Ten minutes earlier.
Zheng Xun made short work of the murderous male teacher in the classroom, then headed to the utility room.
What happened in the utility room was even more bizarre. Zheng Xun said, "Honghong, go," and Little Red Riding Hood pulled a cleaver from her bow-adorned bamboo basket, pushed the door open, and charged straight in.
Zheng Xun simply shut the door behind her and leaned against the wall with his arms folded to wait.
Less than two minutes later, a polite knock came from inside.
"Big brother, please open the door."
Zheng Xun turned and opened the door. Little Red Riding Hood had already cleaned herself up, and her little face was pale and clean as she held up her left hand for him to take.
This time, the storage room door was left ajar, and thick liquid flowed out through the gap.
As the raven camera flew away, it caught one last, fleeting glimpse of the scene inside.
The viewers who saw it nearly threw up.
: Holy crap.
: Isn't Sister Hong a little too fierce?
: She's high-risk, after all. If Zheng Xun hadn't gotten that triple kill last time, she would've wiped out the whole squad.
: That's terrifying...
: But this subordinate is surprisingly obedient. I've seen some subordinates chase their masters around, trying to bite them.
: Erchui must have trained her well.
: When would he have had time? Didn't he enter the next dungeon just a couple of days after leaving the last one?
: I heard that if a player's level is high enough, they can suppress a subordinate and make it obey.
: That raises a question. Erchui's a newbie. Is his level really that high?
Zheng Xun took Little Red Riding Hood to the final stage in the shortest time possible.
Sure enough, the final boss appeared: the female high school student surnamed Liang.
This time, Zheng Xun didn't jump straight down from the upper floor like he had before.
At some point, Xiaoyin had appeared beside him. Her hands were clasped together as she gazed fearfully at the white figure not far away.
"Th-that's Liang Queyin. She died not long ago."
She said.
Zheng Xun nodded and tightened his right hand around his hammer. Little Red Riding Hood stood in front of him, ready to fight.
But then Zheng Xun put his weapon away.
: What's up with Erchui?
: What happened? Why'd he suddenly put his weapon away?
: He doesn't want to fight this time either?
: I'm late. Why did Erchui abandon the run last time?
: Songbird didn't say, but I'm guessing he wanted to go for the 3S side quest.
: What for? Didn't he fail it last time?
: No idea. Maybe he's looking for Xiao Tao.
: I've got insider news. Apparently, Tao Xueqing from the second team might still be alive.
After Zheng Xun put away his weapon, the boss showed herself: a long-haired high school girl wearing a summer uniform.
Her face was horrifying, and her expression was sinister as she regarded Zheng Xun and Xiaoyin with malice.
Xiaoyin took two steps back. Zheng Xun caught the movement out of the corner of his eye but said nothing.
"You're Liang Queyin?" Zheng Xun asked. "I'd like to talk to you."
Zheng Xun's strategy was to try every method he could think of. The ones who knew this dungeon best should be the NPCs and the boss.
This time, he didn't want to kill the boss. He wanted to talk to her.
"Were you wronged somehow?"
Zheng Xun suddenly asked.
: What's Erchui trying to do?
: I don't get it. Is he giving the boss counseling?
: I think he's trying to get information out of her.
: Isn't the boss going to attack?
To everyone's surprise, the moment Zheng Xun finished speaking, the boss's expression changed, and she suddenly burst into tears.
Zheng Xun: ?
That actually worked?
: Hahahahaha, Erchui's expression is killing me.
: Bet Erchui didn't see that coming either.
; Looks to me like he just got lucky.
Zheng Xun walked a few steps closer. Liang Queyin sat on the floor with her legs bent, wiping away her tears over and over.
From her, Zheng Xun learned a "truth."
Liang Queyin said she had been a student in Class 5 of the second year at Huaiyin No. 4 Middle School. Because she excelled in her studies and was pretty, the girls in her class had been jealous and ostracized her, and a teacher surnamed Xu had also groped her.
She had been frightened and told her homeroom teacher about it. Before long, Teacher Xu was fired. He apparently couldn't bear the public condemnation and chose to end his own life.
Liang Queyin had thought that would be the end of it, and she could finish high school in peace.
But a school security guard had followed her and tried to assault her. She had fought back with all her might, and in the end, they had both died.
She said she was devastated. There was still a bad person alive and well, and she couldn't accept it.
Zheng Xun asked her who that person was.
"Li Yuechu." Liang Queyin's expression suddenly turned vicious. "He was in league with that guard surnamed Feng!"
: Li Yuechu? Isn't that the guard at the school gate?!
: Holy crap, is this a hidden storyline?
: So you can unlock a hidden side quest just by putting the boss's mind at ease?
: Doesn't seem like it? When Xiao Jun and the others ran this dungeon last time, they didn't unlock anything like this.
: So what are they supposed to do now?
Zheng Xun was wondering the same thing.
But then he suddenly heard sobbing.
He turned and saw tears streaming down Xiaoyin's face behind him.
?
What was going on now?
Had she been moved to tears?
Xiaoyin was crying hard, her clean little face covered in murky black tears.
"Y-you're lying!"
She pointed at Liang Queyin and shouted through clenched teeth.
Liang Queyin didn't seem to recognize Xiaoyin.
"Who are you? Why are you saying I'm lying? Don't tell me... you're one of the girls who ostracized me back then?"
After saying "lying," Xiaoyin seemed to have had her soul pulled out of her, returning to her silent, numb state.
Zheng Xun was dumbfounded.
What kind of plot was this?
"Liang Queyin is the soul with the deepest resentment haunting Huaiyin No. 4 Middle School. As long as she's gone, everything can be resolved."
That was the NPC Xiaoyin's line. She would say it whenever they reached the boss stage.
It didn't seem any different from before.
Zheng Xun was a little bewildered.
Liang Queyin seemed deeply shaken by what she heard.
"What resentful soul? I... how could I... I could never hurt everyone. I... I don't believe it!"
She covered her face, looking utterly pained. Before Zheng Xun could say anything, she seemed unable to bear it any longer. With a loud cry, she moved to jump off the building.
"?"
Zheng Xun was stunned.
"Wait right there!"
He dashed forward and grabbed the boss's hand.
: Congratulations to our male and female guests on successfully holding hands.
: Hahahahahaha, Erchui, you're killing me. Why are you saving the boss? Hahahahahaha.
: If the boss dies, it's completely game over. Erchui would be cursing up a storm inside.
: Erchui-it's all for a living.
This was the scene Cheng Jie saw when he opened the screen. He had misunderstood: Zheng Xun wasn't planning to kill the boss. On the contrary, he wanted to save her.
"Lady, give me a heads-up before you jump."
Zheng Xun pulled hard and flung the boss back.
Luckily, he'd been quick. Otherwise, if the boss died, how could he keep playing?
"All right, all right, don't jump. I'll do it for you."
With that, he leaped without the slightest hesitation.
As he fell, Zheng Xun thought he saw a dark figure standing behind the rooftop railing, quietly watching him fall. He didn't know if it was just his imagination.
Judging by the silhouette, it was a girl.
Even after the game scene faded away, Zheng Xun still wore a pensive expression.
"You're back?"
Xiao Jun and the others came over to meet him, and Cheng Jie felt a weight land in his hand.
It was another bag of gold coins.
After tossing Cheng Jie the gold coins, Zheng Xun got himself ready to enter the dungeon for the third time that day.
As he straightened his clothes, he thought about what Xiaoyin had said.
Setting the content of her words aside, wasn't Xiaoyin a little too emotional for an NPC?