Today is Ju.

  The Ju of the Horror World.

  The pyers at the school learned about this day and had the same thought as Qin Nuo: a holiday for children means no csses, just pure fun.

  For the pyers, the joy didn't e from the festive cheer, but from not having to attend those cursed horror csses.

  As Qin Nuo sat back down in his seat, a familiar voice echoed in his mind.

  "A new day, a new beginning, face it with a smile!"

  "After the sed day's sele, 10 pyers have been eliminated. Among the remaining pyers, 2 have successfully pleted their first role and moved on to the sed."

  "The game is a petition, so those whing behind, keep pushing! Today is the third day of the game, another joyful day. Good luck to all pyers!"

  "Two people have already pleted their first role?" Qin Nuo was a bit surprised.

  Two days to succeed in role-pying, that's quite fast.

  Qin Nuo checked his own role-pying progress. Although he had pleted quite a bit, there were still two tasks left, and he kept actally hitting pitfalls, leaving his pletion rate at just 50%.

  Still 30% to go.

  Was he g in ability?

  Not really, it's just that the role of Li Xiaoming was too tricky.

  The familiar sound of the css bell s in his ears, and the students returo their seats.

  Then, clear footsteps echoed in the hallway outside the , and the door ushed open.

  Today, Mr. Yan was dressed particurly smartly, in a straight suit, his hair slicked back with gel, shining bck, and with a warm, gentle smile that was a fatal attra to women of all ages.

  But for the pyers, knowing his teag methods, every time they saw this man, they couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

  For those narrow-minded, seeing him squint and smile was a dangerous signal!

  Mr. Yan propped his hands on the podium and said with a smile, "Students, today is your holiday, no csses, just enjoy yourselves, uand?"

  All the students cheered in response, extremely excited, with some even throwing their books.

  "Every Children's Day, the school tries to make sure all students have fun, and this year is no exception."

  "Our school's special program will still be held this year, and all the teachers will participate."

  "Including our mischievous principal, who is also in this year's program!"

  Hearing the word "principal," several students, including Qin Nuo, had a gleam in their eyes.

  The mai of this instance!

  Could it be that they might see the principal of Bck Crow Ghost School?

  If they found him, the mai would be pleted!

  The pyers were breathing heavily, fused, because they didn't know what this special program was.

  Qin Nuo pondered for a moment, then stood up as the css monitor and asked, "Teacher, is there any ge in this year's game program?"

  Hearing this, the other pyers raised their eyebrows, uo resist giving Qin Nuo a thumbs up.

  That was a clever move!

  Mr. Yan just shook his head, "No, the rules are the same."

  "The teachers are the cats, and you are the mice."

  Cats and mice...

  Cat and mouse?

  As the pyers were puzzled, the game broadcast suddenly echoed in their minds.

  And not just him, all the pyers in the school heard this voice.

  "Ding! gratutions to the pyers with the roles of teachers and students fering the instance's hidden game mode—dy Distribution Mode!"

  "In every er of the school, there are unique dies scattered around. These dies are rewards from the teachers and your lifeline."

  "The mice are responsible for finding the dies, and the cats are responsible for catg the mice. Pyers act acc to their roles. When a certain number of dies are found, or a certain number of mice are caught, a random mai clue will be awarded!"

  "There are 50 pyers participating in this game mode!"

  "Note: Pyers caught by the instanPCs pying as cats will face a small punishment, so try your best to escape!"

  "So the so-called Children's Day is actually a game mode of the instance?"

  Qin Nuo was stunned.

  The other pyers in the css were momentarily dumbfounded upon hearing the game sound, then snapped back to reality, cursing inwardly.

  Damn it!

  They thought Children's Day would let them avoid a day of horror csses, but it turned out to be a trap for an even more challenging game mode.

  What they thought was a lucky day turned into a nightmare!

  "50 pyers, probably a dozen or so haven't joined, does that mean they are pying roles outside the school, or roles ihe school but not as teachers or students?"

  Qin Nuo adjusted his gsses, p.

  Judging by the mode's rules, pyers ag as mice are at a disadvantage. If they 't find the dy, it's a dead end.

  And pyers ag as cats, even if they don't caty mice, shouldn't have much of a problem.

  Of course, this is just Qin Nuo's guess. There might be hidden rules.

  In hames, the least trustworthy words are "small punishment"!

  A small punishment could be as light as simple death, or as severe as something worse thah.

  This is the most ho clusion Qin Nuo has drawn after participating in three instances.

  Suddenly triggering such a game mode is tricky, but also an opportunity.

  What if they catch the principal?

  Even if they don't, the best performance could earn a clue about the mysterious principal.

  This time it's not random, but guaranteed!

  There's no loss either way.

  On the podium, Mr. Yan expihe game rules while cheg his watch.

  Finally, he raised his hands and cpped, drawing the attention of the already excited and noisy students.

  "Students, game time is approag, let me go over some precautions."

  "Do not leave the school. You hide anywhere within the school. If caught, hand over the dy to avoid a small punishment."

  "The game ends in two hours. Students who haven't been eliminated will receive a small gift from the teacher."

  The students responded enthusiastically, eager and uo tain themselves, with some even biting their book covers iement.

  "And one more thing, some teachers have a keen sense of smell, so remember to hide well."

