Despair Game

During evening self-study, the entire class was added to a WeChat group by a stranger. "Hey, classmates, how about we play a game of grabbing red envelopes?" the person said. This person called themselves "Little Devil." As soon as everyone heard about grabbing red envelopes, they got excited and didn't care who he was. They urged him to quickly send the red envelopes and stop wasting time. After Little Devil sent a smiling emoji, he said, "I'll send the red envelopes, and you all can grab them. But the person who grabs the most will have to play a game with me. If you can't complete it, you'll have to face a punishment. How about that?" Grabbing red envelopes was like picking up money, it had an invisible allure. I quickly typed and said, "No problem, count me in!" "I'm in too!" "I want to play too! Group owner, hurry up and send the red envelopes, stop wasting time." After seeing me take the lead, everyone got excited and decided to play. Little Devil didn't waste any more time and actually sent a red envelope worth 200 yuan. "Oh f**k! What a big spender!" "Damn it, I only grabbed 80 cents." "Wow! Zhou is the lucky king! Such incredible luck." I grabbed six yuan, which was decent, but Zhou grabbed over twenty, making him the luckiest. As I watched their messages flying by, I couldn't get a word in and silently waited for Little Devil to speak. After a while, Little Devil sent a message: "The lucky king is Zhou, in the first round of the game, Zhou has to take off one of Zhang Ya's socks, within a one-hour time limit." Hearing that, I almost burst out laughing. Zhang Ya, although not the most attractive in class, took the best care of herself. She had a good figure and always dressed up, with a short skirt and stockings being her signature look. I had stolen glances at her many times. Zhou, on the other hand, was different. He was a quiet and honest boy who wore glasses and was very introverted. I hadn't spoken to him the entire semester. I couldn't help but admire this Little Devil. He really knew how to play! Zhang Ya sent a string of crying-laughing emojis in the group and then said, "What the hell, you knew I was wearing stockings today and intentionally picked on me, didn't you?" "Oh my, this isn't punishment, it's clearly a reward. Zhang Ya, you're not scared, are you? Haha!" "Ahhh, finally, we get to see Zhang Ya's bare legs!" "Zhou has really hit the jackpot." Just a few minutes before class ended, everyone in the group was teasing Zhang Ya. Surprisingly, Zhang Ya was open-minded and didn't mind at all. She actually seemed happy being surrounded by so many people. As soon as class ended, someone closed the classroom door and said with a laugh, "Zhang Ya, don't be shy, hurry up!" "Come on, I'm not scared!" Zhang Ya responded. "Zhou, come up here!" Encouraged by everyone, Zhang Ya and Zhou made their way to the front of the classroom. Zhou was shorter than the tall Zhang Ya by half a head, and his entire face turned red, avoiding eye contact with her. I'm not sure who pushed Zhou from behind, but he suddenly went weak in the knees and knelt in front of Zhang Ya. Someone shouted, "Look, Zhou is even kneeling for you. Zhang Ya, you should make a move too, haha!" Although Zhang Ya was open-minded, being teased by a group of people made her feel a bit embarrassed. Finally, she bit her lip, bent down, took off her shoe, and lifted her leg, showing off her stocking-clad leg. "Hurry up!" Upon seeing Zhang Ya's leg, I couldn't help but feel envious of Zhou. Zhou turned out to be more courageous than I had imagined, probably due to the pressure from the crowd. He slowly raised his hand towards Zhang Ya's leg. I stood on the side, watching as an onlooker, my eyes never leaving Zhang Ya's long legs. I clearly saw the moment Zhou's hand touched Zhang Ya's leg. She shivered all over, and her face turned even redder than before. I almost held my breath, watching the entire process. Zhang Ya's legs were slender and fair. As Zhou slowly pulled down her black stockings that reached just above the knee, there was a strong and exhilarating contrast that I couldn't put into words. It felt so refreshing, like watching something naughty. After removing Zhang Ya's stockings, Zhou sat on the ground as if he had lost all energy. Finally, Zhang Ya snatched the stockings back from his hand, and only then