Yanyun High School's 40th anniversary celebration. With a wave of the principal's hand, all classes from all grades participated, prepared to leave a lasting memory for all the students and nearby citizens who came to join.
Almost all the students were cheering, as being able to relax for a day in a high-pressure learning environment was too good to be true.
However, the special admissions students had different thoughts. This was because the most troublesome work had been dumped on them.
"I worked my ass off outside of school to pay my tuition just to study at Yanyun High School, so why do I have to work at school too? And without pay!" A certain student with the last name Li complained loudly in the activity area where He Feng's class was located.
Noticing He Feng in a chef's outfit giving him an annoyed look, Li Changhe smacked his lips and said, "Alright, lunchbox. Give me a fried yogurt. This is a hot dog from our class, I'll trade you for it."
He Feng continued to be silent, only scoffing when Li Changhe had walked far away.
Only the rich kids could enjoy the school celebration activities, while the special admissions students had to help out in the activities of their respective classes.
For example, in He Feng's Senior 3 Class 5, their activity was making snacks, so He Feng became the head chef. He'd been sitting at the activity site for most of the day.
He watched as Li Changhe went around to different classes with a large plate of hot dogs, getting food and drinks in exchange.
A subtle change occurred in his state of mind.
"Phew, can't tell who the [Player] is at the moment," Li Changhe wasn't wandering around for no reason.
According to the [forum], sometimes the [Evolution Game] would randomly select outstanding individuals from a certain region or industry to become [Players].
And in Yanyun Middle School, speaking of outstanding guys, the 'ordinary people' should be the first choice. After all, except for having a poor family background, they were almost all outstanding in some way.
But Li Changhe went around in a circle without noticing anyone suspicious. Either he guessed wrong, or their acting skills were too good.
"Forget it, I don't expect to find them so easily anyway," Li Changhe muttered for a while before hiding in the school's art gallery.
In order to finish work early, Li Changhe had made a thousand hot dogs in three hours, which allowed him to switch shifts with someone else. As for the reason, Li Changhe came up with one that was hard to refuse.
"I'm going to walk around with my girlfriend," he said, which left the guy switching shifts with him questioning life, seeming to say that even this moron could have a girlfriend? The class president wouldn't let him live this down. Thankfully, they shared the same last name.
As for whether it would start any rumors or gossip, it wasn't something Li Changhe considered. There was nothing to begin with, anyway...
[5 minutes until task starts]
Li Changhe changed into his disguise in a room in the art gallery. Wearing a Counter-Terrorist Elite costume and a dog head mask. This was something he had from a comic exhibition job and never thought he would use it here.
He checked himself in the mirror to make sure he wouldn't be recognized, then sat contentedly in the corner, waiting for the time to pass.
This room had long been abandoned and was used as a storeroom. According to the [Task]'s explanation, no matter how long time passed in the instance, it would only be an instant in reality. There was no problem.
"After the task is finished, I still have to go see a movie," Li Changhe thought, and there was a flash before his eyes.
[Task begins]
When Li Changhe opened his eyes again, he was in a dark, deserted campus.
If one paid close attention, they could still find some features of Yanyun's old campus, but it had become even more dilapidated.
It was as if time had been pushed back a few decades. Ivy crept up the walls, all the windows were dirty and blocked the view, the surrounding trees were all weirdly grown, and the entrance to the teaching building was like a giant, openmouthed beast waiting for prey.
Black fog enveloped the old campus, which should be the edge of the instance.
Li Changhe found himself at the gate of the old campus, with four other people.
There were five participants in this [Task]!
Each person was scrutinizing the others. The first person Li Changhe noticed was a middle-aged, stout man with a square face, who was also one of the only two people without their faces covered.
His face was stern and angular, exuding a sense of righteousness emanated from him, and he wore a black trenchcoat that accentuated his killer looks.
Although his temperament and face had changed a bit, Li Changhe still recognized him as Yang Dong!
"Great Wall player, Young Taoist Green Moss," he chuckled. showing his [Player Nameplate]
lv7 [Battlefield Fortress. Young Taoist Green Moss]
The title in front of the nickname should be the feature unlocked at lv5.
The second person had their face exposed as well and was also a middle-aged man. But compared to Yang Dong, he had a kind face and a slightly plump body. He wore a large windbreaker that made him seem more honest and amiable.
It was hard to feel hostile towards him.
"You can call me Red Dust," Red Dust looked at Yang Dong and smiled, nodding as a greeting. Yang Dong nodded back. It seemed like [Great Wall] had a good reputation among players. lv6 [Smiling Ghost Buddha. Unseen Red Dust]
The third person was someone wearing full Western-style armor, with a faceplate covering their face. A buzzing sound came from the helmet, "I am a retail player, Earth Knight. Just call me Earth." lv4 [Earth Knight]
Lastly, there was a tall girl wearing a black trench coat similar to Yang Dong's.
However, her hood covered her face, and it was unclear what kind of technology she was using.
Li Changhe used [Eagle Eye] to look at her, but only saw darkness.
Regardless, he didn't need to guess to know who she was. Both her posture and aura let Li Changhe confirm that it was Xiao Nan. He had been watching her for over ten years. He was so familiar it was nauseating.
"Great Wall player, Laughing Gentleman," The girl's voice had been altered to sound somewhat androgynous. lv5 [Demon Baal. Laughing Gentleman]
Li Changhe shuddered, not expecting his childhood friend to be lv5, meaning she must have participated in several [Tasks] already.
And that title carried quite an air of authority.
[Unseen Red Dust]'s pupils shrank, "This... Is this the Demon Armor [Great Wall] obtained in the Solomon storyline? I heard you guys fought fiercely with the Western [Sanctuary] in the storyline. Everyone was guessing how many pieces of Demon Armor you guys got. I didn't expect to see one set so soon."
Yang Dong just smiled and said nothing.
Then, everyone else turned their attention to Li Changhe. Speaking of outfits, this guy was the most unusual.
Li Changhe was wearing a Counter-Terrorist Elite outfit, but with a dog head mask.
He was wearing a serious outfit, but was he a serious person?
Seeing everyone's eyes gathering on him, Li Changhe didn't speak. He pushed a button on the collar of the dog head mask.
"I am the Thunder God Thor, for the glory of the Northern Gods!" The synthesized voice from the mask was laughable.
"Thor my ass!" the others muttered internally. Even Yang Dong was slightly taken aback.
But it wasn't unexpected, as it was normal for a newbie player to be cautious. Plus, this was a range-triggered task.
No one else had any objections. After all, compared to being caught out by someone digging deeper, not letting people find out their face and voice was the best choice. Li Changhe was just hiding his voice as well.
Li Changhe also showed his [Player Nameplate]
lv1 [Uncle Eight-direction]