“Cough, cough, cough! Damn this instance! How could there be a boss this strong?”

Tuxing Sun leaped out from underground.

Dozens of wounds, large and small, crisscrossed his body. Gushing blood had already dyed his entire school uniform a deep red.

Those were just the external injuries. He had no idea about the state of his internal organs, but every breath felt like his chest was being seared by fire. His internal injuries were most likely just as bad.

He had almost died.

Fortunately, he had used an escape skill to get far away from the battlefield, reaching the far end of the school’s sports field. This place was a good distance from the Teaching Building.

“Damn it! Why did it stop working?” Tuxing Sun cursed as he pulled a comical hat from his pocket.

Its shape was like that of a wild mushroom found in the mountains.

He opened his equipment panel.

【Mushroom Hat (Contaminated)】

【Equipment Effect: Wear this hat and remain still to quickly erase your presence, making others think you are just a harmless mushroom.】

【Note: I’m a mushroom, what are you?】

The moment Principal Wang had appeared, he had immediately pulled out the hat, put it on, and hidden beside a tree, trying to bluff his way through.

But unexpectedly, the other party had merely turned the black ring on his little finger.

The hat on his head suddenly felt like a red-hot piece of iron, impossible to touch.

Then, the word “Contaminated” appeared on its status. He couldn’t even store it in his backpack.

This was just too bizarre. He had never encountered a boss that could directly affect his inventory.

That thing was simply not something they could fight!

“Sorry, Brother Baili, Brother Shi, but I’ll be taking the instance reward for myself.”

Although his injuries were severe, a smile still touched Tuxing Sun’s lips.

He felt his waist. The paint box was still there.

After Principal Wang killed those two, he would go to the Art Building alone tomorrow to investigate.

The reward would be all his!

“Have you had enough of a run?”

Just as Tuxing Sun was about to head back to the dormitory, a familiar voice echoed in his ear.

In the blink of an eye, his surroundings shifted.

He was right back where he started.

Baili Dao and Shi Gandang were already lying motionless on the ground, their condition unknown.

He looked up at the mountainously large, bloated husk of a creature. The monster was gently turning a white ring on its finger.

Spatial transfer!

Damn it! I wasn’t even in its line of sight!

“As long as you are still in this school, you can never escape my control!”

Principal Wang’s mocking smile was exceptionally savage, the corners of his mouth stretching nearly to his ears.

He was invincible here!

Forget Tuxing Sun, not even Sun Xingzhe could escape from his grasp!

“Principal… we just wanted to help you catch the escapees!”

Seeing that escape was impossible, Tuxing Sun immediately tried to justify their actions.

“We have reliable information that the escapees are plotting something in the Art Building! We wanted to help ease your worries by investigating and capturing those audacious students.”

He pleaded, “It doesn’t matter if you kill us, but you can’t let the real escapees get away!”

He was trying his best to save himself. After all, their mission was technically to help the ghost school. If Principal Wang was willing to listen, he didn’t care if a reckoning came later.

He just had to survive for now.

But unexpectedly, the mockery on the principal’s face grew even more pronounced.

He raised a hand as thick as a concrete pillar and grabbed Tuxing Sun’s arms.

With a gentle pull to either side.

Sssst!

Like an ant caught by a mischievous child, Tuxing Sun’s arms were effortlessly torn from his body.

“See? In my eyes, you are just toys.”

Principal Wang casually crushed Tuxing Sun’s legs into a pulp.

“Even if all the students in the school were put together, they would just be more toys,” he continued. “And toys can’t escape.”

It’s over…

Tuxing Sun’s consciousness began to fade. He suddenly realized the most bizarre thing about this instance.

With such a powerful ghost school and principal, could any student truly escape?

What was the point of them trying to catch escapees in the first place?

With an expression of utter despair, he saw Principal Wang press a finger to his head.

Splat.

His head burst open like a watermelon dropped on the ground.

Principal Wang used his fingernail to gently hook the paint box out of the gory puddle. He carefully placed it back into his pocket.

He couldn’t help but think of the aura within the Art Building.

Looking contemptuously at the prone forms of Baili Dao and Shi Gandang, he sneered.

“You’re the ones who look like escapees. Don’t tell me you were hoping to find a way out in the Art Building?”

He scoffed.

“You have no idea what a terrifying existence is in there. You don’t even have the right to approach It.”

Principal Wang knew better than anyone. The aura from behind the broadcasting room’s door was absolute. Besides himself, no one in the entire school could get near it.

