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Bonus chapter! Thank you to --- for the donation! ^^
***
[Welcome, players, to the dungeon <Death Call>.]
[Legend has it that you should never answer a phone call at midnight—because it might be a vengeful gowner calling to claim your life.]
[Everyone thought it was just an urban myth, until one day, someone actually received a call at midnight.]
[Strange noises came from the other end of the line—sounds that seemed like… the screams of a dying person.]
[Dungeon Objective: Survive for seven days, or uncover the identity of It.]
[Friendly Reminder: Each player only gets one chance to name It. Guess wrong, and something unpleasant will happen~]
***
Ruan Qing knew exactly how dangerous it was to reveal his player ID, so as soon as he was out of sight, he quickly chose to enter the game.
He had already checked—while special dungeon items could pull players into a dungeon, they couldn’t transport someone across two dungeons at once.
In other words, the only way to avoid being dragged into the same game was to already be inside another dungeon.
But he was a step too late.
Ruan Qing stared at the familiar dungeon name and description, his heart sinking to the pit of his stomach. The others had realized he had lied to them.
Fortunately, due to his status as a special player, he hadn’t spawned in the same location as the others, so he wasn’t immediately caught.
There was still a chance.
As long as he didn’t run into them face-to-face, they would assume he hadn’t been pulled into the dungeon.
Suppressing his emotions, Ruan Qing began observing his surroundings and sorting through the details of the dungeon and the original owner’s memories. Once again, he had taken on the role of an NPC.
The original owner’s name was He Qing, a ruthless con artist who deceived people for money, sex, and anything else he desired.
If he wanted something, he would go to any lengths to swindle it.
However, He Qing wasn’t particularly patient. Having dropped out of school early, his knowledge and awareness were severely lacking, so he rarely succeeded in his scams.
Despite his poor skills, he occasionally stumbled upon one or two gullible fools who believed every word he said.
Like the last person he had tricked—a naive college student who hadn’t yet entered society.
Eager to ease his family’s financial burden, the student had taken up a part-time job at a café during his free time.
The original owner's scamming skills weren't great, but he always aimed high, targeting wealthy people. Logically, someone like that shouldn’t have been his mark.
But sometimes, coincidences just happen.
At the time, the original owner was trying to scam a rich second-generation heir at a café where a male college student worked part-time. However, his deception wasn’t clever enough, and the heir saw through it, splashing coffee in his face.
Seeing this, the kind-hearted college student handed the original owner a tissue—and that’s how he caught his attention.
Realizing how naive the student was, the original owner went out of his way to stage "chance encounters," presenting himself as a successful self-made entrepreneur. He then expressed gratitude for the tissue and proposed a business partnership.
The outcome was predictable.
The college student was scammed out of everything he had and, in the end, jumped off a building, ending his own life.
The original owner had no conscience. Not only did he feel no remorse, but he also thought the gullible student was an easy target, which reignited his twisted ambitions.
This time, he disguised himself as a current university student and infiltrated the same school as the boy who had jumped, intending to scam others.
Unlike middle or high school, universities don’t have fixed classes—students choose their own courses. Even classmates might see each other only a few times a semester, so an extra person on campus would go completely unnoticed.
However, the original owner knew his knowledge was limited. His understanding of university life came only from TV and the male student he’d scammed. Jumping straight into another con would risk exposure, so in the beginning, he didn’t do anything too bold. Instead, he lurked in student group chats, getting familiar with the crowd while learning about their daily lives.
And in private… he harassed other students.
The original owner wasn’t picky—he flirted with both guys and girls. Since it was all online, he wasn’t afraid of being exposed.
By the time Ruan Qing entered the dungeon, the original owner had already harassed many students through these group chats. His daily routine involved private messaging them—all potential targets for future scams.
After sorting through the memories, Ruan Qing’s heart sank. He stared at the flood of unread messages on his phone, in no mood to reply.
In certain dungeons, an NPC’s death could be terrifying. That college student who jumped might very well have become a ghost.
And if he had turned into a vengeful ghost, the original owner—who had ruined his life—would undoubtedly be his first target.
He seemed to have run into another hopeless, inescapable dead end.
The messages on his phone kept pouring in. In just a few minutes, the unread count had already surpassed 30.
The original owner wasn’t actually a college student, nor did he have any real job—replying to these messages instantly was basically his full-time occupation. Aside from his somewhat sleazy way of speaking, his attitude was flawless.
After all, scamming people was his job.
Ruan Qing’s eyelashes fluttered uneasily. He took a deep breath and tapped on the chat pinned at the top of his messages.
[Xia Linlin: You’re disgusting.]
[Xia Linlin: Give it up. I’ll never like you. Stop harassing me, or I’ll screenshot everything you’ve sent and post it in the group.]
This Xia Linlin was the beauty queen of the foreign languages department—a genuine "rich, beautiful, and privileged" girl from a well-off family.
