Luo Huayue pulled Rong Yi, who was still looking out the door, anxiously saying, “Rong Yi, luckily you’re back. If you didn’t return, they would have started fighting!”
“Who is fighting?” Rong Yi asked.
A group of boys gathered at the back of the classroom, with some girls instigating from the side.
The boy with acne all over his face arrogantly made faces in front of Ice, saying, “I told you! He Yongqiang! Sissy! He Yongqiang! Sissy!”
Zhang Haiyang, with a red face, held Ice, who had tears in his eyes, behind him and scolded, “Are you childish?”
The boy with acne smirked, saying loudly, “I heard it in the office! He Yongqiang secretly wears makeup! Isn’t that sissy? Haha!”
A girl nearby said indignantly, “It’s already this era, can’t boys wear makeup? Your thinking is too narrow-minded.”
The boys led by the acne boy shouted, “Boys wearing makeup? Disgusting! They’re like girls!”
The acne boy deliberately crossed over Zhang Haiyang to look at Ice and shouted, “Oh! He’s crying! Sissy, always crying!”
The boys behind him joined in, “Sissy! Always crying!”
Rong Yi thought to herself, “Aren’t they here pretending to be high school students? Are they playing this game so seriously?”
She didn’t know if the acne group were players or NPCs, but she hated people who thought “being different than them is abnormal.” She frowned, separated from the crowd, and put her arm around Ice’s shoulder.
Seeing Rong Yi stepping forward, the acne boy visibly shrank back, but to save face in front of his friends, he boasted, “Just rely on Rong Yi to protect you, hmph, what kind of man are you!”
Rong Yi whispered to Ice, “What’s your character setting?”
Ice sniffled, “A sissy who cries when bullied.”
Rong Yi said, “Oh. Then go hit him.”
Ice asked, “Huh?”
Rong Yi encouraged, “Crying when bullied and then fighting back isn’t contradictory. Solid character setting.”
She patted his back as if in the boxing ring, encouraging him like when Ice cheered her on to the boxing platform. “Go on.”
Ice took a few steps forward, making the acne boy hesitant, “What are you doing? You want to fight?!”
He threatened, shaking his fists, “Let’s fight! Can a sissy like you beat me?!”
Ice wiped away a tear and sobbed, “You guys are really…really…” He raised his leg high and slammed it down on the acne boy’s desk!
“Bang!”
“Too much!”
The desk broke into two with a loud noise. The water cup, pencil case on the table, textbooks, and miscellaneous items scattered on the floor.
Acne Boy:…
Classmates:…
Rong Yi handed Ice half a pack of tissues from her pocket, slid a lollipop from left to right with her tongue, and gestured towards the acne boy. “Hey, you, stop shaking your leg. You said it, come fight.”
Luo Huayue said, “Sister, I called you to mediate, not to start a fight!”
Acne Boy: “Teacher Wang! Waaahhh! Rong Yi and He Yongqiang bullied me! They broke my desk, waaahhh!”
The boys who were just causing a ruckus suddenly fell silent as Rong Yi turned around to see their homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, standing at the classroom door with a stern expression.
After learning the cause of the incident, they were all disciplined and received a punishment.
However, no player would usually draw attention to themselves in a dungeon where they cannot reveal their identity so flagrantly. This unexpected conflict inadvertently confirmed Rong Yi’s authoritative figure status and Ice’s sissy character setting.
According to Rong Yi’s observation, many players already believed that the two of them were NPC characters in the dungeon.
After they finished serving their punishment and returned to the classroom, many classmates covertly approached and asked if they wanted to go to the teaching building together at night to play scary games.
Rong Yi secretly noted down those few people. There was a high possibility that they were players. They probably wanted to recruit as many high-strength NPCs as possible, either to bear the brunt or ensure their safety.
She had ice agree to one classmate’s invitation, while she asked a few more questions, finding out that they were planning to play the Ouija board tonight, and then made a casual excuse of not wanting to go.
“I will tell you our plan later. You need to create a fearful atmosphere among the players,” Rong Yi leaned on the desk next to ice, flipping through the language textbook loudly to mask her voice.
Ice nodded, then suddenly asked, “Earlier, did Mr. Wang really ask us to have the class representative memorize the text before evening self-study?”
Zhang Haiyang, playing with a pen, remarked from the side, “You guys are set as underachievers, troublemakers, and get punished daily. Who would obediently memorize texts?”
Just then, Mr. Wang strutted in wearing high heels, holding a stack of test papers.
She handed the test papers to the bespectacled girl in the front row. “Class representative, distribute the papers.”
“For this class, we will have an impromptu language test.”
Instantly, there was a wave of lamentation in class as students listlessly passed on the test papers.
Rong Yi sat in the second-to-last row reserved for underachieving students, sketching symbols on a scrap paper, planning their actions for tonight with symbols only she could understand.
As the paper reached her, without even glancing at it, she passed it to the last row.
