The broadcast announcing the end of the school day echoed across the campus.

The entire Gao Shan High School fell deathly silent.

Principal Wang struggled against the surging sea of security guards, a sneer of disdain on his face.

“Who’s going to listen to you? You think they dare to leave?”

Gao Shan High School had never had such a concept as the end of the school day. From the day students enrolled, they were to study nonstop until the college entrance exams.

Holidays and going home were considered a waste of precious study time.

This was a cage that imprisoned fledgling eagles for three years, stripping them of their freedom and their ability to fly. All for the sake of making them fly faster in the future.

Wu Wang was equally disdainful.

“You underestimate their courage. A certain great man once said that students are the sun at eight or nine in the morning. All hope rests on them.”

He paused.

“Let the bullets fly a little longer.”

The words had barely left his lips when Principal Wang saw the main entrance of the Art Building swing open.

A girl walked out, her school uniform spattered with colorful paints.

She glanced at Principal Wang, then spoke with a calm, clear voice.

“Classmates, let’s go take back what belongs to us. Let’s go become who we are.”

A cascade of footsteps followed.

Behind her, a flood of students in school uniforms emerged. Their faces were filled with a vitality and passion that the other students of Gao Shan High School had never possessed.

Hearing the order from their Head Class Monitor, Chen Nan, everyone cheered and rushed out of the Art Building, as if they were walking toward a new life.

“Charge! School’s out!”

“Hahaha! I want to keep painting after we get out!”

“I’m going to write novels! I’ll be an author and earn royalties!”

“You’ll starve to death.”

“…”

Chattering amongst themselves, they paid no mind to Principal Wang standing at the side. They playfully jostled one another as they went around the Little Black Room, completely ignoring the heavy, deathly aura within.

Their corpses lay there.

Their pasts lay there.

【I got out of school today】

【Tomorrow, I’m ready to spread my wings and fly】

【But I already died yesterday】

【But my ideals still lie in the distance】

【In a distant place filled with poetry and art】

The students in the Art Building had been kept in the dark. But the moment they heard Little Fatty’s and Wu Wang’s voices on the broadcast, they remembered everything.

Or rather, from the moment Wu Wang absorbed the bizarre aura of the Red Vertical Pupil.

Even knowing they were already dead, they still wanted to bring the vitality of a rising sun to their benumbed classmates.

As their figures disappeared toward the dormitory buildings, all of Gao Shan High School erupted.

It was like a barrel of dynamite ignited by a single spark, sweeping away all the gloomy, oppressive air. The students chose to be birds that sang themselves hoarse.

They refused to be lambs, silent until their death.

“Principal Wang, do you get it now? Studying is important, sure, but there are some things that can never be buried forever.”

Wu Wang’s voice came from the Art Building’s main entrance.

“How does that saying go again? Some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright!”

The source of the rings’ power had been absorbed by Wu Wang. Now, pinned by a crowd of security guards and school doctors, the completely powerless Principal Wang could only laugh savagely.

He cursed the architect of it all.

“Do you know what you’re doing?! So what if they leave Gao Shan High School? They’ll just be wandering in a bigger cage! The hardships they’ll face will be far greater than what they face now! I am the one who is right!”

His voice was a crazed, sorrowful shriek.

Wu Wang, however, just shrugged nonchalantly.

“So? Who cares? I’m just a madman in your eyes.”

He smirked.

“A madman doesn’t need a reason to do things. If I had to find one, it would probably be the same reason Laozi wrote the Tao Te Ching.”

A grin spread across his face.

“Because I damn well please.”

In the next second, he too strode off into the distance, leaving a dazed Principal Wang in his wake.

Li Yang walked out slowly behind him, holding the two Little Fatties. He sighed.

“Principal Wang, Wu Wang asked me to deliver a great gift to you.”

Li Yang’s gaze was heavy with pity.

“He said that you have to face your true self now.”

With that, he released his grip.

The two Little Fatties charged menacingly toward Principal Wang. Just as Li Yang’s humanity had merged with his corpse, the Little Fatties had to combine with Principal Wang to form the real him.

The self he had once abandoned.

“No, no, no! I don’t need you! I’m begging you, stay away from me!”

Principal Wang’s voice became a desperate plea, but it wasn’t enough to stop the two Little Fatties from closing in.

Finally, they merged into one.

They became a corpse lying on the ground, its face stained with tears. The corpse no longer wore an expensive suit, nor did it have a fine gem in its hand.

