Then they saw Ning Dantong hurry inside.
"Yuxiang, Che Quan, is your classroom empty too...?"
Chen Yuxiang nodded blankly. "Yeah, even Qiao Qiao is gone. What on earth is going on?"
Che Quan still said nothing.
He surveyed his surroundings calmly.
The classroom was still the same classroom, with just one difference: the desks were spotless inside and out, without a single trace of the students.
It was as though everyone in this classroom, in this school, had been on vacation for a long time.
So long that not a trace of their daily lives remained.
So this wasn't just before the exams or right after them. The exams were over, and vacation had already been underway for some time.
Then what was the point of bringing the three of them back here?
Che Quan pondered. As expected, it was still-
Just as he was about to speak, two girls passed outside the classroom, each carrying books in her arms.
They chatted as they walked, their casual manner jarringly at odds with the empty, silent school.
"Did you hear? The principal just killed himself in his office to escape punishment."
"Huh? Why?"
"He took bribes and covered things up, of course. He was afraid of being sentenced, so he ended it himself."
"Oh, then he deserved to die. That's karma!"
With that, both girls smiled at the same time. In that moment, their ordinary smiles looked somewhat sinister.
Then their figures gradually disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
Chen Yuxiang's mouth fell open. It took her several seconds to react before she hurried after them, hoping to find out what was going on or ask a few questions. But when she looked toward the stairwell, whatever she saw made her expression change instantly.
Ning Dantong and Che Quan watched from the classroom as she stumbled back inside, trembling. "This is bad! The stairwell is on fire. Shouldn't we run?!"
Ning Dantong was stunned. "How is that possible? A fire? Who would suddenly set a fire? What on earth is going on...?"
Chen Yuxiang shook her head in panic, completely at a loss in the face of this sudden turn of events.
Seeing this, Che Quan said indifferently, "You can choose how to die now."
Ning Dantong and Chen Yuxiang froze at the same time.
"What?"
Che Quan offered no further explanation. Instead, he walked straight out of the classroom into the corridor, pointing first at the stairwell, which was already billowing black smoke, then beyond the corridor railing.
"Either burn to death or jump from here."
Ning Dantong and Chen Yuxiang were dumbstruck.
"C-can we choose neither?"
Che Quan looked at her, expressionless. "Yes. Then you'll really die."
"..."
Just then, Che Quan heard that damned system notification sound in his head again:
[Warning, warning! The instance is about to end. To ensure the player enjoys the best gaming experience on the most difficult mode, the skin hunger syndrome buff will be increased to 200%. Please take countermeasures as soon as possible. The one-minute countdown to the onset of skin hunger syndrome begins-59-58-57...]
Che Quan's expression instantly turned icy.
Seeing it, Ning Dantong and Chen Yuxiang didn't dare say another word.
Then they watched Che Quan head toward the other end of the corridor without looking back.
Ning Dantong paused. Only after Che Quan disappeared from view did she ask quietly, "Yuxiang, isn't the principal's office that way?"
Chen Yuxiang nodded hesitantly. "I think so."
"So, how do you want to die?" Though she still hadn't figured out what was happening, Ning Dantong trusted Che Quan from the bottom of her heart, so she forced herself to ask.
Chen Yuxiang felt like crying but had no tears. "Maybe I'll just jump. Being burned alive sounds more painful."
Ning Dantong let out an "Ah," then said regretfully, "Then I can't go with you. I'm afraid of heights."
"..."
Elsewhere.
Che Quan reached the principal's office, pushed open the door, and scanned the empty room. Sure enough, there was no body.
This further confirmed his theory-there would be no real deaths in this scene.
Something suddenly caught Che Quan's eye. Pressing his lips together slightly, he slipped it into his pocket, then turned around.
He had barely taken two steps when he saw Jiang Cong approaching at an unhurried pace.
A faint smile bloomed on Jiang Cong's flawless face. His waist-length silver hair was tied back, and he looked composed and refined.
His slender, jade-like hand also held an unlit Molotov cocktail.
It seemed he was the one who had set the fire.
Without a word, Che Quan withdrew his gaze. This time, he entered the Little Black Room of his own accord and signaled for Jiang Cong to follow.
The instant the door shut, a strange wave of aching weakness swept through Che Quan's entire body.
He knew the countdown had ended. That damned skin hunger syndrome had kicked in.
Che Quan clenched his teeth. His vision instantly misted over against his will, and he nearly fell to his knees.
A 200% buff... how fucking disgusting.
Hatred and viciousness filled Che Quan's eyes. Veins nearly bulged from his wrists as he barely managed to brace himself against the wall.
But the overwhelming sensation swept over him in wave after wave. Che Quan knew perfectly well that a human body couldn't last thirty seconds against it.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Suddenly, a pair of strong hands wrapped around his waist.
Then their owner leaned forward from behind and rested his chin against Che Quan's neck.
The skin-to-skin contact eased the sensation a little.
But it still wasn't enough.
At that moment, the suggestive, mysterious darkness on the screen sent the barrage of comments into another unseen frenzy.
Inside the instance, however, all Che Quan felt was the silence around him and the warm breath of the young man behind him, brushing constantly over the skin of his neck and shoulders.
It was as though Che Quan had been plunged into a desolate, deep sea, with only the dark waves gently rolling around him.
Through the haze, Che Quan heard the young man behind him ask in a low, quiet voice, "Is this enough?"
Che Quan couldn't quite understand what he meant.
He remained silent, his eyes tightly closed.
Then he heard Jiang Cong speak softly again, almost to himself. "It isn't, is it?"
Che Quan still didn't answer.
His body was like floating duckweed, unable to find any purchase, left to drift with the currents in the lonely sea of his consciousness.
Even frowning felt like an effort, let alone opening his mouth to answer Jiang Cong's pointless questions.
But amid that silence, Che Quan abruptly realized he had been carefully turned around and was now facing Jiang Cong.
With the sudden loss of skin contact, Che Quan began struggling to endure it again.
An exceedingly faint whimper escaped his throat against his will.
Then, in the next second, something happened that caught Che Quan utterly off guard, something he never could have imagined-
A sudden coolness touched his lips.
An unfamiliar softness gently covered them without asking permission.
In that instant, all the strange sensations that had been churning through his body from the onset of skin hunger syndrome seemed to be completely soothed.
An unprecedented calm swept over him, as though he had just been born.
Che Quan's mind went somewhat blank.
Only after several seconds without moving did Che Quan begin, little by little, to register what was happening.
His eyes widened instantly.
Before you continue