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Gu Mian had lingered for only a moment when a figure, notable for his flamboyant purple underwear, approached him.

"Hey," the figure in flamboyant purple said, slinging an arm over Gu Mian's shoulder. "Classmate, dressed so thickly in the middle of summer, aren't you hot?"

Gu Mian was still in his school uniform. Since most others were either shirtless or wore tank tops, his full uniform stood out prominently in the dormitory building.

The dormitory had no air conditioning, and with people constantly coming and going, the temperature was far from ideal.

Gu Mian privately acknowledged that his own attire wasn't as flamboyant as this guy's. He simply shifted his shoulder without saying anything.

"Look at this dormitory," the figure in flamboyant purple said, also glancing at Dormitory 4473 not far across from Gu Mian. "This dorm was locked up with a CLICK years ago. They say it's supposed to be used as a small storage room."

He continued, chuckling to himself, "Who would believe that, though? So many years have passed, and no one has used this room. There's even a seal on the outside…"

As he finished speaking, the figure in flamboyant purple turned to Gu Mian. "Speaking of which, pal, are you thinking of going in?"

Gu Mian glanced at him. Theoretically, this flamboyant purple guy is an NPC in the instance, but this NPC is a bit too flamboyant.

This person seemed overly familiar. Gu Mian didn't speak, yet he kept rambling on by himself.

"I heard someone say that a patrol teacher doing night rounds found this door open on its own once. He went in and never came out. But that's just a rumor…" he continued.

As Gu Mian listened intently, another voice suddenly interrupted the figure in flamboyant purple, "Zhao Zi, aren't we supposed to go play ball soon? Hurry back and put on some clothes! Cover up those flamboyant-ass underwear of yours!"

Hearing this, Zhao Zi gave an embarrassed laugh, then clutched his underwear and sprinted towards his dormitory.

There was no one else around Gu Mian now.

Watching Zhao Zi, still a flash of flamboyant purple, run towards his dorm and disappear through the doorway, Gu Mian took a step forward and looked at the seal on the door of Dormitory 4473.

The seal had presumably been affixed by the school.

A patrol teacher went in and disappeared? Gu Mian stroked his chin. Although the final outcome for most students who download this 'mysterious game' is usually disappearance, the missing teacher probably wasn't a player of this game, right?

He muttered to himself while looking at the large door before him.

Perhaps this is a trap; entering might mean an instant game over.

I probably need more clues to assess the danger of this door.

Just then, Gu Mian suddenly noticed something at the edge of his phone screen. He shifted his character over a couple of steps and saw what appeared to be a treasure box.

Without hesitation, Gu Mian maneuvered his little character to the treasure box and opened it.

[Game Coin * 10,000]

Units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousand…

Gu Mian counted carefully; it was indeed 10,000 Game Coins.

As expected of a special instance, it was quite generous with Game Coins. With real-world resources now extremely scarce, Game Coins had become increasingly sought-after. The output rate of Game Coins in instances should have been adjusted accordingly.

But to give 10,000 Game Coins all at once like this was still…

Just as Gu Mian was marveling at the generosity of the special instance, he suddenly noticed something else appear on his phone screen.

A little green figure, huddled in a corner… an infant?

Gu Mian glanced at the screen, then looked up at the spot in the corridor where the infant should be. There was nothing there.

But when he looked back down at the screen, the infant moved.

It suddenly leaped up from the ground, moving so fast it even left an afterimage.

Gu Mian actually didn't quite understand how a pixel game could produce an afterimage effect.

The infant in the game made a beeline for the treasure box. It darted past the avatar named "Gu Gu" and pounced onto the box.

Immediately after, the [Game Coin * 10,000] notification vanished.

Gu Mian: "…"

Did that thing just eat it?

How truly strange—a baby that eats money! Judging by its urgency, it's as if I owe it eight million...

Wait a minute?

As this thought struck him, Gu Mian frowned, staring at his phone screen.

An infant, an IOU?

Thinking of this, he frowned. "Nine-headed Baby?"

Is this the creditor from the IOU I drew? How is it in this game too?

Gu Mian pondered this as he glanced at the door of Dormitory 4473 not far away.

How could the Nine-headed Baby appear in this pixel game? Theoretically, that shouldn't happen...

Meanwhile, in the art museum, Willow Not Supporting Wind had discovered several rather unsettling paintings.

Without exception, these paintings were all by "Chu Hang." The artistic skill displayed in the paintings on this third floor was much higher; one could at least make out some facial features now.

Willow Not Supporting Wind held two paintings, observing them closely.

Both paintings were by Chu Hang, and their content was similar: each depicted two people fleeing down a long corridor.

To say "fleeing" wasn't entirely accurate; the scenes looked more like one person was running away while the other pursued.

Notably, the pursuing and fleeing figures in each painting seemed identical, like twins playing a game of chase.

Willow Not Supporting Wind felt somewhat uneasy holding the paintings. The thirty minutes she had agreed upon with Chu Changge were almost up. There were no clocks on this third floor, so she had no way to be sure of the time.

Anyway, it doesn't hurt to be a bit early... Willow Not Supporting Wind thought as she headed towards the corridor where Chu Changge was.

Due to her nervousness, she almost broke into a jog.

But after running for a short while, she realized something was amiss.

Willow Not Supporting Wind clutched the paintings in her hand and looked at the empty corridor, swallowing hard. That's not right. I've been running for so long; I should have seen someone by now...

But there was no sign of Chu Changge, as if he had already left this floor.

Willow called out softly, her voice a little faint, "Brother Chu? Chu Changge? Brother Chu?"

Not even an echo replied.

The third-floor corridor was eerily silent; only her own footsteps and breathing echoed.

Willow Not Supporting Wind clutched the items in her hand. Even though my voice is quiet, this is just one long corridor. He should be able to hear me in here.

Could he really have gone downstairs?

As she thought this, she planned to go downstairs and check.

But just then, she suddenly saw that the door of an office up ahead was, at some point, cracked open.

There were many offices on the third floor. Willow Not Supporting Wind had tried to open them, but all were locked and couldn't be opened at all.

Yet, an office door ahead was open—one that was within Chu Changge's designated search area.

Could it be that he's in there and didn't hear me?

Mulling this over, Willow Not Supporting Wind took a couple of steps forward, intending to reach the office door.