Venue

"Something was definitely off." Ye Chuan watched as the bald man's body shrank until only a shriveled husk remained, along with a puddle of strange, colorless liquid.

He crouched down and sniffed it—no particular odor either.

"But would killing him affect my chances of getting the item?" Ye Chuan muttered to himself.

He pondered. Sure, he was supposed to follow this so-called teacher's instructions, but blasting the guy away didn’t technically break any rules.

Ah well, what’s done is done.

Ye Chuan twirled the revolver on his finger. "As long as I know it’s a monster, that’s enough. I do what I please."

With infinite bullets, why worry?

Following the signposts, Ye Chuan finally arrived at the gymnasium. A quick glance at the building’s exterior revealed nothing out of the ordinary—just a plain, unremarkable gym. If not for that deflated bald head earlier, he wouldn’t have sensed anything amiss.

His spiritual senses were currently unusable, so he had no idea what lurked inside.

No matter.

With a faint smirk, Ye Chuan pulled a pair of glasses from his backpack.

Magic Glasses.

Ah, time for some detective work.

Once he put them on, the gymnasium appeared bathed in a faint red glow, filled with countless indistinct red silhouettes—faceless, shadowy figures.

"Enemies?"

"Might as well go in. If I can farm some soul essence for Lilith, even better."

Ye Chuan removed the glasses and stepped inside.

The moment he crossed the threshold, an icy chill seeped into his bones from all directions. The gym was packed with people—or rather, humanoid creatures?

Their heads turned in unison, eyes locking onto him with an unnerving intensity.

Pale as paper, their faces devoid of expression, they looked like lifeless mannequins—ghostly students radiating an indescribable eeriness.

So these were the red figures he’d seen through the Magic Glasses.

"What class are you in? Return to your line immediately," a woman dressed as a teacher approached, her voice stern. "The opening ceremony is about to begin."

"Right, on my way." Ye Chuan responded casually, scanning the rows of students before slipping into a line with fewer people.

As soon as he joined, the students who had been staring at him mechanically turned away, as if reset by some unseen command.

The gymnasium was dead silent. Ye Chuan tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of him. "Hey, beauty, got a question for you."

The girl didn’t react—frozen like a puppet.

His voice, however, drew the attention of the surrounding students again. Their hollow gazes bore into him, sending an unsettling shiver down the spine.

Ye Chuan merely raised an eyebrow. "Never seen a handsome guy before?"

After a tense pause, the students stiffened before slowly turning their heads away.

"This place just keeps getting creepier," Ye Chuan mused. But since he was here for the ceremony, he decided to stay quiet for now.

The gym remained unnervingly still, the students standing motionless like rows of terracotta statues under the dim, flickering lights.

Time dragged on, and just as Ye Chuan was starting to feel bored, the gym doors creaked open again. A group of about a dozen students filed in.

What surprised him was that these newcomers carried an unmistakable aura of life.

Unlike the puppet-like students inside, these arrivals seemed entirely human—expressions shifting as they nervously surveyed the surroundings.

"Is this the gym?"

"Why does it feel so haunted? Damn… they’re all staring at us!"

"If you want to survive, don’t make any sudden moves."

Their hushed whispers barely escaped their lips before, just like when Ye Chuan had entered, every student in the gym snapped their heads toward them, their dead-eyed stares freezing the newcomers in place.

"What class are you in? Return to your lines!" The same scene repeated—the teacher stepped forward, her face blank as she interrogated them.

The leader of the group swallowed hard before stammering, "Teacher… which class are we in?"

"You don’t even know your own class? Didn’t the admission notice tell you?" The teacher’s lips curled into a grotesque grin. "Seems you’re not one of our students."

In the next second, her face split open like shattered porcelain, rows of jagged teeth writhing beneath the skin. Before the man could scream, she snapped his neck with a single bite.

Crunch—crunch—

The sound of bones being chewed echoed through the silence. Moments later, the teacher’s face seamlessly stitched itself back together, her expression calm as she turned to the next person.

"And you? What’s your class?"

The second man was pale as a ghost, forcing himself to stay composed. "T-teacher, I’m from Class 2."

"I’m the homeroom teacher for Class 2. I’ve never seen you before." Her voice turned icy, cracks spiderwebbing across her cheeks again.

"I… I just enrolled. It’s normal you wouldn’t recognize me." His voice trembled, but he held firm. Miraculously, the cracks on her face began to close. She gave a stiff nod, signaling him to join the line.

Just as the man exhaled in relief and took a step forward, the teacher suddenly demanded, "What’s your student ID number?"

His pupils shrank in terror, body locking up. "Uh… 56?"

"Our class doesn’t even have fifty students!" Her shriek was razor-sharp, her face exploding into fractures once more.

A bloodcurdling scream—cut short—as the second man was devoured.

The remaining newcomers were drenched in cold sweat, their legs threatening to give out. A few couldn’t take it anymore, bolting for the exit in panic.

But the moment they turned, icy voices hissed from behind:

"The opening ceremony is underway. Where do you think you’re going?"

"AHHH—!!!"

Their screams were abruptly silenced, replaced by the sickening sound of flesh tearing and bones snapping in the hallway.

Soon, only about ten people remained. Unlike the others, these survivors stayed composed, their expressions calculating—as if searching for a way to answer correctly.

Among them, a girl with a fuller figure scanned the crowd of students—until her eyes landed on a familiar figure.

Her lips parted in surprise.

"Big bro…?"