A Heavy Debt of Gratitude and the Sticky Night

Ye Shengge had no idea how long the kiss lasted. He only knew that during the process, he nearly blacked out several times because he couldn’t catch his breath.

To give himself a chance to breathe and avoid the embarrassment of fainting in public, he could only use his weak strength to pat the person holding him tightly, hoping he would let go as soon as possible.

But in Mu Jinran’s eyes, this gesture was no different from playing hard to get.

Not only did he not let go, but he became even more excited, suckling and nibbling at the youth’s lips.

Ye Shengge was kissed into a daze, his head turning to mush.

By the time Mu Jinran finally released him, he had become no different from a piece of overcooked noodles. His eyes were brimming with moisture, and his body was so soft that he couldn’t muster an ounce of strength. He could only cling weakly to Mu Jinran’s neck and gasp for air, terrified of falling.

However, just as he managed to steady his breathing and before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he felt a sharp sting from his lips.

The skin had definitely been bitten raw. If only Mu Jinran had been a bit gentler or let him go sooner, it wouldn’t have ended up like this.

At this thought, the mist in Ye Shengge’s eyes thickened, and an overwhelming sense of grievance washed over him.

The little young master, who had been pampered since childhood, had never suffered such a grievance.

Yet, he was the one who had asked the other person to kiss him. He didn’t even have a reason to be angry. He could only endure the pain from the wound with a pitiful expression, comforting himself in his heart that at least the instruction task was completed.

“I’m sorry. I saw that the instruction mentioned a passionate kiss for half a minute, and I was worried it wouldn’t be long enough or meet the requirements, so I used that much force. Are you alright?” Mu Jinran looked at the youth’s watery, raw, and slightly swollen lips with a dark expression, apologizing sincerely.

This reasonable explanation and apology instantly made Ye Shengge’s already weak sense of grievance vanish.

He looked guiltily at Mu Jinran’s similarly raw lips and stammered: “I’m fine. It’s not your fault. I asked for your help. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Thinking carefully, what did Mu Jinran do wrong? If he hadn’t been smart and attentive enough to notice the deep kiss standard in the instructions, he might have had to go through another suffocating deep kiss.

Therefore, it was really wrong of him to be angry with Mu Jinran just now.

At this thought, Ye Shengge’s voice softened, and he thanked him again politely and obediently: “Thank you so much.”

Before Mu Jinran could say anything, he was interrupted by Jiang Yan, who rushed over with red eyes and a furious expression: “The game instruction is finished now. Why are the two of you still hugging each other?”

His arrival was quite sudden.

Ye Shengge’s face flushed with embarrassment. Only then did he realize he and Mu Jinran were still in that intimate kissing posture. He scrambled down in a flustered, uncoordinated manner and quickly sat back in his seat.

Mu Jinran, having been interrupted, frowned slightly, his face appearing somewhat displeased.

However, the culprit behind this result not only felt no guilt but instead raised an eyebrow in a good mood, speaking arrogantly: “I didn’t expect some idiots would actually fall for such ghost talk.”

It was unclear if the “ghost talk” referred to the instructions or to believing Mu Jinran’s explanation.

[This is killing me. I was wondering why it smelled so sour; it turns out the dog man’s vinegar jar has been overturned.] [Tsk tsk tsk. As soon as I smelled that sourness, I knew he must have downed at least ten jars of aged vinegar.] [Hahaha, stop it. The dog man had to watch with his own eyes as the silly wife took the initiative to kiss someone else. He’s miserable enough.] [It’s miserable, but I still want to laugh. Hahaha!]

The live-stream audience’s words were often out of line, but while their language was blunt, most of what they said was true.

Jiang Yan had indeed overturned his vinegar jar. Seeing the youth engage in intimate acts with someone else without any defenses was incredibly eyesore to him. He wished he could drag that pretending pervert out and beat him several times.

What made him angriest was that a certain little fool had no awareness of being taken advantage of and instead defended the pretending pervert.

“What does it have to do with you whether I believe it or if I’m a fool? Are you finished? If you’re finished, go back to your seat. It’s not break time yet.” Ye Shengge spoke in what he thought was a very fierce but was actually a soft, sweet voice, saying words that could annoy someone to death.

