Read Novel Full Chapter 659
[Ding! Congratulations, player, you have unlocked a side task—”Li Mi’s Troubles 1.]
[Please find out the reason why Li Mi’s graduation project was destroyed.]
[Friendly reminder: Players can investigate in the Music Room, Sports Field, Art Classroom, and Sculpture Studio.]
[This side task will directly affect the main task. Upon completion, players will unlock the next part of the main task. If the player abandons the task, this copy will automatically fail.]
[Accept/Reject]
Since failing the copy is automatic if the task is abandoned, there’s no reason to reject it.
Xia Chi immediately pressed [Accept].
His first investigation point was the music classroom. Following the crowd of students, he entered a tiered music classroom.
On the podium, there was a piano, and the classroom was packed. However, the room was silent, with only the sound of a piano being played by someone on stage.
The person was dressed in a perfectly tailored tailcoat, sitting upright in front of the piano, his face expressionless, exuding an air of indifference and detachment.
The graceful piano music filled the room, and all eyes were locked onto the young man on stage.
Their eyes were intense, admiring, and fervent.
Xia Chi and Tan Yue sat in the far corner of the classroom, blending in with the students.
Xia Chi wasn’t one for appreciating piano music. To him, playing the piano didn’t sound much different from fluffing cotton. As he listened, his eyelids started to droop, and his body swayed slightly as he struggled to stay awake.
Just as Xia Chi’s body was about to slump to one side, a large hand suddenly caught his shoulder and gently pulled him upright and closer.
While everyone else’s attention was focused on the “Piano Prince” on stage, Tan Yue’s gaze remained fixed on Xia Chi.
With his slender fingers propping up his chin, Tan Yue casually studied the drowsy Xia Chi.
He had no interest in this puzzle game at all. After watching Xia Chi like a tiger stalking its prey for so many years, even a wooden block would have figured it out by now. But this guy was like a wooden fish, completely oblivious.
Tan Yue was different from Xia Chi and the others. After leaving the horror game, he hadn’t lost his memories of that time.
The moment he returned to reality, he rushed straight to Xia Chi.
But this kid didn’t remember anything; his memories were still stuck at the time when he was preparing for the police academy entrance exams.
All of his plotting during the horror game had gone to waste.
So he took a different approach. He joined Xia Chi in fitness training and boxing, guiding him step by step, slowly but surely.
Over the course of four years, Xia Chi had become even more handsome. The slightly delicate features he once had became more defined, combining a youthful purity with a masculine strength.
His jawline was sharp, his shoulders broad, and his legs more toned.
His waist was seductive, and his butt was firm.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the classroom. Xia Chi, who was dozing off, frowned and opened his eyes, meeting Tan Yue’s thoughtful gaze.
“What’s going on?” Xia Chi rubbed his eyes, looked toward the stage, and gasped in shock.
At some point, Li Mi had appeared on stage.
The Piano Prince continued playing, while Li Mi crawled on all fours toward the piano and staggered over to cling to him.
The music came to an abrupt halt with a harsh sound, and the Piano Prince stood up and walked away with a cold face.
The desperate Li Mi tried to follow him, pleading as his sobs echoed in the classroom, “Please, just look at me! Can’t you stop ignoring me? Weren’t we best friends? Wuuu”
The classroom was filled with complaints. Someone rushed forward to block Li Mi, and soon the pitiful, tearful Li Mi was surrounded.
“Li Mi, what the hell are you doing? This is blatant harassment! You’ll end up in jail!”
“This is too much! Who let him in here?”
“You’re not welcome here! Get out!”
“Leave, or we’ll beat you!”
“Take a look at yourself, you think someone like you can dream of being with someone like him? What are you, you’re just a disgusting delusional fan! Why don’t you just die already!”
“Aloof Senior was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He’s tall, handsome, smart, and talented—he’s perfect in every way. And you? You’re a poor student, with parents who worked themselves to death just to send you to school. You should be keeping your head down, studying hard, not chasing after stars. Poor people should live the life of the poor. Don’t force your way into a world that doesn’t belong to you!”
“You can see he is so greedy and vain. I think he’s just after Aloof Senior’s wealth and status. He’s trying to use that decent face of his to seduce him.”
