Although Li Shuyang had a good attitude, Xia Baiyi and Xiao
Shi Yi didn’t give him a pleasant look, and they didn’t even acknowledge Li
Shuyang.
Li Shuyang didn’t mind and looked excited and shy as he
turned to Ruan Qing, like a bashful teenager. “Brother Su, can I call you
Broother Su Qing like classmate Xia does?”
Ruan Qing’s hand that was transferring the bank card paused
slightly. “You can.”
After Ruan Qing said it was okay, Li Shuyang beamed and
called out, “Brother Su Qing.”
Other players: “...” How disgusting.
A grown man actually calling a high school student “brother”
was truly shameless.
He only relied on the fact that the instance blurred the
memories and cognition of the NPCs, making them genuinely believe that the
players were also high school students. Otherwise, they would have thrown books
at his face in a minute.
When Song Yu entered, he happened to witness this strange
scene.
With a gloomy expression, he walked slowly to the desk,
facing the four of them. The chair in front of the desk had been dragged away
by Xia Baiyi, so he simply stood there quietly.
He didn’t ask Xia Baiyi to return the chair, nor did he move
the chairs of other absent classmates.
Xia Baiyi glanced up at the person standing in front of the
desk. Not knowing what she thought, she silently stood up and returned the
chair.
After Xia Baiyi returned the chair, she looked at the
classmate sitting silently on the other side of Ruan Qing.
The distance between the desks was not wide, and Ruan Qing
was sitting towards the back, leaving only a narrow gap that was not enough for
someone to pass through.
Unless Ruan Qing moved the chair forward to make way for the
aisle.
But obviously, that was impossible. Even if he was Su Qing’s
girlfriend, she would never be so presumptuous as to command Su Qing herself.
So Xia Baiyi didn’t say anything either, obediently standing
next to Ruan Qing.
Ruan Qing looked at Xia Baiyi with some surprise. This didn’t
fit her style.
Xia Baiyi appeared innocent and sweet, but in reality, she
had a bit of cunning and dominance. Even if she was not the real Xia Baiyi, she
hadn’t really changed. It felt somewhat strange to see her silently return the
chair like this.
Was she trying to maintain her image in front of Ruan Qing?
Or was there something wrong with this person, Song Yu?
Ruan Qing glanced at Song Yu, who had a pale and fragile
appearance. Just as he was lost in thought, the sound of mobile phone
notifications interrupted him.
It wasn’t just one person’s phone, but several phones in the
classroom rang simultaneously.
They were the players’ phones, and all the players
instinctively opened their phones and navigated to the mission interface of the
instance.
[Side quest has refreshed.]
[Side quest: Receive a blessing at midnight.]
Midnight? Blessing?
Putting aside what this blessing might be, the fact that it’s
at midnight was already quite delicate. After all, this was a supernatural
instance, and midnight had always been an ominous time, signifying great
danger.
When they were investigating the classroom last night, they
deliberately avoided midnight. But this side quest specifically mentioned the
hour of midnight.
This was clearly not a coincidence.
Several players furrowed their brows upon seeing the side
quest.
Not every instance had side quests. Side quests were randomly
refreshed after entering the instance, with both difficulty and reward points
being random as well. The only certainty was that the harder the quest, the
more reward points one could obtain.
Some players started to have second thoughts upon seeing
midnight, realizing that completing the side quest was not mandatory. Not every
player would go all out for the uncertain amount of reward points.
However, there were also players who began searching for
information about “blessing” on the school forum.
The First High School indeed had an official forum, but it
seemed that discussions on such topics were prohibited.
A prompt appeared when players attempted to search.
[Dear students, please refrain from believing in these
unscientific rumors and focus on your studies.]
It wasn’t that they couldn’t find anything; searching was
simply forbidden. This meant that there were indeed related legends circulating
within the school.
Several players who were willing to give it a try exchanged
glances, conveying their desire to attempt it through their eyes.
