“The Young Miss has already reached the stairwell. Could you all move aside and stop blocking the way?”
“Damn, how dare that bastard Si Cheng touch the Young Miss’s beautiful backpack with his filthy hands? It must be tainted with his stench now.”
“I heard the Young Miss even took nude photos of classmates in the men’s locker room. That’s a violation of the rules…”
“Stop pretending. You’re just jealous it wasn’t you in the photos. Did you hear that from He Ming again? That flirtatious man has been bragging about it for days over such a trivial matter.”
The fourth day was the Ranking exam within the Instance. It was said that passing the exam would grant Guaranteed Admission to Sheng Sonia.
Exam seats were arranged in pairs per desk, available on a first-come, first-served basis, with free seating.
Jiang Yingxiao entered the classroom right on time in the morning, finding only three people already seated. A crowd of classmates jostled each other in the hallway, some trying to sneak a touch of a girl’s hair, only to be shoved aside by those behind.
She glanced around the room. Xie Yingqi was still sitting by the window. Glasses Man, for some reason, was missing a hand and sat gritting his teeth at the back of the classroom, with the Tall and Thin Woman beside him.
The girl blinked slowly and instinctively walked over to sit next to Xie Yingqi.
Si Cheng bent down to hand her backpack to her. Her soft fingertips brushed against his rough hand for a moment, causing the boy to flinch and slowly back away.
The morning light fell on Jiang Yingxiao’s curled lashes, her clear eyes like pools of spring water. Her porcelain skin seemed to glow—a sight never seen in the horror Game.
He turned back to look for a long time.
“Move aside, don’t block the way.” The classmates in the hallway snapped out of their daze one after another, squeezing into the classroom and blocking Si Cheng’s line of sight.
A group of awkward, reckless boys scrambled to claim the seats in front of and behind Jiang Yingxiao, while those who entered later could only watch enviously from a distance.
The teacher arrived a few minutes later, carrying a stack of test papers. “Welcome, everyone, to this Ranking exam. I will be proctoring this exam. Please maintain discipline in the examination hall. Copy if you can, and strive to pass.”
Her smile seemed to overflow as her single eye swept over the seated students below. Her withered fingers rubbed against the low-quality paper as she divided it into stacks according to the number of students.
Jiang Yingxiao lowered her eyelids, reached out to take the distributed test paper, and habitually whispered, “Thank you, teacher,” before setting it aside without touching it.
Upon hearing this, the woman’s gaze lingered on her for two seconds, her smile widening even further. She floated through the room, quickly finishing the distribution.
Glasses Man in the back row pulled out two answer sheets and slapped them onto the desk. Squinting, his eyes glued to the man and woman sitting close together in front, he clenched his right fist into a tight ball.
So what if that pretentious guy could chop off one of his hands? With the Instance’s protection mechanism in place, no one could kill him.
Once he finished answering the questions, he’d clear the Instance, while whether that pretentious guy could survive what came next was another matter entirely.
The Tall and Thin Woman glanced down timidly. “…Could you move the answers a little closer to the middle?”
“Move what?” Glasses Man glared back, covering the papers with his arm. The tip of his pen scratched against the paper with a rustling sound. “Wait until I’m done copying, then you can copy. Useless thing.”
The woman shut her eyes tightly, thinking about leaving the Instance soon, and reluctantly endured it, lowering her head to look at the questions. But as she stared at the test paper in her hands, she suddenly froze.
The central air conditioner in the classroom hummed, lulling everyone into drowsiness.
Jiang Yingxiao huddled at her desk, the gel pen neatly placed beside her hand, its cap still unopened.
Based on her experience watching horror movies, in situations like this, anyone who wrote their name on paper would either end up dead or insane.
Maybe even possessed by a ghost.
The girl’s canine teeth lightly caught her lower lip as she set her small leather shoes on the floor, swinging her feet playfully.
Rather than wondering whether the Recommendation Exam was like the Queen’s poisoned apple—deadly with a single bite—it was better to obediently endure until the seventh day.
At worst, she’d just let that bad dog lick her a couple more times.
She tilted her head drowsily, letting out a soft yawn before resting her head on her arm.
“Is the young miss about to fall asleep? Even her hair smells sweet.”
“So adorable. Even sleeping like that, she looks like a little kitten. Feels like if you called ‘kitty’ now, she’d turn around.”
She wouldn’t turn around, though.
Jiang Yingxiao heard the two boys behind her gossiping but couldn’t muster the energy to even frown. Her eyelids slowly fluttered open and closed, finally growing heavy enough to shut—when a sudden roar erupted from the back row.
She jolted upright, just as the Tall and Thin Woman’s shrill voice pierced her ears: “Kill you, kill you… then I can go back, hahaha…”
The woman had grabbed Glasses Man by the hair and driven the tip of a gel pen through his throat. Gushing blood splattered everywhere.
His eyes bulged, his mouth still instinctively twitching as he mumbled, “…Can’t… instance restrictions… can’t… kill…”
【Remaining Players: 3.】
“Hah,” the woman laughed, stepping onto a stool and raising her test paper overhead like the ultimate victor. “I’ve finished answering. Recommend me, let me out.”
The teacher shuffled over, legs moving awkwardly, a wide grin splitting its face. Its single eye scrutinized the paper intently, bones in its throat rattling excitedly. “Correct, correct. Your answers are flawless. Congratulations on your Guaranteed Admission.”
[What does that mean? I don’t get it.]
[First time watching this instance?]
[The test papers in their hands are tailored to their own desires. Glasses Man wanted to cheat, so his paper was full of questions; that woman wanted to kill her teammates, so her paper required killing.]
