In Virtual Reality 24 ☆ Death Notice (8/25)

"So, let me get this straight," said Silence, their expression turning strange as if they wanted to laugh but felt they shouldn't. "You entered the University of Dark Virtue by mistake and now you're trying to get out?" The three men nodded, pulling their chairs up to the table and sitting across from the pink hoodie teacher.

The hoodie teacher lived up to their expectations as they began speaking, "Let's revisit the topic of credit hours. In everyday life, credit hours can solve your accommodation and meal problems and can even be traded for services from other students. However, the most crucial aspect is that they can be used to take final exams."

Final exams?

The corners of the trio's mouths twitched as they thought about their college life so far.

Hoodie spoke up, "As long as you pass the final exam, you can leave the school."

Shen Jia was stunned, but the other two boys were not as composed. Xu Qin shouted out in surprise, "We can leave?!" and Peng Jia Long's eyes were filled with shock. Even the intimidating hoodie became kinder in his eyes.

"Wait a minute," interrupted Shen Jia, his hands clenched and unconsciously breaking his fingers to ease his anxiety. His mind was racing, his brown-black pupils darting around in small circles. "If I pass the final exam and can leave Dark Virtue University... then why would the senior students stay here?" He looked straight at Hoodie with a questioning gaze.

**

Xu Jin Yi blinked, but quickly remembered her role as a Game Guide, not a Main Character. Or she could be any (x) role.

"Actually," She propped one hand on her cheek and gave a playful smile. "It could be," Her expression was successfully projected onto the pink hoodie player character model, but with a hint of mystery as if saying: How do you know I haven't been away?

Xu Jin Yi cheerfully teased the NPC. "Maybe it's because of you guys that I'm back here again."

As a veteran player, how could she not join in on the fun of the remastered Death Notice game? The VR reset version was the best!

Shen Jia was momentarily dumbfounded, but didn't say anything further. So, Xu Jin Yi cleared her thoughts and continued to share her extensive experience playing the game. "Generally speaking, freshmen need to take up to seven courses, each requiring 50 hours to complete. After passing the exam, you will receive 1-3 credits, depending on the difficulty of the course. Those are the credit hours that you leave with."

Xu Jin Yi thought back to how many courses she had brushed up on in the past.

'Auch!' She thought: 'I must have used up a lot of notebook pages to achieve eveything." She remembered the countless hours spent memorizing questions, boards, and escape routes, which almost made her go bald.

"After earning all credits for your major, you have the choice to either depart from the school or move on to your sophomore year."

The PC version of Death Notice does offer the option of advancing to next year, but it has been two to three years since Dog Planners haven't released a sequel. Although the option exists, after clicking it a [The developer team is working on it~] pops up and nothing more. From then until now Xu Jin Yi had been demanding for the full game.

"Are you all planning on leaving?" she asked with a sly smile. "If so, you'll have plenty to keep you busy."

The amount of school hours required to leave was quite substantial.

Shen Jia considered the situation before turning to Xu Qin, "Do you have any classes this afternoon?"

"Me? Let me check," Xu Qin replied. "I have a programming class and a main field of study class in the afternoon, four periods in total."

Peng Jia Long raised his hand, whispering, "I don't have a class today." Shen Jia also chimed in, "Neither do I." He then looked at Silence with a determined gaze and said, "Senior, I've noticed when the cafeteria opens for dinner ghost students come after two classes in the afternoon."

"Are you considering coming with me?" Hoodie asked, raising an eyebrow. Shen Jia smiled briefly before looking at Hoodie in pink and replying seriously, "After all, I was the student who provided feedback to the senior earlier."

"Then count me in too!" Peng Jia Long interjected firmly. "If anything happens, I can carry you and escape."

Shen Jia chuckled, "Where exactly do I look so frail?"

Xu Qin chimed in with a low voice, "When you were lying on the floor with low blood sugar."

Shen Jia sighed, "Anyway, the senior should take a break first. We'll all go to the canteen together later."

**　

It had been three or four hours since Xu Jin Yi started playing the game. After saving her progress, she took a break and removed her VR glasses. The sunset outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows caught her eye, offering some relief to her tired eyes.

Xu Jin Yi rubbed her temples and stretched her limbs, hearing the satisfying cracking sound as she did so. She took a deep breath and leaned back on the sofa, lost in thought for a while before turning her head to gaze at the beautiful orange-red and blue-white sky outside the window. The stunning view was more magnificent than anything she had experienced in the game.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that it was dinnertime. She picked up her phone and checked the time, seeing that it was 17:59.

After resting for a bit longer, until her stomach could no longer be ignored, Xu Jin Yi finally got up and made her way downstairs. The restaurant was still the same, and since it was still early at 6 PM, there were only a few people around.

Xu Jin Yi lazily ordered two small dishes and while waiting, the waitress handed her a bottle of soda.

"Eh? Auntie, I didn't ask for this."

"Take it, take it! I know you young people love this!"

Feeling grateful for the waitress' generosity, Xu Jin Yi took the soda and took a sip of the cold, misty orange juice. She gazed out the restaurant window, allowing her mind to wander.

