Warning, this chapter has a slightly scary part. Scared little angels can choose to read during the day.
Just as Rong Yi finished speaking, several people heard a “ding dong” notification from the personal system simultaneously.
【npc-Senior A from the higher grade sent a team request to your team. Accept/Reject】
The three of them looked up at Rong Yi together.
She was the team leader, so only she had the authority to approve the request.
Zhang Haiyang pointed and gestured with fear, then recoiled, rubbing the goosebumps on his arm. “Rong, we need to know at least, what’s the deal with this little brother of yours?”
Why did he give off such a terrifying vibe for no reason?
Ice tidied up the lunch box with her slender fingers, her eyes without eyeliner glancing towards the guys:
“Sisters, did you have any special interaction with him before? I feel like he has a pretty high affection for you. He neither attacks actively nor moves until you give the signal.”
Rong Yi: “Maybe. He helped me along the way.”
“Then you’ve increased his affection!” Ice played the most PC games among them and understood some game mechanics better than the others. “Maybe you unintentionally acquired a pet.”
“He appeared suddenly, disappeared suddenly, didn’t stick with players, and there were no suspicions from NPCs about his appearance or actions.”
The reason he helped himself, his motivation for joining the team, everything was unknown.
Maybe, just as Ice said, he was the “pet” she unintentionally obtained?
Why was it that only she had such good luck, picking up a “pet” just by getting lost?
Rong Yi suddenly remembered Zhang Haiyang’s discussion on “game balance” before the evening self-study.
Was it because the difficulty of being a spy faction was too high, so for balance, the game deliberately sent a helper NPC to assist them?
The more Rong Yi thought about it, the more she felt this possibility was plausible!
“He should be… a strange but helpful senior student, right?”
Boldly, she patted the boy’s arm, feeling his icy coolness through the soft school uniform.
It was too chilling.
The boy stood obediently, allowing her to touch him.
“If possible, I want him to join our ‘prank’ tonight. If something unexpected happens, he can ‘help’ us.”
For example, confuse other players to make them mistakenly believe Senior A is the spy. Since he’s not from the Sophomore (Junior) Class, just instruct him not to approach the spy team, even if it’s “death without evidence.”
Zhang Haiyang shivered, and Luo Huayue hesitated as they exchanged glances. “Rong, it’s not that we don’t trust your judgment, but look at this… brother, he’s already creeping people out during the day, imagine being with him at night—we might just get scared to death!”
Luo Huayue quickly nodded.
“You guys are so timid!” Ice scoffed, clicking her nails disdainfully. “Isn’t scaring people the whole point? We’re supposed to scare others. Bringing this ‘pet’ along, scaring people during the day and even more at night, our strategic value will skyrocket, maximizing our efforts!”
Rong Yi nodded in agreement.
This was also one of her considerations. On the first night, with limited information about the opposing team, they could score as much as possible to secure their foundation, and then they could coast smoothly.
To dispel the two’s fears, Rong Yi even interacted with Senior A a bit.
“Come, senior, shake hands and show them that you are friendly!” She generously reached out her hand.
The senior tilted his head, extended his cold hand, and gently shook hers.
“See?” Rong Yi turned back, “Not scary at all, right!”
Luo Huayue: … Sister, are you training a dog!
But this move did indeed dispel the senior’s sense of fear and mystery, and the two finally nodded in agreement. Rong Yi clicked to confirm, and the undercover team became a group of five.
The senior watched them leave. Several people went to the evening self-study to show their faces and then mixed with the NPC students returning to the dormitory.
It was a boarding school where evening self-study was not mandatory and students could directly return to the dormitory midway, making it very convenient for them to play tricks.
Ice stayed behind, meeting with the brave task force leader. The undercover team went ahead to prepare in the abandoned classroom.
The fifth floor consisted of rarely used classrooms, almost always empty, emitting a long-standing musty smell.
At the end of the corridor, in front of the abandoned classroom door, a ghostly pale and tall figure was already waiting.
Zhang Haiyang shivered, “…I think we don’t need to do anything. Just leave the senior here, and we can relax and collect the points.”
The door to the abandoned classroom was tightly locked, but the lock on the window was broken, rendering the locked door useless.
Rong Yi opened the window and was about to climb over when Zhang Haiyang stopped her.
He delicately touched the dusty windowsill with his fingers, leaving a barely noticeable fingerprint. Zhang Haiyang pointed to the half-fallen light tube on the classroom ceiling and the dim corridor lights.
“The classroom lights are out, and the corridor lights provide illumination. If the windowsill dust leaves a shoe print, it will be noticed immediately. We will be exposed.”
“This must be a trap laid out by the instance.”
Rong Yi nodded in agreement, “Indeed.”
Luo Huayue gestured to the height of the windowsill, “So how do we get in?”
Zhang Haiyang observed the surroundings and clapped softly, “I have a way.”
He crouched into a stance, hands intertwined, signaling Luo Huayue, “Come, step on my hands and jump in, without touching the windowsill.”
