Chapter 16

After Shi Jian finished doing all that, the others also reacted and began to imitate her, although their speed at putting on the uniform couldn’t compare to Shi Jian’s—but they managed to put them on anyway.

Shi Jian noticed the disciplinary director was still staring at her, so she stood up and respectfully admitted her mistake. “I’m sorry, Teacher. I recognize my mistake now. I won’t do it again.”

Shi Jian kept a calm face, but inwardly she was smug: How about that? Didn’t she react quickly and act cleverly?

All the attention was now on Shi Jian—spotlight moment, get!

Her sincere tone softened the disciplinary director’s expression considerably.

He nodded at Shi Jian. “Knowing your mistake and correcting it, and quite polite too. A good kid.”

Then he looked at the rest of the streamers. “This time I’ll let you seven off the hook. Don’t let there be a next time. I’ve remembered you all. Got it?”

Shi Jian’s eyes flickered slightly: Seven?

But she said nothing and joined the others in replying—“Got it.”

The other streamers felt like they had narrowly escaped death. It seemed they were spared.

But then the disciplinary director added, “There will be a pop quiz in history this afternoon. Be prepared!”

The class bell rang, and the disciplinary director left the classroom with his pointer. Only after his figure disappeared from sight did everyone start to speak one after another.

...

“I really got scared just now. This instance gives you no prep time at all. I thought that pointer was going to smack me right in the face.”

“That teacher’s a monster, right?”

“Definitely. What kind of normal person can split a desk with a pointer?”

The streamer who said this even went up and touched the cracked desk, clicking his tongue in disbelief.

“You all heard what he said earlier, right? The condition to clear this instance is to get an A in the final exam. But right now, it seems like we should be most worried about that history test in the afternoon. I feel like if we don’t do well, we’re screwed.”

“Looks like there are seven streamers in our class. We’d better get along and stick together. Hopefully, we all make it out alive.”

Shi Jian finally got the chance to speak. She cleared her throat and corrected them, “Shouldn’t there be eight streamers in our class?”

The other streamers were confused. “Huh?” There were only seven, weren’t there?

Tang Tian walked over and proactively reported herself. “There’s me too.”

Neither the disciplinary director nor the other streamers had noticed Tang Tian. Shi Jian had seen her at the same time she noticed the other streamers.

Shi Jian thought it was strange—Tang Tian really was easy to overlook.

Tang Tian read the look in Shi Jian’s eyes: she was already used to it.

Tang Tian was the first to follow Shi Jian’s lead and change into the school uniform. It was quite the coincidence that the two of them ended up in the same instance. Shi Jian was happy to see a familiar face in a strange environment.

Shi Jian hadn’t talked much with Tang Tian yet when a male streamer sat in the empty seat in front of her. He greeted them.

“How are you two at studying? We’ve got a test this afternoon... Oh, forgot to introduce myself. I’m Zhou Xingxu.”

Zhou Xingxu was a boy with a soft, gentle look—harmless and clever-eyed.

Tang Tian replied, “Average.”Shi Jian followed up, “Me too.” Her grades really weren’t great, and all the knowledge she’d learned had already been returned to her teachers.

Zhou Xingxu’s smile visibly cooled a bit. He stared at Shi Jian’s face and complimented her with forced enthusiasm, “You’re really beautiful. Are you new? I’ve never heard of you before. Someone as pretty as you shouldn’t be unknown…”

By this point, Shi Jian was already starting to feel a little impatient. Zhou Xingxu gave her the same vibe as those small-time actors in the industry who loved playing mind games—always speaking with hidden meaning.

Still, since they were all streamers who needed to get through this together, and because they were currently live, Shi Jian held back and responded vaguely.

“Mm.”

“What’s wrong?”

Zhou Xingxu’s smile completely vanished after hearing Shi Jian’s response. The enthusiasm from before was gone. He curled his lips, “Oh, nothing. I’m gonna go check outThe exam is this afternoon, so even if it’s cramming last-minute, you still have to try!

...

Actually, from the moment Shi Jian entered Qingshan High, she already felt the suffocating academic atmosphere here.

Motivational banners everywhere, the strict and harsh director of discipline, and students studying non-stop at all times.

Shi Jian’s “classmates” mostly stayed quietly in their seats solving problems even during breaks. Even when going out for exercise or fetching water, everyone carried vocabulary books and key subject points, heads lowered, muttering knowledge to themselves.

No one had a desk mate—each had their own seat, likely to avoid being distracted by talking.

Shi Jian adjusted her angle and posture while studying, making sure she looked like she belonged in a school idol drama, and frantically memorized material.

Anything she could learn was a gain. Then Shi Jian heard a soft voice from the seat to her front left: “I can’t do it… uuu… I can’t learn this…”

Shi Jian completely related: Look at this poor kid, under so much pressure. You can’t do it, and neither can I.

But the girl's crying and complaints were getting louder, making it hard for Shi Jian to focus. She decided she had to say something and set her book down, calling out, “Classmate?”

The girl didn’t respond to Shi Jian. Her voice rose higher as she cried, “I can’t learn this!” Then she suddenly began slamming her head hard against the desk, against the wall.

Again and again—she was going all out.

Everything happened very quickly. Blood began to splatter, then flow more and more. Her face became sunken from the impact, a bloody mess, completely unrecognizable.

Then she collapsed on her desk, motionless.

Dead.

Shi Jian’s pupils trembled in shock. It felt like an invisible hand was tightly squeezing her throat. She heard her own voice speak.

Dry, but at least steady.

“Someone, what happened to her?”

The streamers were all stunned by what they just saw, but the students around them continued studying, solving problems, completely unfazed.

A boy who looked like a class officer heard Shi Jian and walked over to glance at the scene, then called the director of discipline. The director calmly instructed a few students to carry the dead girl out.

