Hell High School (8): Collecting Remuneration

When he stepped out of the small dark room, he glanced at himself in the camera, and the redness on his face had faded significantly, leaving only a slight blush.

He blinked his eyes, trying to adjust the rippling state of his gaze as much as possible. Only the eyes and expression could change; the ambiguous wound on his lips couldn’t heal instantly.

His lips were swollen and red from being bitten by Wen Yi, and the originally thin lips now looked plump. Moreover, because they were moistened with blood and had been licked, they appeared shiny and glistening, as red as if he had applied bright cherry-colored lip gloss. He really couldn’t face anyone.

This season, the weather was cold, and there wasn’t a single mosquito around. Even if he wanted to blame it on the bugs, he couldn’t. If they walked out like this, anyone with eyes could see something was off.

Tan Xiao couldn’t help but sigh, but to say he regretted it, he didn’t really regret it much. After all, it was his own love life, and they were using their break time, so it didn’t affect their studies.

Fortunately, there were still black cotton masks in his pocket. Tan Xiao rummaged through his pocket and successfully pulled out two. He put one on himself, perfectly covering most of his face.

Another one was handed to Wen Yi, and seeing the other person put it on, he insisted on using his fingers to help comb the hair a bit: “That’s better. If anyone asks, just say you caught a bad cold from me.”

His voice, while joking, was slightly hoarse, but not unpleasant at all. It had a bit more sexiness than his usual clear, youthful tone.

Speaking of voices, he always felt that today Wen Yi’s voice seemed a bit different from usual: “Wen Yi, has your voice improved?”

After school started, Wen Yi’s voice suddenly changed, becoming completely different from that broken gong-like voice. It was now deep, warm, and pleasant, like the crisp sound of jade.

However, for some reason, Tan Xiao didn’t find anything strange about the voice. More accurately, in his mind, this was the voice that Wen Yi should have.

Wen Yi lightly responded, looking somewhat distracted, as if still savoring that soul-stirring kiss: “Hmm.”

Back in the classroom, Tan Xiao was indeed questioned by the teacher during the lesson: “Tan Xiao, why are you suddenly wearing a mask?”

Tan Xiao lowered his voice and repeated the excuse he had given to the other students: “Sorry, teacher, I’m worried I might have a severe cold and don’t want to infect everyone.”

Having a cold and fever was indeed a good excuse, and blushing could be attributed to the fever.

Sitting together in class, wearing masks for contagious diseases was quite normal. Someone as caring as him wouldn’t shamelessly infect others, of course he should take proper precautions.

When he said this, he was indeed a bit guilty. When they were hiding in the small dark room, it was exciting and thrilling, but once he came out and felt the cold wind, he calmed down. His head hung low, not daring to look at the teacher, and his voice was faint and wavering.

The teacher, seeing this, showed no suspicion and said with a concerned expression, “If you’re really not feeling well, go to the school clinic. Your health is important, remember to rest well.”

Tan Xiao nodded, “It’s nothing, teacher, I can hold on.”

During the day, the NPC teachers appeared very normal. Unless their taboos were touched, they looked no different from ordinary humans.

Wearing a mask didn’t really affect attending classes, and this very legitimate reason was understood by both the teacher and classmates.

As for Wen Yi, no one even asked him why he was wearing the same mask as Tan Xiao, as if everyone couldn’t see Wen Yi at all.

During the day on the first day, he indeed couldn’t be seen; everyone even forgot about the existence of the 14th.

Just like how Tan Xiao, upon returning, also forgot about the existence of those five strange classmates.

This person actually didn’t like to meddle in others’ affairs that much. If the other students didn’t make a fuss, he wouldn’t say anything either.

It was probably because these few people looked particularly old. If they were really older and still studying, it showed they were determined. He should show respect to those who love learning, not point fingers at them.

Night Fell, and it got dark, the NPCs’ memories recovered, their combat power rose sharply, and they could also see Wen Yi as a vengeful spirit.

But even if they saw him, you wouldn’t dare to ask: Number 14 wore a mask for a reason.

Small Freckles looked at Tan Xiao, who was wearing the same mask, and then at Wen Yi, who was wearing a black mask.

At night, they would retain the memories of the day, so if outsiders offended them, they would face incredibly brutal revenge at night.

Whether it was the transfer student or No. 14, wearing a black mask somehow made them look cool!

They were already good-looking, but the black mask covering most of their face, revealing only a pair of beautiful eyes, added an inexplicable sense of mystery to their features. Tan Xiao’s eyes, like his name, naturally carried a smile, giving people a very warm feeling.

Wen Yi, however, was just the opposite. His slender eyes should have been gentle, but the pitch-black pupils exuded a chilling cruelty. The mask covered his deceptively weak and pitiful face, enhancing his cold demeanor.