“But he’s too greedy! He’s not just after one person, he’s chasing after three!”
“You’re the most annoying person in this entire school.”
Li Mi curled up in the middle of the crowd, twisting his body like some kind of strange stick insect.
Xia Chi listened to the NPC students’ chatter, then leaned over to Tan Yue and whispered, “A ‘decent face’? Where did that come from?”
Tan Yue poked Xia Chi’s temple with his slender finger. “Try setting the horror level to the lowest.”
Xia Chi obediently adjusted the horror level, and the scene before him instantly changed.
The students were still the same, and so was the classroom.
But the Li Mi being surrounded by the students wasn’t the same Li Mi anymore.
In the middle of the crowd was a timid boy dressed in plain clothes, curled up on the ground. His hair was soft and fluffy, his skin milky white, and his facial features were so delicate and beautiful that they looked unreal—he was even more beautiful than the most expensive dolls in a display cabinet.
His lips were a bright red, and he had large, expressive brown eyes that seemed to speak.
At this moment, tears were falling from the corners of his eyes, making him look pitiful and fragile.
Xia Chi felt a sudden stab in his heart, and he almost couldn’t resist the urge to rush in like a hero to save the damsel in distress, to pull Li Mi out of the crowd.
Tan Yue grabbed the eager Xia Chi. “What are you doing?”
Xia Chi pouted, looked at Tan Yue with tear-filled eyes, and tears started to fall uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes as well.
“I…,” he sobbed, clutching his chest, “I don’t know what’s happening. I suddenly feel so sad.”
“Wuuu, poor Li Mi, he’s so pitiful. He can’t finish his graduation project, and everyone in the school hates him and isolates him. I feel so bad for him.”
“…,” Tan Yue sighed. “Let me take you out of here first.”
“Waaahh,” Xia Chi tugged at Tan Yue’s sleeve like a baby, wailing as he followed him out of the classroom.
He cried all the way from one end of the hallway to the other. The eye sockets were red, and he looked like a little rabbit.
Though it sounds a little unkind, it was rather amusing, Tan Yue thought to himself.
“Tan Yue, waaah,” Xia Chi sobbed uncontrollably, “Why am I still crying? Something’s wrong with me.”
Tan Yue: “I think you’ve probably been affected by Li Mi’s passive skill and established an emotional connection with him.”
Xia Chi wiped away the tears on his cheeks with the back of his hand. “What emotional connection?”
Tan Yue: “You’re being influenced by Li Mi’s emotions. When he cries, you cry.”
Xia Chi leaned his head against the wall in despair, feeling like life was meaningless. “What kind of twisted passive skill is this? Sun Ning, what kind of character are you exactly! Waaah.”
Tan Yue secretly licked the corner of his lips where Xia Chi couldn’t see.
Xia Chi slumped against the wall, tilted his head and looked at Tan Yue, who showed no signs of emotion. “Why am I the only one crying?”
Tan Yue: “Because I don’t feel sorry for Li Mi. Do you?”
Xia Chi mumbled, “For a moment, I did.”
Tan Yue chuckled quietly, “Serves you right.”
Xia Chi narrowed his eyes, “What did you say? I didn’t hear that clearly.”
Tan Yue: “Nothing.”
Xia Chi couldn’t stop crying, “Am I going to cry until I’m dehydrated? Waaah.”
[Rest assured, dear player,] Xiao Le’s virtual image suddenly appeared in Xia Chi’s field of vision, [Your consciousness is merely connected to the game world. The crying is just a feeling and won’t affect your physical body in reality. Please don’t worry, and feel free to cry.]
Xia Chi: […] The problem is, I don’t want to cry.
Tired of crying while standing, Xia Chi was dragged by Tan Yue to sit on a stone bench in the corridor.
He cried for two whole hours and it wasn’t until two hours later that he finally stopped, collapsing weakly onto the stone table, completely drained.
“This Li Mi is terrifying,” Xia Chi waved his hand feebly. “I’ve never seen such a mental attack before. It’s like killing someone without leaving a trace.”
He couldn’t understand, “How can he cry this much?”
Tan Yue looked at the despairing boy in front of him leisurely. “I read in a medical book once about a condition called lacrimal incontinence. The person affected would cry with the slightest stimulation. It’s a physical reflex, beyond their control. Li Mi probably has this condition.”
