Matryoshka Off-Limits Chapter 105

Chapter 105 Merfolk Shore

Despite having only one eye, that single eye still held an overwhelming quality. When he stared, it felt like he could reduce a person to an object.

Song Yan watched as Wen Shi finished half the bag, really wanting to ask if he was fine.

Crinkle, rustle.

It was the sound of Wen Shi pinching the packaging with his fingers. Eventually, he looked up and spoke to Jian Qingrong, “You go get the souvenir from the train conductor. Our tickets are different.”

The emphasis was on the word “our”.

If it was the mini octopus, it would have made it very happy. However, Jian Qingrong just nodded calmly, though a hidden hint of displeasure could still be detected in the corner of his eye as he looked at Song Yan.

When he went up front to find the conductor, he saw that Song Yan was once again talking to Wen Shi, causing his expression to darken slightly.

“Boss, is he your friend? He didn’t seem to like me very much.”

Wen Shi also noticed that Jian Qingrong held more animosity towards Song Yan compared to others.

Was there perhaps a conflict among true spirits, hence affecting the incarnations’ mindset?

Seeing Jian Qingrong finish redeeming items, Wen Shi stood up and told him, “I’m going to the water room.”

Since they were about to arrive at the station, it was good to stretch his body in advance and prepare for any sudden situations. But as soon as he stood up, a sharp pain shot through his feet. Wen Shi continued walking forward without showing any reaction, while Jian Qingrong considerately took the backpack from the seat.

After a couple of steps, Wen Shi suddenly halted and reached out to Ji Yuanzhi.

With the distance between them, Ji Yuanzhi needed to step out in order to hand something over. He paused for a brief second as he got up, realizing what Wen Shi meant. He nodded slightly to indicate that he felt the same uncomfortable feeling.

Wen Shi didn’t let Song Yan try, fearing he might yelp and draw attention. Before they understood the instance further, it wasn’t wise to show any abnormalities.

Ji Yuanzhi would surely inform Song Yan, so Wen Shi didn’t say much. He, along with Jian Qingrong, continued walking single file down the narrow path.

The connecting area between train carriages was relatively spacious, with both ends being watchful. Wen Shi pulled Jian Qingrong’s clothes closer and whispered, “Is walking painful for you?”

As expected, Jian Qingrong shook his head.

He wasn’t a player. He didn’t have eccentric character roles in other instances, and wouldn’t be affected by peculiar settings.

Wen Shi’s question implied discomfort. Jian Qingrong said, “I’ll carry you.”

Wen Shi shook his head. “Let me see how others are doing first.”

He took a painkiller. There would be more walking to do after getting off the train.

The train arrived on time.

As the players from two entire train carriages stood up, many wore slightly unnatural expressions.

The prompt sound for a side quest echoed:

“Please arrive at Mingzhu Music Academy before 6 PM.”

Time was tight, leaving only half an hour for their activities.

Ji Yuanzhi and Song Yan both took painkillers. After the few of them gathered, they hurried out of the station, even starting to run while checking the time.

Unintentionally, they provided the remaining players with a wrong reference. With the background saying that merfolk should conceal their identities, the fact that players like Wen Shi were running indicated that there must be normal people among them.

So, for those with sunscreen applied and the characteristic of foot pain, they definitely needed to make sure their disguises were well covered.

Inside the backpack, there were sun hats. Many people wore them on to hide their grimacing expressions as they started sprinting together.

Taxis were scarce outside the station, and there was a crowd jostling to catch a ride. But there were unlicensed taxis available. Without knowing how far Mingzhu Music Academy was from here, players didn’t want to waste time competing for official taxis with a bunch of local NPCs. Most opted to randomly hop into unlicensed ones.

Wen Shi and the others did the same.

“Driver, to Mingzhu Academy.”

As soon as they got into the car, there was a “click” sound—the driver had locked the back doors. In the back seat, Song Yan sensed that something was off.

The game hadn’t given players money, which meant they couldn’t pay for the ride. This was just a regular family car, and with the four of them inside, it was getting crowded. Sometimes drivers didn’t like to take on so many passengers.

Right after stating their destination, Song Yan noticed a strange smile on the driver’s face. He instinctively tightened his grip on his backpack. If he had something a bit valuable on him, it was probably the acceptance letter inside.

“Hey…”

He was about to caution the others to be careful when he saw Ji Yuanzhi in the front seat, one hand casually resting in his pocket, seeming to have something stashed there.

