Chapter 79: Death Class 7 (Part 3)

That excuse was hardly believable. However, given Shen Qingqiu’s persona, no one was likely to question her on it.

An auntie monitored the dormitories during the day. She typically didn’t allow entry. But no one dared to stop Shen Qingqiu in her filthy appearance.

Finding the dorm was straightforward. Shen Qingqiu’s belongings screamed delinquent vibes at first glance. Fortunately, the game system was considerate enough to put Xiao Muyu in the same dorm room as Shen Qingqiu.

The two left once Shen Qingqiu had changed into clean clothes. They ran into school administrators and Class 7’s homeroom teacher right outside. They informed the two that the police had arrived to investigate Luo Zihao’s death.

Xiao Muyu had been on the rooftop with Luo Zihao before his fall. Shen Qingqiu was the first to witness him hit the ground. They were both required to cooperate with the investigation.

When they went to meet the police, the school principal and their homeroom teacher had complicated looks. “This is just a standard procedure,” the principal told Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu. “Answer honestly. Go on.”

Compared to the anxious homeroom teacher, the principal appeared calm, almost numbed, like he had no more thoughts on the matter. He just patted Class 7’s homeroom teacher on the shoulder.

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu showed no reaction. The two entered the school’s private office. Upon seeing the police officers sitting inside waiting for them, they exchanged glances and quietly exhaled.

One was a man in a crisp police uniform, looking sharp. Beside him sat a younger officer, who spared the two a glance before looking back down.

The man was startled upon noticing them but quickly composed himself. He schooled his expression and addressed the school administrators who had followed them in. “Please allow us to speak with the students privately to avoid putting additional pressure on them.”

The principal didn’t balk. After glancing at Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu, he turned to the police officers. “Officers, Xiao Muyu is a paragon of virtue and learning. Our teachers can vouch for her. She and Shen Qingqiu didn’t have any conflicts with Luo Zihao. They rarely interacted. Additionally, we have already provided you with our school’s surveillance footage, which should confirm it was a suicide. *Sigh.* The upcoming college entrance exams had placed overwhelming pressure on the seniors. Our school will handle this matter properly. Thank you for your hard work. Please proceed with your questioning.”

He implied they already had a conclusion while defending Xiao Muyu. However, that calmness felt unnatural. Whether it was suicide or not, a student jumping off a building was undeniably a major incident. Yet, his tone suggested otherwise.

The lead officer noticed this, too. He lowered his gaze and nodded without betraying his thoughts. Once the others left, he walked up to Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu, his eyes bright and twinkling.

He gestured for them to sit. “There’s no need to be nervous. I only want your honest answers to help me understand the situation.”

This police officer was none other than Chen Kaijie. However, he didn’t reveal his connection to the two because there was a junior officer present. Once the questioning ended, he quickly signaled the junior officer to leave first. The junior officer didn’t seem invested in the case. He recorded their statements, gathered the materials, and left.

Without others present, Chen Kaijie exclaimed, “Leader Xiao, Ms. Shen, I’ve finally found you two. What’s going on here?”

He had been sent to Yuanning No. 1 High School to handle the case of a senior student’s suicide shortly after entering the instance. He hadn’t seen any sign of his teammates.

While trying to figure out the situation, the two students he was supposed to question turned out to be Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu.

Xiao Muyu glanced at him. “This appears to be a team instance,” she explained. “Each of us has a designated role. You’re a police officer, while Shen Qingqiu and I are students.”

“What about Su Jin and Tiantian?” Chen Kaijie hurriedly asked.

“No idea. But Luo Zihai, the student who jumped, was in Class 3-7. We can be certain this instance revolves around that class, and we’re all likely tied to it. Shen Qingqiu and I haven’t had time to return to class. So we don’t know if those two are students as well.” Xiao Muyu looked at Chen Kaijie after her succinct overview.

Chen Kaijie didn’t respond immediately. Shen Qingqiu lifted her chin slightly. “You still have your link card?”

Chen Kaijie snapped to attention and hastily nodded. He pulled out the card, opened his mouth, and hesitated. He cleared his throat, then muttered, “Loving family.”