The petite Luo Huayue supported herself on Zhang Haiyang’s shoulders, placed one foot on his hands, and with a slight push from Zhang Haiyang, she effortlessly leaped into the classroom without touching the windowsill.
He then jumped up, like a gibbon, hooking onto the window ledge above, pulling himself in through the window.
The window was high, leaving behind fingerprints would not be noticed. This method was indeed effective.
Rong Yi also attempted to jump up but failed. Though tall, she lacked the necessary bounce to reach the windowsill, her fingers barely grazing it.
“Forget it, Rong Yi.” Zhang Haiyang advised, “Even if you manage to hook onto it, you wouldn’t have the strength to pull yourself in.”
“You are tall, I fear I might drop you. I intended for the senior to give you a boost.”
Rong Yi turned to look at the senior quietly trailing behind them.
Should she step on him to get over?
To be honest, although she considered him her “baby” follower, she was not confident enough to command him at will.
He was like a black hole-like inanimate object emitting an inexplicable sense of oppression.
As she hesitated, the senior suddenly moved.
His actions were decisive, not giving Rong Yi any time to react, and directly lifted her up horizontally!
With his height, the windowsill only reached his waist, and he easily placed the person in his arms into the classroom.
Although the environment was gloomy and A-senior always had a pale face like a corpse, Luo Huayue excitedly tugged on Rong Yi’s sleeve, shaking it, “Princess carry!”
Sighing, she said, “We’ve stumbled into a strange CP!”
Rong Yi chuckled awkwardly, “It’s not a princess carry. It’s for the mission. Look how quickly I got in.”
A-senior effortlessly climbed in through the window with the help of a hook, landing as quietly as a cat.
Turning back, he stiffly closed the dusty window.
The classroom grew even darker.
Rong Yi coughed and turned on a flashlight. Among the scattered desks, chairs, cabinets, sports equipment, and curtains in the classroom, finding a hiding place wasn’t difficult.
“Although we have two extra props, the overall plan remains the same.” Rong Yi adjusted the ghost voice amplifier and handed the remote control to Zhang Haiyang.
Luo Huayue took a ping-pong ball and nestled into a concealed space created by desks, chairs, and curtains.
Rong Yi gestured towards the busy A-senior, “You—”
Tall and with long legs, Rong Yi looked around and realized only her hiding spot could fit him, so she waved him over, “Come.”
The two of them squeezed into a corner of a cabinet along the wall, closing the door behind them.
The undercover team was ready.
In a quiet moment, Rong Yi and A-senior’s arms were pressed tightly together.
She heard her own rapid breath echoing inside the cabinet.
Suddenly, A-senior reached out and gently patted her back, soothing her like a nervous child.
His hand behind her was cold and stiff. Gradually, Rong Yi calmed down and gave him a grateful smile.
“Whoosh—” she heard the sound of a window being opened.
“Eh? They’re jumping in through the window!”
The daredevil team had arrived!
Peeking through a crack in the cabinet door, Rong Yi saw eight people jumping in through the window one by one, with Ice among them.
Not all those who invited her and Ice to the dare were present; it seemed that the missions for regular players were not nightly occurrences.
They lit candles, sat in a circle in the middle of the classroom, and placed a white sheet of paper in the center with “yes,” “no,” numbers 0-9, and some common Chinese characters written on it.
“Aren’t we supposed to have four people for playing the Ouija board?” A timid girl asked, “Aren’t we a bit too many.”
A boy nonchalantly responded, “Hey! Rules are meant to be broken. Since we have many players—”
Before he could finish, Rong Yi noticed that his classmates around him suddenly turned to him, giving him strange looks.
The boy shivered and quickly changed his words, “Good players, let’s all be brave together!”
The classmates turned back, smiling and taking out the Ouija board, preparing to start.
With both players and NPCs among the classmates, Rong Yi speculated that if the boy had truly slipped up, the NPC would punish him harshly for breaking character. Other players, to avoid revealing themselves, would also blend in with the NPCs to partake in the punishment.
Breaking character was strictly prohibited, a rule that must be followed in this instance of the instance.
With the setup complete, students sat in the dim candlelight, eight fingers resting on the edge of the overturned white porcelain plate on the paper, chanting in unison:
“Ouija board, Ouija board, please come out.”
“So repeated three times.
Suddenly, a chilly wind blew in, extinguishing two candles, causing a timid girl to scream!
Zhang Haiyang quietly withdrew his hand from the newly opened window crack.
Ice swallowed nervously and asked softly, “Spirit, spirit, are you here?”
The plate everyone placed their fingers on subtly shifted on the white paper.
This was just a group play of many people struggling, with Ice using his boxing strength to move the plate to the “yes.”
He immediately exclaimed in fear, “The spirit is here!”
Several timid classmates gasped, unsure if they were scared by the spirit or by him.
Rong Yi heard a “ding dong” from her system, indicating that the players’ sanity points had been added. She smiled satisfactorily.
Ice was the first to remove his finger from the porcelain plate, pretending to be scared, and said, “Enough! I don’t want to play anymore! It’s frightening!”