“So that’s why Li Mi keeps crying.” Xia Chi suddenly thought of something and quickly opened the system to reset the horror level back to extreme’.
For the first time in his life, he felt that a more terrifying appearance might actually be better.
[Dear player,] Xiao Le popped up in Xia Chi’s mind again, [Friendly reminder, an important plot point is happening in the art museum right now. Missing it could cause you to lose a vital puzzle clue. Please proceed quickly.]
Supporting his weakened body from all the crying, Xia Chi stood up and followed the system’s map to the art museum.
Say what you will, although he didn’t really recognize Sister Sun Ning anymore, the game’s difficulty was still manageable. At critical moments, the system gave reminders, so there was no need to fear failure because of missing important clues like in the horror game.
Yes, this was just a healthy virtual game—”Yesterday Reappears”.
Not that terrifying horror game anymore.
On his way to the art classroom, Xia Chi opened the system to check his game progress.
[Side task—Li Mi’s Troubles 1]
[Progress: 30%, player has acquired the following clues:]
[1. Poor Li Mi cries a lot. He suffers from lacrimal incontinence.]
[2. Poor Li Mi is hated and isolated by his classmates.]
[3. Poor Li Mi has a passive skill—”Empathy”. When the player feels sympathy for Li Mi, the player will be affected by his emotions.]
There were 48 hours left in the game.
He didn’t know where his brother went. After they got separated in the dark corridor, he hadn’t seen him since.
His brother knew Tan Yue, but Tan Yue probably didn’t know his brother.
He and Bai Lixin entered the horror game at the same time, but by then, Tan Yue had already been killed in the game.
So asking Tan Yue wouldn’t help much.
Xia Chi followed the map and arrived at the art classroom.
The door to the art classroom was tightly shut. He tried to push it open but couldn’t; it was locked.
But the system had hinted that there was an important plot inside the art classroom, so there must be something.
Xia Chi turned and circled around the art classroom, eventually ending up on the lawn outside.
The art classroom was on the first floor. Xia Chi crouched down below the window and quietly peeked his head up.
The curtains in the art classroom were drawn, but not fully. There was a small gap.
Xia Chi pressed his eye to that gap and saw three people inside the art classroom.
One was the piano prince who had angrily left earlier, another was the art prince fiddling with a canvas, and the third was the pitiful, terrifying Li Mi.
Li Mi was sitting on a table covered with a white cloth, awkwardly posing with his hands clasped and his head slightly raised.
He was still crying, with big tears streaming down from his dark, hollow eyes.
Xia Chi subconsciously touched the corner of his own eye.
Dry. Completely dry. Not a trace of moisture.
He had never thought the terrifying Li Mi could be this lovable.
The piano prince sat on a nearby chair, watching Li Mi cry. His eyes showed less coldness now, replaced by a mix of arrogance and obsession.
That gaze wasn’t looking at a person, but more like an object he found enchanting.
On the other side, the art prince sat in front of his canvas. Sunlight spilled onto his white shirt, making him look so pure, as though he were an angel.
The brush in the art prince’s hand moved skillfully across the canvas, spreading paint. Xia Chi gradually made out the outline on the canvas.
He was painting Li Mi, but it wasn’t quite Li Mi.
What appeared on the canvas was a white sculpture. The sculpture’s pose was identical to Li Mi’s, hands clasped and neck slightly raised. The stiff facial features didn’t show much expression, but one could still see the pitiful expression that could make one feel distressed.
Xia Chi stared at the canvas for a moment, and the urge to cry surged up again.
‘Damn it!’
As he silently cried, wiping away his tears, Xia Chi cursed to himself.
‘I prepared for everything but forgot to guard against that painting.’
Who would’ve thought that even Li Mi’s painting could trigger Li Mi’s passive skill?
“Li Mi,” the aloof piano prince suddenly spoke, “Were you scared when I suddenly left the music room just now?”
Li Mi suddenly cried harder, his body twisting in an odd way.
“Wuuu, Aloof Senior, can you not leave me behind again?”
Xia Chi cried even more, his tears streaming down uncontrollably.
Piano Prince: “Do you know what you did wrong?”