Xu Jin Yi was an attractive girl with a round, soft face and bright, energetic eyes. Her black hair was beautiful and youthful, and the waitress couldn't help but admire her. The waitress even sat down next to her, smiling, while Xu Jin Yi's cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.

"Jin Yi, my dear," the diner aunt said with a sudden smile, "You're a student at Bright Violet (Zi-Yang紫阳学) College, right?"

"Yes, what's the matter?" Xu Jin Yi replied.

The diner aunt hemmed and hawed for a moment, then revealing a shy expression, "Do you like the food that your uncle and I make?"

Xu Jin Yi tilted her head and smiled warmly, "Of course! I can eat two portions in one go!"

Her sweet-talking and pretty appearance won the heart of the restaurant aunt.

"In that case," the restaurant aunt beamed, "Would you like me to continue cooking for you next semester?"

"Yes, of course!" Xu Jin Yi replied eagerly, but then paused, "Wait, what do you mean?"

The diner's aunt erupted into peals of laughter. "Hahaha! The canteen at Bright Violet College was outsourcing and I have a friend who just happened to introduce us. So, starting next semester, you'll be able continue enjoying my cooking!" She added with a warm smile, "Just remember to come and eat, Jin Yi. I'll make sure to give you even more delicious food!"

Xu Jin Yi, who loved food and never cooked herself, was naturally overjoyed at the prospect. Her eyes lit up with excitement and she thanked the diner aunt, "Yes, yes, thank you so much, auntie!"

**

"Senior... senior...?" Shen Jia called out softly and inched closer.

Hoodie, who had been reclining in their chair, suddenly opened their eyes. Suddenly, the hooded figure's eyes snapped open, revealing eyes that appeared otherworldly. They were pure black and seemed to belong to something other than a human.

"Hmm? What?" Hoodie asked.

Xu Jin Yi blinked in confusion, briefly admiring the quality of the game's artwork and modeling.

By the time Shen Jia took another look, Hoodie's eyes had returned to their normal appearance. Was it just his imagination? Putting aside his doubts, Shen Jia reminded Hoodie that the canteen should be open now. "Let's go then," Hoodie said, as they sat up, stretching their body that had become lazy from eating too much.

"Right, Senior," Shen Jia patted Peng Jia Long, who was still confused, then quickly followed Hoodie, "There are two girls who want to join us at the canteen later, is that okay with you?"

"Sure, whatever," replied Silence, shrugging their shoulders.

They saw no difference between eating with one or two more.

The three of them went downstairs and made their way to the dormitory entrance.

Just as they were about to reach the door, Silence suddenly stopped and asked, "By the way, how many freshmen are there like you?"

Shen Jia blinked in surprise, then answered, "There are 37, Senior."

Silence: "......"

?

??

????

Silence realized that bringing in 37 new members had made things much more difficult, pushing dificulity level a nutch higher. They needed to be careful, or they would be like fat chickens with an eagle looming above, ready to attack.

'I was careless,' Silence thought. 'I shouldn't have said that.'

They glanced at the recently overridden save. But they decided to put it behind them. There was a challenge to be faced, and that was one of the exciting aspects of Death Notice.

Just outside the dormitory gate, two girls were waiting, waving to greet them through the electronic door. As Silence and his team emerged, a taller girl with a neat ponytail stepped forward and introduced herself as "Ma." The other girl, who was shorter but appeared intelligent, introduced herself as "Qian Qin."

These two were members of Girls' Dorm 2, Room 502.

Ah Ma, who had just finished two classes and still had sweat on her forehead, looked like she had just finished a tough lesson.

"Hello, Silent Senior," Ah Ma greeted with a smile. "I just checked, the cafeteria is open and some ghost students have already gone in."

The cafeteria was not far from the dormitory building, and Ah Ma started walking back, saying, "Shen Jia told us about school hours, so Qian Qin and I brought our student IDs. Ah!"

Qian Qin quickly caught Ah Ma as she stumbled.

Ah Ma rubbed her bruised leg and looked back in surprise at the silver and white suitcase at the door of the dorm. She had seen it before, but had been so caught up in talking that she had forgotten about it.

"Whose suitcase is this?" Ah Ma muttered, furrowing her brow.

Xu Jin Yi, whose game audio was good, couldn't help but overhear. She was the game king who fearlessly took on ghosts and monsters in the game. So, without a change in expression, she kicked the suitcase to the side. "Let's go."

"Ah, yes!"

The group walked in silence, with Ah Ma sneaking glances at the mysterious junior and Qian Qin keeping a watchful eye to prevent her friend from tripping.

Shen Jia's mind raced with thoughts of how to escape if ghosts attacked in the cafeteria.

Peng Jia Long, meanwhile, had nothing to say and didn't dare speak up.

The group arrived at the canteen entrance and as Silence lifted their hand to push aside the plastic drape, a red woman's face appeared inches from Silence's. The woman's scarlet lips revealed sharp, glittering teeth, and her white eyes were filled with red blood, with only a tiny sesame seed sized black pupil staring deadly at Xu Jin Yi.

Before anyone could react, a scream, like an air-raid siren, came from behind, coming from Peng Jia Long.

But no one dared to laugh, as the ghostly face who seemed to have no body opened its gaping mouth towards Hoodie.

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