Chapter 41 Grave Numbers Above All 3 Sixth Middle School

The players and students were all shocked, clearly having never seen such a shameless person before. One second they said it was a skirt, the next they immediately changed their minds and said it was underwear, without their expressions changing even once.

Even school teachers can't just pull down a girl's skirt, or they'll get reported by parents. The judge was shocked by Wu Wangwang, but quickly recovered and insisted that if she didn't change, she would lose credits. From now on, if she didn't change, she would lose two credits every day.

Wu Wangwang wanted to argue further, but Ling Yuanshan suddenly asked, "According to you, referee, if we exclude those well-dressed players, all ten of us students will have our credits deducted, right?"

The students looked at each other in bewilderment. Their school uniforms were indeed not very clean. To be honest, even in the real world, wearing such uniforms to enter the school would result in points being deducted. However, the referee first arrested Wu Wangwang, who dared to wear a skirt. The others did not dare to do so, so they all came in wearing outrageous school uniforms.

The referee scanned the clothes of the ten students one by one and said, "Yes, each of you will have two points deducted."

Some people protested: "Why? We're in the game, aren't we players too?"

“But you have an 80% chance of dying,” the referee said, shrugging. “It took me a while to gather ten of these problem students. The players are doing a normal dungeon, but you ten will face an increased difficulty. You will all face even greater challenges than they are going to, otherwise the item effects won’t be achieved.”

The one who just cursed Ling Yuanshan was male C. He gritted his teeth again and vowed that if he could get out of here alive, he would make sure that girl who used the props died a horrible death!

The referee stopped arguing with them and said, "Anyway, even without the clothing issue, I'm going to find a reason to deduct points from you today. Considering you're newcomers, I've chosen the easiest problem to solve as the deduction item. Now you can really move around freely, so figure out how to resolve it."

After speaking, the referee left with the dormitory manager and security guards, and the campus fell silent again.

The players were all very skilled; they ignored the students' questions and had their own methods of investigation. They also had their own firsthand information and immediately proceeded with the normal walkthrough.

As long as the students didn't know what to do next, Ling Yuanshan said, "You'll get firsthand information from where you were changing clothes. That information is very important and closely related to the rules of the game, but it's not necessarily directly related. Last time, when she and I were murdered, the first piece of information was that we had to give up something in order to combine it with the rules of the game."

The woman was puzzled: "If we're going to give up, why do we need to know?"

“Not every piece of firsthand information can be ignored. It’s just that the previous instance was special. The firsthand information was related to the rules for clearing the instance, and it was a death rule. Few instances overlap like this. More often, the firsthand information is equivalent to the walkthrough, so it’s essential to know it,” Wu Wangwang explained from the side.

"But we have no way of knowing whether it is or not." The girl scratched her head, feeling that this game was even harder than studying.

Ling Yuanshan had no choice but to explain to them: "No, no, no, this information could be a number on clothes, jewelry, a cell phone, or even a cabinet. Its specific use depends on understanding the NPC's past and the dungeon's storyline, as well as the rules given by the referee. Independent first-hand information is sometimes not very useful."

The other players ignored them. The students could only trust Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang now. They looked at each other and, despite their differing views, were willing to temporarily put aside their prejudices and learn from Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang.

The female character was relatively calm. She hadn't said much since arriving in the instance and had been observing. At this moment, she spoke up: "So what should we do next? Ling Yuanshan, I don't know this girl. We were rude earlier, please teach us."

Even the third male student quietly apologized to Ling Yuanshan. He no longer felt that Ling Yuanshan was so hateful; the girl who caused them to come in was the most hateful.

Ling Yuanshan looked down at Wu Wangwang: "What do you think?"

Wu Wangwang stroked her chin: "I think the storylines of the ten of us might be connected, so from now on, don't use your real names. You will also be entering the dungeon later. Remember, in the dungeon, you must use the names of your NPC identities. My name is Ge Nan, and don't call Ling Yuanshan by his real name either. Call him by his identity name."

