Chapter 21: So this is where the trap was waiting for me?

Is this a coincidence? Or can he truly see right through me?

Teacher Yao felt his hand, clutching the ring, go numb. From this student in the ridiculous outfit, he felt a pressure no less intense than that of Principal Wang. The difference was that Principal Wang’s presence was a brute force that made him tremble, while this guy’s unpredictable behavior and his methods of seeing through and manipulating the human heart were so terrifying they made one’s blood run cold.

"Fine... pleasure doing business with you."

Teacher Yao had no choice. Things like this only ever happen zero times or an infinite number of times. Ever since he compromised at the "Little Dark Room" yesterday, it was destined that they were two grasshoppers tied to the same string.

Wu Wang used his "Shadow Combat Technique" to quietly activate the voice recorder in his pocket. *You treat your brother with heart, and your brother plays mind games with you.*

He smiled and asked, "So, which head teacher do you plan to target? Give the student a goal."

The gaunt old man before him blurted out without a moment’s hesitation: "The head teacher of Class Seven! Zhang Yanli!"

"Oh? Why her?"

The question made Teacher Yao’s expression twist into a vicious sneer. "Because she is the only one who threatens my position. Get rid of her, and once the principal is promoted next year, I will be the principal here!"

"Good! As you wish!"

Wu Wang’s smile grew even brighter. Watching the old codger drool over his imagined future, he tapped the table lightly to signal that there was more information yet to be shared.

Teacher Yao snapped back to reality. Like a thief, he peered cautiously out the window, then pulled a blank notebook from his desk and scribbled down information regarding the Art Building:

[The Art Building only appears between 12:00 AM and 3:00 AM.]
[It is located behind the Little Dark Room.]
[One must paint themselves with oil pigments to enter. The only box of pigments is locked in the principal’s office safe; the password is unknown.]
[The principal is not in his office after midnight.]

He stopped writing and looked up at Wu Wang. After about ten seconds, confirming that the other had finished reading, he tore the page off and pointed at the lighter in Wu Wang’s hand.

*Whoosh.*

Another pile of ash.

Teacher Yao bared his teeth—stained yellow by tea and cigarettes—and shrugged. "I have provided what you wanted to know. The rest is up to your own ability. Don’t expect me to go fetch it."

Teacher Yao was clearly referring to the pigment box in Principal Wang’s office. In his view, stealing that item was even more difficult than dragging Liu Yang out of the Little Dark Room. After all, Principal Wang was simply too powerful. Within Gaoshan High, his strength was unrivaled; nothing, animate or inanimate, could oppose him. Being absent from the office did not mean he was off guard. Once exposed, the principal could teleport back to the office in an instant. The result would be certain death.

"I have my own methods. Goodbye."

Before leaving, Wu Wang cast a strange look at the top of Teacher Yao’s head. A line of text hung there, exceptionally glaring:

[He is rooting for your success, yet he also hopes you die inside the principal’s office. He is conflicted.]

Back in his dormitory, Wu Wang locked the door and windows, drew the curtains, and even blocked the observation port on the door with a book to ensure no one could see inside.

He began to undress, removing his fingerless tactical gloves, his military combat uniform, and the bulletproof vest underneath. He revealed the colorful Gaoshan High uniform beneath and rubbed the pigments on it.

"Sure enough, aside from the red, it’s all painted on with oil pigments," he quipped. "So the trap was set here all along, was it?"

He didn’t need to steal the pigments. Just wearing this uniform was enough to enter the Art Building! Why call it a trap?

If his intuition was correct, the reason his main mission differed from everyone else’s was precisely because of this uniform. It wanted him to enter the Art Building! But for what purpose? Wu Wang could not say.

"God of the Abyss, this has something to do with you too, doesn't it?" He turned his wrist to look at the mark Cthulhu had left on him.

At this moment, the red vertical pupil was blinking from time to time, even rotating to survey its surroundings. It was clearly showing signs of life. Furthermore, staring directly at it no longer brought the sense of eerie whispers or sanity loss.

[Eye of Truth (Passive)]
[You are using His vision to see through the truth.]

The information panel hovering above the red pupil read as such. The "Rules Privilege" and "Stupid Curiosity" that had turned Teacher Yao’s face pale were things Wu Wang had only known because those very sentences had been hanging above the man’s head. Coupled with the text he saw before leaving, he was basically certain that the red pupil allowed him to see into others' true inner thoughts.

"So, Gul'dan, what is the price?" Wu Wang used a classic line from World of Warcraft to mock the situation.

