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After Shi Wenxuan left, Mo Qi, who had been playing dead on the ground, finally crawled up, coughing twice, a trace of blood staining the corner of his mouth.
Despite the protection of the mist, Shi Wenxuan’s strike still injured him.
At that moment, Shi Wenxuan’s movements were casual, seemingly effortless, yet they inflicted such significant damage on Mo Qi. If not for the mist obstructing him, that strike might have cost Mo Qi dearly.
Mo Qi had always considered himself among the top in terms of physical fitness among the students. He hadn’t expected such a stark difference compared to other players in the game. Unfortunately, his execution value and structure value were both zero, and even with leveling up, there was no possibility of improvement. This game was proving too difficult for him to handle.
He leaned against the wall, taking a moment to catch his breath and feel a bit more comfortable.
During this time, the entire exhibition hall remained quiet, even the cicadas outside seemed to diminish in volume, as if something was suppressing all the lurking spirits and demons.
Mo Qi turned back to look at the figure in the painting. He didn’t remember this person, but after last night’s dream, he felt compelled to verify its authenticity.
“It was you who protected me just now, wasn’t it? Thank you,” Mo Qi said, putting on his sunglasses. “I still don’t fully trust you yet, but I have no other choice.”
He waited silently for a moment, seeing no response from the figure in the painting, then turned and left the exhibition hall.
Shi Wenxuan was a keen player who operated independently without the convenience of the student council. He uncovered the grudge between Ke Xiaoxi and Xiang Wansi simply by noting Ke Xiaoxi’s open hostility towards her.
Based on Ke Xiaoxi’s blatant animosity towards Xiang Wansi, they suspected Xiang Wansi’s involvement in the matter.
They hypothesized that the four wishes requiring a cost, as granted by the Wishing Box, were not its true power. Instead, after accumulating the energy from these four wishes, one could then make a genuine wish without any cost.
Based on this line of thinking, Mo Qi suspected that someone initially obtained the Wishing Box, understood its rules, and cleverly arranged for Qi Qiaoyan to receive the Wishing Box, make a wish, and thus sacrifice her life.
If that’s the case, there must be someone behind the scenes constantly searching for wishers. Mo Qi believes Xiang Wansi fits the criteria, so he tested her in the exhibition hall, only to find out Shi Wenxuan had already reached this stage.
Even the student council president, Liao Ruxue, was unaware that Ke Xiaoxi caused Xiang Wansi to lose her voice at the freshman party. Shi Wenxuan discovered this and even anticipated Lu Anhe before anyone else, making him a formidable opponent.
Mo Qi immediately initiated a video call and succinctly explained what had just happened to Liao Ruxue. Liao Ruxue responded, “He’s right. It was Lu Anhe who died.”
“How do you know?” Mo Qi asked.
Liao Ruxue said, “Just now, Lu Anhe jumped from the top of the ideological and political building and died on the spot.”
Mo Qi asked, “Do you know who made the wish?”
“I’m not sure, but Shi Wenxuan brought Xiang Wansi here,” Liao Ruxue replied. “He really has no sympathy, pulling the hair of the school flower. It’s bound to anger people. Look, students are surrounding him and beating him up. Seeing him being punched over and over again, it’s quite satisfying.”
After saying this, Liao Ruxue turned the camera around to show Mo Qi the scene below.
From the distance, the video was blurry, but Mo Qi could make out dozens of students swarming and violently attacking Shi Wenxuan. Shi Wenxuan struggled to defend himself, but he was outnumbered and restrained by two students holding his arms, preventing him from retaliating. Meanwhile, Lu Anhe’s body lay nearby, ignored by everyone.
Mo Qi hesitated, pausing his steps towards the ideological and political building. He had just been nearly incapacitated by Shi Wenxuan’s punch, yet the students in the video call seemed unaffected by occasional punches from Shi Wenxuan.
At that moment, a thermos flask swept across the camera, appearing to have been thrown from above and landing heavily on Shi Wenxuan’s head.
“Who threw that thermos flask just now?” Mo Qi asked.
“I did,” Liao Ruxue replied. “Don’t you think Shi Wenxuan is just too annoying? Outsiders meddling in student affairs should behave properly.”
Mo Qi said seriously, “President Liao, how did you come up with the term ‘outsider’?”
“Wasn’t it you guys who told…” Liao Ruxue started to say, but then seemed to realize something midway and stopped to ponder.
Mo Qi continued, “The student council office is on the 13th floor. President, is it normal to throw a thermos flask from such a height and accurately hit Shi Wenxuan’s head?”
“Wait a moment,” Liao Ruxue abruptly ended the video call.
Mo Qi knew what Liao Ruxue was likely up to. While waiting for him, Mo Qi didn’t idle either. He pondered who could have killed Lu Anhe.
From his previous glance at disciplinary records in the student council, Mo Qi remembered Lu Anhe as a student from the Physical Education College who frequently got into fights and bullied others. The records didn’t detail his relationships, but they did indicate Lu Anhe had been disciplined multiple times.
Before being expelled, Lu Anhe had received a reprimand and probation from the university, both times for violently assaulting a fellow student.