Even he had to use these ten special rings, slowly stealing and acclimating to that aura for decades. Only then could he barely manage to stay in the broadcasting room and bathe in Its gaze.

That feeling was simply intoxicating.

And in another three days, that aura would be completely his to command. By then, Gao Shan High School’s fame would reach a new level.

Almost reaching a climax just from the thought, Principal Wang pressed his finger onto Shi Gandang’s head.

Splat.

Freshly squeezed Watermelon Juice No. 2 was served.

He then turned his gaze to Baili Dao.

“Moshi moshi~”

“Hello, friends in the audience! Welcome to ‘Your Moon, My Heart.’ I’m your good man, and that good man is me, Wang Zhiyong.”

Before Principal Wang could make his next move, a strange and peculiar voice echoed throughout the campus.

Even though it was past midnight, every student in the school sat bolt upright in their beds. They all looked at each other and then toward the Teaching Building with baffled expressions.

This was something they had never heard before.

Principal Wang’s arrogant and wanton expression instantly turned deathly pale.

“Is that… a broadcast?” Baili Dao lay limply on the ground, only his mind still working.

Gao Shan High School didn’t have a broadcast system. The players’ two days of exploration had led them to accept this as fact.

The ghost school only had countless clocks. The only thing that could transmit sound throughout the campus was the bell in the bell tower.

So where was this bizarre broadcast coming from?

He didn’t know any Wang Zhiyong.

But that tone…

Why did it feel vaguely familiar?

“Next, I’m going to tell you all a story about my little brother… Ah, forget it, it’s too long. Let’s get straight to business.”

Inside the broadcasting room, Wu Wang, his face a little pale, made a crude joke into the microphone. He was sitting on a chair, with a helpless-looking Li Yang standing next to him.

Li Yang was using both hands to hold down two identical Little Fatties. The two creatures had dazed eyes, their hands constantly trying to strangle each other. It was a mystery where Li Yang found the strength to hold both of them back.

“First, here’s a secret that your teachers and Principal Wang have been hiding from you.”

Wu Wang’s voice crackled through the air.

“Someone has successfully escaped from Gao Shan High School before.”

As soon as he said this, whispers broke out in the quiet dormitory buildings.

But just a second later, Principal Wang’s furious voice echoed across the campus as well.

“Who are you! How did you get in there!”

The door to the broadcasting room has Its aura on it! Who could possibly just push it open and walk in?!

“Who am I? Since you’ve asked with such sincerity, I’ll be merciful and tell you!”

“To prevent the world from being destroyed! To protect the peace of the world!”

“To carry out the evil of love and truth! Your cute and charming villain!”

“I am the Abyss God’s Nemesis!”

With every word Wu Wang spoke, the red glow of the Vertical Pupil on his wrist grew a fraction more demonic. His face also grew paler and paler. By the time he finished the last sentence, the life force in his body had been completely drained.

Ashen-faced, he collapsed in front of the microphone.

But in the blink of an eye, he sat up again, his complexion rosy once more.

The stick-figure-like Red Vertical Pupil on his wrist showed a rare look of confusion.

Holy crap! Where did all the life force I just absorbed go?

The time was just before Wu Wang entered the room.

He had exploited a bug again.

The moment he came face-to-face with the Red Vertical Pupil on the broadcasting room door, it was absorbed and devoured by the one on his wrist.

Although he could now use the microphone to broadcast to the whole school, a drawback appeared. Every sentence he spoke would cause the Red Vertical Pupil to absorb a large amount of his life force.

But the 【Undying】 ability would return his lost life force to him, completely intact.

Thus, a vicious cycle formed within his body. The Abyss God’s Mark was like it was eating air. It could never get full, no matter what.

He could use the microphone for free, indefinitely.

Wu Wang clutched a notebook he had snatched from the ghost Little Fatty. The cover read:

【Wang Zhiyong’s Daily Affairs. Records unspeakable secrets】

Inside were a few entries.

【I successfully escaped from school today.】

【I’m preparing to spread my wings and fly tomorrow.】

【But I already died yesterday.】

After reviving, Wu Wang leaned back toward the microphone.

“Actually, my name isn’t important. It’s yours that is.”

He broadcasted word by word to the entire school.

“Am I right, Principal Wang? Or perhaps I should call you…”

“The first person in the history of Gao Shan High School to successfully escape. Wang Zhiyong.”