You Don't Need to Go Easy on Us; Just Compete Seriously

[Quest triggered: Place first in the Parent-Child Activity]

[Quest reward: 100 Mysterious Power, 1000 points]

[Quest failure: No reward]

Upon arriving at the kindergarten, Li Ran triggered a quest.

"There are quite a lot of people here."

Li Ran noticed a large crowd gathered on the playground.

It felt as if he'd returned to the real world.

But he knew perfectly well that they were all monsters infected by the virus.

"Li Ziyang, so this is your dad."

Just then, a fat boy came through the school gate, sizing Li Ran up with extreme rudeness.

A muscular man nearly six feet five inches tall followed behind him.

Li Ran furrowed his brows and glanced over the boy and the burly man.

(Pang Hu)

(B-Class Mental Infector)

(Mysterious Power: 70)

(The kindergarten's little tyrant, lawless and unruly. He took pleasure in bullying children weaker than himself.)

(Defeating him once would deal a serious blow to his arrogance and swagger.)

(Pang Hu's Dad)

(B-Class Mental Infector)

(Mysterious Power: 330)

(A hardcore fitness enthusiast who had long relied on protein powder at the gym, taking pride in pursuing the perfect physique.)

(However, there was no need to worry. Your strength could easily handle him.)

When Li Ziyang saw Pang Hu, his little body jolted. He cowered behind Li Ran, frightened.

"Li Ziyang, your dad being here won't help you. My dad could knock yours down with one hand."

Pang Hu burst into a conceited laugh.

Pang Hu's Dad glanced at Li Ran with disdain, not taking him seriously at all.

Seeing this, Su Bingyao said angrily, "That child has no manners at all. He needs to be taught a lesson."

"It's fine. I'll make sure they aren't laughing after the competition," Li Ran said, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

They waited on the playground for a while.

"We're delighted that all of you parents could take part in this Parent-Child Activity at Happy Kindergarten. We'll now begin the competitions for two events. Parents and children, please join in enthusiastically. There'll be a reward for first place!"

Just then, a woman wearing a blouse and a pencil skirt stood on the platform at the front of the playground. Her high heels made her legs look even longer and straighter.

Her blouse stretched taut over her ample figure.

Li Ran swept his gaze over her and was surprised when he saw the prompt.

(Teacher Zhang from the kindergarten)

(A-Class Mental Infector)

(Mysterious Power: 160)

(Su Bingyao's former best friend. After getting married, the two gradually grew distant.)

(While working as a teacher, she was moody and extremely strict with the children, often physically punishing them.)

(Reminder: She was the one who sent over that little freak.)

The Golden Finger's prompt left Li Ran utterly stunned.

When Su Bingyao saw Teacher Zhang, a complicated look also surfaced in her beautiful eyes.

Actually, Li Ran had been puzzled about something this whole time.

He couldn't understand why his son's teacher had given him a Weird Infant, calling it a nutritional supplement.

That little freak was still sitting on the bookshelf in his son's room.

One of Li Ziyang's drawings had also revealed that the teacher physically punished her students.

"The day I first entered the Weird World, my son had been kept after class and punished."

"Forget the punishment—what was the point of giving him a Weird Infant?"

"Could Su Bingyao really not have noticed anything strange about it? Didn't she find it suspicious?"

Teacher Zhang was on the platform, introducing the events they would be competing in today.

Li Ran turned to Su Bingyao and asked, "Has she still been sending things to our house?"

"Mm," Su Bingyao replied, her brows drawing together slightly.

So that was why Su Bingyao hadn't thought the Weird Infant was strange.

She was used to it by now—used to all the bizarre things Teacher Zhang sent to their home.

"Why does she send us things?" Li Ran asked.

Su Bingyao parted her lips, hesitated, then finally shook her head. "I'm not really sure. I just feel like she's very hostile toward me now."

"Hostile?"

Li Ran couldn't understand why two women who had once been close friends had become like enemies.

He was about to ask her something else when Teacher Zhang's voice rang out. "Let's begin the first event: the Balance Bridge."

"Each family will be a team. Choose two members, draw a number, and take your places on the Balance Bridge. The last four families remaining will advance to the final round."

"The game begins!"

Everyone followed Teacher Zhang farther into the kindergarten.

Soon, they reached a swimming pool.

The pool was only about a third the size of a regular one. A swaying wooden bridge stretched across its center. During the competition, one contestant from each team would stand at either end. Once the match began, they would shake the bridge with all their might. The winner would be the team that knocked their opponent into the pool.

One thing worth mentioning was that countless terrifying man-eating fish swam in the pool. They looked ravenous, their gaping mouths packed with rows upon rows of teeth bobbing at the surface.

The sight made Li Ran's scalp prickle.

Yet no one else looked frightened. Instead, they all seemed excited, eager to give it a try.

"Each family, please send a representative forward to draw a number!" Teacher Zhang shouted. An assistant beside her brought over a box.

Everyone came forward to draw. Li Ran drew number eight.

The teams would compete in pairs. His opponent was number seven.

The first two families stepped onto the wooden bridge.

At the signal, the two families on the bridge instantly transformed into four terrifying monsters and began fighting.

