Although Ruan Qing had his back to Yang Wenju, he heard footsteps approaching and instinctively turned around—only to find Yang Wenju storming toward him, radiating fury.
Yang Wenju’s expression was far from pleasant. His anger was unrestrained, his face twisted with the lingering dread of whatever horror he’d endured, making him look downright terrifying.
Ruan Qing’s eyes widened, his face paling. His damp eyes flickered with fear as he reflexively staggered back several steps.
Yang Wenju already knew this con artist was beautiful—he’d realized that much when the kid knocked him out. But seeing him again still left Yang Wenju momentarily stunned.
The boy was too beautiful, like a painting come to life.
No—no painting could capture his beauty. He was more like a flower blooming at its most extravagant, just before the brink of decay. That moment when petals are at their most intoxicating, lush and vivid.
A beauty that… ensnared the senses.
But that still wasn’t reason enough to knock him out cold. As memories of the nightmare flooded back, Yang Wenju’s expression contorted further—though his rage wasn’t directed at the boy, but at the hell he’d just endured.
Everyone had their own fears, their own inescapable horrors. No matter how strong you were, some terrors couldn’t be conquered.
Especially when stripped of all strength, left powerless, unable to even use tools. That suffocating despair was still clinging to him like a waking tide.
Under Yang Wenju’s glare, Ruan Qing’s slender frame trembled slightly. His face still pale, he offered a quiet apology: “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to. You were waiting for me in the classroom—I thought you were… bad people.”
He looked fragile and pitiful now, like some bullied classmate cornered in the restroom, guilt-tripping them without even trying.
One of the other players couldn’t take it anymore and stepped in, playing peacemaker. “Come on, he really didn’t do it on purpose. No need to be petty about it.”
Yang Wenju’s anger had already faded somewhat, but those words set him off again. He whirled on the other player.
“Petty?! I almost died in that nightmare!”
The player coughed awkwardly and muttered, “But you’re fine now, aren’t you? He’s just a normal person who got the 4444 call—of course he’d be scared.”
A pause. Then, quieter: “Besides, if he hadn’t knocked you out, we wouldn’t have gotten so many clues.”
Yang Wenju was stunned by this shameless logic. He stared at the player with a blank expression. "...So I should thank him, is that it?"
The player, perhaps feeling a little guilty, cleared his throat again. "Ahem, that’s not what I meant. I just think he didn’t do it on purpose, and we’re all teammates now. There’s no need for this."
Yang Wenju: "..."
In the end, it was Li Yue—who had also experienced the nightmare—who stepped forward. With a look of understanding, he patted Yang Wenju’s shoulder, then leaned in and whispered, so quietly that only the two of them could hear:
"He’s a dungeon NPC. And he was personally invited by Lu Xiuyuan."
Yang Wenju, who had expected some kind of consolation: "..." So good looks really could get you anything, huh?
That said, Yang Wenju could never bring himself to attack someone who could barely even lift a steel rod. Besides, he was partly to blame for getting knocked out—if he hadn’t been so distracted by the guy’s face, he wouldn’t have been taken down so easily.
After all, the boy in front of him was genuinely weak. So weak that a single kick would probably make him cry for ages.
With a cold snort, Yang Wenju turned his head away, taking the out Li Yue had given him. The matter was dropped.
Or so it seemed.
Ruan Qing could clearly feel several predatory gazes lingering on him, sending chills down his spine and making his scalp prickle with unease.
His fingers clenched subtly beneath his sleeves as he forced himself to stay calm and not reveal even a hint of his tension.
If these men realized he was a player, it would be over.
Fortunately, the System had said the game would blur players’ memories and perceptions of him. Even if they’d seen his face before, they should have forgotten by now—there was no way they could instantly recognize him as the same person.
He couldn’t afford to slip up.
As Ruan Qing had guessed, Lu Xiuyuan and the others did have their suspicions.
This person’s aura was too similar to that player’s—so similar it was just as hard to look away.
Though they could no longer remember what that player looked like, their instincts told them he must have resembled the person before them now.
But that guy had been a player, and this one was an NPC—one explicitly mentioned in the dungeon’s information.
Players and dungeon NPCs were natural enemies. A player couldn’t *become* a dungeon NPC unless they were disguising themselves as one.
Yet this person’s presence in the dungeon’s backstory confirmed he wasn’t a player in disguise.
He was the dungeon’s NPC. There was no way he could be the player who had tricked them. Reluctantly, they pushed their suspicions aside.
Lu Xiuyuan looked at the stunning young man before him, absentmindedly twirling his phone in his hand, his thoughts wandering for the first time.
Maybe he’d been single for too long, so now even a pretty face could make his heart flutter?
Lu Xiuyuan wasn’t the only one thinking this way—Shen Qifeng and the others felt the same, even starting to doubt themselves.
