Chapter 95: Death Class 7 (Part 19)

Xiao Muyu’s face went blank. Her gaze involuntarily averted, and her throat bobbed a few times.

If Shen Qingqiu wasn’t covered in wounds, Xiao Muyu felt she definitely would’ve slapped her.

Fortunately, they could now use item cards. Xiao Muyu tore off some gauze, wet it, and applied it to Shen Qingqiu’s back to cool it down. Luckily, it was only first-degree burns. Her back was really red, but there were no blisters.

“Tough, huh.” Xiao Muyu couldn’t help but mutter as she treated her. “You’re all delicate.”

Despite Shen Qingqiu’s incredible tolerance, she did have delicate skin. The slightest bit of force would leave a mark.

Shen Qingqiu had gotten many injuries, both serious and minor, since entering the instance. Moreover, she was probably quite the rebel in the past, as she had plenty of scars. Xiao Muyu felt a heaviness in her heart upon seeing them.

“So you need to pamper me more,” countered Shen Qingqiu. “Don’t be so harsh with me.”

Xiao Muyu sighed. “I wouldn’t be so harsh if your mouth wasn’t so irritating.”

Shen Qingqiu got dressed once everything was taken care of. As she was about to leave, she glanced back at the toilet door and stopped.

“What’s that?”

Xiao Muyu swept her gaze over and noticed the dark red stains. She leaned in for a closer look and murmured, “Looks like bloodstains.”

There were streaks and spots, as if caused by scratching or impact.

“It’s not just bloodstains, there are faint footprints as well,” Xiao Muyu added. A toilet door made of this particular material was difficult to clean. Some of the footprints could be wiped off, but the heavier marks remained. These footprints were dense, and the door had deformed slightly. It looked like someone had kicked it repeatedly in a panic.

Xiao Muyu appeared solemn. She could almost picture how desperate the person trapped inside must have been, how frantically they had tried to escape.

Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian came over and saw the marks as well. Their faces filled with sympathy.

“Our goal in clearing these instances is just to survive…” Su Jin quietly spoke. “But what purpose does the designer have?”

She felt that every instance was extremely cruel to the players. If they let their guard down even slightly, they would die horrifically.

“I first thought the game designer must be a complete sociopath, their mind twisted and dark.” Zuo Tiantian sighed. “But these scenarios reveal real, terrible issues in society… it’s almost like they’re trying to warn humanity. Sure, the vengeful spirits are terrifying. If you think about it, they were more innocent than anyone here before they became ghosts.”

It wasn’t just her. Su Jin, Chen Kaijie, and even Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu shared the same sentiment.

“If not for the death game mechanic and numerous fatal triggers, the game design could have been more of a warning to the world. It’s a shame.” Shen Qingqiu sounded somewhat regretful. “Now it just feels more like the work of a sociopath.”

“*Ding!* Congratulations to Xiao Muyu’s team for completing the hidden quest: Who is the Real Culprit? You have obtained the hidden item: Chaser’s Crematorium!”

They all couldn’t help a slight twitch at the name. Chen Kaijie was the first to complain. “I feel like this system is cursing us.”

“Let’s see…” Shen Qingqiu glanced at Xiao Muyu and teased, “As long as it’s not ‘Wife’s Crematorium’, it shouldn’t be too bad.”

Xiao Muyu shot her a sidelong glance, shook her head, and almost couldn’t suppress a smile. What does this person think about all day?

Meanwhile, Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian exchanged glances and laughed.

Chasers’ Crematorium

Rarity: S

Drop chance: Very low drop in Instance No. 004.

Item description: The player can draw the card upon being chased. It will create a sea of fire 6 meters long and 3 meters wide, trapping the pursuers within the crematorium for 4 minutes.

Note: The flames will burn humans and ghosts rushing in for 4 minutes. If they don’t enter the fire, they cannot pass through it and must take a detour. This card can only be used once per instance and will automatically be scrapped after four uses.

“This item card is quite powerful,” Zuo Tiantian remarked with bright eyes. “Too bad it only has four uses.”

