Chapter 25: What Do You Do When You Run Into a Ghost? Kill It!

“Little Fat, let’s chat, don’t be so scared—come here, bro’ll give you candy.”

Liu Yang’s lips twitched slightly.

Watching Wu Wang coax the chubby kid toward a secluded spot like a con artist luring a child.

The most absurd part was when the kid actually pulled a candy out of his pocket.

Although the chubby kid muttered something like “Chen Jie said you’re dangerous,” the saliva nearly dripping from his mouth told a different story.

He was genuinely hungry.

After all, you couldn’t expect any convenience store or anything like that in the art building.

Even those here had unconsciously forgotten the oddity that they hadn’t eaten in a long time.

The dead don’t feel hunger.

“See? That’s the spirit! I’m not some creepy guy—I just got here and wanted to ask you a few questions.” Wu Wang’s grinning face as the chubby kid approached made Liu Yang want to call the police.

“Wotcha wanna know?” The chubby kid spoke muffled through the candy in his mouth.

Wu Wang asked casually: “Oh, I just want to know—is there any place in this art building I shouldn’t go? I’m afraid wandering around might piss Chen Nan off.”

At these words, the chubby kid froze.

He mumbled, eyes darting away: “N-no… Chen Jie won’t restrict your freedom.”

Clearly, he was terrible at lying.

For Wu Wang, who had studied *The Actor’s Self-Cultivation* and *Micro-Expression Psychology*, this anomaly was instantly obvious.

He narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly, word by word: “That place is on the first floor?”

The chubby kid remained silent.

“Second floor?”

“Third floor?”

When he mentioned the third floor, the chubby kid’s expression didn’t change.

But above his head, a phrase appeared—

【He’s terrified and wants to run away】

Bingo!

Let's be honest, the red vertical pupils' ability to see through one's inner thoughts is utterly unbeatable.

“Oh~ If Chen Nan doesn’t mind, then I’ll go check out the third floor~” Wu Wang deliberately dragged out his words, slow and drawn-out.

Bang—

No sooner had he finished than the chubby kid lunged forward and grabbed his collar.

His face tense: “No! You can’t go to the third floor! That place… just don’t go, okay!”

“Why? Didn’t you just say Chen Nan won’t restrict my freedom?” Wu Wang narrowed his eyes like a hungry wolf locking onto prey.

The chubby kid didn’t answer immediately.

The two stood frozen for about three minutes.

His plump body slumped like a deflated balloon; the chubby kid sighed: “Chen Jie doesn’t know how dangerous the third floor is. No one else knows—except me.”

Sure enough, this chubby kid is no ordinary person.

Why, at the entrance of the art building, had Liu Yang seen the chubby kid but no one else?

Even Chen Nan and the others only became visible to him after he spoke to them.

Remember, at that time, he was under the effect of the red vertical pupils!

Since then, Wu Wang had suspected the chubby kid had something wrong—but he’d never found concrete proof.

Until now.

He couldn’t pretend anymore.

Boom—

Before they could continue talking, the entire building suddenly roared with a deafening sound.

Followed by violent shaking, like an earthquake, sending Liu Yang and the chubby kid tumbling to the floor.

About a minute later.

The shaking stopped.

Only then did Wu Wang frown and ask: “Whether this building is shoddy construction aside—are everyone else spider-men?”

He noticed other students nearby still playing, laughing, or doodling on the walls.

They hadn’t moved a muscle from the tremor—even the water in the basin on the table hadn’t rippled.

The earthquake had targeted only them.

“We’re not on the same layer as them, right?” Wu Wang finally broke.

Only after realizing Wu Wang and Liu Yang had also felt the quake did the chubby kid explain: “Got it? They can’t sense danger at all. The thing causing this shaking lives in the broadcast room on the third floor.”

Now Wu Wang understood why the kid was so timid.

While everyone else lived in peaceful ignorance, the chubby kid had to endure these quakes periodically.

And he’d been constantly terrified of some horror on the third floor—probably afraid even in his sleep that something might happen.

Because only he could sense the danger.

So to everyone else, the chubby kid just seemed to randomly vanish in fear for no reason.

“So you’ve seen that person?” Wu Wang caught the blind spot.

It seemed he recalled something.

