HM Chapter 36 + 37(Ghost School Survival Guide arc start)

After comforting him, the girl left in a hurry, leaving behind an encouraging gaze and the bread she had given Yuan Yuxue.

Though he had agreed somewhat hesitantly, the soft bread smelled delicious.

Yuan Yuxue looked down at the freshly baked food in his hand, carefully peeling away the white greaseproof paper. The exposed bread was shiny and slightly charred, sprinkled with crushed peanuts and cheese, with slices of roasted sausage in the middle.

Even though human food intake was meaningless for Yuan Yuxue, he tentatively took a small bite. The sweet bread and savory filling melded together, richly satisfying his taste buds.

This was the second time he had tasted human food.

Yuan Yuxue gave it a very high rating in his mind as he slowly finished the bread.

Though he didn't eat often, Yuan Yuxue ate with good manners, leaving no traces on his mouth or hands. After finishing, he neatly wrapped the greaseproof paper and threw it into a trash can. Yuan Yuxue stood up, thinking he could now do something.

He walked along the wide street, browsing the shops on both sides.

The sky had darkened, and the streetlights cast a faint glow. With the transparent glass walls of the shops, the warm light and interior decor were clearly visible from outside.

Yuan Yuxue didn't linger long before pushing open the door of a chocolate-themed dessert shop.

As a food-themed safe zone, the City of Delicacies had countless food shops run by players. The shop Yuan Yuxue entered was one of them. Seeing a customer, the shop owner immediately perked up, transitioning from lazily slumping in a chair to standing up enthusiastically, introducing their products to Yuan Yuxue.

“This must be your first time here?” the owner said. “You have good taste. There's no place in the City of Delicacies with better chocolate than ours.”

Yuan Yuxue's eyes were already on the beautifully packaged, dazzling chocolates in the glass display case, clearly interested in buying. The owner, meanwhile, was boasting about their pastry chef’s credentials and introducing their bestsellers: “This ‘Rose Heart’ is our top classic product, a must-buy when you visit our shop! Beside it, the ‘Truffle Forest’ is a new item, very popular, and currently on discount... Oh, the ‘Choco Smooth’ you're looking at uses the best ingredients, all sourced from the nearby Pristine Forest safe zone.”

Yuan Yuxue understood the significance of “points” as currency now, so he asked seriously, “How many points?”

The owner felt a bit guilty.

Though there were many food shops in the City of Delicacies, competition was fierce. Compared to a bag of bread for one point, his small chocolate pieces cost three to five points each. Most players were unwilling to spend their hard-earned points from instances on such low-value treats, so he spoke softly when naming the price: “Most are three points, Choco Smooth is five points, and Truffle Forest is just two points on discount…”

Affordable.

Yuan Yuxue’s happiness wasn’t obvious, but even the inattentive owner noticed the slight brightening in his eyes...

“I'll take the Rose Heart and Truffle Forest.”

Yuan Yuxue fumbled with the system panel, awkwardly trading his points, successfully spending his last five points.

The owner, noticing the sudden brightness in his customer’s eyes, felt slightly dizzy as he packed the chocolates into a gift box. Seeing the anticipation on the other’s face, he couldn’t help but add several sample packs to the box, making it heavier than the actual purchase.

“Here, some samples for you.” The owner thought, realizing he had added too much and felt a pang of heartache, “Remember to come back next time.”

Had it not been for the mask, everyone could have seen Yuan Yuxue's face melting into a warm smile. His long lashes drooped slightly as he focused on the beautifully packaged chocolates. When he received the box, he politely thanked the owner and replied earnestly, “I will.”

The owner: “…”

He couldn’t resist adding another handful of samples to the gift bag.

“...” Even worse.

With a bag full of chocolates, Yuan Yuxue found an empty bench, sat down, and began unwrapping the chocolate box, slowly biting into the chocolate. The rich filling melted in his mouth, and as he thought about how great reward points were, two people rushed past him, muttering.

