Plot Transmission: [For the past three years, every graduation photo taken at Yuming Middle School has featured a blurry, dark figure standing among all the students in a school uniform. Who could it be?]
[In this round of the game, each player will be assigned a role in the instance. The instance is divided into a "good guys" faction and a "traitor" faction. There will be one traitor lurking among the players, unaware of their identity.]
[If the traitor awakens and completes their traitor mission, the entire "good guys" faction will be eliminated.]
[If the good guys find the traitor, provide evidence proving their identity, and complete their "good guys" mission, the traitor will be eliminated.]
[The instance has a 6-day time limit. The points earned by the eliminated side will be transferred to the other side. The three players with the lowest scores will die immediately at the end of the instance. (Game points are non-transferable in this round.)]
Xie He: "..."
Here we go again, another traitor.
Last in scores, instant death.
It seemed the player had said it all: the system was evil, the game was evil, and that NPC was evil too.
The system continued: [Players who performed well in the previous round can draw a card at the start of the next game. You meet this requirement. The card drawing phase is now open. Please draw a card.]
Xie He looked at the cards; he already sensed his bad luck. He wanted to draw the rightmost card, but after thinking for a moment, he avoided his first thought and chose the leftmost card.
All the cards were flipped over.
[Congratulations! You have drawn an R card: Spinning Ballet Card]
[Function: Allows you to perform a beautiful spinning ballet.]
Xie He chuckled lazily: "It's not unusable."
The best card was the rightmost one; he should have known.
He silently placed his three cards into the slots.
The world went dark, and everything spun around him.
"Phew—" Xie He suddenly woke up from the darkness, looking up—
He found himself in a classroom, wearing a loose school uniform. So cold. He silently pulled the uniform tighter around himself.
The system's mechanical voice sounded: [Your identity is Xie He, a student in Class 2 of the third year of high school. Please maintain your persona.]
The classroom was dimly lit, and the wall clock ticked away.
Xie He recognized the teacher on the podium—it was Old Zhang, the fat man that had asked for help in the cafeteria.
But now, Old Zhang was pale, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, and his fingers trembling as he turned the pages of his book. He must have also received the role-playing requirement, and could only read incoherently from the book while trembling.
Below the podium, a dense crowd of students in school uniforms sat.
Xie He looked around, his heart sinking.
In the dim light, the four rows of students, all dressed in identical school uniforms, were looking up at the blackboard. But their features were perfectly smooth, as if ironed.
They were all…faceless!
Thankfully, the students seemed to be paying attention in class and didn't appear to want to attack them.
The game wouldn't simply put them in this meaningless class; something should happen, or some clues awaited discovery.
Xie He rummaged through his textbooks and schoolbag. They contained mostly the things ordinary students would bring to class.
In the bag was a diary.
Opening it, he found only strange, glaringly bright red doodles.
One doodle depicted a twisted syringe filled with a blood-red liquid, like blood.
This character was good; Xie He also liked the artwork. People with similar interests should have similar personalities; he could stay as he was.
Xie He thought for a moment, but unfortunately, he had no items. His original clothes had been changed into a school uniform by the game, and the dagger in his pocket was gone.
The beer bottle cap from the prop card wasn't actually usable; if danger struck, he'd have nothing to defend himself with.
He rummaged through his desk drawer.
He found a tree branch with initials carved on it, a red ribbon still tied to it, like something for making a wish.
Xie He then used his meal card to conjure some candy and chocolate, poking the girl with the long braid at the desk in front of him: "Lend me a hair tie."
The girl, who had no facial features, mechanically removed her hair tie and exchanged it with Xie He.
After the exchange, Xie He tied the hair tie to the tree branch, making a makeshift slingshot.
Just then, a loud "thud" came from outside, like a heavy sandbag falling from a tall building!
That sound was…?!
Old Zhang rushed out, and Xie He and the other students gathered around.
They all leaned over the railing, looking down.
"!"
A female student lay on the ground like a burst of fireworks. Her limbs were twisted grotesquely, in a position no ordinary person could achieve. Her white dress was spread out on the ground, now stained with large patches of dark red blood.
She jumped!
Xie He quickly ran down from the building.
He approached the girl and crouched down to examine her. Her body was shattered into pieces, white bones protruding from beneath her skin, her entire body resembling a bloody, mushy mess churned up in a blender.
