Chapter 4: Seventh High School (4)

In the cold and silent space, the voice echoed clearly, its slow and sinister rasping tone chilling to the bone, sending shivers down their spines.

For a moment, the three of them froze, their breaths caught. Then they reacted instantly:

— Run!

Without saying a word, the three boys instinctively bolted, their steps in unison as they rushed up the stairs. The stairwell was filled with the chaotic sound of hurried footsteps.

Even though Xiong Haoyu was terrified, he couldn’t help but glance back as he ran. The stairwell behind them was eerily empty.

A faint beam of moonlight shone through the window, illuminating a basketball bouncing on the staircase floor. It seemed to be hindered by something, unable to ascend.

“It doesn’t seem to be following us…”

He muttered softly.

Hearing his words, the other two also slowed down and turned to look back.

Xiao Lin shone his flashlight, and the basketball gradually came to a stop, lying silently at the edge of the stairs.

He glanced at the floor sign next to him. Sixth floor.

It had indeed stopped. The chilling sensation from earlier had also disappeared. He speculated aloud, “Could it be that there’s some kind of restriction on the sixth floor? Or perhaps the ghosts are confined to their respective floors, so it didn’t follow us?”

Luo Feipeng thought for a moment and asked, “Did any of you catch a glimpse of the ghost just now?”

“…No, I only felt someone pat me.”

“Xiao Xiong didn’t see it, and I was in front, so I couldn’t have seen it either. As soon as we heard the voice, we all just ran.”

“I was behind Xiao Xiong, and I didn’t see anything either.”

Luo Feipeng nodded. “It seems like this ghost might have the ability to turn invisible, so it’s normal that we didn’t see it. But we can’t rule out the possibility that it’s already followed us to the sixth floor. Let’s get out of here for now.”

“Let’s go. Be cautious and don’t touch anything unnecessary.”

As Xiao Lin spoke, he directed his flashlight toward the end of the hallway. In the darkness beyond its beam, something moved.

He immediately aimed the light toward the spot.

No one was there.

Xiao Lin frowned thoughtfully. He could have sworn he’d just seen a shadow.

Xiong Haoyu, noticing his hesitation, asked, “What’s wrong? Did you see something?”

“Nothing,” Xiao Lin replied truthfully, continuing to walk forward. “It looked like a shadow just now, but it retreated when I shone the light on it.”

Xiong Haoyu: “…”

Why does it sound like you’re treating this as something trivial?

He gave an awkward smile and said, “Bro, don’t scare me.”

Since there were no ghosts chasing them now and no need to run, Luo Feipeng had the mood to chat as well.

He patted Xiong Haoyu on the shoulder, teasing him, “Isn’t this normal for a horror game? Hey, with courage like yours, why are you even playing this?”

Xiong Haoyu shrugged, looking a bit embarrassed. He replied in a low voice, “It’s because I’m too scared. They kept laughing at me, so I got mad and told them I was playing this horror escape game.”

“Well, you could’ve just said it. Why actually come and play? Why take it so seriously?”

“…They didn’t believe me.”

“So you wanted to show them a completed run?”

“Mm… This is my first time playing.”

Luo Feipeng burst into laughter and patted his shoulder twice more. “Relax, you’re too tense. Don’t worry, this game’s dungeons aren’t that scary. At most, it’s just for atmosphere, and then a ghost jumps out with an ‘Awooo’ to startle you.”

Xiong Haoyu didn’t seem entirely convinced and pressed his lips together tightly. “…Really?”

“Why would I lie to you? This is my second dungeon. The last one I played was like that. When the ghost appeared, I thought it was another player at first. It didn’t scare me at all.”

Luo Feipeng half-reminisced as he spoke. Then, recalling something amusing, he added, “Didn’t a horror escape game make it to the trending topics last week? Ember got bombarded with complaints during its launch because its horror elements were so weak.”

Xiao Lin, walking ahead and listening to their conversation, smiled and chimed in, “It really isn’t that scary.”

“But the game does excel in other aspects. The sensory experience is 100% immersive. The settings and NPCs are so realistic that if I didn’t know it was a game, I’d think it was real life.”

“Yeah, even the pain of being stabbed feels authentic,” Luo Feipeng laughed, mimicking a stabbing motion with his flashlight, poking Xiong Haoyu in the stomach.

Xiong Haoyu couldn’t help but laugh from the ticklish sensation and quickly pushed Luo Feipeng’s hand away. “Haha, okay, okay, I get it, bro. Stop messing around! I’m ticklish!”

