Chapter 20

“...That’s the situation.”

Bai Li Dao and the others spent considerable effort confirming Wu Wang was still alive, then sighed and recounted everything they’d experienced that day to exchange information.

Wu Wang naturally had to reveal something too.

But he didn’t mention how he’d escaped the Black Room—it involved the 【Undying】.

He merely said Teacher Yao had only brought him to the door of the Black Room to scare him, and never actually locked him inside.

The three believed him without doubt.

After all, they couldn’t imagine how a newcomer could possibly survive such a place.

“So how exactly did you get the proof?” Shi Gandang asked, his expression still uneasy.

Wu Wang smiled in reply: “I’m a newcomer, but isn’t it extremely rude to pry into someone else’s skills?”

Skills!?

Bai Li Dao’s hand, already reaching for a cigarette, suddenly trembled.

Skills aren’t rare at all—every Spirit Catastrophe player has ten or twenty of them.

The key is—he’s only Level One.

The rewards from the beginner tutorial usually consist only of consumable items, like the 【No Illness, Forced Treatment Band-Aid】 I’ve already used.

Wild players like Earth Traveler Shi Gandang might not know, but a Level One player with a skill is extremely rare.

According to records I’ve seen in the Bureau’s archives, only five people have ever received one.

They are the Bureau Director, the Cult Leader, the Tarot Guild Master, and two unaffiliated free players—both of whom are legendary figures among Spirit Catastrophe players.

They all completed the beginner tutorial by slaughtering their way through it alone.

Only such an overwhelmingly dominant clearance triggers the system’s exception: granting a skill at Level One.

So... this kid here is one too?

“Don’t ask anymore. Personal information is highly private. We were thoughtless just now—I apologize.” Bai Li Dao stopped the other two curious ones.

“Don’t ask anymore—personal information is highly private; we were thoughtless just now, and I apologize,” Ba Li Dao interrupted the other two curious ones.

If he could recruit this newcomer into the Bureau, this man would surely become a major asset in the near future!

Then, back at the Bureau, he could brag: “He was my recruit!”—damn, just thinking about it made him want to climax, pure bliss.

He’d thought the guy was mentally unstable before...

No problem—the Bureau has the nation’s best psychologists. He’s still salvageable.

“Besides, if you really wanted to gouge out an eye, you’d need to pin down the eyelids, pry open the tendon ring and orbital bone gap, insert three fingers between the eyelid and eyeball, grip the roots of the six eye muscles, then pull out the eyeball along with the optic nerve—it’s too much trouble.” Wu Wang sighed.

“Besides, actually removing an eyeball requires stabilizing the eyelid, prying open the gap between the tendon ring and orbital bone, inserting three fingers between the eyelid and eyeball, gripping the roots of the six eye muscles, and then pulling out the eyeball along with the optic nerve—it’s too much trouble,” Wu Wang sighed.

Not bro!

What the hell are you talking about?!

Don’t say such horrifying things with a straight face! Do you actually know how to do that?!

“Let’s sleep now. The school nurse told me lights-out is in twenty minutes. If we don’t rest, it’ll count as a violation. Time’s almost up.”

Before the others could comment on his earlier words, Wu Wang rolled over to the top bunk and immediately fell asleep.

Hearing this, the three didn’t waste time.

Each returned to their beds and lay down.

Violating school rules is serious business.

Moments later, a strange sound came from outside the dorm.

It was the clattering of iron chains dragged across ceramic tiles—shrill and unsettling.

A massive black shadow drifted down the corridor, pausing before each dorm room to lean close and peer through the observation window, checking on the students’ rest.

The three pretending to sleep broke into cold sweats.

This thing’s pressure was far greater than those tentacle ghosts in the cafeteria!

“Huh! Snore-snore-huh! Snore-snore-huh!”

A sudden snore came from the top bunk.

The giant shadow outside froze, then turned away to check the next dorm.

“Bro, how the hell can you fall asleep in three seconds in a place like this?!” Shi Gandang stared, half-rising like he’d seen a ghost.

Wu Wang’s lips were slightly parted, his breathing steady, his muscles completely relaxed, showing zero alertness.

This kid is actually asleep!?

“Let’s sleep too. We’ve got four more days—we can’t stay awake forever,” Bai Li Dao suggested.

In his view, Wu Wang must have realized this too, which was why he could sleep peacefully.

The three lay down again.

Gradually, drowsiness crept over them.

Meanwhile, on the top bunk, Wu Wang slowly opened his eyes...

At this moment, Wu Wang on the top bunk slowly opened his eyes…

“Whir! Beep-beep-beep! Ding-ding-ding!”

