Chapter 4 The Dead Players

After the female teacher left, Di Wenzhou slammed his fist on the table with a dull thud.

The sound attracted the excited gazes of several ghost students nearby. He immediately withdrew his hand as if burned, daring not to speak out in anger.

"What the hell is this place?!" Di Wenzhou said in a low voice, his voice filled with helplessness and anger.

Bai Muling closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, she tried her best to remain calm: "Complaining is useless. Our top priority now is to figure out what other rules there are."

Her gaze involuntarily drifted toward Zhuge Jin.

Not only her, but also Xin Yuan'er, Yue Qingqing, and even Jun Xiangbei, all turned their attention to the silver-haired figure who remained aloof.

He is too special.

Two accurate "predictions": one evaded the penalty for "being watched" and the other avoided the severe punishment for "gathering".

This can no longer be explained by coincidence.

Xin Yuan'er swallowed hard, and cautiously, even with a hint of respect, asked tentatively, "Boss, do you know something? Could you give us some pointers?"

“If this continues, we really…” He didn’t dare to finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.

Zhuge Jin slowly raised his head. He didn't answer directly, but instead said something ambiguous:

"Rules are everywhere, originating from details and hidden in words and deeds. Observe more, listen more, act less, and speak cautiously."

These words sound like empty rhetoric meant to create mystery, but considering his previous performance, they seem profound and unfathomable.

However, Gu Yunqing said this on purpose. He did know a lot about the plot of the original novel "Pure White World", but because he got involved in this world, the timeline fluctuated.

The role-playing system told him when he entered this instance and stated the first rule that after leaving this instance, all the instances the original male protagonist participated in would be changed.

If Gu Yunqing wants to enhance the credibility of her "Zhuge Jin" persona, she can only make good use of this instance and establish a distinct character.

If Gu Yunqing were to reveal the rules to everyone now, he could easily fail if he used the pseudonym "Zhuge Jin" to participate in the unknown later stages.

Therefore, Gu Yunqing chose to talk nonsense and deceive people.

A thoughtful look flashed in Jun Xiangbei's eyes; intelligent people think more deeply.

As a high-level player who has experienced countless dungeons, he naturally understands that rules are often hidden in the details.

But Zhuge Jin's words seemed more like a confirmation, or even a...guidance?

He was reminding them of the methods of observation, rather than giving them direct answers.

Why? Is it due to limitations in ability, or is there a deeper meaning?

And at this moment, the comments section was filled with—

"Even though I don't understand it, it sounds amazing."

"Observe more, listen more, act less, and speak cautiously... Is this considered a summary?"

"It feels like a general rule, but you still have to try it out yourself to find the specific details."

For the next period of time, all the players became incredibly "well-behaved".

They kept their heads down as much as possible, minimizing all unnecessary movements and conversations.

The school bell finally rang in the extremely oppressive atmosphere.

The players practically crawled out of the classroom, following the signs to the dormitory building under the malicious gazes of their ghostly classmates.

The dormitory building was old and gloomy, with large areas of peeling paint on the walls, and the air was filled with a strong smell of mildew and dust.

The corridor lights were dim and flickering, as if they might go out at any moment.

A dormitory supervisor with a blank expression handed them the keys and announced in a dry voice:

"Co-ed dormitories are for men and women. Lights out is at 10 p.m. every night. No noise is allowed after lights out. Violators will be held responsible for the consequences."

Di Wenzhou, Shi Zihao, Yue Qingqing, and Bai Muling were assigned to dormitory 204.

Xin Yuan'er, Jun Xiangbei, and Zhuge Jin were assigned to dormitory 205.

The four entered room 204, a standard four-person room with bunk beds, old furniture, and an indescribable smell in the air.

Di Wenzhou chose the lower bunk near the door, his face grim.

Shi Zihao, trembling, chose the upper bunk from Di Wenzhou.

Yue Qingqing chose the upper bunk by the window, trying to stay away from the door and potential dangers.

Bai Muling was in the lower bunk of Yue Qingqing's room.

On the other side, Jun Xiangbei and his group entered 205.

Jun Xiangbei quickly and carefully inspected every corner of the room, including under the bed and in the wardrobe, and after confirming that there were no obvious abnormalities or dangers, he chose the lower bunk by the window.

Xin Yuan'er, however, was quite carefree and completely forgot her fear from earlier. She muttered to herself, "This school's rules are really strange. In normal schools, boys and girls live separately. How can they mix up dorm rooms?"

"Aren't you afraid that these male and female classmates will fall in love or something?"

His live stream was filled with joyful laughter:

"Lucky guy, your focus is really off track."

"What kind of time is this to be thinking about dating? Lucky Guy, you're really carefree."

"But then again, mixed dorm rooms do feel a bit weird, don't you think?"

"Yeah, at my old school, let alone mixed dorms, even sitting next to a boy or girl wasn't allowed."

Zhuge Jin twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't say anything, choosing the lower bunk near the door.

