Fu Mingnan looked at Qi Yangran’s smiling eyes, so close to him. He had long known that this person was intelligent, and he guessed that Qi Yang had already figured some things out, especially since the precautions he had given were not private, but known to every ghost.

Facing Qi Yang’s question, Fu Mingnan also smiled. He didn’t directly answer Qi Yang’s question, but instead posed a counter-question: “What do you think is real?”

Qi Yang had anticipated that Fu Mingnan probably wouldn’t answer him, but he hadn’t really expected an answer from Fu Mingnan anyway.

Qi Yang’s clear and bright gaze moved away from Fu Mingnan’s face, and he stepped back several paces, widening the distance between himself and Fu Mingnan.

The corners of Qi Yang’s mouth, which had been curved in a smile, flattened, and his gaze towards Fu Mingnan gradually grew cold.

“The truth is, I don’t like this place, and… I don’t really like you.”

Fu Mingnan hadn’t expected Qi Yang’s response to be this, which was quite surprising. He thought Qi Yang wouldn’t express his preferences so obviously, especially in front of him, the supervisor, as this place was different from the real world.

On second thought, perhaps this is Qi Yang’s truest side, and it’s what he’s happy to see.

Fu Mingnan hopes that Qi Yang will have no reservations and treat this game as his own territory. He is willing to give Qi Yang more power.

Being told to your face that you’re disliked, most other people would probably show some change in expression, but Fu Mingnan showed no displeasure, and his expression even seemed much kinder than before.

“Many people don’t like me.” Not just people, but many non-human monsters too; they all think he’s too cruel and ruthless.

But if he wasn’t strict, the benefits he gained would be greatly reduced; there was no way to have it both ways.

Whether alive or dead, even in a soul or ghost state, one must be subject to certain restrictions.

Qi Yang glanced at Fu Mingnan. This person had just stomped a ghostly student’s head in front of everyone not long ago. Someone who would fall for such a being probably wasn’t normal either.

Qi Yang wasn’t sure what Fu Mingnan’s intentions were towards him, whether it was simple interest or some other motive. Qi Yang didn’t really care about those things. He seemed easygoing, but in some ways, his personality was quite stubborn. No one could force him to do something he didn’t like.

“They are my friends.” After coldly dropping this sentence, Qi Yang walked into the gym. He saw players carrying basketballs in net bags. The moment he saw the net bags, he realized that perhaps they had misunderstood earlier. The so-called strangulation wasn’t just limited to ropes; any rope-like object could be used.

And those net bags could easily entangle a person’s neck. Qi Yang didn’t say anything, quickly walking over to Du Yong. He reached out and took the net bag from Du Yong’s hand. Holding it, Qi Yang immediately lifted the net bag to examine it closely. Sure enough, at the bottom of the net, he found the number they had been looking for.

“Take the balls out and put them in something else. Put all these net bags away.” The surrounding players didn’t understand Qi Yang’s words at first, but after seeing Qi Yang pour out a basketball, a striking red ‘5’ appeared. Those holding net bags immediately changed their expressions, as if they had touched a hot potato, and instantly threw both the net bags and the basketballs away.

Some of the originally invisible ghosts, whose job it was to wrap their nets around players’ necks when they weren’t looking and hoist them high into the air, were discovered by the players before they could act stealthily, due to the numbers beneath their nets. The invisible ghosts quietly glanced at the supervisor, who could see them but made no move. One ghost thought this meant the supervisor tacitly approved of their free action. A ghost began to approach Qi Yang; this human player was the first to find the numbers, and he was too clever. If he survived this game, many might clear it. The ghost, jealous of such cleverness, reached out to snatch the net basket from Qi Yang’s hand, intending to wrap the net around Qi Yang’s neck and strangle him. However, before the ghost’s hand could touch the back of Qi Yang’s neck, he suddenly became completely immobile.

