Where's the cute girl we were promised? She's completely wiped out S-rank dungeons!

"Actually, this situation does exist... Some advanced players can hide their basic panel and personal ID."

Qiao Ran opened the points leaderboard—also known as the player leaderboard. She looked around and pointed to the players whose avatars were displayed as black icons:

"Some of these players are defectors, just like me. They hid their personal IDs to conceal their identities and conserve their strength. Others have rather eccentric personalities—after all, most people who can reach the top 100 in this kind of horror game aren't exactly normal. Maybe they just want to look cool and mysterious, and don't want to be noticed, who knows?"

Even if these people log into the game, their IDs won't be visible. Furthermore, they can easily shut down their streams. I'm inclined to believe this person is a low-profile, high-level player; as for whether they want to cause trouble for us... that's hard to say.

Song Yuan lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment before saying calmly, "In a dungeon, the fewer opponents you have, the better your chances of survival. I think this person is a threat to us, so unless absolutely necessary, try not to leave the monitored area."

Qiao Ran and An Xiaomei nodded in agreement—the areas visible to the surveillance cameras were all under the management of school staff. While movement was restricted under the surveillance, at least personal safety was guaranteed.

There were only thirteen minutes left to eat. With two minutes remaining, Song Yuan stood up with her empty plate, while Qiao Ran and An Xiaomei stared blankly at the leftover food on their plates with bitter expressions.

Song Yuan looked at them and calmly stated, "If we drag this out any longer, the cafeteria will close. Don't worry about what's on your plate, just close your eyes and swallow it."

An Xiaomei only had one serving of strawberry fried peanuts left. She pointed to the unidentified red object, her voice weak:

"But I'm allergic to peanuts... eating them will reduce my health points."

Qiao Ran's plate was even more exaggerated; almost none of the dishes were completely finished, and it was still piled high with food.

"Cough... Although I'm not allergic to any of the food here, I really can't eat anymore... Seriously, how did this school come up with so many bizarre combinations of perfectly good ingredients? Song Yuan actually finished it all without even batting an eye..."

Yes, besides the strawberry and peanut stir-fry, there was also chicken breast cooked to a dark purple color—actually, it was cooked with purple cabbage, sliced ​​braised eggs coated in powdered sugar, and a free soup made with soy sauce and a pinch of salt...

The chefs in this cafeteria seem determined to put some kind of performance art into the students' meals; the food they cook is simply beyond redemption in terms of color, aroma, and taste.

It's not that Song Yuan has no requirements for food. Rather, she's completely unaware that she's eating, and treats "eating this stuff" as a task. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to eat it.

So the three decided to dump their food into the sewer at the cafeteria entrance. But after sneaking a few steps, they were stopped by someone calling out to them:

"Hey! Where are you taking this food?"

Caught red-handed, Qiao Ran and An Xiaomei mechanically turned around and found several students whose eyes were practically glowing with hunger. Qiao Ran coughed twice, trying to brush it off:

"Um... the cafeteria lady gave us a lot of food today, we can't eat anymore, so we're thinking of finding another place to eat."

Song Yuan/An Xiaomei: "..."

What a ridiculous excuse. Do you think they'd be able to eat anywhere else?

Sure enough, the students didn't believe him. They rushed forward, like a pack of wolves, staring intently at the plate in Qiao Ran's hand.

"How could that be? I saw you finish eating before you got up from the ground. This is your leftovers, right? If you can't finish it, could you give it to us?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Ran's mind went blank for a moment, and a question mark slowly appeared above her head:

"You?! Aren't you going to report us for wasting food? And isn't it a little impolite... to give your leftovers to others?"

Before the word "appearance" could even be uttered, the group of students, after confirming that these were their leftovers, pounced on them like hungry tigers, snatching the empty plates from An Xiaomei, Qiao Ran, and even Song Yuan. When they returned the plates, the food on them was completely gone, and even the bottom of the plates was licked clean.

After they had eaten and felt a little better, the little boy who had snatched Qiao Ran's plate muttered to himself:

"Why would we report you? You're all classmates, why would we want to harm you? And what's so impolite about it? It's already hard enough to get something to eat; so many people have starved to death because they can't get enough to eat..."

Upon hearing his description, An Xiaomei suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. Clutching her chest, she timidly asked:

"Um... classmate, aren't you exaggerating? How could a school let its students starve to death?"

The student scanned them up and down before noticing their strange attire, and scoffed:

"Are you three new here? This is no joke."

Our principal said that only students who lack a sense of time, deliberately run slowly on the way, and are unmotivated will skip lunch. If they go three days without eating, they'll practically starve to death. What's the big deal?

Okay, you guys hurry up and put the plates away, get ready to run back to the classroom. I'm going back to the classroom too.

After saying goodbye to the young student, the three went to the back of the cafeteria to put their plates away. Qiao Ran, rubbing her forehead, mumbled sleepily:

"Can someone check if I have a fever? Although external values ​​don't necessarily apply in this dungeon, my mental state says I feel really unwell..."

An Xiaomei felt that her worldview had also been greatly impacted:

"Hmm, this school is actually called 'Talent Cultivation'? Can this kind of management style really cultivate talent...?"

As Song Yuan walked under the shade of the tree, she casually reminded the two of something:

"It's only the first day. We don't know how long it will take to explore the entire school and find a way to escape. Until then, let's try to follow the rules."

Because they don't know the exact duration of the solitary confinement punishment. In this scenario, whoever finds an escape route first wins. If they are restricted in their movements due to repeated violations, it will be even more difficult for them to defeat the puppeteer and Liu Gaosheng.

Since the students had just finished eating, the school generously gave them a full thirty minutes to return to the classroom; a rare moment of relaxation during the day.

The three walked within the surveillance area, chatting as they headed towards the teaching building. As they passed the knowledge corridor, they saw a figure standing far away at the end. As if on cue, Qiao Ran once again darted behind Song Yuan.

The man gave Song Yuan an innocent smile and waved to them. An Xiaomei, seeing that outrageously handsome face, exclaimed:

"Another puppeteer? What's he doing here?"