Volume 2. Game Update in Progress
One hand was holding my neck.
My lower body had not detached.
Only my upper body separated from my body, looking into the classroom.
Because the Evil Spirit Form's body was actually not strictly shaped, and without the restriction of bones, even if my waist twisted three hundred and sixty degrees, it was no problem.
Looking at Zhang Yan standing by my desk, staring at my desk surface with malice on her face, a fleeting thought arose in my heart: "Should I just pull out her soul and eat it right now?"
However... this was merely the thought of the Evil Spirit Form.
Whether or not the Evil Spirit Form was my consciousness, at least its existence was evil.
Therefore, it would not become kind because of my good thoughts.
Ultimately, the Evil Spirit Form would subconsciously resolve problems in the most evil way.
Fortunately, I was still able to control it for now.
Dismissing the Evil Spirit Form's urge to consume a soul over such a small matter, I fixed my gaze on Zhang Yan.
Actually, I was not afraid of what she might do.
It was just her gaze that made me feel uncomfortable.
Just when I thought she would only hate me or vent her anger on my desk, suddenly... she lowered her head, pulled out her phone from her pocket, and made a call.
Twisting my Evil Spirit Form's body, stretching out my arm and upper body, I directly crossed more than four meters.
My lower body was still outside the classroom, yet I crossed several rows of desks, floating midair, arriving directly above Zhang Yan!
If anyone could see spirits, they would surely witness an extremely terrifying scene.
In a lively classroom, a dark shadow covered more than half the classroom.
Its twisted body was charred and emaciated.
The grotesquely stretched face bore a grin that almost tore the entire face apart.
With this eerie smile, it floated midair, staring at a female classmate.
Of course, it was impossible for anyone in this classroom to see such a monster.
Otherwise, the moment I appeared, there would have been screams.
Soon after, the call connected.
Zhang Yan's previously hateful expression suddenly changed, turning into a somewhat flattering smile.
"Brother Liu, I..."
"Enough, the fact that you called means it didn't work, right? Damn useless, you can't even manage one fat sheep! Alright, don't worry about the rest, come to the usual place the day after tomorrow to collect your money. Remember, if you dare to spill anything, I'll kill your whole family."
Immediately after, the call ended.
Zhang Yan stood there in a daze for several minutes.
"Liu Yunyan... don't blame me, I didn't want this either, but you are really too..."
As she spoke, Zhang Yan's expression became complicated.
It carried guilt, hatred, and also a trace of fear and regret.
In the end, she slung her backpack over her shoulder, held her phone, pursed her lips.
The struggling expression on her face and the three simple digits displayed on her phone showed she was having an intense inner conflict.
However, until she reached the door, her thumb, which hovered over the call button, never pressed down.
Instead, at the moment she stepped out, she seemed to finally give up on something.
She let out a big sigh of relief, closed her eyes, slowly put away her phone, turned around, and left the classroom.
Because the spot I leaned against was opposite the stairway direction, she did not see me the moment she exited.
Instead, she directly turned and left.
Even as she went downstairs, she did not turn back once.
Nor did she show any hesitation or reluctance.
She left very calmly.
The Evil Spirit Form floated midair, holding my upper body with one hand, while watching the last trace of her hair disappear around the staircase corner.
My heart also seemed to relax a little.
I did not know if it was due to the influence of Liu Yunyan’s memories, or if the body had other lingering memories.
Anyway, when I realized Zhang Yan truly did not intend to save "Liu Yunyan," my heart, which had been faintly hanging, suddenly felt lighter.
As for why I used the word "save," it could be inferred from that phone conversation just now.
First of all, the phrase "fat sheep" undoubtedly referred to the previous "Liu Yunyan."
The call "didn't work" suggested that Zhang Yan had some kind of arrangement with the "Brother Liu" on the phone.
And this relationship was very likely tied to "Liu Yunyan."
Between the two sentences, "you can't even manage one fat sheep" and "the fact that you called means it didn't work," much could be analyzed.
"Manage" a fat sheep... these three words were definitely not used casually.
If it was improvised, they would not have used such phrasing.
From this, it appeared that Zhang Yan and the "Brother" on the phone were in cahoots.
They regarded "Liu Yunyan" as an easy mark, using some method to swindle money.
So... what method might they use?
In Liu Yunyan’s memory, Zhang Yan’s most common special method was taking Liu Yunyan to buy expensive items.
Expensive items?
Fat sheep?
Manage?
If my guess was correct, this Brother Liu probably colluded with Zhang Yan.
Either they sold counterfeit goods as real ones to Liu Yunyan, or Zhang Yan and this "Brother Liu" immediately cashed in the expensive items Liu Yunyan bought for her.
The method was very simple.
For example, if it was a bag, whether it was real or fake, as long as it was unopened, they could just return it later.
In that case, the money would be completely pocketed.
It could also be fake goods, or fake purchases.
In short, Zhang Yan was probably colluding with this "Brother Liu" to scam Liu Yunyan’s money.
