, but no sound came from his throat, constricted by the agony, only a silent, trembling gasp for air.
The whole process lasted a few seconds, perhaps dozens of seconds, before this continuous daze began to dissipate.
Wen Jianyan shivered and forced his eyes open a crack.
Endless darkness enveloped his surroundings.
Wen Jianyan’s heart couldn’t help but sink.
Did he fail?
Was he still not out?
No, that wasn’t it.
If he hadn’t left that space yet, he should have already been devoured by the countless corpses that had surrounded him.
Wen Jianyan propped himself up with great effort, fumbled in his pocket for the glasses item Orange Candy had lent him before, and slowly scanned his surroundings.
Other than the darkness enveloping the area, everything had returned to normal. The corpses that had filled the entire corridor and had even closed in on him were nowhere to be seen.
The cart was gone.
The black water and the corpse next to the cart were also gone.
Seeing this, Wen Jianyan finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes and looked at his still tightly clenched hand.
His white, stiff knuckles from excessive force slowly loosened, revealing the dirty, black-blood-and-mud-stained red student council armband within.
As expected, just as he had guessed, the reason he had entered this world was because of the student council member. Therefore, the key to breaking the game also lay within.
This wasn’t the first time he had entered a similar space.
It was during the physical education class in the first school year. Only after getting away from the bright red running track was he able to leave.
And this time, although it was different from the last, and even the student council member who had brought him into this world was already “dead,” then in this situation, how was he to leave this world?
The answer was obvious.
—The red armband.
Clearly, he had guessed correctly.
As Wen Jianyan watched, the polluted, wrinkled red armband in his palm began to gradually dissolve, disappearing bit by bit.
Watching the red armband disappear, he couldn’t help but feel a little regretful.
Wen Jianyan had thought he could get a second one, but apparently, the instance wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen.
But it didn’t matter.
Just being able to leave that space filled with countless corpses was a victory for him.
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, propped himself up against the wall with one hand, and staggered to his feet.
It was pitch black all around, and visibility was pitifully low.
Just as he thought, he was indeed in the corridor of the teaching building. The classroom doors beside him were tightly closed. Through the classroom windows, it was almost impossible to see what was happening inside.
According to the time, it should be afternoon now, which was the time for compulsory classes. It was a known rule that during compulsory classes, the corridors outside the classrooms would be engulfed in darkness.
And he was now in the corridor of the teaching building.
No wonder it was pitch black all around.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Whoa, is the anchor skipping class?]
[Hahahahahaha I guess so.]
[But anyway, only the elective classes have student council members taking attendance. The compulsory classes don’t. All the club members from last year went out to participate in club recruitment during compulsory classes.]
[True. Whether you can skip a compulsory class mainly depends on your ability. As long as you can do it, there’s no punishment mechanism.]
In the deathly silent, dark corridor, Wen Jianyan closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath.
His nerves, which had been tense since the beginning, finally relaxed for a moment.
After resting for two or three minutes, he opened his eyes and began to check the “wounds” on his body.
To say they were wounds wasn’t entirely accurate.
Because the surface of his skin had not been broken in any way, nor was there any blood seeping out. All the red cracks came from under the skin, as if he were cracking from the inside.
Wen Jianyan knew that these were not ordinary “wounds,” but a backlash bestowed by the rules.
He had been in direct contact with the grave soil for too long. The erosion he should have suffered was presented on his body in another way. If he hadn’t taken off that chef’s uniform quickly enough, early enough, he might have been put into that big jar on the cart by now, becoming the new blood mud inside.
Thinking of this, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but shiver.
Although there were no open wounds on the surface of his body, the pain brought by these “injuries” was far greater than any other kind, especially when he moved. It was excruciatingly painful.
Wen Jianyan endured the pain, opened his backpack, and found several healing items to activate—as expected, they were useless.
But he had to try.
Wen Jianyan sighed and bought several painkiller items, swallowing them down.
As the items took effect, the pain in his body gradually dissipated.
After doing all this, he once again used his points to buy a new shirt. As the buttons were done up one by one, the pale skin covered in bright red cracks was gradually hidden. When Wen Jianyan was fully dressed, he looked no different from someone who wasn’t injured.
After finishing all this, Wen Jianyan turned his head to look at his upper right corner.
After this round of crisis, both of his stats had dropped significantly.
His health had dropped to 43, and his SAN value had once again fallen below the 20 mark, becoming 19.
And as the pain subsided, the side effects of his low SAN value, which had been ignored before, began to reappear. Fortunately, Wen Jianyan had experienced worse. It was just some mild auditory and visual hallucinations, which couldn’t affect him too much for the time being.
