Chapter 92 - Ninety-One:

Chapter 92: Chapter Ninety-One: "BeliefThe afternoon classes went smoothly; he didn’t feel that sudden drowsiness, and there were far less of Shen Xue’s penetrating glances. Only occasionally the figure of the homeroom teacher would drift past the window, those gloomy eyes seemingly nailed on him.

Although the bullet comments all joked that this was the malice of a "father-in-law," Su Ming’an didn’t find it funny at all.

He found the jokes in bullet comments at odd times quite disagreeable.

"Ding ding ding ding——"

The grating sound of the bell rang out, and instantly the previously tense students burst out like dumplings being boiled—some packed up their bags while others remained on their chairs, chatting and gossiping; the classroom was noisy. Shen Yue was still the first to go up and copy down the homework requirements for the evening.

...And just then, the homeroom teacher with a gloomy face walked in.

Suddenly, the noisy classroom became as silent as if one could hear a pin drop. The students shut their mouths, and the few boys who had started karaoke after class instantly shrank back.

"Wu Hai, Chen Weiwei..." The names of six students called out in the morning were repeated, and with a somber face, the teacher asked these students to go to his office.

After the homeroom teacher left, Wang Xingkong "swooshed" over like a rabbit, his face as if buried in dirt: "Ming An’an, Ming An’an!" he clutched Su Ming’an’s hand tightly, "You must help me! Except for me, those others called by that damnable teacher are all NPCs, if you don’t help me I’m doomed! Me, just a lonely little player going, will definitely be ’snapped’ collectively by them!"

His expression was pitiful, as if he was about to kneel down and beg.

"Okay, I’ll go with you," Su Ming’an nodded.

"You are so kind, you really are a good person!" Wang Xingkong sent him a bona fide "good person card" without hesitation, then walked to the door, looking at him expectantly.

As Su Ming’an walked over, he sent a private message to Lv Shu.

Lv Shu replied quickly.

"Dingdong!"

"Let’s go." After instructing Lv Shu, Su Ming’an packed up his bag, stood up, and followed the few students whose names were called towards the office on the second floor.

Compared to other floors, the second floor was like a forbidden zone. The students leaving school moved along the corridor, not even glancing at it, as if they didn’t see there was another floor at all.

The setting sun cast large patches of light and shadow on the corridor, warmly dappling their bodies.

Following Wang Xingkong, Su Ming’an stepped into the office, and the bullet comments also began to worry:

Indeed, after Su Ming’an was the last one to enter the office, a heavy "thud" sounded from the door behind him. Then, the five students in front of him turned around simultaneously.

The moment they turned around, their originally normal eyes transformed into pairs of glassy orbs.

"So an ’Outsider’ has sneaked in." Mr. Shen’s gaze was cold. "But you brought this upon yourself."

"Honestly." Su Ming’an drew his sword. "I’ve tolerated you for a long time."

"Hey, hey, hey? Are we fighting already?" Wang Xingkong looked around, he thought there would at least be some false courtesies exchanged, but the hostility began the moment they entered.

"Shen Xue likes you, originally, I wanted to keep you alive." Mr. Shen’s eyes were sinister, the office curtains were drawn tight, not a sliver of light penetrated: "...but you carry the scent of roses, were you the one who entered my office building yesterday?"

"If you’re talking about creating a new world, at least make it look good." Su Ming’an bowed his head. "Flaying people, transforming students into half-dead dolls, turning the school into your little world... such actions restricted to inside the school are just too low."

"Heh." Mr. Shen suddenly laughed, his complexion ghastly pale, his teeth exposed as smooth as jade: "... I’ve heard about you from Shen Xue, a participant in the high-dimension game—expecting to achieve final victory? Impossible. I won’t let you proceed smoothly, destroying my world—that, absolutely, is not going to happen..."

Su Ming’an suddenly looked up.

...The NPC in the front, Mr. Shen from the world replica, actually knew about the world game.

The suspicion in his heart was further affirmed—these worlds that seemed like replications might be real worlds.

The NPCs that seemed to have been copied might be living beings.

"Destroy your world?" Su Ming’an said, "What does my perfect pass have to do with your world?"

"...Don’t you know? Or are you pretending to be righteous?" Mr. Shen’s eyes nearly spouted flames, his palm covered his face, and from between his fingers seeped a low, mournful laugh: "...Every time-line that has been perfectly passed adds more pressure that leads to the destruction of our world. High-dimension participants, you recklessly alter the predetermined outcomes, aiding those high-dimensional beings in uncovering secrets that should not have been revealed—yet, did you not realize, your seemingly great acts are indeed becoming a factor in destroying our world!"

The bullet-chat suddenly surged upon hearing his words:

Millions of viewers’ eyes turned towards Su Ming’an, who was holding a sword.

He was bowing his head, seemingly lost in thought.

