Chapter 27: I Am the Bane of the Abyss God! A Genius of Glitches!

"Cough, cough, cough! Damn this dungeon! How could there be such a powerful boss?"

Tu Xingsun leaped abruptly from the ground. He had dozens of wounds of varying sizes all over his body, and the blood seeping out had stained his school uniform a deep crimson. These were only external injuries; he had no idea what state his internal organs were in, but every breath felt as if his chest were being scorched by fire, so it was likely that his internal trauma was no better.

He had nearly died. Fortunately, he had managed to distance himself from the battlefield, using an escape skill to reach the far end of the school playground, a long way from the main teaching building.

"Damn it! Why did it malfunction?" Tu Xingsun grumbled, fishing a ridiculous-looking hat out of his pocket. It looked just like a wild mushroom found anywhere in the mountains. He opened his equipment panel and saw:

【Mushroom Hat (Contaminated)】
【Effect: Put on this hat and stand still to instantly erase your presence, making others perceive you as nothing more than a harmless mushroom.】
【Note: I am a mushroom. What are you?】

The moment Principal Wang had appeared, he had immediately pulled out the hat and put it on, hiding beside a tree in an attempt to slip through undetected. He hadn't expected the boss to merely flick the black ring on his pinky finger. The hat on his head had instantly become as untouchable as a red-hot iron block. Then, the word "Contaminated" appeared, and it became impossible to store back into his inventory.

It was too bizarre. He had never encountered a boss capable of directly interfering with the use of a player's inventory. That thing was simply beyond their ability to contend with!

"Brother Baili, Brother Shi, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to keep the dungeon rewards for myself." Despite his severe injuries, a smile appeared on Tu Xingsun's face. He patted his waist; the box of paints was still there. Once Principal Wang killed those two, he would return alone tomorrow to investigate the Art Building. The rewards would be his alone!

"Are you done running?"

Just as Tu Xingsun was preparing to head back to the dormitory, a familiar voice echoed in his ears. In the blink of an eye, the surrounding environment shifted. He was back where he started. Baili Dao and Shi Gangdang were already lying on the ground, motionless and of uncertain fate. He looked up at that mountain-like, bloated figure, who was gently twisting a white ring.

Spatial teleportation! Damn it! He wasn't even in its line of sight!

"As long as you are in this school, you cannot escape my control!" Principal Wang’s mocking grin was hideously distorted, the corners of his mouth stretching almost to his ears. He was invincible here! Forget Tu Xingsun—even the Great Sage Sun Wukong couldn't escape his grasp!

"Principal... we only wanted to help you catch the truant!" Realizing he couldn't get away, Tu Xingsun immediately tried to justify their actions. "We have reliable information that the truant is plotting something in the Art Building! We wanted to help you worry less and investigate to catch that daring student. You can kill us if you want, but you can't let the student escape!"

He was trying to save himself as best he could. After all, their mission was technically to assist the ghost school! As long as Principal Wang was willing to listen, he didn't care if there was a reckoning later. Right now, he just needed to survive!

But the mockery on the other's face only deepened. He raised a hand as thick as a concrete pillar and gripped Tu Xingsun’s two arms.

He gave a light tug.

*Sssss—*

Tu Xingsun was like an ant caught by a mischievous child; the boss tore his arms off with ease.

"See? In my eyes, you are just toys. Even if all the students in the school were added together, they would just be more toys." Principal Wang casually crushed Tu Xingsun’s legs into a pulp and continued, "Toys can't run away."

It’s over...

Tu Xingsun’s consciousness began to fade. He suddenly realized the most bizarre thing about this dungeon. With such a powerful ghost school and principal, could any student really escape? Was there any need for them to catch the truant at all?

With a look of despair, he saw Principal Wang press a finger against his head.

*Splat—*

His skull exploded like a watermelon dropped on the floor.

Principal Wang used a fingernail to gently hook the paint box out of the puddle of "watermelon juice" and carefully placed it back into his own pocket. He couldn't help but think of the aura inside the Art Building. He looked down at the bodies of Baili Dao and Shi Gangdang and said contemptuously, "I think you two are the ones who look like truants. Don't tell me you really wanted to find a path to the Art Building? You have no idea what terrifying existence is there. You don't even have the qualifications to get close to Him."