Even a clay man has a bit of temper. Although he was very afraid of being beaten by Jiang Yan, since the guy was being rowdy right at his doorstep, he had to snap back.

Jiang Yan’s face turned ashen instantly. If looks could kill, Mu Jinran would have been sliced into pieces countless times.

However, Mu Jinran’s pressure resistance was very strong. Even being stared at with such ruthless eyes, he remained completely unaffected.

He unhurriedly straightened the clothes Ye Shengge had messed up while looking up at Jiang Yan without flinching. He said in a cold voice: “He’s right. It’s class time. Please return to your seat and sit down as soon as possible.”

This synchronized teamwork was simply a fatal blow to the heart.

Jiang Yan grit his teeth in anger but couldn’t find a reason to lash out at Mu Jinran.

After all, if one traced back to the source, it was the little fool who had taken the initiative to ask the pretending pervert to kiss him. Even though he had been kissed into this state of raw lips and messy clothes, the little fool was still protecting him.

How could he lash out? What standing or reason did he have to seek justice for the little fool?

Jiang Yan suppressed a belly full of rage. In the end, like a defeated wolf dog, he slunk back to his seat with his tail between his legs.

He felt uncomfortable all over when he sat down and kicked the desk hard, making a loud clang that scared everyone peeking at the little fool into looking away. The only flaw was that the loud noise didn’t scare the pretending pervert who was talking to the little fool.

But even so, it was at least a bit of comfort, preventing Jiang Yan from dying of anger on the spot.

However, all of this was before Jiang Yan knew the content of their conversation. If Jiang Yan knew what Mu Jinran said to Ye Shengge, he would definitely explode with rage again.

“You can’t see the wound. Do you want me to apply it for you?” Mu Jinran took out the ointment the youth had used this morning and asked casually.

Ye Shengge shook his head quickly.

Originally, he didn’t think asking for help was a big deal, but after Jiang Yan’s scene, the atmosphere had become strange and awkward. Under these circumstances, how could he have the nerve to let Mu Jinran help him apply the medicine?

To prove he could do it alone, he hurriedly opened the cap. Before he could distinguish the exact location of the wound, he quickly smeared a full circle of medicine on his lips. Fortunately, it was a harmless healing ointment; smearing it outside the wound would at most be a waste, it wouldn’t cause any side effects.

The ointment took effect quickly. After a while, Ye Shengge felt a cool sensation on his lips, and the stinging pain vanished completely.

“Thank you for the ointment.” Ye Shengge returned it, his face flushing slightly as he thanked him. This morning, he was thinking he would never trouble Mu Jinran for the medicine again. Who would have thought the face-slapping would come so quickly? It was truly embarrassing.

Mu Jinran saw the youth was being shy and considerately said nothing, silently putting the ointment away.

To avoid the awkwardness, after handing back the medicine, Ye Shengge buried his head in the class group messages.

Because of the instruction, the class group was very lively with high discussion, pushing the anonymous messages down. If one wanted to see the anonymous message sent after the instruction was completed, one had to keep scrolling up.

Ye Shengge scrolled for several minutes before seeing the anonymous message before class ended.

Anonymous: [Congratulations to the Luck King of the first round for successfully completing the instruction within the time limit. The second round of the game will start randomly tomorrow. Please be prepared, all group members. Reminding you again, those who quit the game midway will be punished!]

A chill ran down Ye Shengge’s spine.

Looking at the dungeon boss’s reaction, there was no sign of stopping just because the NPCs were its lackeys. And these NPC classmates, aside from occasionally being strange, were mostly like normal high school students and didn’t seem to have memories of the dungeon boss.

To be fair. Rather than lackeys, these NPCs were more like tools provided for the dungeon boss to play the game.

Although he didn’t know what kind of whim the dungeon boss had to give him such a strange instruction, looking at it from another angle, this seemingly shameful but easy-to-complete instruction was a good thing for him compared to a bloody or difficult one. After all, the premise of finding the anonymous sender was to stay alive.

However, good luck like the first time wouldn’t stay with him forever, and other NPCs might not have it either.