The shadows enveloped his face, revealing only a tightly pursed pair of lips.

Wang Xingkong’s heart also skipped a beat, he quickly grabbed Su Ming’an’s hand, but didn’t know what to say.

A sour sensation rose in Wang Xingkong’s throat, and he couldn’t utter a single word of consolation.

...This was just too cruel.

It was like lifting someone up only to completely shatter that little bit of hope in their heart, not leaving even a speck.

"How about it? High-ranked game participant, I heard from Shen Xue that you’re one of the strongest—if you know your actions are just aiding the organizers in destroying other worlds—can you still proceed as if it’s only natural?" Shen Teacher’s voice seemed as if it were climbing up from hell itself, carrying a bone-chilling malice.

Su Ming’an slowly raised his head.

At that moment, his eyes appeared extremely clear, sharply delineating black and white.

His pupils seemed softened, brewing a milky pallor in a quiet shadow which, while not intense, resembled a long-building sentiment.

"I can," he said, "Why shouldn’t it be only natural?"

...Because what Shen Teacher said had a logical flaw in it.

Indeed, when Shen Teacher spoke those words, Su Ming’an felt a momentary, almost tearing sensation of fear.

The instantaneous collapse of his beliefs nearly made him unable to stand.

...But he spotted the inconsistency in Shen Teacher’s words.

After experiencing that trial of death, he discovered the secret that . This secret was reluctantly revealed by the boss Bunny, and Mizushima Kawa Sora tried but failed to uncover it as well.

This was a secret deliberately hidden by the organizers.

If the deduction that was true, then the organizers, eager to conquer other worlds, would have hated not publicizing the secret of Perfect Pass everywhere conceivable, letting all players know there are great benefits to achieving a Perfect Pass to tempt them into doing it.

...But they didn’t.

Therefore, the words spoken by Shen Teacher were completely unfounded.

On the contrary, Perfect Passing... might pose a threat to the organizers.

So, what was Shen Teacher’s purpose in saying those words...?

"To protect your own world, to prevent anyone from achieving a Perfect Pass, you only have two options," Su Ming’an said calmly, "Either blame the organizers and look for an opportunity to turn the tables. Or, defeat us, make our Perfect Pass fail... Only blaming us, who are equally players, and not your own incompetence but complaining about the enemy being too strong, how do you expect me to feel guilty? Guilty that I’m too strong, guilty that I have to defeat you?"

"You..."

"The game is decided by victory or defeat," Su Ming’an said, "...stop making high-minded speeches. If you want to protect your world, then... show me by winning."

Although he guessed that the Shen Teacher before him might also be someone tricked by the organizers.

A Chess Piece as pitiful as they were.

The shortness of their experience, the limitations of humanity... restricted their vision. As beings standing at the bottom of the well, even if they desperately stretch their heads out, they could only see the sky restricted by the mouth of the well.

And now, all he needed to do was maintain his stance.

"...You’re utterly selfish." Shen Teacher’s gaze turned cold instantly, and he seemed to give some command, as the other five NPC students instantly pounced forward.

Su Ming’an charged with his sword, these students were still manageable, easily overwhelmed by his high three-dimensional attributes.

But soon, he smelled a strong, almost rotten scent of roses.

"—Ming An’an, don’t listen to that dead class advisor, you’re right! Our own world is the most important!" Wang Xingkong fought while still caring about his mental state, as if afraid he might collapse.

"I’ve said it, I don’t care," Su Ming’an swiftly charged at the class advisor, his sword raised high only to meet the class advisor’s incredibly agile leg sweep.

"Careful, careful, careful!" Wang Xingkong shoved him aside, taking a kick to his abdomen, which made him grimace in pain. After moving Su Ming’an aside, he saw Su Ming’an’s facial expression and screamed, "Wait, Ming An’an, you look really sleepy..."

The rich, almost rotten rose scent lingered in the entire office.

Su Ming’an’s eyes gradually dimmed, a relentless drowsiness overcoming him.

Panic spread across the barrage:

"Ming An’an, wake up, you, you wake up!" Wang Xingkong hysterically yelled, yanking at his collar, "How can you fall asleep during a fight! It’s not like you stayed up because you didn’t finish your homework yesterday—!"

With a "whoosh", he felt himself suddenly pushed aside.

Then, fresh red liquid splattered across his cheeks.

"Hey hey, what are you..." Wang Xingkong’s gaze dropped downward, and then, his expression gradually turned blank: "...doing, what..."

A gleaming silver dagger appeared before him, and at its tip, a piece of a hand.

"You, you, you..." Wang Xingkong hadn’t expected the man before him could be so ruthless, looking at the suddenly lucid gaze, he actually felt a trace of fear.

...To avoid falling asleep then and there, Su Ming’an... had actually stabbed his own palm with the dagger.