This girl had no facial features; she clutched tightly in her hand a… syringe filled with blood.
Xie He suddenly remembered something similar in the original owner's "Xie He's" drawing.
His heart skipped a beat. He must have some connection to this girl, right?
"Ugh—" Xie He heard someone beside him vomit. He turned his head and noticed several other people with facial features, just like him. They stood far away, watching the scene with trepidation and fear, cold sweat beading on their foreheads—it must be the players.
The system continued: [Main quest activated for all players: (1) Find out the identity of the deceased.]
[Invalid plot omitted. The game will automatically fast forward; the following is six months later >>>>>]
Around the players, everything began to change, aging like a silent film, then returning to its pristine state. The female corpse on the concrete was gone. But they were still standing on the playground, the school's loudspeaker crackling a few times.
A middle-aged man's voice rang out over the loudspeaker: "I regret to inform you all that our school will be under lockdown starting today. Data testing shows that all teachers and students in our school have been infected with the ZA virus. I am not immune either… cough cough cough… The ZA virus is extremely dangerous. From the appearance of red spots on the body to death, only 24 hours elapse. If any student notices their red spots darkening, please, please, please stay away from crowds immediately to prevent a chain reaction of explosions."
All teachers and students have been infected… with the ZA virus.
Infected individuals will explode.
Immediately afterward, the same image began playing on the large screen outside the school building and on the small televisions in each classroom—
A student suddenly went berserk, biting another student's neck. His movements were ferocious, like a wild beast, as he violently tackled his opponent to the ground, the veins on his neck bulging.
He was tearing at the flesh of his opponent's neck.
A few minutes later, the two of them burst like balloons with a "pop!!" as if they'd been squeezed into a juicer, spraying liquid everywhere!
The entire screen was suddenly covered in dark red splattered liquid, a bloody sight!!
The voice on the loudspeaker sighed, saying sorrowfully, "This is the danger of the ZA virus, beware—"
Xie He casually picked up a prop card, predictably saying, "Make a few bottle caps."
The card flashed, and several beer bottle caps appeared in his hand.
He nonchalantly unfolded the serrated edges of the caps and folded them in half.
Done.
The comments section was filled with confusion: [What's going on? Folding flowers???]
[Hahahaha, I'm a newbie just passing by. Wait, his props are just beer bottle caps??]
[From Ji Yun's fan post, who gave him the guts to provoke Yunyun? I'm just waiting to see how he dies, hehe.]
The loudspeaker continued its announcement, its signal weak and intermittent: "If you notice the red spots on your body darkening, you absolutely, absolutely... must stay away from... the crowd—"
The crowd panicked, frantically pulling up their clothes to check the red spots on their bodies.
An eerie silence fell.
"Aaaaaaaahh..."
Now—
"Bang!!" The folded bottle cap, like the sharpest weapon, pierced straight into the opponent's eye—
Riding the wind, it pierced the eye and then went straight into the brain!!
"Bang!!"
The opponent exploded violently, like a detonated blood sphere, raining down a spectacular shower of blood, foul-smelling blood and fragments of internal organs splattering everywhere.
The students who witnessed this scene all trembled, like rows of shivering little bean sprouts. Although they had no facial features, many were hunched over, making terrified "Ugh—" sounds.
The live stream chat was also quite shocked:
[Oh crap, I was eating, I shouldn't have clicked on the live stream at this time. /shaking]
[Hahahaha, as expected, players are live targets in a crowd, his reaction was pretty quick.]
[So bloody, sob sob, this dungeon looks so damn weird.]
[System notification: [Congratulations player Xie He, you have escaped an attack from a student suffering from the disease once, +40 points.]
[Current followers: 1048, +10 points, total points: 1250. Keep up the good work!]
After reading the message, Xie He lifted a corner of his shirt to take a look. His waist was covered in large red patches, painless and not itchy, but clearly infected with the ZA virus.
Players don't just randomly get infected upon arrival; there's no buffer or triggering condition.
Therefore, Xie He hadn't rushed to check if he was infected.
But in the horror dungeon, players are constantly in danger.
So, it's highly likely that a former student council attacked him, and realizing this just now, he had just enough time to kill the attacker in one fell swoop.
