Chapter 78 - -

Chapter 78: Chapter 77 - "The Starry Sky and the TravelerCold sweat dripped down his forehead as he ignored the Chinese teacher’s chilling gaze, looking instead at Su Jian, who was leisurely grading his own scribbled essay.

"Su Jian, you, you are..." His words were left unspoken.

The Chinese teacher’s icy stare instantly swept over him, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, his entire body frozen by that gaze, unable to move anymore.

...The teacher would no longer tolerate a student whose mind wandered time and again.

A cane appeared in the teacher’s hand, materializing out of thin air. Wang Xingkong even saw fresh blood that had not yet dried on it, but the other students seemed accustomed to it, heads bowed, engrossed in their essays. A cold wind crept in through the door crack to the nape of their necks, making Wang Xingkong’s calves tremble as he watched the cane slowly draw nearer, his tongue stuck in fear, clueless on how to escape the peril—

"Teacher, perhaps Wang should present the essay he has?" Suddenly, Su Jian’s voice rescued him.

The Chinese teacher’s neck twisted at an inhuman angle, his eyes skewed as he glanced at him with deep, dark eyes that seemed especially terrifying:

"...Is that so?" the teacher tilted his head, "Wang Han?"

"Ah, ah... Yes, yes, yes!" Wang Xingkong quickly held up his paper, still showing cold sweat on his face as he sat down.

"Don’t drift off, or I’ll ask you to come to the office on the second floor for a heart-to-heart talk," the teacher warned, then took the paper from his hand, bringing with it a stingingly cold breeze.

...A cold breeze?

Wang Xingkong then noticed that the temperature in the classroom had dropped completely, with many students shivering with their arms crossed, eyes filled with terror as they watched the scene.

The teacher walked back to the podium step by step, and Wang Xingkong noticed Su Jian’s gaze.

Su Jian smiled at him and then turned away.

...Wang Xingkong understood something.

The other party, this "Su Jian," could be... that Number One Player, Su Ming’an.

He nearly had the theory etched into his DNA.

Had the other party come back to life? Or had he never died at all?

Why did he write such an essay, what was his intent...?

To announce something?

Su Ming’an examined Wang Xingkong’s essay in his hand. At the beginning of this world, he had found himself dressed in the summer school uniform, sitting in the classroom, with "Su Jian" written on the front page of a book.

Then, he saw the name "Shen Xue" written everywhere in the notebooks and books, seemingly left behind by a predecessor. The front page was full of such densely packed names—it was startling to look at.

Latter, he noticed, the notebook of the girl sitting at his desk also bore the name "Shen Xue" written very neatly.

He realized—he was playing the class president "Su Jian" of class four, a very ordinary male student, a boy infatuated with his deskmate Shen Xue, and because of his crush, he filled every corner of his books with her name.

While flipping through Su Jian’s phone, he saw one candid photo after another, all of Shen Xue, though only of her back—perhaps for fear of being discovered, not even one photo showed Shen Xue’s face.

He looked in that direction, eyes meeting with the girl at his desk. Shen Xue indeed was very attractive, with porcelain-white, highly lustrous skin, thick, dark hair, and eyes as clear as glass marbles. However, all these features combined made her unsettling to look at, akin to facing a delicate doll, not a lively female classmate.

"Su Jian, don’t space out," she said softly to him with a smile, but the curvature of her lips seemed unnaturally stiff.

Su Ming’an watched her lower her head again, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

However, as soon as the world had started, his live stream comment section had already exploded.

The heat shot up to four or five hundred million, and aside from players and some who were not quite familiar with the mechanism, people flocked to his live stream. Perhaps they hadn’t expected Su Ming’an to still be alive, as their comments filled the screen until they were unreadable.

"So the one who died was indeed the Cloning Lord, huh? I had my suspicions, but I just couldn’t bring myself to believe it."]

"Su Ming’an, just what game are you playing? The Number One Player is about to emerge!"

"Finally, thank heavens... I’ve seen you again at last, you have no idea how utterly despairing I was."

"I’m starting to believe he is the Eternal Lighthouse, no matter when, he will always appear vividly before us."

"Su is such an incredible person, I’m starting to want to follow him."]

"Wait a minute... is he making monkeys out of us? They said he was dead for sure."]

"Respond, will you respond! Didn’t you say everyone has their light? Explain what’s going on!"

"Ming An’an I love you— (lost in the crowd)"]

Su Ming’an moved the live commentary to the top right corner of his vision to make sure it didn’t obstruct his view, and then he started to read Wang Xingkong’s essay.

"I really like going to school, and I love reading books; school is joyful, I am a joyful school-goer. I am positive and face everything head-on, I am enthusiastic about both reading and studying..."]

He wrote a big bold "Good" in red pen, and then began to observe the other Players.

Meanwhile, the teacher on the stage also began to read aloud the essay Wang Xingkong had recommended:

"... People are accustomed to ’stability.’ But social control should not be predicated on suppressing people’s legitimate competitive behavior. The world is changing, the true authority and efficacy of so-called systems and laws are not merely about enforcing obedience, but rather, they are primarily about education..."

The classroom, which was somewhat noisy before, fell silent.

Su Ming’an felt many eyes on him; perhaps like Wang Xingkong, they recognized him from the content of the essay.

...But none of that mattered.

The live commentary seemed to have a brief moment of silence, but then it erupted:

"That familiar feeling! It’s definitely Ming’an!"

"Why did he write such an essay, what is he trying to convey?"

"I sense a plot; there might be something the First Guild is hiding."

"’If all stars could be saved, would any Traveler still wish upon them...’ I feel like I’m starting to understand something."

"This is a declaration, it’s just an essay, but I’m reading the flavor of a declaration of war."]

"’They are carried along by the will of the higher-ups, to the extent that they forget how absurd their own actions are... Such people can never become the ’Lighthouse,’ even if they attract the attention of the world...’ Is this an allusion to Edward and the others? To be honest, I really do feel there is an element of showboating with Edward and his group."]

"The literary geniuses on the forums will start analyzing it again, we just have to upload the essay and wait for the results."]

"Mm, good, good, good!" The teacher said ’good’ three times after finishing the reading. Despite the content not being particularly positive or uplifting, he seemed rather pleased, clapping his hands and casting a meaningful glance in Su Jian’s direction.

"...Su Jian." His gaze changed somewhat: "Come to my office after school, alone, for some essay tutoring."

...Very good.

Su Ming’an knew he might have stumbled upon some clue.

"Yes, teacher." He responded immediately and then noticed Shen Xue beside him had been staring at him.

In those glassy eyes were hidden deep Emotions... and a subtle, almost imperceptible hint of affection.

This was the third class of the afternoon. Su Ming’an checked the schedule; there would be one more music class, after which school would be out. High school seniors didn’t have much leisure time, but they had this one class per week, a sort of relaxing music singing session, to ease the tension of the impending college entrance exams.

The moment the bell rang for the end of the class, the Chinese teacher swept a meaningful look over him, then left with the textbooks in his arms.

The Chinese teacher should be an NPC, not a Player, with the peculiarities he exhibited not something Players could possess—they must be a key clue to this instance.

...If he could take a look in the Chinese teacher’s office, he might find something valuable.

Su Ming’an stayed seated, and then saw several figures approaching.