Chapter 62: ?? World (6)

Saturday arrived quickly, marking the start of the academy performance the players had prepared for.

Lin Yuetian had a very fulfilling week. First, there was Wang Yunzhi. Wang Yunzhi frequently tried to find him and explain things, but every time, the system would narrate an entire monologue about Lin Yuetian’s sorrowful state of mind. Lin Yuetian had heard it so often that he had become desensitized to the dramatic narration. By now, he was handling it with ease—whenever Wang Yunzhi approached, he would stubbornly repeat phrases like “I won’t listen, I won’t listen! I don’t believe you! I saw it with my own eyes, you must be lying to me!” If that wasn’t enough to block Wang Yunzhi’s explanation, he would simply run away, never allowing the misunderstanding to be cleared up.

As for Su Huaiyu, by now, he must have realized that Lin Yuetian and Wang Yunzhi were the original protagonists of this novel. Perhaps believing that Lin Yuetian was deliberately targeting him, he had mostly stayed away and showed no intention of explaining anything. Even when they occasionally crossed paths in the hallway—despite being in adjacent classes—Su Huaiyu would turn around and leave immediately.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuetian spent a lot of time helping the players set up the venue for the academy performance.

The venue was on the first floor of the school gymnasium, and it was decorated beautifully. These players must have in-game currency or something similar, as they not only bought all sorts of decorations but also made significant modifications—such as when one player, following Lin Yuetian’s casual suggestion, went all out and carpeted the entire gymnasium floor with plush carpeting. Apparently, there was a reason for their extravagance—they seemed to be competing over something called Contribution Points.

Though Lin Yuetian didn’t do much, the tasks he completed were crucial.

On Saturday morning, just before the academy performance, Lin Yuetian did three things.

First, he sent Wang Yunzhi a message, asking him to come to the gymnasium, saying he was finally willing to listen to his explanation.

Second, he used his hacking skills to send Su Huaiyu an anonymous text message:

“Do you want to go home? Your real home. If you do, come to the gymnasium.”

These two things were in line with the revenge plot that Lin Yuetian had been building up, so the system’s narration didn’t interfere.

And the third thing—just before the performance began, Lin Yuetian performed the Ghost Refining Technique in the gymnasium’s restroom.

Of course, he didn’t randomly kill anyone. The system had repeatedly narrated that, even if the original character wanted revenge on Wang Yunzhi and Su Huaiyu, he wouldn’t resort to senseless killing. Lin Yuetian had no objections to this, so he simply picked a dead cockroach—something that could be found in any dormitory—and used it for the Ghost Refining Technique.

He didn’t care what the result would be. This time, he wasn’t performing the Ghost Refining Technique to create a ghost—he was performing the Ghost Refining Technique for the sake of performing it. Naturally, such a casual ritual wouldn’t produce anything. But ghost refining was undoubtedly a supernatural ability, and the only tool the Infinite Stream challengers had was a device that detected supernatural energy locations. So, their detector would truthfully indicate the gymnasium’s location.

After completing these three tasks, Lin Yuetian returned to the players and watched their performances, acting appropriately anxious yet pleased to fit his persona.

Su Huaiyu was the first to arrive. He looked around nervously, seemingly searching for someone.

Next came the whispering Infinite Stream challengers. They had disguised their identities and explained to the players that they were teachers coming to watch the performance. The players were quite happy to chat with these “NPCs” while speculating about what the game expansion pack’s content and style would be—since that determined the game’s overall genre. Lin Yuetian also noticed that the Infinite Stream challengers and the game players couldn’t hear each other’s conversations.

Lin Yuetian waited silently until Wang Yunzhi finally appeared in the gymnasium. Wang Yunzhi walked straight up to him and said softly, “I want to explain everything to you…”

Wang Yunzhi had been utterly tormented this past week. In his previous life, he had watched as the original Lin Yuetian jumped to his death right in front of him. It wasn’t until he lost him that he realized, through his own unbearable arrogance, that he had long since fallen in love with him. The intense pain and regret had left him in a daze every single day. But fortunately, fate had given him another chance to start over. He had finally gotten together with Lin Yuetian again, and this time, he was determined to stay with him.

But just when everything seemed to be going well, this misunderstanding happened.

Lin Yuetian refused to listen to his explanations, had already condemned him, and had completely cut him off. Wang Yunzhi had spent the entire week emotionally exhausted, clinging to this opportunity to explain like a drowning man grasping at a lifeline.

Lin Yuetian didn’t even need the system’s narration to cue his persona. He immediately spoke in a voice filled with despair, anger, and resentment:

“Even now, you’re still lying to me…”

The system, determined to disgust Lin Yuetian as much as possible, enthusiastically narrated on its own:

“The moment this heartless man appeared before Lin Yuetian, it felt as if he had been punched in the gut—painful, resentful, utterly heartbroken. He didn’t understand… Why could this man lie so righteously? He had seen it with his own eyes! Did this man really think he was so easy to deceive…?!”

Wang Yunzhi: “No! Yuetian! Listen to me—”

“I won’t listen,” Lin Yuetian said.