Soon, the classroom returned to normal—except for the blood spatters on the white walls and the thick, lingering stench of blood in the air.

...

“Aren’t you going to eat lunch?” Tang Tian asked Shi Jian.

Shi Jian slowly shook her head. “Not hungry.”

Qingshan First High had one advantage over Rose Castle—the food was normal. But after witnessing someone go “I killed myself” firsthand, Shi Jian didn’t have much appetite.

Tang Tian didn’t press further. So beauties really are all self-restrained, huh? Someone like her, a food-devouring queen, was clearly not cut out to be a beauty.

Shi Jian also noticed Zhou Xingxu and his group hanging around a skinny boy with glasses and a face full of acne. Zhou Xingxu slung an arm around the boy’s shoulders and called out to him.

“Why are you off by yourself again? Didn’t we agree to eat lunch together? We’re good friends now, remember…”

Shi Jian frowned. “That guy doesn’t look like a streamer?”

Tang Tian swallowed a chicken leg bun and replied excitedly, “He’s not. He’s a student—our class’s top student, and number one in the whole grade.”"I heard about that group’s plan. They’re trying to get an A grade, so they’re cozying up to that guy, trying to build a good relationship. That boy, though he has excellent grades, is often bullied and has no friends."

So with small favors and gestures of goodwill, it's easy to gain his trust and help.

Shi Jian made no comment on this—she was just surprised at how Tang Tian knew. Neither of them had been accepted into the other team.

Tang Tian said, "I overheard it in the bathroom by accident."

Before the afternoon exam, Shi Jian ran into the top student once more. She was standing in the hallway enjoying the breeze, trying to sneak in a few more glances at her book, when the pimply glasses-wearing boy approached her angrily and helplessly.

"Classmate, is there something on my back?"

"Someone just slapped something on me."

Shi Jian looked at his back. Sure enough, there was a sticky note with a pig head drawn on it. She nodded. "Yes."

“There’s a mirror over there. You can see it.”

There was a mirror not far from them. The glasses boy took back his original thought of asking her to help remove it. “…Alright.”

Zhou Xingxu’s heart started racing when he saw their “life-saving charm” actually going to Shi Jian for help. But what gave him relief was that Shi Jian didn’t end up helping him.

Zhou Xingxu quickly strode over, ripped the sticky note off, and acted all righteously indignant. Grabbing the boy’s hand like they were real brothers, he said, “They bullied you again?”

“Tell me who did it. We’ll help you get justice!”

“If you ever run into trouble, you have to tell us.”

Then that group escorted the glasses boy away.

This scene was witnessed by quite a few viewers in the stream, but no one expected that during the afternoon exam, the glasses boy would choose to help Shi Jian, not his so-called friends like Zhou Xingxu.

...

A cheat sheet with answers was tossed onto Shi Jian’s desk. She paused her writing and looked up—right into the flattering smile of the glasses boy sitting not far ahead.

Zhou Xingxu’s group almost lost it: What the hell!

They’d been protecting him, befriending him, buying him snacks, treating him like royalty, and still hadn’t gotten a clear promise of exam help.

And yet he helped Shi Jian?

What did Shi Jian even do?

Viewers in the stream were equally confused.

【Shi Jian didn’t help the top student, just told him he had a sticky note on his back? And he came up to ask her first.】

【What does this tell us? A good friend can’t compare to a goddess? The top student must like Shi Jian.】

【I also like pretty girls. This streamer is way too good-looking!】

Everyone was amazed at Shi Jian’s luck and thought she’d naturally take the cheat sheet and pass the test.

But after a three-second pause, Shi Jian tossed the cheat sheet back.

Yes, she threw it back to the glasses boy.

Under his shocked gaze, Shi Jian silently mouthed a sentence, then lowered her head and resumed writing furiously.

【What did the streamer just say?! I'm dying to know!】【I know this question. I can read lips. The streamer said—“Don’t love me, there’s no outcome.”】

【??? Hahahahaha, what the hell!】

The glasses boy: “……”

Shi Jian wasn’t acting out of some high moral ground, nor was she incapable of being flexible. After all, this wasn’t a real-life exam. Facing an answer sheet she’d just let go of, even she felt it was a bit of a waste.

But she wasn’t interested in the boy, so she didn’t want to take on any more trouble.

Zhou Xingxu felt a flicker of joy inside—Shi Jian seemed to have good luck, but couldn’t seize her opportunities. While the teacher wasn’t paying attention, he waved at the glasses boy. “Give it to me, give it to me.”

The glasses boy tossed the cheat sheet toward Zhou Xingxu. Zhou Xingxu dove into copying answers furiously. When his anxious teammates looked to him, he said, “Wait a bit.”

The invigilating teacher was a woman in a floral dress, her hair in a bun, with a gentle demeanor. She had been facing away from everyone, but suddenly, without turning her body, her head swiveled completely around.

“Cheating.”

She stared directly at Zhou Xingxu, and after uttering those two words, didn’t give him any chance to explain. She grabbed a ruler and stabbed it straight through his abdomen, skewering his entire body.

Like skewering meat on a stick.

Zhou Xingxu let out a blood-curdling scream. He was suspended mid-air, twitched a few times, then quickly went limp.

Half a day into arriving at Qingshan No.1 High School, the first streamer death occurred. Cause of death: cheating.

Shi Jian: “……” Her brain froze.

From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the glasses boy twirling a pen cheerfully in his hand, his face wearing a clearly malicious smile.

He did it on purpose!

【Turns out it’s not just the teachers you can’t trust here—even the students are shady. He’s evil.】

【Is nobody paying attention to that streamer named Shi Jian? I thought it was a pity she turned down the answer sheet, but now it looks like she just dodged a bullet!】