Seated between Wen Shi and Song Yan, creating a distance between the two, Jian Qingrong’s deadly gaze was no longer fixed on Song Yan. Instead, it was aimed at the driver’s vulnerable throat. It was as if a coiled beast, ready to strike and snap someone’s neck at any moment, was in its predatory stance.

At some point, Wen Shi had removed the lenses from his sunglasses. He also fixed his gaze on the vulnerable neck of the driver. Sensing the scrutiny, Wen Shi turned his head slightly, grinning in response as he saw Song Yan.

While smiling, the lenses in his hand rubbed lightly against the seat cushion, leaving a deep scratch.

The words “be careful” caught in his throat. Song Yan felt it was more fitting to direct those two words towards the shady taxi driver.

The car suddenly came to a halt.

Shady Taxi Driver: “Looks like the car stalled. Let me check.”

With the windows tightly shut, the driver got out of the car after switching on the air conditioning. He still held a small bottle in his hand, ready to discreetly toss it onto the seat.

Inside the instance, the potency of drugs was far stronger than in the real world. The group understood what he was up to. Before the driver could close the door, Ji Yuanzhi plunged his dagger into the man’s wrist. In pain and weakened, the driver couldn’t twist open the bottle cap, and the little vial fell to the ground.

Ji Yuanzhi forcefully held the driver’s neck, using his head to push the door even wider to ensure airflow. After turning off the air conditioning, just as he was about to throw the vial away, Wen Shi’s voice came from the back seat, “Maybe keeping it could be useful.”

Ji Yuanzhi then tucked the vial into his pocket and threatened the driver with the knife, demanding his phone.

He had already examined it earlier. The game hadn’t issued a smartphone, and its functionality was even less than a basic phone.

Using the driver’s phone to establish the location, Ji Yuanzhi glanced at him while playing with the dagger.

“Don’t, I just wanted to steal your acceptance letters. I…”

Ji Yuanzhi seized the shady taxi driver by the hair, making him face away. Without entertaining futile excuses, he drove his knife precisely into the man’s heart.

After the deed was done, Ji Yuanzhi discarded his bloodstained coat and placed the body in the trunk.

Song Yan was dumbfounded, finally understanding why the man wore a burgundy shirt that didn’t match his personality. The blood stains seeping through his coat didn’t stand out so prominently.

Ji Yuanzhi fastened his seatbelt, temporarily becoming the driver. Through the rearview mirror, he said, “If he doesn’t die, he could report us for intentionally causing harm. We could get expelled.”

The notion of wanting to steal only acceptance letters was preposterous.

The sole reason for stealing an acceptance letter was to have someone else take their place at school. To prevent exposure, silencing was undoubtedly necessary. The driver was intentionally steering the car further away to facilitate covering up any evidence of foul play.

Ji Yuanzhi pushed the accelerator. After passing through a tunnel between the mountains, he stopped the car and tossed the body off a cliff.

The sound of the body hitting the sea was quickly engulfed by the surging tide. Then, Ji Yuanzhi continued driving and eventually abandoned the taxi in a forest when nearing the destination.

He never left any potential dangers behind in his actions.

From here, the school in the distance was already visible. Ji Yuanzhi gazed ahead and said, “It’ll take just about ten minutes.”

Ji Yuanzhi handled all the dirty work alone. Wen Shi was relieved that his sunglasses remained unused.

It was approaching 6 PM, only five minutes left before they had to be at the school. Some players had arrived earlier, gathering in small groups outside the school gates. Ji Yuanzhi recognized a few faces among them. Squinting, he said, “There are several players here this time with charming skills.”

Wen Shi felt a sense of camaraderie, as if encountering fellow villagers. “Just like me.”

Thinking about the cat ears and tails, Ji Yuanzhi cleared his throat. “They are genuinely capable of charming NPCs within the specified time.”

“…Oh”

He was being unserious.

Wen Shi had intended to observe those fellow players with charming skills, but in the last two minutes, players started pouring in.

This hitchhiking part was fairly straightforward for seasoned players. At least, Wen Shi’s group still had some scruples. They only acted against the driver’s ill intentions after getting in the car. Many others would simply kill the driver on the spot. The delay in their arrival was due to their foot pain. Several players were resting in the shadows. As the time approached, they finally made their way to the main gate of the school.

Nearly two hundred players crowded together, causing Wen Shi to shift his gaze toward the main gate.

