Admit it

"The basement is near the locker room. Ah, but here's the problem again."

Where exactly is the locker room?

Ye Chuan glanced up and noticed the monsters were closing in once more. Clearly, wandering around during class hours meant being relentlessly hunted.

A near-certain death trap?

With a revolver useless against crowds and only two shots left in the air cannon, how could he possibly escape?

"Ah, time for some Ke Xue logic." Ye Chuan pulled a door out of his backpack and slapped it onto the wall.

A miraculous little gadget—the Anywhere Door.

Click. Ye Chuan opened the door and stepped through.

Just seconds later, the monsters surged forward in a frenzied scramble, only to find Ye Chuan gone—and the door vanished too. Their claws and tentacles scraped futilely against the bare wall.

"Where'd he go?"

……

Back in the classroom, Ye Chuan stashed the Anywhere Door away and noticed the teacher wasn’t at the podium.

A glance at the schedule on the blackboard confirmed it was study hall.

He casually pulled out a chair and sat down, acting completely at ease.

The other students barely reacted to his sudden reappearance, giving him only blank stares before returning to their books.

Ye Chuan glanced sideways and saw the hallway outside lined with figures—teachers standing at the windows, their pale eyes fixed unblinkingly on him.

"……" Even faced with such an eerie sight, Ye Chuan ignored them.

If breaks were only ten minutes long, how could he possibly reach the basement?

Lunch break.

The idea surfaced in his mind—lunch break would be the most feasible window.

For the rest of the period, Ye Chuan stayed put, waiting until the lunch bell finally rang.

As the teachers prepared to leave, the students—previously motionless like puppets—finally stirred, rising one by one and filing out of the classroom.

Looks like they were heading to the cafeteria.

"All new students must go to the cafeteria to get their meal cards."

"Repeat: All new students must go to the cafeteria to get their meal cards."

Right, cafeteria it is.

Ye Chuan stood and followed the crowd. Players from neighboring classes began trickling out, and after some cautious deliberation, most reluctantly joined the procession, not daring to skip the meal card process.

A couple, however, decided skipping one meal wouldn’t hurt and chose to stay behind in the perceived safety of the classroom.

"Hmm?" In the crowd, Ye Chuan spotted a vaguely familiar face—Tian Xiaotian and her companion. The moment their eyes met, the other girl quickly looked away.

Must be mistaken.

Ye Chuan remembered Tian Xiaotian, but she hadn’t looked this mature back then.

She was supposed to be a tiny little loli.

Seeing her turn away, Ye Chuan didn’t press further.

The cafeteria was a small building separate from the main school. Inside, the air was thick with a foul stench—nothing resembling a place to eat.

"Xiaotian, I’ve got a bad feeling about this," Zhang Ya muttered. As Tian Xiaotian’s partner, she’d cleared multiple dungeons and could sense danger.

"Leaving now would be worse," Tian Xiaotian replied, scanning the room. The teachers were watching them intently—any suspicious move would likely trigger an attack.

"Completely clueless," Zhang Ya sighed. "And our items are locked. Are we just stuck being passive?"

"I’ve scoped it out. If we want to gather items, lunch break is our only window—and we’d have to avoid the lab and basement," Tian Xiaotian said.

The item lock hit her hardest. With years of saved-up points and gear, she usually had an arsenal at her disposal. But now, stripped of her advantages, she could only take things one step at a time.

"When does this nightmare end? Only in death?" Zhang Ya’s voice was heavy with exhaustion.

Tian Xiaotian wanted to comfort her but couldn’t find the words.

"We’ll make it out alive… Once we’re back in the safe zone, drinks on me?"

"Deal." Zhang Ya forced a weak smile.

"You’re paying."

As they talked, the rest of the new students trickled in.

A gaunt man stepped forward, eyeing the group before announcing, "I’m the cafeteria manager. Every one of you needs a meal card to eat here."

"And you’ll need to top it up!"

A simple statement, but the players tensed. The word "top-up" set off alarm bells—none of them had money in this world.

No money meant no way to charge the card.

But none were foolish enough to bolt. The fate of those who’d fled during the opening ceremony—slaughtered on the spot—was still fresh in their minds.

The manager approached the first player. "Do you have a meal card?"

"No," the player answered, feigning calm. "I’ll get one."

"Good." The manager slapped a red card on the table. "How much are you topping up?"

"Uh… how does that work?"

"A hundred bucks per meal!" The manager grinned darkly. "No cash? One finger per meal!"

"So, how much?"

One… finger?

The player hesitated, then gritted his teeth. "O-one finger."

"Great!" The manager’s hand morphed into a scythe, slicing off all five fingers in one swing.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

"Minimum five! Go eat!" Ignoring the screams, the manager moved to the next person.

Unsurprisingly, the second player lost fingers too.

Better maimed than dead—and injuries could be healed with items after clearing the dungeon.

Some tried other answers, like refusing to charge the card.

"Did you waste your family’s money? Teacher, take this one for disciplinary action!" The player was dragged away, never to return.

One by one, the manager reached Ye Chuan.

"Do you have a meal card?"

"Nope."

"Then get one! How much?" The manager’s grin widened.

"Minimum five, so five it is." Ye Chuan smiled back.

"Done!" The scythe swung down—only for the manager to freeze. Ye Chuan had grabbed a random student’s hand instead.

The blade came down, but the fingers that fell weren’t his.

"What the—?!"

"Problem? My buddy here’s treating me." Ye Chuan patted the student’s shoulder. "Right, pal?"

The student whose fingers had been severed remained expressionless, not even flinching.

"See? He’s admitting it by default," Ye Chuan said.

"Why don’t you chop off his legs too? He promised to treat me to a feast in the cafeteria."

As he spoke, Ye Chuan grabbed the back of the student’s head and forcibly nodded it for him.

Person in charge: ?