The atmosphere in the classroom plunged to freezing. Lin Wan'er's tears finally fell, streaming down her face. Chen Xue pressed her lips together tightly, true fear showing in her eyes for the first time.
Li Ye sighed and mentally crossed Zhao Kun's name off his list of "teammates."
"See? That's why you don't run around aimlessly. Look, we saved on toilet paper now."
This time, no one retorted his ill-timed comment. They were beginning to realize that this goofy, carefree guy had an incredibly sharp, almost terrifying instinct for danger.
Fear continued to spread as the next trial arrived.
A soft footstep sounded in the hallway. The gait was strange—a step, a pause, a drag—like someone wearing ill-fitting shoes.
[Rule 4]: If you encounter a student in an old-fashioned school uniform, bow your head and do not make eye contact.
The footsteps grew closer, stopping right outside the door of Class 13.
Although the door was blocked by the desk, there was a small observation window on it. A blurry figure appeared outside.
It was the silhouette of someone in an old, blue-and-white school uniform. The figure was tall but hunched over. The moonlight failed to illuminate its face, leaving only a patch of shadow.
It seemed to be "looking" into the classroom.
Lin Wan'er and Chen Xue immediately bowed their heads, holding their breath.
Li Ye quickly bowed his head too, but he took it to another level. With a thud, he executed a perfect sliding kneel, hands pressed together, his forehead nearly touching the floor. He began to chant:
"Greetings, Senior! May you have a blessed and peaceful night! Your humble juniors are just here studying, absolutely not engaging in puppy love, playing games, or reading novels! We strive to be outstanding youths and bring glory to our school! We offer our sincerest farewells as you continue your patrol!"
His performance was a masterpiece of fluency and emotion, leaving the two girls beside him completely stunned. Could you... brown-nose this hard?
The figure outside the window seemed to pause, as if it, too, was baffled by Li Ye's performance. It stood there silently for a moment, then the footsteps started again, slowly fading into the distance.
Only when the sound was completely gone did Li Ye get up, dusting off his knees.
"Done. You don't hit a smiling face, and the same goes for flattery. As long as my posture is humble enough, even a ghost would be too embarrassed to bother me," he concluded.
Chen Xue looked at him with a complex expression. She started to think that Li Ye's goofiness and absurdity might be a disguise—a unique way of maintaining his sanity and calm in an extreme environment. He wasn't a lunatic. He was... a survival expert with a very creative mind.
The time finally came: two in the morning.
[Rule 5]: At two in the morning, when the school anthem plays over the broadcast, you must not make any sound. Otherwise, you will be "sent to the principal's office."
Zzzt... Krrk...
The old speaker on the classroom wall suddenly crackled with static.
It was starting.
Everyone's heart leaped into their throat.
Li Ye immediately made a "shush" gesture, then quickly pulled three cotton balls from his bag and, without asking, stuffed them into his and the two girls' ears.
Immediately after, a bizarre, tuneless melody flowed from the speaker. The tune sounded like fingernails scratching a blackboard, mixed with the low wails of countless people. It was twisted, piercing, and made one's scalp tingle. This was the so-called "school anthem."
The three of them clamped their hands over their mouths, daring not to make a sound.
Lin Wan'er began to tremble more violently, on the verge of letting out a sob. Quick as a flash, Li Ye pulled a lollipop from his bag, unwrapped it, and stuck it directly into her mouth.
"Mmph!" Lin Wan'er's eyes widened. Her mouth was filled with sweetness, and the cry that was about to escape was choked back.
Li Ye winked at her and mouthed, "Sweet things make you happy."
Watching from the side, a tiny smile flickered across Chen Xue's lips before quickly vanishing.
The terrifying anthem lasted for a full ten minutes, each second feeling like a century. When the music stopped and the static from the speaker died, the three of them collapsed in their seats, completely drained.
"'Sent to the principal's office'..." Li Ye removed the cotton from his ears, looking thoughtfully at the rule. "Was Zhao Kun 'sent to the principal's office'? He already vanished. What would happen to his 'parents'?"
The question was terrifying to contemplate.
One night of terror, and four of the five rules had been tested. Only the last, and most bizarre, rule remained.
[Rule 6]: Don't ask who sits behind you.
From the moment he had entered this classroom, Li Ye had noticed something strange about the seating arrangement. The three of them—Lin Wan'er and Chen Xue sitting together, and Li Ye alone behind them.
And behind him, there was another row of desks.
The last row, right in the middle, directly behind Li Ye—that seat had always been empty.
But Li Ye always felt as if... something was sitting there.
It was an indescribable sensation, a feeling of being watched, a prickling on his back. It was as if a pair of eyes had been silently staring at him from the darkness all along.
