Chapter 168: Red Maple Boarding School (V) “He’s Just an NPC”

Chen Lidong, thinking he had managed Qi Si, pulled Zhou Datong and squeezed next to Jiang Junjue, preparing to gather some clues.

Qi Si also moved closer, his expression earnest, conveying the meaning: “Although I don’t know what you are doing, Ms. Medina asked me to guide you, so I must complete the task with guaranteed quality and quantity.”

Having an NPC whose nature—human or ghost—was unknown constantly following them was truly unsettling.

Fortunately, Qi Si’s behavior was very human-like, and his appearance and expression showed no aggression, so the players didn’t pay much attention, treating him as if he were invisible.

“Everyone should still remember what the first Ms. Medina we saw looked like, right?” Jiang Junjue scratched his messy hair and looked around at the surrounding players. “She was in her late thirties, nearing forty, and wore a black fur coat. She is completely different from the Ms. Medina here. How many Ms. Medinas there are is a question we need to study carefully.”

An impatient player interrupted, “What does this have to do with this instance? We don’t even know what the main quest is yet, or the death rules—where are we supposed to find the school rules?”

“Don’t rush, you can’t rush things like this. Aren’t I analyzing it for you?” Jiang Junjue deliberately drew out his words and slowed his speech. “The school rules are just the most superficial thing, determining whether we can survive until the day the main quest is completed. I blindly guess that the main quest is unrelated to these rules and probably involves more complex layers… for example, could this instance have several parallel dimensions?”

The players exchanged glances. A white woman was the first to ask, “Jiang, is there a clue we missed?”

Jiang Junjue was silent for two seconds, then let out a long breath: “…No, I just guessed.”

“…”

Having been teased pointlessly by Jiang Junjue, the players didn’t really get angry, as the Tingfeng Guild had always appeared before the public with such an unreliable image.

However, after this little interlude, the previously stiff atmosphere suddenly became lively.

No one mentioned the special identities anymore. The players spoke freely and gradually reached a consensus on the next course of action.

Ms. Medina had said that violating the school rules on the first day would not be punished. The ideal situation was to use this safe period to test out all the school rules, and ideally, divide the work to explore all four floors of the entire school.

The main quest is highly unlikely to be “Survive XX days.” The background narration said, “Arrive when the Maple Forest is lush” and “Die in the season when the Red Maple Leaves fall,” which covers too long a time span.

It’s possible the main quest is “Escape Red Maple Boarding School,” so one or two players need to try walking out of the Maple Forest the way they came to scout the exit.

During the exploration, they should pay special attention to the imagery mentioned in the nursery rhyme, such as “eating dirt,” “poisonous mushrooms,” “yellow flowers,” and “yellow butterflies,” as they might be closely related to the world setting.

Qi Si listened quietly nearby, finding that the average quality of this group of players was decent; at least their thinking process was clear when it came to processing information and drawing conclusions.

Naturally, when they reached the division of labor stage, buck-passing and arguments occurred again.

Essentially, no one was willing to do something obviously suicidal to test the school rules, nor did anyone dare to walk out of the Maple Forest or look for the so-called “yellow butterflies.”

“Some things, we can totally let the NPC do them,” Jiang Junjue said abruptly. “This NPC looks incredibly close to human and has been following us. We can estimate he’s the ‘extra life’ the Eerie Game sent us.”

His gaze fell on Qi Si: “In many difficult instances, several NPCs will die to serve as clues and warnings. Since he’s going to die anyway, why not let him die a valuable death?”

“What do you mean? Can that NPC listen to you?” Chen Lidong subconsciously stepped forward, blocking Qi Si.

It wasn’t that he cared about Qi Si’s life or death; it was just that, in his view, Qi Si was rescued by him with a pack of biscuits and should be considered his private property. Jiang Junjue openly plotting against Qi Si was highly improper.

“What’s the big deal? Didn’t you save his life? He trusts you quite a bit, doesn’t he?” Jiang Junjue seemed oblivious to Chen Lidong’s dissatisfaction, his eyes half-closed and sleepy. “You don’t need to trick him into doing anything too dangerous. Just ask him to look for the things mentioned in the nursery rhyme, right? Since he’s always lived in this instance, he shouldn’t run into danger.”

Qi Si stood quietly to the side with his head lowered, staring silently at the shadows on the ground, seemingly completely unaware that he was being plotted against by the players.

Zhou Datong looked at the back of his innocent head and felt a pang of sympathy: “This isn’t right. He’s still a child. Should his trust be exploited just because he trusts us?”

