Horror games? Whatever, I'll die.

The bloody scene before his eyes confirmed Liang Zaibing's worst suspicions.

Those damn students only said they could persuade their parents to leave the academy by phone, but they didn't tell them what would happen if the school found out about their plans to leave.

The attempt to find a way out is not entirely risk-free. Even if the NPC fails, he will only die a gruesome death and will recover in no time.

These players are real, flesh-and-blood beings; if they fail, they will die.

Unaware of anything in the outside world, Feng Peng walked up and dialed his father's number from the phone book, reciting the prepared message with the last vestiges of his inertia.

"Mom, I will never play video games again. I will work hard to earn money and treat you well. Please take me home. I don't want to stay at the academy anymore."

The teacher moved again, the sharp ruler severing his throat, warm, bright red blood gushing from his artery.

His blood also splattered on Liu Ying, like some kind of ominous transmission.

Liang Zaibing tugged at Liu Ying in front of her, trying to remind her, but she wouldn't listen anymore.

Human language sounded to her like the incessant buzzing of insects; she couldn't decipher it or respond to it. The only thing keeping her going was the last vestige of her obsession with escaping the instance.

She moved forward stiffly like a puppet, grasped the microphone, turned the page, and dialed.

The call was answered after two beeps.

"Mom, I miss you so much."

Her monotonous voice revealed no longing or love, but her NPC mother in the instance probably wouldn't care about such trivial details.

"I will be good. I've broken up with Zhao Hui. I will never see him again. I will never see him again. I will..."

Liu Ying was like a cassette tape, repeatedly repeating the last sentence.

Hearing this, Liang Zaibing breathed a sigh of relief. By repenting and correcting her sins and playing the emotional card, and without triggering a dead end, this girl should be able to pass the dungeon smoothly.

As he expected, the teacher did not launch an attack. After standing still for a few minutes, Liu Ying turned into white light and logged out of the game.

Liang Zaibing glanced one last time at Mo Qiuping and Sheng Jingyu, who were in the next line.

Sheng Jingyu noticed his gaze and glared at him unhappily, mouthing "Look at my ass."

Liang Zaibing wasn't angry at all. Instead, she smiled and waved goodbye to him, saying, "Goodbye, little brat."

Mo Qiuping had disappeared. Although Sheng Jingyu frowned and looked very impatient, he still spoke the correct script for passing the level in a proper manner.

Liang Zaibing flipped through the phone book from beginning to end, but he didn't see the number he had found in the disciplinary room. However, one box was blacked out, and the corresponding student's name was Zhang Shiyi.

His mother's name is Xu Yiru, which sounds like a very gentle person.

Liang Zaibing pressed the numbers one by one and dialed the numbers.

Soon a soft female voice came from the other end of the phone, "Hello, what can I do for you?"

It seems she has forgotten that this is the academy's number.

Liang Zaibing tightened her grip on the receiver. "Is this Ms. Xu Yiru? I've met your son."

The other side fell into dead silence instantly, the gentle facade replaced by a frantic and shrill shout, "What bad thing has he done now!"

"Damn it, I sent him to the academy to cultivate his character, and he does it again, every single time!"

"He's already killed his own father, what else does he want to do!"

Liang Zaibing felt a stinging pain in her eardrums. She rubbed her ears and said calmly, "No, he did nothing wrong. He was very well-behaved every day at the academy. He just followed your instructions and obeyed all the principal's orders."

Xu Yiru remained silent for a long time before speaking, "No, you're lying. He couldn't possibly be that obedient, it's impossible..."

"If you don't believe me, you can come and see for yourself. You should know the location of the Five Virtues Academy, right?"

Liang Zaibing hung up the phone without waiting for her response.

The thin, dark figure appeared behind him at some point and listened for an unknown amount of time.

Liang Zaibing smiled at him, "Your mother is coming to see you, are you happy?"

He knew very well what Xu Yiru would see when she came to the academy, but he still had to do it.

It's been so long since I've seen him, I should come and see my son.

Eleven lowered his head and did not answer.

-----

The academy's buildings rapidly aged and collapsed, the teachers and students vanished completely, and even Feng Peng's body quickly decomposed, turning into a skeleton.

Liang Zaibing saw that her body had also become semi-transparent, indicating that she was about to leave the instance.

He took Eleven's hand and led him through the ruins, waiting quietly under the sign of "Wude Academy".

The woods outside the academy were desolate, with bare tree stumps and branches stuck in the soil, resembling a dead land.

Without the trees to block the view, they could see a white sedan speeding along the road from a distance, nearly crashing into the trees several times because it was driving so fast.

Xu Yiru got out of the car and saw a scene of ruins with bones scattered everywhere.

No matter how desperately she dug through the rubble, her fingers bleeding, she couldn't find her child among the hundreds of skeletons.

Xu Yiru leaned against the half-collapsed brick wall, tears streaming down her face, splashing up tiny specks of dust as they fell to the ground.

"I did wrong."

I miss you so much.

Extreme distortion and hatred.

The ultimate love.

Humans are such contradictions.

Eleven walked up to her and tried to take her hand, but couldn't grasp anything.

He embraced the woman loosely and murmured, "But my sins cannot be redeemed, Mother."

Liang Zaibing saw that Shiyi had let go of her mother and was walking towards her step by step.

The white light around him grew stronger and stronger, and when Eleven grasped his hand, he completely exited the instance.

Everything in the instance began to collapse and crumble.

A system notification in red font pops up in front of all players.

The Flying Leap Internet Addiction Treatment Center instance has been completely closed and is no longer open to players.

[The Flying Leap Internet Addiction Treatment Center instance has been cleared]

[Game settlement in progress...]

Main quest completed.

[Hidden Ending Achieved: Sweet Home]

[Completion Rating: S+]

[Reward points: 3100]

[Tip Points: 1782 (10% handling fee deducted)]

The top donor didn't show up this time, and the reward points were just at the normal level, but what he cared more about was another reward.

[Obtained the cursed item: Family Portrait]

They killed and hated each other, but at this moment, they were still a happy family.

The faded, folded photograph freezes time at a moment: a woman with a gentle smile leans on her husband's shoulder, holding the hand of a beautifully sculpted, quiet boy.

This happy family ended up with two dead and one insane.

As Liang Zaibing stroked the grainy photographic paper, he gained a deeper understanding of the perverse nature of the horror game.

[When a player acquires a cursed item for the first time, the system will provide a brief introduction.]

The cursed artifact harbors the core NPC of the instance. It forms a pact with the player who possesses the cursed artifact. When the player offers sacrifices, the possessed spirit responds and helps the player fight against the supernatural forces in the instance.

[WARNING! If the same cursed item is used more than twice in a single instance, the evil spirit residing within it will be fully resurrected and turn against the player.]

This was the first time Liang Zaibing had heard the system speak with such seriousness, and she kept the prohibition firmly in mind.

This rule is clearly intended to limit players from abusing cursed items and disrupting the balance of dungeons.