The scene completely overturned Li Ran's understanding of parent-child games.

"The fish are going to have another full meal today," Teacher Zhang's assistant said excitedly.

Just then, Family No. 1 lost to Family No. 2 and fell into the water.

In an instant, the entire pool churned. In no time, blood had dyed the water red.

Family No. 1 had lost. They hadn't even left scraps behind.

Li Ran couldn't help swallowing.

Soon, it was the third match.

Pang Hu and his father were Team No. 5.

There was practically no suspense. Pang Hu's Dad smashed the heads of the father and son on Team No. 6 by himself, winning with ease.

As Pang Hu's Dad stepped off the bridge, he fixed Li Ran with a provocative stare and dragged a finger across his own throat. "Soon, your head will burst like a watermelon too."

Li Ran naturally ignored the provocation from Pang Hu and his father.

"Numbers seven and eight, get ready!" Teacher Zhang shouted.

Li Ran rubbed his son's head. "Son, let's go."

The two of them headed toward one end of the wooden bridge.

Just then, Teacher Zhang stepped forward and stopped them.

Li Ran asked, confused, "Teacher Zhang, what are you doing?"

"The first few teams were all fathers and sons. No couples have competed yet. Wouldn't everyone like to see a husband and wife face off?" Teacher Zhang called out, looking straight at Su Bingyao as if nothing were amiss.

"Yeah! Let's have something different. Otherwise, it'd be so boring," one parent said.

The assistant beside Teacher Zhang said, "Numbers seven and eight are both families of three. Why not have all of them compete together?"

"Wow, that'd be fun. The fish would get a nice full meal too."

A cold glint flashed in Teacher Zhang's eyes. She turned to Li Ran and asked, "Ziyang's dad doesn't mind, does he?"

Heh!

Only now did Li Ran understand Teacher Zhang's "thoughtful intentions."

Su Bingyao had said Teacher Zhang was hostile toward her. At first, he hadn't really understood. After all, they'd once been close friends. How much hostility could there be?

Now he understood just how hostile Teacher Zhang was.

She wanted to send his whole family to their deaths!

Seeing this, Pang Hu started jeering from the sidelines. "Li Ziyang's dad is scared~"

The children immediately joined in.

"Li Ziyang's a loser, and so is his dad. Their whole family's a bunch of losers!"

Li Ziyang and Su Bingyao both turned cold at the insult.

Teacher Zhang watched Li Ran with an amused smile and asked again, "You don't mind having the whole family compete together, do you?"

"I don't mind," Li Ran replied coldly.

Su Bingyao looked at him with concern. "Don't push yourself."

"It's okay," Li Ran said quietly.

Li Ziyang felt awful. His whole face seemed to have cracked apart.

"Son, do you believe in Dad?" Li Ran asked, stroking his head.

"I do!" Li Ziyang said, looking at Li Ran with determination.

After Li Ran encouraged them, his wife and son looked much better. More importantly, they trusted without reservation that he could win.

"Both teams, get ready!" Teacher Zhang called.

The whole family from Team No. 7 was already standing at one end of the wooden bridge.

Li Ran stood at the front, Li Ziyang in the middle, and Su Bingyao at the back.

Only after stepping onto the bridge did they realize how narrow it was. It was barely wider than a shoe, and they had to place their feet one after the other to keep their balance.

And right below them were countless man-eating fish, packed together.

They thrashed against one another, jaws full of teeth agape as they waited for the food above to fall.

Once they were steady, Li Ran turned to his wife and said, "Honey, protect our son. Leave the rest to me."

"Okay."

Li Ran looked toward the family on Team No. 7.

They were all B-Class Mental Infectors.

The father and mother each had 180 Mysterious Power, while their son had 60.

Father No. 7 glanced at Li Ran with disdain. "I came in first in the Balance Bridge event last year."

Son No. 7 gazed at his father admiringly. "Dad, maybe go easy on them later. Li Ziyang's a weakling, and his dad must be one too. Otherwise, it wouldn't be any fun."

Li Ran stared coldly at Father No. 7. "You don't need to go easy on us. Just compete seriously."

"He told me not to go easy. Is that hilarious or what?" Father No. 7 called loudly to the people around them. "If I get serious, I doubt their family will last three seconds."

"Where does Li Ziyang's dad get that confidence?"

"Father No. 7 is a Balance Bridge expert. Aside from my dad, who'd dare say they could beat him for sure?" Pang Hu said smugly.

"Maybe Li Ziyang's dad is an expert too. Ha!"

The people around them all looked on like spectators, wearing gleeful, Schadenfreude-filled expressions.

As Li Ran looked at their mocking faces, he finally understood why his son's heart had become so dark and twisted.

A hostile teacher, a school where physical punishment and bullying were everywhere—even a healthy child could turn into a warped monster.

"Hurry up and start! I can't wait to watch them fall into the water and get torn apart," Father No. 7 said, crooking a finger at Li Ran in challenge.

Their whole family crouched low, poised to spring. They looked like ferocious beasts ready to pounce, their eyes gleaming with terrifying malice.

They stared at Li Ran provocatively, hoping to make him see the difference between their skill and his.

But Li Ran merely let out a scornful snort. "Hmph, all show and no substance!"