Volume 4: Days of Making Mischief at School
Return to School
Look how badly you scared that kid
With the support of his money-making ability, Golden Retriever returned to Jiang City early the next morning.
The three gathered again to discuss the plot of their previous dungeon instance.
This time, Lou Jingmo didn’t start speaking right away, but instead asked: “What are your thoughts about the plot?”
Golden Retriever, having collected some plot information himself, tentatively answered: “Could it be that Zhao Zhuyu and Zhao Chunhua are actually two different personalities of the same person? Zhao Chunhua’s personality is that of a good teacher, while Zhao Zhuyu’s personality is the beast who abused and molested students?”
“That’s not right…” said Shen Maomao, “Lou-jie and I saw a class photo, Zhao Zhuyu and Zhao Chunhua both existed as real people.”
[LP: What do you guys think of keeping ‘jie’ and other similar things?]
Golden Retriever collapsed dejectedly onto the sofa: “Then I’m out of ideas, I don’t know, you all talk.”
So Lou Jingmo looked toward Shen Maomao.
Shen Maomao couldn’t help feeling nervous. She sat up straight, organizing her thoughts as best she could: “I think… Zhao Chunhua and Zhao Zhuyu must have some family relationship, or they’re a married couple with the same surname. Zhao Chunhua tutored children, while Zhao Zhuyu secretly molested the students who came for tutoring… specifically Chen Meihan.”
“Chen Meihan committed suicide by jumping off a building out of fear or something else, then Zhao Zhuyu, seeing that things were exposed, also committed suicide. Zhao Chunhua lost her family member, and then was framed by troublemaking kids, and with such heavy hatred in her heart, she turned into a vengeful ghost?”
“But the true boss in the dungeon instance wasn’t Zhao Chunhua, it was Chen Meihan who committed suicide after suffering complete humiliation. The late-game plot reset was Chen Meihan wanting to use the players’ hands to kill Zhao Chunhua, so when Zhao Chunhua died, the exit appeared…”
Lou Jingmo nodded: “It’s similar to what I guessed, but there’s one difference.”
She shared her perspective: “These two shouldn’t be spouses, they’re likely siblings. Because according to the information I collected, Zhao Chunhua divorced her husband because of the troublemaker incident, and this happened after Chen Meihan’s suicide, so the hypothesis of them being spouses doesn’t hold up chronologically.”
“Zhao Zhuyu committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and his soul possessed his younger sister, though Zhao Chunhua herself was unaware of this. Chen Meihan, who died tragically, turned into a vengeful ghost, and upon discovering that her true killer hadn’t been reduced to ashes, she bewitched a male student in the class to frame Zhao Chunhua, which led to both Zhao Chunhua’s and that boy’s deaths.”
From Chen Meihan’s perspective, she was simply using her own methods to take revenge on the evil person who caused her death, and since Zhao Chunhua harbored Zhao Zhuyu, she was Zhao Zhuyu’s accomplice; from Zhao Chunhua’s perspective, she lost her job, family, and dignity because of the troublemaker child Chen Meihan incited, so she harbored resentment and wanted revenge.
Two originally innocent people began taking revenge on each other, and more and more people in the dungeon instance were affected, turning the innocent into the guilty…
Golden Retriever: “Damn, this is all because of that Zhao Zhuyu!”
Shen Maomao also cursed: “Beast!”
Lou Jingmo calmly said to Golden Retriever: “This task is assigned to you, investigate if this dungeon instance has a real-world prototype.”
Golden Retriever jumped up and saluted her: “Understood!”
Shen Maomao looked at her expectantly: “What about me?”
Lou Jingmo: “Come with me, we’re going to your school.”
Shen Maomao was confused, and somewhat reluctant to face Ren Yue so soon: “Why are we going to our school?”
Lou Jingmo said: “Aren’t you about to start your internship? I’ll talk with your counselor, and pack up your belongings while we’re at it.”
Shen Maomao: “Talk about what? Why pack my belongings?”
Golden Retriever said: “There’s no point in you attending classes now, it’s better to use that time to train your body. Follow us…” He glanced at Lou Jingmo’s expressionless face and quickly corrected himself: “I mean, it would be more convenient for you to live with Lou-jie, at least there’d be someone to collect your corpse if you died.”
Shen Maomao: “That’s too real…”
Despite her inner reluctance, Shen Maomao was still dragged to school by Lou Jingmo.
After all, some things don’t disappear just because you avoid facing them. Shen Maomao didn’t owe Ren Yue anything; on the contrary, Ren Yue should be the one afraid to face her.
While it was still light out, Lou Jingmo first took her to a printing shop, where they printed a labor contract, signed it on the spot, and finally, Lou Jingmo pulled out a company seal from her bag and stamped it right there.
Shen Maomao watched nervously and timidly reminded her: “Lou-jie… forging official seals is illegal…”
Lou Jingmo: “…This is my company’s seal.”
Only after Lou Jingmo’s explanation did Shen Maomao learn that her goddess, a well-known suspense novelist, had also established a cultural company? She had created a complete vertical integration from writing to publishing, leaving no opportunity for others to profit.
As expected of her goddess, already a company big boss at such a young age 【thumbs up】.
After writing, Lou Jingmo handed her the contract, saying: “Read it and sign.”
Shen Maomao completely trusted Lou Jingmo, and after taking it, without even reading, she flipped to the last page and signed her name at the bottom. The three characters “Shen Maomao” were written in a short and chubby style, looking somewhat cute.
In black and white [白紙黑字 | bái zhǐ hēi zì | formal written agreement], the contract took effect.
Then she actively sought out their counselor, using the excuse that “the company was eagerly wanting such an excellent employee like her to start work immediately” to begin her internship a few days early, making the counselor even more skeptical.
