Che Quan entered the room and closed the door. The lights came on at once.
Everything in the room instantly came into view.
A dark carpet, a large bed, walls painted a bleak gray, a tightly shut window, and a dark bathroom with its door closed.
Che Quan settled lazily into the armchair, leaned back slightly, and closed his eyes to rest.
He had only recently awakened to this world.
Scene after scene flashed through his mind.
Bullet comments, instances, players.
A villa, a nanny, a young lady, death.
Finally, his bored train of thought settled on the words "solve the mystery."
Was he supposed to find out what the strange things were in that line, [Some strange things happened]?
As Che Quan idly pondered this, he suddenly felt something unusual spreading through his body.
At first, it was very faint-just an unusual warmth in his fingertips.
Then the eerie heat gradually spread to his neck.
Che Quan could not help furrowing his finely shaped brows.
What was going on...?
He stood, still somewhat dizzy and dazed. His teeth clenched slightly, and his slender fingers braced against the side of the armchair.
Could it be that damned skin hunger syndrome acting up?
At the thought, Che Quan's eyes turned as cold as a thousand-year-old frozen lake.
He had never expected an attack of skin hunger syndrome to feel so intense.
What Che Quan did not know was that the severity of his skin hunger syndrome was partly due to the instance's amplification, and partly because he had never had skin-to-skin contact with anyone before. His body was naturally several times more sensitive than other people's.
With his skin hunger syndrome flaring up, Che Quan gritted his teeth and endured it where he stood for a while. But the sensation was far too bizarre, as though a fiercely burning silver cross were sweeping over every part of his body, leaving its brands in his blood.
Nothing could have tormented a vampire more.
The fangs protruding over Che Quan's lips grew longer and sharper. His fiery red eyes against his pale face made his regal, icy beauty all the more soul-stealing.
At that moment, the bullet comments in Che Quan's livestream were flooding past at an almost frenzied pace.
[So beautiful so beautiful so beautiful so beautiful, insanely beautiful]
[What happened? Why does the little beauty look like this? Just looking at him makes my blood boil]
Che Quan heard a mechanical voice trembling inside his head:
[Player Che Quan, please participate in the mystery-solving mission as soon as possible. If you remain passive in the game, your skin hunger syndrome will flare up more frequently and more severely.]
Che Quan tightened his grip on the armchair's upholstery and gave a low, cold laugh.
The instance system silently shuddered three times.
By the time Che Quan left his room, the symptoms of his skin hunger syndrome had noticeably eased. His fangs retracted, and he returned to his usual appearance.
Outside, the others had been lingering rather than entering their own rooms, overwhelmed by fear and helplessness. When they saw Che Quan return, delight appeared on all their faces.
The earnest-looking young man at the front, whom they called "Teacher Chang," perked up especially quickly at the sight of Che Quan.
"H-hello. Have you decided to solve the mystery with us?"
Che Quan glanced at him without a word.
The young man did not seem offended. Instead, he looked immensely relieved and said warmly to Che Quan, "How about we introduce ourselves first? I mean our identities in the instance, because I have a feeling they're crucial to solving the mystery. Does that sound all right?"
Che Quan still said nothing. He merely looked indifferently at the five people before him, seemingly giving his tacit consent.
The young man spoke again.
"My name is Chang Jianfeng. In this instance, I'm Teacher Chang, the homeroom teacher of Class Four. I'm thirty-nine, a patient teacher, kind and approachable. I came to the villa because all the students in my Class Four had graduated, and Miao had done the best of them, getting into a prestigious school. To celebrate, Miao, who comes from a wealthy family, invited the whole class to her family's villa to party all night."
After Chang Jianfeng finished, the girl with the neat ponytail spoke next. "My name is Ning Dantong, and I'm twenty. In this instance, I'm a top student from Class Three next door. Like Miao, I'm one of Teacher Chang's prized pupils, so I was invited too."
"I, um, my name is Chen Yuxiang. I'm nineteen. I'm both a student in Class Four and someone who has a special relationship with Miao, so I came here..."
The slightly airheaded-looking girl in round black glasses spoke in a small voice.
After hearing these three introductions, Che Quan unconsciously narrowed his red-lotus eyes slightly. Understanding and derision flickered through them.
He had been right.
This so-called instance game really was idiotic.
But Che Quan said nothing and continued listening with casual indifference.
The remaining two players, a man and a woman, introduced themselves next.
The young man looked so frightened by the instance that he was already in a daze. His gaze wandered for a moment before he finally realized it was his turn to speak. "My name is Yuan Zhou. I'm twenty-one, and my identity in the instance is... the class monitor of Class Four. I'm hardworking, dependable, and eager to learn. My grades are very good, and I got into a prestigious school too."
The girl was slender, her tear-streaked face delicately lovely. She said weakly, "My name is Miao Rouning. I'm the Miao in this instance, the school beauty. My family is very wealthy."
Once Miao Rouning finished, all five turned their eyes to Che Quan.
Standing some distance from them, Che Quan answered concisely, "My identity in the instance is the class nobody. No name."
Chang Jianfeng considered this. "A nobody... does that mean someone who's excluded and goes unnoticed?"
"Probably," Chen Yuxiang said awkwardly. "I'm the nobody in my family."
Ning Dantong nodded. "No wonder you don't have a name, then."
With their orderly round of introductions complete and some preliminary information gathered, everyone regained a little composure and courage.
Chang Jianfeng in particular seemed utterly dazzled by Che Quan's looks, unable to tear his gaze away for even an instant.
But he was hardly the only one. The other four players also stole furtive glances at Che Quan, their eyes filled with the same amazement.
As for the bullet comments, they had long since gone wild in every possible way.
This beautiful young vampire, cold as a thorn-covered rose, was enough to ignite every impulse.
Chang Jianfeng was still staring at Che Quan. Despite his earnest appearance, his eyes were fixed unblinkingly on him.
He asked, "What should we do now?"
Ning Dantong glanced at the wall clock, and her expression immediately grew grave. "We don't have much time. It's already ten fifty-five. In another hour and five minutes, at midnight, the ghosts and monsters will reveal their true forms and start interfering with our minds. After four in the morning, they'll kill us."
Panic appeared on Chen Yuxiang's face, but she could not help asking Ning Dantong, "H-how do you know all that?"
"I pieced it together from some of the bullet comments and the rules the instance system gave us."
Chen Yuxiang could not help praising her. "You're amazing."
Seeing that she was about to be left on her own among the three girls, Miao Rouning hurriedly slipped between the other two as unobtrusively as possible, clinging to them for fear of being left behind.
Yuan Zhou stood beside Chang Jianfeng, his gaze still wandering restlessly. At least he had begun offering suggestions in a low voice. "We could look for clues in the rooms..."
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