The others were nervously staring at the pens in their hands, barely daring to breathe. No one noticed the additional shadow that had appeared on the window.
Playing a horror game always comes with danger, so Li Zhi had disabled the warning system beforehand to avoid wasting a precious warning opportunity.
The classroom was too dark, and Li Zhi could only barely make out a thin, slender shadow. She lowered her head, her long hair hanging down on both sides of her face, and the pen in her hand was moving faster and faster. The pen tip left deep marks on the paper, emitting a strong aura of resentment.
Everyone’s faces turned pale. Their hands hadn’t moved at all, but the force guiding the pen in circles was growing stronger, making resistance impossible.
Pink Hair was stammering, “Sister Z-Zhi! W-What do we do?!”
Lian Qinglin growled, “Didn’t you play the ‘Pen Spirit’ game before?! Don’t you know what to do next?!”
Pink Hair was almost in tears. “But the last time, the Pen Spirit didn’t really show up! I just wanted an excuse to hold hands with the girl I liked!”
Lian Qinglin snapped, “You’re such a scumbag—!”
Even though the rapidly circling pen was proof enough that the Pen Spirit had arrived, Li Zhi decided to follow the rules of the game. She asked, “Pen Spirit, is it you who has come?”
The pen stopped abruptly, then wobbled as it wrote a crooked “Yes” on the paper.
Pink Hair took a deep breath and regained some confidence, acting like the “veteran” of the game. “Next, we just need to ask it a few more questions and get its answers, then we can send it away! That’ll complete the game!”
Lian Qinglin was about to ask the Pen Spirit if it knew what kind of bun filling he’d eaten for breakfast when Li Zhi raised her hand to stop him.
“Xu Jingsheng once mentioned that after they successfully summoned the Lamp Spirit, he made a deal with it,” Li Zhi said calmly, not minding that the vengeful spirit standing among them could hear her.
“The Pen Spirit game likely follows a similar rule. If we get answers from it, we’ll have to pay the price it demands.”
What price would a vengeful spirit ask for?
Everyone’s faces turned even paler.
To finish the game, they would have to go through a question-and-answer exchange with the Pen Spirit. But once they got their answer, they’d have to pay a terrible price. If they didn’t ask, they wouldn’t be able to end the game, let alone complete the mission of this level.
This damn [Ghost] system—it was always digging traps for them at every turn!!!
Xu Yiran stammered, “I-I have a talisman for exorcism! If worse comes to worst, let’s ask the question and use the item to drive it away after! The temperature around us is dropping—I don’t want to stay here with it any longer…”
Pink Hair nodded repeatedly. “Yeah, yeah! I also have a ghost-slaying tool! If it comes to it, we’ll ask and then destroy it!”
Suddenly, the pen in their hands slashed violently, leaving a long, deep gash on the paper.
Everyone: “……..”
Okay, discussing how to destroy the Pen Spirit in front of it might have been a bit much.
Li Zhi slowly spoke, “Pen Spirit, may I ask…”
Everyone looked at her anxiously, gripping their tools tightly.
She raised her head and looked toward the thin figure standing among them, reflected in the glass window. She smiled faintly and asked, “What is the way to expel the [Ghost] system from our world?”
Everyone: “…?”
The audience: “…?”
Pen Spirit: “…………”
The pen in their hands, which had been exuding a strong aura of resentment, stopped moving. It no longer scratched or drew circles. It just stood silently on the paper, as if lifeless.
Li Zhi smiled as she looked at the thin, trembling shadow on the window. “Pen Spirit, why aren’t you answering? Is it because you don’t know the answer, or are you too scared to say?”
The ghostly figure trembled slightly, as if on the verge of collapse.
She continued leisurely, “I’ve already asked the question. Whether you don’t know or are too afraid to answer, the game is still considered complete.”
The audience barrage erupted in excitement:
【The Pen Spirit is probably cursing right now. I just wanted to play a game with you, and here you are trying to kick me out of a job!】
【It feels like the Pen Spirit is flipping Li Zhi off right now.】
【So is there really a way to expel the [Ghost] system? Li Zhi’s so bold to ask.】
【Congratulations to player Li Zhi for unlocking the ‘Make the Ghosts Rage in Futility’ achievement once again!】
…
Finally, the Pen Spirit, who had kept its head down the whole time, slowly raised its head and met Li Zhi’s gaze through the window. The light was too dim for Li Zhi to clearly see its face, but from the blurred outline, she could tell it was extremely frustrated.
The Pen Spirit released the pen and disappeared hastily, its departure somewhat undignified.
The group felt the force within the pen disappear as well.
Li Zhi let go of the pen. “It’s gone.”
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and collapsed into their chairs, casting admiring looks at Li Zhi.
Li Zhi flexed her wrist and looked at the nameplate on the desk.
Name: Li Zhi
Score: 20 points.
The others quickly checked their own nameplates and shouted with joy, “Our scores went up!”