“What bad luck, coming out of the instance so late, and our hotel stay has expired.”

The other person complained, “The rates double after 7 PM. Who came up with that scam?”

“Hurry, we’ll be late.”

They hurried past without noticing Yuan Yuxue on the bench. But as a robot with keen hearing, Yuan Yuxue heard their conversation clearly, and his expression grew serious.

Ah, so you need to stay in a hotel at night.

He was out of points.

Yuan Yuxue, the brief top-ranked newcomer, was about to become homeless due to unpaid lodging fees.

After a brief consideration, he quickly found a solution to earn points—

Yuan Yuxue opened the system panel, preparing to enter an instance.

Taking on tasks was routine for him, especially since it would earn extra points.

The open data panel had default settings, and Yuan Yuxue, now at Lv2 (with over 10,000 historical points), had unlocked some permissions. He hadn’t yet noticed those features, focusing instead on the instance entry interface.

The instance type could be freely selected within a small range, with permissions expanding with level.

Yuan Yuxue never picked and chose tasks, so he selected “enter random instance.”

The moment he clicked the option, Yuan Yuxue disappeared from the bench.

…

After a brief darkness, Yuan Yuxue opened his eyes.

The warm light from the shopfronts and the sweet aroma from the street were gone, and he found himself in a new instance.

Yuan Yuxue quickly shifted into mission execution mode.

A system prompt sounded in his ear:

[Welcome to the new instance! This is an A-level instance, and you have a forty-minute safety period for exploration.]

An A-level instance with an extended safety period—these two factors combined were a warning of hellish difficulty, often breaking the spirits of veteran players. But as a newcomer who hadn’t undergone the initial guidance and had limited understanding of instances, Yuan Yuxue had no particular reaction to the prompt.

Forty minutes of investigation time before the mission begins.

Yuan Yuxue noticed his thin, soft clothing had been replaced by a blue-and-white uniform. The pants were also dark blue, straight-legged with an elastic design at the cuffs.

He was in a not-so-large room without partitions. The front half had wardrobes, shoe cabinets, and storage units, while the back half had four bunk beds with desks underneath. Three of the beds were made with uniform white bedding, and one was empty, with dried black stains on the wooden board, looking quite unsanitary.

The beds were very high, without railings, posing a safety hazard—designed so high that they almost touched the ceiling, leaving barely enough space to turn over. Climbing up would be quite difficult for an adult.

The back half had a balcony and bathroom, accessed by opening the balcony door—a glass door that appeared to be in poor condition, covered in spiderweb-like cracks, ready to fall apart.

Yuan Yuxue scanned the environment and matched it to the records in his database. Confirming he was wearing a "school uniform" and in a "dormitory room," he deduced he was in a school.

Footsteps and voices could be heard from the hallway outside.

HM Chapter 37

The footsteps outside the door stopped, followed by the sound of a key being inserted into the lock. However, they quickly discovered the door wasn't locked and easily pressed down the handle to open it.

Two boys wearing the same blue-and-white uniforms entered. They were both strikingly handsome, unusually tall for their age, each about 1.9 meters. Standing before Yuan Yuxue, they had to slightly look down to see him.

The boy with a smile on his face spoke first, "So, someone is here. A new student, huh? Hello, I'm Zeng Bai, and we'll be roommates from now on."

The other boy, with a slightly colder demeanor, remained silent, his pale gray eyes quietly observing Yuan Yuxue. Zeng Bai introduced him, "This is my cousin, Tang Yuan. He's not much of a talker, so don't mind him."

Yuan Yuxue responded with a simple "Mm."

He appeared just as reticent as Tang Yuan.

Fortunately, with three people in the room, at least Zeng Bai was friendly and enthusiastic. After asking Yuan Yuxue's name, he eagerly invited him to explore the campus and shop for some necessities.

"After all, it's where we'll be living for four years," Zeng Bai sighed. "I've heard Huai University's rules are very strict. You can only leave once a year, and you have to wear the uniform."

