Ch 84: My Multiverse Supermarket

Although Song Ganlan’s life was no longer in danger, she had lost her vision, and her mobility was severely limited. She could only stay in the supermarket to recuperate.

The other three players decided to go out and take a look at what was happening.

But as soon as they stepped beyond the supermarket’s protective field, they realized—
the pollution was gone.

Mingde Academy looked normal again… no, even more normal than before.

The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the scenery beyond the campus was bright and pleasant. Flowers bloomed, trees swayed with life—it didn’t feel like a dungeon anymore, but an ordinary, peaceful world.

Suddenly, someone called to them: “Hey, you three! Teacher Lan Xuan’s lecture is about to start—hurry up and get inside!”

The thought Who’s Lan Xuan? had just flickered through their minds, but their bodies were already moving automatically toward the auditorium.

When they arrived, the front seats were full, so they could only sit in the back.

Soon, over three hundred students had filled the hall—both male and female.

Someone dressed like a teacher came by, reminding them to switch off their phones and strictly forbidding recording.

When everyone sat up straight, a middle-aged woman stepped gracefully onto the stage.

Her name appeared on the projector—
Lan Xuan, Expert in Traditional Cultural Education.

The PPT lit up with the lecture topic: “Female Virtue: The Foundation of a Harmonious Home.”

Lan Xuan began to speak.

At first, the audience seemed casual and distracted, but as she continued, they grew more focused. Even the three players found themselves captivated, nodding at what they thought were sound, reasonable lessons on “female virtue.”

Then, when Lan Xuan began discussing “negative examples,” she said, “Two of my students were once terribly unrefined and shameless, but after my guidance, they have learned to repent.”

The players craned their necks curiously. Who could those women be? Did they really think repentance erased everything?

And then—
An Yixiao and Duan Jing walked onto the stage, eyes vacant, expressions lifeless.

The three players froze as though struck by lightning, staring in disbelief.

And in that instant of shock, their consciousness snapped back to clarity.

We’ve been contaminated?! they exchanged looks of horror.

“What happened to President An and Miss Duan?”

“Don’t tell me Lan Xuan is the real final boss of Mingde Academy?”

“If even they couldn’t escape, what chance do we have left?”

Despair settled over them.

Onstage, Lan Xuan smiled and commanded An Yixiao and Duan Jing to kneel and confess their wrongs.

The two stood motionless.

Her smile remained, but her presence was suffocating—anyone still lucid could feel the invisible weight pressing down on them.

“What do we do?” one of the players whispered, fists clenched, ready to attack even if it meant dying.

Then An Yixiao moved.

Her knees bent slightly, as if she were about to kneel.

But the next instant, a gleaming longsword appeared in her hand—
its blade touching the floor before her knees did.

With a sharp crack, the sword sank into the ground like it was slicing through tofu.

The hall fell silent. The anomalies and corrupted students stared in disbelief.

One player, summoning every shred of willpower, leapt to her feet and threw a tool toward Duan Jing. “Miss Duan—wake up!”

A sickening squelch followed.

In the blink of an eye, she was swarmed by midges. They devoured her alive—flesh stripped from bone until only a skeleton remained, frozen in the act of throwing the item.

“Xiaoya!” the remaining two screamed, grief twisting their faces.

They had no time to mourn—the swarm turned toward them.

Onstage, An Yixiao and Duan Jing moved simultaneously, cutting Lan Xuan cleanly in half.

The midges covering the players vanished—only to surge toward Lan Xuan, reattaching her severed body.

But before it could fully knit together, An Yixiao’s next strike came down.

While they fought, Duan Jing and the surviving two players joined forces to clear the hall of mutated students.

“What’s going on?!” one player yelled.

Duan Jing shouted back, “It’s a long story—but Lan Xuan is the true source of all this. She was exposed online for her so-called ‘female virtue education’ and was mocked, cursed, and condemned—but she refused to admit she was wrong. Her obsession corrupted her.”

Their earlier act of having Zhang Xiaozhi report Mingde Academy had triggered her deepest resentment.

That was why they couldn’t graduate—and why they were all supposed to die here.

“What about you and President An just now—?”

“We fell into her trap while researching her,” Duan Jing said bitterly. “We were brainwashed by reading her books.”

Just looking at those textbooks had infected them.

Lan Xuan had even used the chance to read their memories, attacking their insecurities to make them “repent.”

Duan Jing’s anger boiled over. She screamed at Lan Xuan:

“So what if I’m extravagant? My family’s worth hundreds of billions—I couldn’t spend it all if I tried!

“If my future husband feels emasculated because I’m richer, he can get lost—or stay as my boytoy if he behaves, maybe I’ll give him pocket money!

‘Managing a household’? If I’m rich, why can’t I just hire a housekeeper? What makes him think he’s worthy of me waiting on him myself?

