You Look Pretty Happy, Huh? Let Me Cure You of That!

"…and that's the situation."

After confirming that Wu Wang was, in fact, still alive, Baili Dao and the others let out a collective sigh. They recounted their experiences from the day, and the group exchanged information.

Of course, Wu Wang had to share something in return.

He couldn't mention how he'd escaped the Little Black Room, since that involved his skill, 【Undying】. Instead, he simply claimed Teacher Yao had only taken him to the door to scare him and never actually threw him inside.

The three of them believed him without question.

After all, they couldn't imagine how a newbie could have possibly made it out of a place like that alive.

"So how exactly did you get the certificate?" Shi Gandang asked, his expression still unnatural.

Wu Wang replied with a smile.

"Even for a newbie, asking about someone's skills is pretty rude, right?"

Skill!?

The hand Baili Dao was using to light a cigarette suddenly trembled.

Skills themselves weren't that rare. Most Spirit Calamity Players had eight or ten. The key was that Wu Wang was only level one.

Aside from becoming an official Closed Beta Player, the newbie tutorial usually only awarded consumable items, like the 【Cure-You-Even-If-You're-Not-Sick-Band-Aid】 Baili Dao had used himself.

Rogue players like Tuxing Sun and Shi Gandang might not know this, but a level-one player with a skill was exceedingly rare.

According to the archives at the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, only five people were known to have ever received a skill at level one.

They were the director of the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, the leader of the Calamity Cult, the president of the Tarot Society, and two unaligned Rogue Players. Those two were legendary figures among Spirit Calamity Players.

Each of them had single-handedly slaughtered their way through the entire newbie tutorial. Only with such an overwhelmingly dominant performance would the system make an exception and grant a skill as a reward.

In that case… this kid in front of me is one of them?

"Everyone, stop asking," Baili Dao cut off the other two curious cats. "Personal information is private. We were being inconsiderate. I apologize."

In truth, he was incredibly excited.

If he could recruit a newbie like Pending Death into the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, the man would surely become a top-tier agent in the near future.

When that day came, he could brag to everyone at the Bureau that he was the one who guided the guy. Holy shit, just the thought was more satisfying than finishing his graduation thesis.

He'd thought the kid had mental problems before, but that was no issue. The Bureau had the best psychologists in the country. He could still be saved.

Wu Wang sighed.

"Besides, if you really want to gouge out an eyeball, you need to hold the eyelids still and pry open the gap between the common tendinous ring and the orbital bone."

"Then you stick three fingers between the eyelid and the eyeball and grab the base of the six muscle groups. That's the only way to pull out the eyeball and the optic nerve together."

"It's just too much trouble."

"?"

Seriously, dude!

What the hell was he talking about? How could he say something so horrifying with a completely straight face? Did he actually know how to do that?

"Let's get to sleep," Wu Wang announced, changing the subject. "On my way back, the school doctor told me it's lights out and dorm lockdown in twenty minutes. If we don't rest, we'll be violating school rules. Time's almost up."

Before the others could comment on his gruesome explanation, Wu Wang flipped onto the top bunk and lay down.

Hearing this, the other three didn't waste any time. They scrambled into their own beds.

Violating school rules was a very serious matter.

A moment later, a strange sound echoed from outside the dormitory.

Clatter-clatter.

It was the grating, unsettling sound of a chain being dragged across the tiled floor.

An immense black shadow roamed the corridor. It stopped at each door, bending down to press its face against the observation window, carefully checking if the occupants were asleep.

The three men, only feigning sleep, broke out in a cold sweat. The oppressive aura radiating from the creature was far stronger than that of the tentacled ghosts in the cafeteria.

"Snort! Khhrrr~ Snort! Khhrrr~"

A sudden snore erupted from the top bunk.

The giant shadow outside the door paused for a moment, then turned and left to check the next dorm.

"Seriously, man, how can you be so carefree? You fell asleep in three seconds in a place like this?"

Tuxing Sun rose quietly from his bed, staring at the top bunk as if he'd seen a ghost.

Wu Wang's lips were slightly parted, his breathing steady. The muscles in his body were completely relaxed, showing no hint of vigilance.

This kid was really asleep.

"We should rest too," Baili Dao suggested. "We still have four days left, and we can't afford to go without sleep."

In his mind, Pending Death must have realized the same thing to be sleeping so peacefully.

The three lay down again.

Gradually, drowsiness crept over them.

But at that moment, Wu Wang, on the top bunk, slowly opened his eyes.