“Oh, I’m replacing a student who’s repeated a year, named Gao Hu. Judging from his personal wardrobe, he’s already twenty-two years old this year, but he’s still in the vocal class at No. 6 Middle School,” Ling Yuanshan said, following Wu Wangwang’s lead.

Other students wanted to read out their names, but Wu Wangwang stopped them: "Don't read out your names yet, you won't remember them. What I mean is, the names and identities you get are also considered first-hand information. For example, in this murder case scenario, the player who gets the murderer's name becomes the only person in the entire scenario who knows the truth. That's what I mean by first-hand information."

High school students are quick-witted, and they soon understood, saying that they did indeed know some information that was important to the NPCs.

Wu Wangwang continued, "Okay, don't reveal any firsthand information."

The students were shocked and hurriedly asked why.

"Because the information that two players receive is very likely to be relative. If A's goal to clear the level is to infiltrate and sabotage B's plan, then once B finds out, A will definitely die in this instance. Instances are sometimes also a battle between players, so don't trust anything in the game too much, except for the referee," Wu Wangwang warned very seriously.

Upon hearing this, Man B had a look of sudden realization: "I understand now. This is like a combination of murder mystery, tabletop role-playing game, and rule-based ghost story. I've played it before, so I know how to do it."

Wu Wangwang had never heard of it before, but seeing Ling Yuanshan nod, she assumed it was true.

Ling Yuanshan continued Wu Wangwang's words: "You can get the general idea. Just follow along and be careful not to break the school rules. You should be able to barely make it to the end. If you trust each other enough, you can team up. Ge Nan and I have already teamed up to clear the dungeon, so we will continue to do so together. If you are willing to learn from us, that's fine too, but it's best to grow up as soon as possible."

Everyone receives different information, and the judgments they need to make are also different. Always following others might lead to an even faster demise.

"Let's go check on my clothes first. They smell terrible. If the security guard hadn't stopped me, I would have definitely gotten something else to wear," Ling Yuanshan said helplessly to Wu Wangwang.

Wu Wangwang shifted her skirt, having no objection: "Okay, I have a skirt underneath, no rush, let's go."

The two then went to the arts building, where one floor was specifically allocated to vocal students. The dressing room was at the end of the corridor on the same floor, and there was also a large auditorium in the building that could be used for opera performances.

They were supposed to search for clues separately, but the students didn't dare to act rashly. The eight of them quickly caught up with Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang, and the group walked in a grand procession, looking from a distance like ducklings huddled together trying to learn to walk.

Nearby players found it amusing, since it's rare for a group of people who know each other to enter a dungeon together. In this game, if you die a few times, even a child will quickly become a numb and indifferent player, no longer a child.

Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang didn't care about being seen. When they were doing dungeons, they often had a calm and collected attitude, focusing only on their own part.

As soon as Wu Wangwang stepped out of the elevator on the vocal floor, she heard someone singing. Although she couldn't understand the words, the singing was quite beautiful. She asked Ling Yuanshan, "Can you understand what the song is about?"

As the young master of a wealthy family, music and art are compulsory courses. He can't really sing, he can only appreciate art. He came to change clothes just now and didn't hear anyone singing. He guessed that the referee announced the start of the dungeon, so the strange things started.

"The song is 'Think of Me,' an interlude from a musical. The musical is about a female lead in an opera house who has an accident. After investigation, it is discovered that a man in the opera house likes the female lead, so he teaches her to sing. Later, the female lead becomes the lead actress and falls in love with other people. The man is jealous and tries to kill the female lead, but in the end, he gives up the murder, and the female lead is freed." Ling Yuanshan briefly summarized the main plot.

The woman followed behind and said, "Is it 'The Phantom of the Opera'? It's a very famous musical, but I haven't seen it. The theme song is quite nice. I thought all bel canto was sharp and intense."

Ling Yuanshan didn't turn his head and continued walking forward with Wu Wangwang: "That's because sharp operas require the most skills, so they promote those. You may have heard of 'The Nightingale' or 'The Magic Flute'."

The other students seemed to understand, but not everyone likes opera. Most people in China don't have this hobby, so listening to opera is somewhat acceptable.

