The next morning, the players were woken up as usual by the sharp sound of the morning bell.
The faint morning light streamed into the dormitory. After getting up, Li Zhi opened the door and glanced down the hallway. The floor was spotless, and there was nothing unusual. It seemed as if the vomiting they heard from Bei Xuan last night had been just an illusion.
Xu Yiran, who was next door, heard Li Zhi open the door and quickly came out as well. Both of their faces were pale, as if they hadn’t slept all night. With fear in their eyes, they cast a glance at Bei Xuan’s dorm and hurriedly approached Li Zhi.
Trembling, Xu Yiran whispered, “Sister Zhi, did you hear it last night?”
Li Zhi replied, “Come in.”
The two of them entered the dormitory, closing the door behind them. Tan Manyu was on the balcony, washing up. After the four of them gathered together, Xu Yiran and Peipei’s complexions finally improved slightly.
“Last night, we were almost scared to death…” Xu Yiran said, on the verge of tears.
“We barely slept the whole night, terrified that if we did, she would break in. Sister Zhi, what do you think happened to her? Has she turned into a ghost?”
Tan Manyu returned after washing up. “Did you hear the sound of her vomiting last night?”
Peipei nodded repeatedly. “Yes! It was so disgusting! I almost threw up just hearing it!”
Tan Manyu shared her analysis. “There’s probably something inside her body, the same thing that’s infecting them. It sounded like bugs crawling inside her. Didn’t she say her stomach hurt? Maybe it’s those bugs gnawing at her organs.”
The two of them recalled the scene from last night—Bei Xuan standing in the hallway, vomiting bugs—and both gagged at the thought.
“Stop talking about it! We won’t be able to eat breakfast!”
After washing up, the four of them left the dorm and ran into Bei Xuan and her two companions coming from the other end. Xu Yiran and Peipei instinctively took a step back. Their avoidance must have been too obvious, as Bei Xuan shot them a glare and sneered, “So, you know you’re unlucky, huh? Stay away from me! Don’t get too close!”
With that, she arrogantly walked away.
The four looked at each other, and Xu Yiran whispered, “She’s back to normal, but that makes it even more strange.”
“Bei Xuan’s odd behavior worsened after they played the four-corner game,” Tan Manyu said quietly as they headed downstairs toward the cafeteria. “When she first entered this instance, her personality was still fairly steady. Even if she was upset, she wouldn’t show it.”
But now, it seemed like she didn’t care about her audience image at all.
Li Zhi said calmly, “Whatever’s infecting them is amplifying their true nature, heightening the darker sides of their personalities.”
They were gradually being controlled by whatever was inside them. Their words and actions were no longer under their own conscious control, yet they were completely unaware of it.
By the time they reached the cafeteria, the behavior of Zhou Jianzhang’s group further confirmed Li Zhi’s theory.
They threw a major tantrum at the cafeteria lady because the food wasn’t to their liking. Even Zhou Jianzhang, who had been presenting himself as a reliable and upright gym teacher since the start of the instance, now looked grim, with a dark, malicious glint in his eyes—just like the three people following him, exuding a strange evil aura.
These four were the ones Li Zhi had suspected from the beginning, thinking they were not “of the same kind” as her.
While they were eating, separated by a few tables, Tan Manyu gave Li Zhi a knowing look: as expected, under the influence of that thing, they were revealing their true selves.
Li Zhi finished breakfast quickly and, before Zhou Jianzhang left the cafeteria, walked over with a smile. “Good morning, Teacher Zhou.”
Last night, Zhou Jianzhang had been all polite, pretending to make small talk. But this morning, his attitude had turned cold. “What do you want?”
This reaction was not something the normal Zhou Jianzhang would display.
Li Zhi’s smile deepened. “Didn’t you play the Lamp Spirit game last night? Could you share the incantation with us? We want to play tonight as well—let’s all clear the game together as soon as possible.”
