Chapter 61: Yu Cai High School
Zhou Jianzhang’s group left the classroom, and the other students gradually dispersed as well.
Only seven people remained—Li Zhi and her team. Xu Yiran and Peipei, who had been too intimidated to speak earlier, finally mustered the courage to ask, "Zhi-jie, why didn’t we join them for the game?"
Given how dangerous the horror game sounded, wouldn’t more people mean shared risks? Besides, Zhou Jianzhang’s group had already played it last night without incident. They clearly had experience.
Lian Qinglin, Tan Manyu, and the others also looked at Li Zhi.
While they suspected Zhou Jianzhang’s group was problematic, they didn’t know the specifics. Earlier, Li Zhi had mentioned that her suspicions would be confirmed by nightfall—so had they been?
Li Zhi twirled her pen. She had confirmed them.
"These horror games share one commonality," she said, glancing at the group. "They all involve physical contact."
Spirit Writing required players to interlock hands. Lantern Summoning demanded each person place a hand on the shoulder of the one in front. Four Corners involved tapping the next player’s shoulder. And the Dormitory Mirror Game required combing the hair of the person seated before the mirror.
Tan Manyu’s expression darkened. "You’re saying they’re using physical contact to spread something?"
Li Zhi nodded. "I don’t know exactly what yet, but it’s likely tied to the principal’s punishments. From what we’ve seen with Wang Zhiyuan and Xie Cong, they’ve clearly been… modified, or controlled. Whatever’s controlling them has turned them into identical vessels."
She drew a circle on her notebook and wrote a "1" inside. "Let’s assume this is the first method of transmission—directly administered by the principal."
Beneath it, she drew another circle labeled "2." "Based on the school’s rules, only students who misbehave or underperform—those deemed ‘needing correction’ by their homeroom teacher—are sent to the principal’s office. In other words, good students shouldn’t be infected."
"But Xu Jingsheng has consistently ranked at the top of the class since enrollment. He doesn’t fit the criteria for ‘correction.’ So how was he infected?"
Lian Qinglin’s eyes widened. "That night—the Lantern Summoning game! He was the one ‘chosen’ by the lantern!"
Li Zhi nodded. "Xu Jingsheng participated in the game that night, and the next day, he became a vessel. So I suspect the second transmission method requires two conditions: one, playing a horror game; two, physical contact. Fulfill both, and it spreads freely. That’s why Liao Ze was so eager to invite us to play on our first night."
Tan Manyu murmured, "They’ve all been bewitched. It’s no longer content with just controlling ‘bad’ students. Now, it’s using the infected to lure ‘good’ students into games. Last night, Zhou Jianzhang’s group played with Xu Jingsheng. They’ve… already been infected."
Xu Yiran shuddered, hugging herself. "But… they seemed completely normal."
Li Zhi shook her head. "The fact that they invited us to play just now is the evidence."
This was the confirmation she’d been waiting for.
Since last night, the fifteen players in this instance had split into two factions. The audience would vote based on their performances—a battle for popularity points, with survival at stake.
Competitors would never invite their rivals to join their mission.
Zhou Jianzhang’s group was already ahead. Under normal circumstances, they’d want Li Zhi’s team to fall further behind. Why would they extend an invitation? Why react with anger when refused?
Because they were infected. Because it had compelled them to invite Li Zhi.
Of course, players weren’t the same as student NPCs, so Zhou Jianzhang’s group still appeared normal. If their infection manifested like Xu Jingsheng’s, it’d be too obvious—the system wouldn’t make that mistake.
As always, it had laid a trap: play the horror games and risk infection; refuse, and lose points needed to clear the instance.
The only solution was to recognize the infection’s conditions from the start—and never play with those already infected.
Li Zhi had warned them last night. They hadn’t listened.
Xu Yiran and Peipei paled, recalling their own fleeting temptation to join Zhou Jianzhang’s group earlier. "What’ll happen to them now?" Xu Yiran whispered. "Do they even know they’re infected? Can they still clear the instance?"
