Su Ming’an didn’t turn around.
He felt goosebumps rising all over his body, as if he was targeted by sothing extrely terrifying. If he turned around, sothing unpredictable might happen.
The air conditioning was turned up quite high; even though it was midsumr, he felt icy cold, with a chilly sensation running from head to toe.
A slightly warm breath blew on the back of his neck, gradually turning into a coolness, as if even the warm sunset was just an illusion.
At that mont, the rules of the ’School Regulations’ seed to appear before his eyes, one rule covered in blood:
...
[86. Turn around quickly! Turn around quickly! Turn around!!!]
...
"...Shen Xue?" Su Ming’an responded softly.
An extrely cold laughter echoed, chilling like ice, even if he didn’t turn around, he could guess that the girl was smiling with her eyes curved. She seed to have stretched her hand lightly, as if wanting to embrace him; his peripheral vision caught sight of her hand... It was a hand dripping with blood, full of marks from strings cutting into the flesh, bones worn out, with gray-black seams of flesh.
Blood dripped, bit by bit from her bone-thin fingers, falling onto his shoe.
In an instant, the white sneakers were stained bright red.
At the end of the Third World’s Mingxi campus, this was how she died, her hand marked with scars from force, her whole body covered in blood, with hardly any intact flesh.
At this mont, he suddenly heard her voice.
...
[I finally saw him.]
[After transferring, I ca to his high school, quietly watching him, observing him.]
[I watched which cafeteria he’d go to in the morning, what food he liked, observed which class he was most energetic in, and which class he felt most sleepy. I watched what clubs interested him, observed what ti he turned off the lights at night...]
[Every night, I would listen to his live broadcast as I fell asleep, his voice always making feel at ease. Even when I was hurting terribly. But as long as I put on my earphones and hid, it felt like he was beside , comforting not to be in pain.]
[Listening to his calm voice in the horror gas, I felt like the pain really subsided.]
[I don’t know why I like him, I clearly haven’t even talked to him, just knowing him through the screen, admiring him like a little fan admires a strear, like a fish in the sea looking up at a bird flying above.]
[But I just like him.]
[Liking doesn’t require a reason, it’s illogical, like the bubbles in soda, fizzing and popping one by one in the heart.]
[I like him.]
[I want to see him.]
[I transferred to his high school, perhaps in the future, I’ll even attend his university... I’ve never told him that I like him because if I say it out loud, maybe the bubbles will disappear. I’ve seen girls from the neighboring classes write him love letters... and after he rejects them, he starts avoiding them.]
[I don’t want him to avoid . So, I just watch him quietly, caring for him in secret.]
[Maybe... he will like a little.]
[I secretly gathered information about the songs he likes and humd them as I passed by him, hoping he’d open his mouth and ask : "Do you also love this song?"]
[I secretly studied textbooks from the science class, placed my completed howork nearest to him, hoping he’d see it and ask about it. Then I could rest my chin on my hand and look into his black eyes...]
[I secretly walked the wrong way out of the school gates, just for that journey after school where only the two of us were there. Pretending to go the sa way as him, walking more than half an hour extra didn’t matter.]
[Does he like .]
[Could he like .]
[I have a very good temper, as long as he doesn’t hit , doesn’t send to the hospital for treatnt, I would treat him well for a lifeti...]
[Maybe when he becos a little more flexible, when I beco a little more determined, I’ll ask him... I’d be willing to play gas with you, collect materials, play script murder gas, even if I don’t like playing these.]
[I am willing to do everything I don’t want to do just for you.]
[Could you... give this timid yet hopeful girl a little chance?]
...
Shen Xue got her chance.
At the end of her life, she received Su Ming’an’s sword strike.
But now, she appeared again, covered in blood, like a vengeful ghost.
Su Ming’an’s shoulders felt sticky, as if her blood dripped onto him. Weight pressed down from behind, as if she was leaning on him, with an unbearable creaking sound.
"—Class is starting, please return to your seats." At this mont, a bald teacher walked in, making the classroom instantly silent.
Su Ming’an suddenly felt Shen Xue’s presence disappear. He turned around, finding no one behind him, only the evening sunset shining upon the shimring ground.
"Su Ming’an, class is starting, sit down quickly." The bald teacher stared at him.
Su Ming’an brushed his incongruous white hair, looked at the unified black-haired students, he couldn’t help but wonder—can none of you perceive that my hair color is different? But seeing their gazes, he still silently sat down.
