Chapter 191: Genius Kindergarten (Part 4)

Chapter 191: Genius Kindergarten (Part 4)

The rest area was now eerily quiet, as if the previous commotion had been nothing but an illusion.

When Zhan Xiaoming turned around, he initially thought of observing how the other "ghosts" would seek out people. However, when his eyes met those of the four children beside him, he felt an intense sense of discomfort.

Zhan Xiaoming quickly averted his gaze.

Ghosts.

At some undetermined point, the children beside him had turned into ghosts.

Though sunshine streamed in through the windows, the sealed rest area seemed disturbingly gloomy.

Maybe it was an illusion, but Zhan Xiaoming felt as if he had grown taller. His viewpoint was no longer that of a mere child, where everything appeared gigantic.

Upon closer attention, Zhan Xiaoming sensed a slight increase in his own power, although the extent of this growth remained unclear.

As he was still pondering what this change could signify, the four NPCs beside him began to converse.

"Hey, I'll start searching from this side. Where are you all planning to start?"

One of the adjacent "ghosts" opened his mouth to inquire.

The other three kids chimed in with answers, seemingly strategizing among themselves.

When they finally turned to Zhan Xiaoming for his input, he said nothing and pretended not to see them.

Interacting with the ghosts would reveal his ability to perceive them. Even though the four children beside him looked mostly unchanged, save for an air of eeriness, Zhan Xiaoming couldn't afford to take the risk.

Alone, he put on an act of pondering how to play hide-and-seek while scanning the room.

As he looked around, something in his peripheral vision seemed to catch his eye.

Zhan Xiaoming, who had already turned his head away, abruptly snapped it back to its original position.

His face flushed with shock as he looked toward the bed.

All the children were engrossed in hiding—some ducking into closets, others fleeing to different rooms, all engrossed in the game of hide-and-seek.

In the midst of this chaos, he was stunned to see someone lying on a bed... a familiar face!

Wasn't that Jie Fangcheng?

What on earth was he doing?!

Logically, Zhan Xiaoming didn't want to draw unnecessary attention from the other NPCs.

But the moment he spotted Jie Fangcheng, his composure completely shattered, logic be damned.

By this time, the NPCs beside Zhan Xiaoming had also noticed the person lying on the bed.

It was just too obvious not to notice.

"Hey? I found the first civilian!"

The NPC gleefully approached the bedside and cheerfully reached out to tap Jie Fangcheng.

Just as the hand was about to make contact, Jie Fangcheng, who seemed to be asleep, suddenly opened his eyes and locked gazes with the approaching NPC.

Zhan Xiaoming urgently opened his mouth, wanting to caution him not to speak carelessly.

After all, it remained unknown whether these 'ghosts' would actually become hostile if engaged in conversation.

But his warning came too late.

Squinting his eyes in a daze, Jie Fangcheng mumbled, "What's up?"

His befuddlement seemed genuine, as if asking: Why on earth are you disturbing my sleep?

The NPC hesitated for a moment before exclaiming, "It's hide-and-seek, and I caught you!"

"Oh." Jie Fangcheng closed his eyes and rolled over.

Everyone: "…"

…Oh??

Oh???

The NPC that had caught him stood there blankly for a good while before aimlessly reaching out to push him again.

Jie Fangcheng reluctantly turned his head, not even bothering to fully open his eyes, squinting at him with just one eye.

"…" The NPC steadied himself and whispered softly, "You're the decoy now; you need to find the civilians!"

"I've given up."

“……”

This was a situation none had ever encountered; it was so perplexing that it almost crashed a few NPCs. The four exchanged glances, exchanged them again, and soon began discussing how to resolve the current dilemma.

The discussion took even longer than their earlier debate about who should go where.

It took quite a while for the four to finally come to a decision.

"If he doesn't want to play, so be it. After all, the ghost with the lowest score will be punished."

Surprisingly, the four ghosts seemed quite amenable and non-aggressive.

This put Zhan Xiaoming at ease.

He had already discerned the tricky part of this hide-and-seek game.

If players become a "ghost" and go searching for civilians, finding a "civilian" who is actually a ghost could put them at risk of attack after conversing with that ghost.

Zhan Xiaoming could identify three "ghost" children in his class—his own and Jie Fangcheng's ghostly desk mate, and another, a quiet little female ghost sitting silently in a corner, looking quite demure.

But just how many ghost children were in his class, Zhan Xiaoming couldn't be sure.

Moreover, they were four classes in total, comprising over a hundred students; were there ghost children in the other classes as well?

One needed to be very cautious when seeking people in this game of hide-and-seek.

These were Zhan Xiaoming's thoughts.

But he wasn't overly anxious; during the counting phase where he faced the wall, Zhan Xiaoming had already covertly set his sights on an NPC.

It was a kid sitting in front of him, very enthusiastic and eager to learn. Zhan Xiaoming had subtly touched his wrist; it was warm, evidently indicating he was a regular NPC.