Li Zhi said, "I don’t know."
Without entering the principal’s office, she couldn’t determine the nature of the infection—or whether the infected players could still be saved.
Her tone grew grim. "But I suspect the transmission conditions are this instance’s death condition. They’ve already triggered it."
They’d triggered the death condition. They were still alive…
But who knew what was living inside them now?
In the live stream, viewers had erupted into heated debates after Li Zhi rejected Zhou Jianzhang’s invitation. Admittedly, his earlier performance had swayed some of her audience, with criticism flooding the chat.
But the moment she laid out her reasoning, the detractors fell silent. Li Zhi’s fans, vindicated, spammed the chat with triumphant 666s.
[The queen never disappoints!!!]
[Zhou Jianzhang, you sneaky bastard!]
[Li Zhi warned them not to play with NPCs before she even pieced this all together. Her danger sense is next-level.]
[If Li Zhi hadn’t pointed it out, I’d never have noticed anything wrong! I watched their game last night—nothing unusual happened. So when were they infected?!]
[Physical contact, like she said. But what is this thing spreading through the school?]
[Did I just waste my votes on Zhou Jianzhang?!]
[Not necessarily. This is just Li Zhi’s theory—not necessarily the absolute truth.]
[^ You might wanna take that back. Weren’t you just proven wrong?]
[…]
After a moment of silence, Pink Hair rubbed his arms. "So if we just avoid them and play the games ourselves, we can clear the instance, right?"
Clearing the instance was the priority. Energized, the group perked up. Li Zhi had cracked the pattern. As long as the seven of them—all uninfected—played the games together, they’d make it out safely, right?
Before Li Zhi could respond, Lian Qinglin smacked Pink Hair’s head. "Are you stupid? These are horror games! You think we can just casually play them and walk away?"
In the real world, maybe. But in an instance? They’d actually summon something.
Whether the infected players had summoned anything during their games was unclear. But for seven normal players? The system wouldn’t let them off that easily.
Li Zhi set down her pen and flipped to a fresh page in her notebook. "Let’s start small. We’ll try Spirit Writing first."
The others stared. As if Spirit Writing was some harmless warm-up. That was the game that could go toe-to-toe with The Ring’s Sadako!
But her casual tone eased their nerves. Besides, everyone had to play eventually—doing it with Li Zhi minimized the risks. Soon, they were politely arguing over who should go first.
"You should do it."
"No, you!"
"Newbies first, right?"
Li Zhi: "…" She sighed. "Stop. We’re all doing it."
Everyone: "…?"
Xu Yiran hesitated. "Can seven people even play Spirit Writing together?"
Wasn’t it always a two-player game?
Li Zhi smirked. "Who said it’s limited to two? Let’s try. If it works, we won’t need separate sessions. If not, we’ll split up."
Convinced, the group gathered around a desk, stacking their hands on the pen. Tan Manyu whispered, "What’s the summoning chant?"
Pink Hair scratched his head. "Should be the standard one, right? I’ve played before—I’ll try." Clearing his throat, he intoned in a low voice, "Spirit, spirit, I am your present life. If our fates intertwine, draw a circle on this page."
The others repeated the chant three times.
In the silent classroom, the fluorescent lights flickered with a sharp zzzt.
Breaths hitched. Heads jerked upward.
Moths swarmed the light tubes, scattering as the current crackled again. Then—
Snap.
Darkness.
The pen in their joined hands jerked to life.
Xu Yiran stifled a scream.
In the pitch-black room, the ballpoint pen slowly began tracing circles on the notebook.
As their eyes adjusted, dim streetlight seeped through the windows, casting their seven silhouettes onto the glass.
Li Zhi, seated facing the window, looked up.
An eighth shadow stood among them—
A hand gripping the pen’s tip, guiding their movements in slow, deliberate circles.