The chubby kid’s rosy face turned instantly pale.

He trembled: “That’s not a person! It’s a mountain-sized monster! It wears strange rings—and every time it turns them, it triggers an earthquake!”

Bulky figure. Strange rings.

These two keywords made Wu Wang’s expression twist strangely.

He felt like he’d heard this description before.

“Damn! The broadcast room on the third floor is that bastard Principal Wang!?”

No wonder Old Yao said the guy wasn’t in his office after midnight.

He was in the art building all along!

The earlier quake meant Principal Wang was using his rings’ powerful ability.

According to Bai Li Dao’s description, those rings could pause time, verify information, teleport, and more.

Why was he using his ability alone on the third floor?

“If he’s alone, he’s probably using the teleport ability to leave the art building,” Wu Wang’s mind raced.

What urgent matter would make Principal Wang use his ring’s power to escape?

Wait—

There actually might be…

————

“Damn it! You said you could knock them out for half an hour! Did ten minutes get eaten by dogs?”

“...”

Facing Tu Xing Sun’s curses, Shi Gandang said nothing.

Because it was indeed his miscalculation.

He hadn’t expected those ghost security guards to be so bizarre.

That item, in a normal dungeon, could knock out any target except the boss.

As long as no one touched them or made noise, they’d sleep for half an hour.

But these ghost guards only slept for twenty minutes!

They woke up just as they were about to leave.

“Alright, we’ve got what we came for. Two choices now,” Bai Li Dao said calmly: “Either head straight to the art building, or return to the dorm and hide for the night—we’re not fully exposed yet.”

The three were currently sprinting wildly, using all sorts of strange abilities.

They’d put considerable distance between themselves and the ghost guards.

Only now could they discuss their next move.

The first option was extremely risky.

After all, their mission was to capture the truant—entering the art building meant searching slowly for clues and the person.

If the ghost guards trapped them inside, they were done for.

The second option seemed best.

The ghost guards hadn’t seen their faces.

If they returned to the dorm and went to sleep, Bai Li Dao didn’t believe the school’s thousands of students could possibly find them.

They could even enter the art building tomorrow night with the paint box and investigate slowly.

“I choose the dorm.”

“Me too. Sorry.”

Tu Xing Sun and Shi Gandang lowered their heads and made their choice.

Hearing this, Bai Li Dao clenched his fist tighter.

The dorm option was indeed the best choice.

But they weren’t just three people.

The widow is still waiting over at the Black Room to rendezvous with them!

The ghost security guard has been alerted, but the others don’t yet realize danger is drawing closer.

If we go back to the dorm now,

we’re completely selling out the widow.

“Brother Baili, if he gets caught, he can even take the blame, making the school think they’ve captured the real culprit—and relax their guard, making it easier for us to act tomorrow,” Tu Xingsun urged.

“What are you talking about!” Baili Dao snapped angrily. “The clues were found by him, the Black Room was explored by him, the danger was triggered by us—and now you want to sell out the new guy to take our place?”

But Shi Gandang stepped forward, blocking Tu Xingsun.

He silently told Baili Dao: “Sorry, free players aren’t as loyal as you imagine. Interest is truth. I can make a concession—you get an extra share of the rewards after the dungeon ends, since it was my mistake to begin with.”

That’s right…

Fundamentally, they were just strangers who’d come together to trigger the dungeon.

They had no ties beyond profit.

As long as they themselves profited, that was all that mattered.

But…

I can’t fucking do it!

Baili Dao glared and cursed: “Who cares about your damn stuff! Get out of my sight—right now, this instant!”

The other two exchanged uneasy glances.

“Then what are you planning to…”

Before they could finish, Baili Dao cut in: “I’m going to rescue the widow in the Black Room! If it comes to it, I’ll lie down there with her! You two get back to the dorm—cowards!”

Tu Xingsun frowned: “What if you run into a ghost on the way—won’t you sell us out?”

“Hah, do you think everyone’s like you?” Baili Dao sneered. “What if I meet a ghost? I’ll just smash it to death!”

Boom—

The moment he finished speaking, a cloud of dust erupted before the three of them.

A towering, mountain-like figure emerged from the dust, chilling to behold.

A voice tinged with anger rang out—

“Who are you planning to smash to death?”