Yu Deng's criticisms of Lin Qinxu's inadequacy gave him a sudden burst of inspiration. Rarely so articulate, he scolded with increasing fluency.
"Anyway, you're just not good! Look, my skin here is all red because of you. It's your fault—your hands are so rough and heavy!"
Yu Deng huffed a few times and pointed at the flesh of his leg.
Lin Qinxu might look refined, but his hands were anything but. And in certain situations, he couldn't control his strength. His touch was far heavier than any other man Yu Deng had ever encountered.
Such tender, sensitive places being rubbed by coarse fingers naturally led to unbearable tingling—perhaps even a trace of discomfort.
Moreover, when Lin Qinxu had been "serving" him earlier, it wasn't just that spot—he had also continuously stroked the nearby leg muscles, leaving them red as well.
It left Yu Deng unable to immediately put his school uniform pants back on. For now, he could only rely on the loose hem of his oversized school jacket to cover himself.
Yu Deng, annoyed, pointed accusingly at his reddened skin, his gaze full of reproach. As he moved, a glimpse of lightweight fabric patterned with cat paw prints peeked out.
Completely unaware of the increasingly dark glint in Lin Qinxu's eyes, Yu Deng continued to berate him.
"And my mouth is sore too... How could you bite so hard? Your technique is awful!"
At this point, Yu Deng's voice even carried a hint of grievance.
After all, just this morning, Lu Yan had bitten him and broken the skin. And now, by evening, Lin Qinxu had kissed his lips again.
They were swollen now from being "eaten" so much.
Yu Deng muttered complaints under his breath, launching into a string of reprimands. By the time he'd tired himself out and stopped, he glanced provocatively at the man he had bound.
Hmph! With the way I've been so freely disparaging him, my side quest has to be complete by now.
"..."
The school doctor lying on the infirmary bed endured the scolding obediently without a single rebuttal. His breathing, however, grew slightly heavier.
No one likes to be told by their beloved that they're inadequate.
But Lin Qinxu wasn't upset in the conventional sense. Instead, he seemed more and more excited, eager to prove to his dissatisfied, beautiful treasure that he was, in fact, quite capable.
After a moment, with his hands still restrained, Lin Qinxu lifted his head to look up at Yu Deng.
"So, in my baby's eyes, I'm this bad?" His gaze locked onto Yu Deng, his expression filled with feigned despondency. "Didn't I make you feel even a little bit comfortable?"
If one ignored Lin Qinxu's gentle and refined demeanor, it would be easy to notice his tall stature, robust muscles, and inherently aggressive, handsome appearance.
And now, this man—like a wild beast—was held in place by a flimsy strap, creating a peculiar sense of contrast.
Yu Deng swayed unsteadily on his feet, looking down at Lin Qinxu. After a moment's hesitation, he murmured, "Um..."
Lin Qinxu continued to wear an utterly dejected expression. "But baby, you were clearly urging me to continue earlier. I thought I was at least making you feel a little better. Was I just imagining it?"
Yu Deng bit his lip. His face was still tinged with a rosy hue, his eyelashes glistening with unshed tears, and the corners of his eyes carried the languidness of post-pleasure.
Although Lin Qinxu's rough fingertips had hurt him a little, things did get... a bit better later.
"Maybe a little, but just a tiny bit!" Yu Deng gestured with his fingers to indicate it was only a minuscule amount, adamant about not letting Lin Qinxu feel smug. "And it's still not as good as what others can do!"
Others?
Lin Qinxu's gaze turned instantly darker, though his tone remained soft and full of disappointment. "Baby, who else?"
Yu Deng froze for a second, unable to recall who exactly. He'd encountered so many men, and his memory wasn't great—it would be exhausting to remember them all.
"Why are you asking so much? There are others, that's all."
Yu Deng muttered vaguely, then stomped a few times on Lin Qinxu's firm chest.
However, this time, his stomps were a bit too exaggerated, causing him to lose his balance and wobble forward unsteadily before sitting down awkwardly.
Lin Qinxu instinctively moved to steady him.
The restraint straps that securely bound Yu Deng were no different from paper for Dr. Lin.
He almost tore them off in one swift motion but stopped just in time, remembering that Yu Deng would probably be upset if he broke them so easily.