As they walked further in, the singing became increasingly clear, and it was indeed melodious and beautiful. Even Wu Wangwang, who didn't know much about Western music, could hear the singer's emotions.

The sound was most noticeable when they passed the opera house in the building. Wu Wangwang casually pushed the door open, but the singing stopped the moment she opened it, and everyone stopped in their tracks.

The students, who had never experienced anything like this before, turned pale with fright.

The opera house doors were not small, but Wu Wangwang was strong enough to push them open in one go. They could see that the entire dark opera house was empty, with no one there. Who was singing?

Wu Wangwang withdrew her hand: "It seems that if Gao Hu wants to live, he has to catch the ghost first."

The third man managed to remain somewhat calm, and asked in a strained voice, "Is this game really haunted? We're not Taoist priests, how are we supposed to catch ghosts? It's more like the ghosts are catching us, isn't it?"

Ling Yuanshan turned to look at him: "In a sense, even if we are eliminated, those players are also ghosts. They came in because they were on the verge of death, so there's no need to be too afraid."

The woman swallowed hard: "This isn't a question of being afraid or not, is it? Ghosts can kill without limit."

"No, the dungeon rules are two-way, restricting both players and ghosts. As long as you don't violate the rules, players are always invincible in front of ghosts." Wu Wangwang said, closing the door. The singing stopped, as if it was angry and stopped singing because it was disturbed.

Despite this, the students remained gloomy. They didn't believe that the simple school rules could restrain ghosts. Even if they hadn't been here before, they had watched horror movies and found that the rules summarized by the protagonists were often useless, and they would still be killed by ghosts in the end.

Ling Yuanshan continued to lead the way, and at the end of the corridor in the art building, they finally saw the changing room in the corner. Surprisingly, it was connected to the toilet, and occasionally they could smell the toilet incense, which was quite strange.

The locker room door wasn't locked, so Ling Yuanshan just turned the knob to open it. The room was quite large; although it was called a locker room, it also had a dressing room and a prop room. The dressing room and prop room had separate doors, and this locker room door was just the closest to the locker room, hence the sign.

There was an inner door leading to the changing room, with rows of lockers inside. Ling Yuanshan swiped his card through all the lockers, but only his locker opened. Inside, there were only some clothes for singing, and nothing else; it was very clean.

"I don't have anything here except this dirty dress. I can't open the other cabinets. I plan to pry them all open later and then report to the teacher that I've been robbed," Ling Yuanshan said calmly, as if he had done this many times before.

The dressing room windows were covered by thick curtains, preventing any light from getting in. The room needed lights on to be visible, and in the enclosed space, Ling Yuanshan's odor became even stronger, an unbearable stench.

Wu Wangwang pondered for a moment: "Since there are no other clues, shouldn't we first find out what's on you?"

The second woman couldn't help but spit out a laugh and raised her hand: "It's rotten chili peppers. I complained before that the school cafeteria food was bad, so my mom brought me a jar of homemade chili sauce. But it was hot, and I didn't clean it properly. It went bad and that's how it tastes."

The smell wasn't as concentrated outside, and since everyone was far away and didn't recognize it, she couldn't tell the difference. But now that it's inside, the smell is exactly the same as the chili sauce that went bad in the dorm.

"So... Gao Hu was splashed with chili sauce before? And got into a fight with someone while eating?" Wu Wangwang looked at the mark with suspicion.

The student code of conduct clearly states that food is not allowed in teaching buildings, art buildings, activity buildings, and dormitories. If found, ten points will be deducted, which is a very serious consequence. Chili sauce is also considered food and can only be found in the cafeteria.

Ling Yuanshan nodded: "That's possible. I'll pry open the cabinet door first and make way for you a little."

Wu Wangwang stopped him: "Let me do it, I like doing this." After saying that, Wu Wangwang took out her scissors and started from cabinet number one, stabbing one after another. Her movements were clean, neat and handsome, and she also had a kind of pleasure.

Looking at her, Ling Yuanshan smiled helplessly and went to look through other people's closets.