Hearing this, the players burst into waves of mocking laughter.

Even if he were human, daring to offer his trust meant being prepared to be exploited. What’s more, he was just an NPC?

When Chen Lidong heard Zhou Datong’s idiotic remark and the malicious laughter of the others, he felt as if he, too, was being mocked.

He glared at Zhou Datong and immediately sided with Jiang Junjue: “No matter how human-like an NPC is, he’s just a pile of data. Why didn’t I notice you were so wishy-washy before?”

Other players chimed in: “Exactly. No matter how human he looks, he’s still a ghost. Who knows what terrifying thing is hidden beneath that human skin.”

Qi Si finally seemed to understand what the players meant. He smiled kindly at Chen Lidong: “Brother Chen, if you need me for anything, just tell me. I will definitely do my best to help!”

His smile inherently possessed a power that made people drop their guard. Combined with the effect of the 【Rose Heart】 and the youthful face sculpted by the 【Human Skin Mask】, he looked utterly guileless, exceptionally sunny and bright in the eyes of the players.

Even Jiang Junjue, who was the first to suggest exploiting him, couldn’t help but sigh internally: What a great person. Why did he have to be an NPC born in a instance?

Chen Lidong felt a little embarrassed by the stare but still gritted his teeth and said, “47, we don’t really understand the nursery rhyme you and your classmates recited. We haven’t seen some of the things mentioned in it. Can you find some samples and show them to us?”

“No problem.” After agreeing, Qi Si lowered his eyes and said hesitantly, “When does Brother Chen need them? I might need some time.”

Jiang Junjue stared into Qi Si’s eyes: “Three days, is that possible?”

Qi Si showed hesitation: “Yellow flower buds and yellow butterflies might be hard to find.”

Agreeing to something too readily would only make people think you were being perfunctory; showing appropriate difficulty, however, would make people believe you were seriously considering how to complete the task.

Jiang Junjue pondered for a moment and said, “Find as much as you can.”

Only then did Qi Si nod.

The matter progressed more smoothly than expected, yet none of the players grew suspicious—NPCs generally do not deceive players in such situations.

Qi Si’s words also confirmed their guess: the “yellow flowers” and “yellow butterflies” in the nursery rhyme were indeed key clues.

Zhang Yiyu listened to the conversation between Qi Si and the players, feeling completely flustered: You, an Eerie being more terrifying than Ms. Medina, find it fun to pretend to be an innocent little rabbit here? Are you truly ignorant or just pretending?

She cleared her throat, about to remind Jiang Junjue, but when she looked up, she saw Qi Si staring at her with a half-smile.

The words she was about to speak immediately caught in her throat.

Jiang Junjue turned his head and looked at her suspiciously: “Little Zhang, what’s wrong?”

“N-nothing, my throat was just itchy,” Zhang Yiyu shrank her neck, her eyes shifting nervously.

She was an Eerie being; humans could only contain her but couldn’t kill her. Higher-level Eerie beings, however, might be able to devour her—she knew clearly who she couldn’t afford to offend.

Jiang Junjue didn’t doubt her and casually expressed concern: “Then drink more water, don’t get sick.”

“…O-okay!”

Qi Si had pretty much figured out the personalities of some players through observation, including Chen Lidong’s arrogance and self-will, and Jiang Junjue’s decisiveness beneath his easygoing exterior.

What concerned him more was the girl called “Little Zhang,” who had been looking at him with eyes that suggested she was seeing a ghost, which was truly strange.

Did he look that terrifying?

Or… could the other person see something that ordinary people couldn’t?

On the other side, the players resumed discussing the division of labor.

Compared to before, the process was significantly smoother.

Twenty-eight players who had already put on uniforms were divided into four teams, deciding which floor to explore by drawing lots. The mixed-race boy who hadn’t gotten a uniform was told to stay put, supposedly to reduce the chance of encountering danger.

But many people knew that those who were alone would be more likely to trigger incidents, or unintentionally violate rules out of fear.

The group, now assigned tasks, stopped stalling and dispersed into the shadows of various corners.

Qi Si walked out of the school gate and headed toward the Maple Forest, looking as if he were seriously going to find samples for the players.

Of course, his agreement didn’t mean he had to follow through.

If he went looking for some things, did that guarantee he would find them?

…In a corner of the first floor, Philed watched the NPC boy who called himself “47” plunge into the Maple Forest, a hint of viciousness flashing in his gray-blue eyes.

He was short, and when grabbing a uniform, he was slightly too slow, ending up alone.

After the initial resentment faded, he was nearly crushed by anxiety and unease.