The original owner had set his sights on her the moment he joined the group.
Unfortunately, the campus belle had looks, money, and no shortage of confidence. She wasn’t the type to fall for just anyone’s advances. Despite the original owner pestering her for days, she hadn’t given him even a shred of warmth.
But he hadn’t given up easily. Even after Xia Linlin blocked him multiple times, he shamelessly kept sending friend requests.
He even privately messaged people she knew, begging them to put in a good word for him.
Because his attitude was so polite and he never revealed his true intentions, most people were willing to help—which only made Xia Linlin despise him even more.
Ruan Qing couldn’t bring himself to imitate the original owner’s shamelessness, but he had no choice but to reply in character.
[He Qing: I really do like you. Can we meet? Maybe you’ll change your mind once you see me.]
[He Qing: Please, just give me a chance.]
Though the original owner was a scammer, he was undeniably good-looking—delicate and pretty. Before Ruan Qing entered this "game," the original owner had already planned to meet this rich beauty in person.
He was convinced that once they met, she’d fall for him.
Ruan Qing didn’t believe Xia Linlin would ever love him, nor did he think she’d agree to meet. So he replied without any hesitation.
He hit send—only for a system notification to pop up instantly.
[Message failed to send. Please add this user as a friend first.]
Clearly, Xia Linlin had blocked him again. This wasn’t the first time.
The original owner of this body would never give up, but Ruan Qing could only click "Send Friend Request" to add Xia Linlin.
As expected, the other party didn’t accept it.
If it were the original owner, they might have stubbornly continued harassing Xia Linlin until she agreed, but Ruan Qing wasn’t He Qing.
Sending one request to go through the motions was enough.
Just as Ruan Qing was about to give up and check other messages, his phone suddenly blew up with notifications.
It was from the university student group chat.
[Studying Brings Me Joy: Everyone, watch out for this guy—he’s a disgusting player who’s been flirting with both me and my roommate. And from what I know, he’s also hitting on several others in this group. @BreezeAndMoonlight [Screenshot.JPG]]
This message was the start of the flood of tags. Ruan Qing’s finger froze. "BreezeAndMoonlight" was the original owner’s screen name.
The screenshot the classmate posted showed the original owner’s harassing messages to her and her roommate.
The original owner seemed… to have been exposed.
The screenshot and tags prompted other students to speak up.
[Lin Qiqi: Uh… this guy harassed me too. [Screenshot.JPG]]
[Yu Yang Is Handsome: Yeah… same here. [Screenshot.JPG]]
…
Others who had been harassed followed suit, posting their own screenshots. The group chat scrolled rapidly.
[NoThreeNoFour: Holy shit, this dude’s a legend. By rough count, he harassed over twenty people—men and women. Is this guy a time-management master or what?]
[NoMorningClasses: Pfft, most people ignored him, so he had all the time in the world to harass. No management needed.]
[TeacherLookAtHim: He harassed so many people… Why wasn’t I one of them? Am I just not worthy?]
[HotpotToday: He really knows how to cast a wide net. Even actual playboys aren’t this shameless. Do they think college students are stupid?]
[Xia Linlin: [Screenshot.JPG] [Screenshot.JPG] [Screenshot.JPG]]
Xia Linlin didn’t say a word—just dropped a few screenshots. That set off even more reactions.
[HandsomeNo1AtNU: Damn, he even dared to harass the department’s top beauty? This guy’s got some audacity.]
[TapWaterOnly: Say what you will, but his persistence is next-level. The beauty deleted him seven or eight times, and he still had the nerve to send more requests.]
[ISwearToGod: Compared to the others, he clearly put more effort into pursuing Xia Linlin. If you ignore all the other "fish," it almost looks like he’s genuinely devoted.]
[Reject Porn, Gambling, and Drugs: Bro, I wanna ask—what were you thinking? Do you really feel no shame at all? @BreezeAndMoonlight.]
[Gambling Ruins Lives: His username is a joke. "@BreezeAndMoonlight"? More like "Endless Drama."]
The group chat, usually quiet, was now buzzing. Even the lurkers had surfaced, almost everyone mocking 'Breeze And Moonlight.'
Not a single person in the group spoke up for him.
In just a few minutes, the @ mentions had blown past 99+. Ruan Qing couldn’t even keep up with the flood of messages.
Not that it would’ve helped anyway. The original owner’s deeds were fully exposed—playing dead was the only option left.
But the group admin didn’t even give Ruan Qing that chance. Soon, a system notification popped up:
[You have been removed from the group chat.]
Ruan Qing: "..."
Kicked twice in seven days. His feelings were… complicated.
But this time was far better than the last. Getting booted actually worked in his favor—no need to deal with the mess of people the original owner had flirted with.
Just as Ruan Qing was about to set his phone down, the ringtone blared abruptly, shattering the classroom’s silence with an eerie, skin-crawling jingle.
"Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling."