Dr. Lin paused and said softly, "...Be careful."
After toppling over, Yu Deng found himself sitting on Dr. Lin's lap. He blinked in confusion for a few seconds before unreasonably blaming the situation on Dr. Lin.
"Why are your muscles so tense... It's like sitting on a rock. It's exhausting stepping on you, and I almost fell because of it."
Dr. Lin obediently admitted fault. "Mm, it's my fault. Don't be angry. Would you like to step on me a few more times?"
He quite enjoyed being stepped on and wouldn't mind if it happened again.
"No, I'm tired of stepping on you." Yu Deng refused. He then instructed Dr. Lin to sit up straight and adopt a more proper posture to reflect on his actions. Dr. Lin obediently complied with every directive.
The once humble assistant helping with lesson preparations had now transformed into a little boss who could command Dr. Lin.
Dr. Lin lowered his head submissively and asked, "Are you somewhat satisfied now, darling?"
"Hmm, I suppose it's passable. Oh, by the way..." Yu Deng suddenly remembered the special task he hadn't made any progress on. "Lin Qinxu, will you listen to me in the future?"
"Of course. Am I not listening to you right now?"
Yu Deng shook his head. "That's not what I mean."
"Oh? Then tell me what you mean, darling." Dr. Lin tilted his head slightly, his expression earnest and attentive.
Yu Deng placed his hand on Dr. Lin's chest, leaned in a little closer, and began to explain. "I mean doing exactly what I say, following all my instructions. Like just now, when I told you to be gentler, you weren't supposed to..."
Yu Deng's voice suddenly trailed off mid-sentence.
He froze in place. "Why are you..."
This scoundrel of a school doctor, even after being scolded for so long... How could he still dare to stand at attention beneath him?
"Ah, I'm sorry." Dr. Lin's voice had dropped to a husky tone. "Darling, considering how obedient I've been, won't you help me out?"
Yu Deng adamantly refused.
He wasn't inexperienced! He knew that whenever these men said they needed help with this sort of thing, it always ended with his arms aching so much he couldn't lift them.
No way was he going to help. He wasn't even going to pay attention to this scoundrel anymore. He'd just focus on his task; he was sure he'd complete it sooner or later!
"Don't move." Yu Deng ordered sternly, his expression serious. "Stay right here, and don't disturb me."
Dr. Lin lowered his gaze. "Then what am I supposed to do? Suppressing this kind of situation is very uncomfortable."
Yu Deng ignored him. "Just bear with it for a while."
After saying that, Yu Deng climbed off Dr. Lin, wobbled slightly, and left the hospital bed. Dr. Lin sighed, his eyes filled with turbulent emotions, but in the end, he obediently stayed put.
Yu Deng struggled to pull on his slightly wrinkled school uniform pants and then made his way over to the office desk.
The documents he had been reviewing earlier were now spread out on the desk. To his dismay, there was less than an hour left before evening self-study ended. He had to hurry and finish reading the remaining files and reports!
The stack of papers on the desk was piled as high as a small mountain. Yu Deng resisted with all his heart, but this was a solo quest. Reluctantly, he frowned and continued flipping through the remaining documents.
Ugh, he really didn't want to use his brain.
With experience now on his side, Yu Deng knew how to identify the key points, significantly speeding up his reading.
Page after page turned as Yu Deng scanned reports detailing the outcomes of stricter management measures over the past few months. Despite some difficulties and initial resistance, the overall results aligned with expectations. In the attached photos, the students' smiles appeared stiff, and the bright campus increasingly resembled a factory.
He then opened the statistical report for his class. The names listed were indeed his classmates, and at the top was Lu Yan's name. The records showed that his class had achieved the best management outcomes and academic performance.
Flipping through a few more files, Yu Deng finally came across something different. His reading slowed as he focused intently on the contents of these encrypted reports.
[On X month 17th, a student from Class 5 of Grade 12, XXX, allegedly jumped from the school building due to poor academic performance. Emergency treatment failed, resulting in death.]
[On X month 24th, a student from Class 8 of Grade 12, XX, allegedly... following an argument with a classmate...]
[On X month 29th...]
Yu Deng's eyes widened as he realized several subsequent reports detailed cases of student suicides, all within a short time frame.
