The player opens his eyes.
Finding himself inside a classroom surrounded by unfamiliar classmates, he looks up and spots the system interface.
[Congratulations to the player for entering the novice level.]
[Novice Task: Eliminate the evil spirit in the infirmary. Countdown: 5 minutes.]
He stands up abruptly, sending his chair crashing to the floor with a loud clatter. His face lights up with extreme delight:
“I finally glitched in!”
The lecture is interrupted, and the classroom instantly falls silent.
Three seconds later, a burst of uproarious laughter erupts.
“What is he talking about? Must be sleepwalking.”
The teacher rolls his textbook into a tube, gives the podium a hard thump, and says with a mixture of exasperation and disappointment: “Mu Li, sit back down right now!”
Hearing this, the player obediently sets his chair back up.
Then, seizing the right moment and aiming straight for the back door, he bolts out.
Charge~
The classmates are completely stunned.
Those sitting near the corridor stretch their necks out, only to catch a glimpse of the boy’s retreating back as he runs off without looking back.
Slipping away halfway through class so brazenly, talk about guts!
But how could Mu Li possibly care?
He pushes open the infirmary door with a sharp click, startling the school doctor.
The school doctor takes off his headphones and asks, “Classmate, is something wrong?”
Mu Li looks around the room, his gaze landing on the anatomical dummy inside the glass cabinet.
Above the dummy’s head floats a glaringly bright health bar, though a large chunk of it is missing.
[Player has discovered an evil spirit.]
Following the prompt tone, a red line slowly materializes, stretching from the deep end of the corridor all the way to the dummy’s forehead, continuously feeding it evil aura. In just a few dozen seconds, the health bar fills up by a quarter.
An unformed evil spirit has an attack power close to zero and poses no danger. It seems this is the novice mob.
However, Mu Li doesn’t let his guard down. Based on past experience, once the countdown ends, the health bar will max out and the monster will enter berserk mode. At the player’s starting level, that would spell certain death.
He steps into the infirmary, opens the glass cabinet, pulls out the anatomical model, hoists it onto his shoulder, and then takes off running.
Turns around and sprints!
The school doctor is completely baffled, the lollipop dropping right out of his mouth.
Recovering a second later, he doesn’t even bother picking up the candy, directly lifting his feet to chase after him:
“Wait!”
Mu Li runs along the red line, searching for its source.
Feeling someone pursuing him from behind, he runs even faster with thump-thump-thump footsteps, nearly shaking the anatomical model apart.
Seeing the student ahead of him keep running and accelerating despite his calls, the school doctor shouts furiously, “Which class are you from? Stop right there!”
This cry echoes through the corridor, instantly waking up the drowsy students, who eagerly stretch their heads out one by one.
Thus, the entire floor witnesses a miraculous sight.
A boy who looks frail and slender is unexpectedly carrying an anatomical model a whole head taller than himself, running wildly down the school building’s corridor.
Chasing closely behind him is a panting school doctor.
One running in front, one chasing in the back, quite a magnificent spectacle.
“Whose student is this? He just robbed the school doctor’s anatomical model!”
“Awesome!”
Mu Li pays no attention to the chatter. The further forward he runs, the more distinct the red line becomes.
Until he reaches the end of the corridor.
Found it.
The other end of the line is connected to three students who look like campus bullies standing around a corner.
Checking the map, oh, three red names!
When Mu Li arrives, these three red names have cornered a stern and proper-looking man. One of them steps forward, brandishing an extremely sharp carving knife, and threatens him:
“The new teaching assistant? The person standing right in front of you is Young Master Su, and you actually dared to propose giving us a disciplinary demerit? Tired of living or what?”
The man addressed as the teaching assistant is dressed impeccably, his shirt buttoned up to the very top, his suit and tie neat and rigid, holding a few books in his right hand.
Hearing the name “Su,” the man’s expression remains as calm as ever, as if it were just an insignificant weed by the roadside. His lips part, and his tone is chilly:
“Fighting and brawling, unrepentant despite repeated admonitions. A single demerit is letting you off too lightly.”
At these words, Young Master Su’s face darkens completely. He snatches the knife from his lackey and lunges straight for the man’s eyes: “Then I’ll cripple you today and see who else dares to give me a demerit.”
Glancing at the map, the teaching assistant has a green name, which means he definitely needs to be saved.