"Bzz! Beep-beep-beep! Ring-ring-ring!"

In the early morning, a cacophony of noises echoed through the campus, waking everyone. The wake-up bell at this ghost school was as ear-piercing as an air-raid siren.

The three groggily climbed out of bed.

Baili Dao looked at the motionless top bunk and reached out to wake Wu Wang. After all, being late meant a trip to the Little Black Room.

But his hand touched nothing but air.

Wu Wang was gone.

"Didn't he get a certificate? He doesn't have to go to class, so he probably went out to look for clues," Tuxing Sun said matter-of-factly.

After yesterday's events, no one treated him like a newbie anymore.

"That's true. Let's go," Baili Dao said, walking to the door. "Today's the exam. Let's try to do a little better, if we can."

But as he spoke, his companions' expressions grew more and more unsightly.

One of them asked uncertainly, "Brother Baili… you really know how to do those problems?"

Baili Dao frowned.

"They're okay, I guess. My scores aren't top-tier, but for high school stuff, getting a seventy or eighty shouldn't be a problem."

"What about you two?"

"I graduated from junior college."

"I've never been to school."

"?"

The two answers were each more shocking than the last.

One of them was a fish who'd somehow slipped through the net of compulsory education.

"You guys…"

Baili Dao sighed.

"Forget it. We'll have to figure out a way to cheat."

He had no choice but to resort to such a poor strategy. A bad premonition rose in his heart.

It would be truly ironic if these two survived Fierce Ghosts and strange tales only to be taken out by a high school exam.

Teaching building, sixth-floor office.

Teacher Yao was grinning from ear to ear, gleefully examining the white ring in his hand.

This was a right granted to him by Principal Wang. With it, he could move unimpeded anywhere in the school. He could even enter the offices of other homeroom teachers to investigate without needing permission. It was an all-access pass.

It would make it easier for him to find the true culprit behind the Little Black Room incident.

Although he already knew who it was.

"Yo, you look pretty happy, huh? Let me cure you of that."

A detestable voice sounded from behind him. The grin on Teacher Yao's face instantly vanished.

That damn bastard of a student was here.

"Where's the official seal? I'll just process the paperwork myself."

Wu Wang acted as if he owned the place, immediately rummaging through the drawers of Teacher Yao's desk.

The veins on Teacher Yao's forehead bulged. His fingers grew long, slender, and sharp, nearly transforming into his Fierce Ghost form.

"Give it here! I'll stamp it for you!"

He was surprised the kid had actually managed to get a certificate to skip class, but as long as the procedure was followed, he wouldn't be held responsible.

Teacher Yao also grabbed a 【School Regulations Checklist】 from the drawer and handed it over. This was what they had agreed on yesterday.

Wu Wang didn't even look at it before stuffing it into his pocket.

Since he didn't have to attend class anymore, he had plenty of time to study the bizarre 【School Regulations】.

He had come here for another reason.

He took out a slip of paper filled with writing and placed it in front of the stamping Teacher Yao. The words on it made the man's entire ghostly being tremble.

I know Principal Wang asked you to help investigate the situation with the Little Black Room. We can cooperate.

Choose a homeroom teacher you despise the most. I will pretend I'm trying to find a way to skip school and link the Little Black Room incident to them, framing them for it.

This way, he will be the traitor who opened the Little Black Room to help students escape, and you will be the great hero who uncovered the truth. Principal Wang will be thoroughly impressed with you, and your status will naturally rise.

Now, tell me the location of the Art Building.

After reading the note, Teacher Yao snapped his head up. He stared incredulously into Wu Wang's eyes, searching for any hint of emotion.

But all he found on the student's delicate face were dead-fish eyes, as calm and still as an ancient well.

Damn it! Is this guy really a student?!

It was as if his every thought and move were completely under this boy's control.

Because he was genuinely tempted by the proposal.

"What do you really want?"

Teacher Yao asked, repeating his question from the day before.

Wu Wang silently picked up the note. He pulled a lighter from his pocket and burned the tempting proposal to ash, leaving no evidence behind.

Then, with a smile, he gave an answer Teacher Yao never expected. It was, by sheer coincidence, a word-for-word match to what the teacher had thought to himself only yesterday.

"To obtain special privileges based on the rules and to satisfy my own foolish curiosity."

"!?"

He can read my mind!?

At that moment, Wu Wang's delicate and handsome face became exceptionally sinister in Teacher Yao's eyes.

He looked like a demon, a master at bewitching the hearts of men.