This period seemed to coincide with three months after the reforms were implemented. Was it due to overly strict management, or had something else happened?
Just as he was about to put the document down, he noticed something odd about the texture.
Huh? Why did this file folder feel so strange? It seemed thicker than it should be...
Yu Deng hesitated for a moment, recalling scenes from movies he'd seen. Clumsily, he tore open the file folder and, sure enough, found several old, torn sheets of paper inside. They looked like pages ripped from a diary that had been confiscated and passed around. There were also several screenshots of what seemed to be a website interface printed out—likely the school's forum.
Gently, Yu Deng unfolded the worn pages, his eyes landing on the chaotic handwriting scrawled across them.
[Another classmate is gone. My god...]
[I'm so tired. No matter how hard I study, I can't keep up with the others. I'm so, so tired!!]
[Why is it that only the top ten students in the grade get access to hot water? I feel so discriminated against.]
[Doesn't anyone think things are getting stricter and stricter? Even small mistakes get us sent to the reflection room.]
[I feel like I can't control my emotions anymore. I don't know if it's because I'm not in a good state or because I've been told too many times to treat my classmates as competitors, but earlier, when I saw one of the top students in our class, I had some really bad thoughts...]
[Weren't they supposed to adjust the school rules? Wait, are these really the rules now?]
[I'm sorry. I don't want to be punished, so XXX, you'll have to take my place.]
The content on these pages wasn't about a single event. The information was disorganized but incredibly dense, filled with suffocating and hopeless emotions that seemed to leap off the paper. Yu Deng read the horrifying words slowly, feeling their weight with each line.
At a certain point, the writing became so chaotic it was almost impossible to understand. A large number of students suddenly exhibited inexplicable abnormalities. Or perhaps, the school itself had begun to change.
Yu Deng painstakingly finished reading all the files, his head crammed with information as he struggled to piece it together bit by bit.
It seemed like he could now string the clues together. Yu Deng began to organize his thoughts from the start, counting on his fingers as he went.
Initially, Guihuai High School had been like most prestigious schools, producing many outstanding students. However, in certain years, overall performance dipped, prompting reforms in discipline and teaching methods.
Such measures inevitably had both advantages and disadvantages, and the suicides were a glaring example of the downsides.
The turning point came three months later, just as the students were nearing their breaking point. It was as if some unspeakable force had intervened. All the despair and unreasonable aspects of the school became magnified, growing distorted and terrifying.
What appeared before the players now was this eerie, abnormal school.
At this point in his thoughts, Yu Deng paused.
This sudden shift into an uncontrollable situation felt strangely familiar...
Yu Deng shook his head and continued combining the background he had sorted out with the abnormalities he had sensed in school over the past few days, listing the things that seemed off.
First, there was the issue with the school itself. The harsh school rules had turned into life-threatening regulations, almost like something out of a horror story about rules.
Secondly, the students, like puppets, pursued grades to a pathological extent. The teachers and students here were in a terrifying state during exams, classes, and meetings.
Since grades had become an obsession, the first hierarchy emerged. Good students received preferential treatment from the school and teachers, so a natural food chain formed between the top and bottom students.
Based on these privileges, and the harsh rules that could lead to death, a second hierarchy emerged, which was bullying.
In this distorted environment, the lower-performing students, who didn't get any special treatment for their grades, had to find other ways to gain standing. Perhaps it was through fighting skills, family background, or appearance—either way, bullying was allowed, and positions in the food chain could be flipped.
As for the main function of the second food chain, it seemed to be... forcing the weaker ones to take the punishment for others?
Yu Deng could only think of this purpose based on the information, though there might be other details he hadn't discovered yet.
He thought that in a real high school, such food chains would definitely be prohibited, but here, they had already become the accepted rules, the ones everyone subconsciously thought were right.
When Yu Deng reached this point in his thoughts, he suddenly recalled that Lu Yan was ranked first in the grade, but because of his poor family background, some students were resentful. For example, they had even used this point to threaten him at the beginning...
So, did the so-called overall ranking refer to the combination of these two food chains?
If that was the case, then his main mission to become one of the top three in the grade might not be achievable through grades alone.
Was he supposed to figure out the rules of these two food chains, then stand at the top, or maybe... break these distorted things?
