The Red Envelope Game Begins

After leaving the accommodation arrangements to Mu Jinran, Ye Shengge hadn’t given it much thought. He had always assumed that handling boarding procedures would be a long, tedious process.

To his surprise, right after lunch, Mu Jinran found him hiding in the classroom to enjoy the air conditioning. He handed him a brand-new key and explained: “I’ve already picked up your daily necessities and brought them to the dorm. This is your key; the room number is labeled on it.”

Ye Shengge took the key and subconsciously thanked him.

“Mm.” After handing over the key, Mu Jinran’s voice turned slightly deep: “Due to the room shortage, there have been some minor changes to the residents. Besides me, you have one more roommate.”

“Who is it?” Hearing about an extra roommate, Ye Shengge felt a vague sense of foreboding.

Mu Jinran’s voice became somewhat cold: “Jiang Yan.”

This was the first time Ye Shengge had heard the name, but he could guess who it was. His mind was in a mess. Was he really going to live under the same roof as that “terrorist”?

But if he didn’t stay there, he wouldn’t find a more suitable dormitory. Furthermore, he didn’t want to keep troubling Mu Jinran.

Just then, Mu Jinran spoke again: “He is a student-athlete and often has extra training. Except for sleeping at night, he generally doesn’t return to the dorm. However, just in case, if you want to go to the dorm, remember to tell me, and I will go with you.”

Ye Shengge nodded quickly. Although Jiang Yan hadn’t hit him yet, the brutal way he beat others was simply too terrifying. Being naturally timid, his instinct was to stay far away from such a person.

Seeing Ye Shengge nod, Mu Jinran’s expression softened quite a bit. He added: “I need to help the teacher organize the weekly test papers in a bit, but I’ll be back soon. Stay as far away from Jiang Yan as possible to prevent any accidents.”

Ye Shengge nodded again. Even if Mu Jinran hadn’t said it, he would have avoided Jiang Yan.

It must be said that Ye Shengge’s little plan was quite well-calculated.

But he had clearly forgotten one thing. Jiang Yan had legs.

Even if Ye Shengge wanted to avoid him, Jiang Yan could chase him down. It was as if he had installed surveillance in the classroom; almost as soon as Mu Jinran left, he arrived.

Looking at Ye Shengge sitting alone in the classroom, Jiang Yan leaned against the doorframe as if he were boneless, flashing a roguish smile: “How come you’re all alone? Did he dump you?”

As he reached the latter half of the sentence, Jiang Yan’s tone rose slightly, sounding abnormally excited and agitated. It was as if he were looking forward to this situation.

And indeed, he was.

Upon hearing the news of Mu Jinran’s departure, Jiang Yan had rushed over impatiently. Though he didn’t know how that annoying fellow had tricked the little youth away, it didn’t matter; he could use threats and lures to trick him back.

[Oh my god! Why does this dog man sound so excited?! The wild man is so pitiful. He probably doesn’t know that the moment he left, another dog man came to find his wife, right?] [He really is pitiful. Not only did a dog man interfere with the cohabitation opportunity he earned with his own skills, but now the dog man is even thinking of stealing his home while he’s away… Pitiful! Truly pitiful!! But it really is exciting!!!] [Plus one. I suspect I’m not watching a horror live-stream game, but a romance dating sim with massive cheats.] [It would be great if it could stay like this. I don’t want the wife to be as pathetic as other horror game streamers. Fine, I admit I’m biased; I can’t bear to see the wife suffer.]

Ye Shengge hadn’t understood what Jiang Yan meant at first, but with the guidance of the thousands of viewers in the live-stream, he understood perfectly. However, he would rather not have understood.

Jiang Yan clearly shared the same view as the audience, thinking he and Mu Jinran were “together.”

But they didn’t stop to think—he and Mu Jinran had only known each other for a few class periods. What kind of relationship could they have? A rocket-speed one?