However, Mu Li is a bit too far away to stop it in time. After thinking for one second, he decides to toss the anatomical model on his shoulder.
“Take this!”
The massive model is hurled into the air, tracing a perfect parabola.
A scream rings out:
“Ah!”
It crashes right onto Young Master Su’s hand, causing the carving knife to fly out of his grip. Together with the model, it slams into the wall before dropping to the floor with a series of clink and clang sounds.
The pursuing school doctor witnesses this scene, his expression shifting from anger to shock, and then from shock to heartbreak. He clutches his head and wails: “My model!”
Seeing this, Mu Li turns around, pats the school doctor on the back, and offers solemn comfort: “Please accept my condolences.”
School doctor: “??”
Wait a minute.
Weren’t you the one who threw the model out?
Before the school doctor can recover his wits, Mu Li bypasses the three stunned school bullies and crouches on one knee in the corner.
The moment the carving knife leaves human hands, the evil spirit’s health bar stops rising. Now it’s clear, the other end of the line wasn’t the three bullies at all, but this knife.
The moment Mu Li’s finger touches the tip of the blade, information pops up.
[Carving Knife: An ancient pen that seems capable of devouring evil aura. Note: Never use it to carve eyes.]
At that exact moment, the model suddenly moves!
It picks up the carving knife from the ground and swiftly slashes toward the player’s throat.
Mu Li doesn’t retreat; instead, he steps forward and grabs it bare-handed.
The player’s hand is cut by the sharp knife, blood welling up and coating the blade, flowing along the red line straight to the model’s forehead.
Mu Li calmly watches the health points drop by a notch and activates his skill.
[Damage Reflection]!
At this moment, the unformed evil spirit feels unprecedented danger, roaring as it tries to sever the connection with the knife, but it’s already too late.
Health bar: minus 10, minus 10, minus 10, instantly depleted.
Dead without closing its eyes.
[Player successfully prevented the birth of the evil spirit, completing the novice task.]
[Task rewards: Talisman X1, Attribute +3, Health +30; Equipment item Carving Knife, Attack Power +10.]
Hearing the system prompt, Mu Li flicks his wrist to store the new equipment in his crossbody bag, stands up, and dusts off his clothes: “Job done.”
However, as he turns around, he finds his path blocked by the school bullies.
As it turns out, the player’s build happened to block their view, so the red names didn’t notice the model’s bizarre movements.
The teaching assistant, on the other hand, witnessed the entire scene, yet his expression didn’t flicker in the slightest. He merely gazes at the wound on the player’s hand cut by the knife.
Drops of blood hit the floor, but the young man seems entirely unaware.
A bit of deep contemplation enters the teaching assistant’s eyes.
Clutching his bruised hand, Young Master Su grits his teeth and says viciously: “You orphan who can’t even afford tuition still want to help others? If you don’t kneel and apologize to me right now, I’ll have my lawyer sue you into oblivion!”
With that, he waves his swollen, pig-trotter-like hand right in front of them.
Oh, typical cannon-fodder NPC, still completely oblivious to the situation.
The player instantly loses interest, not even sparing him a glance.
Instead, he shifts his attention to the teaching assistant nearby. He’s been wanting to say this for a while.
Bishie!
Definitely a top-tier bishie!
This character has deep-set features, and beneath his calm, rigid exterior lies a subtle hint of madness. His prominent cheekbones make his knife-sharp angles look even more ferocious.
An invisible wave of oppression washes over him, yet it is neatly concealed beneath a scholarly aura.
Looks good = Important NPC = Attracts monsters = Triggers plot!
A series of equations form in the player’s mind.
Mu Li raises his hand toward the teaching assistant:
“I’m injured, because I saved you.”
And then he adds:
“It hurts a lot.”
While saying it hurts, the young man’s face remains expressionless, without even a frown, as if the injury wasn’t on him at all.
The teaching assistant rubs his thumb, puts down the books in his arms, takes a tissue from his pocket, steps forward to cup the young man’s hand, and gently wipes the edges of the wound.
The wound is deep to the bone, it looks like his tendon was severed. Who knows how the young man managed to endure it without crying out.
As the teaching assistant wipes, his movements suddenly pause.
He watches as the young man’s wound suddenly stops bleeding, the flesh and blood in his palm fusing back together and healing at a visible speed.
The teaching assistant’s fluttering eyelashes press down a bit lower.