Yuan Yuxue seemed to grasp something and declined the invitation. "I prefer to go alone," he said.

As he left the dormitory, he heard Zeng Bai whispering to Tang Yuan.

"Looks like our new roommate isn't very sociable."

…

This dormitory building seemed quite old. Though spacious, its facilities were aging, and the exterior was far from appealing. The peeling white paint on the walls, yellowing tiles, and damp green moss gathering in corners formed dark gray streaks.

The building, facing south to north, rarely saw sunlight, making it even more gloomy and oppressive.

After leaving the dormitory, Yuan Yuxue saw a notice board with a map for new students.

He scanned and recorded the map, considering where to investigate first.

…The cafeteria.

Yuan Yuxue quickly made his decision. Just then, his uniform pocket began to vibrate slightly. He hesitated for a moment, then took out a mobile phone.

Yuan Yuxue quickly searched for information on how to use the phone, opened the screen, and turned off the alarm, just in time to see a message notification pop up.

The phone's owner seemed to be in several school groups, including the “Huai University Class of 2021 New Student Group.” The message displayed was from a student with the nickname “Mumu Game Team Looking for Members ~,” asking if anyone wanted to play a survival game with them and form a team.

In this special instance environment, where NPCs outnumbered players, this was a subtle way for a player to seek allies. Usually, such hints would get responses, especially from newcomers looking to band together. However, for a robot like Yuan Yuxue, understanding such nuances was challenging. So, he calmly exited the chat and continued toward the cafeteria.

Yuan Yuxue entered the largest of the four cafeterias on the Huai University campus. It wasn't meal time yet, but the windows were open, and a few students were scattered around.

Following the other students, Yuan Yuxue lined up, swiped his card, and mimicked the previous student by getting two vegetarian dishes and one meat dish. He then sat alone at a table to eat.

The cafeteria food looked ordinary and tasted bland. But for Yuan Yuxue, who had never encountered such warm meals before, the flavors were novel, and the main dishes were quite satisfying to his taste buds. Observing how others used chopsticks, he clumsily mimicked them and finished his meal. Afterward, he followed the others and placed his tray in the collection rack for cleaning, realizing the forty-minute safety period was nearly over.

The investigation had yielded some feedback.

For instance, the cafeteria food was decent.

Yuan Yuxue silently mused as he prepared to head to the academic building. Suddenly, the system panel refreshed.

The panel, woven from silver beams, flashed before him—

**[Instance: Huaiyin Ghost School Activated

The annual freshman season has arrived, and you have become a freshman at Huaiyin University.

Here, you will meet friendly classmates, knowledgeable and kind teachers, and helpful administrators, learning fascinating knowledge that will benefit you for life.

That is, as long as you do not violate the school rules.

Main Task: Complete one school rule and survive until the game ends.

Side Tasks: 1. Do not let any NPC discover your identity as a player.

Pass the in-class tests.

Violate one school rule.]**

What does it mean to complete one school rule?

Yuan Yuxue pondered and decided to include the side tasks in his objectives as well.

Do not be discovered, pass tests, and…violate one school rule.

This seemed to contradict the instance introduction and was obviously dangerous.

As Yuan Yuxue finished reading the task prompts, his pocket vibrated again. He opened it to find a new top-pinned group chat.

[Huai University Class of 2021 Language Department Library Management Major 1 and 2 Class Group]

Class Teacher: @all members, please come to Fengdu Building, room 404, for a freshman meeting within twenty minutes. Latecomers will face consequences.

Fengdu Building was a comprehensive teaching building Yuan Yuxue had seen on the notice board earlier, located at the campus center, not far from the first cafeteria but quite a distance from the dormitory. Without using campus transportation, it would be difficult to arrive on time.

Yuan Yuxue moved quickly, walking for about ten minutes to reach Fengdu Building. Since the semester hadn’t officially started, the building was sparsely populated, and the elevator was marked as out of order, forcing him to use the stairs.