Although the difficulty and rewards of side quests were
random, even the lowest reward points were not insignificant. Sometimes, the
reward points for completing a side quest surpassed those for clearing the
instance itself. It’s said that fortune favors the bold.
Ruan Qing’s cellphone was in silent mode, vibrating softly.
Among the various notification sounds, it didn’t stand out, and hardly anyone
noticed it.
He glanced at the players who were looking at their phones
and took out his own phone to check.
[Side Quest Refreshed]
[Side Quest 1: Bullying Classmates Daily (0/3)]
[Side Quest 2: Receive Blessings at Midnight]
Ruan Qing’s gaze focused on the first quest, and he asked in
his mind, ‘Does ‘bullying classmates daily’ mean I have to stay in the game
for ten days?’
The system responded promptly, indicating that it didn’t
involve staying for ten days, but rather every day he spent in the game.
Ruan Qing lowered his eyes slightly, realizing that this side
quest wasn’t going to be difficult.
Would the game system hand out points?
Clearly, that was highly unlikely.
Did it think he couldn’t survive to complete the main quest?
Or was this side quest itself a trap?
But there was no need to hesitate. After all, in order to
maintain his character, he had to bully others. Now, it was just a matter of
adding a specific number of times to the bullying requirement.
As for the second side quest, it seemed dubious, so Ruan Qing
simply ignored it.
However, the next moment, he was caught off guard by Li
Shuyang’s question, “Brother Su Qing, do you know the legend about receiving
blessings at midnight in our school?”
The players who were originally discussing the side quest in
the group immediately perked up their ears upon hearing the keywords.
Ruan Qing paused for a moment and shook his head, “No, I
don’t.”
On the other hand, Xia Baiyi next to him smiled and playfully
replied, “I know, I know.”
“The legend goes that if you light a white candle at midnight
and stay in the classroom of Class 1-1 for a full hour, without the candle
extinguishing, you will receive blessings from the ‘deities’.”
“And the person who receives the blessings will become
extremely intelligent, almost always scoring full marks in exams. Becoming a
national top scorer is no longer a challenge for them.”
“However,” Xia Baiyi’s tone suddenly changed, no longer
playful but rather mysterious. Her face seemed to flicker with light and
darkness, creating a slightly chilling feeling. It made people involuntarily
imagine some terrifying consequences.
Ruan Qing paused and looked at Xia Baiyi.
When Xia Baiyi noticed Ruan Qing’s gaze, she blinked her
watery eyes at him, placed her hands on her chest, and formed a heart shape.
Her tone returned to its previous playfulness. “If the white candle goes out
during this period, someone will die.~”
The tone clearly sounded like a joke. Many classmates who
were eavesdropping rolled their eyes, while only a few students who knew about
this legend remained silent, lost in their thoughts.
However, the players’ expressions turned serious, and they
didn’t consider Xia Baiyi’s words as a mere joke.
Midnight, twelve o’clock, a white candle... This was clearly
a way to summon spirits!
Summoning spirits within a supernatural instance...
The players fell into contemplation. Could it be related to
the ‘culprit’ mentioned in the conditions for clearing the instance?
Regardless of whether it was or not, this clue was
undoubtedly the most useful one they had obtained recently. It was no longer a
side quest; they had to give it a try.
Otherwise, once the instance’s ability to control ghosts
weakened, they would undoubtedly perish. It was better to seize the opportunity
while it was only the second day and try their luck. Perhaps they would
discover some clues.
After Xia Baiyi finished speaking, she looked at Ruan Qing
and smiled before opening her mouth again. “Brother Su Qing, are you interested
in this, too?”
“If you’re interested, I can accompany you tonight. I will
definitely protect Brother Su Qing’s white candle.” Xia Baiyi clenched her fist
and made a solemn promise.
Xiao Shiyi squinted his eyes upon hearing this, his gaze
sharp as he looked at Xia Baiyi. “What? Does classmate Xia think Brother Su
isn’t clever enough?”