All it wore was a school uniform covered in paint.

A brilliant red patch stained the uniform, jarring to the eye. It was blood.

At the same time, as Wu Wang neared the Teaching Building, he suddenly felt a weight lift from his body. He looked under his bulletproof vest and discovered that the school uniform he’d been wearing had vanished.

He smiled.

That had been the relic left behind by the ‘humanity’ Little Fatty. No, it was left by Wang Zhiyong, the student who had tried to escape all those years ago.

Now, it had been returned to its rightful owner.

“Yo, Brother Baili, good evening. What are you doing lying here? Get up, no sleeping allowed.”

Seeing Baili Dao lying on the ground covered in blood, Wu Wang spoke with a teasing tone.

The other man gave a helpless, bitter smile.

“Little Brother Wang, what on earth are you planning to do?” he asked, confused.

Wu Wang feigned surprise.

“Aren’t we supposed to be catching escapees? Why stick to catching them one by one?”

He pointed a finger at the dense crowd of students at the school gate and said cheerfully, “Look, I’ve orchestrated a school-wide ‘escape event.’ We can catch as many as we want now. Need a hand up?”

Baili Dao was speechless. He had to admit, that was a line of thinking he had never considered. But there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. If they started catching students now, they could rack up an unbelievable amount of Instance rewards.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t do it.

“Cough, cough! Little Brother Wang, I don’t think I’m going to make it. You go on. You deserve this,” Baili Dao said with a resigned smile.

His injuries were too severe. Even standing was a fantasy, let alone catching students.

Meanwhile, Qinghe Yikan, with no school doctor to watch over her, had probably already died and left the Instance. Wu Wang was about to become the sole remaining player.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So young and you’re already saying you can’t do it anymore? Your future wife is going to have a tough time.”

Wu Wang cracked a dirty joke as usual.

“Well, I’m off to get down to business.”

He got up, preparing to leave, but Baili Dao called out to him, his tone serious.

“Brother Wang, honestly, even though your behavior and mental state are a bit… unpredictable, you’re truly the best teammate I’ve ever had. So I have to give you a warning.”

He took a sharp breath.

“After you clear the Instance, watch out for those three rogue players. You’re only a level-one player. When you get back to reality, you’ll be nothing but a lamb to the slaughter in their eyes.”

Wu Wang raised an eyebrow, a look of sudden realization dawning on his face.

So those three wanted to prey on him in the real world! How could he be so lucky as to run into such a wonderful opportunity?

Didn’t that mean that as long as he acted in self-defense, and then accidentally used excessive force to finish them off… he could tearfully loot their bodies?

Once he figured this out, Wu Wang patted Baili Dao’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Thanks for the good news. Don’t worry, I’ll perform a proper ceremony to help your soul pass on. My buddy even has a homemade Taoist priest certificate.”

Baili Dao stared, confused.

Brother, this is a Non-lethal Type Instance! I’m going to be back in the real world in a minute, you fake Taoist priest! What soul are you helping to pass on?!

Forget it, he thought. He should understand what I mean.

Baili Dao took a final, deep breath. He slowly faded away from the grassy ground, leaving the world of the Instance upon his ‘death’.

Wu Wang stood up and continued toward the school gate.

But he didn’t lift a finger to catch a single student.

Instead, he blended into the crowd and slowly walked out of the school. His figure, like that of all the other students, was unremarkable, yet independent.

【Teleporting out of the Instance】

【Congratulations to player Pending Death for clearing the Reality-Oriented Team Instance, Fight Back to School】

【Game Rating: Alpha】

【Main Quest completed】

【Side Quest 1 & 2 completed】

【Hidden Reward condition met. Pollution Cleared.】

【You have successfully led the entire school of students in an escape. Instance reward calculation has been superimposed and has reached its peak!】

【Please check and receive your rewards】

【Instance Summary: You possess an extreme lack of team spirit and are fundamentally incapable of empathizing with any student. You felt none of the pressure of studying nor the authority of the school leadership, yet you effortlessly achieved a perfect score on the make-up exam. You are, simply put, a cancerous existence… However, none of that matters. You cleansed the pollution of Gao Shan High School and liberated the entire student body. Oh, my friend, you are the true hero!】

Wu Wang blinked.

Did the system just insult me? I have no proof, but it feels like it.

Whatever. Time to see what the rewards were.

And then, it was time to go be a “lamb to the wolf.”

He couldn’t wait to act in self-defense.