The loudspeaker continued, "—Today the school received a batch of ZA virus antibody drugs. Injecting the antibodies can delay symptoms for up to three days. This is our last batch of drugs. Students, please come to the infirmary after class to receive your antibody injections."
Everyone in the school is infected with this virus.
If no antidote is found, everyone will die within these three days…!
This school is most likely cursed, and the extra student in the graduation photo is the girl who fell to her death.
The students who exploded and died look remarkably similar to her suicide jump, her brains splattered everywhere. Perhaps she harbored some hatred for the school, thus bringing the curse herself.
Among the players, there is a mole player who will represent the "extra student" to sabotage and even kill the good guys.
However, apart from being female, having long hair, wearing a white dress, and holding a syringe, the player who jumped has no other obvious characteristics.
Who is the mole?
───
Around noon, the system sent a message: [All players, please go to the cafeteria for lunch.]
The players went to the cafeteria with the faceless students. Fortunately, the ordinary students all had faces that looked like they'd been ironed, so they easily found the players who had entered the dungeon with them.
There were 12 players in total.
Xie He glanced at the group; there were 9 female players and 3 male players.
The traitor must be one of the 9 female players—the ghost with the strongest resentment who jumped to her death; she was clearly a woman in a school uniform.
Xie He pondered. Generally, those who commit suicide by jumping off buildings have psychological problems; he needed to check if these people had interpersonal conflicts or mental stress.
As he was thinking this, a female player with wavy hair beside him spoke up: “My name is Zhang Langlang. The mole this time should be among the female players. Although communication is risky, the mole doesn't know they're the mole yet. There are also 11 people on the good side. What if I'm on the good side? We still need to stick together. Let's talk about our identities and the clues we've obtained. I can go first—”
No one else objected.
Zhang Langlang: “I'm the English teacher for Class 1, Grade 11. In class this morning, I tried asking the students some questions from the textbook, and they answered very actively. I think I'm a very approachable and kind teacher.”
Although the other person was a middle-aged woman, the person who jumped was still a woman. While it was a bit far-fetched for a teacher to jump while wearing a school uniform, Xie He still included her as one of the “potential mole” candidates.
Immediately after, a curly-haired man in a red hoodie spoke up: "I'm Song Gua. Gold level. This time, I'm a male student. I don't think there's much to say about males; the mole is clearly a woman."
Song Gua, meaning gossip, lived up to his name.
Song Gua was the same gossipy player who had mocked Xie He in the game lobby a few days ago, saying he wouldn't survive more than half a month.
He looked to be in his thirties, with slanted eyes. After speaking, he stared at Xie He with annoyance, seemingly lost in thought.
"Don't argue," Zhang Langlang said. "What's wrong with introducing yourself? I could also say that someone in their thirties or forties couldn't possibly be a female student."
She was efficient and decisive, giving off a strong, independent woman vibe.
Song Gua, annoyed by her comment, rolled his eyes.
Beside them, a round-faced girl of about twenty years old tried to smooth things over, whispering, "My name is Xia Yuanyuan, and I'm a student in Class 4 of the third year of high school. There's a breakup letter in my desk drawer; I must have just broken up with my boyfriend. But that shouldn't be enough to make 'me' retaliate against the entire school after jumping off the building."
She made a good point, and Xie He was also thinking about this.
That "extra student" had committed the retaliatory act of releasing a deadly virus; she must harbor hatred towards a certain group of people in the school.
Xie He ate his meal while listening to their conversation, silently noting down clues in his mind.
This was a three-star dungeon. All the players, except Xie He, had basically cleared several levels of the game; there weren't any particularly bad players who immediately became suspicious of each other.
Xie He thought to himself that entering higher-level dungeons had its advantages. The higher the player's level, the more rationally they could weigh the pros and cons.
The conversation had become much more relaxed.
Of the nine women, seven played the roles of students, one a female teacher, and one a cafeteria worker.
Three of the female students said they had just broken up, while the others said they were currently fine.
───
After dinner, Xie He went back to his dorm, a double room.
Xie He shared a dorm room with Song Gua.
Song Gua lay on his bed, chewing bubble gum, surrounded by a ring of talismans and bells for warding off evil spirits. He sneered, "Didn't expect to run into you in this dungeon. I should take back what I said; you'll have a hard time even getting out of this dungeon."
