After the Evil God Pretends to Be a Player [Infinite] - Chapter 16

The events that followed mirrored what they had seen before: Yingzi was relentlessly cornered by the girl in the lead. Just as her face was about to be slashed, the Student Council President descended like a savior and rescued her.

The President showed her great pity and tenderness. After comforting her and promising that he would no longer allow members of the Student Council to bully her, the two of them left together.

Li Zhu remarked softly, “A story of Cinderella meeting Prince Charming?”

Lalai countered, “Or perhaps it’s a story of the Little Mermaid meeting a calculating prince.”

Li Zhu immediately looked at Lalai. Her gaze was fixed on a point in the void, her face bearing its habitual expressionless mask. Yet, for some reason, he felt that Lalai’s mood had suddenly soured. The aura around her had grown colder and more unapproachable.

Li Zhu pondered the meaning of her words for a few seconds before testing the waters: “The Daughter of the Sea? The prince in that fairy tale wasn’t exactly calculating, was he? He simply… didn’t love her.”

Lalai gave a lazy “mm” in response, then lifted her eyes to ask him, “Are you coming or not?”

Since emerging from the black vortex, Li Zhu and Lalai had been forced to watch a movie. The characters in the “film” could not see them, but they were tethered to Yingzi, witnessing her sorrow and despair without being able to act on their own.

It wasn’t until the story reached the point where the upperclassman rescued Yingzi and the two of them left their field of vision—without the duo being pulled along—that they realized they could finally move freely.

Li Zhu gave her a deep look, then curled his lips into a smile. “Sure.”

While heading down the stairs, Li Zhu asked, “What do you think this Evil God is trying to test us on?”

Lalai shot him a strange look. “How should I know? I’m not Him.”

As they spoke, they reached the bottom of the teaching building. It was just before evening self-study, and many students were bustling to and fro in front of the cafeteria. Lalai watched this harmonious, lively scene, squinting slightly.

“Regardless, we first need to figure out what happened,” she said. “First: who was the original instigator of the rumors? Second: why did they slander her?”

For the entire evening, Lalai and Li Zhu roamed the campus. Logically, someone who would use such underhanded tactics to spread rumors must be someone who had a grievance with Yingzi. However, even after investigating a roommate who had long been at odds with Yingzi and several Student Council members who had caused her trouble, they came up empty-handed.

In the blink of an eye, the bright moon hung high. Evening self-study had ended, and most students had returned to the dorms, leaving only a few stragglers on campus.

No one knew how much exploration time the Evil God had allotted. Seeing that the matter had hit a stalemate again, Lalai was about to head back to find Yingzi when she heard Li Zhu say, “I have an idea.”

Ten minutes later, after consulting the emergency evacuation map posted at the entrance of the teaching building, they returned upstairs.

Lalai watched as Li Zhu walked up to one of the classrooms, pulled a thin piece of steel wire from heaven-knows-where, and inserted it into the door lock. After a few twists and turns, he pulled the wire out and yanked the handle. The door swung open.

It was a successful Lockpicking skill check.

Unlike other classrooms filled with standard desks and chairs, every desk in this room held a… black brick.

Just as she was feeling baffled, she watched Li Zhu walk up to one of the bricks on the podium. He smiled and said, “We need to utilize the power of modern technology.”

Following that, Li Zhu began tapping rapidly on a black board covered in protruding square buttons. His fingers were long, pale, and quite handsome. Usually, his face wore a look of nonchalance, but now, with his eyes fixed straight ahead, he appeared uncharacteristically serious.

Even Lalai couldn’t help but steal a few extra glances at him.

[Computer Use] Check/Result: 60/14 — Success

Li Zhu let out a breath, smiling as he shook his head. “Good thing that succeeded. If word got out that my computer skills were only ‘half-baked,’ it would be quite embarrassing…”

He didn’t finish, but Lalai had already realized something from his words: those black bricks were called “computers.”

She had been asleep for far too long and knew absolutely nothing about these latest human inventions. However, she quickly accepted the existence of these strange black bricks. Without showing any outward surprise, she changed the subject: “You seem quite… multi-talented.”

Li Zhu replied dismissively, “My parents were very open-minded. When I was young, while other kids my age were being forced into Math Olympiad and English classes—preparing for a one-way trip through American high schools, Ivy League MBAs, and then home to inherit the family business—my parents practiced a strict ‘free-range’ strategy. So, I’ve learned a little bit of every skill…”

He paused abruptly, then changed the subject. “We can continue the story of my early life next time. Come look at this first; we have a lead.”

“I just logged into the school’s anonymous forum and found the original thread. I was wondering if I could use some methods to crack the website’s encryption keys to get the location of the original poster at the time.”

Lalai gave a soft “mm” and asked, “What did you find?”