A few timid girls also withdrew their hands, wanting to leave shivering.
The boy who almost gave away the prank frowned, “You don’t want to play halfway? What do you mean? Touch the plate quickly, or the spirit will get angry!”
Ice stood up brushing his pants, snorted, “I said I’m not playing! Who cares if it gets angry or not!”
Just as he finished speaking, a ping-pong ball rolled out from a dark corner, all the way to where Ice was sitting.
The boy swallowed nervously and trembled, “Look, it’s angry!”
Ice also trembled and said, “What can a ball explain? It just rolled out accidentally!”
He carefully picked up the ping-pong ball and rolled it back into the darkness.
“See?” Ice forced a smile, “Isn’t this—”
Hidden in the darkness, Luo Huayue received the ping-pong ball, counted to five silently, and rolled it out again.
“Ahhhh—”
“There’s a ghost, a real ghost!”
“Mom, I want to go home—”
Outside, there was a expected scream of terror!
All the members of the hidden team heard their system keep ringing.
Great harvest!
Rong Yi couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw everyone screaming and jumping up, nobody touching the porcelain plates.
Next, it’s Zhang Haiyang’s turn to act. She thought.
The boy wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.
He was a player, who had also scored above average in today’s language exam and received a system prompt:
“Don’t be afraid, find the source of the sound, and you will be pleasantly surprised.”
So he firmly believed that the ghost activities at night would surely reveal the flaw to him!
But everything that just happened plunged him into a state of fear, unable to break free!
Trust the game’s hint! He told himself, there are no ghosts in this world!
As he lowered his head, he saw the overturned porcelain plate moving on its own!
“Ahhhh—” he pulled his hair and screamed in fear, his sanity points plummeting!
Other classmates, drawn by his voice, saw the porcelain plate moving on its own and also began to scream!
The disposable remote control disappeared from Zhang Haiyang’s hand after use.
The plan was executed perfectly!
Rong Yi picked up the ghost sound speaker, preparing to deliver the final blow to them!”
Just as everyone sighed in relief because the plate had stopped moving, a eerie female voice echoed in their ears:
“Call me… for what…?”
“I’m here…”
“I’m behind you…”
“Look at me…”
“Look at me…”
People screamed and scrambled to climb out of the windows to escape the classroom!
Amidst the chaos, Ice was shouting wildly, intensifying their sense of terror. When he turned around, he saw one of the boys who had been terrified before suddenly walking towards the wall corner!
“Don’t be afraid, find the source of the sound, there will be a surprising reward.”
The boy’s sanity value was already at a critical point, but he remembered the crucial hint the system had given him!
If he could catch the “mole” mentioned in the mission, he would receive a large number of points and could then relax!
He frantically and quickly moved things aside, his actions wild. Ice couldn’t stop him in time!
Rong Yi was startled to see the boy standing in front of the hiding place cabinet!
“I’ve got you!” He pulled the cabinet handle with both hands, about to open it—
A deathly pale face, a pitch-black eye, stared straight at him through the crack in the door.
The boy felt like he was plunged into a bucket of ice water, chills spreading all over!
What was that? Those were definitely not human eyes!
Unidentified fear eroded his brain, and his sanity value plummeted—
Ice caught up to him, forcefully pulling the boy away from the cabinet!
He was already staring blankly, drool flowing from the corner of his mouth, muttering incoherent words.
This person was scared out of his wits.
Not knowing what technique his teammate had used, the system’s constant prompts rang together in a series, guiding Ice to give a thumbs up toward the pitch-black crack of the door, dragging the boy to catch up with the daring team running out of the classroom.
Rong Yi relaxed greatly, standing behind his senior schoolmate, relieved.
Although at the last moment, the boy didn’t open the cabinet door, they had narrowly escaped danger, and the system had accumulated a considerable amount of sanity points.
Next, they could enjoy campus life happily!
“My goodness!” Ice made an exaggerated gesture, “Are you guys considering making a horror movie? The atmosphere last night was incredible!”
After a good night’s sleep in the dormitory, the next day, the undercover team (except for the elusive Senior A) basked in the bright sunlight, using the noisy break time as cover as they chatted in the corridor.
“That ping pong ball scared the chubby kid next to me so much he peed himself!” Ice laughed, “The ghost in red clothes was the best, just when everyone thought they had escaped, she suddenly appeared. How many sanity points was that worth!”
Several people who were joking along suddenly paused.
Luo Huayue: “…What ghost in red clothes.”
Ice, excitedly: “The one on the stairs. You guys kept it from me! I screamed so much, did a great job acting, the effect was great!”
“Was it you or Rong Yi dressed up? The costume was really good, and being able to retract into the wall, tell me, how did you do it?”
The three of them looked at each other. Zhang Haiyang covered his head with a cry, “I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”
Rong Yi: “…Ice, we never dressed up as anything, there was no ghost in red clothes…”
Author’s Note: This scene pays homage to “The Conjuring”.