Unfortunately, the pupil did not reply.

After a moment of contemplation, he smiled. Whatever the price for this ability might be, it didn't matter for now. Since the mission wanted him to stir things up, he would make the chaos even more thorough! This was a five-player dungeon, after all! He had to make sure they all had a good time!

He quickly put his clothes back on to cover the blood-stained uniform and dashed toward the teaching building. The exam had just begun.

*Bang!*

The door to Class One, Senior Year, was kicked open. The proctor frowned, looking at this student in the strange attire. "Student, what is the meaning of this..."

"Taking the exam! What else, am I here for a buffet?" Wu Wang walked cheerfully back to his seat, picked up the blank test paper on the desk, scanned it quickly, and began to write furiously.

Beside him, Baili Dao was even more confused. *Doesn't this guy have a medical leave slip? You holy student, are you actually here to study and take the test?* He was completely bewildered, but he couldn't afford to slack off on the exam; failing would mean being thrown into the Little Dark Room. He quickly gathered his focus and went back to his own questions.

Time flew by on the test papers.

*Swish.*

Wu Wang stood up abruptly. He grabbed his paper, passed by Baili Dao, and accidentally bumped his desk. Under the watchful eyes of the proctor, he placed his paper on the podium and turned to leave the classroom again.

"Student, what exactly are you trying to do? I’m warning you, this is an exam hall!" The proctor’s tone was no longer friendly. He would punish any student who disrupted the order.

Wu Wang turned around, looking lost. "I’m blind, teacher. I can't see the test paper, so I can't take the exam."

With that, he pulled out his leave slip and poked his fingers into his eye sockets. They were empty. The "Shadow Combat Technique" had long since hidden his eyeballs in a place the proctor couldn't see.

"?"

Now it was the proctor’s turn to be stunned. What was wrong with this guy? Blind and still here to take the exam, scribbling a few lines and wanting to hand it in and leave? Was his brain broken?

"Get out, get out, get out! Don't come back in!"

Faced with the leave slip, the proctor didn't do anything to him, merely chased him out of the exam hall. The whole process seemed utterly nonsensical.

Only Baili Dao knew what had actually happened.

The paper on his desk had changed! It was no longer the blank test paper he had been struggling with, but a paper filled with answers! And there was a small note:

[Meet me in the restroom after you hand in your paper.]

*Gulp.*

Baili Dao swallowed hard. Twenty minutes... Wu Wang had only spent twenty minutes from entering to leaving! This test covered all subjects; with a total score of 100, multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions were 0.2 points each, and even the math and science problems were only 1 point each. Excluding the essay section, the entire test had over three hundred questions. The exam time was five full hours. And he had finished it!?

With a skeptical attitude, Baili Dao gritted his teeth. He handed in his paper and left the exam hall under the proctor’s murderous glare.

"Brother, are you serious? You better have a real emergency, or I’m done for if I tank this exam!" Baili Dao asked helplessly, finding Wu Wang playing with water in the restroom.

However, the response left him dumbstruck.

"Don't worry, I guarantee you’ll get a hundred and be the top of the class. Isn't it obvious that you can see the answers to such simple things at a glance? If you’re slow, that’s your problem, not mine."

"?"

Baili Dao was completely baffled. Recalling the paper he had just held, it seemed... there really were no errors? His expression turned strange as he mentally tagged Wu Wang:

[High-IQ psychopath, excellent potential, worth inviting to the Extraordinary Affairs Bureau, but must be sent to the best psychiatrist for treatment immediately.]

Seeing Baili Dao stunned, Wu Wang walked up to him, wiped his wet hands on the other’s uniform, and said seriously, "I have the leads on the runaway."

"There is a box of oil pigments hidden in the principal’s office safe. After midnight, you guys go steal it and take it behind the Little Dark Room. That will open the entrance to a certain building, and all the clues are inside."

"!"

The news made Baili Dao’s eyes light up. Finally, some real progress! The "certain building" the other spoke of must be the Art Building they had been desperately searching for! But he was still a bit puzzled: "We go steal the pigments? Then what are you doing?"

Wu Wang explained with a firm tone:

"I’m going to the Little Dark Room ahead of time to scout for you. That building is only open for three hours, and I need to make sure there are no accidents like that tentacle ghost appearing again."

Hearing that the other was volunteering for the Little Dark Room, Baili Dao nearly wept. Gathering vital intelligence, actively taking on danger, helping him pass the exam—what was this? This was a good brother! A good teammate!

He took back his previous thoughts. This guy "Wuwang" was actually someone worth relying on!