Xie He ignored him.
The other man's expression stiffened, realizing he was being ignored, and he continued fiddling with his things.
Xie He conjured a bunch of folded beer bottle caps in his dorm room. Then he went to sleep. When he groggily woke up, he heard Song Gua's bell ringing.
Song Gua himself was fast asleep, his fingers leisurely scratching his belly.
When Xie He looked up, he noticed the dormitory window was open.
A corner of the curtain was lifted, revealing someone spying on him. The person had no facial features and looked eerie in the overcast light.
Xie He placed a beer bottle cap on his slingshot, aligned the sharp end with the rubber band, pulled it taut, and launched the weapon.
It struck the person right in the eye, drawing blood instantly. With a loud "thud!", the person vanished.
But a photograph flew in.
The photograph showed a girl being surrounded and brutally beaten in the bathroom. The girl had braided hair, a round face, and no facial features, but she was huddled timidly in a corner, looking utterly disheveled.
The photo was taken from behind the door, three days prior.
Below was a line of small print: [Xia Yuanyuan is lying; she's covered in bruises.]
During lunch, Xia Yuanyuan mentioned receiving a breakup letter, which wouldn't warrant revenge against the entire school.
But now, receiving this photo has given Xia Yuanyuan a motive for becoming a ghost.
Is this message meant to tell him that Xia Yuanyuan might be the mole?
But who told him?
Who is it?
Xie He had a guess.
Xia Yuanyuan was the mole; she suffered greatly from school bullying, so she committed suicide by jumping off a building. The original owner, Xie He, was an eccentric little madman. Xia Yuanyuan liked his strange personality, had a crush on him, and even made items based on his drawings, like a small syringe, which she clutched tightly in her hand even in death.
It sounds logically plausible, but it feels a bit too simplistic. A three-star dungeon shouldn't be like this… right?
───
Afternoon.
Following the system prompts, everyone went to the infirmary to queue for medicine and ZA antibody injections.
Several injection points were set up in the infirmary, and students lined up outside. Xie He casually joined a line.
As he approached, the student who had gone in before him emerged, looking uneasy. The student clutched a medicine box tightly, trembling all over. Xie He called his name, but there was no response; the student ran away as if he'd seen a ghost.
?
Xie He put his hands in his school uniform pockets and walked calmly into the infirmary.
Upon entering, the first thing he saw was a pure white screen, behind which was a vaguely visible figure.
The figure appeared somewhat thin.
"Next student," a cool yet slightly magnetic voice called out, somewhat pleasant.
Xie He raised an eyebrow and walked further in. The further he went, the lower the temperature seemed to drop, giving him an ominous feeling.
Inside sat a male doctor, quietly reviewing medical records on the table. He wore thin-rimmed silver-gray glasses, white medical gloves, and his fingers appeared long and slender. As Xie He approached, he felt the temperature drop around him.
He wasn't a player, nor did he lack facial features like those students.
He was an NPC.
"Doctor, your fingers are beautiful," Xie He said, making the first move.
The man looked up at his voice, his single eyelids cold and indifferent, his expression unchanged despite Xie He's compliment.
He smelled of alcohol, giving off an unapproachable aura. Yet, the more aloof he seemed, the more one wanted to see his glasses damp with a seductive mist.
The doctor stood up imperceptibly, glancing at the bed beside him before gesturing to Xie He. He said coldly, "I'll examine you over there."
As he stood, he noticed the student was very tall, more than half a head taller than him. Under the cold light, the boy's skin was pale, his eyes and brows dark, making him look like a young wild animal.
"Oh, okay," Xie He said, looking at him with a casual smile. The doctor adjusted his medical gloves and dipped a cotton swab in disinfectant: "Clothes."
Xie He understood and obediently pulled open his school uniform jacket.
At this age of rapid growth, he was tall and slender, and now he lay down on the examination table, his long legs bent.
After lifting some of his clothes, a thin, smooth waist was revealed.
Under the operating lights, a shocking red patch spread across his side, a sign of ZA virus infection. The doctor used a cotton ball dipped in disinfectant to wipe it: "Your infection is quite severe. Tonight you will…"
The doctor's eyes flashed coldly, and he said grimly, "—explode."