Principal Wang knew better than anyone. The aura inside the broadcast room—no one in the entire school could get near it except for himself. Even he had had to use these ten specially crafted rings to steal and acclimate to that aura for decades before he could barely manage to stay in the broadcast room, bathed in His gaze. That feeling was simply intoxicating!

And in three more days, that aura would be completely at his disposal! By then, the reputation of Gaoshan Middle School would reach an even higher level!

Thinking of this, Principal Wang, feeling an almost orgasmic rush, pressed his finger onto Shi Gangdang’s head.

*Splat—*

Freshly squeezed watermelon juice, batch number two, was served. He then turned his gaze toward Baili Dao.

"Moshi moshi~"

"Hello, dear audience! Welcome to 'Your Moon, My Heart.' A good man is me, and I am—Wang Zhiyong."

Before Principal Wang could move again, a strange, peculiar voice echoed throughout the campus. Even though it was past midnight, every student in the school sat up in bed with a jolt. They looked at each other and toward the teaching building in confusion. This was something they had never heard before.

Principal Wang’s arrogant and unrestrained expression instantly turned deathly pale.

"This is... a broadcast?" Baili Dao lay on the ground, powerless, with only his mind still functioning.

Gaoshan Middle School had no broadcast system. The players had taken this fact for granted during their two days of exploration. The ghost school had only countless clocks. The only thing capable of transmitting sound throughout the school was the bell in the clock tower that signaled the start and end of classes. So where was this eerie broadcast coming from?

Although he didn't know anyone named Wang Zhiyong, this tone... why did he feel inexplicably familiar with it?

"Next, I want to tell you a story about my younger brother... actually, never mind, it's too long. Let's get straight to the point." Wu Wang’s face was somewhat pale as he cracked a metaphorical, suggestive joke into the microphone.

He was sitting inside the broadcast room. Standing beside him was a helpless-looking Liu Yang, who was using both hands to pin down two identical, chubby boys. The two little fatties had dazed expressions, their hands constantly trying to reach out and choke each other. Nobody knew where Liu Yang got the strength to hold them both down at once.

"First, a secret that both your homeroom teacher and Principal Wang have been hiding from you—"

"At Gaoshan Middle School, someone has actually succeeded in playing truant before."

As soon as these words were spoken, whispers broke out in the previously quiet dormitory building. But after only a second, Principal Wang’s exasperated voice also echoed across the campus.

"Who are you! How did you get in there!" There was His aura on the door of the broadcast room! Who could just push the door open and walk in?!

"Who am I? Since you’ve asked so sincerely, I shall tell you with great mercy!"

"To prevent the world from being destroyed, to protect the peace of the world."

"To carry out love and the truth of evil, the cute and charming villain character."

"I am the Bane of the Abyss God!"

Every time Wu Wang spoke a sentence, the red light of the vertical pupil on his wrist became more eerie. His face grew paler and paler. By the time he finished the last sentence, his life force had been completely drained. He collapsed in front of the microphone, looking like a corpse.

But in the blink of an eye, he sat back up, his face rosy once more. The simple, sketch-like red vertical pupil showed a rare look of confusion.

*What the hell! Where did all the life force I absorbed for so long go?*

————

Time to go back to before he entered the room.

Wu Wang had hit a bug again. The moment he encountered the red vertical pupil on the broadcast room door, it had been absorbed and devoured by the one on his wrist. Although he could use the microphone to broadcast to the whole school, a drawback appeared—every sentence he spoke caused the red vertical pupil to absorb a massive amount of his life force.

However, his 【Immortality】 ability caused his lost life force to return exactly as it was. Thus, a death loop had formed in his body. The Abyss God's mark was like eating air; no matter how much it consumed, it was never full. The microphone could only be exploited by him infinitely.

Wu Wang held a notebook he had scavenged from the ghost boy.

【Wang Zhiyong's Diary: A record of unspeakable secrets】
【I succeeded in playing truant today】
【I plan to spread my wings and fly tomorrow】
【But I already died yesterday】

"Actually, my name isn't important, but yours is very important." After resurrecting, Wu Wang spoke word by word through the microphone to the entire school:

"Am I right, Principal Wang? Or should I call you..."

"The first person in the history of Gaoshan Middle School to successfully play truant—Wang Zhiyong."