Lu Qingjia’s words left the classroom in silence for a few seconds.
This included many astute Players.
Everyone was initially confused by the overly absolute rules that created convenient conditions; few considered the difficulty of the topic Ji Ye had assigned.
Realizing this was a chaotic instance of Player versus Player, they were eager to identify enemies, gauge their chips, and secretly reach a consensus with Players from the same faction.
Before leaving, Ji Ye specifically reminded everyone to adhere to classroom discipline and provided a ‘random’ Q&A mechanism, which was likely a warning to Players not to act violently towards NPCs. Indeed, the first question made everyone realize that even with NPCs available for questions, the puzzles were not so easily solved.
In their panic, they lost their composure even more.
Yet, few noticed that students could actually ask and answer each other without needing a forced method.
Some Players might have thought of this, but after hearing about the school’s dark secrets, they subconsciously assumed that these student NPCs were among the culprits behind Ji Ye’s difficult questions.
They believed that once the NPCs realized the truth, they would remain silent. The rules of this class prohibited lying, but when not selected for the Q&A, they could refuse to answer questions.
Many felt a sense of impending doom; one Player, with a forced smile, asked Lu Qingjia, “Alright, it seems we’ve all overcomplicated things, forgetting that the solution is right under our noses.”
This was also related to the arrogance of the Players; at this level, having weathered countless storms, how could they truly regard a few naive high school students as anything significant?
Whether Hunter Players or Gold-digging Players, one looked down from a moral high ground, while the other scorned with disdain.
“Then Brother Lu, why don’t you tell us which one it is? After just a few dozen questions, we’ve basically gone through those nine murder cases and haven’t found a match.”
Lu Qingjia remained silent, while Ji Ye took the initiative to summarize: “While everyone was eager to sort through the events, realizing the informed students had no clues, Lu Qingjia managed to gain the trust of student XXX.”
“Since the teacher assigned a topic, there wouldn’t be a complete lack of clues.” Ji Ye smiled: “Indeed, overly convenient absolute conditions can limit everyone’s perspective.”
“What pleases the teacher is that Lu Qingjia did not fall into the small trap set by the teacher but instead stepped out of the blind spot and sought new clues.”
“As a result, he discovered from the campus network that the number of staff did not match the number of bodies in the previous meeting room, and following this lead, he learned that a few months ago, there was an incident where a teacher attempted to rape a student and was subsequently expelled.”
“This incident was not among any of the murder cases that student XX remembered, as most people in the school probably still did not know that the annoying person who was collectively driven away for meddling had already committed suicide out of humiliation.”
As Ji Ye spoke, his expression darkened, and he sighed: “Some fools are just like that.”
“Even the most hopeless individuals are willing to pour their hearts into it, always holding an optimistic view of human nature, unaware that there are inherently bad seeds in this world.”
“Perhaps their motives are simple, merely wanting the annoying person to disappear, but based on this goal, they do not care what the other party will become in the end.”
“They possess extraordinary talent in how to precisely ruin a person, while simultaneously being utterly indifferent to the consequences; they do not care what happens to others’ reputations, lives, or even their very existence.”
“After all, the environment has led them to believe they are a group that needs protection, while those who truly need protection are left unprotected, and countless demons, cloaked in innocence and ignorance, act recklessly under the guise of needing guidance or being momentarily confused.”
“In the end, Teacher Gao and his wife lost their jobs due to damage to their reputation, repeatedly petitioned without success, and were long harassed by unknown individuals and societal pressure, ultimately choosing to end their lives out of humiliation.”
“And their children, after losing their parents, were left without guardians and sent to an orphanage. This is the answer the teacher hopes everyone will uncover.”
Ji Ye grinned, his smile somewhat sinister: “What’s the point of reiterating something everyone knows?”
“What the teacher hopes for are those overlooked matters, even those so tragic they failed to leave an impression in the memories of these culprits, to all surface. Although I do not expect certain scum to repent, there must be objective reasons to declare students unqualified and unworthy of graduating into society, right?”
“After all, the teacher sincerely hopes all students can turn over a new leaf during remedial classes and become good people in society, rather than seeing the teacher as a joyful murderer.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the doors of several other classrooms opened, and a force dragged out one or two people from each of the four classes.
There were both boys and girls, and one girl was quite beautiful; even with her face showing terror and tears streaming down, her beauty was still evident.
