Horror games? Whatever, I'll die.

Principal Bao's eyes bulged out from being pinched, and the oxygen in his lungs was being consumed bit by bit.

On the verge of death, Principal Bao, perhaps in a state of mental derangement, indiscriminately uttered threatening words, "Cough cough... Your mother told you to listen to me, cough cough cough! Not only have you not changed, but you've killed even more people... Huff huff... Are you trying to anger her to death?"

As Principal Bao finished speaking the last word, his neck was snapped in an instant, and his empty head flew off, rolling onto his knees.

Number 11 froze for a moment, then the murderous intent in his eyes suddenly vanished.

He picked up Principal Bao's head, twisted it around his neck twice, and put it back together.

Principal Bao blinked his unseeing eyes, and after a moment of blankness, they turned sinister and ruthless. "Get off now, or I'll skin you alive if you dirty my leather backrest."

Number 11 said nothing, lowered his head and obediently got out of the car.

The once silent academy became noisy.

Students in school uniforms emerged from the earthen mounds behind the hill.

All the murdered teachers stood up, pieced together their mutilated bodies, and continued to wave their rulers and scold students whose movements were not up to standard.

All the dead lingered in this dead land, pretending to be alive to play along with him in this charade.

A play that mothers want to see: a naughty child listening to the teacher and obediently correcting his behavior.

A bloody drama unfolds, scene after scene flashing rapidly before your eyes, the images gradually dimming and fragmenting, finally returning to reality completely.

-----

Liang Zaibing's gaze fell on the empty tabletop, and she fell into deep thought for a long time.

The mother, who never appears on screen and only exists in the narrative, is the root of all the curses.

Unable to accept her child's murderous crime, she did not allow him to be judged by law. Instead, she sent him to an internet addiction treatment center disguised as an academy, hoping that the academy could discipline him.

But this barbaric and bloody academy serves no purpose other than turning people into the mentally ill and into corpses.

No. 11 knew perfectly well what kind of place this academy was, but she still followed her mother's instructions meticulously, obeying the principal and the academy's rules and regulations.

What would happen if we could change Mother Number 11's mind and free him from the endless curse?

His heart suddenly began to pound in his chest, as if a small hammer was tapping on his heart.

Liang Zaibing considered the most likely outcome—

Cursed object.

As the sole core of the dungeon's operation, the cursed artifact embodies the dungeon boss's deepest obsessions, which may be extreme hatred or an unresolved longing.

What No. 11 can't let go of the most is his mother's obsessive and distorted love for him.

Love is the most twisted curse.

She didn't hate her child; she just loved him so much it was painful.

She hopes to be like all mothers in the world, watching her children grow up, go to school, work, and eventually have their own lovers and families.

But all hope was destroyed.

Her son became a murderer who deserved to go to hell.

She controlled him, disciplined him, and tried every extreme method to bring him back to the right path.

If she had known that what she was doing was pushing her child into an even deeper hell, she would have stopped it all.

At that time, the instance will naturally end, and the cursed item will appear.

Cursed items are the only items in horror games that can fight against ghosts. Without a cursed item, no matter how many dungeons you've cleared or how many points you have, you'll always be walking on thin ice.

It's impossible not to be tempted.

Liang Zaibing hesitated for a moment, but quickly changed her mind.

He's going to take a big gamble.

If he successfully achieves the hidden ending, he will not only complete the hidden quest and receive points as a reward, but he will also have a high probability of obtaining the cursed item.

To complete this route, the first thing he needed to do was get the contact information of Number 11's mother.

There's a possibility that the phone number for tomorrow's home-school communication time will be readily available, but what if it isn't?

He never had the chance to make that call again, and missed his chance to encounter the cursed object.

Therefore, we still need to start with number 11 in advance.

-----

Now that they had a way to survive tomorrow, the players relaxed considerably. They stopped being so tense as to search for clues and started doing their own thing in their seats, flipping through books, daydreaming, or mentally preparing for tomorrow's phone call.

Number 11 drifted into Class 9's classroom through the window like a ghost and sat down quietly.

Liang Zaibing, ever the friendly type, stepped forward to strike up a conversation with him, "How long have you been here?"

Number 11's hand, which was resting on the table, twitched slightly, but he didn't actually move; he simply gave him a cold glance.

Chatting before class does not violate the academy's rules.

When trying to get close to her didn't work, Liang Zaibing simply used her natural talent: "Every day is the time for home-school communication. Do you still remember your mother's phone number?"

[The butterfly's wings fluttered gently; effect assessment in progress.]

[Judgment failed; User #11 refuses to answer your question]

Number 11 not only didn't answer, but his gaze towards him was filled with a chilling murderous intent.

That's really something I can't ask about.

Liang Zaibing timidly shrank back and stopped talking.

But he secretly tore off a piece of draft paper, wrote a few lines, crumpled it up, and threw it on his "deskmate's" desk.

Number 11 paused for a few seconds, but still put the crumpled paper into his pocket.

After class, both the teacher and number 11 left.

Mo Qiuping turned her head to look at Liang Zaibing, "What do you want to do?"

Liang Zaibing gave a mischievous smile. "I just wanted to make a phone call for the poor little guy who hasn't seen his mother in so long."

"I don't care if you go crazy, just don't interfere with our normal progress." Mo Qiuping's tone was serious and left no room for negotiation.

"You're quite confident you can escape from those heartless parents."

“Of course,” Mo Qiuping said calmly, “I’ve been saying this for 20 years.”

Liang Zaibing's smile froze, and she lost her joking mood.

Parents all over the world seem to be this terrible.

They were never loved by their parents, and they don't know how to love their own children; all they know is control and self-interest.

Like an unsolvable curse.

From this perspective, being abandoned by one's parents at the gate of an orphanage at birth is actually a blessing?

-----

Instead of eating at double speed as usual, Liang Zaibing was enthusiastically fiddling with a small pointer made of white paper and bamboo strips.

That was a hint item he had just bought from the store for a hefty sum of 2500 points. It would point him in a direction if he silently thought about what he wanted.

In layman's terms, it's a luxury version of the dowsing rod.

The pointer was turned around once, wobbling and swaying, and finally stopped in the northwest direction.

Liang Zaibing immediately lowered her head, which was in the direction of the small dark room.

It's quite normal for a key location within the Wude Academy to hold crucial clues.

Although I had expected it, I still couldn't help but think of Zhao Hui's miserable state.

Liang Zaibing couldn't help but shudder and touched Mo Qiuping's arm.

Mo Qiuping kept her eyes straight ahead, but out of the corner of her eye, she was wary of the strange behavior of the cafeteria lady.

"explain."