Horror games? Whatever, I'll die.

The car drove slowly for five or six minutes before arriving at the main gate of Wude Academy.

The entire academy was surrounded by a three-meter-high barbed wire fence, with a ring of iron plates with rolled-back blades wrapped around the top. I guess your hands would be ruined before you could even climb up.

There were people patrolling the barbed wire fence from time to time. A small number of them were teachers with fierce looks, and the rest were students wearing blue armbands.

The antique-style lacquered redwood plaque hanging in front of this prison always feels out of place, like the hypocritical, refined robe worn by a beast in human clothing.

Liang Zaibing was dragged out of the car and staggered towards the school. She was mentally calculating which items from the online store might come in handy.

Armor and cut-resistant gloves aren't expensive, and it's not difficult to avoid patrols around the sentry post. You can easily escape as long as you find the right opportunity.

But is this the level of difficulty that a C-level exam should have?

The further Liang Zaibing went, the deeper her doubts became.

The academy's buildings are not modern; the houses are low and old, looking like antiques from the last century.

The only relatively new dormitory is the student dormitory, where the corridors and windows facing outwards are uniformly sealed with iron bars, resembling small pigeon coops.

As dinner time approached, the playground in front of the teaching building was filled with students practicing horse stance.

Although their backs were completely soaked with sweat, they gritted their teeth and persevered, and no one dared to make a move.

A student who lost his balance and fell to the ground was hit several times by the teacher, but struggled to get up and squat in a horse stance.

Although these students weren't particularly lively or energetic, they still looked like real people.

Is there no ghost in this dungeon?

That's too cheap for them.

While he was pondering, he was already being led to the door of an office.

Sun Zai slapped him on the back of the head. "Don't get distracted. We're going to see the principal."

“…Okay, okay.” Liang Zaibing timidly shrank her shoulders and took small steps into the principal’s office.

There were already five incoming freshmen waiting inside.

Liang Zaibing was a little disappointed not to see Ivan, since their last collaboration had been quite pleasant.

However, with so many players playing horror games, it's normal not to be able to match with others.

Liang Zaibing saw Mo Qiuping inside. She was using her original appearance, but because she had a baby face, she didn't look out of place among the students.

It seems that under normal circumstances, dungeons do not change the physical appearance of players in order to fit the character design. If a skilled veteran player had come to the previous dungeon, they would have been able to tell at a glance that there was something wrong with their physical appearance.

Standing next to Mo Qiuping was a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, slightly overweight, with a somewhat timid appearance, who was wiping the cold sweat streaming down his forehead with his sleeve.

Then there was a girl about the same age as me, with a round face and round eyes. Her bright pink dress was now covered in dust and the hem was wrinkled, just like its owner, looking disheveled and dejected.

A boy who looked like a thug held her hand, and even though he was tied up, he still looked unruly and glared fiercely at the principal.

Before Liang Zaibing could even look at the last player, she suddenly felt a gaze upon her. Turning her head, she discovered it was the fifth person.

The boy looked to be two years younger than him, with a pretty face, but he was completely overwhelmed by the arrogant, nouveau riche aura emanating from the top of his head.

He managed to make a T-shirt and jeans look like a high-end luxury brand.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not praising him for looking good in anything because he's a clothes hanger, but rather for his arrogant and domineering aura.

Liang Zaibing saw a pie chart in his eyes, a mixture of curiosity, impatience, and disdain.

Uh, where did this young master come from?

As if knowing what he was thinking, the audience actively sent comments.

"Isn't that the young master of the Sheng family? He's entered this instance too?"

"Oh my god, young master, what are you doing here? This old servant is late."

"Hey, it's no use sucking up to Sheng Jingyu. You might as well curse him a few times. If he sees this, he might send a whole van full of people to beat you up, and then you can lie in the hospital and pick out your favorite neighborhood."

“Great idea, Sheng Jingyu, you naive kid (I want a large apartment in the provincial capital city).”

“I’m not greedy, I just want a two-bedroom apartment. Young Master Sheng, look at me, I’m a master of cursing.”

……

Seeing the discussion getting increasingly skewed, Liang Zaibing couldn't help but manually send a message: "Stop chatting nonsense and say something useful."

"Is this how you beg your father?"

"Hey, show some respect."

Ignoring a bunch of meaningless comments, Liang Zaibing finally saw a few useful ones.

"He has great talent. After awakening his skill, his stats doubled, almost reaching B-level. He completely crushed the boss speedrunner in the beginner dungeon."

"I was there at the time, but I didn't understand what his skill was. I just saw a burst of golden light and then the boss was burned. His whole body was on fire. Although he didn't die, he was seriously injured."

"Damn it, why can't such a great talent be bestowed upon me?"

"Tch, what's with the arrogance? D-rank is nothing but child's play. Once B-rank and C-rank encounter the real monster, let's see what use his skills will be."

"I know you're being sarcastic, but don't be so sarcastic yet."

"Who the hell is jealous of this brainless rich guy?"

"Whoever is anxious is just being sour."

……

For the first time, Liang Zaibing felt the same envy, jealousy, and hatred as these lunatics in the live chat.

I've never seen a talent skill that can also boost your stats.

Damn it, why can't I have a powerful talent?

-----

The principal, no longer waiting for the seventh person who had not yet arrived, coughed to draw everyone's attention to himself.

He was extremely thin and tall, almost like a bamboo pole covered with a layer of human skin, making one wonder if he would fall over if the wind blew.

He had little flesh on his face, deep-set eyes, and looked mean and sinister.

"Welcome to Wude Academy. You will spend one of the most meaningful periods of your life here, so cherish it."

At the same time, a system prompt popped up.

[All players have arrived; the game has officially begun.]

Looks like another one got eliminated immediately after landing.

Liang Zaibing wasn't in the mood to grieve for the death of a complete stranger, but secretly hoped that his death might bring back some useful clues.

The principal sat behind his desk, smiling kindly, but the smile looked sinister on his skeletal, gaunt face.

"You can call me Principal Bao, or you can call me Teacher Bao."

The six people sparsely greeted Principal Bao.

“You should know why you entered our academy.” Principal Bao said with feigned profundity, his hands behind his back. “Your parents have spent so much money and effort, so you should listen to them and not always cause trouble to make them angry.”

The girl in the pink dress, Liu Ying, looked at him with teary eyes. "Principal Bao, we know we were wrong. We'll behave well when we get back. Can we go back now?"

The delinquent boyfriend couldn't bear to see her suffer, so he pretended to stand in front of her, but the girl shook her head and pulled him behind her.

Principal Bao looked at the two star-crossed lovers with unusually cold eyes.

"It seems you haven't realized your mistakes yet."

As Principal Bao approached step by step, Liu Ying was so frightened that she could barely stand, her whole body trembling.

But just as Principal Bao reached out his hand to her, the office door was suddenly opened, and an unfamiliar corpse was dragged in.

The corpse's head was tilted to one side, boneless, its eyes wide open in terror, as if silently calling for help from Liu Ying.