Li Mi: “I was wrong. I won’t mention the graduation project again. I’ll be obedient from now on, wuuuu.”
Piano Prince: “You’re wrong again.”
Li Mi’s body shook violently, “I… I…”
Piano Prince: “We’re punishing you not because you wanted to complete your graduation project, but because you tried to escape from us. You belong to the three of us, and you can’t go anywhere except by our side. Understand?”
Li Mi sniffled and nodded, “I understand.”
“Don’t scare Li Mi,” the Art Prince spoke softly, with a smile always lingering at the corner of his mouth, as if he was always in a good mood. “Be good, Li Mi, don’t move anymore. If the painting gets ruined, I’ll have to punish you.”
Li Mi’s body trembled like a sieve, but he still stiffly maintained his pose.
“This won’t do, stop crying, your expression is too ugly.” The Art Prince clicked his tongue, gently placed down his paintbrush, stood up, and walked toward Li Mi, “You keep moving, how am I supposed to paint properly?”
Seeing the Art Prince approaching, Li Mi’s trembling intensified.
Finally, he suddenly let out a sharp scream and scrambled backward on all fours, “I… I know I was wrong! I’ll pose properly. I won’t cry, really! I’m telling the truth. Please, don’t.”
The Art Prince was already standing in front of Li Mi, with the same gentle smile on his face.
The Piano Prince sighed, “Of all the people to provoke, why him?”
The next second, Xia Chi’s vision blurred for a moment.
In a trance, he seemed to hear Li Mi’s desperate screams for mercy.
When his sight returned to normal, Li Mi was bound by bright red strips of cloth and was hanging in midair like a lifeless puppet.
The red cloth crisscrossed above the art classroom, suspending Li Mi in the same pose as before, only this time his body was tightly bound and no longer trembling.
Through his tear-filled eyes, Xia Chi squinted and noticed something wrong.
The cloth wasn’t just wrapped around Li Mi’s wrists. It was more like nails that pierced through his wrists, ankles, thighs, and waist, pinning him in midair like a specimen.
Li Mi maintained his stiff posture, tears flowing endlessly like a spring, falling in large drops from his dark, hollow eyes.
Xia Chi felt that he could not watch anymore, the terrifying Li Mi was truly pitiful.
If Li Mi looked like this under extreme horror, what would he be like in mild horror?
Anyway, he was already affected, so he wasn’t afraid of being triggered by Li Mi’s passive ability anymore.
He adjusted the horror level from extreme back to mild in the system. His vision blurred for a moment, and the scene changed.
The ugly Li Mi in the classroom was gone, replaced by a fragile, crying, beautiful Li Mi.
The red ropes were no longer binding him, nor were they attached to the ceiling.
On Li Mi’s porcelain-white skin, only a few small red flowers were painted with a brush.
The beautiful Li Mi had tears in his eyes, holding a model-like pose.
His arms were stretched out, revealing a section of white arms and calves that looked like lotus roots.
Li Mi wasn’t wearing any shoes. His bare feet were flawless, each toe plump and round, making anyone who saw them want to touch them.
Xia Chi cried as he looked at Li Mi.
Li Mi’s eyes were red, and he was trying hard to hold back his tears, forcing himself to maintain the best expression.
While crying, Xia Chi couldn’t help but think.
The more Li Mi pretended to be strong, the more it stirred people’s desire to control and torment him.
It made one want to pinch his soft, white skin, watching his tears fall one by one like beads, until he lay on the ground helplessly and begging for mercy.
Xia Chi was startled by his own thoughts, and the tears momentarily stopped.
He clutched his wildly beating heart, staring at Tan Yue with teary eyes in disbelief.
“Why did I have such terrifying thoughts just now? That’s so perverted.”
Tan Yue looked confused, “What perverted thoughts? Tell me, maybe I can be a little perverted too.”
“Bah,” Xia Chi cried as he retorted, “What’s wrong with you? Seeing Li Mi like this, do you have no compassion at all? Why aren’t you crying?”
Tan Yue answered straightforwardly, “Why should I cry? Li Mi is just a bunch of data to me.”
Xia Chi was so angry that his tears kept falling, “Tan Yue, your heart is colder than a knife that’s been used to kill fish in a supermarket for ten years!”