The kid was a bit chubbier than average, endearing in a round and rolly-polly way. After dodging here and there, he eventually hid in a corner closet.

Zhan Xiaoming had no desire to catch many people; he simply aimed to score high enough to avoid any penalties. He planned to catch just one person and then stop.

Now, relying on his spatial memory, he walked to the closet and flung its doors open.

The closet was hidden behind a row of bookshelves, effectively blocking out all sunlight.

The inside was pitch-black.

Zhan Xiaoming caught a fleeting glimpse of what seemed like skin in a corner of the closet. Without hesitation, he reached out and grabbed the wrist of the person inside.

Something's wrong!

The instant his fingers wrapped around the wrist, Zhan Xiaoming sensed something was amiss.

The NPC he had targeted appeared chubby and well-fed at first glance.

But now, the wrist he held felt thin and skeletal.

The skin was cold and dry, like that of a corpse left hanging in the air for an extended period.

Goosebumps crawled over Zhan Xiaoming's skin. Just then, a head slowly emerged from the depths of the closet.

A seemingly demure little girl with glasses was quietly "looking" at him. Behind the lenses, her eyes were white, with pupils consisting of tiny black dots clustered together like pinpricks.

She wore the Blue Sky kindergarten uniform, with two pigtails on her head. One hand was held by Zhan Xiaoming, while the other clutched an eyeless doll.

"You're hurting me," she whispered softly.

.

Rewind two minutes.

Among the four players who had gone to hide, Zhou Yian had chosen a high location, and the others had their own preferred hiding spots.

To prevent the possibility of other players becoming ghosts and targeting them for points, everyone made sure to avoid each other when choosing their hiding places.

Liu Feiyao hid in a wardrobe in the second rest area, filled with various clothes, both adult and children's sizes. She was very thin and had the frame of a five or six-year-old, making her blend in perfectly when concealed among the clothes.

However, she soon realized that the closet was already occupied by another child.

A child of about five or six looked at her innocently, half-buried under the mound of clothes. Clearly, he had thought of the same hiding strategy. On seeing her, he even made room for her.

Liu Feiyao hesitated for a moment, but with limited time and a spacious closet, it could comfortably accommodate two children.

She could only nod politely and tuck herself into another corner.

Soon, the bell rang.

Liu Feiyao burrowed further into the clothes, straining to hear the sounds outside.

Just then, she felt the child who had been there first shuffle closer to her.

The wardrobe was spacious enough for two children, each comfortably occupying a corner, but the pressure from the other child kept increasing.

Annoyed through the layers of clothes, Liu Feiyao whispered, "Go back to your corner; stop crowding me."

A disappointed "Ah" sounded from beyond the clothes.

"Why not?"

This kid...

The bell had just rung; the "ghosts" would not come searching this soon.

With that thought in mind, Liu Feiyao was still contemplating how to complete the dungeon while casually replying, "The wardrobe is big enough for the both of us. It's uncomfortable for you to be crowding me like this, and it makes us a bigger target for the 'ghost' to—"

Her voice came to an abrupt halt.

The exposed skin of Liu Feiyao's leg brushed against the other child's skin.

It was cold and slimy, reminiscent of a waterlogged corpse—swollen and squishy.

At that moment, Liu Feiyao abruptly remembered... there were ghosts among these children.

When she had entered, the child in the wardrobe seemed perfectly normal, and she had not been suspicious.

But now, clearly, she had let her guard down in her hurry.

Liu Feiyao felt her body go rigid.

At that moment, she sensed the ghost in front of her reaching out, trying to pull away the clothes around her.

"A ghost? What about a ghost?"

His voice was cheerful, laced with delight, like a snake that had found a favorite morsel.

Liu Feiyao pinched her arm fiercely.

Her legs were trembling... but if she didn't do something, she would die here for no apparent reason!

Disregarding the rules about keeping quiet during the rest period and the ongoing search for civilians by the ghosts,

She flung the clothes draped over her onto the child next to her, pushed him away, and tumbled out of the wardrobe in a frantic crawl.

Once out of the wardrobe, Liu Feiyao couldn't help but look back.

The child sitting in the wardrobe had a normal upper body, like a cute doll. However, the lower half that had been buried in the pile of clothes was now exposed.

They were a pair of legs, seemingly soaked for an indeterminate amount of time—swollen, whitened, and grotesquely large, almost as thick as his waist. They were attached to his normal upper body, which belonged to a child of about five or six, creating an especially jarring visual contrast.

He removed the clothes from his head and stared straight at Liu Feiyao.

"You see me now—"

The ghost child said gleefully.

Liu Feiyao didn't dare look again. She hastily exited the second rest room, pulled open the door to the third, and rushed inside.

Just as she entered, Liu Feiyao thought she faintly heard an odd noise coming from the first rest room.

Then an unfamiliar voice grumbled, "What's going on? Can't a person get some sleep??"