A reborn man, a transmigrator, game players, and Infinite Stream challengers. All kinds of protagonists had gathered, the stage was fully set, and a dazzling academy performance was now ready to unfold.

Lin Yuetian walked to the gymnasium entrance. Using a key he had tricked the players into letting him keep during the setup process, he locked the only exit. Then, he bent down and slid the key under the door, straight outside.

The door was now completely locked.

“? What are you doing?” Some of the Infinite Stream challengers had noticed his actions.

Lin Yuetian ignored them entirely and walked straight to the drinks table—something he had insisted on setting up. Normally, due to legal restrictions on minors drinking, the event wouldn’t have had so much alcohol available. But thanks to his persistence, there were now plenty of drinks—including some particularly strong liquors.

He shouted at Wang Yunzhi, “How dare you treat me like this?! If you don’t like me, just reject me! Why do you have to do this to me?! Am I that cheap?! Wang Yunzhi! Do you think I won’t get angry?!”

At the same time, he yanked the tablecloth away with a swift motion! The bottles crashed onto the floor, shattering instantly. Alcohol seeped into the plush carpet, slowly spreading.

The players were startled, but soon, many of them started gathering around for the drama.

“Is this part of the storyline?”

“Hey, are you okay?”

“What’s going on, man? Tell us about it!”

“Listen to me!” Wang Yunzhi was also agitated, shouting in a strained voice.

“As the saying goes, ‘a love as deep as the ocean breeds hatred just as deep.’ At this moment, years of hidden affection, mixed with the image in Lin Yuetian’s mind—the scene of Su Huaiyu and Wang Yunzhi lying in the same bed—had turned into a slap across his face. Why? Why does it hurt even more to lose something after having it, rather than never having it at all…”

The system started pouring on the melodrama.

Lin Yuetian, however, felt the emotions had built up enough.

Enough talk—actions speak louder.

So he pulled out a lighter, flicked it on, and tossed it onto the ground!

The flames instantly spread along the alcohol-soaked, highly flammable plush carpet!

From the moment he first discovered that the old gymnasium was made entirely of wood, with no windows on the first floor and only a single main entrance, Lin Yuetian had thought this was the perfect way to get rid of all these outsiders in one go.

Let the dazzling flames consume everything.

The players didn’t seem to mind too much—perhaps the game had pain settings turned way down, so they didn’t even feel agony. Most of them simply accepted their fate in a “So this game is actually a school-life tragedy” kind of way, happily turning into burning figures and treating the whole thing as an expansion pack reveal. Some even took the chance to start PvP fights in the chaos. A few merely commented, “Wow, didn’t expect that,” or, “Damn, dark-mode protagonist is three times as strong.”

Meanwhile, the Infinite Stream challengers, after repeatedly failing to break down the door (Lin Yuetian had convinced another player to spend in-game currency to reinforce it), realized that rather than dying here meaninglessly, it was better to exit the world and regroup. So, one by one, they vanished.

Inside the gymnasium, aside from the joyfully burning (and PvPing) players, only Su Huaiyu, Wang Yunzhi, and Lin Yuetian remained.

“Hah, at this point, there’s no need for narration anymore—the outcome is decided,” the system said. “Man, I was about to explode! You have no idea how much I wanted to roast you!”

Lin Yuetian chuckled at that. Carefully stepping over the flames, he approached the terrified Su Huaiyu.

“Su Huaiyu, I was the one who called you here.”

Before Su Huaiyu could respond, Lin Yuetian continued, “The fact that you came here already answers the question in a way, but I’ll ask anyway—do you want to go home?”

Surrounded by fire, Su Huaiyu had been panicked, but at this moment, his expression turned bitter and resigned. He nodded. His voice was hoarse:

“Traveling to another world isn’t as fun as I imagined… My family and friends are all… waiting for me back in my original world. I really want to go home. In this world, I can’t find a real home.”

Lin Yuetian pulled out a fruit knife.

“I’m a professional,” he said gently, the firelight casting a warm glow on his face—warm, like death itself. “It won’t hurt.”

A flash of silver.

Su Huaiyu collapsed, his expression seemingly peaceful.

Behind him, Wang Yunzhi screamed, “Yuetian, you—you were reborn too…? I’ve been wanting to tell you—I’m sorry…”

“I’m not a reincarnator,” Lin Yuetian said, walking toward Wang Yunzhi, who seemed to have lost all will to resist. His voice was sincere, as was his confusion.

“…Actually, I never understood—why did you get a second chance, but he didn’t? I also don’t understand—what’s the point of making amends to someone who hasn’t even experienced the hurt yet? If they’ve gone through different experiences, to the point their personalities might change, are they really the same person anymore? I don’t understand—is your guilt born from love, or just self-satisfaction?

“But most of all… if you really regretted it so much, if you loved him so much… why didn’t you treat him well from the start?”

But Lin Yuetian didn’t get an answer.

He shrugged, not bothering to dwell on it.

Lifting his hand swiftly, the blade traced a cold line across Wang Yunzhi’s throat.