Seeing the reaction of the NPC sitting next to Lu Qingjia, it was clear she was the class flower who had wronged the teacher in the incident.
That girl had a particularly pure and non-aggressive appearance, her eyes glistening with tears, fitting the description of a “first love face” in current internet slang, easily endearing to boys.
Generally, adults would subconsciously think she was the type of obedient and quiet good student just by looking at her.
At this moment, the few dragged out, including the class flower, were screaming and crying loudly: “No, no, I don’t know anything.”
The ‘Ji Ye’ from those classrooms appeared simultaneously at the door, smiling at the group: “What a pity, your three classes originally had little chance of solving the puzzle this lesson. If it weren’t for Class Two’s Lu Qingjia successfully cracking the code, all four classes would have simultaneously declared failure, and two students would have been randomly selected to lose their qualifications.”
“An average of one in eighteen chances, it wouldn’t necessarily fall on you, and the truth would remain buried forever. What a pity.”
Hearing this, the group looked up, locking eyes with Lu Qingjia through the window of Class Two in the corridor.
In their gaze, there was both fear and hatred directed at him.
Lu Qingjia glanced at Ji Ye, who was smiling at him.
This wasn’t even a hint; it was clear that Teacher Ji had a strong dislike for him. Although he still didn’t know Ji Ye’s true nature, this extreme sense of justice clearly did not sit well with Lu Qingjia, who was merely a deeper disguised bad seed.
It seemed that these few culprits were doomed, and as long as Lu Qingjia’s heart was strong enough, their resentment before death would be nothing—seeing how indifferent he was to having killed before, Ji Ye could not possibly hope for Lu Qingjia to feel any inner guilt.
Thus, the intention behind actively raising his hatred value was quite clear.
Lu Qingjia grinned at Ji Ye and said, “As expected of Teacher Ji, I admire your clean and efficient sorting of garbage.”
“Indeed, garbage should always stay in the trash can; as long as it doesn’t go out and pollute the world, what does it matter how foul the rotting process is?”
Seeing that Lu Qingjia clearly understood what would happen next and remained calm despite knowing it, Ji Ye’s smile turned somewhat unpleasant.
However, at that moment, the class flower suddenly found some strength from somewhere, desperately breaking free from her invisible restraints, rushing to Lu Qingjia’s side, tears streaming down her face: “Everything I did was for you.”
“How could you betray me? I shouldn’t have told you everything; I hate you, Lu Qingjia, I hate you.”
Lu Qingjia frowned, showing a troubled expression, then reached out to wipe her tears with a handkerchief and gently arranged her hair.
Then he smiled and said, “You’re a beauty; no matter what happens, even if the apocalypse comes, please show me your most beautiful side, okay?”
Perhaps his smile was too gentle, completely different from the expressions of disgust or those looking at a murderer around them. Under the spell of his voice, the class flower fell into a momentary daze.
Lu Qingjia continued, “From the beginning until now, how many people have turned into a puddle of mud? How many have mentally collapsed and become unrecognizable? This is just the beginning; soon, the students in this school will find themselves in even more embarrassing and cruel situations.”
“You’ve been the little princess at home since childhood; you can’t survive here. Rather than being terrified and ending up in a state of complete disgrace, or having a beautiful girl turn into a pile of mud, it’s better to leave gracefully and beautifully from the start.”
“That way, when everyone remembers you, you’ll still be in your most beautiful form.”
Lu Qingjia grasped her hand: “Don’t cry; promise me, quietly and elegantly, like a little flower waiting for fate to engulf it in lava, will you die?”
“Struggling in a wretched, twisted posture like a maggot is not suitable for you.”
The class flower’s hand gently drooped. Having already collapsed several times in horror and bloodshed, she was powerless against that mysterious force, like a desperate person clinging to the edge, with an abyss below.
The exhaustion and fear within her had reached their limit; giving up required no more reason.
The class flower greedily glanced at Lu Qingjia, then released her hand and stepped back, only to be sucked into the curtain in front of the blackboard.
The other Players looked at Lu Qingjia with increasingly strange expressions. What kind of astonishing scumbag was this?
Although they knew he was a Player and couldn’t have participated in the students’ wrongdoing, the role the Game assigned him was one thing; he really spoke so freely.
Some Players even speculated that this guy had never pua’d anyone to death in reality, which was hard to say.