Regarding campus fights, if both parties engage in violence, the typical school protocol involves disciplining both sides equally. However, Lu Anhe’s two instances of discipline were singular, as they involved him unilaterally assaulting a female student, who was the same person each time.
Because he had twice resorted to violence against the same person, Lu Anhe faced such severe disciplinary action the second time.
The girl in question is Fan Ting, also a student of the Sports Academy like Lu Anhe. It’s unclear how deep their grievances run.
If anyone truly wished for Lu Anhe’s death from the bottom of their heart, it would probably only be her.
As the phone rang, it wasn’t Liao Ruxue, but Xiang Zhuo.
“Mo Qi,” Xiang Zhuo’s voice was unusually low, “something extremely bizarre happened. Be careful after you next see Liao Ruxue. He…”
“Has he become incredibly strong?” Mo Qi asked with a hint of foresight.
“Yes, how did you know? Just now, he lifted the iron cabinet of the student council with one hand and threw it downstairs, hitting Shi Wenxuan directly,” Xiang Zhuo’s voice betrayed a sense of post-fright.
“Did he also try to lift the iron cabinet to throw at you earlier, but couldn’t lift it?” Mo Qi asked again.
“Yes, how did you know?” Xiang Zhuo inquired.
Mo Qi sighed. “Xiang Zhuo, the second wish has already come true. This world is starting to mutate.”
In the video just now, the students ganging up on Shi Wenxuan looked terrifying, completely unlike normal people. As a player with immense strength, Shi Wenxuan was beaten to helplessness, which isn’t normal.
Liao Ruxue has always taken pride in wanting to kill Mo Qi, but in conversation, he repeatedly expressed intentions to attack Shi Wenxuan, even following through with action by throwing a cup, hitting accurately.
Liao Ruxue is someone who can say things like “How could I harm anyone else?” It’s wrong for him to attack Shi Wenxuan himself.
Changes aren’t just happening to Liao Ruxue alone; it’s affecting other classmates too. Various signs can only be explained as the world’s mutation.
“But Liao Ruxue only becomes stronger when he’s thinking of attacking Shi Wenxuan; he’s not that fearsome when facing me,” Xiang Zhuo asked after hearing Mo QI’s explanation.
“I think it’s probably because Shi Wenxuan attempted to use force against Xiang Wansi, breaking some sort of rule, which triggered the students’ reaction,” Mo Qi said.
“Could it be that this world doesn’t allow players to use force and they must act according to the school rules?” Xiang Zhuo speculated.
Mo Qi said heavily, “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. In the first wish, two players, a boy and a girl, questioned Guo Mingzheng about Ke Xiaoxi, but they weren’t attacked by other students at that time. I think these rules are becoming stricter as each of the four wishes is fulfilled. By the time all four wishes are granted, perhaps our very existence is breaking the rules.”
“Our immediate priority isn’t to find Shi Wenxuan in the Ideological and Political Building or Xiang Wansi, but to quickly find out what happened to Fan Ting.”
“The game hasn’t hinted at harvesting the second wisher’s wish yet. Maybe we can find the wishing box before the wisher dies.”
“Mo QI, I think your guess is right,” Liao Ruxue’s voice came from the phone. “When I attacked Shi Wenxuan just now, I felt a malicious thought of ‘outsiders go away’ rising in my heart. I don’t know where the strength came from, but I was able to lift up a cabinet full of paper documents.”
“What about Shi Wenxuan? Is he dead?” Mo Qi asked.
Liao Ruxue: “No, he somehow escaped. The students have returned to normal and are comforting Xiang Wansi.”
Shi Wenxuan is a formidable player after all. Even if he can’t defeat these students, he can find a way to escape.
Mo Qi said, “Let’s set aside the other players for now. Where do you think Fan Ting is most likely to be?”
Liao Ruxue: “Fan Ting? The girl Lu Anhe assaulted twice? I remember that. Fan Ting is Lu Anhe’s girlfriend; they’ve been together since freshman year. Normally, if a girlfriend is treated like that by her boyfriend, they would have broken up long ago. But she has been enduring it. Does Lu Anhe have something on her?”
“Their relationship doesn’t matter now. The urgent matter is finding the wishing box.”
“I’ll ask Minister Bigmouth. She’s most likely…”
Mo Qi interrupted Liao Ruxue, saying, “No need. I think I have a good idea where the second wisher might be.”
The focus here isn’t on who the wisher is or any grievances between them and Lu Anhe. It’s about what wishes Lu Anhe still has left.
The current rule they know is that the price the wisher must pay is the wish of the deceased. Just like Qi Qiaoyan, if she wants to live, she must fulfill Ke Xiaoxi’s wish to “destroy Xiang Wansi’s throat.” Qi Qiaoyan failed to do so and was harvested by the box.
Likewise, the second wisher now needs to fulfill Lu Anhe’s wish while he was alive.
Lu Anhe was expelled for attempting to assault Xiang Wansi, so his wishes are likely two: first, to revoke his expulsion, and second, to harm Xiang Wansi again.