Shen Qingqiu regretted not having heard Xiao Muyu say that hilarious summoning phrase.

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu noticed a new message pop-up on their interface.

[Group leader Chen Kaijie has invited you to join “Loving Family”. Accept?]

“……”

Xiao Muyu clicked “Accept”. Shortly after, the group chat’s member count increased from two to three, with Shen Qingqiu joining, then to four, and finally five.

Xiao Muyu glanced at Shen Qingqiu and Chen Kaijie. It seemed their guess was right. Zuo Tiantian and Su Jin were also at the school.

The system made an announcement.

“Welcome, player Xiao Muyu and team, to Instance No. 004: Death Class 7. It is an unlimited-time team instance. Completion results will be calculated individually. You must figure out the conditions for clearing the instance. The game ends upon either quest completion or total team death!”

Shen Qingqiu pursed her lips. “This system has a way with words. Total team death? It must be dreaming.”

There was activity in the group chat.

Su Jin: [Team Xiao, the instance has started. How are you all holding up?]

Zuo Tiantian: [Leader Xiao, Ms. Shen, are you also in Class 3-7? Su Jin, Chen Kaijie, what about you? Where are you?]

Su Jin: [I’m currently the Chinese teacher for Class 3-7.]

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu were stunned. How had Su Jin ended up as a teacher?

The five quickly exchanged information in the chat. Zuo Tiantian used a stomachache as an excuse to slip away and locate Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu. Meanwhile, Su Jin roamed around, checking the school.

“Chen Kaijie, you’re currently a police officer. You should be able to use your position to gather some information. For example, details about Class 3-7, recent incidents, or student accidents at Yuanning High. As for what might happen in the school later, leave that to us. We will know more than you.”

Xiao Muyu shared the information she knew and gave instructions.

“Su Jin, you have more freedom to move around as a teacher. You’ll need to take on a bigger share of the work. Zuo Tiantian, we three will focus on observing any abnormalities among Class 3-7 students. This instance has so many people. Since there’s a main stage, there must be a main character. We’ll need to watch closely.”

Zuo Tiantian: [Understood.]
Su Jin: [Understood.]

Their blind trust in Xiao Muyu showed. They would do whatever she instructed.

The questioning didn’t last long. Of course, the outcome was satisfactory for all parties involved. The police reviewed the surveillance footage and compared fingerprints and footprints. They confirmed Luo Zihao had fallen to his death of his own accord.

Although Xiao Muyu’s presence on the rooftop seemed suspicious, there was no evidence to suggest she had caused Luo Zihao’s death. The police had to refrain from pursuing the matter further.

The reaction of the administration and students was even stranger. None of them asked why Xiao Muyu had been on the rooftop. Instead, they occasionally cast her looks filled with sympathy and fear.

It became more evident when Xiao Muyu returned to the classroom. The moment she and Shen Qingqiu stepped through the door, the students turned away from the teacher’s lecture in unison to stare at them.

Excluding the faint hint of delight in Zuo Tiantian’s eyes, the rest of the class wore only two types of expressions—dull and vacant, or fearful.

Shen Qingqiu glanced at Xiao Muyu before lazily calling out, “Reporting in!”

She leaned casually against the doorway without raising her hand, eyes sweeping unconcernedly across the room. She played the part of a delinquent student so convincingly.

It was now math class. The math teacher only gave the pair a glance before saying, “Come in.”   That expression was no different from the students’.

Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu entered the classroom under the weight of numerous stares. There were three empty seats available. One in the second row at the center was considered the golden seat—a spot typical for top students. Another was across the aisle to its right. The last was in the corner of the very back row.

Shen Qingqiu, with a clear sense of self-awareness, sat at the back of the classroom. Xiao Muyu took the top student seat. No one around them reacted differently. They guessed correctly.

The classroom quickly settled into the sound of the math teacher’s lecture. Xiao Muyu had little interest in the lesson. She took a quick count of the students in the room. There were forty-six in total.

The seat across the aisle to her right probably belonged to the late Luo Zihao.

Luo Zihao’s deskmate kept her head down and didn’t look at Xiao Muyu. When they entered, she noticed that this girl was the only one who just glanced at them before looking away.