However, with the class flower dispatched, a few boys had already fallen into madness. Knowing that Lu Qingjia had snitched, they thought, since they were all going to die anyway, they might as well go for an extreme exchange.
So someone pulled out a small knife they carried and rushed towards Lu Qingjia.
Lu Qingjia raised his hand, and in a flash, his hand swept through the air like a shadow, severing the boy’s hand holding the knife and his neck in one stroke.
Lu Qingjia remained seated, not even moving, looking up at the two boys who followed closely behind, now stunned by his brutality: “I only have a little patience for women. Even in death, if it doesn’t violate my principles, I wouldn’t mind letting them leave cleanly. Stinky men shouldn’t come to me for this benefit, right? Do you think your foolish faces can evoke sympathy?”
Ji Ye warned, “Lu Qingjia, please do not violate classroom discipline by committing acts of murder against your classmates in the classroom.”
Lu Qingjia smiled at him: “Sorry, teacher, it’s merely self-defense. The fact that I haven’t been punished means self-defense is allowed, right?”
“After all—” Lu Qingjia looked at Ji Ye, his meaning clear: “The teacher did not protect the students when they were in danger; you can’t expect students not to protect themselves. It seems Teacher Ji also had a lapse in duty just now, right?”
Ji Ye raised an eyebrow, increasingly dissatisfied with this student.
Unable to help but mock, he said, “Of course, not realizing the danger is a sign of the teacher’s dullness. After all, with Lu Qingjia’s caliber, since he could safely resolve the first issue, I thought he could also calm the other students. Did I overestimate him?”
Lu Qingjia humbly waved his hand: “Not at all; I just don’t like seeing someone in front of me with snot and tears flowing everywhere, so I hoped they’d leave quickly. It’s not about calming them down.”
Ji Ye frowned: “Does Lu Qingjia mean he was just lying? For his own emotional comfort, deceiving a girl who is deep in despair?”
Lu Qingjia replied, “How could that be? Human thoughts are inherently complex and multifaceted. My main goal is indeed to have peace and quiet, but what I said was also my true thoughts.”
Though that only accounted for about 1% of his thoughts, right?
Ugh! What a scumbag, the Players thought.
The boy whose head and arm Lu Qingjia had severed, along with several other culprits, was now being dragged into the screen.
Then the big screen flickered with static before displaying a clear image.
The footage did not resemble surveillance; it had a cinematic quality, quickly depicting the true state of affairs in just a few minutes.
And the actors in it were the very individuals involved.
Teacher Gao, full of anticipation upon joining, witnessed the chaos in the school: students refusing to be disciplined, disrespecting teachers, and bullying classmates in groups.
While other teachers were numb to it, he consistently intervened sternly and communicated with the parents.
A significant number of students faced reprimands from their families because of him, even being grounded and having their allowances cut. Later, according to his deskmate, after witnessing the class flower confess to ‘Lu Qingjia’, he reprimanded her for being too young to date, and several students who had long viewed him as a thorn in their side came together.
They plotted the so-called ‘attempted rape’ incident.
Though these individuals were only in their teens, their thoughts were remarkably meticulous. The class flower was primarily responsible for executing the plan.
She deliberately pretended to be harassed by several boys, repeatedly being rescued by Teacher Gao, which gave him the impression that this child was easily harassed by the opposite sex, making him particularly attentive to such matters.
Under their covert manipulation of public opinion, it became a narrative of Teacher Gao being overly concerned about the class flower, even possessing a certain possessiveness.
Then, when the timing was right, the girl came to the school alone on a weekend, claiming to apologize to Teacher Gao, but in the empty office, she tore her clothes and falsely accused him of having ulterior motives.
Coincidentally, the principal and the grade director either forgot something or had an impromptu task that brought them back to the school, and they just happened to witness this scene.
With the groundwork laid, they constantly recorded Teacher Gao’s words out of context, leaving him with no way to defend himself.
The entire video lasted only three to five minutes, and as it finished, the class was over.
The sharp bell signaling the end of class rang, and Ji Ye showed a hint of astonishment but ultimately said nothing.
The classroom clock’s hands pointed exactly to forty minutes after class began. He silently lowered his head, turned off the projector, and began arranging for the cleanup of the unfortunate soul’s body that had exploded.
A class had passed safely, and for now, not a single Player had been lost; overall, the situation remained at a standstill.