"Welco to class, I am your Chinese teacher, Shen Yan, wish you all a pleasant three years ahead. Today we will study the first lesson, ’The Etiquette Book · Etiquette Movent · The Onward Journey of the Great Way.’" The bald teacher opened the textbook: "Wang Yuzhen, you read aloud."
A ponytailed female student stood up, holding her textbook, her voice clear and bright:
"The journey of the Great Way is public under heaven."
"Selecting the virtuous and capable, cultivating trust and harmony..."
Su Ming’an reconfird the ti, it was two-thirty in the morning. Such broad daylight scene, could only be ’anomaly’.
But how would he break it?
He raised his head and suddenly found among a crowd of black-haired, black-eyed students, there was a black-haired, blue-eyed boy. The boy resting his chin on his hand, playing with a utility knife in his hand, the sharp little blade flexibly twirling in his hand, the soft hair sticking to his ear, sharp facial corners, thin lips tightly pressed.
Those sky-blue eyes revealed a certain hint of boredom.
Su Ming’an didn’t recognize this boy, even though he knew everyone in the class, this boy seed like an extra person.
... black-haired, blue-eyed boy, utility knife.
Suddenly, Su Ming’an thought of WARNING-002, with the identical appearance description, the danger level was extrely high, even the counterasures were non-existent.
"..." As if sensing the gaze, the boy turned his head, his blue eyes looking at Su Ming’an, the utility knife in his hand making a crunching sound, as if cutting through a head.
Su Ming’an returned the gaze.
The boy revealed sparkling white teeth, smiling at him, a smile inexplicably conveying a certain danger.
"Ding, ding, ding, ding—" At this mont, the bell suddenly rang.
Su Ming’an was certain he was only in the classroom for about ten minutes, yet one class session had already ended.
The boy stood up, walked toward him.
The bell was still ringing, this was the classic "ding ding ding ding, ding ding ding ding" eight beats end-of-class bell, the xylophone sounded eight tis, the bell would end. The bell was already on the fifth beat.
"Hi, I’m Xiao Yi. We’re all new classmates, nice to et you." The boy extended his hand to Su Ming’an.
"..." Su Ming’an slowly reached out his hand.
The bell chid the sixth beat.
The boy’s smile grew wider:
"The first ti I saw you, I felt you were very familiar. I want to take you to a fun place, would you like to co with ?"
The bell rang for the seventh ti.
Su Ming’an grasped the young man’s hand.
"Xiao Yi, nice to et you."
The bell rang for the eighth ti.
"Dong——"
A sound like a drum beat falling.
In the next mont, the surrounding sunset instantly faded, and the night returned.
A damp, cold, and chilling air swirled around, and the yellowish table transford into a rusty iron table.
A group of laughing high school students reverted to pitch-black shadows, sitting silently on the chairs, with their ghostly blue eyes uniformly staring at the only living person, Su Ming’an, revealing eerie smiles.
"Swoosh!"
Su Ming’an felt a pain in his palm; the hand he was clasping with Xiao Yi’s suddenly produced an art knife, the blade piercing upwards through his palm.
Blood gushed, and Xiao Yi’s pupils instantly turned ghostly blue.
Yet Su Ming’an remained expressionless, his other hand suddenly pressed Xiao Yi’s neck, pushing him forcefully against the chalkboard.
"Puff," a burst of old chalk dust stirred, stinging his eyes painfully.
At this mont, Su Ming’an heard the inner voice once again:
...
["Is it here? The school rooftop, is this your favorite place to be?" Su Ming’an’s voice.]
["Yes, from here you can see the amusent park in the distance... My brother told , he also went to school here before." Xiao Yi’s voice: "It’s our first day at school, and you’re the first person to greet , so I told you about it."]
["Thank you, it really is beautiful here." Su Ming’an’s voice.]
["...Have you ever thought about escaping from here?" Xiao Yi’s voice.]
["We just started school, why should we run away?" Su Ming’an’s voice.]
["...The first day is just an illusion, ant to trick you into staying. From the second day onwards, the school will gradually show its fangs, making it so that in this hellish environnt, you can neither live nor die, forcing you to lose all dignity." Xiao Yi’s voice.]
["Did your brother tell you that?" Su Ming’an’s voice.]
["Yes. He died, here in this school. But it was no use; generations of children are still sent in, so I enrolled voluntarily, hoping to help you all escape. If possible, I want to kill the principal and completely destroy this place." Xiao Yi’s voice.]
["But we’re just students, what can we do? We should write a report, call for help, use the power above to destroy it..." Su Ming’an’s voice.]
["It’s useless." Xiao Yi’s voice:]
["If it were useful, my brother wouldn’t have died."]