Indiscriminate, area-of-effect skills were perfect against group attacks. However, Instance No. 004 didn’t allow the use of many skills, so they’d been having such a rough time.

Unable to see what was happening inside, Chen Kaijie could only listen. Leaning against the wall, he sighed involuntarily. “So we got some compensation out of it. I really thought I was done for.”

“How can you go wrong with Muyu around?” Shen Qingqiu’s casual tone carried full acknowledgment in Xiao Muyu. “Let’s head down.”

As they passed the dorm mother’s room, Shen Qingqiu became cautious. She walked along the outermost side, signaled the others to stay back, and then used her dagger to push the window open.

There was no one inside. The phone still sat there, its screen frozen. A knitting needle had fallen to the floor, and the ball of yarn had rolled far away.

Shen Qingqiu slowly inhaled, eyes scanning the room until she saw the dorm mother. The woman was lying on the floor, her head cracked open with blood pooling around her.

After Shen Qingqiu explained the gist of it to Xiao Muyu and the others, the group quickly went out to inform the school security. Soon, someone arrived at the girls’ dorm and took the dorm mother to the hospital.

As the once-silent campus began to buzz with activity again, Xiao Muyu and her team found a quiet place to discuss the most recent events.

Even after triggering the key plot, their progress hadn’t appeared, so they knew some things still needed sorting out.

They had many questions. As soon as they sat down, Su Jin eagerly asked, “If the killer isn’t Lin Xue, is it Liu Ya and Lin Xue, or Liu Ya, Lin Xue, and the dorm mother?”

Xiao Muyu didn’t keep them in suspense. “I typed in Liu Ya and Lin Xue.”

“Wait, but I remember you and Ms. Shen verified Liu Ya was not the culprit,” said Zuo Tiantian, a little confused.

Shen Qingqiu had already guessed Xiao Muyu’s answer. She thought back to what happened that day, then frowned. “Could the system be up to its tricks again? The rule stated filling in extra, less, or nothing wouldn’t get you points.

“‘Liu Ya isn’t the culprit,’ is not wrong. However, ‘Liu Ya is the culprit’ wouldn’t be the right answer, which means she’s not the culprit?”

Xiao Muyu nodded. “Exactly, that’s what I thought back then. Looking at the result now, that seems to be the case.”

“Damn!” Chen Kaijie cursed. “This is so messed up. Isn’t it purposely misleading us?”

No normal person would make the connection between such an ordinary hint in the question and previous events while they were suffocating amidst smoke and fire. Anyone else would’ve just filled in Lin Xue.

They would’ve been dead now if it weren’t for Xiao Muyu.

Cold sweat broke out across Chen Kaijie’s back. “I don’t know why, but I feel like the system… is trying to make us step right into the trap.”

A dark gleam flashed in Shen Qingqiu’s gray eyes. She lowered her head, saying nothing.

Xiao Muyu’s expression remained unchanged, as if she didn’t care. She continued her analysis.

“Of course, we can’t determine Liu Ya as the culprit based on just that. There’s one more point we seem to have overlooked. Class 7 wouldn’t know who cursed them because they all unwittingly forgot about the bullying incident that led to someone’s death.

“In other words, they shouldn’t know about the incident if they aren’t the culprit, and the curse would affect them, making them fearful.

“But you all said you suspected Lin Xue because she had a good relationship with Liu Ya, and Liu Ya wasn’t afraid of her. Liu Ya’s grades didn’t drop, they improved. That means Liu Ya knows who cursed Class 7. She’s aware the curse doesn’t affect her, so she’s not afraid. Whether dead or alive, she can’t escape being the culprit.”

After Xiao Muyu finished speaking, aside from Shen Qingqiu, who was smiling at her from the side, Zuo Tiantian, Su Jin, and Chen Kaijie were all in awe.

“I already knew you were smart, Leader Xiao. But you still manage to surpass my expectations every time. This logic is amazing! We had all the pieces but didn’t put them together like that.” Chen Kaijie then joked, “I must be a fake cop.”