  "I, the teacher, have also prepared some props to add some fun."

  With that, he took out a bck bag and pulled out a bck toy gun.

  Seeing the students' expressions, Mr. Yan smiled and expined, "Don't worry, these are just toy guns, not very harmful, just to add some fun to the game."

  The pyers looked at the bck toy gun, all thinking the same thing.

  I don't believe you, you sly old man!

  Mr. Yan gnced around and said, "Alright, students, you start running now."

  "You only have ten minutes."

  With those words, the entire css rushed out of the in a flurry.

  The dies they were looking for were special dies, not the ones rewarded in Mr. Yan's css, so they couldn't just use any dy.

  The Bck Crow Ghost School had only fifth and sixth grades. Although there were over a dozen csses, most were empty, dipidated, ae, as if abandoned for a long time.

  Only five csses were active with students. As for where the students from the other csses went, no one knew.

  All the students bined were less than three hundred.

  When Qin Nuo came out, the corridor was already deserted, leaving him and a few pyers standing there dumbfounded.

  Not just the corridor, the entire school became eerily quiet, empty with not a shadow in sight.

  They hid too quickly!

  "What's that?" At this moment, a student noticed something and pointed.

  Several pyers looked in the dire he pointed and saw a rge amount of bck mist rising outside the school.

  It surged like a tsunami, quickly engulfing the Bck Crow Ghost School.

  The buildings covered by the bck mist visibly decayed at a rapid pace.

  In just an instant, the bck mist swallowed the entire school.

  It was as if night had fallen, and the Bck Crow Ghost School was shrouded in darkness.

  Simirly, the school uhe bck mist became even more terrifying.

  It felt like they were in a haunted school abandoned for decades, filled with eerie horror.

  "Is this... the instance's doing?" a pyer was stunned.

  "I bet this game is scarier than we imagined," another pyer muttered.

  "There's still five minutes left, if you want to keep chatting, go ahead, I'm leaving."

  Qin Nuo g the time, turned, and disappeared into the bck mist. The other pyers quickly left the corridor, vanishing into the mist.

  "Students, there's only one minute left."

  "Remember to hide well, if the teacher catches you without dy, it won't be good."

  From the came Mr. Yan's gentle voice, as if to enhahe students' gaming experience, his words carried a pyful yet slightly intimidating tone.

  Then came Mr. Yan's tdown.

  When the tdown reached zero, the sound abruptly stopped.

  The clo the wall and the school clock tower chimed simultaneously.

  The long chimes echoed throughout the school.

  It was like announg the start of the game, or veying a signal of danger.

  Bang!!

  In the dead silence of Css 6-3, a dull sound suddeed.

  Immediately, a hand grasped the door frame of the , the frame deg visibly, wood dust falling.

  The hand was covered in terrifying blue veins.

  Mr. Yan stepped out with his bck bag, adjusted his gsses, and his mouth curled into a grin, his eyes beh the gsses turning blood red.

  The voice from his throat lost its inal gentle magism, filled with maement, "My dear students, the teacher is going to start hunting now!"

  ...

  In a dim corridor of the plex building, Qin Nuo walked slowly. After the chimes sounded, he suddenly heard many horror sounds ing from afar.

  It was as if demons had been unleashed.

  "Children's Day, more like Ghost Festival," Qin Nuo muttered.

  "Give dy, and the teacher won't cause trouble, feels a bit like Halloween."

  "But the school is so big, and the dies are thumb-sized, hidden in any crevice, impossible to find."

  "The map is te, the items too small, like finding a needle in a haystack."

  "If I search aimlessly like this, I might not even find a dy er all day."

  "Or will there be some guidance? Like when I was looking for the evil dream puzzle pieces?"

  Qin Nuo mused as he walked.

  "Be careful, there's a strong maliing your way from teers ahead."

  Hearing this, Qin Nuo quickly entered a nearby , hiding in a cealed spader the podium.

  Although with the Blood-Eyed Ghost around, Qin Nuo might not fear the oppo, but as a mouse in this game mode, breaking the rules by a mouse killing a cat, who knows unishment might follow?

  Hiding uhe podium, he held his breath.

  Qin Nuo listened for any movement in the corridor outside.

  Soon, he heard a heavy footstep.

  Very heavy!

  The floor trembled slightly!

  Then, Qin Nuo saw a massive shadoear outside the corridor, eyes blood red, breathing heavily.

  Qin Nuo was a bit stunned.

  This wasn't a normal human size!

  Not a teacher?

  Could there be other entities involved in this game mode?

  The crimson gaze of the figure swept into the , and Qin Nuo withdrew his gaze, shrinking into the dark space, tensing his o ensure he made no sound.

  The massive shadow stared into the for a long moment before leaving with heavy steps.

  As the heavy footsteps faded, Qin Nuo raised his gaze, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

  Because, in that brief moment, he clearly saw the creature holding two round objects, dripping something.

  Qin ed the , cheg the floor to see what had dripped.

  Blood!

  "So the creature was holding a few heads, students' heads?"

  "Is this the fate of those caught?"

  Qin Nuo felt a chill down his spine, even he couldn't help but curse inwardly.

  Where's the promised Children's Day fun?

  Where's the promise of student happiness?

  Damn it, this is more terrifying than any surprise!

  JOSOLUNA