Linmu No. 2 Middle School (Opening)

Meanwhile.

After a spell of darkness, Yin Chao's five senses gradually returned.

"Hey! What are we having for lunch?"

"Did you hear? A really hot guy transferred into Class One of the senior year! Let's go check him out when we go to the bathroom!"

"How did I get this question wrong again? It's straight out of the textbook!"

"..."

"Für Elise," which served as the bell signaling the end of class, was still playing, reduced to background music for everyone.

Yin Chao opened his eyes to a familiar classroom.

[Ding. Welcome to the S-rank instance, Linmu No. 2 Middle School.]

[Please turn over the card in front of you. Be careful-don't let anyone else see it.]

The bell stopped, and the noise around him grew louder.

Yin Chao spotted the black playing card lying facedown on his desk and slowly reached out to pick it up.

Only after making sure no one nearby was paying attention did he turn it over.

[Role obtained: special role, idiot.]

[Skill: When exiled, reveal your card to announce your identity and activate your skill to nullify this exile. Once activated, you may continue speaking normally, but you cannot vote. The werewolves must still kill you for you to die.]

[Note: If the idiot dies from being killed by the werewolves at night, this skill cannot be activated, and death is immediate.]

[There are fifteen of you: five werewolves, five villagers, and five special roles.]

[Help your faction achieve victory. Finally, remember: you must not defy the ghosts' will.]

Yin Chao concealed the emotion in his eyes and began observing his surroundings.

He happened to lock eyes with an "old acquaintance."

His lips curved up as he greeted the man, who had already risen and was storming toward him. "Yo! My idol! You're here too!"

Midnight wore the standard blue-and-white school uniform. He was tall and long-legged, with finely sculpted features, yet everyone around him seemed blind to this handsome guy.

Until he grabbed Yin Chao by the collar and hauled him out of his seat.

"What are you doing, Midnight? Hitting a girl? Have you lost your mind?"

A girl wearing glasses, who looked like an excellent student at first glance, came over to stop him.

Midnight ignored her and dragged Yin Chao out of the classroom by his collar.

The two maintained their hawk-carrying-a-chick pose as they went down the corridor for quite a while before finally finding the bathroom.

Midnight yanked Yin Chao through the doorway and fixed him with a fierce stare. "I'm warning you. You'd better take that secret to your grave."

Animal documentaries said that staring straight into a wild animal's eyes could easily enrage it and provoke it into attacking.

Yin Chao looked into his beautifully shaped eyes without the slightest panic. Folding his arms, he teased, "What, you're not going to kill me anymore?"

Midnight's eyes were pitch-black, his narrowed gaze like that of some canine. His fist skimmed past Yin Chao's temple and slammed into the wall behind him.

Shattered tiles littered the floor.

"I'm not stupid enough to kill people at random in this instance. You got lucky."

His threats seemed utterly powerless against the man before him, who had looked like an amused spectator from beginning to end.

After a long moment, Yin Chao chuckled and drawled each word lazily. "Has anyone ever told you that you're like a wild coyote that can't be tamed?"

Midnight's gaze grew even fiercer, as though he wanted to bite through Yin Chao's slender neck and devour him whole.

Yin Chao continued, "And one day, I'll make you my dog."

Midnight's brain abruptly short-circuited.

Just then, a group of boys walked in.

They were laughing and chatting, but their expressions turned to surprise when they saw Yin Chao and Midnight.

"Damn, dude. You're pretty wild!"

One of them patted Midnight on the shoulder with an approving, "Hey, not bad!" look on his face.

Midnight regained his composure. Expressionless, as though he hadn't heard Yin Chao's provocation just now, he released his grip on his collar.

Looking a little disgusted, he washed his hands, then turned and left.

Yin Chao was speechless.

He stood there looking at the boys' sleazy grins, somewhat puzzled.

He hurried out of the bathroom too and caught up with Midnight.

After they returned to the classroom, the girl with glasses came over to check on Yin Chao.

"Are you okay? Midnight didn't do anything to you, did he? Don't be scared. I'm the class monitor. I'll take you to a teacher."

Looking at her worried expression, Yin Chao said coldly, "No need. I'm fine."

The girl's expression soured when her warm concern met such a cold response.

Without saying anything more, she turned and returned to her seat.

Yin Chao merely sneered inwardly. If she had really been worried about him getting hurt, she would have stopped Midnight when he first dragged him out, rather than coming afterward to put on a hollow show of concern.

Wait, what had she shouted at the start?

That Midnight shouldn't hit a girl?

A girl?

Yin Chao's mind jolted, and he hurriedly reached down to check.

Thankfully, everything was still there.

So had she misspoken just now?

His mind in a tangle, he casually shook awake his deskmate, who had been sleeping the whole time. "Hey, am I a guy or a girl?"

His deskmate's face was covered in red pressure marks. At the question, he looked at Yin Chao as though he were an idiot.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

He swore.

But when he saw that Yin Chao was serious, he answered irritably, "A girl! You're a girl!"

Yin Chao felt as though he had been struck by a bolt from the blue.

He slumped over his desk, unwilling to move again.

He had only been lying there a few minutes when someone came over and knocked on his desk.

He looked up irritably and discovered another "old acquaintance": Zhao Guojun.

The bell signaling the start of class rang just then. Zhao Guojun said viciously, "What a coincidence. Looks like you're destined to die by my hand."

Yin Chao had no intention of engaging with him. He raised his hand and shouted, "Class monitor! Zhao Guojun says he's going to skip class!"

Hearing his real name, Zhao Guojun's eyes bulged with fury. "You fucking..."

He raised his hand to slap Yin Chao.

The teacher entering the classroom happened to see it and shouted at him, "Zhao Guojun! What are you doing?"

Without giving Zhao Guojun a chance to speak, Yin Chao immediately stood up, tears in his eyes, and accused him.

"Teacher, Zhao Guojun said he wanted to skip class. When I wouldn't go, he tried to hit me... Boohoo... I'm so scared, teacher. He's a guy, and his hand is sooo big..."

As expected, the teacher flew into a rage. "Zhao Guojun! Get to the back and stand there!"

Zhao Guojun was one of the Ares Guild's ten aces, after all. When had he ever suffered humiliation like this?

He talked back. "Who the fuck are you? How dare you order me around!"

Standing on the podium, the teacher suddenly took on a sinister, ghostly air. "What, do you intend to defy my will?"

Yin Chao remembered the system saying that they must not defy the ghosts' will.

As a veteran player, Zhao Guojun naturally knew that too. He could only swallow his anger and reluctantly go stand at the back of the classroom.

Once he was in place, the teacher returned to normal.

She called toward the doorway, "Come in, Linmu."

A frail, pale boy limped in through the doorway.

His face was wrapped in gauze, his left leg was in a cast, and he moved slowly on crutches.

As he approached the podium, he tripped and fell comically to the floor.

A few muffled laughs sounded in the quiet classroom.

The teacher hurried over to help him up, then turned and angrily rebuked the students. "Who laughed? Whoever laughed, stand up!"

No one stood up.

The young female teacher continued furiously, "Fine, none of you will admit it? Then the whole class can go downstairs and run ten laps around the track!"

For a weakling like Yin Chao, running ten laps would practically kill him.

A few complaints immediately arose in the classroom.

Only then did someone stand up. "I laughed. Just punish me."

"Me too."

"I laughed too."

A handful of students stood up here and there.