Though he couldn’t understand cat language, Chao Musheng somehow grasped exactly what Orange Cat was trying to convey.
He bent down and scooped Orange Cat into his arms, soothing it gently. "At exactly 12:34 a.m., someone in your dorm threw something at a cat—and it was caught on camera."
Qing Cai, the player, had been terrified the moment the NPC blocked the doorway and immediately denied it. "It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!"
Old Jin, restrained by Zhao Shang, glared at him furiously. So, the dog that bites doesn’t bark. He’d thought Zhao Shang was some upright, honest guy, but turns out he’d stab other players in the back just to earn NPC favor.
The dorm fell silent, save for Old Jin’s heavy, suppressed breaths.
Qing Cai cowered in the corner, head bowed, afraid of offending anyone. Zhang San tossed his book aside and eagerly pulled out a chair for Chao Musheng. "Brother Chao, have a seat."
He even arranged the other chairs and beckoned the students waiting outside. "Come in, come in! Make yourselves comfortable."
"No need, thank you," said the girl at the front, her hair tied in a simple ponytail, her delicate face framed by gold-rimmed glasses. Her tone wasn’t aggressive—in fact, she was downright polite—but her favorability toward him was only 19 points, and toward Qing Cai, a pitiful 5.
Perhaps because Zhao Shang had stopped Old Jin from harming the cat, her favorability for him was the highest—a staggering 40 points.
The other NPCs were the same, with Zhao Shang’s favorability topping theirs, all between 35 and 40.
Their favorability for Old Jin had already plummeted to zero, but the bespectacled girl was different—hers was a glaring red -10.
When an NPC’s favorability toward a player dropped below -10, they could enter a frenzied state at any moment.
Zhang San gulped. So, she was the most terrifying one here.
"I just accidentally hit it—it’s not like I killed the damn thing!"
By the time Zhang San snapped out of his thoughts, Old Jin was already arguing with someone.
Idiot.
Zhang San quickly retreated, joining Qing Cai in the corner. In a favorability-based dungeon like this, any player with half a brain knew better than to piss off the NPCs.
He needed to stay far away from this moron—no way was he getting dragged down with him.
"So you admit you threw something at a cat from the fourth floor?" Chao Musheng clamped a hand over Orange Cat’s yowling mouth, silencing it.
Old Jin usually only picked combat or war-themed dungeons. The dull thud of his golden axe severing an NPC’s neck, their pitiful pleas for mercy—those were the things that excited him.
Used to NPCs groveling at his feet, he couldn’t stand having to bow and scrape to these weak, powerless students.
Damn the System for forcing him into this humiliating dungeon.
"So what if I did?!" Old Jin opened his inventory, ready to summon his axe and fight his way out.
If he could just kill these students, bolt downstairs, and use an invisibility item to sneak into the principal’s office and steal the official seal, he could still clear the dungeon.
"Your act of high-altitude littering violates our public security regulations. The Civil Code explicitly prohibits throwing objects from buildings, and Article 84 of our school’s rules also strictly forbids such behavior." Chao Musheng turned to the bespectacled girl. "Senior Sister Su, how should we handle an exchange student who breaks both school rules and the law?"
"Revoke his exchange status and demand compensation for cleaning the flower beds and the cat’s medical treatment." Senior Sister Su adjusted her glasses. "Orange Cat is a registered rescue pet under our school’s care—legally, it’s our property. Deliberate destruction of others’ property can result in five to ten days of detention."
"This is a society governed by law. We handle everything by the book." Her glasses glinted coldly. "I’ve already contacted the school administration. We’ll report this to the police in the name of the student council and hold him legally accountable."
"Get the hell out of my way!" Old Jin shoved Zhao Shang aside, activated a speed boost, and bolted.
If he could just escape these students, he still had a chance to clear the dungeon!
"Running?" Chao Musheng saw right through him and yanked him back by the collar. The force sent Old Jin stumbling backward, crashing into the desk and knocking over Qing Cai’s still-open ink bottle.
Thick black ink splattered across Old Jin’s face, leaving him completely smeared.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
The ink bottle bounced a few times before settling neatly beside Old Jin’s ear.
"He’s faking it!" Chao Musheng hugged Orange Cat and took several steps back, pointing at Old Jin indignantly. "I barely tugged his collar—you all saw it, right?"
"Brother Chao, I saw it! He totally faked that fall. I’ll testify for you!" Zhang San rushed to Chao Musheng’s side, glaring at Old Jin. "This Jin guy has been bullying us since yesterday just because he’s big. And just now, he was badmouthing the seniors who taught him valuable knowledge. What kind of ungrateful scum does that?"
It’s rising—his favorability was rising!
Watching the NPCs’ favorability tick up point by point, Zhang San nearly wept with joy. From now on, Chao Musheng was his god in this dungeon.
For his god, he’d walk through fire.
"Meow!" Orange Cat leaped out of Chao Musheng’s arms and landed squarely on Old Jin’s crotch.
"AHHH!" Old Jin clutched his lower half, howling in agony.
"Meow~" Orange Cat flicked its tail innocently and sauntered back to Chao Musheng with elegant grace.
Zhang San watched the cat nuzzle against Chao Musheng and instinctively clamped his legs together. "What’s he screaming about now? Trying to frame our Senior Cat too?"