As she spoke, Li Zhu suddenly felt a slight itch on the back of his hand. He glanced down out of the corner of his eye and saw that as Lalai leaned in, the ends of her long, curled, tea-colored hair had brushed against him, forming a lovely swirl on the back of his hand.

Li Zhu’s heart stirred. His gaze lingered there for a long time, and ultimately, he did not move his hand.

When Lalai didn’t receive a reply for a long time, she felt something was off and looked toward Li Zhu. He shifted his gaze away inconspicuously and said:

“I found the true identity and location of the original poster. But it’s strange; this seems to be someone who has absolutely no connection to Cui Yingzi.”

Cheng Lin, a third-year repeater.

He smoked, drank, bullied the weak, and committed all sorts of misdeeds. Every day, he was either in a group fight or on the way to one. He once claimed that even if he never passed his exams in his life, his parents could support him forever.

On the way to Cheng Lin’s dormitory, Li Zhu had practically turned this person’s background inside out.

“Strange. The data shows the original post was indeed sent from his dorm. But how do they know each other? Could it really be such a coincidence that Cheng Lin went out for a fight, saw Cui Yingzi getting into a luxury car, and then hallucinated this whole mountain of rumors?”

Li Zhu shook his head, a bitter smile on his face. “Then these rumors are truly pulled out of thin air.”

Cheng Lin’s dorm was on the first floor. Before pushing the door open, Li Zhu gave Lalai a subtle look.

Lalai: “Is your eye twitching?”

Li Zhu’s expression became even more nuanced. “Don’t you find it strange to enter a boys’ dormitory?”

Lalai countered, “Then didn’t you find it strange when you followed Cui Yingzi into the girls’ dormitory every other day?”

Li Zhu let out a laugh. “I can never win an argument with you.” He then pushed the door open.

Cheng Lin’s room was a four-person dorm. Like most boys’ dorms, it was a mess at first glance. Dirty, unwashed clothes and junk were piled haphazardly on desks, the floor, and the beds. A filthy basketball sat right in the center of the floor tiles.

It was already 10:30 PM. Deafening snores erupted from the four beds. The four sleepers were deep in slumber and did not notice the door being quietly opened from the outside.

Behind the door, there was no one.

It was fortunate they were asleep; otherwise, a chorus of high-pitched screams would have surely drawn the Warden.

Lalai focused on observing Cheng Lin’s desk and drawers. After failing to find any leads with a Spot Hidden check, she turned her gaze toward Cheng Lin, who was snoring away on his bed.

She hesitated for a moment. Just as she was about to reach out, she was stopped by Li Zhu, who interjected, “Let me.”

Li Zhu felt around the bedsheets near Cheng Lin. After feeling a distinct protrusion, he stopped.

The unusual lump was very close to Cheng Lin; flipping the sheets rashly might wake him.

However, Li Zhu didn’t hesitate for long. He lifted the sheet quickly and lightly, yanking the object out—it was an envelope wrapped in brown kraft paper.

The moment the letter was pulled out, they both heard the Keeper’s long-absent voice ring in their ears: “Players, please perform a Listening check.”

Lalai: [Listening] Check/Result: 70/55  Success Li Zhu: [Listening] Check/Result: 70/98  Critical Failure

The breathing of the person lying on the bed suddenly stopped.

A sliver of moonlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, turning the wall at the head of the bed white—and illuminating a massive, surging dark shadow!

Li Zhu looked up and met the eyes of the person who had bolted upright in bed.

Cheng Lin’s body had bloated to several times its normal size. Countless pitch-black tentacles sprouted from his joints, reaching for Li Zhu with bared fangs and claws. On his face, he wore a smiling mask.

Li Zhu made a split-second decision: “Run!”

In the next second, he saw the hem of his school uniform jacket being gripped tightly by the opponent.

Li Zhu tried to yank it away, but he couldn’t. Within the single second of his attempt, Cheng Lin’s hand was already clawing toward his eyes.

Just as Li Zhu was about to risk a Strength contest, he felt the tension on his body vanish. The backward momentum sent him staggering back several steps.

Half the hem of his jacket lay on the floor. Looking up, he saw Lalai holding a pair of scissors, with bits of fabric still clinging to the serrated blades.

Li Zhu smirked roguishly. “What exactly is our relationship that you’re tearing my clothes off like this?”

In the next second, Lalai grabbed his clothes and yanked him back—rip! The hole in Li Zhu’s jacket instantly grew larger, allowing him to duck just in time to avoid Cheng Lin’s massive, black fist.

Lalai snapped, “Quit the nonsense! Let’s go!”

Cheng Lin let out a few “awoo” bellows. The commotion simultaneously woke the occupants of the other three beds. Their bodies likewise bloated rapidly under the moonlight. Their eerie green eyes locked onto Lalai and Li Zhu. A second later, all three jumped from their beds and lunged at the duo!