did he regain his senses. "Not bad, Zhou. Mission accomplished," Little Devil said, and promptly sent another 200-yuan red envelope. "This is so thrilling! This time, I'm definitely going to be the lucky king!" "Our generous group owner is amazing!" Everyone's excitement reached its peak thanks to Little Devil. They had red envelopes to grab and were able to play such a provocative game. Why wouldn't they be delighted? I didn't care about anything else; I just wanted to grab the red envelope first. Zhang Ya said in the group, "Damn it, someone touched my leg, and I only grabbed five yuan. This is so damn unlucky." "I wonder if the next game will be even more exciting, haha!" "Yes, yes, looking forward to the lucky king." Even this time, I only managed to grab a few bucks, and the title of the lucky king was snatched by He Peng. Little Devil still sent a smiling emoji and then said, "For the second round of the game, lucky king He Peng has to touch Li Juan's chest for one hour, within a limited time." Li Juan was the sports committee member in our class, a tomboyish type, and everyone was hesitant to provoke her. At this moment, she responded with an angry expression and said, "I'm not playing! This game is so tasteless. Let He Peng come and try! Kitchen knife." Little Devil, with his habitual smiley expression, said, "The lucky king failed to complete the task and must face the punishment." Seeing Li Juan feeling disappointed, everyone in the group started to explode. "Li Juan, you grabbed the red envelope too. Just bear with it." "Ah, it's so boring. The game has just started, and we already encounter people like this. Speechless." "Poor He Peng, he's innocent. If you don't play, he'll face punishment." He Peng, known as a kind-hearted person in the class, sent a laughing emoji and said, "Haha, everyone, don't force it, don't force it." Li Juan was probably furious. She directly posted five kitchen knife emojis in the group and said, "I said I'm not playing, whoever wants to play can play! What does his punishment have to do with me? Shameless!" Originally, everyone was in high spirits, but after Li Juan's outburst, everyone fell silent. I guess everyone, including myself, was cursing this arrogant woman. After returning to the dormitory after self-study in the evening, Little Devil suddenly sent a message in the group. "Lucky king He Peng failed in the second round of the game. Punishment: high-altitude fall." High-altitude fall? I didn't quite understand what kind of punishment that was, and everyone started discussing it in the group. "What is a high-altitude fall?" "He Peng, you're done with your punishment. Tell us about it tomorrow, hehe." "Haha, He Peng really had a stroke of bad luck when encountering Li Juan." However, throughout the whole conversation, He Peng never replied in the group, and nobody paid much attention to it. Little Devil sent a smiling emoji and said, "Continue with the red envelope distribution tomorrow morning. Be prepared, everyone. The game has just begun!" I glanced at the messages in the group and simply closed the app. Since there were no red envelopes to grab that evening, I didn't care about the punishment of a high-altitude fall. Little did I dream that things would escalate to a point of no return. The next day during morning reading,it seemed like everyone was still immersed in the red envelope game from the previous day. Many people secretly messaged Little Devil in the group. What struck me as strange was that He Peng's seat remained empty, and I had no idea where he had gone. After some thought, I decided to ask in the group, "He Peng, why aren't you coming to class?" He Peng never replied to me, and instantly a foreboding feeling swept over me. Other classmates in the class made jokes at his expense: "He Peng, you didn't get punished by Little Devil to jump off a building, did you? Haha!" "Yeah, a high-altitude fall, right?" Just at that moment, someone suddenly rushed into the classroom from outside, and it was He Peng. Instead of going back to his seat, he ran to the podium and stared at us with a vacant expression. We all stared back at him, not knowing what he was up to. Suddenly, He Peng grinned, and he charged towards the corridor, flipping over and jumping from the fifth floor. All I heard was a dull thud, and I couldn't even find the words to speak.