Because he was feeling frustrated, Ye Shengge didn’t explain to Jiang Yan. Instead, he spoke up to annoy him on purpose: “This is between me and him. What does it have to do with you?”

This single sentence nearly killed Jiang Yan with anger.

But considering the other party was timid, he didn’t even dare to vent his rage. He simply walked quickly to the youth and said shamelessly: “Of course it has to do with me.”

Ye Shengge frowned. He had never seen such a thick-skinned person.

Sensing the youth’s rejection, Jiang Yan deliberately leaned in close and smiled maliciously: “If he doesn’t want you, you can consider following me. I definitely won’t leave you alone.”

Because of the proximity, Ye Shengge could even feel the warm breath Jiang Yan sprayed on his face. Just like the words themselves, it was ambiguous and out of line.

To Ye Shengge, Jiang Yan’s behavior was not only nonsensical but also seemed mentally ill. After all, they weren’t close—they were practically strangers—yet the other person acted so familiar and said so many strange things.

He dodged to the side, trying to avoid that face that looked like it was begging to be punched. He endured it as long as he could, but eventually, he couldn’t hold back and cursed softly: “Are you sick? It’s one thing for your own thoughts to be filthy, but you think everyone else is the same as you.”

Ye Shengge originally thought his words would wake Jiang Yan up, or at least let him know his behavior was problematic. But he didn’t expect that such a non-profane insult would have zero impact on Jiang Yan.

Not only that. Hearing the soft, blustering curse enter his ears, Jiang Yan became even more excited.

He felt the youth was right. Wasn’t he exactly “sick”? Otherwise, why would he want to hear the youth curse him a bit more in that timid, soft voice?

Feeling that increasingly burning gaze, Ye Shengge felt a strange sense of panic. He reached out and pushed Jiang Yan.

This force was very light to Jiang Yan, not enough to move him an inch. But seeing the youth getting so scared that moisture began to gather in his eyes, he still compromised and took a small step back.

That small step allowed Ye Shengge to successfully evade him.

“If you’re sick, go get treatment quickly. Don’t go crazy when you see people.” Ye Shengge glared fiercely at Jiang Yan and ran out of the classroom without looking back. He moved so fast it was as if a ghost were chasing him.

Seeing this, Jiang Yan stood in a daze, even forgetting to give chase. If one looked closely, one could see a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

Only then did the one-track-minded Jiang Yan, who only knew how to solve things with force, realize that his actions just now were not only sudden but also offensive to the youth.

After this incident, the youth would surely go out of his way to avoid him. After all, in the youth’s heart, he was just a “sick” stranger.

But he didn’t want that.

Jiang Yan thought irritably and with confusion: We are both human, so why can Mu Jinran talk and laugh intimately with the youth, but I can’t? It would be better if Mu Jinran didn’t exist.

Running out of the classroom, Ye Shengge looked indecisively at the fork in the path ahead.

He wanted to find Mu Jinran. But the teaching building had six floors, with countless branches and staircases, and every floor looked the same. Even though Mu Jinran had led him through twice, he hadn’t managed to memorize it. Under these circumstances, never mind finding someone—it was hard enough just ensuring he didn’t get lost.

Thinking of this, Ye Shengge’s mood became even more depressed. If only he were half as smart as Mu Jinran.

“Why are you standing here?”

Just as Ye Shengge was sinking into negative emotions, a familiar voice reached his ears. He subconsciously looked up.

It was Mu Jinran, holding a stack of test papers.

Seeing the youth’s slightly red eye corners, Mu Jinran’s eyes darkened slightly. He guessed that Jiang Yan had sought out the youth while he was away. However, he didn’t ask a single question, pretending he hadn’t noticed anything. He said: “Do you want to come with me to deliver the test papers?”

This attitude successfully allowed Ye Shengge, who didn’t know how to explain, to relax. He nodded heavily and followed behind the Class Monitor, who gave him a great sense of security, further solidifying his resolve to stay away from Jiang Yan.