The other students' lockers contained similar items to Gao Hu's: spare school uniforms and performance costumes, with the occasional extra jewelry or snacks like chocolates and candies to replenish their sugar intake. It seemed that the performance was late and they couldn't bring anything in, so the students were all very hungry.

In the end, all the cabinets were pried open, but no useful information was obtained. Everyone else seemed normal, but Gao Hu, who had been splashed with water, seemed abnormal. Even his age was different from the others.

After checking everything, Ling Yuanshan sighed, "We didn't find anything, and there's no one else my height, so we can't change our school uniforms."

He originally wanted to keep the dirty school uniform as a reusable item, but since others weren't as tall, he had to wait until he got back to the dorm to change. If there weren't any more school uniforms in the dorm, he would still have to wash this one clean. Putting aside the point deduction, it was just too smelly.

It seems there are no more clues to be found here. I'll have to investigate on my own tomorrow. Their classes are all different, so I'll definitely have to rely on my own efforts.

"Then let's go to my place. The activity building isn't far." Wu Wangwang suggested going to her place. She could still wear the girls' school uniform and planned to steal one.

Ling Yuanshan had no objection, so they went downstairs together. They didn't hear any more singing when they left the floor.

The sports equipment room was very quiet, with no strange phenomena. The changing rooms here seemed to have a better layout and were much brighter than those on the vocal music floor. The curtains were not drawn, and you could see the school road behind the activity building.

There were more cabinets here than in the vocal class. Wu Wangwang was too lazy to waste time, so she pried open all the cabinets as soon as she entered, except for her own, which she swiped with a card.

Ling Yuanshan checked the lockers on behalf of the students and found items that a sports student might use: athletic shoes, socks, sportswear, and personal equipment. Some people also had extra books and personal belongings.

This locker room is unisex, and since the physical differences between male and female athletes are not that significant, it is difficult to immediately determine the gender of the locker occupant.

When Ling Yuanshan checked Wu Wangwang's cabinet, he was stunned for a moment: "It seems that Ge Nan has been bullied."

Wu Wangwang looked back and said, "It should be. She really resists being a sports student and often tells her parents that she wants to go back to being a regular student, but her parents disagree. Why? There's no difference between a sports student and a regular student, right?"

Girl C whispered, “There is a difference. Other subjects don’t get subsidies, but sports do. As a sports student, you can participate in competitions, and the school provides free sportswear, shoes, and socks. If you go to a not-so-good sports university in the future, you can spend very little money and still earn money to go home through competitions.”

Ling Yuanshan helped clean out the trash in the cabinet without looking up: "You mean to say that Ge Nan's parents might be forcing her to become a sports student because they don't want to spend money and still want her to bring money home?"

“It’s not necessarily coercion, it’s more like… you know your family isn’t well-off, you feel guilty because raising you is expensive, and you might try to ease the burden on your family in this way.” The woman lowered her head sadly, as if she had thought of something.

After listening, Ling Yuanshan glanced at Wu Wangwang. He remembered that Wu Wangwang had said that she was the youngest daughter in her family, but she had a younger brother. For her brother's sake, she couldn't continue her junior high school education and changed her age to work in an illegal factory.

Most importantly, she has to thank the illegal factory, otherwise she would have been like her four older sisters, used to exchange for dowries and married off and had children at a young age.

Wu Wangwang didn't notice Ling Yuanshan's gaze. She walked over and pulled out Ge Nan's phone: "So, Ge Nan should have wanted to be a sports student. Why did she suddenly regret it? If she's so short of money, wouldn't she be willing to endure anything for money?"

As she spoke, Wu Wangwang opened the chat history and showed it to Ling Yuanshan.

Ling Yuanshan took the phone, and the other students also gathered around to look at it. The more they read, the angrier they became. A few of them couldn't stand it anymore and stopped looking, standing aside.

The chat was basically Ge Nan's complaints. Her parents barely replied, and when they did, it was just to tell her to bear with it or to say that there were difficulties at home and they wanted Ge Nan to come back and help.

