Marry the NPC with Money, Wife Comes Knocking - Chapter 28

Except for the massacre Su Sheng carried out against the players on the first night, the next two days were rather lax. He wasn’t enthusiastic about blocking the dormitory doors, and during room checks, he wouldn’t say more than a single sentence after knocking.

After two days, the death rate during dormitory rest time was the lowest.

Instead, wandering around the school or attending classes in the classroom required much more vigilance.

As for Jing Wen, who had counter-killed an Anomaly, he hadn’t returned to class for two days.

Today was Friday, the day for the weekly physical fitness test.

The PE teacher organizing the test was a dark-skinned man with the build of a double-door refrigerator. After passing out the fitness test forms, he made an important announcement: “The fitness test forms in your hands list the items you need to complete. You must finish all tests within the morning. If anyone tries to cheat, you know the consequences!”

With a single word of dismissal, the students broke into small groups and headed to their assigned activities.

“Lung capacity… What’s this big bucket of water doing here?”

A student council member in a volunteer uniform looked at him, snatched the fitness test form from his hand, and said, “Go over.”

Before he could react, a large hand grabbed his collar and dragged him over, giving him no chance to prepare, and forcibly shoved his head into the water.

“Hold your breath for two minutes.”

Suddenly plunged into the water, he choked and struggled desperately to breathe, but his head was held tightly under the surface.

Only when he was too weak to move did they finally let him up-after just a minute and a half.

The other students in line turned pale with fear and wanted to run, but their fitness test forms had already been collected.

If you don’t take the test, you die just the same.

Two minutes passed.

The Anomaly lifted the boy out by the neck, but he had swallowed too much water and held his breath too long, so he had already passed out.

The Anomaly monitoring the results stamped a red “Fail” on his fitness test form, speaking coldly: “Fail. Drag him away.”

“Next.”

Similar bizarre testing methods played out in every activity.

By the end of the morning, another ten students were gone.

All of them had failed the fitness test and were dragged away. No one could see what happened to them, but it was certain they’d never return, just like those sent out of class for punishment.

And this was only the fourth day of the instance. In just over half a week, only forty players remained.

They’d been told that surviving a rules-based horror was simple: just follow the rules and you won’t die. But before encountering any rules that tested their intelligence, they were already being killed by the rules themselves.

Friday afternoon was rare in that there were no classes, making it a relatively safe time. The remaining players spontaneously gathered together.

“This is seriously messed up.”

“Survive thirty days, but after just four days there are only forty people left. How are we supposed to play?”

“The most ridiculous part is, not a single person died because they couldn’t remember the rules-except for Peanut.” He left class early and hasn’t been seen in days, so he’s probably gone.

“The weekend side quest-doing the side quest can trigger the smooth clearance condition and let you leave Free School early.”

“Where’s Yi Shuang?”

“No idea. She probably left long ago. She never interacts with us.”

“So what should we do? Should we go directly?” Everyone turned their attention to Water Cube.

Water Cube was the one who shared the news about the weekend side quest, so the players vaguely regarded him as their leader. Tomorrow was Saturday, and everyone wanted to hear Water Cube’s opinion on what to do next.

“Yi Shuang has a high survival rate in the instance, so we need her to join us.” After Water Cube finished speaking, he looked at Gua Gua standing beside him and said gently, “Gua Gua, you’re in the same dormitory and spend more time together. Could you invite her for us?”
“But…” Yi Shuang usually ignored her anyway.

Meeting Water Cube’s expectant gaze, Gua Gua bit her lip and nodded.

She and Yi Shuang had little interaction-in fact, Gua Gua had always avoided her.

Yi Shuang was cold and ruthless, so unless absolutely necessary, Gua Gua was determined not to speak to her.

Dinner time.

Gua Gua ran into Yi Shuang in the cafeteria.

She got her food, carried her tray, and sat down across from Yi Shuang.

She unwrapped a pair of disposable chopsticks, scraped them together a few times, and casually brought up a topic, “Why did you order duck again?”

Yi Shuang paused mid-chew and glanced up at her.

“I mean… there are bones in it.”

The cafeteria had a rule against wasting food, and even bones couldn’t be thrown away. Several people had fallen into this trap on the first day, so after that, everyone only dared to eat vegetarian dishes.

Yi Shuang chewed up the bones in her mouth and swallowed them, replying lazily, “I can handle it.”

Gua Gua got straight to the point: “I wanted to talk to you about something-this weekend’s side mission. Do you want to join?”

“No.” Yi Shuang rejected her flatly.

She blurted out, “Why not?”

“My advice is, you shouldn’t get too close to Water Cube.”

Gua Gua reacted instantly, “Do you like him?”

Yi Shuang was speechless. She tapped her chopsticks twice on the stainless steel tray, making a clang, clang sound. “Just a little advice. Take it or leave it.”

With that, she scooped up the remaining grains of rice and ate them, stood up, took her tray to the recycling area, and left with ease.

That evening, Gua Gua went to the meeting spot and told everyone that Yi Shuang wasn’t joining. Some people started to hesitate.

Water Cube was disappointed too, but he didn’t intend to give up on the operation. “If you trust me, sign up. We’ll meet downstairs at the dorm tomorrow.”

Quite a few people were willing to trust him, but some chose to drop out. In the end, ten people decided not to participate.

Water Cube didn’t push anyone. He told everyone to go back and get a good night’s rest, so they’d have plenty of energy for tomorrow.

Ye Susheng had to do another dorm check-this time at night. Before she left, Hua Suihe stuffed a pack of beef jerky into her hand.

Ye Susheng had grown fond of this snack, because whenever she missed Hua Hua, she would chew on a couple of pieces to ease the longing.

Hua Suihe found a suit jacket and draped it over Ye Susheng’s shoulders. “I’ve noticed it’s really cold at night. Wear something warmer when you’re outside.”

Ye Susheng wrapped the jacket around herself with one hand. “It’s cold at night?”

“Yeah, the temperature difference is pretty big,” Hua Suihe replied casually, not thinking much of it. Instead, she asked, “Ye, do you have to work tomorrow, even though it’s the weekend?”

Ye Susheng nodded. “Tomorrow isn’t a day off. I have to work-organize books in the library during the day and do dorm checks at night as usual.”

Hua Suihe couldn’t understand. “Why do you have to do another job?”

Ye Susheng blinked. “It’s kind of a part-time job. There’s extra pay.”

Hua Suihe reluctantly agreed, “Alright, fine. Go on, then. See you tomorrow.”

Ye Susheng bent down slightly, tapped her lips, and gazed at Hua Suihe with hopeful eyes.

Hua Suihe obliged and gave her a kiss, and only then did Ye Susheng leave, satisfied.

Hua Suihe picked up her pajamas and went into the bathroom.

The temperature had dropped recently, and the hot water in the bathroom wasn’t warm enough-especially halfway through a shower, when it felt like cold water was pouring straight out.

The school’s water supply system was really terrible.

She had no choice but to speed up, dry off quickly, put on long-sleeved pajamas, and wrap herself up for warmth.

She wanted to get some water to brush her teeth. When she turned on the tap, the water was murky, mixed with rust and silt, as if it hadn’t been filtered at all. She didn’t dare use it.”