Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Xiao Huai wrote a math problem in his notebook.
"1 + 1 = ?"
He Lecheng's eyebrows twitched, and his expression soured further.
"You really can't solve this problem?"
Xiao Huai nodded, blinking innocently. "Yeah, teacher, you wouldn’t think I'm not smart because of this, would you?"
Is that a hint of tea fragrance? Oh, it must be Xiao Chacha.
He Lecheng chuckled stiffly. "How could that be? Come, let me teach you."
He took Xiao Huai's notebook and wrote the answer: 2.
But Xiao Huai replied, "Teacher, I know the answer is 2, but I don't understand how to get there."
He Lecheng: "..."
The entire class: "..."
Everyone knew that one plus one equals two, but how to prove it was a bit philosophical.
Xiao Huai furrowed his brow, his tone laced with sarcasm. "No way, Teacher He, you don’t even know how to prove this problem? Sigh—never mind, I’ll just go back to my dorm and figure it out myself."
After saying this, he took his notebook back and turned to leave without looking back.
"Uh?" He Lecheng's forced smile became more pronounced. "Everyone has their strengths. Next time, I'll find a teacher who's better than me to tutor you."
He deliberately elongated the last part of his sentence, sounding a bit malicious. The tension in the air thickened.
Xiao Huai didn’t care at all and returned to his lazy demeanor. "Teacher, that’ll have to wait until the level test results come out."
As soon as he spoke, a flicker of a different emotion flashed in He Lecheng's eyes.
But that feeling disappeared just as quickly; he reverted to his previous smiling, harmless NPC demeanor and left the classroom.
When the bell rang to signal the end of evening study, students began trickling out towards the dormitories.
The players, unaware of where the dorms were, could only follow the student NPCs.
As they walked, they couldn't help but wonder if Xiao Huai was insane.
The smiling tiger was ruthless in front of them, and he still dared to provoke him—what a death wish.
Hui Yulian handed Xiao Huai a student handbook. "This is the handbook we just found. You were sleeping earlier, so I copied an extra one for you."
Xiao Huai glanced at Hui Yulian and flashed a bright smile. "Thank you, you're so nice."
Hui Yulian seemed taken aback by Xiao Huai's sunny smile, her face turning slightly red. She touched her head and replied, "You're welcome."
The Ivy League Girls' School dormitories were shared rooms for four, with bunk beds and desks.
After the bald man's death, there were still 33 players left. If divided by gender, with 17 being a prime number, players might end up sharing a room with NPCs.
They didn’t know their room numbers, so they went to the first-floor dorm office to ask.
The female students walked upstairs in silence, their footsteps eerily synchronized, adding to the strangeness of the dormitory.
The corridor lights flickered ominously, and the buzz of an old television echoed from the dorm office.
Didn’t they notice the classmates who died during evening study? Or had they simply grown accustomed to it?
"Don't push me; I don't want to go in either."
The players huddled together like frightened chicks, glancing at each other and refusing to knock on the door.
They cast pleading looks at Hui Yulian, as she was the only seasoned player present.
Understanding their silent plea, Hui Yulian approached the office door and knocked a few times.
"Teacher, we’re students transferred from the First High School. We’d like to check our room numbers," she said while knocking.
The buzzing noise inside grew louder. After a few more knocks and no response, some began to wonder if anyone was inside—then the door creaked open.
A large, stout woman appeared before them, her presence overwhelming.
At the moment she appeared, almost everyone's pupils dilated, and they held their breath.
She exuded a strong smell of blood, holding a transparent takeout box containing unidentified raw meat, with remnants of blood on her mouth.
"Ah, students from the First High School, come in, come in."
The woman wore a strangely warm smile.
No one dared to step forward; the strong odor of blood coming from the room was off-putting.
She wiped her mouth and was about to speak when a male voice rang out from the crowd.
"Teacher, we haven’t received our dorm handbooks yet."
Xiao Huai’s voice instantly became the focal point of attention.
Dorm handbook? Right, some of the older students were about to forget that living in the dorm also meant following dorm rules.
It was like wearing a school uniform for class—basic common sense that they had all overlooked due to nerves.
The woman smiled eerily at this, pulling out a stack of handbooks from behind her. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot."
What a convenient “almost forgotten”—the last time, He Lecheng almost forgot and directly killed one of their teammates.
These NPCs really seemed intent on keeping the players in the dark about the rules.
Everyone quickly distributed the handbooks, and at that moment, she took out the room number chart. "It's getting late; you all should take a look and head back."
Earlier, she had insisted that everyone go inside to check their room numbers, and now she was simply handing out the forms. It felt a bit strange.
Seeing that no one dared to take her room chart, her eyes narrowed slightly, and her mouth twisted into an eerie smile.
"It’s almost eleven o'clock, and I need to check the dorms. Everyone should be lying in bed like good children~"
The dorm handbook printed only four rules:
1. "During the bed check at eleven o'clock, you must be lying in bed. If found not in bed, you will receive a Level 1 punishment."
2. "No getting out of bed after three o'clock. If caught, you will receive a Level 2 punishment."
3. "Please do not participate in any games of hide and seek at night. If caught, you will receive a Level 3 punishment."
4. "The dorm supervisor is very nice. If she needs help, please assist her."
They looked up at the clock; it was already ten fifty!
If they weren’t in bed, it would result in punishment. No one wanted to risk it, especially not knowing what a Level 1 punishment entailed.
After quickly checking their room numbers, they rushed upstairs.
Fortunately, there were plenty of dorm rooms, and players were assigned to share with other players, divided into rooms of three or two; some rooms even had four people.
Xiao Huai was placed in a room of three, where he found a familiar face, Ning Gaoqiang, and a timid new player who didn’t dare to lift his head.
"Hey, what’s your name?" Ning Gaoqiang impatiently kicked the new player.
The new player stuttered, "I... I'm Hu Jiang. I don’t know anything, I... I can't do anything."
"I just asked your name; how did it turn into whether you know anything or not? Are you guilty of something?" Xiao Huai suddenly chuckled, who had remained silent until now.
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