Matryoshka: One Layer After Another

Misfortune always seems to come in one after another.

After fiddling with his phone for a while, Li Tong tragically discovered that his Knockoff Phone probably really had a problem.

Fortunately, his roommate had some conscience and took his phone to a phone repair shop. But modern people find it hard to live without their phones.

After lying in bed for a while, Li Tong couldn't resist getting up and turning on the computer on the table.

"[The World’s Seven Deadly Sins]... Who the hell gave me such a cringey ID?"

As soon as he logged onto QQ and saw his ID displayed on the screen, Li Tong's face immediately darkened.

Thinking about it carefully, it seems there's no one else in this Dormitory besides those Brutes.

"Damn, with such a cringey ID, those guys could easily get socially dead in the blink of an eye..."

Muttering to himself, Li Tong moved the mouse to the settings menu. However, just as he was about to change his ID, a sense of unease inexplicably rose in his heart.

It was as if something terrible would happen to him if he changed this ID, and the sense of unease would disappear as soon as he moved the mouse away—it was quite bizarre.

After a moment's hesitation, Li Tong temporarily abandoned the idea of changing his ID and instead opened the Game on his desktop.

On a rare weekend without classes, instead of lying in bed taking a nap, it's much more worthwhile to play a few rounds of Game.

"Wait, they even changed my Game ID to this... Do those guys have that much free time?"

Looking at the ID [The World’s Seven Deadly Sins] displayed in the upper left corner of the screen, Li Tong looked utterly exasperated.

But it's just Game, no big deal. Change your Game ID if you want; nobody online knows whether the person behind the computer is a human or a dog...

After muttering something to himself, Li Tong skillfully selected the Arena match. However, just as he finished selecting his Hero, a knocking sound suddenly came from outside the door.

"Boss, open the door! Third Brother and I brought you some food to apologize!!"

"Damn it, I told you not to close the door when you go out, and to remember to take your Key. Why did you ignore me?"

Rolling his eyes, Li Tong quickly selected the Blade Light Brother, equipped him with Flash and Ignite, and then turned and walked towards the door, cursing under his breath.

He had only gone halfway when a fleeting glance out of the corner of his eye caused him to freeze in place.

The Dormitory door was about 2.5 meters high, with a window in the door frame. At this moment, the heads of the second and Third Brother Second Brother, who were at most 1.8 meters and 1.82 meters tall respectively, were positioned across the window. Their sinister gazes were fixed on him inside the room while they were enthusiastically shouting words urging him to open the door.

--Through the crack in the door, their feet could be vaguely seen.

Suddenly, a large hand reached down from above and covered the comic book in front of the Young Girl.

"Student Chang Xi, come to my office after evening self-study!!"

With a dark expression, the female teacher, who had come to patrol the classroom that evening, tucked the Horror Manga book in front of the Young Girl under her arm, uttered a few words, and then turned and walked to the podium.

"Ah... I knew this would happen, I really want to know what happened next..."

With the Horror Manga book she used to kill time taken away, the Young Girl slumped onto the table as if her soul had been ripped out, looking utterly bored.

As a senior high school student about to take the College Entrance Exam, even if she usually has good grades, if she doesn't focus on reviewing and preparing for the College Entrance Exam during evening self-study and instead flips through a tense and exciting Horror Manga, she will at least get a scolding.

Just as the Young Girl was feeling down about the inevitable scolding she would receive after evening self-study, her deskmate suddenly slipped her a note from the side.

"Let's go get some barbecue after evening self-study! I know a really good place, it's on me!!"

Chang Xi turned around and found her best friend seriously studying.

"Okay, wait for me!!"

She wrote a reply without hesitation.

The hardest time in the world is always those last few minutes before you leave work or class. When Chang Xi walked out of the office looking like she had been scolded to the point of questioning her existence, most of the people in the classroom had already left.

Fortunately, thanks to the Halo of friendship, her best Best Friend was still waiting for her in her seat. After she packed her Backpack and locked the classroom door, almost everyone on campus had left.

"Phew... thank goodness you're here with me."

Walking down the dark, empty corridor, Chang Xi stretched lazily with one arm outstretched, then cheerfully spoke to her Best Friend beside her.

"We agreed beforehand that you would treat us later."

"Yes, yes, so let's hurry up."

The Girl rolled her eyes, looking slightly annoyed.

"Wait a minute, help me with my Backpack, I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

Chang Xi shoved her Backpack into the Girl's hand and ran into the restroom located next to the stairwell.

The bathroom Lights was always unreliable, and after stomping her feet to turn it on without success, she had no choice but to take her phone out of her pocket and turn on the Lights.

But at that moment, her phone suddenly showed that it had received a text message.

I've been waiting for you for so long and you still haven't come out, so I'm here at the school gate now. I'm going to order some spicy hot pot first, and we'll eat together after you come out!!

--A the World For You Alone.

"She wasn't..."

Seeing this message displayed on her phone, Chang Xi suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

If the person texting me now is my deskmate and best Best Friend... then who was the person who walked with me out of the classroom earlier and even carried my Backpack?

The Young Girl quickly turned around to look outside the restroom and found it quiet. The motion-sensor Lights in the stairwell had been turned off at some point, and it was now completely dark outside.

"Well..."

Clutching her phone tightly, Chang Xi tentatively shone her Lights towards the doorway.

Just then, a sharp sound, like fingernails scratching a door, suddenly came from a squatting toilet not far behind her.

[Option 1: Run to check the toilet stalls.]

[Option 2: Run out of the restroom to check on your Friend.]

[Option 3: Continue using the restroom, pretending nothing happened.]

"Hmm... these options all seem to have hidden traps..."

Looking at the three options displayed on the computer screen, the man in front of the computer reached out, picked up the Cola next to the screen, took a sip, and looked thoughtful.