Hell High School (15): A big gift

The dungeon had progressed to the sixth day, and the NPCs at Hell High School had shown even more aggression. They seemed to be able to distinguish between their own and the players, and they even set traps to lure players into revealing their identities.

The rule that players could not be discovered actually meant that they needed to coordinate their words and actions with these ghostly students.

If a player was really exposed, they wouln’t die; they would just be attacked by the ghosts.

In theory, if a player was strong enough, they could fight back against the ghosts and not have to worry about their safety.

But at this stage, the players had only participated in one game. Neither their talents nor the skills they had acquired had been developed yet. How could they possibly have the strength to remain unscathed in the face of a beating?

As Dong Hu said, the God Game was definitely not a game where you could just casually ride along to gain some benefits. As the time to clear the game approached, the danger level would increase.

If they managed to survive until the last day, it might just turn into a grand escape where the entire school staff and students turned against each other.

The studying during the day and the storyline checkpoints at night had left the players extremely exhausted.

As a lucky player, Xia Yizhen had a thrilling but safe experience, successfully collecting six legendary storylines without any serious injuries.

The system still showed the mission as incomplete, which meant she had to collect all seven legendary storylines.

However, after several consecutive days of dealing with ghost stories, her body was clearly reaching its limit.

There were no breaks during the evening self-study sessions in her senior year, and at night she had to outsmart and outfight ghost NPCs, which consumed a lot of her physical strength. During the day, she still had to study, and even her ironclad body couldn’t withstand it anymore.

Starting from this morning’s self-study session, Xia Yizhen couldn’t help but doze off, seizing every break between classes. However, looking at the morning schedule was inevitably despairing: two math classes, one chemistry class, and one physics class.

Next to Class 8 of the third year, which was Donghu, was Class 7 of the third year, the best liberal arts class. Class 8 of the third year was the top science class and also the best in science.

The content of the liberal arts subjects was manageable; even copying answers could earn points. But for math, physics, chemistry, and biology, if you didn’t understand, you just didn’t.

She glanced at Tan Xiao. No matter if he was an NPC or not, he handled those numbers with ease and was still liked and welcomed by the teacher. It really made her envious.

But after the artificial lake incident, Tan Xiao didn’t pay her any attention, and Xia Yizhen didn’t dare to interact with him anymore.

Especially in the past two days, every time she tried to get close to Tan Xiao, she felt a chill run down her spine, a bone-chilling sense of crisis.

Forget it, no more thinking about Tan Xiao. Xia Yizhen withdrew her gaze and tried hard to stack the books high, attempting to block the teacher’s line of sight from the podium.

Previously, she relied on pinching her thigh hard to counteract the drowsiness from the mosquito coil, but yesterday she was really too tired, and she was injured, which made her feel even more groggy.

After enduring through math class and chemistry class, by the time the fourth period physics class came around, Xia Yi really couldn’t hold on any longer.

Slowly, she went from keeping both eyes open to opening one eye and closing the other, then to not being able to open either eye, her head drooping little by little, and eventually, she couldn’t hold on any longer and rested her head on the desk.

“Thud.”

This sound startled the other people in the classroom, and because he was so close, his gaze immediately turned towards it.

Xia Yizhen really bumped her forehead heavily against the cold, hard desk, and she suddenly woke up from her dream.

However, unlike what other players said, she didn’t suffer an attack from the teacher’s chalk. Instead, she received concern from the physics teacher: “Are you feeling unwell? If you’re not feeling well, you should go to the school clinic.”

Huh? When Xia Yizhen heard this, she thought she was dreaming. How could the teachers at Hell High School be so gentle and kind?

She cautiously echoed the physics teacher’s words, “I’m feeling a bit unwell; I think I might have a fever.”

Being sick and uncomfortable was always better than deliberately dozing off in class.

Xia Yizhen really didn’t want to go to the school infirmary alone. Although there were no ghost stories about that place, what if? The school doctor sounded like a very dangerous presence in the scenario.

She acted very much like a diligent student, “It’s okay, teacher, I can hold on. Just lying down for a bit will be fine.”

A physics class passed by easily and safely, and Xia Yizhen never expected that for the players, the classroom they originally found most dangerous had instead become the only place where they could rest.