The girl who had spoken to Xiao Muyu on her way downstairs sat right behind her.

[Yuanning No. 1 High School has three teaching buildings, divided into years one, two, and three. Each building has five floors, with classrooms on the first to fourth floors. Every floor has five classrooms. That brings the student population to nearly three thousand. Obviously, not all of them can be key NPCs. So, the focus remains on Class 7. Class 7 has forty-six students. With no relevant memories, we can’t keep an eye on all of them.]

Xiao Muyu re-read the message and sent it in the Loving Family group chat.

[So, what do you mean, Muyu?] Shen Qingqiu quickly replied, adding a kiss emoji at the end. Xiao Muyu frowned and shook her head.

[There’s no need to go out of our way to learn about them. But note anyone who seems suspicious. They might hold clues.] This was Xiao Muyu’s intuition. Like the girl she saw on the way downstairs, some people wouldn’t coincidentally appear.

Xiao Muyu looked at Luo Zihao’s deskmate.

The girl wasn’t listening to the lesson. Instead, she was doodling on a notebook. Because of the distance and angle, Xiao Muyu couldn’t make out what she was drawing. She inexplicably drew her attention.

When the bell rang, a boy sitting behind the girl poked her in the back with the tip of his pen.

Her white school uniform already had several random marks on it.

“Liu Ya, I’m out of pencil lead. Can you lend me one?”

The girl paused. She turned her head to look at him with a blank expression. The boy remained unfazed, staring at her with an entitled air. “Hurry up. You’re delaying me from finishing my test.”

Xiao Muyu observed them coldly. Shen Qingqiu also noted what was happening from her seat at the back.

Despite his unpleasant attitude, the boy wasn’t loud. The girl made no other move, either. Initially, their interaction didn’t seem too conspicuous. However, Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu locked onto them immediately.

The girl, Liu Ya, had her hair up in a ponytail. Her skin was so pale it looked bloodless, her eyebrows thin and faint. Although her features weren’t unattractive, her appearance gave the impression of a lifeless doll. The boy’s words and actions only made her appear even more inert.

Liu Ya turned around and unscrewed her mechanical pencil. She silently handed the half-length pencil lead to him.

The boy took it, glanced at it, and sneered. “As expected. You’re so poor you can’t even afford pencil leads.”

It was a quiet remark only audible to those paying attention nearby yet carried an unmistakable barb.

Soon, a tall, thin boy approached and called out to him, “Zhang Zhu, want to go to the restroom?”

The boy named Zhang Zhu stood up, kicking his chair back. The two left together.

Liu Ya lowered her head after Zhang Zhu left. She slipped the doodles into her notebook. Holding a much-shortened pencil, she began working on exercises.

Aside from those who went to the restroom, the students in the classroom were mostly staring off into space. There was no liveliness of a typical break between periods.

Shen Qingqiu and the others didn’t miss this oddity. Also, a classmate who had been with them nearly every day had just died. Yet, no one discussed it, which was beyond bizarre.

“Want to go to the restroom?” The voice, clear and pleasant with a note of casualness, was Shen Qingqiu’s. She had leisurely walked over to Xiao Muyu and dropped the question.

Xiao Muyu froze. The other students who had been sitting with dazed and gloomy expressions widened their eyes in disbelief at them.

Xiao Muyu caught it all in the corner of her eye. It seemed Shen Qingqiu had a conspicuous presence.

She stood up and, without responding to Shen Qingqiu, walked straight out of the classroom.

Shen Qingqiu smiled. She put her hands into her pockets and briskly followed Xiao Muyu.

Zuo Tiantian, who had been watching them, got up as well.

When Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu reached the door, a girl wearing a light-colored sweatshirt with a bag slung over her shoulder walked past them. She almost had to squeeze into the classroom and nearly collided with Zuo Tiantian coming in the opposite direction.

However, the girl nimbly sidestepped Zuo Tiantian.

Xiao Muyu suddenly stopped midway. Beside her, Shen Qingqiu also halted. She turned to look at Xiao Muyu, murmuring, “There’s only one empty seat in the classroom.”

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Author had something to say:

Their relationship will heat up more in this instance.