Maybe Li Zhi’s question had been too devastating, because the Pen Spirit hadn’t bothered to make things difficult for them. All seven of them now had 20 points, which was more than Zhou Jianzhang’s group. After completing the Four Corners Game the previous night, only Zhou Jianzhang had earned 20 points, while the rest of his group had scored in the teens.
Lian Qinglin, ever the clever one, quickly deduced, “If that’s the case, when we summon the Lamp Spirit, can’t we wish for it to expel the [Ghost] system? If it can’t do that, it won’t be able to take anything from us as payment.”
Li Zhi nodded. “It’s not impossible.”
Pink Hair grew excited. “That means we only have the Four Corners Game and the Dormitory Mirror Game left. If we can score 20 points in each game, we’d only need to finish one more game to clear this level! Should we try the Four Corners Game now?”
Li Zhi shook her head as she stood up. “We can probably only clear one game each night. Playing more won’t increase our score. Let’s go back and sleep. It’s too late.”
Indeed, with all the delays, it was already quite late. The group came down from their excitement about the extra points and, glancing at the darkened campus outside, they were hit by a sudden wave of fear.
“Let’s go, let’s hurry back to the dorm.”
They turned off the lights and left the classroom. The only light in the entire school building came from the safety signs in the hallway, casting an eerie green glow in the darkness. The group quickened their pace through the silent campus, and when they reached the dormitory building, they bumped into Zhou Jianzhang’s group.
They had just finished their Lamp Spirit game and returned from the field. The two groups eyed each other, tension thick in the air.
Thinking about how Zhou Jianzhang’s group had already been infected by some unknown eerie force, Pink Hair and the others shivered. Although Li Zhi had said that the condition for transmission involved physical contact during the horror games, they still didn’t dare get too close to Zhou Jianzhang’s group at that moment.
Unlike the others, Li Zhi, with a smile on her face, casually greeted Zhou Jianzhang, “Did you succeed in summoning the Lamp Spirit?”
Zhou Jianzhang politely replied, “Yes, we did.”
Li Zhi raised an eyebrow. “Who got chosen by the Lamp Spirit?”
Zhou Jianzhang answered, “Bei Xuan.”
Li Zhi looked over at Bei Xuan, who was standing behind him. Upon hearing her name, Bei Xuan sluggishly raised her head, as if there was a delay in her reaction. After a brief pause, she returned to her usual arrogant self.
“Yes, it was me! So what? Why are you asking so many questions?”
Li Zhi subtly furrowed her brow but didn’t press further. She nodded politely to Zhou Jianzhang and then turned to head back to the girls’ dormitory.
Lian Qinglin and the other two quickly followed suit, keeping a safe distance from Zhou Jianzhang’s group.
As they climbed the stairs, Li Zhi spoke in a low voice, “Something’s off with Bei Xuan. Her symptoms are getting worse. Tonight, be careful. No matter what she does outside, don’t open the door.”
Xu Yiran and Peipei nodded repeatedly.
After returning to the dorm and briefly washing up, Li Zhi and Tan Manyu got into bed. Bei Xuan and the other two soon returned to their dorm as well. Li Zhi heard the sound of their door closing and then shut her eyes in the darkness.
It was already late. Since everyone had been waking up early every day, sleepiness soon settled in once they lay down.
Li Zhi wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep when she faintly heard knocking from the neighboring room.
“Peipei, Yiran…” Bei Xuan’s pained voice echoed down the hallway. “My stomach hurts so much… help me…”
Li Zhi opened her eyes, sensing that Tan Manyu, who was in the bottom bunk across from her, had also become more alert.
It seemed Tan Manyu was wide awake as well.
Neither of them spoke; they simply listened to the sounds outside.
Bei Xuan knocked for a while. Xu Yiran and Peipei had already been awakened but, remembering Li Zhi’s warning, they gripped their protective items tightly and lay in bed, not making a sound.
After a couple more heavy knocks, the sound of dragging footsteps moved to the door of Li Zhi and Tan Manyu’s dorm. After a few heavy breaths, Bei Xuan began knocking on their door, pleading in a hoarse voice, “Li Zhi, help me… Don’t you always help your teammates? It hurts so much, Li Zhi, please help me…”
Tan Manyu’s breathing became so light it was almost inaudible.
Li Zhi remained motionless, listening to the knocking outside growing more and more furious. Then, there was a sudden retching sound, followed by the unmistakable noise of vomit splattering onto the floor in the hallway. A strange, foul smell seeped into the room through the crack beneath the door.
Li Zhi’s nose twitched slightly, and she suddenly remembered—it was the same smell she had noticed outside the principal’s office.
Bei Xuan continued vomiting outside. Amid her painful retches, there came the unsettling sound of countless tiny insects crawling.
It felt like an eternity passed before the noise finally subsided. Bei Xuan and those strange sounds gradually disappeared.
Tan Manyu exhaled a long breath, and Li Zhi’s slow, deliberate movement from the opposite bed could be heard as she turned over.
That was her way of reminding Tan Manyu that it was safe to go back to sleep.