Yuan Yuxue swiftly climbed to the fourth floor, finding room 404 as the fourth room down the hall.

Several students were already seated in the classroom, occupying the prime spots in the third and fourth rows.

As Yuan Yuxue entered, one of the new students waved at him.

“Yuan Yuxue, over here!” The boy smiled warmly, showing his white teeth. “Let's sit together.”

It was Zeng Bai.

This time, Yuan Yuxue didn’t refuse and sat beside him.

Zeng Bai started a friendly conversation, “You got here pretty fast. This class teacher is really strict, suddenly announcing a meeting and giving only twenty minutes. I was worried I wouldn't make it.”

Yuan Yuxue replied, “I was nearby.”

“So were we, near the library. The library at Huai University is quite famous and beautifully built,” Zeng Bai nodded, then casually asked, “Did you notice anything unusual?”

Without hesitation, Yuan Yuxue answered, “The cafeteria.”

“Hm?” Zeng Bai's eyes widened slightly, leaning in closer, his gaze fixed on Yuan Yuxue, “What's unusual about the cafeteria?”

“The food tastes good,” Yuan Yuxue replied.

“…” Zeng Bai fell silent for a moment, “Is that all?”

Yuan Yuxue glanced at him and said no more.

He had just answered Zeng Bai's question uncontrollably—a strange feeling. So Yuan Yuxue decided not to talk to him for now.

Zeng Bai's expression turned odd, but he didn't press further.

The classroom gradually filled with freshmen from the library management major. Though some seats remained empty, about forty students, roughly the combined total of two classes, were present.

Twenty minutes after the announcement, a woman in her forties entered the classroom. She was thin, almost emaciated, wearing a bright blue uniform jacket that didn’t match her demeanor, looking somewhat comical. She stepped onto the slightly elevated platform, her deep-set eyes scanning the students with a severe gaze.

The classroom fell silent; no one whispered or chatted, everyone respectfully waiting for the teacher's instructions. There were no disciplinary issues, so the teacher skipped the stern introduction, saying, “My name is Yan. You can call me Teacher Yan or Class Teacher Yan.”

Just as she finished, there was a timid knock at the door. A young girl stood there, her cheeks flushed from running or nervousness, beads of sweat on her nose, looking at her fearfully, “Teacher Yan.”

“I'm sorry, I'm a bit late,” she stammered. “The dormitory is far from here…”

Teacher Yan’s expression grew stern, her face darkening, prompting the players in the class to silently pray—

Hopefully, this girl is an NPC, not a player.

Otherwise, this would be a standard opening kill!

Unexpectedly, Teacher Yan didn’t reprimand her harshly or make her stand outside. Instead, she said coldly, “Come in.”

As the girl awkwardly took a seat in the first row, Teacher Yan continued, “Tomorrow is the first official day of classes. Download your schedule from the academic system.”

“I have nothing more to tell you except to remember to strictly follow the school rules.”

Teacher Yan opened her computer, and the screen displayed a document with the title in bold red font:

[School Rules]

[To all students of Huaiyin University:

No skipping classes.

Return to the dormitory by 20:00. Lights out by 21:00. No lighting or talking after lights out. Any noises you hear at night are just horror movies being played by the dormitory manager, nothing to worry about.

All teachers will wear uniforms during class. Ignore non-uniformed teachers and report them to the administrator. If you see a teacher in a red uniform, leave immediately, do not acknowledge their presence, and do not look back.

Follow the school rules. The rules may be updated at any time. Wishing all students success and a smooth graduation.]

Except for the first rule and the first part of the second rule, the rest of the school rules reeked of something sinister.

The classroom was silent, with some students showing signs of fear and anxiety.

Teacher Yan's gaze swept over the freshmen once more.

Her voice was hoarse as she repeated, “This concludes the first class meeting.”

“Let me emphasize once more—follow the school rules strictly.”