Hell High School (1): Self-guide

The new classmate seemed very shy, glanced at Tan Xiao, but didn’t respond, only lowering his head to look at the desk.

Tan Xiao pondered: It seems the new desk mate is introverted and doesn’t like to talk much.

This period happened to be Ms. Xu’s math class, but as a newly transferred student, Tan Xiao hadn’t received his own uniform and new textbooks yet.

He took the opportunity to ask, “I just arrived in class and don’t have a textbook yet. Can I share one with you during this period?”

The classmate sitting next to Tan Xiao could clearly hear his question and could already imagine the response from seat 14 without thinking.

Right behind seat 14 was a boy with small freckles on his face. The freckled boy looked at Tan Xiao with excitement, already imagining the tragic fate of this transfer student: seat 14 would definitely coldly use puppet strings to strangle the transfer student’s limbs and turn him into a beautiful puppet!

The next moment, Number 14 indeed remained silent, but he quietly pushed the open math textbook over, placing it right in the middle of the two closely arranged desks.

Tan Xiao instantly revealed a dazzling smile that made Small Freckles feel very dazzled: “You’re so nice, thank you.”

No, Small Freckles was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out: He couldn’t be seeing this wrong, could he? Number 14 actually gave up half of the math textbook?!

Because he was sitting at the back, Small Freckles could see Number 14’s earlobes hidden under his black hair even turning from white to red, as if he was shy from the praise of the new student.

The entire Hell High School had always been both fearful and in awe of Number 14, and Small Freckles was no exception. This was the first time he saw Number 14’s face and felt a flush from excitement.

Why was that? Was it just because the transfer student was a bit fairer, a bit taller, and had a more pleasant voice than him?!

Small Freckles couldn’t help but shout in his heart: “Number 14, what’s wrong with you? Number 14, wake up! Don’t be deceived by the outsider’s beauty!”

Tan Xiao didn’t notice the intense emotional fluctuations of the surrounding classmates; all his attention was focused on his new deskmate.

When the new deskmate pushed the textbook over, he saw the other person’s name: Wen Yi. Yi meant peace, which was indeed a nice name.

His mother said that when he was born, instead of crying, he smiled, so she didn’t have high expectations for him. She just hoped he would be healthy and always smile.

Both of them have two-character names, with rare surnames, and their names had similar meanings. Rounded up, their names were basically couple names!

Moreover, they were both in their senior year, both the same gender, and even sat at the same desk. What did this mean? It meant they were a match made in heaven, a gift from the heavens!

However, since it was their first meeting, no matter how much he felt a rush of emotions, he couldn’t be too reckless. Otherwise, not only would he be rude to the other person, but he might also come off as frivolous: it wouldn’t be good if he were mistaken for a playboy with a wandering heart!

Successfully executing his self-strategy, Tan Xiao suppressed his urge to confess and planned to take the slow and steady route to build goodwill. He tore off another piece of scrap paper and wrote a line to the new classmate: “Is your name Wen Yi? That’s a really nice name. Your handwriting is also very beautiful. I’m sure we’ll get along well in the next six months!”

Wen Yi still didn’t say anything, just silently pushed the note back.

Tan Xiao noticed an extra word on the paper, written in elegant handwriting: “Hmm.”

How could his new deskmate be so cute? Tan Xiao felt he liked Wen Yi even more than before!

But if his thoughts were known to the others in the class, they would definitely look at Tan Xiao with eyes saying, “Are you crazy?”

Outside the campus, the sign of Yuying High School was swaying precariously. The golden sign was gradually melting under the sunlight, revealing the three charred words: Hell High School.

The word “hell” evoked images of burning blood and fire, with faintly audible, mournful cries of souls being consumed in the flames.

During the day, everyone had to attend classes and must adhere to high school rules, so they could wear seemingly normal human skins, pretending to be the carefree high school students they once were in life.

The students around Tan Xiao were very lively, possibly NPCs from other school dungeons, after all, there were many ghost schools, but their Hell High School was particularly famous among them.

Small Freckles thought the transfer student was really a crazy person, actually saying that the ruthless 14th was really good.

He didn’t doubt that Tan Xiao was human, after all, the other party was personally brought in by Teacher Xu, with legal procedures for the transfer. This was different from the process for outsiders entering Hell High School.

Moreover, the plot hadn’t started yet, and those outsiders, who were the players, hadn’t entered yet. They still had to wait two more days.

More importantly, Tan Xiao had the aura of a fierce ghost on him. He must be one of them, definitely not a human player!

What Small Freckles sitting in the back seat didn’t see was that a red rope was faintly visible around Tan Xiao’s long swan-like neck. The NPC aura he thought he sensed was actually just the stuff tied with the red rope.

The school did not allow students to wear jewelry, such as rings or bracelets, and flashy headgear was also a violation of school rules and discipline.

However, there was one exception: gifts from elders, whether from grandparents or ancestral heirlooms, things that had been worn since childhood and never taken off were allowed.

Anklets locked on the ankle, jade Buddha or jade Guanyin hung around the neck for peace… as long as they were hidden well, the teacher would pretend not to see.