["We’ve tried all kinds of channels... But the sky won’t get bright, and sunlight won’t pour in here."]
["They... are all in it together."]
["We can’t change anything or save anyone."]
...
Su Ming’an widened his eyes. Among the voices in this conversation, one sounded a lot like him, but sowhat callow. Could it be... the 2021 version of Su Ming’an?
It seems that without his knowledge, the 2021 version of Su Ming’an communicated with Xiao Yi?
However, in this conversation, Xiao Yi’s tone was like a normal person, not like the brutal and bloodthirsty "anomaly."
"Da Ji, use slap!" Su Ming’an raised his hand, and the effect was significant. The tail of the carp on his shoulder slapped and rushed toward Xiao Yi.
...
[Dragonfish Tail Swing (Mana Consumption 200, No Cooldown): Swing the fish tail, slap the enemy’s face, causing (Base Damage) 40 10*Level damage, and forcibly taunting for 1 second. Using more than five tis in a row will apply the "Misfortune Entanglent" effect on the enemy, deducting three levels of enemy luck for 5 seconds.]
...
Xiao Yi saw the carp flying over and was completely unconcerned. What could a re fish do to him? He stared at Su Ming’an’s bleeding palm, revealing a strange smile, and withdrew the art knife, thrusting it straight toward Su Ming’an’s right eye!
"Pa." A crisp sound.
Following it was Xiao Yi’s look of astonishnt, and a distinct fish tail mark appeared on his pale cheek. The art knife in his hand was stuck, and he didn’t react for a mont.
A fish... actually with such force.
What he didn’t anticipate was the carp’s forced taunt effect, as it hadn’t even moved when the carp’s hefty tail slapped again—
"Pa!"
"Papapapa!"
The 1000 Mana Points were instantly drained, and Da Ji smacked its lips contentedly, flicked its tail, and floated back to Su Ming’an’s shoulder. The black-haired, blue-eyed young man’s face bore five overlapping palm prints in red and white, and his complexion turned a mixture of blue and purple.
Perhaps due to a large skill gap, the carp’s slap only caused a one-second stun, but it was enough for Su Ming’an to thrust a sword through Xiao Yi’s neck.
"Crack, crack, crack——"
At the mont of striking, Su Ming’an felt as if he had pierced through a piece of cotton, with no blood flowing out. In the next second, a surgeon’s scalpel enlarged before his eyes——
"Anomalies" are very difficult to kill, and it’s challenging to eliminate them through mortal ans. The only way is to run, not to kill, unless the final puzzle is solved.
Su Ming’an grasped Spatial Vibration and flung it forward.
"Boom——!"
The spatial vibration of the Bright State lacked much force, but it was sufficient for him to activate spatial displacent to leave, setting the displacent direction at his feet——
The school rule ntioned WARNING-002, mostly active on the second and third floors, so maybe if Su Ming’an ran to the first floor, Xiao Yi wouldn’t follow.
"Swoosh!"
A flash of white light, and Su Ming’an appeared on the first floor of the instructional building. It was an office, and as soon as his feet landed, he heard human voices——
"Don’t compare yourself to soone like the Number One Player! If everyone were like him, humanity would have no future!" A boy’s voice.
"You, you don’t seem much older than ... My na is Wang Zhenzhen, what’s your na?" A girl’s voice.
"I’m Xiao Xiao, I used to be a bar singer. Your injuries don’t look good, let see if there’s anything for ergencies... Hmm?" the boy paused his conversation.
The two saw Su Ming’an suddenly appear in the office.
Wang Zhenzhen almost scread, pointing at Su Ming’an, "It’s... it’s that super-powerful NPC who always protects the Number One Player! What’s he doing here! Could the Number One Player be nearby?"
Xiao Xiao looked wary, shielding Wang Zhenzhen behind him: "Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you."
Su Ming’an looked at the two of them with a slightly complicated expression, rembering the events in the Third World——Wang Zhenzhen was almost skinned by the horoom teacher, and Xiao Xiao saved her. During their chat, they ntioned the Number One Player, and Xiao Xiao advised Wang Zhenzhen not to emulate the Number One Player’s excessively crazy personality.
Su Ming’an happened to appear at this point in ti.
So then...
Su Ming’an’s gaze shifted to the corner cabinet of the office.
Back then, Su Ming’an was hiding in the cabinet, listening to the two talk. So now, it should be Little Su hiding in the cabinet, listening to their conversation.
"Little Su." Su Ming’an ignored the two and walked straight toward the cabinet: "I’m here."
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