Furthermore, the dungeon mission limit was seven days. Even if the dungeon boss was restricted by the game rules and had to distribute the Luck King title to other NPCs, it didn’t mean it wouldn’t be his turn again.

The most troublesome thing was that after experiencing the first round, almost no one took it to heart, even becoming more convinced that it was just a prank game.

If things continued at this defenseless pace, the number of deaths would be faster and more frequent than described in the dungeon plot.

And once the NPCs who could help players absorb the Luck King turns were almost dead, he, the only remaining player, would be ready to “lie in a coffin.”

In other words, to stay alive, he not only had to protect his own life but also prevent the NPCs from dying as much as possible.

Troublesome and brain-burning.

Ye Shengge furrowed his brow and let out a silent sigh.

For a brainless “waste snack” like him, this was simply too difficult. But to stay alive, no matter how hard it was, he had to try.

While he was lost in thought, the bell rang for the end of class.

The students who wanted to chat with Ye Shengge about the game instruction stood up excitedly, finding ways to crowd around him.

This familiar scene didn’t scare Ye Shengge again, but it still made him feel uncomfortable. Fortunately, Mu Jinran spoke up in time to stop the students from coming closer.

In the eyes of the NPC students, Mu Jinran’s words were very deterrent. They didn’t dare to continue being unruly and left as if fleeing.

“Thank you.” When he said this, Ye Shengge was too embarrassed to look at Mu Jinran, shrinking into his shell like a snail. Because he could hardly remember how many times he had said thank you to Mu Jinran today.

Mu Jinran nodded faintly. His calm and composed attitude formed a sharp contrast with Ye Shengge’s.

It must be said that a smart person is a smart person. This calm attitude made Ye Shengge unconsciously relax as well.

Under Mu Jinran’s watch, not only did no NPCs dare to disturb Ye Shengge, but even Jiang Yan stayed quiet for once. Ye Shengge successfully passed his first evening self-study in the dungeon.

“Pack your things. I’ll take you to the dorm.” When most people had left, Mu Jinran stood up unhurriedly to close the windows and the electric fans one by one.

Ye Shengge nodded obediently. While Mu Jinran went to close the windows, he quickly tidied his desk. Since there was plenty of time, he also helped turn off the electric fan Mu Jinran had left running.

“Let’s go.” Mu Jinran put on his backpack and took the first step forward.

Ye Shengge didn’t dare look back at the pitch-black classroom and hurriedly followed Mu Jinran’s footsteps. On the way to the dorm, he felt lucky many times that he had made the decision this morning to return to the dorm with Mu Jinran.

One should know that the dormitory building and the teaching building were in completely opposite directions, with a creepy, dark little woods in between that looked like a scene from a ghost movie.

If it weren’t for a living person accompanying him, given Ye Shengge’s courage, he would definitely not dare to walk this path alone in the middle of the night.

But even with someone accompanying him, he didn’t fare much better.

Summer nights occasionally blew a cool breeze. Every time the wind blew, the trees in the little woods would make a subtle rustling sound. Coupled with that dark path that didn’t let much light in, the horror atmosphere was directly maxed out.

It was as if in the next second, a vengeful ghost dripping with bloody tears would jump out of the bushes.

Ye Shengge shuddered violently, scared by his own imagination.

Even sticking close to Mu Jinran’s side couldn’t provide him with much security anymore. He no longer cared about being embarrassed and tremblingly reached out, tightly grasping a small corner of Mu Jinran’s shirt.

The chilly night breeze blew again.

This time, the youth didn’t feel afraid. He waited for a long time without seeing any reaction from Mu Jinran. He breathed a sigh of relief in relief, his eyes full of undetected pride and triumph at not being caught.

However, the youth, who thought he was being discreet, didn’t know that from the moment he hesitantly reached out his hand, his actions had been fully captured by the person with excellent vision beside him.

The reason he didn’t say anything was simply because he was indulging him.

In this posture, the two walked out of the little woods.

Under the bright streetlights, the dormitory finally appeared before them.

Ye Shengge quickly let go of the shirt corner he was clutching, almost crying from excitement.