The red string hanging around Tan Xiao’s neck was obviously a similar token of love.

A simple red string threaded with a talisman was pinned to the chest, over the heart.

While handling the new student’s enrollment procedures, Teacher Xu inadvertently caught a glimpse of what was hanging from the red string: it was completely different from the Buddha statues or amulets she had imagined.

It was a somewhat plain-looking platinum ring, shaped like a Möbius strip, symbolizing infinite cycles and eternal life.

A small ring exuded a dense black aura, like a cold, dangerous snake-like creature, clinging to and entwining the young, vibrant body of the transfer student.

So even though she saw in the student records that Tan Xiao was human, she didn’t dare to have any improper thoughts about the sweet and delicious food.

This was clearly a human marked with a private seal by a higher being, something not meant for a ghost of her level to touch.

Thinking of this, Teacher Xu smiled kindly at the transfer student and picked a relatively simple math problem: “Tan Xiao, what is the answer to this question?”

After all, she was a teacher and needed to understand the actual learning level of the transfer student. A teacher’s preference was to call on good students to answer questions in class.

If a student could not answer the question she posed, according to the rules, they must accept her punishment.

Fortunately, Tan Xiao didn’t feel burdened at all. It had only been a short while since he finished his college entrance exams, and the knowledge was still firmly lodged in his mind, not yet returned to his high school teachers.

“Teacher, the answer is C, square root of 3.”

Ms. Xu’s face broke into a satisfied smile: “Correct, please take a seat.”

With a smile, he wrote a small note to his deskmate: “I’m from City A. My previous school was also a key high school, and my grades are quite good, especially in math. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!”

Don’t be fooled by his words about wanting to date early; for high school students, academic performance always comes first. His brain was quite sharp, but he couldn’t just slack off during regular studies and still expect to easily get into a top university in the country during the college entrance exam.

A good relationship should be about helping each other, learning together, making progress together, and having a brighter and better future, rather than dragging each other down, both sliding into the abyss, and ending up blaming each other, living in a mess.

His deskmate remained quiet, wrote a reply on a small piece of paper, and slid it over: “Okay.”

Tan Xiao instantly perked up: It used to be just a simple hm, but now it was a more thoughtful response. This detail marked a significant step forward in their relationship!

On the first day at the new school, Tan Xiao had already left the old days behind. He adapted particularly well, smiling at everyone he met, and that smile was especially genuine, bright, and infectious, completely different from a soulless fake smile.

As the saying goes, “A boy who loves to laugh won’t have bad luck.” Tan Xiao was already good at his studies and good-looking, and with his pleasant personality, he quickly integrated into the new class within half a day, and it seemed like he was already the popular kid.

However, as time went on, Tan Xiao couldn’t laugh anymore. He looked at Wen Yi with a somewhat melancholic gaze: his deskmate didn’t speak even after class; was he a mute?

The other students in Class 3-8 secretly watched the transfer student: the new student looked super cool and melancholic, almost like a prince!

In the second semester of senior year, the courses that needed to be learned were basically finished, and the next few months were mostly about reviewing and consolidating knowledge, along with various exams, and then constantly going over test papers.

However, there were some differences in the textbook content between the two cities, so Tan Xiao had to pick up those different knowledge points. Having been reborn once, with richer experience and preparation, he couldn’t possibly do worse on the second attempt than the first.

Having drafted a study plan, Tan Xiao intended to focus on both academics and emotions, not letting either side lag behind.

“Dang dang dang dang dang dang dang…”

The beautiful music played, it was the school’s dismissal bell. High school coursework was busy, and time passed particularly quickly, as if in the blink of an eye, day turned to dusk.

Although Tan Xiao was delaying, he still had to leave because he was a day student.

The students of third year Class 8 looked at Tan Xiao with envious eyes: “The transfer student can actually leave the school!”

They had been trapped in Hell High School and couldn’t easily step out of that seemingly simple iron gate. Only when the plot began could the day students leave briefly.

“The car picking up Tan Xiao is a luxury car. It seems that Tan Xiao’s background is really impressive!”

The overly handsome transfer student suddenly gained an air of noble mystery.

As Tan Xiao was about to get into the car, a boy in a blue and white school uniform with a somewhat gloomy demeanor suddenly grabbed his white shirt.

Small Freckles suddenly got excited: Could it be that Number 14 had finally come to his senses and was going to teach the transfer student a lesson?! A rising star and a local tyrant, the new popularity king and the behind-the-scenes boss, who will prevail today?!

But the gloomy little mushroom just stubbornly stared at the transfer student, wrinkling the shirt that had a very nice drape.

Tan Xiao looked puzzled: “What’s wrong?”

Wen Yi moved his lips, his voice hoarse: “Don’t go, don’t go.”

Small Freckles swore in his mind: he even saw the words “pitiful” on the face of Number 14!

Tan Xiao had a thought in his mind: this time it was 4 words, what a great improvement! Also, it turned out the new deskmate wasn’t a little mute!