If Small Freckles wore a black mask, would he instantly become a handsome guy? However, Small Freckles dismissed the idea of copying them. If everyone wore the same mask at the same time, it would be called following the trend. If he were the first to do so, Number 14 would definitely see it as a challenge to his authority.

When the sun set, Wen Yi said to Tan Xiao, “I have something to discuss with the teacher, wait for me outside for a moment.”

Tan Xiao nodded and watched Wen Yi enter the classroom office. Five minutes later, Wen Yi came out, looking gently at his lover, “Let’s go, let’s have dinner at the cafeteria.”

The evening was originally the time for the game to torment the players. There was no evening self-study at night; instead, it was the time for the ghost teacher and ghost students to torment the players for fun.

They would use various means to intimidate the players during this time, making them make mistakes and violate school rules, and then punish them.

But Class 8 of the senior year was very different today.

Every student was sitting quietly in their seats, and the teacher wasn’t lecturing. Like a normal high school, evening self-study was just self-study, with the homeroom teacher sitting on the podium, waiting for other students to ask questions.

As for the other students in the class, each of them had a transparent puppet string attached to them. Anyone who tried to leave their seat and do something out of line would be yanked back to their seat by the puppet string.

After a couple more times, the classmates in the class should know what it meant. Everyone spent a quiet, overly normal evening self-study session amidst the sounds of flipping pages and writing.

Speaking of normal, it wasn’t that great either. The students, using their books as cover, each flipped through novels and magazines, and many were secretly playing games on their phones, of course, on silent mode.

If they couldn’t bully the players, then be a bad student who secretly did little mischief! Every evening self-study session, they were forced to cooperate with the ghost teacher’s class. If they couldn’t answer the questions, they faced brutal punishments. These ghost students had it tough too, you know.

It was rare to have a normal, peaceful evening self-study session, and many students showed a strange sense of nostalgia on their faces.

Tan Xiao, because of the kissing incident, was afraid it would affect his studies, so he diligently did exercises and asked Wen Yi for help where he didn’t understand. He resolutely corrected his attitude towards studying, determined not to let romance lead to a decline in his academic performance.

Tackling difficult problems, writing one test paper after another, the achievements from studying were not any less joyful than those from romance in some aspects. He quickly got into the zone, and until the end of evening self-study, Tan Xiao didn’t even notice the presence of others around him.

Xia Yizhen was one of the five players assigned to Class 8 of the senior year. Like Tan Xiao, she almost immediately noticed the presence of the other four players.

She felt particularly unlucky; on the first day of class, she inexplicably received a debuff that reduced all her attributes by 10%.

Fortunately, the boy wearing a black mask, who was exceptionally handsome, went out and then came back, causing the debuff to disappear.

This made her even more convinced that Tan Xiao was an NPC, and perhaps even a boss-level character in this scenario.

The few players who were intimidated, although eager to find clues, inadvertently dared not approach and chat easily.

Xia Yizhen spent a whole day and an evening self-study session in fear, feeling that although she was somewhat lost during the classes today, the danger level didn’t seem too high.

However, perhaps the first day of this survival instance might be a safe day, she didn’t let her guard down because of that.

It wasn’t until after the evening self-study session ended at nine o’clock that she had free time to interact with those who were obviously players, only to find that she seemed to have struck gold!

Only Class 8 of the senior year had a normal evening self-study session! The students from other classes looked as if they had been through a disaster; having injuries was considered being in good condition, and some were missing arms and legs.

Some unfortunate players were even killed directly by monsters due to poor performance!

Compared to other players, she was as lucky as winning a lottery, so was Class 8 of the senior year special? But why?

The reason that kept Class 8 of the senior year calm immediately returned to the student dormitory.

Other couples were forced to meet in small woods or on the playground because neither the boys nor the girls could go to each other’s dormitories.

But Tan Xiao and Wen Yi were different; they were both boys, and there were no other people in the dormitory, so they didn’t have to worry about being reported. The dormitory was the best place for them to meet.

Wen Yi’s blanket was already dry, but he had no intention of going back to 520.

The two entered the dormitory building, and as soon as they entered 521, Tan Xiao locked the door and saw Wen Yi skillfully climb onto his soft and warm bed.

Today, “convincing” the teacher and classmates to maintain the night’s peace took quite a bit of effort for Wen Yi. Controlling puppets was also a painstaking task that consumed a lot of energy.

Although human love should be unconditional, Wen Yi was not human; he was a demon.

Whatever a demon does, it comes at a price, even if he was not asked to do so during casual conversation.

During the day, he could control his emotions well, but at night, he only wanted to do what he deeply desired.

Tonight, Wen Yi was going to collect his reward; he was going to “devour” his lover.