A boss should hand in a blank paper to show her mettle!
Midway through the exam, Rong Yi felt her plan was nearly complete, so she spared a look at the test paper.
Suddenly, she noticed something written outside the sealed line where it should have read “Do not answer outside the sealed line”:
“This test’s ranking will not be disclosed. Players who reach the average score can receive an important hint beneficial to their own camp.”
Rong Yi: …!!!
Glancing again, she saw that her three teammates were furiously writing. Even Zhang Haiyang couldn’t put his pen down for ten seconds.
They needed to be cautious not to be discovered, so they couldn’t message each other openly in public. The one who discovered this information could only write silently, unable to alert their teammates.
Rong Yi composed herself and quickly scanned through the paper, her initial anxiety easing.
Ah, there’s no need to rush.
She selected easier comprehension questions, filled in the blanks and multiple-choice randomly, and finally wrote her full name.
Test done, papers handed in!
More than their in-class test scores, Rong Yi was more focused on something else.
She pulled ice, who was still comparing answers with Luo Huayue in the front row. “Quick, memorize ‘Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion’!”
Ice looked puzzled. “Aren’t we supposed to maintain our underachiever facade?”
Rong Yi replied, “We’ve already solidified our facade today! Everyone already assumes we’re NPCs. Now we need to consider how to secure more favorable conditions for us!”
“But the test is over,” Ice said. “What else can we do?”
Rong Yi questioned him, “If memorizing text can win us hints, can’t it also give us hints?”
Ice seemed to understand but hesitated, “But only the two of us need to memorize the text. Isn’t that unfair to other players?”
Zhang Haiyang clapped, “I was mistaken before. It’s fair precisely because it’s only you two!”
“The dungeon’s difficulty is grade D, while ours is grade B, two levels higher than regular players. Why are we still considered noobs! Without additional assistance, this disrupts the game balance.”
“This is a fundamental characteristic of all game instances: there is no absolute path to heaven!”
Luo Huayue immediately took out a language book and flipped to the preface of “Tengwang Pavilion,” saying sternly, “We have one hour before evening self-study and dinner time. Let’s challenge each other, one-on-one tutoring. You must memorize ‘Tengwang Pavilion.'”
The four hungry individuals vigorously recited the text in the back of the classroom. When Teacher Wang saw this scene while organizing papers, she was somewhat surprised and also pleased, muttering to herself:
“Has Rong Yi had a breakthrough? A prodigal son turning over a new leaf…”
It’s said that one is most efficient when hungry, and Rong Yi verified this saying today.
“….Each sentence equally endowed, four, four rhymes complete. Please sprinkle the Pan River, causing waves in the land and sea!”
The class representative applauded, saying, “Rong Jie has really lifted her game today! Impressive!”
Rong Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Though stumbling, both she and Ice finished memorizing “Tengwang Pavilion” before evening self-study.
She heard a notification sound from her system but didn’t dare to check in the classroom. The four of them headed to the cafeteria together, grabbed some leftovers, and went to the small garden to eat while examining items.
“I found a trumpet in my backpack!” Ice took out a delicate small trumpet saying it can simulate ghost sounds with excellent effects but is a disposable item.
Rong Yi took out a remote controller from her backpack: “Remote-controlled object manipulator, it can move items remotely. Also a disposable item.”
“Oh! Grades are out!” Luo Huayue checked the system and said, “I think I scored above average, there’s a notification. How about you guys?”
The three academic underachievers shook their heads.
Luo Huayue read out the notification, “Students, get ready to play ‘Ouija’ in the abandoned classroom at the end of the fifth floor of the teaching building tonight.”
Rong Yi nodded, briefly explained her plan, and added, “Now with two item bonuses, we must reduce their ‘san’ points tonight. With a safety net, maybe we won’t have to take risks in the following days.”
Everyone nodded and quickly focused on eating.
Zhang Haiyang, with his mouth full of food, suddenly spat it out, looking terrified, “What the hell is that?!”
As they followed his gaze, they saw a tall, pale figure standing in the twilight, staring straight at them from the swaying shadows of the trees!
Shocked, Rong Yi took a closer look—it wasn’t that masochistic mute senior, was it?
Suddenly, she remembered what she said during the day:
“If you take me back to the sophomore (junior) class, Rong Jie will let you be my little brother, follow me in glory. How about that?”
Since other players could invite NPCs to join their camps, could it be that they could also invite NPCs to join the spy camp?
Did she unintentionally invite this NPC?
Rong Yi had a sudden idea.
Luo Huayue shrunk behind Ice, somewhat frightened, and said, “What is that! It feels so scary!”
Rong Yi stood up and waved at the mute senior.
He obediently walked out of the woods, his tall figure imposing as he stood in front of them.
“Let me introduce, this is my newly recruited little brother,” Rong Yi said with a smile.
Author’s note: Three updates! Sorry, didn’t make it before midnight.
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