Explode…
"Wow." The patient raised an eyebrow, seemingly quite pleased, as if he were a kernel of corn wanting to be made into popcorn.
The doctor was somewhat surprised by his reaction, but quickly regained his composure, proceeding with the routine medication application without revealing any emotion.
Xie He lay quietly on the bed, feeling someone behind him applying medicine with alcohol. The alcohol tickled his skin as it touched.
The other person's fingers were still on his lower back, probably because it was easier to apply the medicine that way; the cool fingertips felt comfortable against his skin.
The touch moved lightly from his lower back to his lumbar region, leaving a slight indentation with the fingertips.
Xie He couldn't help but squint.
[Wait a minute??? The previous ones didn't apply any medicine, just an antibody injection in the arm and they were done. Why is this different???]
[Shu La, let's get together.]
[Pfft, hahaha, I just checked the number of people, over 3000 are watching you apply medicine. stare]
[Huh? The medicine seems a little different from the previous one???]
Suddenly, Xie He felt a long needle being inserted into his spine.
It must be an injection… of antibodies.
But why did he feel a tingling sensation all over his body, and his vision begin to blur?
The student from before clearly left quickly.
The medication had been switched.
It was an anesthetic!
Xie He felt the world spinning.
“…”
[Ah, sorry, I went off-topic, but what direction is this going in????]
[Curious +1.]
[Oh wow, where am I?]
…
When he woke up again, Xie He found himself in complete darkness. His eyes were blindfolded, and his wrists were bound behind his back, unable to break free.
That perverted doctor, was he going to do bondage play?
Xie He called out softly a few times.
It was quiet all around; clearly, no one was there.
He remembered his card and could only say, “Give me a beer bottle cap.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the card in his pocket flashed an arc.
A bottle cap appeared on his bound fingertips.
Xie He flattened the edge of the beer bottle cap and used the sharp corner to rub the rope.
The rope fell to the ground.
───
A few hours later.
While the other players were having dinner, they noticed Xie He had been missing for half a day: "Oh no. Where's the player with the lowest score? Did the virus outbreak end and he exploded and died?"
"I haven't seen him since we started getting the antibody injections. Everyone's been queuing up, I don't know where he went."
Song Gua sneered, "His level is so low, only Silver 3. At that level, he's probably only done 2-3 dungeons and coasted through. It'd be strange if he wasn't dead."
Only the chat comments saw through his act without saying a word: [Hilarious, he leveled up three times in one dungeon, trash Song Gua has no taste.]
[Hahaha, he's having a great time now.]
[So what? He's still been sedated and tied up, he's going to die soon.]
The player they were all thinking about, Xie He, was currently in a dimly lit basement.
He had broken free of the ropes and, after searching for clues, found a love letter in the wastepaper basket: [I like you so much. Don't always look so cold and unhappy QAQ. After I die, you can preserve my body in formalin for research, it'll be very good. Love you.]
System: [Congratulations player Xie He, clue found +1, points +10. Total points 1260, please keep up the good work!]
Xie He frowned, finding the love letter incredibly cheesy.
"Body" refers to Xia Yuanyuan, right?
This must be a love letter written by Xia Yuanyuan.
"Love you"? Is Xia Yuanyuan secretly in love with him, or the doctor?
It seems a crucial clue is still missing; he'll have to wait until he gets out of the basement.
Xie He's head was still spinning from the effects of the medication, and he didn't want to think too much. He leaned back in a beanbag chair, munching on chips and cookies to pass the time while waiting for the doctor, looking quite relaxed.
Hearing footsteps approaching, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly hid the snack wrapper.
───
When the doctor returned to the ward, the boy was bound hand and foot, his eyes blindfolded. He looked listless, having not moved for a long time.
He tilted his head, as if hearing footsteps, his whole body trembling slightly with fear, like a wounded fawn. His voice choked as he pleaded, "Let me out...please!! I'll give you anything you want, you can take anything you want!!"
The last syllable lingered with a slight tremor, like a feather gently scratching at the heart.
The victim's breakdown and chaos gave the abuser a sense of pleasure, and Xie He perfectly captured the beauty of this collapse.
[Hahahaha, he's really putting on an act!!!]