After seeing that Zhuge Jin had made his choice, Xin Yuan'er eagerly chose his upper bunk.

Dinner was a meal at the cafeteria for everyone. The food looked normal, even plentiful, but seeing the blank or strange expressions on the faces of the other students eating there, no one had an appetite.

However, the cafeteria had signs prohibiting food waste, so the players could only force themselves to eat a little without tasting it.

Back in the dormitory, the atmosphere became even more tense.

Just before the lights went out, the hallway loudspeaker suddenly announced:

Good evening, everyone. Lights out is approaching. We would like to reiterate the dormitory rules: No noise is allowed after lights out. Please remain quiet and have a good night's sleep. Sweet dreams.

In this context, the words "good dreams" seem particularly ironic.

At 10 p.m. sharp, with a "thud," the entire dormitory building was instantly plunged into darkness and deathly silence.

The darkness was as thick as ink, so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The absolute silence was so intense it hurt your eardrums; it was as if the whole world had disappeared, leaving only the players' own violently pounding heartbeats.

Time crawls slowly in the darkness.

After an unknown amount of time, cold sweat broke out on Shi Zihao's forehead.

He wanted to go to the toilet during the day, but he was interrupted again and again.

At that moment, a strong urge to urinate struck, becoming increasingly unbearable.

He gritted his teeth, recalling the words of a veteran player who had warned him in the first dungeon: "The toilets in dungeons, especially at night, are among the most eerie places. Try to avoid them if possible."

But... the bloating and the feeling of my bladder about to explode became increasingly clear.

He squeezed his legs together and tossed and turned in bed, trying to distract himself, but to no avail.

Not going? I might wet my pants, and who knows if bedwetting would violate any "keeping the dorm clean" rules and get me penalized?

He only has 1 point left; losing that point means certain death.

Go? He might encounter... He didn't dare to think any further.

Extreme physiological needs and extreme fear of death were tearing at his mind.

Ultimately, the unbearable physiological needs and a sliver of wishful thinking prevailed.

Shi Zihao thought to himself, the broadcast only said no making noise, it didn't explicitly say no going to the toilet, so he shouldn't be considered to have broken the rules.

He sat up very slowly, trembling, and pricked up his ears to listen.

In the darkness, only the faint breathing of Di Wenzhou and the others could be heard. They seemed to be awake, but no one made a sound.

Shi Zihao was barefoot, and the cold floor made him shiver.

He crouched down, turned the doorknob with the lightest and slowest movements, slipped out, and gently closed the door behind him, making almost no sound.

The corridor was pitch black, with only the green emergency exit sign in the distance emitting a faint glow.

Shi Zihao's heart was pounding in his chest. Leaning against the wall, he carefully moved step by step toward the direction of the toilet he remembered.

The toilet is at the very end of the corridor.

He groped his way inside, where it was equally dark, with only a faint sliver of moonlight filtering in from the window, barely enough to make out the outline of the latrine.

Shi Zihao didn't dare to delay and resolved the problem as quickly as possible.

After finishing, he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if he had completed an extremely difficult task.

It seems I was just scaring myself?

As long as it's quiet, everything will be fine?

Shi Zihao tiptoed out of the restroom again and crept towards the door of dormitory 204.

Just as his hand was about to touch the doorknob, he froze.

It felt as if all the blood in my body had frozen instantly.

The door to dormitory 204... somehow opened a crack.

And in the darkness behind that crack in the door, a figure stood silently.

That wasn't Di Wenzhou, nor was it Yue Qingqing or the others.

He was a man dressed in a crisp shirt and trousers, tall and thin, with a handsome and even normal appearance, without any strange features on his face, and wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

It's that male teacher from the class during the day.

He was looking at him through the crack in the door, expressionless.

His eyes were calm and expressionless, yet they terrified Shi Zihao more than any grotesque ghost face.

What's the teacher doing here? Especially after lights out, in his dorm room.

Shi Zihao's mind went blank; extreme fear gripped his throat, rendering him unable to utter a sound.

The teacher silently pushed open the door, walked out completely, and stood in front of Shi Zihao.

He was a head taller than Shi Zihao, looking down at him from above.

There were no questions, no warnings, not even a single superfluous expression.

The teacher simply extended a cold hand and precisely covered Shi Zihao's mouth, while her other hand gripped his arm like an iron clamp, with astonishing strength.

Shi Zihao struggled desperately, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree; he couldn't make a sound and could only squeeze out a very weak "woo-woo" sound from his throat, which was tightly covered.

The teacher dragged him along as if he were an inanimate object, turning and walking towards the stairwell, her footsteps still so light they were almost inaudible.

The door to dormitory 204 closed silently behind them, as if it had never been opened.

The corridor fell silent once more.

A few seconds later.

From the direction of the stairwell, faint sounds of struggle could be heard, along with a short, almost inaudible cracking sound like bones breaking.

Then……

Everything returned to deathly silence.