At dawn, the cacophony echoing across campus jolted everyone awake.

This school’s wake-up bell was as shrill as an air raid siren—it might as well have woken up the neighbor’s hen’s eggs.

The three groggily climbed out of bed.

Bai Li Dao stared at the motionless top bunk, reached out to wake him—after all, being late meant being locked in the Black Room.

But his hand met empty air.

Wu Wang was gone!

“He got the proof, right? Doesn’t need to attend class—he probably went out looking for clues,” Shi Gandang said matter-of-factly.

After yesterday’s events, no one treated him as a newcomer anymore.

“True. Let’s go. Today’s an exam—try to do as well as you can,” Bai Li Dao said at the door, reminding the two behind him.

But their expressions grew even more grim.

They asked uncertainly: “Bai Li, bro... you really know how to answer those questions?”

Bai Li Dao frowned: “I’m fine. My academics aren’t top-tier, but high school material? On a 100-point scale, 70–80 should be no problem. What about you two?”

Ba Li Dao frowned and said, “Not bad—I’m not top-tier academically, but with high school material, I’d easily score 70 to 80 out of 100. What about you guys?”

“I never went to school.”

“?”

One answer was heavier than the next.

One of them was even a fucking escapee from nine-year compulsory education!

“You two... damn...”

“Forget it. Let’s cheat.”

Bai Li Dao resorted to this last resort helplessly.

A bad premonition rose in his chest.

Could it be these two wouldn’t die to ghosts or urban legends—but fail and die because of an exam?

That’d be bitterly ironic.

————

Teaching Building, Sixth Floor Office.

Teacher Yao was grinning as he flipped through the white ring in his hand.

It was a right granted by Principal Wang.

With this, he could enter any location in the school without permission, even investigate and question other homeroom teachers’ offices.

With this item, I can go anywhere in the school without restriction and enter other homeroom teachers’ offices to conduct investigations without needing permission.

Convenient for finding the true culprit behind the Black Room incident.

Though he already knew who it was.

“Hey, old man, you seem happy? Let me fix that for you.”

A hateful voice came from behind. Teacher Yao’s grin vanished instantly.

That damn student had arrived!

“Where’s the official stamp? I’ll handle the OA myself.” Wu Wang treated the office like his own, rummaging through Teacher Yao’s desk drawers.

Veins bulged on the other’s forehead.

His fingers even began elongating and sharpening, nearly transforming into a ghostly form.

“Give it here! I’ll stamp it for you!”

Though he was surprised Wu Wang had actually obtained the proof for skipping class, as long as the procedure was flawless, he had no fear of being held accountable.

Teacher Yao also pulled out a copy of the 【School Rules List】 from his drawer and handed it over.

This was what they’d agreed on yesterday.

Wu Wang didn’t even look at it—he stuffed it straight into his pocket.

After all, no classes meant plenty of time to study these bizarre 【School Rules】 later.

He had another reason for coming here.

He placed a slip of paper covered in writing before the stamping Teacher Yao—words that made the entire ghost shudder.

Placed a slip of paper covered in writing before Master Yao, who had stamped it—the words on it made the entire ghost tremble.

"I know Principal Wang asked you to look into the situation with the Black Room—we can work together."

"Pick the homeroom teacher you hate most. I’ll pretend to be scheming to skip class and drag them into the Black Room affair, framing them."

"Then he’ll be the traitor trying to help students escape the Black Room, and you’ll be the hero who uncovered the truth. Principal Wang will see you in a new light—your status will rise naturally."

"Now, tell me where the art building is."

After reading the note, Teacher Yao snapped his head up, staring at Wu Wang with disbelief, trying to detect any emotional shift in his gaze.

But all he saw was the calm, lifeless stillness in the other’s dead-fish eyes, set against his refined face.

Damn it!

Is this guy even a student?!

His own thoughts and every move felt completely under this guy’s control.

Because of this proposal…

He was actually tempted.

"What exactly do you want?" Teacher Yao asked again, the same question he’d asked yesterday.

Wu Wang silently picked up the note.

Then he pulled out a lighter and burned the white paper, covered in temptation, to ash—eliminating any trace that might cause trouble.

Then he smiled and answered with words the other never expected—words that matched, word for word, what Teacher Yao had secretly thought yesterday:

"To gain special privileges under the rules, and to satisfy my foolish curiosity."

"!?!"

He knows what I’m thinking?!

At that moment, Wu Wang’s refined, pleasant face…

In Teacher Yao’s eyes, twisted into something monstrous and terrifying—a demon skilled at manipulating minds.