The sensory realism was indeed remarkable, even preserving his real-life sensitivity to tickling.

After that lighthearted moment, Xiong Haoyu relaxed considerably.

With both of them assuring him that the game wasn’t scary, and given that he wasn’t facing the dungeon alone, he felt much better.

Looking at the classroom signs along the hallway, he remarked, “This whole floor is for senior year classes, huh?”

Xiao Lin had already counted the windows of the open classrooms earlier and now swept his flashlight across the hallway. Eventually, the beam landed on the sign for Class 3A.

The three of them stopped walking.

Xiong Haoyu blinked and said, “Hey, my identity card says I’m from Class 3A.”

Luo Feipeng: “Me too.”

Xiao Lin nodded, indicating the same.

All three of them had the same identity as Class 3A students. Was this just a coincidence?

Recalling the scene when they entered the game, where all the players had gathered together, Xiao Lin began to suspect: could it be that all the players were Class 3A students?

“Creak—”

Luo Feipeng had already pushed the door open, speaking indignantly, “So this is the class where the pretty girl jumped from, huh? I’m going to find out who’s behind this.”

Xiong Haoyu instinctively reached out to stop him but failed. Turning back, he glanced at Xiao Lin.

“Uh…”

Xiao Lin smiled and withdrew his flashlight beam from the “Under Repair” sign near the restroom door. “It’s fine, let’s go in together.”

It was normal for repair work to be done while students weren’t around. The shadow he saw earlier was likely just a repair worker.

Inside the classroom, the windows were wide open, letting the wind whip the curtains noisily. The moonlight poured into the room, filling it with a cold glow.

A waning moon hung steadily within the window frame, though its edges had been gnawed away by clouds, leaving it incomplete—transformed from perfection into something crude and broken.

The three split up to search for clues. Xiao Lin headed toward the open windows.

He carefully scanned with his flashlight. The windowsill bore marks of abrasion, the wall had footprints, and the glass was smudged with messy fingerprints.

It seemed she had hesitated here for a long time before finally jumping.

Xiao Lin sighed softly.

Finding no further clues, he stepped onto the wooden podium. Looking at the empty blackboard, his foot hit something. He moved his foot aside and looked down.

It was a broken piece of red chalk. And it wasn’t the only one—there were many pieces of red chalk scattered across the podium.

Hmm?

Would a regular lesson use this much red chalk?

Xiao Lin crouched down and noticed a thick layer of red chalk dust near the blackboard. He touched it with his fingers and identified it as freshly fallen.

This meant that something written on the blackboard had been erased, didn’t it?

Xiao Lin immediately stood up and walked to the side of the blackboard. Tilting his flashlight at an angle, he inspected the surface. On this old-style blackboard, writing made with chalk could still leave faint marks even after being erased, especially if pressed down hard.

Sure enough, faint traces of writing could be discerned.

“Go to hell…”

Xiao Lin softly read the words aloud, causing Xiong Haoyu to shudder behind him.

“Bro, what are you doing? Why are you suddenly saying weird stuff?”

“The blackboard has writing on it, but it’s been erased,” Xiao Lin replied, standing upright. “I can only make out the last two characters. The earlier ones were wiped too clean.”

It was still a clue, nonetheless.

Xiong Haoyu let out an “oh” and remembered he needed to call Xiao Lin over. He quickly spoke, “Bro, come look at this.”

Luo Feipeng was at a desk in the front row. The desk was covered in vulgar and offensive graffiti written with a ballpoint pen. Xiao Lin frowned as he examined it, then flipped open a textbook. The name inside read: Lin Songyue.

Xiao Lin paused, recognizing the name as the one mentioned in his task to retrieve her profile from the office.

“Could this be the NPC who jumped to her death?” Xiong Haoyu asked.

“I think it’s highly likely.”

Luo Feipeng stared at the hateful messages on the desk, his anger growing. “A bunch of people bullying a young girl like this—utterly shameless. If I ever see them, I’ll beat them to a pulp.”

Xiao Lin pondered for a moment before voicing his theory. “Lin Songyue is very likely the NPC who died by jumping off the building. Based on the information here, it seems she was bullied by her classmates, and unable to bear it, she chose to jump.”

He paused before continuing, “And since our identities are those of her classmates…”

Luo Feipeng: “…”

Pointing at himself, he asked, “So, are you saying that we might actually be the bullies?”