On one occasion, Ge Nan even said that she could immediately drop out of school to go back and help, because she didn't want to run anymore.

But her parents immediately refused, saying that she should go to the competition, because only by competing could she earn money. She wouldn't earn money by working at home. If she didn't want to, she should go home and get married, so at least she could earn some dowry money.

The fact that a child could be driven to the point of not wanting to study anymore and wanting to go home to do chores shows how terrifying the situation she encountered was.

The woman said, "She must have been bullied. She was beaten and tortured every day. No amount of money could make her endure it!"

Other students echoed this sentiment, all believing it to be bullying within the team. They even spontaneously filled in the blanks with details, such as how Ge Nan looked very poor, and since she was a girl and a poor kid, if she beat everyone else on the team, she would definitely be envied and framed.

Cutting clothes and taking out the trash are minor matters. When it comes to the city-wide selection and the real competition, there might be some malicious people who want to break Ge Nan's legs!

The students filled in the blanks with their own ideas, and they made it sound quite logical.

Ling Yuanshan listened quietly until they finished speaking before asking Wu Wangwang, "What do you think?"

“I think they’ve forgotten something,” Wu Wangwang said calmly.

The students looked over sharply and asked what it was.

Wu Wangwang spread her hands: "You guys forgot we're in a game, and there aren't just human NPCs in games, there are ghosts too."

The students, who had been excitedly discussing something, instantly put on masks of pain. They really didn't want to think in this direction, but strange singing had just come from the opera house in the art building. It didn't seem so strange that Ge Nan had seen a ghost in the sports team.

If you see ghosts in a place every day, you'd definitely want to run away, lest you lose your life before making much money.

They remained silent. Ling Yuanshan put his phone back. The cabinet had been cleaned, but the writing on it couldn't be removed. He said, "It seems there's no more news. We'll have to wait until school officially starts."

After saying that, the two prepared to leave. The other students hurriedly asked them to go and check on their side. They really didn't know anything about these things and had no experience. They would have let it go if it was a last resort, but now that Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang seemed reliable, they wanted to ask the two of them for help.

Ling Yuanshan didn't care; it was up to Wu Wangwang to decide.

A huge clock hangs on the teaching building. It rings automatically when the time comes, and it rings according to the class schedule. It's 3 p.m. now, which is past the time to go back to the dormitory. Since we can't go back to change clothes, we'll probably just wander around. So Wu Wangwang agreed to go and check out the changing rooms of the students who were with us.

Aside from the female student C and male student C who were in the regular classes, the remaining classrooms were all in the art building. After discussing it, they decided to go to the regular classes first.

The regular classes only represent ordinary students. Nobody knows if there are any elite classes or anything like that. The teaching building has eight floors in total. The first floor and the top floor have other uses. Every two floors in the middle represent a grade. The senior year is on the sixth and seventh floors.

I don't know if the Sixth Middle School is too strict. The men's and women's changing rooms are at opposite ends of the huge floor. Ling Yuanshan suggested, "In order not to waste time, the boys follow me from this side, and Ge Nan, you guys go to the girls' side. We'll meet at the middle stairwell after we're done."

No one objected; if Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang could survive the dungeon together, they must be equally powerful.

As we walked toward the girls' changing room, we passed a central atrium with natural light. Girl C was leading the way. Just as we passed the vicinity of the atrium, it looked as if a huge white object fell from above. The girls behind us saw this and exclaimed, "Someone jumped off the building!"

Wu Wangwang also saw it. She had good eyesight and was sure it was a girl with long hair. Everyone rushed over and peered out, but they couldn't see anything downstairs.

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Author's Note: [End of Chapter]

Wu Wangwang: Just wanted to commemorate my first time seeing a ghost. From now on, you won't even want to lift your eyelids! [starry-eyed]

Ling Yuanshan: Yes, it has already transformed into the appearance of a player. [Shrug]

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I really want to go out and play! I haven't been to my friend's house to cuddle their cat in ages, but I need to update my blog. If I go out, I definitely won't be able to update. Cat, I want a cat! [Please!]

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Thank you for watching, and I hope you enjoyed the article.

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