Yu Deng's mind began to spin as he thought about this. His head was starting to throb faintly. He struggled to summarize everything and, uncertainly, asked, "System, my reasoning... should be fine, right?"
System 01 didn't explicitly say anything but praised him sincerely:
[Host, your progress is remarkable. You're very impressive.]
Yu Deng blinked, and soon after, a series of system notifications rang out.
[Ding. Congratulations, player Yu Deng, for unlocking hidden rule: The two-tier hierarchy of Guihuai High School.]
[Ding. Congratulations, player Yu Deng, for discovering the background of Guihuai High School.]
[Beep, beep—Data check in progress... Parameters adjusting... ]
[Please note, player Yu Deng, that the dungeon is about to enter the second stage.]
Yu Deng felt his vision blur. "??!!"
Again, the second stage!
The clock on the wall of the school clinic ticked loudly, its sound especially clear. The temperature seemed to drop significantly, and the air was filled with an oppressive and eerie atmosphere.
On the hospital bed, Lin Qinxu, who had been restrained, stared intently at Yu Deng, his gaze locked on the adorable way Yu Deng furrowed his brows in thought.
But as Yu Deng deduced the truth of the dungeon, Lin Qinxu's aura subtly changed, becoming colder and more unpredictable. His unhealthy obsession became more apparent.
Lin Qinxu watched Yu Deng, as if gazing at his most beloved treasure.
The bell for the evening self-study rang faintly from the direction of the teaching building, and at the same time, the system announcement of the dungeon rang again.
[Ding. Please note, player Yu Deng, the dungeon has officially entered the second stage.]
Yu Deng shivered slightly, feeling a bit cold, and turned to look at Lin Qinxu. "Lin Qinxu, why did it suddenly get colder?"
"The temperature difference is large at night, it's normal," Lin Qinxu smiled. "Darling, I've been reflecting for an hour, can I come down now?"
"Oh... I guess so." Yu Deng, still feeling a bit groggy, replied slowly, and lazily went over to untie the restraints.
Lin Qinxu gracefully left the bed. His peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Yu Deng's phone, which was casually placed on the table.
Yu Deng hadn't set a password for the phone, and the screen had lit up several times earlier. Lin Qinxu noticed that it was a message from a boy named Lu Yan. Oh, now that Zhuang Lin was also sending messages.
The mixture of anxiety and obsession made Lin Qinxu unusually irritated.
Yu Deng didn't notice that Lu Yan had messaged him. Unable to get a reply, Lu Yan simply called.
Yu Deng answered the call in confusion. "Ah, class is already over? I didn't hear the bell."
The door to the school clinic was closed by Lin Qinxu, and the curtains were tightly drawn. Yu Deng had no idea what was happening outside.
"Yeah, class is over," Lu Yan's voice came from the other end. "Are you still in the clinic? I'll come pick you up."
"Yeah, I'm here, Lu Yan," Yu Deng, already exposed as a bad student, called out to his desk mate, then said confidently, "Have you finished your homework? You're going to let me copy it."
"Finished."
After answering the phone, Yu Deng ignored Lin Qinxu, who was beside him.
Lin Qinxu sneered inwardly. Those boys were really an eyesore.
[Detected violent energy fluctuations — mission target showing destructive intent.]
Yu Deng's attention was momentarily diverted by the system's electronic prompt, and he turned to look at the other person in the office.
Lin Qinxu had somehow moved behind him and was now wrapping his arms around his waist.
With Yu Deng's confused gaze, Lin Qinxu lowered his head and bit Yu Deng's neck lightly, his teeth grazing gently, creating a faint itch.
"Ugh... Lin Qinxu!"
His soft voice dragged out the sound, trembling slightly, tinged with a faint hoarseness as if about to cry.
Yu Deng shivered, extremely displeased. He turned his head to scold Lin Qinxu, "What, why are you being so rough..."
He bit him again, and it hurt so much, what a jerk.
Lin Qinxu merely chuckled softly.
There was a brief silence on the phone, and all that could be heard was Lu Yan's deepened breathing.
— What was the desk mate and ex-boyfriend doing on the other end of the line?
A few seconds later, Lu Yan spoke again, his voice calm and as clear as ever, all emotions temporarily suppressed.
"Deng Deng, what are you doing?"