Even after class, no Players moved. Someone asked Ji Ye, “Teacher Ji, when is the next class?”
Ji Ye replied, “Tomorrow at ten in the morning. During the time from the end of this class until the start of tomorrow’s class, students can return to their dorms to rest. Meals will still be served in the cafeteria, and the convenience store will remain open. As long as you don’t leave the school and don’t violate school rules, you are free.”
Freedom, this guy really dared to say that.
As soon as he finished speaking, a Player stood up from his seat, surprisingly the handsome boy from the second-to-last row.
He walked directly to Lu Qingjia, hesitatingly saying, “Lu Qingjia? It’s you, right?”
He smiled and continued, “At first, I couldn’t believe it when I saw your face; turns out we have the same name.”
Seeing the other party, Lu Qingjia also smiled: “I’m surprised too; I didn’t expect to reunite here. This isn’t a good occasion for reminiscing.”
He then asked, “It’s been seven or eight years since we last met, right?”
The beautiful boy replied, “Almost eight years; I haven’t seen you since the first semester of freshman year.”
Lu Qingjia rested his chin on his hand: “I heard you recovered from your illness, but you didn’t return to school. Then you went missing, and I was wondering what happened. Turns out you got caught up in the Game.”
“Yeah!”
Recalling the past was somewhat poignant.
This exceptionally beautiful boy was named Ouyang Bai, a classmate of Lu Qingjia. When they first enrolled, the two were often mentioned together as super freshmen.
To this day, one can still find heated threads on the school forum about their respective supporters fighting over who would be crowned the school prince.
However, their relationship was quite good; they even joined the same club and kept in touch frequently, gradually developing some friendship.
But towards the end of the first semester, Ouyang Bai suddenly collapsed on the soccer field. After being sent to the hospital, it turned out he had a serious illness.
His family helped him take a leave of absence and sent him abroad for treatment. It was said that his illness had a cure rate of less than 10%, and at that time, friends and supporters at school were heartbroken.
Lu Qingjia initially kept in touch with him, but soon lost contact. Fortunately, he heard from a classmate who had some family ties to Ouyang Bai that his condition had gradually stabilized and improved.
In his sophomore year, he heard that Ouyang Bai had fully recovered but did not return to school. As graduates left and new faces joined, the boy who had once stirred up a storm gradually faded from memory or was forgotten.
If it were another friend he hadn’t contacted in eight years, Lu Qingjia might not have recognized him immediately.
But Ouyang Bai was the kind of stunningly beautiful person one would never forget, making Lu Qingjia sigh at the twists of fate.
However, on the flip side, if the other party had returned to school, Lu Qingjia would have likely entered the Game long ago, not needing to wait until now.
One must know this guy—he was truly more naive than Fatty, incredibly easy to deceive.
Sometimes it even felt like one would wonder how he had lived this long. Of course, because of this personality, he was quite favored by the older girls during his time at school.
Lu Qingjia looked at him and sighed, “You’ve had a hard time.”
Ouyang Bai blinked, looking at him in confusion: “Hard time? What do you mean?”
Lu Qingjia knew it hadn’t been easy for him to get to this point. However, to be honest, although Ouyang Bai was more naive than Fatty, his luck was far better.
He had never missed a lottery, and whenever they squeezed into a crowded restaurant, a spot would open up for him immediately. His innocent and pure appearance, while easily targeted by scammers, always seemed to attract someone to step in and stop the scammers as soon as they started talking.
The key was that this fool had even started pulling out money, and when the police reprimanded him, he looked completely bewildered and asked, “What’s wrong with this old man?”
According to Zhong Ye, luck was also an important trait in the Game; it wasn’t uncommon for exceptionally talented individuals to fall early on.
In horror games, the selection criteria for Players often favored those who had narrowly escaped death, indicating that most Players had decent luck. Some with mediocre talent could go far just by relying on luck, but ultimately, that didn’t represent everything.
During their time, Ouyang Bai was nicknamed ‘Ouyang the Lucky’, and when it came to drawing cards or lots, using his golden finger, he could get whatever he wanted; SSRs were as easy to pick up as cabbages.
As long as he maintained that luck and didn’t encounter extreme situations, he could generally pass through safely.
Thinking this, Lu Qingjia heard Ouyang Bai excitedly say, “By the way, how long have you been in the Game?”
“Less than a month,” Lu Qingjia replied.