Tan Yue: “Thanks for the compliment.”
Xia Chi cried even harder, and in his daze, he heard a strange, abrupt sound.
“Shua—”
He thought about it and realized it sounded like the rustling of paper.
Xia Chi immediately looked around, but besides them and the three people in the classroom, there was no one else.
He glanced back into the classroom. The only thing related to paper was the canvas, but it was firmly fixed on the easel, and wouldn’t make such a sound.
Xia Chi looked at Tan Yue, “Did you hear something strange?”
Tan Yue’s expression became slightly odd, “You crying sounds pretty strange.”
Xia Chi: “…” ‘You better leave before I get the urge to kill.’
Suddenly, Xiao Le’s figure appeared in Xia Chi’s vision: [Hello, player. Congratulations on discovering important information. Your task progress has changed.]
Upon hearing this, Xia Chi immediately opened the task panel, and sure enough, the task progress had changed.
[Side task — Li Mi’s Troubles 1] [Progress: 50% complete. The player has obtained the following clues:]
[1. Poor Li Mi cries a lot. He has a tear incontinence condition.]
[2. Poor Li Mi is hated and isolated by his classmates.]
[3. Poor Li Mi has a passive skill—Empathy. When the player feels sympathy for Li Mi, they will be affected by his emotions.]
[4. A strange sound.]
[5. Li Mi was punished. He seems to be very afraid of the three classmates and their punishments, but everyone seems to enjoy it.]
Xiao Le: [Hello, player. The plot has changed. Hurry to the gym!]
Xia Chi subconsciously looked toward the art room, but it was now empty. The three people who had been inside were gone.
On the easel remained a completed painting. In the painting was a delicate and beautiful porcelain doll, its features identical to the “mild horror” version of Li Mi. The porcelain doll was placed inside a half-open box lined with red velvet, looking exquisite. Beneath its long, fan-like eyelashes were big, watery eyes. Its lips were bright red, and it gazed out of the painting with an innocent and pitiful expression.
Xia Chi’s tears had stopped as well, and the remaining game time in the system had changed from 48 hours to 46 hours.
After taking a few more glances at the painting, he tugged on Tan Yue and headed toward the gymnasium.
Each place had its own character plotline.
As expected, the plot at the gymnasium should be related to the Basketball Prince.
When Xia Chi arrived at the basketball court, it was buzzing with noise and excitement. The atmosphere was lively.
A basketball game was taking place inside, and the audience stands were packed.
Xia Chi was quite interested in basketball, so this time he didn’t hide in the shadows like he had during the previous two events. Since there were no seats, he simply found a spot near the front to stand and watch the game.
He had to admit, the rich and handsome classmate played basketball well.
The two teams were evenly matched. Although the Basketball Prince’s team had a slight advantage, the score gap wasn’t large.
As Xia Chi watched the game, his eyes scanned the basketball court, searching around. Finally, he spotted Li Mi curled up in a corner.
He had forgotten to adjust the horror level, so the Li Mi he saw now was still the beautiful version.
But at least Li Mi wasn’t crying this time. Xia Chi quickly adjusted the system’s horror level to the highest, and only when he saw the terrifying version of Li Mi did he breathe a sigh of relief.
The terrifying Li Mi was so good.
Xia Chi’s gaze toward him became much softer.
Suddenly, there was a whistling sound in his ears. Xia Chi subconsciously turned his head, and a long, slender hand appeared right in front of his face.
The hand was so close it almost touched his face, causing Xia Chi to freeze for a moment.
On the other side of the hand, a basketball that had been rolling at high speed fell from the palm, bouncing several times on the ground before slowly coming to a stop.
Xia Chi frowned as he looked at the ball on the ground, then turned to Tan Yue, “Is your hand okay?”
What was up with that ball? It seemed like it was coming straight for him. If Tan Yue hadn’t blocked it, it would’ve hit him in the face.
Tan Yue retracted his hand and squinted toward the basketball court, his voice turning cold, “I’m fine, but someone is not.”
Xia Chi looked up and saw the Basketball Prince. He was still holding his throwing pose, glaring at him viciously.
These extra chapters are so long. It’s a sweet pain (╥﹏╥)