“But what of the dorm mother? Why didn’t you consider her at the time, Leader Xiao? And where did the giant mummy beside the ghost girl come from?” Zuo Tiantian had already ruled out the real dorm mother since they had found her injured on the floor. However, how had Xiao Muyu been so sure to exclude that other dorm mother helping the ghost girl?

Xiao Muyu smiled. “If you think about it, you already know the answer.”

Su Jin nodded. “When she pushed me inside, it shocked me. I thought the dorm mother had turned into a ghost. But when I saw her burnt face, I ruled out the possibility that it was her. Room 409 caught fire, and the dorm mother was on the first floor. I thought there was no way she could have been caught in the fire. Even if she discovered the fire, she wouldn’t have tried to fight it alone. She would’ve called 119 to report it. That must’ve been the ghost girl disguised as the dorm mother.”

“I thought about that too,” said Zuo Tiantian, still confused. “But I don’t get it. Why would she pretend to be the dorm mother?”

“Naturally, you guys don’t know,” said Shen Qingqiu, “Before we confirmed what happened in Room 409, Muyu and I had a conversation with the dorm mother.

“After opening the window, she gave us a weird look. We asked about the fire alert in 409. She told us no one lived there and that the smoke detector was broken. That’s not too important. However, she added: ‘When it should go off, it stays silent. And now it’s gone off for no reason.’ So, she knew the smoke detector was broken.

“But the fire at the school was completely erased from reality. There’s no record of it in the fire department, and no one at school remembers it. How could the dorm mother know the alarm sounded when it shouldn’t have?

“The only possibility is that the dorm mother remembered everything. And if she remembered, that makes her the real culprit. She led us to 409.”

At this point, she released a resigned sigh. “I told you guys not to go in that time as a fail-safe. Who knew it would turn out like this?”

“But it’s a blessing in disguise,” said Su Jin. “Experiencing that fire provided us with a lot of information. I think I finally understand how the person inside died.”

She recalled that feeling of being up the creek without a paddle. Any sense of satisfaction from uncovering the truth was gone, leaving nothing but sorrow.

“The door wouldn’t open, someone broke the window so they couldn’t be used, and the bathroom door was locked.” Zuo Tiantian lowered her head as complicated emotions churned up within her. “If it were me, I’d probably die with lingering resentment, too. It’s horrifying. Could students really be this cruel?”

Xiao Muyu inhaled deeply before saying, “They had a chance to save her.”

“How so?”

“They might not have intended to kill anyone at first.” Shen Qingqiu, usually cold and detached, spoke up. When not being frivolous at Xiao Muyu’s expense, her mind was just as sharp.

“The white gas that first filled the room wasn’t produced by the fire. If I’m not mistaken, it’s used in fire drills—irritating and choking to breathe in, but non-toxic.” She’d seen enough to be sure of her judgment.

“So you’re saying they tampered with the window, locked the bathroom door, and disabled the smoke detector just to smoke Lin Xue out and scare her?” After thinking it over, Chen Kaijie did find it plausible.

“That… that makes sense. So the actual fire that broke out later was just an accident caused by a short circuit.” Su Jin’s face darkened. Realizing the reason behind it made it harder for her to accept.

“At 20:02, students were supposed to be in evening self-study. No one should have been in the dorms. But Lin Xue happened to be there. Maybe something made her come back. So, the dorm building was empty and stood some distance from the school buildings. Let’s say she called for help. If the dorm mother didn’t hear her, the chances of anyone else noticing were even lower.”

Xiao Muyu felt upset as well. She thought back to the marks in the bathroom. “I suspect Liu Ya was in the bathroom at the time. She knew Lin Xue was in trouble but couldn’t get out. By the time she did, Lin Xue was beyond saving.”

“*Hiss…* They were so close, and Lin Xue was Liu Ya’s only friend. Watching her best friend burn to death and being powerless to stop it—who wouldn’t be consumed by hatred after that?”

Chen Kaijie had mixed feelings about this. He had also been bullied during his school days and could deeply understand what it was like.

“Besides, I doubt they’re just friends.” Su Jin glanced at Xiao Muyu, then subtly at Shen Qingqiu.

Xiao Muyu & Shen Qingqiu: ……

“Why are you looking at us?”