Xia Baiyi hesitated for a moment, seeing Ruan Qing looking at
her. She shook her head nervously, fearing that Ruan Qing might misunderstand
her. “Brother Su Qing, I didn’t mean that. I just thought you might be
interested in these legends, so I asked.”
Ruan Qing shook his head, indicating that he wasn’t very
interested.
After all, it seemed like a suicidal mission, so he would
leave it to those brave players. He wouldn’t participate.
Losing points for a side quest didn’t matter much.
Xia Baiyi blinked her eyes, tilted her head, and said in
surprise, “Huh? Is Brother Su Qing afraid of ghosts, so he doesn’t dare to go?”
Ruan Qing’s heart sank slightly upon hearing this. It seemed
that this ‘Xia Baiyi’ was provoking him, clearly wanting him to go.
Why? Did she want to harm him?
Ruan Qing didn’t want to go, but he needed to maintain his
image. The original owner always cared about face. Being provoked like this, he
would definitely go to prove himself.
Moreover, even if he refused now, this ‘Xia Baiyi’ would
definitely provoke him again.
Ruan Qing touched the ruby earring beside his ear, showing no
signs of hesitation. He maintained his nonchalant attitude and said, “There’s nothing
I’m afraid of.”
Xia Baiyi seemed skeptical of Ruan Qing’s words and
continued, “Brother Su Qing, rest assured, it’s just a legend. And I will
definitely protect you, Brother Su Qing.”
Xiao Shiyi, seeing that Ruan Qing agreed, had a completely
dark expression. He looked coldly at Xia Baiyi and said, “Classmate Xia, please
refrain from spreading such feudal superstitions in the class.”
Xia Baiyi shrugged innocently and said, “Many students in our
school know about this legend, okay? It’s not like I started the rumor.”
“And I just wanted to invite Brother Su Qing to explore at
midnight. It seems unrelated to the class leader. Don’t you think you’re being
too overbearing? Brother Su Qing didn’t say anything either.”
Xiao Shiyi coldly replied, “As long as you’re a student in
this class, you fall under my jurisdiction. If you don’t like it, you can get
out of the class.”
Xia Baiyi’s eyes lit up upon hearing that and she happily
said, “Okay then, I’ll go to Brother Su Qing’s class.”
Xiao Shiyi smirked and said, “Sure, as long as you can
transfer in.”
After Xiao Shiyi finished speaking, he looked at Ruan Qing
and said, “Brother Su, don’t listen to her nonsense. There is no such legend.
It’s just a fabrication by a group of underachieving students.”
Ruan Qing was about to take advantage of the situation and
say that he wouldn’t go, but Xia Baiyi spoke up again. She looked at Xiao Shiyi
discontentedly and said, “What do you mean, class leader? Brother Su Qing has
already agreed to accompany me. He won’t go back on his word.”
“And besides, you also said it’s all made up by the students.
There’s no danger, so why are you so nervous?”
Ruan Qing’s attempt to go with the flow suddenly got stuck in
his throat.
The original ownder rarely made promises, but once promised,
he wouldn’t go back on his words.
Xiao Shiyi also knew that there was probably no room for
negotiation on this matter. He pushed his glasses and said, “I’ll accompany
Brother Su in the evening. I’m also very interested in this.”
Xiao Shiyi said he was interested with a blank expression,
but there was no trace of actual interest on his face. It was completely
different from how he had just scolded Xia Baiyi.
After all, he had just been saying that this was feudal
superstition, and now he changed his tune to accompany Ruan Qing.
Li Shuyang immediately raised his hand and said, “Then I’ll
go too!”
Other students in the class also chimed in, expressing their
desire to go. A few players exchanged glances and joined in as well.
Xiao Shiyi glanced at the classmates who raised their hands
and spoke calmly, “Alright, those who want to come, gather in the classroom at
11:30 p.m. tonight.”