Then his eyeballs bulged out. He opened his mouth wide, wanting to scream, but his mouth was already tightly covered by an invisible hand. That invisible hand lifted the ghost into the air and dragged it rapidly backward. The other ghosts, whether invisible or not, all witnessed this scene, but no one made a sound. Everyone just watched, and some of Qi Yang’s classmates even had schadenfreude expressions on their faces.

“Seeking death.” A beautiful female NPC sneered softly. The information given was so obvious, yet the other party still didn’t know it was Qi Yang. To lay hands on Qi Yang right in front of the supervisor, such intelligence was superfluous even for living. The female NPC was happy to watch the show.

The ghost was caught by Fu Mingnan and brought before him. Qi Yang, standing in the middle of the gym, vaguely felt something approaching from behind. He turned his head but saw nothing. The dangerous aura that had been closing in instantly vanished. Qi Yang frowned slightly. He turned his gaze back to Fu Mingnan, whose lips were calm, showing no abnormalities. It was just that the other party’s right hand movement was a bit strange, in a gripping posture, as if holding something, but it was empty inside.

Qi Yang turned his head away, perhaps he was overthinking.

After Qi Yang’s gaze shifted away, Fu Mingnan slowly lowered his head. The ghost he had dragged over from a distance was now slumped on the ground in his right hand. Its uncovered eyes were wide with terror, looking up at him with a pained and pleading expression.

Pleading for what? For him to spare its life?

Fu Mingnan privately thought that losing one or two of these clueless idiots was absolutely no problem.

Moreover, it ignored his orders. Anyone with a bit of sense should have seen that his treatment of Qi Yang was different from that of other players. If it couldn’t even see that, it was better for it to disappear sooner rather than later.

Since it was already in a soul state, that was even better. A small wisp of black smoke emerged from Fu Mingnan’s right palm. The moment the black smoke appeared, it instantly enveloped the ghost’s entire body. The ghost was wrapped in the black smoke, its screams swallowed. The black smoke violently shifted and twisted. In a few seconds, the black smoke silently returned to Fu Mingnan’s hand. Fu Mingnan’s lips curved into a gentle smile, but a fierce killing intent suddenly flashed in his eyes.

Fu Mingnan’s prominent Adam’s apple subtly bobbed, as if he had swallowed something. No players noticed, except for the surrounding ghosts.

The ghosts all quietly took a step back. The power of the supervisor was something they, as ordinary ghosts, could not match. It was estimated that even if everyone present attacked together, they would not be a match for the supervisor.

The players didn’t know what had happened right under their noses. After taking the basketballs out of the basket, there were many people in the gym, so everyone simply carried them in their hands. As for the tennis rackets, they didn’t bother with bags and just held them.

Yi Xinming and Xu Yang collected all the baskets and put them into a nearby box, then weighed them down with something after they were packed.

The players walked out of the gym with their balls. Qi Yang was the last one out. As he passed Fu Mingnan, Qi Yang paused slightly. Fu Mingnan’s gaze fixed on Qi Yang’s face. Qi Yang turned his head and looked at him as if he were a stranger. Fu Mingnan smiled gently. Qi Yang didn’t say a word, turned his head, and walked away quickly. Fu Mingnan watched Qi Yang’s retreating figure from behind. A few seconds later, he turned back to look at the ghosts in the gym. All the ghosts were silent as cicadas in winter.

Back on the playground, the PE teachers from several classes watched as everyone returned, none missing. Their expressions subtly changed, and they naturally looked towards Fu Mingnan behind them. Fu Mingnan’s eyes were deep black, for a moment seemingly impenetrable to any light. The other ghost students remained silent, and their demeanor clearly showed fear or apprehension. The teachers probably attributed this to Fu Mingnan, which prevented this unexpected incident from occurring again.

They didn’t care anyway; if the higher-ups wanted to investigate, they would just push all the blame onto Fu Mingnan. The supervisor’s power was so great that they couldn’t easily shake it. If there was accountability, it would be Fu Mingnan’s.

There are currently eleven players still alive in this round, which is an unprecedentedly high survival rate.

