“Hello, is anyone sitting here?” Hui Yulian approached Xiao Huai with her tray.
Xiao Huai looked up at her and shook his head. So, Hui Yulian sat down next to him.
She was waiting for Xiao Huai to ask her why she chose to sit there, but he kept his head down, focused on eating, without even a spare glance her way.
Hui Yulian cleared her throat lightly. “Aren't you going to ask me why I sat here?”
Xiao Huai glanced at her. “Oh, should I? Alright then, why did you sit here?”
Hui Yulian replied, “...I wanted to ask you some questions.”
Xiao Huai raised an eyebrow. “What do you want to ask?”
“Do you have an identity?”
Xiao Huai didn’t answer her immediately; he smiled. “What do you think?”
Hui Yulian frowned, but after a moment, she changed the subject. “Do you have an organization outside?”
“Organization?” Xiao Huai showed some interest in the term, turning to look at Hui Yulian quietly, waiting for her to explain what she meant by organization.
Hui Yulian nodded. “Wherever humans exist, there will be associations and organizations. This is no exception even in the gods’ horror games... May I ask, do you currently have a divine sponsor?”
Xiao Huai stared at her, blinking as if to say— I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Hui Yulian explained, “There’s a live broadcast room in the system, where every god can become your sponsor. If we perform well, they might send us items or even grant us special powers.”
“Oh?” He picked up a piece of meat. “So we’re just animals in a zoo, then.”
Though this analogy was uncomfortable, it was accurate.
He asked, “What does this have to do with an organization?” bringing the conversation back.
Hui Yulian replied, “No... Not really. Actually, I wanted to tell you that organizations exist to survive in horror games. We share clues and information about the copies, but there are game rules stating that key clues cannot be shared. However, some clues can still be circulated. I have clues about this copy; do you... want to know?”
The corner of Xiao Huai’s mouth curled up slightly, and with a forceful bite, the raw meat burst with blood, momentarily merging with the red of his eyes.
He stood up, suddenly laughing, leaning over to her. “Interesting, go on.”
Hui Yulian breathed a sigh of relief. When she heard Xiao Huai laugh, she initially thought he would refuse her, especially since he seemed off in so many ways.
If it weren't for the message from her god behind her… she wouldn't have sought out Xiao Huai.
“Xiao Huai, you know that organizations don’t casually share clues with outsiders. If you agree to join our organization after you leave, I’ll show you.”
“Sure,” he replied casually.
Despite hearing Xiao Huai's affirmative response, Hui Yulian felt he was insincere, so she took out a small purple stone. “This is our organization’s token. After leaving the game, they will feel your presence.”
The Falcon Organization’s contact stone.
Xiao Huai smiled and took it.
To him, this contact stone felt more like a tracking device.
What awaited him if he betrayed them?
Coincidentally, he didn’t care about deceiving a deceiver, so he accepted the invitation without hesitation.
After all, it was merely a false acceptance; he was curious to see what would happen.
Upon receiving the stone, it indeed displayed his presence, and he couldn’t throw it away for now.
“Here, this is a clue.” She handed him a leaf.
Xiao Huai raised an eyebrow at the sight of the leaf.
The hint of suspicion in his eyes was caught by Hui Yulian, who said, “Don’t worry, clues cannot be fabricated. Clues in horror games look like this; if you don’t believe me, you can check the system later.”
As Hui Yulian said, the system identified the leaf as belonging to “one of the clues of Ivy Girls' Academy.”
With “one of” comes “two of,” “three of,” and so on.
Xiao Huai didn’t say much. After putting the leaf away, he left. Hui Yulian watched his figure disappear and couldn’t help but bite her thumb.
---
Xiao Huai walked into a deserted alley to examine the contents of the leaf.
“Ivy Girls' Academy Clue: Everyone is a child, though only a few remember.”
Just this short sentence, yet in that moment, Xiao Huai understood everything.
Hui Yulian might have grasped many clues, but she wouldn’t reveal what she deemed most significant to him.
Such vague clues posed no risk to him.
No one would randomly bring up those two questions.
Compared to recruiting him into the organization, Xiao Huai was more inclined to trust the questions she tossed out.
Divine sponsorship.
In a horror game filled with villains, would the gods prefer the benevolent players who emerge untainted from the mire, or the most extreme evildoers?
The academy clock chimed, signaling six o'clock, as the warm sun began to set, the sunset creeping over the hills.
Night was approaching.
At the moment the bell rang, accompanied by a loud “bang.”
Students began to jump from the building again.
The first one fell straight down from the fifth floor, black blood splattering on the ground, forming a blood pit. Severed limbs flew, bones shattered, and the student lay on the ground, face twisted, eyes hollow.
In the school, apart from a few players' screams, the other students showed no reaction at all.
Xiao Huai looked at the corpse and walked straight towards it.
“Look! What is he doing? Has he gone mad?” a player shouted from the corridor, pointing at Xiao Huai below.
Evening self-study was about to start. Some players had just returned from the cafeteria and naturally saw what Xiao Huai was doing, while others still in the classroom came out to see what was happening upon hearing the commotion.
Xiao Huai reached the corpse, squatted down, and when he reached out his hand, all the players were terrified.
Was he too brave?
When the cold sensation reached his fingertips, Xiao Huai stood up, looked at the group of players, and smirked, lightly saying, “She was already dead before she jumped.”
In an instant, the wind blew, and the air turned icy cold. The school fell into a terrifying silence, as if a pin dropping on the ground could be heard.
Suddenly, someone screamed, “Shit! A monster!”
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