The system interface clearly stated: 【Students must wear school uniforms while at school】. Although violating the school rules wouldn’t cause problems on the first day, what about tomorrow?

Philed didn’t believe other players would be kind enough to lend him a uniform, nor would he dare to snatch another player’s uniform in plain sight.

The only target he could act on was the seemingly gentle and harmless NPC boy.

Although this NPC seemed extremely close to Ms. Medina and had a task to find samples, those were future concerns. If he couldn’t get a uniform, he didn’t even know if he would survive tomorrow, so what good was thinking about the future?

Philed looked left and right. Seeing that the players had dispersed and no one was paying attention to him, he immediately quickened his pace and entered the Maple Forest along the route the NPC boy had taken.

The vegetation in the forest was exceptionally lush. Maple tree branches intertwined with fern vines, and the dense leaves covered the sky, letting only a few faint rays of light filter through.

Philed looked into the pitch-black depths of the woods, where shadows clustered, seemingly hiding pairs of malicious eyes that greedily coveted passing creatures.

He felt a little scared, but thinking of the rules written clearly on the system interface, he clenched his jaw and continued forward, following the footprints in the mud.

“Are you also here to look for the exit?” A clear voice rang out from behind without warning, making Philip jump.

He whirled around and saw a young man in a white shirt and black trousers standing among the leaves, smiling warmly.

Before he could ask, the young man continued on his own: “I don’t think it’s a solution for everyone to stay in the school, so I told Senior Jiang and came to wander around the outskirts of the Maple Forest.”

Philed scrutinized the young man, finding his face somewhat unfamiliar, yet his voice carried a hint of familiarity, though he couldn’t recall where he knew it from.

On second thought, nearly thirty people clustered together messily, and in his eyes, all the yellow-skinned people looked like they were cast from the same mold. It was truly unrealistic to try to recognize faces quickly.

“Where is your school uniform?” Philed asked.

He remembered that out of twenty-nine people, he was the only one who hadn’t gotten a uniform. Why was the young man in front of him also not wearing one?

“I had my friend put it away for me,” the young man said with a smile. “I always felt that uniform was a bit strange. Since violating the rules today is fine, I’d rather not wear it if I don’t have to… Plus, if I die here, that uniform can be given to someone who needs it.”

Philed had intended to say, “If you’re not wearing it, give it to me,” but upon hearing the young man’s last sentence, he fell silent.

“Someone who needs it” was undoubtedly referring to him. Although the comment felt like deliberate flattery, the young man’s casual attitude toward death made Philed feel that the other person might genuinely think that way… “Never mind, let’s not talk about that. I guess you’re looking for that NPC, right?” The young man suddenly narrowed his eyes playfully and pointed toward a certain direction deep in the Maple Forest. “I just saw him walk that way.”

Philed was full of questions and was about to say more, but the young man had already turned and left, disappearing into the dense woods.

Philed lowered his head and found that the footprints in the mud had inexplicably stopped at a certain point, leaving no trace.

The NPC boy was indeed gone, having vanished without a trace.

He looked at the path he had taken, then at the direction the young man had pointed, struggling internally for a long time. In the end, he cautiously walked toward the depths of the Maple Forest indicated by the young man… After Qi Si finished fooling the player who coveted his uniform, he quickly walked out of the Maple Forest and returned near the concrete building.

He found a blind spot, slipped into it, took the Human Skin Mask out of his inventory, and put it back on his face, instantly becoming the NPC boy 47 again.

He accessed his backpack, took out the uniform and put it on, and placed the white shirt he had taken off back inside, considering himself properly prepared.

His main purpose in entering the Maple Forest was just to shake off the players’ surveillance. If he had truly been caught and stripped of his clothes, he would have been completely defenseless.

As for pointing the way toward the depths of the Maple Forest, he did it casually—there always had to be a player who would test the waters and scout for the exit.

He had merely performed a good deed by helping the other players select a guinea pig.

After this whole affair, it was getting late. The color of the sky darkened, overlaid with the pale gray of evening.

The light from the illumination was swallowed up at the boundary where the Maple Forest met the sky, drawing a curtain over the entire world.

Qi Si fiddled with a note he had picked up from somewhere, looking down as his shadow was stretched long by the slanting light, disappearing at a certain moment into the surrounding darkness.

A patch of water stain slowly spread on the concrete wall, gradually outlining the gray, withered face of a child. After gaining facial features, it dripped down, becoming three-dimensional.

“Number 47, Ms. Medina asked me to take you to the kitchen.” The face floated in the air and spoke lifelessly to Qi Si.