The emblem of Mingzhu Academy was a stone carving—perfectly round and smooth like marble, yet not a real pearl. However, the stone’s inherent nature gave it a slightly dusty appearance.

“Standing at the gate should count as arriving,” someone said.

The school gate was currently locked from the inside. They couldn’t just climb over.

In the final minute, a person appeared walking along the tree-lined sidewalk. It was as if they had emerged directly from the shadows, holding a bunch of keys. They stopped, unlocking the gate from inside.

The school gate was constructed quite tall. Both the gate and the surrounding walls were fitted with anti-climbing barbed wire, the kind of sharp-edged blades typically used in prisons to prevent inmates from escaping.

A series of iron locks were undone, and as the woman pushed the gate open, a gust of chilly wind swept through.

“A warm welcome to each of you as you join the Mingzhu Academy family.”

The sound of the completion of a system task coincided with this statement.

The woman’s cheeks seemed almost sunken, despite her young age. Her eyes were cloudy and eerie, especially when they fixated on someone.

“Upon arriving at Mingzhu Academy, remember three things.

“First, have a genuine love for music and attend classes diligently. Second, avoid displeasing your major course teachers…” She cautioned, “Third, there have been a lot of rumors lately. While there’s no smoke without fire, we don’t tolerate merfolk here. If you notice anything amiss, report it to the school administration immediately. There will be rewards for those who report.”

Wen Shi listened quietly to the woman’s words. He thought the school was quite intriguing, with hints suggesting a certain level of credibility to the rumors, both explicitly and between the lines.

“Remember, our school motto is…”

“Become the most dazzling versatile entertainers!” The person who spoke had slightly unclear enunciation, but their face bore an almost divine reverence, as if a holy light illuminated it in the half-darkened sky.

If not for the occasion, the surrounding players would undoubtedly burst into laughter.

Even for the sake of pleasing NPCs, they wouldn’t go that far.

Wen Shi, equally amused by the eccentricity, casually glanced toward the source of the voice. The next moment, an unprecedented shock registered on his face.

Before he could even open his mouth in astonishment, Jian Qingrong reached over from behind and covered it, helping him suppress his reaction.

Wen Shi’s heart pounded intensely as two words choked back—

Wandering Corpse.

Ji Yuanzhi had encountered the Wandering Corpse before and was especially surprised this time. The latter carried a backpack covered in dirt and held an acceptance letter in his hand, currently reading the school motto written on it.

Ji Yuanzhi rapidly deduced a conclusion: the Wandering Corpse, without his master’s instruction, had killed a player and was planning to take their place as a student.

Unless it was a special instance, players often retained their initial instance role names, eliminating the possibility of identical names.

Ji Yuanzhi lightly tapped on the frame of his glasses, clearly making out the name on the acceptance letter: Euilia.

He recognized the name. They had previously teamed up for an instance. The person was a member of the Puppet Guild. Ji Yuanzhi had seen him on the train earlier.

It seemed that Pei Wenwei’s war general had decided to attend school, killing people and using their belongings without his master’s instruction.

Wen Shi snapped back to reality and immediately checked his attribute panel.

【Type: Wandering Corpse

Loyalty: 7

(After waking up from his dormant period, his loyalty to you unexpectedly increased a bit)

The Wandering Corpse is excited to hear that you’re going to Mingzhu Music Academy. He wants to quietly learn together with you and dazzle everyone.】

The Wandering Corpse could faintly hear the in-game notification sound and a significant part of Wen Shi’s intuition. While on the train, the Wandering Corpse had clearly sensed the source of unfriendly gazes and had taken action against one of them.

Wen Shi’s blood pressure rose. Ever since Big Factory, the cost for summoning the Wandering Corpse had been steadily increasing. He had suspected for a while that this fellow was siphoning his blood.

Now it seemed that he not only took a sip but also secretly set up a small blood bank, ready to summon himself when crucial times came.

“…What the hell.”

Truly a rebellious character.

No wonder back when his loyalty was just at five, there was a line in the system description that said【He really adores you】.

Such a generous display of affection.

“I want to smash his head.” Wen Shi’s expression turned dark.

Jian Qingrong, having a comprehensive perspective on the matter, said pointedly, “He’s coming to study music. The mentors must be thrilled.”

They had all been fortunate enough to experience the Wandering Corpse’s heavenly melody.

Wen Shi: “……” You’re right.

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