Young Master Su has always been arrogant and domineering, but he never expected these two to be even more arrogant than him. Ignoring him completely, they don’t even deign to give him a proper look.
He immediately raises his hand as if to strike: “I’m talking to you, did you hear me?”
The teaching assistant frowns slightly, clearly having exhausted all his patience for this boring bullying routine.
He simply gives that person’s shoulder a light tap, just a completely normal tap.
The very next second, Young Master Su is frozen in place, as if time has stopped. His hand remains raised in the air, but he can no longer bring it down.
Suffering something unknown, his face suddenly turns pale, cold sweat beads on his forehead, his eyes roll back, and he collapses to the ground without warning.
“What is going on?”
The lackeys don’t understand how someone fine a moment ago could suddenly faint, and for a moment, they have no idea what to do.
Only the school doctor reacts quickly, gesturing wildly and screaming: “Hospital, rush him to the hospital!”
Realizing this, they panic, each grabbing a side to carry Young Master Su downstairs. Before leaving, they don’t forget to hurl threats at the two: “You just wait. If anything happens to Young Master Su because he was hit, you’re dead meat.”
The school doctor walks along for a short distance before suddenly turning back. He bends down to drag the model away with great difficulty, and before leaving, shoots them a glare.
In a flash, everyone clears out.
Leaving just the two of them, the corridor falls silent.
Mu Li looks at the teaching assistant who is still meticulously wiping his hand, and speaks up out of nowhere:
“Can I go home with you?”
Go home with him?
The teaching assistant clearly doesn’t understand how the topic shifted to this. He falls silent for a brief second, his tone turning cold: “If I recall correctly, this is our first time meeting.”
Mu Li tugs at the man’s sleeve, struggling to put on a pitiful expression: “But I’m an orphan. Once I turn of age, I can’t stay at the orphanage anymore.”
His face practically screams homeless.
The teaching assistant suddenly grabs the young man by the throat, the temperature in his eyes dropping to freezing point. A dangerous aura radiates from his entire body as he stares into the young man’s eyes and says word by word: “Are you sure?”
“I’m very sure.”
The young man maintains an innocent, bewildered look, blinking his eyes.
Faced with the young man’s moist, round eyes and the infinite anticipation contained within them, the teaching assistant presses his lips together, finally releases his grip, and lowers his gaze:
“If you want to, follow me.”
Without hesitation, he turns around and leaves.
At these words, Mu Li immediately flashes a V sign behind his back.
Beg-baiting success!
The player is about to get a new stronghold.
Ring-ling-ling, the class bell rings right on cue.
Students successively file out of their classrooms, and the campus gradually grows lively.
The two walk one after another through the underground parking garage. Mu Li follows behind the teaching assistant, swaying his head from side to side.
The garage should be dead silent, but just as the teaching assistant unlocks his car, an ethereal melody suddenly rings out.
Floating notes echo through the spacious garage, sounding as if they come from all directions, except that the ending notes occasionally drag and tremble, giving people an inexplicable sense of distortion.
Mu Li follows the sound.
He spots a delicate music box placed on the hood of the car. Standing on top of the box is a dancing figurine holding an umbrella, frozen in a dancing posture and spinning along with the music.
He picks up the card left beside it and reads it aloud:
“Mr. Pei Kanyan, I’m coming to find you tonight.”
The player waves the card around in front of the man: “Teaching assistant, is this for you?”
Pei Kanyan glances sideways at the starry-eyed young man, his expression cold as he says: “No, throw it away.”
“It’s so pretty, why throw it away?”
Whoever made this music box must really love this girl. Even at such a small scale, the strands of hair are clearly visible, the lips are a bright, dripping red, and even the lip lines are carved out.
Yet the girl was left without carved eyes, making the entire music box look like a half-finished product.
Pei Kanyan doesn’t answer. He steps forward, disassembles the music box’s spring mechanism without a word, and tosses it straight into the trash can.
Mu Li stares at the teaching assistant’s actions but doesn’t stop him, because green names don’t hurt players.
The player finally gets into the teaching assistant’s car, sits in the passenger seat, fastens his seatbelt obediently, and suddenly glances at the rearview mirror.
Oh.
Mu Li looks at the pale-skinned woman in the back seat.
Then looks at the teaching assistant’s stern profile.
Silently pulls a talisman from his crossbody bag.