After she spoke, the people around the table raised their heads and glared at her in displeasure. Zhou Jianzhang sneered, his lips curling into a mocking smile. “We risked our lives to get that incantation, and you think we’ll just give it to you? Isn’t that too easy for you?”
Li Zhi remained sincere. “We can trade. I have clues that you don’t know about.”
“No need to pay attention to her,” Bei Xuan said coldly. “We can clear the game without those clues.”
Zhou Jianzhang shot a dark, brooding look at Li Zhi and, just as expected, ignored her from then on.
The audience watching the screen was startled by that glance:
【What happened to Teacher Zhou?! I really liked him when he first entered the instance!】
【Didn’t Li Zhi say that thing would amplify their true nature? So, this is the real Zhou Jianzhang? He’s not as upright as he seemed, huh, such a good actor.】
【Is there any hope for these people? Li Zhi, say something!】
【LOL, Li Zhi is just a player, not some deity. Don’t expect her to handle everything.】
【It’s obvious more than half of the fifteen people are already doomed. Why won’t they trust the expert? Li Zhi warned them.】
【Lian Qinglin was right. It’s hard to save those determined to die. No one is obligated to be responsible for someone else’s life.】
Li Zhi hadn’t expected to get the Lamp Spirit incantation from them. This attempt was merely to confirm her suspicions.
On the way to the classroom, she quietly instructed the others, “If Zhou Jianzhang had ulterior motives when entering this instance, and now that darkness is amplified, he’s become more dangerous. No one should be alone, and don’t ever be in a room alone with him.”
Everyone nodded quickly.
The classroom was as tense and serious as ever. The teacher remained harsh, but Zhou Jianzhang and his group, who seemed on the verge of going berserk outside, became obedient the moment they stepped into the classroom. It seemed that whatever was controlling them also had some kind of rule: once in the classroom, they had to behave like good students.
After last night’s Lamp Spirit game, their scores had all increased to over thirty points. At lunchtime, Tan Manyu overheard them planning to play the mirror game in the dormitory that evening.
Li Zhi packed up her desk and said to the group, “Tonight, we’re playing the Four Corners game in the classroom.”
There was a strange sense of anticipation and excitement among them.
That wasn’t normal! This was a horror game!
After lunch, Li Zhi called Xu Yiran and Peipei over. “You two distract the dorm supervisor. I need to go through the dorm roster.”
Excited to finally have a chance to contribute, Xu Yiran quickly responded, “Leave it to us!”
Li Zhi and Tan Manyu hid behind the flowerbed outside. Not long after, the dorm supervisor followed Xu Yiran and Peipei out of the dormitory building, heading toward the back. Xu Yiran even flashed an “OK” sign in the direction of the flowerbed.
The two immediately headed into the dormitory.
Tan Manyu kept watch by the door while Li Zhi pulled out a damp cabinet and began flipping through the rosters. Based on the second-year Class One enrollment records, she soon found the records from last year, back when the students were still first-years.
Xiang Min lived in room 404, a dormitory that was now emptied. Li Zhi spotted the dorm room key marked “404” on a large ring of keys hanging behind the door. She took it down and left the supervisor’s office.
With a signal to Tan Manyu, they silently made their way to the fourth floor.
During the afternoon break, the fourth floor, like the empty second floor, was eerily quiet. They found dorm room 404. Just as Li Zhi was about to insert the key into the lock, Tan Manyu grabbed her wrist. “NPCs in these instances usually turn into vengeful spirits after they die. Could Xiang Min’s ghost be inside?”
If that were the case, going in recklessly could be too dangerous.
Li Zhi replied, “The warning device isn’t going off.”
Whether or not Xiang Min’s ghost was inside, the fact that the warning device wasn’t triggered meant there was no immediate danger.
Tan Manyu finally relaxed her grip. “Alright, go ahead.” Then she sighed, “I’m really envious of you guys who have those special tools.”
Li Zhi inserted the key and unlocked the door to dorm room 404, smiling as she said, “You’ll have one soon enough.”