Was it really because they’d been single for too long, leaving both body and mind starved for companionship?
But even if they were lonely, did that mean they’d want to sleep with just anyone? Were they really that shameless?
The four of them kept their expressions as neutral as ever, and no one could guess what they were thinking. The others just assumed they were focused on the dungeon.
***
Ruan Qing quietly blended into the players’ group. Both sides maintained their silence—the players didn’t mention the diary to him, and Ruan Qing didn’t share anything about himself either.
And so, the group moved forward together in an oddly tense atmosphere.
Most things in the dungeon were pre-set, and mindless slaughter was rare.
Death never happened without a trigger—whether it was receiving a fatal phone call or being dragged into a nightmare, there was always a reason.
After daybreak, when they saw the ordinary students arriving for class, the players confirmed their suspicions: not everyone was pulled into the nightmare.
They had been chosen for a reason—it was just that the reason remained unknown.
The players decided to start their investigation with Xiao Mingyu.
Xiao Mingyu came from an average family, lived an average life—just your typical college guy, with nothing extraordinary about him except for his looks and intelligence.
He ranked first in his major and had even been the provincial top scorer in the national college entrance exams.
His life had followed the same trajectory as his peers, except he was more outstanding—smarter, more handsome. But all of that ended a few weeks ago.
A few weeks earlier, while working part-time at a café, he met He Qing. From that moment on, his life took a drastic turn.
He began obsessively documenting everything about He Qing, was swindled out of everything he owned while fully aware of it, and ultimately ended his life by jumping off a building.
The players couldn’t help but glance at the quiet young man sitting beside them. His long lashes trembled like delicate feathers, casting a soft shadow under his eyes, making him look fragile and pitiful.
No matter how many times they looked at him, they just couldn’t connect him to the word "con artist."
Could it be that Xiao Mingyu himself took a liking to the boy, willingly spent money on him, and then slandered the boy in his diary?
The players quickly suppressed this absurd thought. They were getting a firsthand taste of what it meant to be lovestruck—even with all the evidence laid out before them, they still instinctively made excuses for the boy.
Ruan Qing had no idea what the players were thinking. Staring at the documents with no further clues to uncover, he lowered his gaze, lost in thought. A few seconds later, he spoke up softly.
"Last night, I met someone in the study room."
His voice drew everyone’s attention. Uncomfortable under their stares, Ruan Qing shrank back slightly but forced himself to continue in a small voice.
"I got the feeling he might know something. The moment I asked him about Xiao Mingyu, he immediately knew I’d received that phone call."
At this point, Ruan Qing seemed uneasy. He pressed his lips together lightly before going on. "He also said… he’s in the study room every night."
Lu Xiuyuan didn’t miss that flicker of discomfort. Tapping his phone idly against the table, he asked casually,
"And?"
"Huh?" Ruan Qing didn’t understand. He looked up at him in confusion.
Lu Xiuyuan’s tone was indifferent. "What else did he say?"
Ruan Qing’s expression stiffened. He instinctively lowered his head, avoiding Lu Xiuyuan’s gaze. "N-nothing else. That’s all he said."
Though he tried to act normal, his evasive, guilty demeanor made it obvious he was hiding something.
"I don’t like being lied to." Lu Xiuyuan chuckled softly, his grip on the phone tightening slightly—until the sturdy device crumpled like paper in his hand.
"Think carefully before you answer."
Every move Lu Xiuyuan made exuded elegance and grace, his demeanor always polite and refined—even as he crushed a phone.
But the phone’s casing was metal, not something easily bent, let alone shattered. Yet he deformed it effortlessly, as if it were nothing more than a scrap of paper.
Ruan Qing’s face instantly paled. Staring at the destroyed phone in shock and fear, his lips trembled. "...He said…"
"If I wanted to live… I could make a deal with him."
Shen Qifeng glanced over at that. "What kind of deal?"
"To… to help him…" The nature of the deal seemed too shameful to voice. Ruan Qing’s words grew quieter and quieter, until they were nearly inaudible—nothing but the faint movement of his lips.
The bitten lip hadn’t healed easily—it was still swollen and red. Now, after being gently sucked, it glistened faintly, quivering in a way that was undeniably beautiful yet carried an indescribable sensuality, as if inviting a kiss.
Lu Xiuyuan and Shen Qifeng, who had glanced over, froze instantly. Their gazes locked uncontrollably on those slightly parted, red lips, their eyes darkening with restrained intensity.
Only Qin Yulian, who hadn’t looked, frowned. His voice was icy, edged with impatience. "Help him with what?"
Ruan Qing clenched his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and blurted out as if steeling himself—
"Help him... relieve his physical urges."
Thank you for the chapter!!
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