In the end, it was Lou Jingmo who verified that Shen Maomao wasn’t lying, successfully obtaining a leave slip from the counselor.
After this step was complete, came what Shen Maomao dreaded most – facing Ren Yue.
Lou Jingmo noticed her hesitation and proactively suggested: “Why don’t we go eat first?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Maomao immediately responded: “Yes!”
This annoyed Lou Jingmo so much that she shot her a fierce glare.
Having finally escaped from the dungeon instance, Ren Yue wasn’t as happy as she had imagined she would be.
When she entered the game, she was in the dormitory room, and naturally, she was also in the dormitory when she came out, so when she lifted her head, she could see Shen Maomao’s empty bed.
Perhaps no one would ever sleep in this bed again…
At this thought, she couldn’t help but feel a lump in her throat, and lowered her head to wipe away tears.
“I’m sorry… Maomao…”
Another roommate turned to look at her from below the bed: “What? Ren Yue, what did you say?”
Ren Yue’s face turned pale, as if startled by such a simple question, and after a pause, she choked out: “I said… this novel is too cruel…”
The roommate laughed: “Hahaha, I recently read a novel too, it nearly made me furious to death. In the novel, the female lead was wholeheartedly good to her best friend, but that friend who seemed as close as a sister on the surface secretly envied her romance with the male lead, not only stirring up trouble but also trying to steal everything from the female lead…”
The roommate grew increasingly angry as she spoke, finally bursting out: “What kind of garbage best friend is that? Did the author write such a thing just to make people angry?!”
Ren Yue’s face turned deathly pale, increasingly feeling that her roommate knew something and was indirectly referring to her. When questioned, she awkwardly pursed her lips and said: “Maybe… the best friend had her reasons…”
Roommate: “Uh… what reasons could she have? Isn’t she just inherently an evil person?”
Ren Yue forced a smile: “Not necessarily, maybe what we see isn’t the whole truth…”
Roommate: “Hmm… hehe, maybe.” Then she turned away and stopped talking to her, her hands quickly tapping something on her phone, as if typing.
Is she complaining about me to other roommates?
Ren Yue thought chaotically, suddenly feeling too awkward to stay there anymore.
She quickly changed her clothes, climbed down from the bed, and put on her shoes, preparing to leave.
The previous roommate asked: “Ren Yue, where are you going?”
“Going to make a phone call and buy some food.”
The roommate nodded, said goodbye, and then paid her no more attention.
Ren Yue walked out of the dormitory room, head down as she walked through the dim corridor.
【She’s dead…】
Her fingers danced across her phone screen, typing out a message to someone unknown—
【She’s dead… I don’t have to live in fear anymore…】
The reply came quickly: 【Congratulations, little disciple】.
Yet Ren Yue felt little joy in her heart. She pressed the phone screen dark and lifted her head to look ahead.
Then her body froze.
It was already evening, but the corridor lights weren’t on, creating an somewhat eerie atmosphere. Every dormitory door was tightly locked, making the corridor appear especially empty and long.
At the stairwell at the corridor’s end, a figure with disheveled hair stood silently beside the ghostly green light of the “Emergency Exit” sign, seemingly casting no shadow beneath their feet.
By that green glow, Ren Yue recognized who was standing there.
They had lived together for nearly four years, and could recognize each other just from a silhouette, especially since Shen Maomao was wearing her favorite outfit before she left…
Her hand went slack, and her phone fell to the ground with a “pa” sound, the screen glass shattering into several pieces.
She couldn’t help stepping back, her lips trembling as she called out Shen Maomao’s name: “Maomao…”
Shen Maomao’s bangs fell across her face, hiding her eyes. She stared at Ren Yue through the gaps in her hair, the malice and hatred in her eyes pinning Ren Yue in place, too afraid to move.
Shen Maomao stepped forward, her lips twitching, and asked eerily: “Ren Yue… where are you going…”
Ren Yue’s lost consciousness fully returned, and she screamed, running back like a madwoman, screaming while running, not even bothering to pick up her phone from the ground.
Shen Maomao: “…”
Lou Jingmo, who came up the stairs a step behind: “…Look how badly you scared that kid.”
Shen Maomao: “…Sometimes I really can’t understand, seeing how cowardly she is, where did she find the courage to stab me to death back then?”
Lou Jingmo said: “If you died, she wouldn’t have to enter the dungeon instance anymore. Who wouldn’t be tempted? Compared to continuing to tangle with ghosts in the instance, killing you was simpler.”
Thinking about Ren Yue’s personality, Shen Maomao felt Lou Jingmo’s guess was probably right.
Only greater danger and horror would make a coward like Ren Yue take such a risk. After all, how hard could it be to kill an unsuspecting Shen Maomao, right?
The author has something to say:
Ren Yue’s storyline has been arranged, there won’t be any more plot about her, the next time you see her will be close to her “getting her lunch box” [領盒飯 | lǐng hé fàn | euphemism for death].
Lou-jie plans to act, but the final result won’t be directly caused by them 【saying more would be spoilers】
Regarding the timeline issue for stranded players – For stranded players, time is forever frozen. If they’re fortunate enough to get out, they’ll return to the moment they entered the instance, regardless of how many players changed in between.
For example, if someone you know becomes a stranded player, you get out but they remain stranded, they’ll still come out at the same second you do, no matter how many instance resets they went through in the game.
✨ Unlock Early Access to Chapters! ✨
Choose your perfect membership at bamboopandatl.net:
📚 Full Access ($4.99)
• Advanced chapters of ALL ongoing novels
• Access to complete finished novels
• Ad-free reading experience
📖 Single Novel Access ($1.49)
• Advanced chapters of ONE specific novel
• Ad-free reading for chosen novel
PayPal is the only current payment option!