It was too terrifying! He never wanted to walk such a hellish ghost road again.

“We’re here.” After seeing the dormitory, a trace of something like regret quickly flashed in Mu Jinran’s eyes.

However, that look vanished instantly, returning to its previous indifference and calm. It was so fast that it made one wonder if they had seen wrong.

Ye Shengge shook his head, thinking he must have been scared silly. Otherwise, how could he see a regretful emotion in the Golden Finger’s eyes that would only appear when a prank failed.

Mu Jinran: “What are you dazed for? It’s late. Go to the bathroom to wash up and sleep. You have to wake up early for class tomorrow.”

This voice successfully woke Ye Shengge, who was still wandering in his thoughts.

Ye Shengge snapped out of it, realizing late that he had already followed Mu Jinran into the dormitory assigned to him.

He inconspicuously surveyed this four-person dorm, which wasn’t very large but was fully equipped.

The interior was very clean and tidy, without a bit of trash. It wasn’t hard to see that the people living here loved cleanliness.

The dorm wasn’t full; including Ye笙歌, there were only three people. The empty bunk could be used to store extra sundries.

As for the remaining three bunks, they were all tidied up neatly.

It was also at this time that Ye Shengge discovered how warm-hearted Mu Jinran was. He showed a soft smile and asked deliberately: “Did you help me tidy up my bed?”

Mu Jinran looked at the upper bunk position of his own bed and said faintly: “Evening self-study ends at ten-thirty. By the time you finished making the bed and washing up, it would be at least eleven or twelve o’clock. It’s too late.”

“Thank you. You really are a great person.” Ye Shengge was deeply moved. He really loved this considerate Golden Finger to death!

Mu Jinran wanted to say something, but he was interrupted at the critical moment by a loud door-opening sound.

“Yo, you two really have such elegant interests, still standing here heart-to-hearting this late?” Jiang Yan used the towel on his shoulder to wipe his face, walking out of the bathroom shirtless.

Before the other two could react, he started his sarcasm again: “Well, it makes sense. After all, you’ve already kissed. What’s a little chat or heart-to-heart?”

Ye Shengge: “…” Ye Shengge was afraid of getting sties. When he found someone walking out of the bathroom naked, he quickly lowered his head and closed his eyes, not seeing a single thing he shouldn’t.

But even so, it made Mu Jinran furrow his brow, his voice cold as if about to freeze: “Put your clothes on and go to sleep.”

Jiang Yan had suppressed a belly of fire and had finally waited for them to return to the dorm; naturally, he didn’t want to let them off easily. But just as he was about to say a few more sarcastic words, he heard the youth, who had his head lowered and eyes closed, unable to control himself from letting out a yawn.

After experiencing so many things today and having his rest time interrupted at noon, the youth was already sleepy and tired. It wasn’t easy to hold on until returning to the dorm. As soon as he lowered his head and closed his eyes, sleepiness hit him like a tide.

Seeing this, Jiang Yan cursed something silently but ultimately followed what Mu Jinran said, obediently putting on his clothes to sleep.

Ye Shengge didn’t know why Jiang Yan suddenly became so easy to talk to, nor did he have the energy to investigate. He forced himself to go to the bathroom to wash up. As soon as he came out, he fell onto his bed and fell asleep.

He slept very soundly this time, but in his subconscious, because he knew this was an unsafe dungeon world, he kept struggling to wake up. However, the result was failure, and his consciousness fell into a state of being half-asleep and half-awake.

In his daze, Ye Shengge always felt like he was being watched by something.

The gaze was sticky and focused.

Like a precise medical instrument, it scanned and checked the youth’s entire body from head to toe, leaving no place out.

It was this precision that made him curl his toes in shame even in his dream, letting out a soft sob.

He struggled helplessly but couldn’t wake up no matter what. His eyelids were as heavy as lead, forced into an increasingly deep dream.

In the last second before falling into a deep sleep, he heard someone scolding something in a low voice.

“Keep it down. Don’t wake him up.”

The night was still long.

The dormitory was very quiet.

If the live-stream hadn’t been forcibly cut off in the middle, it wouldn’t have even left a single trace that a pervert had been there.