As she pushed the door open, a musty, damp smell hit them—typical of a room left unoccupied for a long time. The dormitory was no different from the one they stayed in on the second floor, with the same size and layout. There were four beds and four desks, but three of them had been cleared out, leaving only the left lower bunk and its corresponding desk untouched, with traces of a life once lived.
“Xiang Min was a student from a poor mountain area,” Li Zhi explained. “Her only family was her grandmother, who’s over eighty years old. After she died, no one came to collect her belongings.”
Li Zhi turned on the light, and the bright incandescent bulb illuminated the room. On Xiang Min’s neatly folded bed, there was a blue checkered blanket, and next to the small, worn-out pillow lay a copy of Fortress Besieged. Li Zhi picked it up and examined it. There was a label on the spine, indicating it had been borrowed from the school library.
Tan Manyu walked over to the desk and examined it. Xiang Min didn’t have many belongings—mostly textbooks and workbooks. Inside a cut-open soda can were several used-up pen refills. Tan Manyu opened the drawer and, among a stack of unused notebooks, found a plain-looking journal.
Excited, she flipped through it and exclaimed, “Li Zhi! It’s Xiang Min’s diary.”
Li Zhi closed the wardrobe and walked over. The two of them began reading under the light:
— September 2nd, XX year:
I finally got accepted into a high school in the city! The teachers and leaders said they would sponsor my living and tuition expenses for the next three years. I’m so grateful! I won’t let the school down!
— October 8th, XX year:
I ranked 10th in the grade for the monthly exams. Teacher Liu gave me a fountain pen as a gift. I’m so happy. Today was my first time going to the medical office for psychological counseling. Teacher Li is such a gentle doctor.
— October 26th, XX year:
I haven’t made any friends here yet, but the classmates are very kind. Today during cleaning duty, Xie Cong helped me take out the trash. Turns out even the mischievous boys can be helpful! 😊 I’m so glad to be part of Class 1!
— November 20th, XX year:
My grades are steadily improving, and Teacher Liu praised me again. She’s such a great homeroom teacher! But Xie Cong got scolded again. Why can’t he ever do well in school? Teacher Liu looks terrifying when she’s angry. I must never give her a reason to scold me. I can’t let her down!
— December 25th, XX year:
It’s Christmas today. Xie Cong gave me an apple. It’s my first time celebrating Christmas, and I just learned about this holiday. Everyone exchanged cards, but I didn’t prepare any. 😢 Next year, I’ll be sure to join in and celebrate with everyone!
— January 13th, XX year:
Final exams are at the end of the month. Xie Cong got scolded again! I wish I could help him with his studies, but he has so many friends—he probably doesn’t need me.
…
Li Zhi turned the page.
The next diary entry followed directly after, dated January 14th. The handwriting was chaotic, with jagged strokes that conveyed the girl’s overwhelming fear at the time:
— January 14th, XX year:
What was that?????? What did I see?????? Why is this happening??????!!!!!!
— January 16th, XX year:
What do I do????? I’m so scared!!!!!! I’m so scared!!!!!! I can’t say anything!!!!! If I reveal this secret, I’ll never be able to stay in school again!! I can’t tell anyone!!!!!!
— January 17th, XX year:
Xie Cong is going to be taken to the principal’s office!!! What do I do!!!! Should I tell him??? Should I save him???!!!
— January 18th, XX year:
It’s over, it’s over, it’s over, over, over, over… Xie Cong didn’t believe what I told him… He came back from the principal’s office!! He’s not Xie Cong anymore!!! He’s a monster!!!! This whole class is full of monsters!!!!
— January 19th, XX year:
Teacher Liu had a talk with me. She was so gentle. I finally told her the secret, but she didn’t believe me either. She scolded me for lying. It was the first time Teacher Liu ever scolded me. I feel so sad. What should I do?!
— January 25th, XX year:
Everything has changed… It’s so painful, living is so painful… I just want to end it all…
The diary ends abruptly here.