The student council members glanced around, pretending they hadn’t seen a thing.
"The school’s responded." Senior Sister Su showed Chao Musheng the message on her phone. "We’re calling the police now. Campus security will come take him away immediately."
"An adult who vents his frustrations on defenseless creatures, no matter how much knowledge he’s acquired, can’t be called a real person." Chao Musheng didn’t even spare Old Jin a glance, instead apologizing to the three students. "Sorry for messing up your dorm."
"No problem, no problem!" Zhang San waved it off. "A little ink is nothing—we’ll wipe it right up."
He was about to grab tissues when Zhao Shang was already mopping the floor, expertly avoiding Old Jin’s groaning form.
Who said Zhao Shang was dull? Look at him now—what a smooth operator.
By the time security arrived, Old Jin was still sprawled on the floor, shrieking in pain at the slightest touch, as if every inch of him was injured.
But when the police and doctors examined him, they found not a single broken bone—not even a scratch.
The officer’s head throbbed from the noise. He turned and noticed a young man standing nearby, holding a cat and looking utterly dejected.
The young man was strikingly handsome, like a freshly peeled bamboo shoot—his entire being exuded an untouched freshness, untainted by the world.
One could only wail and fake injuries, while the other cared for animals and had multiple witnesses to back him up. Wasn’t it obvious who was in the wrong?
"Don’t be afraid, student. Your classmates have all testified that you didn’t lay a hand on anyone," the police officer reassured him, patting his shoulder. "Besides, the doctor examined him—there’s not a single injury on his body."
"Thank you, Officer," Chao Musheng said, looking up gratefully.
"Meow~" Orange Cat peeked out from Chao Musheng’s arms, its round, gleaming eyes fixed on the officer as if echoing the thanks.
Faced with two pairs of innocent, guileless eyes, the seasoned officer’s heart melted instantly. He turned to his colleagues and said, "Hurry up and take that guy away. We shouldn’t scare the students here."
He shot a disdainful glance at Old Jin, sprawled on the ground. Young and already rotten—unwilling to take responsibility for his misdeeds, even trying to pin the blame on a good student. Trash of society, scum of humanity.
Old Jin, lying on the floor, felt as if every bone in his body had been crushed to dust, then set ablaze. His very soul was writhing in agony.
When the officers hauled him to his feet, the pain was so unbearable he could hardly breathe. Every step felt like dancing on needles.
This was…
Straining to focus through the haze of pain, his blurred vision landed on Chao Musheng.
The clean-cut young man cradled a cat, his fair fingers combing gently through its fur. Two or three officers and security staff huddled around him, murmuring reassurances—as if he were the true victim in this dormitory.
Sensing Old Jin’s gaze, Chao Musheng lifted his eyes lazily and met his stare.
A devil…
He was the devil of this dungeon!
Old Jin convulsed violently, his body and soul tearing apart, shattering—
[Ding! Player Old Jin has failed the mission and been eliminated from the dungeon.]
Every player heard the announcement. Shock rippled through them—how could someone already be eliminated on just the second day?
As the police, security, and student council members gradually filed out of Room 404, Chao Musheng turned to Zhao Shang. "Thanks for your help earlier, Zhao Shang. The cafeteria’s probably out of decent food by now. Let me treat you all to a meal off-campus."
Qing Cai, having witnessed Old Jin’s fate, didn’t dare get close to Chao Musheng and hastily declined.
Unfazed, Chao Musheng led Zhang San and Zhao Shang downstairs. Two cats peeked out from the flower beds below, mewing urgently at the sight of him.
"Your little friends are here for you," Chao Musheng said, setting Orange Cat down. The feline rubbed against his leg before darting off to join the others.
The three cats soon vanished into the bushes. Zhang San, fanning Chao Musheng obsequiously with a handheld fan, asked, "Brother Chao, can we come and go from campus freely?"
"Of course," Chao Musheng replied, washing his hands in a nearby restroom. "But remember to bring your temporary student ID—you’ll need it to swipe back in."
Meaning players without temporary IDs would be trapped inside the school grounds?
The deeper they delved into this dungeon, the clearer it became how hard it was to earn these NPCs’ favor.
As for the student registry and official seal? Near impossible. They didn’t even know where the principal’s office was, let alone how to get the seal.
The world beyond the school gates was far more vibrant than Zhang San and Zhao Shang had imagined.
They also noticed something else—Chao Musheng seemed to be a social butterfly. Countless people greeted him as they walked, and upon learning they were students under his care, most NPCs even granted them a few extra goodwill points.
Was this the live-action version of "love me, love my dog"? Just what kind of special existence was Chao Musheng in this dungeon?
"Hey, student." A car pulled up beside them, and a middle-aged man leaned out. "We meet again. Thanks for giving us directions last time."
Zhang San’s eyes darted to the vehicle, and he instinctively activated his identification tool.
Aaaaaaah!
What the hell was inside that car?!
Why was there a chaotic mess of garbled code and tangled question marks hovering above it, forming the shape of a menacing dragon that glittered under the bright sun?
Help!
HELP!!
SOS!!!
Chao Musheng: Weird people just keep multiplying.