After school at noon, Xia Yizhen rejoined the group of players and tentatively inquired about the situation in other classes.

Fortunately, Class 8 of Year 3 was not an exception. The classrooms during the day were much safer than at night, and there were no fake breaks even during evening self-study sessions. The third year was better than the other two years, especially on their floor. Each class was very quiet, with only the sound of the teacher’s lectures, the rustling of exam papers, and the sound of pen writing.

This was because Tan Xiao’s activity area during class time was basically this floor.

The third-year building didn’t need to go to the public restrooms like the first-year did. Each floor had its own restroom, and the break time was only 10 minutes. Moreover, the stairway doors were locked.

Wen Yi didn’t want to disrupt the peaceful campus life he shared with Tan Xiao, so during class, regardless of the situation outside, the classroom of Class 8 in the third year remained unchanged from the first day.

Even the classrooms near Class 8 in the third year were very quiet. After all, they were separated by just a wall, and the soundproofing wasn’t very good. If the commotion in the neighboring class was too loud, Tan Xiao would definitely notice something was off.

The troublemakers in the senior year who used to cause chaos had all been obediently confined to their seats by invisible puppet strings. With Wen Yi suppressing Class 8 of the senior year, the class could remain peaceful and calm day and night as long as there was Tan Xiao.

Monsters that prioritize strength and adhere to the dark jungle law have a strong sense of territory.

If it was just a suspicion before, now Dong Hu had confirmed that the missing number 14was indeed in Class 8 of the senior year.

“Xia Yizhen, Li Hong, Wang Xiaoni… you three are students of Class 8, Senior Year, right? There’s a seating chart on the wall. The student ranked 14th in your class is named Meng Zihe. Have you observed Meng Zihe these past few days? Has he shown any abnormalities?”

A few players shook their heads, “No.”

During the day, Dong Hu was also busy gathering information, but the students and teachers in this school had always been tight-lipped about the Seventh Great Legend. Even when they were at a disadvantage, they refused to reveal who was ranked 14th.

Players were just outsiders. If they fell into the players’ hands, they would at most be temporarily tortured. If they betrayed No. 14, they would be tortured repeatedly.

Moreover, No. 14 had eyes everywhere in the school; the other party could see everything happening in every corner. Once they spoke, they would “die” on the spot.

Xia Yizhen said, “I don’t think Meng Zihe is No. 14.”

Every word spoken during the players’ discussions, every subtle expression on their faces, was transmitted to Wen Yi’s ears and eyes through the inconspicuous surveillance cameras in the school, the spiders on the ceiling, and even the sound of the wind.

These past few days, he hadn’t taken any action against these players; he just wanted to know what they were doing.

Wen Yi looked at his lover, who didn’t seem like a player at all. He looked like a high school student who had wandered in here, studying earnestly every day, looking forward to the bright future he often described.

Was it because of his own reasons that Tan Xiao gave up on these things?

As the core of the instance, the extremely special NPC in the game, Wen Yi knew that players might have some tasks, and their performance determined the completion of the tasks.

The tasks in Hell High School obviously could not be about studying hard and graduating successfully; they were about checking off the seven major legends of the campus.

Wen Yi heard the players say, “It’s already the sixth day. If we endure for four more days, we can leave. Should we keep clocking in? Or should we just give up?”

There were four more days left. According to the analysis by that guy named Dong Hu, this group of players would soon find themselves in trouble.

Even though Wen Yi was the most important NPC, he still had to follow the rules within certain limits. If the players found him, he couldn’t forcibly hide himself.

Wen Yi entered the principal’s office once again. As a special NPC, he couldn’t avoid it. Just like a BOSS that gets enraged and can go berserk early, he too could advance the progress. This was a privilege granted to him by the game.

Rather than letting other players farm him, Wen Yi preferred to take the initiative.

Through the office window, he looked at Class 8 of the senior year, where Tan Xiao was quietly doing homework.

A diligent student who loved life, Tan Xiao deserved to be rewarded. If they were destined to part ways, Wen Yi was determined to give Tan Xiao a grand gift.

He wanted to make Tan Xiao remember him deeply, so that he would never forget him.