[?? You weren't like this when you were exploding the ghost player's head?? You heartless big dumpling, if I hadn't seen the live stream, I would have really thought you were a pitiful little thing.]
[Oh no, oh no, the high-level hunters are starting to appear as prey!!! Wuhu!!!]
The man waved his hand, and the silk ribbon tied in front of Xie He fluttered down.
His vision suddenly cleared. Xie He took a step back, trembling all over, his pure black eyes staring at him: "Who are you? Why...why did you capture me?"
The man was leaning against the side. He was tall and slender, a cigarette between his long fingers.
He seemed too lazy to waste words and didn't explain his identity.
Instead, he looked down at him through his thin glasses, expressionlessly skipping over the topic: "Fatty, Old Zhang, you got 820 points."
Xie He: "..."
Oh, okay, that's true.
The doctor gently tapped the glass bottle on the shelf beside him, filled with eyeballs. The light illuminated his cold, indifferent face. "Those are the eyes of his lackeys; yours will be one of them too."
He looked at the boy's eyes.
Leaning slightly forward, he examined them, lifting the boy's chin and gently stroking the beauty mark at the corner of his eye with his fingertips.
The doctor squinted slightly. "Quite beautiful."
Xie He: "Thank you."
The doctor lifted his eyelids, his gaze falling on Xie He. "I like your eyes. I'll keep yours separately in a glass jar for daily admiration."
Xie He's tone was light: "That's not impossible."
The doctor stubbed out his cigarette and casually picked up a scalpel from his pocket. The light made his face appear cold and imposing. Just as he was about to gouge out Xie He's eyes—
"Clang!!" A sharp pain shot through his wrist; the scalpel had fallen to the ground.
Xie He had suddenly gripped his wrist tightly!
"!" The man then realized the rope had loosened. "Let go!" He swung his fist at Xie He, but Xie He barely dodged it. "Screech—!" Xie He retaliated without hesitation, and the two began fighting.
Dust billowed up from the ground; several cabinets and tables were destroyed, leaving a mess everywhere!
"Bang bang bang!!!" Things in the basement continued to crash to the ground. The entire basement was almost collapsing.
The comments section was stunned: [Whoosh!! Let's fight!!]
[Sorry, I shouldn't have shipped them. They're both acting like they want to twist each other's heads off! If these two were together, I'd cut my head off.]
[Hahahaha, isn't the doctor handsome?? Go easy on him, little brother.]
Finally, Xie He firmly pinned the doctor's wrist to the cold ground, his fingertips leaving a crimson stain.
He kicked the man hard, coldly saying, "Get off!"
The man didn't budge, as if a mountain had pressed down on him. Despite his slender frame, his bones seemed to hold an extremely sharp blade, ruthless and vicious.
His dark eyes reflected Xie He's own image.
Xie He suddenly said lazily, "Important NPCs should have the antidote for the ZA virus, right?"
The doctor: "..." This person was testing him.
"Give me the medicine."
Xie He continued, his voice slightly raised at the end, "Or else—"
Xie He suddenly grabbed the man's clothes, leaned down, and bit his neck hard, his breath coming in gasps.
The taste of blood instantly filled their mouths!
He knew nothing of chivalry, only how to bite until the other person bled profusely.
A nonchalant smile played at the corners of his eyes, yet his movements resembled those of a madman grinding his teeth and sucking blood.
The doctor's brows furrowed in pain, his eyes reddening with a tender, almost painful red.
No one had ever treated him like this before.
Everyone revered or even feared NPCs, but this person before him seemed to want to tear him apart! He had even destroyed his room!
He wanted nothing more than to kill this person!
He could even feel the stinging pain of the other's teeth grinding against his skin.
Then, the doctor suddenly felt Xie He's slightly cold tongue lick a drop of blood flowing down his neck…
Xie He breathed softly, causing a hazy mist to form on his thin glasses, his pure black hair now disheveled on the floor.
"!"
A jolt of electric shock coursed through his body.
The boy's voice was low and tinged with laughter as he continued, "...Tonight I'll die on you, taking you with me. Sui Yuan."
Author's Note:
Note: This story references the Japanese manga Another. The reference is: Every year in the school's graduation photo, there's an extra student (that student is dead but doesn't remember dying).
Logic and plot differ; the rest is original.
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