The rule said, don't ask who sits behind you.
It was a question of identity.
Li Ye didn't turn around, not even glancing with his peripheral vision. He just sat quietly, his mind racing. He connected all the rules, and the vague shape of a story began to form. A student, isolated, ignored, bullied, and who finally died in despair. Perhaps what he longed for most was a friend, a "desk mate."
The true meaning of Rule 6 wasn't to fear him, but...
Li Ye took a deep breath. He made a decision that utterly horrified Chen Xue and Lin Wan'er.
He slowly... turned around.
"Are you crazy?!" Chen Xue hissed, trying to stop him, but it was too late.
Li Ye paid her no mind. He turned completely, facing the empty seat.
The air seemed to freeze. The feeling of being watched intensified a thousandfold. An icy chill emanated from the empty seat, almost freezing them solid.
Lin Wan'er and Chen Xue squeezed their eyes shut, unable to look.
Li Ye looked at the empty seat, his usual goofy expression gone, replaced by a rare gentleness and calm.
He didn't ask, "Who are you?"
He took out a workbook and a pen from his Mary Poppins backpack, placed them on the desk in front of him, and then gently pushed them toward the empty seat.
His voice was soft, gentle, as if afraid to disturb something.
"Hey classmate," he said. "This math problem... I can't figure it out. Could you... teach me?"
He didn't probe its identity, didn't touch the taboo of "who." He simply, as a regular student, made the purest, most equal of requests. He gave it the identity of a "classmate"—an identity of being needed.
The classroom fell into absolute silence.
After a long moment, the air above the empty seat began to shimmer. Light and shadow shifted, and the faint, transparent figure of a thin boy in the same old-fashioned uniform slowly materialized.
His face was stained with tears, his eyes filled with long-held loneliness, sorrow, and resentment. He looked at the workbook on the desk, then looked up at Li Ye.
His lips moved, but no sound came out.
Li Ye smiled at him, a smile devoid of fear or pity, only sincerity.
"It's okay. Take your time. We have plenty of it."
At the sight of Li Ye's smile, the resentment and coldness in the boy's spectral eyes began to melt away. He looked down at the math problem, and his transparent finger trembled as it pointed to a number in the equation.
Though there were no words, Li Ye understood.
"Oh! So that's where I went wrong! I knew it, the auxiliary line was drawn incorrectly!" Li Ye slapped his thigh in a moment of epiphany. "Thank you, classmate! You're brilliant!"
He didn't hold back his praise.
In the warmth of Li Ye's praise, the boy's body began to glow with a soft, white light. The sadness on his face disappeared, replaced by a shy, liberated smile.
His figure grew fainter and fainter in the light, until finally, he dissipated completely, as if he had never been there at all.
And as he vanished, outside the window, the first rays of dawn pierced the darkness.
Warm sunlight flooded the entire classroom, dispelling all the cold and fear.
[Ding—Instance Midnight Class 13 cleared.]
[Clearance Rating: S (Perfect)]
[Clearance Rewards: 2000 Points, Special Item 'Your Desk Mate' (Single Use)]
[Item Description: 'Your Desk Mate' - Upon use, you can summon the spirit of a top student to help you with any academic question (high school level and below) for ten minutes. Note: Please treat him kindly and do not ask him strange questions.]
This time, the cold, mechanical voice sounded almost warm.
Lin Wan'er and Chen Xue slowly opened their eyes. Seeing the bright sunlight outside and the relaxed smile on Li Ye's face, they felt as if they had woken from a long nightmare.
They had survived.
"Let's go," Li Ye stretched, shouldering his giant backpack again and yawning. "I'm starving after pulling an all-nighter. I know a place by the school gate with amazing soy milk and fried dough sticks. My treat."
Lin Wan'er looked at Li Ye, her eyes red with the relief of survival and heartfelt gratitude. She nodded vigorously.
Chen Xue stood up as well. She walked over to Li Ye, looked at him seriously for the first time, and said, "Thank you. My name is Chen Xue."
"Li Ye. As in 'night' in Chinese," he grinned, showing a set of white teeth. "Hope we can team up in another instance sometime. I've still got plenty of snacks in my bag."
Looking at his carefree expression, a rare, genuine smile finally bloomed on Chen Xue's cold face.
Under the sunlight, the three of them walked out of the building that had imprisoned them for a night. Behind them, the sign that read "Class 3-13" seemed to have become ordinary and warm in the morning light.
For Li Ye, it was just another "night school" session that was a little thrilling but ultimately fruitful. He felt the new item in his bag, 'Your Desk Mate,' and thought with satisfaction:
This is going to be a lifesaver if I ever get an instance with an exam.