After quizzing Lu Mi on a few things, the teacher was very satisfied, but still left the two of them with a punishment: they would take over for the security guard on duty that night and patrol the teaching building.
He did not, however, ask about what Zhao Xiaoxiang had done or the injury on Roman's arm.
Class finally resumed. Having witnessed what had happened, the other players quietly began taking notes too-
Paying attention in class inside a game was silly, but it could save their lives!
"Are you okay?" Lu Mi asked Roman what had just happened as he applied medicine to his arm. The wound was horrifying. Lu Mi had never imagined that Roman, who seemed so overwhelmingly powerful, could get hurt just like an ordinary person.
Then, could Roman die?
The thought startled him so badly that he shuddered. Roman reached out with his other hand and patted his head. "That Zhao Xiaoxiang holds a grudge against me. He got his lackey to throw sulfuric acid at me, so I blocked it with my arm. It's fine. I'm no ordinary person."
"We're in an instance. Don't provoke the NPCs, and don't sleep when you should be awake." Lu Mi kept nagging him. The medicine from the Panel Mall really was miraculous; Roman's skin soon recovered.
Just then, the bell rang, and students poured out of the classrooms in droves, apparently heading off to dinner.
The teacher had barely left the classroom when two people crowded around Lu Mi and Roman's seats.
It was Zhao Xiaoxiang and the boy who had just thrown sulfuric acid at Roman.
Both wore guilty expressions. Zhao Xiaoxiang pressed the other boy's head down and bowed to them. "Sorry about that. My buddy Han San was doing an experiment in class and accidentally got some on your friend."
Lu Mi watched them warily. "Aren't you going to eat?"
He had meant to make the two of them leave, but Cheng Cheng came over instead. "Eat? Perfect, I'm hungry too. Where's the cafeteria?"
And so the group followed Zhao Xiaoxiang and Han San to the cafeteria.
Students streamed back and forth along the way. A slogan hung on the perimeter wall: oppose school bullying, nurture healthy development.
"That's Cheng Cheng for you. A few words, and he's got the NPCs showing us the way."
Wang Rongyu offered plenty of flattery like that along the way, but Cheng Cheng never so much as glanced at him. Instead, he was happily chatting with that fellow named Lu Mi.
His companion could not stand listening anymore. "Give it a rest. Just stick close to the big shot and let him carry you. Don't tell me you expect Cheng Cheng to take a liking to that beard-covered face of yours?"
"That's a bit harsh," Wang Rongyu said, his little eyes darting around. "Still, I think there are rumors that Cheng Cheng likes men... especially young, good-looking ones."
Walking ahead of them, Lu Mi felt a chill down his back.
Cheng Cheng was talking nonstop about his background. Lu Mi listened very attentively at first, but soon realized he could only believe half of what the man said.
"I'm actually descended from a fallen family. My mother was a witch from the Dark Forest..."
Lu Mi casually asked, "Okay, and your father? Don't tell me he was a Taoist priest?"
"No, my father was a farmer. One day, following the advice of a wise master, he ventured into the forest alone and stole my mother's clothes beside a spring... ta-da! That was where the sparks of love flew!"
"..." Lu Mi said, "Okay."
"But you did get one thing right." Cheng Cheng changed tack. "Just between us, I'm actually a Taoist priest."
"If you need talismans drawn or get haunted by a ghost, come find me. My rates are low. Two hundred yuan gets me and my peachwood sword delivered right to your door."
Lu Mi continued to say, "Okay," having already given up trying to figure out whether he was telling the truth.
They reached the cafeteria, and Cheng Cheng happily ran off to get food. Only then did Lu Mi let out a long sigh of relief and join the line himself.
"You and that Cheng Cheng really hit it off." Roman had been silent the whole way, only to suddenly drop that remark.
Lu Mi was baffled. Where on earth did you get that idea? "Yes, yes, Cheng Cheng is so interesting and not annoying at all. You talk to him next time, I'm begging you."
Roman did not smile. He merely gave a flat "Oh."
While they waited in line, Lu Mi went over the information they had gathered so far with Roman. "The deadline might be the evening a week from now. As for our task... that's still unclear. Surely it can't be to study hard and pass the exams?"
In the end, he decided to pay closer attention to their teachers, as well as Zhao Xiaoxiang and Han San.
At last, it was his turn to get food. Lu Mi happily picked two dishes he liked, only to discover that he needed to swipe a card.
"And here I thought I could freeload on the food in this instance." Lu Mi sat on a bench, cradling his face in his hands, wanting to cry but unable to shed a tear.
A card was held out in front of him. It was Cheng Cheng, speaking in clumsy Cantonese. "Don't despair, young man. Use my card."
Before Lu Mi could even see what the card looked like, a student snatched it away. Panting, he pointed at Cheng Cheng. "Don't you have your own meal card? Huh? I'm asking you, don't you have your own meal card?"
Lu Mi finally decided that he needed another way to solve the food problem.
Continuing to spend gold coins on food in the mall was out of the question.
He had had no choice in the last instance, but in this one, delicious, healthy meals were right in front of him!
Although ghost viewers were still sending him tips, once converted to points, they were nowhere near enough to get him out of the game. Besides...
He glanced at the gaping hole the sulfuric acid had burned through Roman's arm.
Besides, there was no telling when something unexpected might happen and force him to spend a huge sum of gold coins to stay alive.
"You again?" The woman serving food at the counter waved him away. "I told you, if you can't afford meals, apply to the school for financial assistance."
"Ma'am, I'd like to work to pay my way." He stepped closer and blinked at her, copying Roman. "Would that be okay?"
In the end, Lu Mi entered the cafeteria kitchen with a temporary work pass, pleased with himself. Helping out for an hour at each mealtime would earn him a free meal.
There were not many kitchen workers, so naturally, when a young fellow like him arrived, they seized the chance to work him hard. Washing dishes, hauling ingredients-they never let him stand idle.
Roman said nothing either. He quietly worked and ate alongside him, listening as he chatted with the staff.
After evening study hall, Shen Yiwen and the other players were heading back to the dorms, while Lu Mi and Roman had to stay behind for their miserable punishment.
Seeing Lu Mi with his head lowered, Wang Rongyu gloated. This kid won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise.
"I don't know what'll happen, but I hope I get a chance..." Lu Mi lowered his head to look at his hands, a little excited. "I hope I get a chance to try..."
To try killing the ghosts and monsters in the instance with his special ability.
Before you continue