Reinforcing Dormitory

Fifteen minutes later.

Zhu Yan carried the three large portions of oden given as a bonus by the Toad, and walked into the dormitory building.

The Toad followed behind him, its webbed toes slapping against the tiled floor with a squelching sound, leaving a trail of slime.

Passing by the first floor, Zhu Yan intentionally leaned over to take a look; the sound of things being smashed came from Dorm 106. It seemed Tu Shan was recovering quite well.

"A trashy little door," the Toad commented disdainfully. "It'd shatter in a single hit."

The Tuxedo Cat meowed in agreement.

They had already arrived in front of Dorm 303.

Zhu Yan swiped open the door and found Yang Zhanbai and Qi Yinming cooking, making a total mess of the kitchen.

"Zhu Zeyu! You're back—"

Yang Zhanbai greeted Zhu Yan cheerfully, but his gaze froze the moment it touched the Toad.

"What is going on?"

"Spent some money to upgrade our dorm's equipment," Zhu Yan explained simply. "You guys don't need to split the bill, I already paid."

He stepped aside, revealing the full view of the Toad.

The Toad didn't waste any words. Stretching its two muscular front limbs, it tore off their dorm door with a loud crash.

Yang Zhanbai stood frozen in shock.

"This... ah..."

He gulped, watching as the Toad agilely leaped onto the wall, pulled out a bunch of tools they didn't recognize, and started working away with clanking sounds.

Sparks flew everywhere.

"Um, Brother Zhu."

Yang Zhanbai pulled Zhu Yan aside, rubbing his nose in embarrassment.

"I know I've caused you trouble. Tu Shan suffered a loss against you, and when he came back, he got people to threaten us."

Oh, he still dares to threaten.

Zhu Yan raised an eyebrow.

Kill him! Take all his supplies!

"It's just a small matter, bro, we don't need to make such a big fuss..."

Zhu Yan originally wanted to say that such a magnificent door couldn't possibly be just to guard against Tu Shan.

But looking at Yang Zhanbai's earnest expression, he mischievously chose to keep his mouth shut and not explain.

The kid was curious.

Explaining too much would only bring trouble. What if he kept asking questions?

Actually kill him?

"We must always be on guard," Zhu Yan said, unable to resist giving a hint. "Besides, the school building for our opening exam hasn't been confirmed yet."

"What if it's the dormitory building?"

The Toad had put on a pair of black goggles at some point and was smearing strange granular slime along the edges of the pitted wall.

Hearing this, Qi Yinming hesitated. "Taking an exam in the dorm building would be too unconventional. Plus..."

He looked toward the Toad. "Even if it is in the dorms, could we pass the exam just by hiding in our room and never going out?"

"Brother Zhu, the stuff here is too expensive. No matter how much money you have, you can't afford to spend like this."

"Exactly," Yang Zhanbai leaned closer. "How much did you spend this trip?"

"Don't ask." Zhu Yan handed him a portion of oden. "My family is rich. I went to the Hall of Mourning earlier and exchanged some."

The slime was completely brushed on, emitting a foul stench as it hung messily all over the wall.

The wall actually came alive at a visible rate, rapidly sprouting short, fleshy shoots.

The Toad opened its mouth and slowly pulled a solid black wooden door out of its massive throat pouch.

The wooden door had a faint eerie blue luster and seemed to radiate cold air all over.

The moment it touched the ground, it rapidly extended tentacles from its edges to seek out the slime.

These tentacles acted like living organisms, carrying the door to the correct position; they quickly and tightly locked together with the fleshy shoots, intertwining with each other.

A few seconds later, the black door merged with the wall, looking completely indestructible.

"Wow," Yang Zhanbai couldn't help but marvel.

"The door is ready," the Toad said. "It's just the three of you in this dorm, right? Each of you drop a drop of blood on it, and it will recognize you."

The Toad narrowed its scarlet eyes, looking at the black door before it with great appreciation.

"Pay another 300 bone coins, and I'll add a teleportation feature for you. No matter where you are, with just a password, this door can pull you back to the dorm."

Yang Zhanbai gasped. "300 bone coins? Why don't you just rob us? Make it cheaper, how about 200?"

God, he was so tempted.

But it was so expensive; if they bought it, they wouldn't be able to eat!

The Toad narrowed its eyes. "What did you say?"

"He means we'll take it," Zhu Yan quickly said, showing his left hand. "Hurry, add it for me."

Good stuff, this was really good stuff!

In a critical moment, wasn't this a lifesaver?

The Toad was finally satisfied. "No problem."

Yang Zhanbai turned his head and glared at Zhu Yan. "Damn!"

"What's wrong?" Zhu Yan asked.

Yang Zhanbai gritted his teeth. "...Daddy!"

Sugar daddy, rich guy.

Who could understand, guys.

The rich guy was his bro!

How could his family give him so much money?

"Next is the reinforced wallpaper and invisible surveillance," the Toad puffed out its cheeks.

An hour later.

By the time the sky turned completely dark, the Toad finally finished its work and left.

"Whoa!" Yang Zhanbai's eyes widened in amazement.

Even Qi Yinming couldn't help but marvel softly, leaning in to look at the new wall.

While the two weren't paying attention, Zhu Yan unscrewed the cap of the filled Straw Bottle and placed it in front of the Tuxedo Cat.

The dorm walls had been coated with—or rather, had grown—a layer of white, cloud-textured spongy material.

Zhu Yan reached out and poked it; it was surprisingly tough.

Behind the black door, there was now a mirror.

In the mirror, the scene of the hallway outside the door was clearly reflected!

"It does look safe," Yang Zhanbai marveled. "Wouldn't it be great if this room could actually enter the instance with us?"

"Too bad we don't know how long we can live. What if we die in the instance—"

Zhu Yan glared fiercely at him.

"There's a message in the freshmen group chat," Qi Yinming said. "Look quickly."

Zhu Yan took out his phone and found that the previous message notifying freshmen to take the makeup exam still had no replies.

Below that, there was a brief announcement addressed to all enrolled students.

"All freshmen who have passed the entrance exam, as well as sophomores, juniors, and seniors, are requested to return to school in four days to participate in the opening exam."

"For specific requirements of the opening exam, please refer to Qingyu Classroom."

"Sophomores, juniors, and seniors are requested not to carry too much luggage. If conditions permit, you may choose to return to school and check in a day in advance."

"Note: Returning to school early requires opening an account at the Hall of Mourning. According to the rules, the school must collect tuition and miscellaneous fees first. The school does not accept enrollment with outstanding debts."

Understood.

"Does this mean that ordinary people who haven't participated in the game can't enroll early because they can't pay the bone coins?"

Qi Yinming frowned. "At first, I thought the sophomores and juniors had escaped disaster."

Zhu Yan didn't reply.

He quickly switched to the Qingyu Classroom APP. Under the Entrance Exam course, sure enough, there was another video.

Zhu Yan clicked into it and turned the volume to the maximum.

A female voice came through, sticky and muffled. Perhaps the recording equipment was a bit old, as it carried a sharp, distorted edge.

"Dear students, congratulations on passing the entrance exam!"

"A joyous new semester has begun."

"Please listen carefully to the requirements for the opening exam."

"Once you pass this opening exam, you will unlock far better opportunities to earn credits!"