“Men care about face—so do I! What’s his pride worth, anyway? If his reputation tanks, nobody cares; if mine does, my company’s stock price drops!”

An Yixiao: …

In a faintly amused tone, she said, “Why are you so worked up? She’s not even upset yet, and you’re already breaking down first.”

Duan Jing went speechless. Then just sighed and gave up arguing.

*

Inside the supermarket, the two occupants had no idea what was happening outside.

Song Ganlan heard a faint jingling sound and asked, “Boss, that’s the Twin Bell, right?”

“You know it? One belongs to An Yixiao, the other’s tied to Duan Jing.”

Song Ganlan exhaled in relief. “Then they’ll find their way here safely.”

Zhou Li said, “Don’t jinx it.”

Zhang Xiaozhi blinked. “What’s a ‘jinx’?”

“It’s like this,” Zhou Li explained. “In dramas, when a soldier shows a photo of his family before battle, he’s guaranteed to die. When an overworked office drone says, ‘Once this project’s done, I’ll finally rest,’ that rest usually means forever. Or when the hero in a shōnen manga makes a wish—the plot immediately heads in the opposite direction.”

One human and one anomaly fell silent.

“…Please stop,” Zhang Xiaozhi muttered. “That’s scarier than the dungeon rules.”

Time dragged on. The wait—and her blindness—gnawed at Song Ganlan’s nerves.

Then Zhou Li’s voice came again. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Zhang Xiaozhi sighed. “I’m the one who exposed this school to the media. Hiding here only lets them keep their power. I have to go out there, accept interviews, and reveal everything. It’s the only way they’ll survive.”

Song Ganlan was alarmed. “If you go, the principal will tear you apart!”

“I’m scared,” Zhang Xiaozhi admitted softly, “but…”

She didn’t finish.

Zhou Li paused, then handed her a lollipop.

Zhang Xiaozhi smiled. “Thanks, Boss.”

She unwrapped it, popped it in her mouth, and walked out humming a tune.

Song Ganlan wanted to stop her, but no words came.

After a long silence, Zhou Li asked, “Do you see it?”

Song Ganlan opened her mouth, but Zhou Li added, “Oh—right. You can’t. Your eyes haven’t healed.”

Song Ganlan asked, “What do you see, then?”

Zhou Li replied, “A spark of fire in the darkness.”

*

The S-class dungeon [Mingde Academy], which had trapped over a hundred high-level players, was finally cleared.

When the name of the clearers spread through the public hall, An Yixiao’s rank rose to third place. Duan Jing, once ranked tenth among near-S-class players, officially advanced into S-class—landing at ninth.

The player previously in ninth place was bumped down, and the shift sparked mild outrage—mostly from his fanbase, since he was a handsome male influencer with a rabid following. His fans flooded the forums protesting that Duan Jing had “stolen his spot.”

But aside from that group, few cared.

Most players were focused on the newly released Mingde Academy clearance guide.

Some praised Lan Xuan’s so-called “teachings.” Others scoffed, wondering how such a “simple” dungeon could have trapped so many, leaving only five survivors.

Then came another shock—Duan Jing and Song Ganlan had left the Dali Guild and joined Blue Owl Guild.

Dali Guild had even become Blue Owl’s subordinate branch.

Other players: …

“They’re literally running their guild like a corporation now!?”

Blue Owl’s Chen Jiaoyan fired back at the jealous players from Carefree Guild: “At least it’s more civilized than your guild, which runs itself like a feudal slave kingdom.”

Another full-blown argument erupted.

*

At Blue Owl Guild HQ—

Duan Jing lounged in An Yixiao’s chair, the one symbolizing guild leadership.

Meanwhile, An Fengxuan stood nearby, glaring daggers at her sister, who was receiving medical treatment from Lü Chui.

“You sold me?! Are you even human?!”

An Yixiao snorted. “Working for the boss isn’t exactly suffering, is it?”

“You’re insane! It’s your debt—why am I the one repaying it? Don’t tell me you can’t afford a few million!”

“Boss doesn’t take our currency,” An Yixiao replied calmly. “And she doesn’t take game coins either.”

If it were real money, she could pay billions with ease.

“Besides,” she added, “most of that debt belongs to the guild, not me.”

An Fengxuan stormed out in a huff.

Duan Jing shook her head. “I’ll never understand you two. Couldn’t you just talk it out? You basically made her work to pay off your debt so she’d have protection under the supermarket, didn’t you?”

An Yixiao said lightly, “She’ll curse about it now, but she knows exactly what I’m doing.”

If she sold a few of her rare items, she could easily pay millions—tens of millions even.

But she chose not to.

It wasn’t about the money. It was because only this way could their connection to the supermarket remain unbroken.

What she didn’t say was that she wanted more than just protection for An Fengxuan—
she wanted her sister to have a chance to escape this world entirely.

[Author’s Note]Second update. This dungeon is finally over. [dog emoji]

☢️☢️☢️