After they finished eating, Wu You and Lu Rui went upstairs to shower. Su Fengzi and Pei Yanchuan played video games, while Ye Chu sat beside them and explored the system's shopping interface.
He had initially thought the currency viewers tipped them could only buy things like furniture and food. Only after taking a closer look today did he discover that this thing... could even buy mountains and seas?!
Ye Chu gaped at the sea listed on the interface for several hundred million. Sure enough, he had underestimated what the system could do.
Ye Chu was still browsing the shopping interface, but Su Fengzi and Pei Yanchuan's yelling soon drew his attention.
"Mid lane, mid lane!"
"Fuck, fuck, I'm about to die, fuck!"
"So close, so close-shit, I'm dead!"
Ye Chu: ...
Pei Yanchuan had changed into a yellow hoodie with Winnie the Pooh printed on it. Who knew why this high schooler owned so many hoodies?
Su Fengzi had tied his hair into a little tuft with a hair tie borrowed from Wu You. It even had a tiny strawberry on it.
Why hadn't he bought one himself? Oh, right. Lu Rui had told them to save money. Su Fengzi had tried to argue his case, only to be cowed by a single glare from her.
Nothing for it. At home, Lu Rui ruled the roost.
Quiet days always passed quickly. Before long, it was time to enter another instance.
When they got up that morning, Pei Yanchuan was still wearing the yellow Winnie the Pooh hoodie. Ye Chu asked, "Aren't you afraid of getting it dirty again?"
Pei Yanchuan shook his head indifferently. "I've worn it for two days. It needs washing anyway. If it's still usable when we get back, I'll wash it. If not, I'll just throw it out. No great loss."
Ye Chu: ...
Absurd, yet somehow reasonable.
With their previous experience under his belt, Pei Yanchuan ate much faster this time, holding his bowl as he shoveled food into his mouth.
The system's mechanical voice soon rang throughout the room:
[Players, you are about to enter the instance "Rules of the Strange Tales: Campus Edition." Please prepare yourselves.]
Pei Yanchuan leisurely wiped his mouth with a tissue and raised his eyebrows smugly. Getting a full meal before entering the instance-a major step toward success.
Ye Chu: ... What was this little wolf cub so pleased about, anyway?
[Instance loading progress: 1%... 50%... 99%...] [Instance loading complete.]
Ye Chu heard an ear-piercing sound like something scraping glass, and a torrent of curses raced through his mind. This time it was his ears. Next time, would it be his mouth?!
When he opened his eyes again, he stood in front of a building called the Huizhi Building.
[The rules for "Rules of the Strange Tales" will now be announced. All players must strictly follow the rules and instructions. Any consequences of acting outside the rules are your own responsibility. Survive in this instance for one month to complete the challenge. Game difficulty: unknown. Players, please follow the rules during the game and do your best to stay alive. Please remember our guiding principle-entertainment to death!!!]
Ye Chu blinked. The victory condition sounded simple enough this time. He only needed to survive for a month. He lazily reached up to scratch his head, then thought, I need to register first.
This inexplicable yet unshakable thought took hold of him. Ye Chu spotted signs for new student registration on the wall and followed them, gently pushing open the registration room's door.
Almost the instant he stepped inside, a buzz filled Ye Chu's ears. The scene before him spun, and when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that his clothes had changed.
Gone were his black shirt and trousers. He now wore a white shirt on top and a... plaid skirt on the bottom.
Ye Chu: ???
Why??? Confusion covered Ye Chu's face.
[Ahahahaha, I can't. Let me laugh for ten minutes first, hahahahaha...]
[Why is Ye Chu wearing a skirt? Hahahahaha.]
[Gotta say, it looks pretty good. Taking screenshots like crazy, hahaha.]
The barrage of comments filled the screen with laughter, making for quite a lively scene.
There was a desk in the room, with a woman whose face was pallid and bluish seated behind it. Seeing him enter, she mechanically lifted the corners of her mouth.
"Student, are you here to register?"
Her voice interrupted Ye Chu's thoughts. He could only set aside the question of why he was wearing a skirt for now and nod. "Yes."
The registration teacher placed a form and a name badge on the desk. "Here, fill out this form, and you'll be done."
Ye Chu acknowledged her and obediently sat at the desk. He picked up the pen with one hand while awkwardly tugging at his skirt's hem with the other. This skirt was way too short, he thought helplessly.
The form was an ordinary enrollment form. The words "Huizhi Building" appeared at the bottom of the badge, but the space where his name should have been was blank.
In the photo, Ye Chu wore a gentle, refined smile. The picture was black and white, however, giving it a faintly eerie quality. Yet Ye Chu seemed not to notice anything amiss.
"Go on." The woman handed him a pen. "Write your name first. Names are very important."
Ye Chu nodded obediently. "Okay."
He took the pen and started writing his name. The moment he made the first stroke, a sudden buzz went through his head. When he opened his eyes again, clarity had returned to his gaze. Looking down at the form beneath his hand, he saw that he had already drawn a vertical line.
Fuck...
Ye Chu realized something was wrong, and a belated cold sweat broke out over his body. He'd almost been led astray... He didn't know what trap he would have been led into, but it certainly wasn't anything good.
Ye Chu picked up the pen, intending to cross out the vertical line.
The registration teacher stopped him, shaking her head stiffly as she said coldly, "No alterations. Continue."
Ye Chu: ...
Well, once his rebellious streak kicked in, nobody could stop him. The defiant university student asked outright, "Why?"
The registration teacher continued shaking her head stiffly and pointed at the name field. "Continue."
Ye Chu tossed down the pen and folded his arms across his chest, making it clear he wouldn't write another thing without an explanation.
The registration teacher: "..."
The teacher decided to stop playing dead and said coldly, "Names are very important. Teachers call on students by name in class."
Ye Chu's mind raced. In a place this strange, being called on definitely couldn't be a good thing. To clear the instance safely, he needed a name that was difficult to pronounce.
The top student from Peking University thought for a few seconds, then continued from that vertical line and wrote: Yechu Feiyue Diedie.
They were all obscure characters, sounding like: "Ye Chu is my dad."
The name field on the badge changed accordingly, displaying the characters 业触佦孨曡. Ye Chu obediently picked up the badge and pinned it to his school uniform.
The teacher across the desk glanced at the badge, then glanced again. Her mouth opened, closed, then opened again. Meanwhile, Ye Chu looked utterly innocent. "Teacher, now that I've written my name, what should I do?"
The registration teacher: ...
Normally, she was supposed to read the name aloud to confirm the student's identity. That was part of the procedure. The problem was...
Who the hell could tell her how to pronounce those characters?!
"Registration confirmed. Welcome to our Huizhi Building." Sweat was practically dripping from the registration teacher's forehead. "Welcome, student."
She ultimately gave up on reading his name. Ye Chu's lips curved into a smile. It seemed the teachers here weren't very smart.
That was reassuring.
He had barely left the registration room when he saw Lu Rui and Wu You approaching hand in hand.
Both of them froze at the sight of Ye Chu. Their eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they noticed the plaid skirt he was wearing.
Ye Chu said, "...Let me explain."
Wu You patted Ye Chu's shoulder. "Who would've thought, Ye Chu? You've got this kind of kink! You actually picked the girls' classroom. I was wondering why we didn't see you at the school gate. Turns out you came in early."
Ye Chu said, "No, that's not..."
Lu Rui patted his shoulder too, wearing an expression that said, "It's okay. We understand."
Ye Chu: ...
Why are you looking at me like that? What exactly do you understand? I really woke up right outside this building! I never even saw a school gate!!
Before you continue