[Then why is my wife’s paper completely blank… Is my wife really that free of desires? What are us addicted husbands supposed to do?]
“Why hasn’t it ended yet?” The woman’s laughter died abruptly. Eyes wide, she stood on the stool, surveying the entire classroom.
The students, who usually seemed ordinary, now cowered under their desks in fear. Some even took off their jackets to shield themselves.
Panic seized the woman. “Send me out! I’ve been recommended…”
【Congratulations to Player Hé Yùn for obtaining a Guaranteed admission slot.】
As the System prompt echoed, a withered hand reached toward her under her hopeful gaze. Nails tore through flesh, piercing her heart.
【Congratulations to Player Hé Yùn for being exceptionally admitted as a student of Qinggang University, becoming a permanent NPC in this instance.】
“Ahhh—” One of her arms, drenched in blood, fell to the floor. Then, pink flesh began to grow from within, winding along her blood vessels.
The newly formed limb moved awkwardly, writhing like a mollusk. The spaces between her fingers fused together, and teeth sprouted from her nails.
The woman stopped screaming. Expressionless, she climbed down from the stool and walked step by step out of the classroom, disappearing to who-knows-where.
【Remaining Players: 2.】
Jiang Yingxiao no longer dared to doze off. She raised her head warily, slowly turning toward Xie Yingqi, while the electronic voice of 076 continued echoing in her mind.
[Ordinary NPCs have left the scene. Red-Name NPCs have entered. Final Judgment begins.]
[If only one Player remains alive within 3 days, that Player clears the Instance.]
[If two or more remain alive, they are considered simultaneously dead.]
[Instance Survival Rule Refresh. Current Clearance Count: 0/1.]
[Does this Instance only have one clearance slot?]
[Ahhh, my wife is such a well-behaved little kitten—how could she possibly defeat that bastard Xie Yingqi?]
[Yes, only one. Just came back from next door. Xie Yingqi seems to be here just to farm points. Last time, he got the test paper and lifted the Instance protection in 30 minutes, then slaughtered everyone.]
[Red-Name NPCs are the ones who kill, right? How did my baby end up surrounded on all sides like this?]
The drifting Bullet Comments had already blurred. The girl only felt a chill run down her spine. The man in front of her turned his head, his perpetually icy face miraculously curling into a smile.
It was eerie and terrifying, as if opening his mouth would reveal fangs ready to pierce her throat.
So on the first day, while he appeared to be studying the test paper, he was actually planning to kill everyone.
Jiang Yingxiao desperately suppressed her gradually quickening breaths, pretending to be calm as she tugged on the man’s sleeve. “Haha, there must be another way to clear this, right?”
Her small face was pale with fright, the corners of her eyes unconsciously drooping, two teardrops spilling from the edges. She stubbornly bit her lip, struggling to keep them from falling.
“Besides, we’re good teammates. We both have ‘Ying’ in our names—you wouldn’t bully me, right?”
Xie Yingqi lowered his eyelids, his gaze falling on the girl’s damp, tear-sticky black lashes. He swallowed, his tone indifferent. “Who’s your teammate? I’m your damn opponent.”
[Why is Xie Yingqi scaring my wife? A dog like him isn’t even fit to lick her boots.]
[Baby, don’t waste words on him—run and hide!]
Jiang Yingxiao’s eyes widened. Almost instantly, she let go of his sleeve, pushed the desk away, and ran outside.
She slipped and fell at the doorway, then gritted her teeth, got up despite the pain, and kept running, not daring to look back even once.
The man remained seated where he was, watching the slender figure run into the distance, letting out a breath from his throat.
There wasn’t a single NPC classmate in the hallway—silence reigned.
The girl racked her brains for a plan.
The Dormitory definitely wasn’t safe now, and neither was the classroom. Such obvious places would surely be spotted at a glance.
Screech—screech
The sound of a blade scraping against marble flooring echoed from behind. Jiang Yingxiao couldn’t tell whether it was Xie Yingqi or a Red-Name NPC from the Instance coming to slash her.
Her eyes scanned both sides of the corridor as she pushed each door one by one, but all were locked from the inside, unmoving.
Screech—screech
The sound gradually drew closer. She had reached the end of the hallway, with only one door left. If it was locked, she feared she would meet her end here.
Jiang Yingxiao shoved it with all her might, rushing inside. Her slender, pale elbow pressed against the door as her trembling hands slid the bolt into place.
Her heart pounded wildly. She pressed her ear against the door—heavy footsteps paused right outside.
She couldn’t go out now.
The girl turned around, trembling lashes surveying her surroundings.
White walls surrounded her. On the dark-toned office desk lay an ID badge that read “Discipline Inspection Department Head.” A long blade stood upright on the right side of the desk.
The interior was designed with a semi-partition, featuring a bed for brief rest. At that moment, the bed creaked with the sound of someone turning over.
Someone was inside.
【076, Invisibility Cloak, I want to use the Invisibility Cloak.】
Jiang Yingxiao’s breathing grew unsteady as she slowly crouched down, mentally screaming for the System to save her.
【Item activated. Remaining time Countdown: 29 minutes and 59 seconds.】
She moved under the table to hide, intending to wait for the man to leave before following him out. Unexpectedly, he walked straight toward her.
The handsome-featured man picked up the knife and set it aside, crouching down and closing his eyes to sniff twice. His voice seemed to whisper right beside her ear, “Baby, you smell so good. Did you come here specifically to kiss your husband?”
“It’s just that your husband’s eyesight isn’t too good. I wonder which mouth I’ll be able to kiss.”