Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Chapter 79: "Ming An’an...There’s definitely something off about this deskmate girl.

She could very well be the key clue to this instance.

Su Ming’an didn’t dare meet her strange gaze again, and even though he felt her eyes on him like a chill wind, he turned his head away, cautiously packed his bag, and immediately stood up and walked out.

As he exited and turned the corner, he saw his Chinese teacher standing stiffly at the corner, as if he had been waiting for him for a long time.

Deep-set in the teacher’s eye sockets were a pair of black eyes, so dark it was extreme. The large stature of his projected a shadow that instantly spread down, completely obscuring the thick sunset light.

"...Let’s go, Su Jian, to my office. The essay critique prepared especially for you is about to start," the Chinese teacher said with a sinister smile, his face shadowed.

Behind Su Ming’an, steady footsteps could be heard. Shen Xue stood up stiffly from her seat, blocking his path to retreat.

That pair of eyes, like glass beads, stared at him intensely.

The barrage had been screaming "ahhh" earlier, incessantly asking why Su Ming’an was still alive and what exactly he was up to. It was only now that they seemed to get involved with the game world, starting to discuss topics related to the instance:

The audience noticed the urgency of the situation, but the NPC classmates all walked past as if they hadn’t seen this scene, discussing mundane topics like "what to eat today", while the other players were too scared to leave the classroom.

The homeroom teacher and Shen Xue blocked Su Ming’an’s path, front and back.

"Come on, let’s go, Su Jian, to my office—" the tall man smiled eerily at him, his pitch-black eyes locking onto him like an eagle eying a prey that couldn’t escape. His large-knuckled hands were slowly reaching out—

"—Teacher."

Suddenly, a soft female voice floated over.

Su Ming’an saw a slender figure flit before his eyes. Her ponytail, infused with a hint of rose fragrance, swayed like a fluttering flag in front of him.

Shen Yue, holding her notebook, stood in front of him.

"Teacher Shen, regarding the rehearsal at the auditorium, Su Jian and I still have some matters to discuss. The auditorium is about to close, can the essay critique wait until tomorrow or after the rehearsal?" Shen Yue bowed with an apologetic face: "I’m very sorry, Teacher."

The homeroom teacher’s expression shifted slightly.

His ominous gaze lingered on Su Ming’an for a moment before moving away.

"Is that so," he said, slowly stepping back: "Then, Student Su Jian, go with Shen Yue... The performance at the auditorium is important, don’t be late."

"Let’s go." At the moment the homeroom teacher stepped back, Shen Yue immediately grabbed Su Ming’an’s hand, pulling him toward the downstairs.

As he brushed past the homeroom teacher, Su Ming’an noticed a fleeting obsessive look in his eyes directed at him and Shen Yue.

...Why did she save me?

Su Ming’an had noticed this overly empathetic NPC early on, always there to help players when needed; she was like someone sent specifically to solve players’ difficulties. The barrage had nearly elevated her to the status of an angel.

But he chose not to ask yet.

He had a guess in his heart.

Shen Yue pulled on his hand, heading down the stairs. The female student’s ponytail swayed slightly, the palm of her hand was comfortably warm, her hand was the only thing cool in the summer heat, and her grip was firm.

She was holding his hand, making her way through the crowded stairway like parting a chaotic sea.

This scene, straight out of a campus idol drama, did not make him get lost in it; he was paying attention to the layout of each floor. First floor hosted the freshman classes, second floor was the office, third floor was for sophomores, and the fourth floor was for the senior classrooms. When they reached the bottom floor and followed the stream of people out, they could see the well-landscaped, broad road. It seemed that laboratories and some office buildings flanked the road, only two or three stories high. If one looked forward, the road would lead straight to the school gates.

As they headed towards the gate, Shen Yue released his hand. He noticed there were no security guards at the entrance, just the iron gates firmly shut. He scraped his fingertips along the rusty gate, feeling its rough, cold texture, the rust odor was distinct—like it hadn’t been opened for a long time.

The walls connected to the gate were extremely high, blocking the view outside, making the school seem like a prison surrounded by white walls, with only the students flowing towards the cafeteria adding a little vitality.

The outside world was very quiet, eerily so... Even when Su Ming’an listened closely against the wall, there was not a sound to be heard—even the typical noise of vehicles, pedestrians, and vendors outside a school was absent... not even a bird’s call or a footstep, in stark contrast with the lively scenes inside.

Su Ming’an felt a bizarre sense of dislocation in the atmosphere, laughter and chatter flooded his left ear from the students, while his right ear pressed against the silence from the outside, as quiet as the land of the dead.

Shen Yue quietly waited next to Su Ming’an until he turned around, only then could she not hold back:

"...Don’t you have anything to ask me?"

"Weren’t you going to take me to the auditorium?" Su Ming’an brushed off the wall dust from his body.

"..." Shen Yue was taken aback; she knew that Su Ming’an had seen through her pretense of lending help.

"For an NPC, it’s unlikely to meddle and save someone so abruptly, right? Your reaction made me think of a special identity, an existence that has shed its player status..." Su Ming’an tilted his head slightly: "...Observer, right? Were you a player before? Why help me, do you know me?"

An Observer signifies an existence that has left the player status behind; they will become NPCs in a certain World, living on as NPCs do.

In the Second World, the system had tempted him more than once, wanting him to become such an existence.