The Alarm Rings

Until Ye Shengge pulled open the dormitory door, Zhou Yue showed no intention of asking him to stay. Instead, he sat dazed on his chair, repeatedly muttering that he had done nothing wrong.

“If there’s any problem, you can come to my dorm to find me anytime,” Ye Shengge said, looking back at Zhou Yue one last time before leaving, his tone serious.

Though he knew in his heart that the possibility of Zhou Yue proactively confessing to him was nearly zero.

On the way back, Ye Shengge’s mood was very heavy.

This trip to see Zhou Yue had yielded almost no results.

Even though he had already set up a backup plan—asking the system to keep an eye on Zhou Yue and notify him immediately if the anonymous sender made a move so he could try to rush over and gather clues—he knew this wouldn’t go as smoothly as he imagined.

He knew absolutely nothing about the anonymous sender. At most, based on a single encounter and current clues, he could only guess the person’s character and purpose. He hoped the other party was on the side of justice.

But that was the optimistic guess. There was another, pessimistic possibility.

Perhaps the victims being guilty was just a coincidence, and the anonymous sender wanted to kill everyone.

If it were the latter, Ye Shengge didn’t know what he would do. His “backup plan” might just be hand-delivering his own head to the dungeon boss. Though, based on experience, the boss didn’t want his head—he wanted to do lewd things.

But he had to go. This was his only chance to contact the dungeon boss. Half of the seven-day limit was almost gone. He had to take the initiative to find clues; otherwise, he would be trapped in this dungeon forever, let alone go home.

Sensing the host’s deepening gloom after leaving Zhou Yue’s dorm, the system offered soft comfort: [You have done everything you can. Do not put too much pressure on yourself.]

While Ye Shengge wasn’t as frighteningly brilliant as other players and was quite delicate with an occasional temper, his growth and change over these few days were significant. He was constantly forcing himself to adapt to the new environment.

The system saw it all.

It could guarantee that if any other pampered young master had been thrown here, they wouldn’t have made it as far as Ye Shengge.

[Thank you for the comfort.] Ye Shengge’s mood improved quite a bit. Remembering how the audience in the chat used to curse the system, he said with immense sympathy: [In the future, if anyone calls you a heartless, cold block of wood again, I’ll definitely scold them back for you.]

Hearing this, the system suddenly thought of that group of viewers with their twisted sense of humor, who constantly provoked the host just to see him lose his temper. It typed out a long string of ellipses. It felt that… there was no need.

Within the span of a few sentences, Ye Shengge arrived back at the dorm.

As soon as he entered, he heard a question with a deliberately drawn-out tone.

“So, did the process of ‘caring for a classmate’ go smoothly?”

Jiang Yan was leaning against a chair, one hand propping up his chin, staring at him intently.

Ye Shengge glared at Jiang Yan and said fiercely: “How many times have I said it? If you’re going to talk, just talk. Don’t be so sarcastic. Why don’t you ever listen?”

“This counts as sarcastic?” Jiang Yan asked in disbelief. “You’ve never cared about me like that, yet you went to care for a total stranger.”

And a stranger who was about to die, at that.

The guy wasn’t worth the youth’s concern at all.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yan felt even more aggrieved.

“How is that the same?” Ye Shengge knew Jiang Yan was having another elementary-school-level tantrum and wanted to reason with him.

“How is it different?” Jiang Yan didn’t back down an inch, putting on a domineering posture as if he wouldn’t let the youth leave without a full explanation.

But seeing his aggressive look, Ye Shengge suddenly couldn’t stay angry. He even had the illusion that the other person was like a puppy he had once raised.

Back then, the puppy his brother brought home to amuse him had the same exploding sense of possessiveness.

Whenever he came home after secretly petting other dogs, that puppy would circle around him barking, looking like it was interrogating a heartless cheater. It made one want to laugh, but it also made him feel incredibly guilty, as if he really had done something wrong.

Just as Ye Shengge was thinking about what to say to stop Jiang Yan’s tantrum, the normally silent Mu Jinran finally spoke: “Enough, now is not the time for this.”

Ye Shengge looked over.

Mu Jinran’s tone was heavy: “Regarding the anonymous red packet game, what you said might be correct.”

Pausing, he asked: “When you went out to find Zhou Yue earlier, were you looking for clues?”

“Yes.” Ye Shengge nodded vigorously, then glanced at Jiang Yan, signaling him to learn from the class monitor.

It had to be said, Mu Jinran was indeed much more mature than Jiang Yan. He could guess the answer immediately instead of throwing tantrums out of possessiveness.

Receiving the youth’s gaze, Jiang Yan turned and glared viciously at the habitually pretentious Mu Jinran.

What an act. As if he wasn’t jealous.

Clearly, they both had the same intentions, yet this big-tailed wolf knew how to disguise himself. He acted as if he were looking at the big picture when, in reality, every question he asked was something he wanted to know. He could coax any information out of the boy.

Pah, shameless.

Only that naive little idiot would be silly enough to believe he was a good person.

Mu Jinran acted as if Jiang Yan didn’t exist, remaining completely unaffected. He asked Ye Shengge in a level voice: “Did you find any clues? Or is there anything you need my help with?”

“For the time being, neither.” Ye Shengge felt a bit embarrassed. After all, being out for so long and coming back empty-handed was quite humiliating to admit.

“It’s alright. You’ll find them sooner or later.” At this point, Mu Jinran’s gaze suddenly softened, as if he had thought of something.

“I’ll take the class monitor’s word for it then. I really hope this terrible game ends soon.” Ye Shengge thought Mu Jinran was just comforting him, as even he couldn’t guarantee finding anything within seven days. However, he accepted the sentiment with a smile.

Jiang Yan, who was being ignored by both of them, was as anxious as a Husky jumping up and down, yet he still failed to catch his master’s attention.

By the time Ye Shengge and Mu Jinran finished talking, there was basically nothing left for him to do.

Seeing this, Jiang Yan’s mood—which had briefly improved upon learning why Ye Shengge went out—dropped into the abyss again.

He naturally wasn’t willing to let Mu Jinran steal the spotlight. He shoved Mu Jinran aside and stood by Ye Shengge, asking diligently: “You must be tired from going out. Sit down and rest. Do you want some water?”

Seeing Jiang Yan’s childish way of fighting for attention, Ye Shengge couldn’t help but laugh: “No need, I’ll just sit and rest for a bit.” He hadn’t walked that far anyway; there was no need for such a fuss.

Only then did Jiang Yan reluctantly settle down.

From beginning to end, Mu Jinran, who had been pushed aside, didn’t say a word. In his mind, Jiang Yan—whose emotional intelligence was practically zero—posed no threat to him at all and wasn’t even worth targeting.

With the two rivals in the dorm no longer at each other’s throats, Ye Shengge’s life became much more comfortable.

A small episode occurred in the evening. Mu Jinran and Jiang Yan had just finished dinner with Ye Shengge when they were called away by the principal’s office. By 9:00 PM, they still hadn’t returned.

Ye Shengge grew sleepy while waiting. Just as he was about to climb into bed for a nap, the system’s piercing alarm went off.

[Host, please note: the anonymous sender has met with Zhou Yue.]

[Host, please note: the anonymous sender has met with Zhou Yue.]

[Host, please note: the anonymous sender has met with Zhou Yue.]

The alarm rang three times.

It was enough to show the severity of the situation.

Ye Shengge’s eyes snapped open, and his sleepiness vanished instantly.

He’s here.