Cat and Mouse

Under the anonymous red packet, there was a strange message: “Luck Kings, gather in the classroom at 10:00 PM tonight.”

But there had only ever been one “Luck King” per round. Why use the plural “Kings” or the word “gather”?

An ominous premonition surged in Ye Shengge’s heart.

Beside him, Mu Jinran and Jiang Yan also looked grave; they clearly sensed something was wrong.

They tapped the anonymous red packet simultaneously.

Once it opened, they immediately understood why the message used those terms.

The screen displayed the lowest hand-speed red packet amount in history: 0.31 yuan. There were exactly thirty-one members in the group, and everyone had snatched the exact same amount—one cent each.

There was no single Luck King. Or rather, in a sense, everyone was the Luck King this round.

Combined with the phrase the anonymous sender used last night—”It will be over soon”—Ye Shengge guessed that this might be the final round of the game.

In the newly created class chat, many students had already broken down, and the group was a chaotic mess of arguments.

Everyone was debating whether they should go, and whether they would even come back alive if they did.

But no matter how much they argued, they couldn’t change the ultimate fate: they had to go to the classroom.

“It seems the person sending the red packets is planning to play big this time.” Jiang Yan looked at the results on his screen and shot a half-smile toward Mu Jinran. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Mu Jinran ignored Jiang Yan. Instead, he spoke to Ye Shengge in a low, heavy voice: “The person organizing this game seems to be coming in with full force this time. You must be extra careful.”

That being said, everyone knew that a reminder to “be careful” was just a nice sentiment. In reality, if that anonymous person truly intended to do something, ordinary people like them had no way to defend themselves.

“I’ll be careful.” Ye Shengge nodded vigorously, accepting the kind warning.

Jiang Yan sneered: “Hypocrite. You’re the only one who acts so ‘kind-hearted’.”

Fearing they would start a fight, Ye Shengge quickly diverted the topic: “If nothing unexpected happens, there’s a tough battle ahead tonight. Instead of arguing, I think the most important thing for us to do right now is clear the table and then go get some sleep together.”

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Jiang Yan forgot about mocking Mu Jinran. He obediently followed Ye Shengge’s instructions and ran to clear the breakfast things off the table.

Mu Jinran and Ye Shengge didn’t idle either. While tidying the desk, they discussed their strategy for the night.

“No matter what happens later, don’t run around blindly. Remember to stay close to me.” Mu Jinran’s tone was incredibly serious, giving off a steady and reliable aura.

Ye Shengge nodded hard, his beautiful eyes filled with admiration as he looked at Mu Jinran: “Okay! Then I’ll be counting on you.”

Mu Jinran shook his head, his gaze focused on Ye Shengge: “It’s no trouble.”

“Don’t just talk to him! I’m clearly the stronger one, okay? If anyone bullies you later, just tell me. I can send them flying with one punch.” Not wanting to be outdone, Jiang Yan deliberately wedged himself between them and spoke with eager anticipation.

A smile reached Ye Shengge’s eyes.

He knew Jiang Yan was doing this partly to get attention, but mostly to keep him from feeling too nervous. He played along with a bit of flattery: “Then I’ll have to trouble you to punch the bad guys away for me.”

This response, much like coaxing a child, made Jiang Yan suddenly realize that what he had just said sounded quite immature.

But he didn’t know how to explain that it was all true. He could only lower his head dejectedly, comforting himself internally—it didn’t matter; there would be a chance to prove it sooner or later.

It was now five minutes before 10:00 PM.

The sky was pitch black.

Almost all the other teachers and students in the school were deep in sleep.

Ye Shengge walked between Mu Jinran and Jiang Yan, his eyes squeezed shut as they successfully navigated the shortcut through the woods and headed straight for the classroom.

At the same time, the other twenty-plus students of Class 5 had arrived early. However, their expressions were frantic and disheveled, forming a sharp contrast with the energetic and composed demeanor of Ye Shengge’s trio.

When Ye Shengge pushed open the classroom door right on time, he was startled by their listless state. He asked in surprise: “Didn’t you guys catch up on sleep during the day?”

Someone gave a bitter laugh and complained: “That’s easy for you to say. With things like this happening, and no guarantee our lives will be spared, how big of a heart would you need to actually fall asleep?”

“Exactly! The vengeful ghost is coming for our lives. How could anyone sleep?” Others nodded in agreement, their faces masks of terror.

Seeing the fear, guilt, and panic on most of their faces, Ye Shengge’s heart sank. He tried to act nonchalant and said: “Even if a vengeful ghost is coming for lives, there’s no need to be this scared. As long as we haven’t done anything wrong, the ghost won’t target us. The ones who should really be afraid are those who actually did something, right?”

But far from comforting them, these words made the fear in the room intensify.

“I don’t know if this counts… but back then, I followed Zhang Ming and shouted for Ye Ranping to jump.” The speaker was someone from the small clique of Zhang Ming and the deceased Luck King.

“Me too.”

“And me…”

One by one, more people stood up.

Ye Shengge looked at them in disbelief. He could never have imagined that so many people had treated a living human life as a joke.

As more people stood up to admit their past actions, the atmosphere in the classroom grew increasingly heavy.

One student slammed his palm against a desk and cursed: “But the people who said those things aren’t just the ones in this room! Why are only we gathered here? Why didn’t they gather everyone who spoke those words?!”

“Because you are the only ones who refuse to admit it.” The few remaining innocent students who had been dragged into this were fuming.

“What a coincidence it is. Maybe the class assignments in the second year were intentionally manipulated just for today.” Another student felt cursed for being caught in the crossfire.

Hearing this, those with guilty consciences were naturally offended. As they talked, the two sides broke into a heated argument.

Ye Shengge’s ears were ringing from the noise.

In this situation, the sudden chime of a notification sound was like a life-saving straw.

Everyone scrambled to check their messages.

Anonymous: [All players have arrived. Final game instruction: ‘Cat’ catches ‘Mice’. All players have fifteen minutes to find a safe place to hide. If you are caught before the deadline, you will face the consequences.]

[Game Deadline: Before Dawn. Game Range: Campus-wide.]

After reading the instructions, Ye Shengge finally understood what the dungeon boss meant last night.

He wanted to settle everything once and for all by rounding everyone up for a game of Battle Royale.

And they, a group of weak “mice,” didn’t have the slightest right to say no.