“That’s manageable then. Revoking the expulsion requires coming to me, and Xiang Wansi is right downstairs at the ideological and political building. Could the second wisher be in the ideological and political building?” Liao Ruxue said.
“Not necessarily,” Mo Qi shook his head. “While you guys search for people at the ideological and political building, I have another idea.”
He hung up the phone and quickly headed towards the Student Exhibition Hall.
Mo Qi believed that Lu Anhe’s true wish likely still centered around Xiang Wansi, so the second wisher would definitely be looking for Xiang Wansi.
While Xiang Wansi was indeed at the ideological and political building, it wasn’t her usual place to be; she had been forcibly taken away by Shi Wenxuan.
According to Xiang Wansi’s schedule, she should be preparing for tomorrow’s exhibition in the Student Exhibition Hall at this time.
Because she left in a hurry, Mo Qi hadn’t locked the door.
Mo Qi stood at the slightly ajar door of the exhibition hall for a moment before bravely pushing it open.
In the center of the hall sat a tall, slender girl with her back to the door, quietly gazing at the paintings on the wall.
Mo Qi walked over and circled around to the front of the girl. Seeing that she was still alive, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The girl held a crystal box in her hands, with a quarter of its surface painted red in the shape of a heart, containing a heart-shaped origami inside.
Mo Qi approached cautiously, not directly attempting to take the wishing box. Instead, he asked, “Are you Fan Ting?”
The girl nodded slightly, then looked at Mo QI. “You’re from the student council. Where’s Xiang Wansi?”
“She went to the ideological and political building,” Mo Qi replied.
“Thank goodness.” Fan Ting let out a relieved smile, gently rubbing her palm over the box. There were traces of cigarette burns on the back of her hand.
Mo Qi avoided looking directly into her eyes as much as possible. He crouched down and extended his hand to Fan Ting, asking softly, “Can you give me the box?”
“No,” Fan Ting shook her head. “This isn’t a good thing.”
Fan Ting’s gaze fixed on Mo QI, and she suddenly said, “It’s strange. This is my first time meeting you, yet I feel strangely close to you. Despite my current state of mind, I find myself slightly drawn to you. You’re a… very peculiar person.”
“Since there’s a box that can grant wishes, being a heartthrob doesn’t seem so extraordinary,” Mo Qi remarked.
Fan Ting nodded. “Yes, when I first got this box, I didn’t believe it could grant my wish either. But I wrote down my wish on paper, and surprisingly, it came true.
“I’m so glad Lu Anhe is dead. Do you know what kind of person he was? He was good at sports and quite good-looking, always achieving good results in competitions. I was foolishly infatuated with him and got together with him. But who would’ve known he’d resort to violence at the slightest discomfort? I wanted to break up with him, but he had intimate photos of us, and even after being expelled, he continued to threaten me.”
“I don’t regret killing him; I did it willingly. But why do I have to help him fulfill such a disgusting wish?” Fan Ting expressed with disgust.
“What was his wish?” Mo Qi asked.
“After he was expelled, he harbored a grudge against Xiang Wansi. He wanted to take private photos of her and post them on the school forum,” Fan Ting said with a look of extreme revulsion. “I don’t want to fulfill his wish, but if I don’t, I’ll die, so here I am.”
She lowered her head to look at the box, smiling with relief. “Luckily, Xiang Wansi isn’t here.”
“Did the box suddenly appear in your hands, or did someone give it to you?” Mo Qi asked.
“Someone gave it to me, but according to the rules, I can’t tell you who,” Fan Ting told Mo Qi.
“If you just tell me whether it was Xiang Wansi or not, that’s enough,” Mo Qi asked.
Mo Qi hesitated, unsure of how to respond to Fan Ting’s request. He focused his gaze on her, triggering the “Stare” ability, which furrowed his brow.
“I always feel that if you look at me more, I might like you more, to the point of forgetting about those past things. They say the best way to forget about a relationship is to start a new one, right?” Fan Ting’s voice carried a hint of sadness.
“I can stare at you, but I can’t promise anything beyond that,” Moshi said.
“Never mind, I don’t have the time to invest in a relationship either,” Fan Ting chuckled bitterly.
Mo Qi lifted her head, following Fan Ting’s request, and gazed earnestly at her, filled with compassion for this girl. Fan Ting also looked at Mo Qi. In the instant the “gaze” took effect, countless images surged into Mo Qi’s mind: there was Lu Anhe, there was a wishing box, and there was a person whose face she couldn’t clearly see.
These were not her memories; they were images in Fan Ting’s mind.
In the moment Fan Ting willingly accepted the “gaze,” he unexpectedly connected with Fan Ting’s memories in an instant.
“It feels really nice to like someone. I can finally forget about what happened before,” Fan Ting said quietly, closing her eyes serenely. Her palm rested on the wishing box as she softly continued, “I won’t fulfill Lu Anhe’s wish. I’m willing to give up my life.”
As soon as she finished speaking, her head drooped heavily, lifeless.
The origami heart turned into blood, staining the pattern on the box red.
The game interface provided a new prompt: “Exchange not completed, wisher’s life sacrificed, next wish forming.”