To Ye Shengge right now, Jiang Yan’s existence was more terrifying than the boss who hadn’t appeared yet.

Sensing Ye Shengge’s thoughts, the system hesitated to speak, but due to the rules, it said nothing and eventually just gave a heavy sigh.

It had to be said that Jiang Yan’s influence on Ye Shengge was significant. Right up until they finished delivering the papers, he hadn’t recovered, following Mu Jinran step by step, refusing to be left alone for anything.

Though Mu Jinran gave no extra indication, he tacitly allowed the “little tail” to follow him.

This also meant Jiang Yan couldn’t find an opportunity to speak with Ye Shengge alone and could only watch longingly.

The afternoon passed peacefully like this. So peacefully that Ye Shengge even doubted if this was actually a horror live-stream game.

But this doubt didn’t last long, and the system would not give the host a chance to deceive himself.

Just as all the students finished dinner and rushed to the classroom for evening self-study, the system, which had been silent, suddenly spoke: [Host, please take note: the dungeon plot is about to unfold.]

These words completely shattered the daylight illusion of peace and stability.

As soon as the words fell, an excited cry suddenly rang out in the class: “Whoa! Which kind soul sent such a huge anonymous red envelope in the class group? I grabbed a hundred and there’s still nine hundred left!”

“I got some too! Not as much as you, but it’s more than enough for two cups of milk tea.” The student sitting next to the one who cried out raised his head and shook his phone triumphantly.

A line of large text was clearly visible on the phone screen: Congratulations! You received a 50 yuan red envelope.

There was no teacher supervising the self-study period. As soon as this happened, the classroom instantly reached a boiling point.

Although they didn’t lack money, the school allowed phones, and no one would turn down extra cash. Thus, everyone took out their phones and logged into the class group to grab the envelopes.

“Holy sh*t! So good? I’m going in to look too.” “Ah! My luck is so bad, I only got one yuan.” “Hahaha! I grabbed ten yuan!” “…”

Everyone was excited. Only Ye Shengge didn’t frantically click the huge red envelope like the others. Instead, after seeing the game rules the anonymous sender had specifically posted below the envelope, his face turned pale instantly.

— Once you open this red envelope, you can no longer exit the game. Participating players must not leak game content to the outside world. The Luck King must complete the specified instructions. Those who violate the game rules will be punished.

Looking at these words, the passage broadcast when he first entered the dungeon surfaced in Ye Shengge’s mind. His hands trembled as he typed a line: [Did you guys see the game rules below the red envelope?]

Seeing this message, someone burst out laughing, standing up and shouting: “No way, someone actually believes these mystery-mongering rules?”

The student who had grabbed the largest amount so far laughed: “Exactly! I don’t believe it. If the task isn’t finished, could the anonymous person actually kill the Luck King? That talk is only to scare children.”

“I didn’t think anyone could be this simple nowadays, hahaha.” Others joined in the laughter.

“Alright, alright, those who haven’t grabbed a red envelope yet, hurry up and get one. It’s not often a sucker sends such a big envelope; we can’t let such kindness go to waste, right?” The boy who led the laughter clapped his hands and shouted.

“Well said!”

The few students who hadn’t dared to grab the envelope due to being timid also laughed upon hearing this. They no longer hesitated and clicked the envelopes while laughing and joking.

It was obvious they didn’t take the game rules seriously.

Ye Shengge wasn’t discouraged by the mockery. He frowned and continued typing, urging everyone not to grab the red envelope. Because he knew that everything the anonymous person said was true. The punishment for violation was death.

However, the messages he sent were quickly pushed down by the messages from other students. Everyone was heatedly discussing how much money they had grabbed.

No one believed his persuasion.

Watching more and more students join the ranks of those grabbing red envelopes, Ye Shengge knew he couldn’t stop it at all.

This death game, which no one took seriously at first, had begun.