Next was the following conversation.
"Don’t worry about the rest."
"Come to the usual place the day after tomorrow to collect your money."
"If you dare to spill anything, I’ll kill your whole family."
These three lines should all refer to one matter.
The key points were "don’t worry about the rest," "the day after tomorrow," "collect money," and "spill anything, kill your whole family."
What did "the rest" refer to?
Why didn’t they let Zhang Yan get involved?
Why deliberately delay for two days, only letting her "collect money" the "day after tomorrow"?
The "spill anything, kill your whole family" was clearly a threat.
Then what was the reason for Brother Liu to threaten Zhang Yan?
No matter how you looked at it, these words sounded like a criminal about to commit a crime, threatening others.
And the center of this conversation was "Liu Yunyan," so the result was not hard to guess.
This "Brother Liu" was probably somewhat involved in the underworld.
He wanted to commit a crime targeting "Liu Yunyan," the child of a wealthy family, and promised Zhang Yan money at their usual place the day after tomorrow.
Was this "Brother Liu" planning a kidnapping?
No.
If it was a simple kidnapping, Brother Liu might not even get out of this city.
He would have money but no life to spend it.
That was not the style of this type of person.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been "fattening the sheep."
Thus, he should not be risking everything with a simple kidnapping.
Then what method would Brother Liu use to get the money?
If he didn’t want to cause a big commotion, then he had to avoid blowing things up.
The only method was to threaten Liu Yunyan and make her voluntarily pay to avoid disaster.
But he didn’t have anything on hand that could threaten Liu Yunyan.
Wait... not having something didn’t mean he couldn’t create something.
For example... abducting Liu Yunyan, taking some photos, or even worse, violating her and filming it.
Using such material to threaten a fifteen-year-old girl would likely cause her mental defenses to collapse instantly.
Don’t be fooled by how Liu Yunyan dared to argue loudly with Liu Wanqian.
This girl had a temper that flared only inside the family.
She dared to fight with her father but might not dare to resist outsiders.
After all, she was just a fifteen-year-old little girl.
Unless Liu Yunyan was willing to throw away the rest of her life, otherwise, when facing someone holding her "purity" as leverage, and when what they asked for was merely "money", which wasn’t that important to her, what choice would she make... was obvious without needing to say.
In this way, long-term threats could lead to long-term extortion.
Given the Liu family's wealth, millions of yuan would not be an issue.
And if things escalated further, Liu Yunyan might even commit crimes to protect herself.
The risk was low, at most just manipulating the fear inside a little girl's heart.
Even if things were exposed, it wouldn't be a death penalty crime.
Moreover, he could still get a lot of money.
For someone who had been immersed in the dark side of society for years and was skilled in such things, this was very simple.
Looking from this angle, it was likely... Zhang Yan herself also had some leverage caught by "Brother Liu."
Otherwise, she would not have been so obedient, even showing a flattering smile.
Judging from the money Liu Yunyan casually dropped through her fingers, Zhang Yan should have some money in hand too.
At least tens of thousands of yuan should not be a problem.
Therefore, the reasons Zhang Yan feared "Brother Liu" could be twofold: first, she had a handle caught by Brother Liu; second, Brother Liu's underworld background.
I guessed... probably both reasons were true, which was why Zhang Yan dared not resist.
The Evil Spirit Form slowly returned to my body.
While thinking about these things, I picked up my bag again.
I had wasted more than ten minutes here.
Most of the students in the school had already left.
The once-crowded corridors now appeared much emptier.
This feeling made me uneasy.
After all, I didn’t know when another sudden event might occur.
But I still took out my phone and quickly checked it.
Sure enough, the app had already shown the "sudden task completed" prompt.
The reward of one hundred points had been issued.
I also took the opportunity to look at the belated rules displayed by the app.
They were very simple: players were required to complete the exam under fear.
However, there were many death rules.
For example, not allowed to leave the classroom.
Not allowed to make loud noises.
I hadn’t known about the loud noise rule.
Fortunately, my mental resilience was good.
I hadn't screamed when I first saw the strange scene.
Otherwise, I definitely would have been besieged by a group of monsters.
But if it were an ordinary person, they probably couldn't have remained as calm as I did.
Most people's first choice would probably be to run immediately.
Then they would be dead.
After clearly reading the rules and reviewing the rewards, I realized that in this mission, I hadn’t lost anything.
I only used one substitute doll that was gifted for each game session.
I didn’t even use my own substitute doll.
Now I still had one hundred and eighty-five points.
Although it wasn’t much, it was enough to buy quite a lot.
Most importantly, I saw a countdown.
It showed "167:25:23," and eight words below it: "Sudden Task Safe Period."
"So... for the next one hundred sixty-seven hours, I won’t encounter another sudden event?"
I fell silent for a moment.
My shoulders relaxed noticeably.
The corners of my mouth unconsciously curved into a cold smile, one even I didn’t notice.
"Perfect, just enough time to deal with this small trouble."