Chapter 248 - 13: Backup Plan

"Oh, you boys..."

After confirming with Glasses that his Deceitful Object was the real deal, Pot Lid Haircut became incredibly friendly with him.

Watching the two guys getting all chummy and understanding Glasses’s reason for the invitation, Wang Yun shot them a look of utter disdain, as if she were staring at a pile of wet kitchen trash.

But three people was enough. The rest of the plan would be easier to execute.

Instead of going down to the classroom for self-study, they stood on the rooftop and began to discuss their next move.

Wang Yun was decisive but not especially bright, and Pot Lid Haircut was a good fighter but also not especially bright. This unconsciously made Glasses the team’s de facto strategist.

After a moment’s thought, he said to the other two, "First, let’s go make contact with Fierce Wolf and White Tiger."

"Why?" Wang Yun asked.

"Because they’re powerful Deceitful Objects. If the Dean of Students is really being coerced, they’ll surely give us a subtle hint. Of course, that’s assuming they’re on his side."

"That makes sense. Do you have any other plans?"

"Kidnap a teacher. The teachers don’t have Deceitful Objects, and physically, they’re just normal adults. We just need to grab one and force them to tell us what they know."

"Sounds a little crazy, but I like it."

After discussing a few more plans, Wang Yun made the final call: they would start by trying to contact Fierce Wolf and White Tiger.

They often stood guard on the fourth floor, which was where the Dean of Students had his office.

Wang Yun had wanted to volunteer, but Glasses flatly refused to let her. In the end, Glasses went to the fourth floor himself, heading for the Dean of Students’ office.

He had always known this wasn’t a place for students.

After all, the Dean of Students had plenty of secrets of his own. His territory on the fourth floor had become even more mysterious after the principal and others were transferred, and not a single student was permitted to go there.

But now that he was here, he understood that this was truly no place for ordinary people.

He hadn’t even seen Fierce Wolf or White Tiger yet, but he could already feel the pressure emanating from a superior Deceitful Object.

His own Fat Head Fish was already swaying back and forth nervously, clinging to his back and refusing to budge.

The long, narrow corridor was unlit. The only light source was the window at the far end, and the dazzling white light seeping in from outside only made the darkness within the hallway more pronounced.

The influence of the two powerful Deceitful Objects lingered, and the terrifying atmosphere made Glasses swallow hard. The dry saliva scraped down his throat like a knife, making it ache even more.

At that moment, Glasses bitterly regretted his decision. He regretted letting himself be blinded by beauty and agreeing to come here in the first place.

But since he had already promised, turning back now would be a huge loss of face. He had no choice but to press forward and scout out the situation inside.

Then, he saw it.

A person’s upper half was crawling on the floor, while its other half walked along the ceiling. The two halves, one high and one low, moved in a bizarrely coordinated way that made Glasses’s mind go completely blank.

He had never seen a Deceitful Object like this. Its very existence seemed to be a testament to the malice of its kind, and it made Glasses realize this thing was undoubtedly an awakened Deceitful Object.

Just then, the crawling torso on the floor stopped and began to turn its head.

Glasses knew he should run, but his body refused to obey.

Intense fear had shattered his survival instinct, disabling his body’s basic functions. All he could do was wait for death.

In the nick of time, someone grabbed him, pulled him backward, and dragged him behind a nearby desk, clamping a hand tightly over his mouth.

Out in the hallway, the half-torso had turned its head back. Its bloody, mangled eyes stared fixedly at the space behind it. Only when it saw nothing did it continue on its way, disappearing around a corner.

Only then did the person behind him let go, whispering in his ear, "It’s okay. We’re safe."

Glasses’s heart was pounding wildly. The relief of his narrow escape made him feel an immense sense of reliance on his rescuer. When he saw it was Wang Yun, that reliance instantly transformed into adoration, and his face turned beet red.

Rubbing his face, then rubbing his nearly-overheating Fat Head Fish, Glasses said to Wang Yun, "What are you doing here?"

"I had a feeling you were in danger, so I came. What was that Deceitful Object? It looked incredibly dangerous. Also, it looked like it was talking. Did you hear anything?"

"I didn’t, but did you know my Fat Head Fish can read lips?"

The Fat Head Fish nodded when mentioned, then blew a few bubbles, each containing a line of text.

"She said, ’Why does he ignore me?’"

After reading the sentence, Wang Yun asked in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"It looks like she’s a teacher’s Deceitful Object, but that teacher ignored her. The anger from that made her run off, and now she’s constantly wandering the fourth floor."

"That must be it. That thing looks way too freaky. I definitely don’t want it to catch me."

"Me neither."

"So... retreat?"

"Let’s go."

The two of them tiptoed away, not daring to linger a moment longer.

They didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until they were all the way back on the rooftop. Then they looked at each other and smiled, both feeling like they’d just survived a disaster.

With such a bizarre creature guarding the fourth floor, it seemed that directly contacting the Dean of Students was no longer an option.

That left only the second option: kidnap a teacher.

When afternoon classes began, they skipped class and instead stood on a dirt slope behind the school, observing the five teachers.

The experimental class students were taught in person by the teachers, while the regular classes listened to the Dean of Students over a broadcast. The lessons were on common-knowledge subjects like biology and chemistry, but all five teachers were actually pretty good.

Looking at the five of them, they began to size them up one by one.

"What about that really pretty teacher? Think we could kidnap her?"

"Probably not. I get a really dangerous vibe from her, like we’d die if we tried."

"Then... let’s forget Duan Someone. He’s not that dangerous, but we can’t outsmart him."

"Agreed. How about Lin Daiyu?"

"Nope. She feels dangerous. We couldn’t beat her."

"What about the Maid?"

"Don’t think we could beat her, either. Plus, I have a feeling we’d be the ones getting taken out."

...

After going through their options, the three of them realized there was only one possible target.

The arrogant young lady.

After all, among the five of them, she was the only one who looked weak.

And just like that, the kidnapping target was happily decided.

But the next problem was, how were they going to kidnap her?

After thinking it over and over, Wang Yun, adhering to the principle of "thirty percent fate, seventy percent effort, and ninety percent pure recklessness," simply kicked open Flora’s classroom door.

With everyone watching, she looked at Flora and calmly said, "Teacher, your friend is at the door looking for you."

"Isn’t that excuse a little far-fetched?" Glasses whispered.

"It’s fine," Wang Yun said. "I’ve got this."

Glasses was skeptical, but what he found even more unbelievable was that Flora actually froze.

She crossed her arms and declared haughtily, "How is that possible? There’s no way I have any friends. Wait... you all study on your own. I’ll go take a look. What if I do?"

Watching Flora bolt out of the room, Glasses couldn’t help but think, ’These teachers are kind of dumb, aren’t they?’