However, everyone guessed that this would probably be the only time, as there was a very special person among the players in this round, so special that the highest-ranking person had explicitly stated not to do anything to harm him.

The gymnasium passed without incident, and the subsequent physical education classes were naturally uneventful.

Nothing happened all afternoon. The ghost students’ face changes in class were something everyone had grown accustomed to. Some pretended not to see, and when they did, they’d mentally reassure themselves, ‘It’s okay, they wouldn’t really pounce on us.’ Plus, they weren’t alone; there were other players in their companion classes, so everyone could look out for each other.

The number 5 appeared, and next should be 6 to 9. Qi Yang recorded the remaining death scenarios in his notebook. All the players except Qi Yang hoped that these incidents would occur during evening classes, not when they were sleeping at night. At night, everyone was in different dorms, and the dorms were soundproofed, so sounds seemingly couldn’t carry between them.

As it turned out, all four classes that evening concluded without incident.

Eleven players walked together towards the dormitory. Among them were a few who had followed Huang Qian that afternoon. At the time, they had some issues with Qi Yang, but then almost lost their lives. Now, in Qi Yang’s group, none of them spoke much, but each still had their own little thoughts.

Someone showed a frightened expression. He walked up to Qi Yang and asked in a pleading tone if he could sleep in Qi Yang’s dorm tonight.

Qi Yang looked at the person. The other’s face looked quite gentle, but no matter how much he tried to hide it, his eyes couldn’t completely conceal a hint of cunning. Qi Yang replied indifferently, “I like to sleep alone. I don’t like having someone next to me.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I can even sleep on the floor.” This person had concluded that Qi Yang’s identity was definitely more than just a player. From yesterday to today, whenever there was danger and Qi Yang was present, the crisis seemed to be instantly resolved. Therefore, he now believed that as long as he followed Qi Yang, he would definitely clear the game successfully.

Qi Yang’s eyes narrowed slightly. If he were to sleep on the floor, as long as it didn’t affect his normal rest, it would be fine.

“If you don’t mind sleeping on the hard ground, feel free,” Qi Yang said, not caring what ulterior motives this person might have. Even the ghosts didn’t dare to lay a hand on him, and wouldn’t even come too close. He didn’t believe a human could harm him.

Du Yong, walking to Qi Yang’s left, let out a scoff. Qi Yang looked over at Du Yong after hearing the sound, and Du Yong immediately put on an innocent expression, as if he hadn’t done anything. When it came to closeness and distance, between Du Yong and the player who had suddenly approached, Qi Yang would definitely choose Du Yong. However, at this moment, Qi Yang wouldn’t actively tell Du Yong that he cared more about him.

If he were to say it, Qi Yang was afraid that Du Yong would become arrogant.

The players saw someone actively squeezing into Qi Yang’s dorm, and another person immediately ran over. Qi Yang’s meaning was that as long as they didn’t disturb his sleep, he didn’t care if they wanted to sleep under the bed.

No one went to sleep under the bed. Someone also ran to Yi Xinming’s dorm. There was already one less player in his dorm, and that bed was empty, so another person went, and the two squeezed onto one bed to sleep.

The girls discussed it and decided that they would be able to look out for each other if they stayed together. So, they all gathered in one dorm room, with the girls sleeping two to a bed. They were all slender, not as tall and bulky as the boys, so sleeping on one bed didn’t feel too crowded.

The players who were sleeping on the floor moved their bedding and mats over. After the lights were out, they lay on the floor. At Qi Yang’s spot, two people were lying on the floor. One person had drunk too much water before bed and couldn’t hold it in, needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. That person got up, opened the door, and the hallway was dimly lit and empty, making it a bit scary. However, that person was really uncomfortable from holding it in, and finally couldn’t resist going to the bathroom.

And that person never returned after going out.

The next day, the other person who had slept on the ground got up to pee. After finishing, the player turned around, humming a song and zipping up his pants. But before he could finish zipping, he suddenly stared at a spot, his expression one of utter horror.

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