He let out a long sigh and raised his hand to slick back his sweat-drenched hair.
But at least the crisis was resolved for now, giving Wen Jianyan a chance to breathe.
He took out his phone, thought for a moment, and opened his chat with Hugo.
[How are things on your end?]
Hugo didn’t reply.
Wen Jianyan thought for another moment and edited another message to send:
[Do you need me to come back and help?]
After all, when he left the cafeteria, Hugo was already at his limit from his injuries. Although all the chefs had lost their ability to act and the only student council member had been lured away, the back kitchen was still a dangerous place. Even Wen Jianyan couldn’t be sure that nothing unexpected would happen after he left.
But unexpectedly, just as the message was sent, his phone buzzed.
[Hugo: No need.]
Another buzz.
[Hugo: Don’t come.]
Wen Jianyan: “…”
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[Hahaha ahahahaha!]
[Hugo even replied instantly!!!]
[Hahahaha are you sure you’re going to help? Not planning to continue harming people?]
[Ahhh I’m dying, Hugo: I’m really scared of you, you plague god.]
[It’s over. After this, the guy who was already not very sociable is going to be even more of a loner. Wen Jianyan, you’ve done all the bad things!]
[?]
Wen Jianyan pinched his phone and fell into deep thought.
Something seemed a bit strange.
But forget it.
Since Hugo could reply to him quickly, it meant that there shouldn’t be any major problems over there. He might have already escaped the danger.
Thinking this, Wen Jianyan also gave up the idea of going back to rescue Hugo.
He closed the chat box and looked at his other unread messages.
Su Cheng, Yun Bilan, and Orange Candy had sent him a barrage of messages a few hours ago, asking about his location and status. Unfortunately, at that time, Wen Jianyan was wearing the badge and hiding in the cloth bag, so he didn’t see a single message and didn’t reply.
However, Wen Jianyan wasn’t too worried about this.
After all, as the team leader, Orange Candy could see her teammates’ status. Even if he was briefly out of contact for a while, they would know he wasn’t dead.
Wen Jianyan scrolled down to the most recent message.
It was from Su Cheng, sent about an hour ago.
[The captain is preparing to act according to your plan.]
Plan?
Wen Jianyan was taken aback and immediately remembered the “plan” he had laid out for their next move before leaving the school bus.
After becoming official members of the club, they had to consume one badge every day. Since they weren’t ready to confront the masons so early on (of course, Wen Jianyan himself was later forced into a conflict with the masons… which was something he hadn’t thought of when he made the plan), they didn’t act with the other club members. Instead, they were preparing to “rob” other club members who had already gained something after the elective class ended.
And the weasel was the catalyst for this plan.
“…”
Wen Jianyan frowned slightly.
At the time he made the plan, he hadn’t collected enough information, and the whole thing was relatively crude.
If he followed his usual style… after the elective class ended, he would have formulated a more detailed and thorough strategy based on the information collected by his teammates, to ensure they had the advantage and could obtain the greatest benefit at the smallest cost.
But unfortunately, plans can’t keep up with changes.
It seemed the information was collected, but Wen Jianyan, due to a series of accidents, hadn’t had time to return to the team, and had even disappeared for a long time.
Thinking of this, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.
He opened the group chat and sent a message.
[The crisis on my end is resolved. How about you guys? Where are you now?]
In the darkness, Wen Jianyan’s gaze was fixed on the screen, waiting quietly.
One minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
His phone screen had already turned off automatically, but no one had replied.
Wen Jianyan frowned.
It would be normal if one person didn’t reply, but… for everyone to not reply, and for even Su Cheng and Yun Bilan, who were most concerned about his safety, not to pop up, that was a bit abnormal.
Then, there should only be one possibility.
They had encountered some kind of crisis.
Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on the last message Su Cheng had sent him.
…Is it because of this?
Thinking of this, Wen Jianyan had an idea.
He opened his backpack, took out a rusty bone finger. The moment the bone finger landed in his palm, it automatically started to spin, making a strange “clicking” sound.
In the “Integrity First” live room chat:
[?]
[What’s that? What’s he doing?]
[Oh oh oh, I remember now. At the very beginning of the first school year, he used an item to mark the weasel. As long as he’s alive, he can find his current location.]
[He probably guessed that his teammates are with the weasel now, so he’s preparing to locate the weasel to find his teammates.]
Soon, the withered bone in his palm stopped spinning and pointed straight up.
Wen Jianyan looked up at the ceiling and was slightly stunned.
Wait a minute, so they were actually on this floor?
