"This is the reward Chen Zhuo gave you."

As Li Nian spoke, she pulled out two heavy envelopes from her backpack and handed them to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu gave them a squeeze; the thickness suggested fourteen thousand two hundred yuan.

"Why is it quite a bit more than agreed?"

Lin Yu asked. Li Nian shrugged. "No idea. Fatty gave me exactly this amount. Maybe he added more because you performed well."

Although this sum was no longer a huge amount for Lin Yu nowadays, it was still over a hundred thousand in cash. Holding it in his hands, Lin Yu felt quite satisfied.

"You've been carrying this much money in your bag all along?"

Tucking the fourteen thousand into his jacket, Lin Yu asked curiously.

Li Nian shook her head. "Of course not. I just swiped this when I dragged you past the school finance office on the way to the rooftop—anyway, the amount is correct."

"I'll find some time before the finance office does their month-end reconciliation to take out an equivalent amount of money and put it back."

As Li Nian said this, Lin Yu gave her a thumbs-up.

"Impressive."

Truly worthy of a renowned 'Thief' player. Her problem-solving approach was indeed different.

Then, Li Nian directly materialized an [item] out of thin air.

"And the forum points reward—he already converted it into an [item] for cash settlement."

This was the settlement method Li Nian requested, as she couldn't use the 'forum'.

Although Lin Yu could use the forum, his 'Zhu Ming' identity had indeed been cleared out.

Li Nian tossed the [item] over. Lin Yu reached out and caught it. Subsequently, the mutually acknowledged transaction triggered a prompt from the 'Death Game'.

[Confirm change of ownership for item·Cerberus's Fang?]

After both Lin Yu and Li Nian confirmed, this [item] became his possession.

Then, Lin Yu checked the [item]'s effect and description.

[Cerberus's Fang: The fang of a demonic hound. Has a one-tenth chance to randomly inflict one of three curse effects—'Burning', 'Deadly Poison', or 'Decay'—upon damaging a target. When equipped or held by a 'summoning-type item', the summoned creature's close-range physical attacks will benefit from this effect.]

Clearly, this [item] was very suitable for Classes like 'Hunter' or 'Veterinarian'.

After all, judging by its appearance, this [item] was just a curved canine tooth about five to six centimeters long. Trying to injure someone by wielding this thing was utterly impractical. It would definitely be best paired with a "summoned creature," having the creature equip it before attacking.

"Not bad at all."

Lin Yu gave this [item] high praise.

He could indeed use this thing.

Seeing Lin Yu was satisfied with the [item], Li Nian nodded.

"He probably chose it carefully."

"Alright, you've received your reward..."

As Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu pointed downstairs. "Should I leave then?"

"No, like I said... since you're already here," Li Nian slung her backpack on, "keep me company for a stroll around the campus."

Lin Yu didn't understand why Li Nian, who had been resistant earlier, now suddenly didn't want him to leave. After thinking for a moment, he asked directly.

"Why the change from what you said before?"

Li Nian sighed. "Since you're already here, might as well make use of you. No point wasting the trip."

"It seems our 'stroll' isn't going to be so simple after all."

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow.

Li Nian nodded. "Of course. Because the 'Players' on this campus aren't just you and me."

As she said this, Lin Yu grew curious.

"You suspect there are others?"

"Mhm. Just don't know exactly who. Only a few suspects," Li Nian said in a low voice. "The other party is probably also looking for and testing me."

"Based on the information I have, the other party is very likely a member of the 'Psychological Society'," Li Nian rubbed her hair, saying with annoyance, "Haven't you already joined the 'Psychological Society'? So just help me identify them."

Afterwards, Li Nian led Lin Yu down from the rooftop, returning to the campus.

Right now, the lunch break had just started not long ago. The campus was bustling with people, and the area around the cafeteria entrance was especially crowded.

"Aren't you going to eat first?"

"I'm part of the student faction that brings their own lunch. I can eat anytime," Li Nian patted her backpack. "Let's take care of business first."

"Then how can you be sure the other party hasn't gone to eat or rest?"

Lin Yu asked curiously.

"That's exactly why we need to look during the time they're most likely eating or resting. I don't want to run into them. What if it's some super powerful person?" Li Nian sighed. "After all, it's a 'Psychological Society' person..."

"And any 'Psychological Society' member stationed in Jiangcheng would be the elite among elites."

As Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu couldn't help but ask again.

"How did you know the other party exists, and how do you know they're most likely a 'Psychological Society' member?"

"Because someone else in the organization told me before that a 'Psychological Society' member had approached my school—at first I thought they were coming for me, so I stayed vigilant and investigated."

"Then, I discovered who came was a notorious tough character from the 'Psychological Society'... the S-class executive 'Dolantine'—and she seemed to be here to meet someone."

"So we speculated that the person she came to meet was probably someone like the branch president of the 'Psychological Society' in Jiangcheng."

Lin Yu shook his head. "That's probably not possible."

Li Nian was somewhat surprised. "Why?"

Lin Yu pointed at himself. "Didn't I tell you before I joined the 'Psychological Society'... there are actually only two people in the entire 'Psychological Society's Jiangcheng Regional Branch."

"Besides me, there's only a guy called 'Edwin'—he's the Jiangcheng branch president, and I'm the Jiangcheng deputy branch president."

As Lin Yu said this, Li Nian was taken aback.

"Only you two?"

"Yes. And that 'Edwin' only just reached 'Second Tier' not long ago... so your theory about Dolantine specifically coming to meet a 'big shot in the Psychological Society' doesn't hold up."

"Because of Jiangcheng's unique circumstances, the 'Psychological Society's strategy is actually not to have experts lying in wait here, but to develop local members who aren't core personnel."

As Lin Yu spoke, Old Zheng also affirmed Lin Yu's statement.

"Correct. Back in my day, I always thought we shouldn't deploy too much manpower in a place like Jiangcheng. If something happens, just send a more capable specialist to take a shot and run... I never thought they're still executing the policy I formulated. It seems my decision wasn't only correct, but correct for the long term."

Old Zheng said smugly.

Hearing Old Zheng's remarks, Lin Yu sneered inwardly. "So 'Fluoxetine' coming to Jiangcheng to take a shot and blast me into this damned game also has some of your credit, huh?"

"...But then again, the specific strategy was ultimately refined by 'Wundt' back then. I just proposed the idea, so it doesn't have that much to do with me."

After explaining, Old Zheng fell silent again.

Li Nian, meanwhile, pushed up her glasses.

"Then it seems a few of my suspects were mistaken. I was largely looking for people who might have awakened the 'Doctor' Class..."

"However—since we're already here, let's still take a look."

The two arrived at Shengle Middle School's Comprehensive Activity Building.

This place housed club activity rooms, multimedia classrooms, lecture halls, and facilities like...

The infirmary.