Chapter 114 "Hahahahahahaha!"

A crisp, youthful laugh echoed through the counseling room. Mingmei, holding a teacup, gave Ruan Xun, who was laughing so hard tears were almost streaming down his face, a deadpan stare.

Hmph.

So he heard she got crushed to death by a runaway pirate ship?

Was it really that funny?

"Hahaha, I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at how ridiculously you guys died." Wiping away the triumphant tears from the corner of his eye, Ruan Xun's words did little to comfort Mingmei. "I didn't expect that the person needing psychological support from my side would be you, Meimei~"

"Me neither." Taking a sip of hot tea, Mingmei said expressionlessly, "So this is the welfare round you promised? Seriously?"

Mingmei had just exited the game last night and was lying in the game pod, not wanting to come out at all. Then she glanced at Lu Xiaoyao's live stream. It had been a while since Lu Xiaoyao had done a full, complete stream like this.

However, the moment she entered the stream, she saw Lu Xiaoyao crying her eyes out.

"Waaaaah! If it wasn't so late, I would have gone next door to find my friend! This is so unfair QAQ!"

At that moment, Mingmei really wanted to reply that she was the one who was unfairly implicated!

"Hahahaha~ For Meimei, it was definitely a welfare round~ The bento box sales were good too, and you even got to go on a date with the boy you like."

"Uncle!"

Mingmei's face suddenly flushed red from Ruan Xun's teasing.

Ruan Xun continued to laugh, but when he saw that Mingmei was about to glare at him, he quickly took a sip of water to calm down, almost spitting it out, which Mingmei found disgusting.

"I remember I mentioned this game to you before, but you didn't warn me."

Mingmei felt that if Ruan Xun had given her a heads-up, she wouldn't have been so miserably tricked by Yan Hui.

This wasn't about whether the bento boxes would sell or not, nor could it be explained away by playing with Mu Chen. She just wanted to know—

Why did the mysterious merchant NPC die such an innocent and tragic death?

"Oh dear, I didn't expect Brother Yan Hui to have such a twisted sense of humor~" Putting down his teacup, Ruan Xun said with a smile, "But ultimately, it's the players who aren't vigilant enough. No matter how much of a welfare round an escape game is, it's still an escape game at its core~"

"Ah, but wasn't 'no more than three' a bit too much? Even three players on a single amusement ride ended up in trouble?"

Mingmei remembered how she had finally escaped from the merry-go-round, only to be crushed to death by the derailed pirate ship next door. After that, she found out that the pirate ship also had three players, and she was completely speechless!

Total annihilation!

Sigh!

"That's not all~" Hearing what Mingmei said, Ruan Xun smiled, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes. "The most important thing in that hint was indeed the number three, but you overlooked one crucial thing."

"Hmm?"

"The game setting was a three-day holiday." Ruan Xun pointed out, then muttered, "If I'm not mistaken, players in this game won't even survive until the third day."

"Huh?" Mingmei looked confused. "What's your basis for that?"

"None, I'm just guessing based on my understanding of Brother Yan Hui and the hints he gave you." Ruan Xun stated his guess matter-of-factly, "It would be too little to have only two restrictions in one phrase, right?"

"Are you guys' hearts really that dark?" Mingmei scoffed. "Then how are players supposed to complete their missions?"

"Just complete them within two days."

"Uncle →_→ You're overestimating the players, aren't you?" Mingmei didn't know what Ruan Xun was thinking. "Normally, it's impossible to complete them~"

"Then that's the point, isn't it? It was supposed to be a welfare round for players to relax. You can't have both fish and bear's paw. You can't have both credits and relaxation! Besides, 'no more than three' and 'too much is as bad as too little' means that complete relaxation probably isn't what your school wants to see, so you have to learn to relax appropriately, not get too addicted, and not go looking for trouble…"

As he spoke, Ruan Xun even self-indulgently lifted his hand to sweep back his hair, revealing his smooth forehead. "Isn't this welfare round full of life philosophy really great?"

"Hehehehe…" Mingmei didn't want to talk anymore.

"According to Yan Hui's twisted sense of humor, it's just for you guys to have some fun. As for credits? You're already having fun, why bother thinking about credits? Don't you agree?"

Right?

Mingmei didn't know how to answer that.

"Uncle?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you give Uncle Yan Hui ideas for this game? Ah, or rather, did you make any suggestions?"

Although Ruan Xun kept saying that he was guessing, his confident tone and the hint of regret when he mentioned certain things made her think that her Uncle Ruan Ruan had also done something behind the scenes.

After Mingmei asked, she met Ruan Xun's mysterious gaze behind his glasses. Then, she saw her uncle sigh softly. "Not really suggestions~ I just said that the special reminder about the number three seemed too obvious with 'no more than three', and told him to modify it. Sadly, your Uncle Yan Hui didn't agree."

The corner of Mingmei's mouth couldn't help but twitch at Ruan Xun's regretful expression.

Mingmei felt a little depressed. With a thought, she realized that she had come here for psychological counseling, right?

Why?

Why did she feel more annoyed the more she listened to her uncle?

Was her uncle really like this with every client?

This holiday welfare round wasn't just for her; almost all the other players were receiving psychological counseling as well.

In particular, many players didn't understand why they ended up dying.

…

"I can't figure it out…" Julian leaned back against the sofa, closing his eyes, unwilling to face the therapist. "I didn't play three times. I even asked other players, and they all said they didn't play three times! I even called customer service to ask!"

Therapist: "Oh, what did they say?"

"They said that accidental death is normal in an escape game."

Therapist: "Well, there's some truth to that."

"But this is a welfare round! There was even a hint at the beginning to avoid death! I understood it, and I did it, and I avoided it!"

After Julian finished speaking, the doctor pondered for a moment. The term "welfare round" sounded familiar. A student had come to him before, talking about a game where he suffocated to death from eating too much seafood.

And now, this was a death from an amusement park ride?

Was this what they called a welfare round game?

The doctor subtly pondered for a moment, still wondering if he should ask anything else, when he saw the other person suddenly sit up straight.

The doctor saw Julian with a look of sudden realization, saying, "Damn it! One of those two must have lied to me! They wanted to drag me down with them because they couldn't pass the level themselves!"

Doctor: ?

The doctor silently stared at Julian's gnashing, ferocious expression. After thinking for a moment, he wrote on the person's file: [Suspected paranoia.]

…

"Hahahahaha, Lou Jia, your death was so tragic! Wasn't it a welfare round?!"

As Lou Jia's best friend, the other person shared Lou Jia's freshly released "Holiday Welfare Round" death "memorial photo" from the latest collection of student deaths on the internal network.

Lou Jia almost cried.

Just a few days ago, he had cooperated with the school to shoot a new set of recruitment videos, looking spirited and high-spirited. His reputation was growing.

But just because of that,

The death photo of him with his eyes wide open, an unidentified shard sticking out of his head, vaguely recognizable as a unicorn horn, received even more attention!

It was truly a social death ＿(：3」∠)_

…

"Meimei! Something terrible has happened!"

After receiving psychological counseling from her terrible uncle, Mingmei had just returned when she was hit with bad news from Lu Xiaoyao.

"Ahhh! Our school! Is copying the Second Military Academy and doing a death collection!!!"

Mingmei: "Why are you so agitated? Aren't you used to it?"

Lu Xiaoyao: …

Oh! Her damned fans!