Xiao Lin nodded.

He earnestly suggested, “Maybe you should start by punching yourself?”

Xiong Haoyu couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Luo Feipeng slapped him on the shoulder, slightly flustered. “What are you laughing at? Go find some clues.”

Since this was the class assigned to their identity cards, their desks must also be here and likely contained more clues.

Xiao Lin began searching desk by desk for the one corresponding to his identity.

He found it.

[Zhao Xiangwen]

Unlike the other desks, which were piled high with books, this one was entirely empty. Xiao Lin identified it as his character’s desk when he found a mobile phone inside the desk compartment.

When he picked it up, the system notified him: Obtained item: Zhao Xiangwen’s Phone.

The phone was password-protected, but Xiao Lin used a familiar trick. Turning off the screen, he shone his flashlight at an angle to identify the worn keys. Within moments, he unlocked the phone.

The password was [1224].

It seemed to be a date—could it be Zhao Xiangwen’s birthday?

Coincidentally, the phone’s displayed date was also December 24th.

The phone’s interface was so minimalistic it didn’t resemble something a typical high school boy would use. There weren’t any games on it, not even a messaging app.

Xiao Lin opened the text messages. To his surprise, there was only one message, extremely short—a single word sent by Zhao Xiangwen.

[Okay]
[Recipient: 178XXXX3946]
Time: 5:00 PM, December 24th

Other than that, there was no additional information. The phone couldn’t be stored in the inventory, so Xiao Lin tucked it back into his pocket.

He looked up at the other two. They seemed to have found their own clues as well and were walking toward him.

“I found out the class is planning some kind of event,” Luo Feipeng stated plainly.

Xiong Haoyu nodded, “I found the same thing, but my character doesn’t seem interested in attending and has something else to do.”

Since both of them generously shared their findings, Xiao Lin wasn’t one to hold back either. He opened the phone with a slight sigh, “My clue is pretty vague—just a single word: ‘Okay.’ There’s nothing else.”

Luo Feipeng gave him a pitying look. “So you’re the riddle master now?”

“Even if it’s not a lot, it did give me another lead,” Xiao Lin mused. “Today is December 24th. Based on your information, this event must be the New Year’s Eve party.”

He put the phone back into his pocket and shared his thoughts.

“Did you notice earlier? On Lin Songyue’s desk, one of the messages mentioned ‘money.’ Back in my school days, whenever there was a New Year’s Eve party, students either pooled money together or used funds from the class treasury. Is it possible that Lin Songyue was in charge of the money, but she lost it?”

“…That’s very possible.”

Luo Feipeng rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. “That would explain everything. Lin Songyue lost the money, got bullied by her classmates because of it, and ultimately couldn’t take it anymore, so she took her own life.”

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “It’s just some money. Did they really have to bully a young girl like that?”

“Bang!”

A loud, abrupt noise came from the doorway.

The three of them immediately turned their gaze toward the door.

The door had been shut.

“Someone?!”

Xiong Haoyu exclaimed in surprise.

Luo Feipeng rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed. “…This is a horror game. Based on the setup, it’s obviously going to be a ghost.”

“Seems like it,” Xiong Haoyu scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Overhead, the fluorescent light buzzed and flickered, on and off intermittently. The ceiling fan creaked with an unsettling rhythm.

Luo Feipeng pulled him into a corner, speaking with a calm air of authority. “Listen, Little Xiong, let me tell you—next, the lights will definitely go out all at once, the atmosphere will suddenly turn spooky, and right at that moment, a ghost will pop out of the wall, screaming to scare you.”

Xiong Haoyu: “…Isn’t that scary enough?”

What kind of standards do you people even have for fear?

“At first, it might seem a little scary, but once you’ve been through enough, you figure out the patterns.”

Luo Feipeng smiled confidently. “Your big bro here is a seasoned veteran—seen it all, survived it all. This? Child’s play.”

Xiong Haoyu nodded eagerly, humbly seeking advice. “So, what happens next?”

“Next, well…”

The buzzing overhead suddenly stopped.

But instead of going dark as Luo Feipeng had predicted, the light flared up, becoming intensely bright.

The cold white light flooded the classroom, illuminating every hidden corner without a trace of shadow. The glare poured across the desks, casting a dazzling glow.

And it fully revealed the three crouching figures in the corner.

Luo Feipeng: “?”

This just makes me look dumb.