Chapter 96
Chapter 96
Dead Silence Academy, music classroom.
Qin Lan and Xue Chuan sat together, neither looking particularly well.
The reasons for their grim expressions, however, were entirely different.
Xue Chuan looked as though he had eaten shit because he had just eaten something that was, for all practical purposes, shit.
The morning classes had ended, bringing lunchtime. The instance gave them only fifteen minutes to eat.
Anyone who failed to finish the cafeteria meal within that time would be killed by the Student Council Monitor guarding the entrance.
Each person’s meal was randomly assigned.
No one knew what kind of “delicacy” would arrive on the tray from the serving window.
Qin Lan went first.
Only darkness was visible beyond the window, along with the cafeteria lady’s two hands.
“Here. Your lunch–the Fruit Feast.”
The cafeteria lady spoke in a sinister voice and passed him a platter of completely rotten, foul-smelling fruit.
Qin Lan could just make out a moldy apple, a pineapple covered in fuzz, and a durian from which several plump, pale “native residents” were peeking.
In terms of presentation, it possessed a strikingly abstract postmodern aesthetic.
The flavor was simply less impressive.
Qin Lan narrowed his eyes but did not feel especially nauseated. When hunger had plagued him in the slums, he had dug through garbage for leftovers before. This was child’s play by comparison.
After the first mouthful went down, his stomach gurgled. A faint wave of nausea rose, but he suffered no actual harm.
Apparently, this stage simply tested their tolerance for disgusting food.
Qin Lan finished the entire platter in a few bites. Then it was Xue Chuan’s turn.
“This one is yours–my newest creation: Maggots Rampaging in a Sea of Shit!”
A mound of indescribable “matter” was served.
“What the fuck?!”
Xue Chuan screamed in horror. “He gets a Fruit Feast, so why do I get Maggots Rampaging in a Sea of Shit?!”
“That’s literally just shit! I can see enoki mushrooms in it! It’s still fucking steaming!”
The cafeteria lady’s voice took on a threatening edge.
“You don’t want to eat it? Hmph. Then you have another option.”
“A traditional delicacy: Nine-Turn Pork Intestine.”
“Choose one.”
The cafeteria lady continued smugly, “To preserve the intestine’s authentic flavor, I deliberately left it slightly unwashed…”
“Only then can you appreciate its natural beauty.”
Xue Chuan’s face turned ashen. “Was that deliberate or an accident?”
“Deliberate,” the cafeteria lady replied.
Xue Chuan nodded and sighed. “Excellent…”
He fell silent and began rummaging through his pocket, hoping to pull out a nuclear bomb and blow himself up with the cafeteria lady.
This was too humiliating.
Qin Lan had no idea how to comfort him. He could only pat Xue Chuan’s shoulder sympathetically.
“It’s fine, buddy. Look at it from another angle. At least you’re eating less than some people.”
“There was once a lunatic online called Old Eight who scooped up a massive handful with his bare hand…”
Unfortunately, Xue Chuan failed to draw anything capable of killing a 4-Star anomaly before the fifteen-minute deadline.
Consumed by grief and fury, he had no choice but to finish the Nine-Turn Pork Intestine.
Even after leaving the cafeteria and reaching the main doors, Xue Chuan continued staring back at the serving window with resentment and hatred.
Qin Lan understood the feeling, so for once, he did not mock him.
This instance had truly put Xue Chuan through hell.
…
Qin Lan’s own expression was grim because he had confirmed that the instance was connected to the Abyss.
More precisely, he had learned the truth behind Dead Silence Academy.
After the morning classes ended, Qin Lan had obtained new clues from the integrated sciences office and the academic affairs office.
One was an enrollment form obscured by bloodstains. The other was a home-visit journal.
The enrollment form belonged to a boy named Li Yuan, the transfer student who had joined Class 3 of Grade 11.
It recorded the child’s experiences at his previous schools in detail.
Although blood covered most of the form, several shocking facts remained legible.
Li Yuan had attended three high schools before this one. At each school, he became involved in serious conflicts with classmates, even causing several students to suffer “accidental injuries.”
Li Yuan had also taken a year away from school and been sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.
On his fourth attempt, he transferred to Dead Silence Academy–or rather, what had once been called Wind Chime High School.
The home-visit journal came from the academic affairs office, where it had been stored in a drawer of the Dean of Students’ desk.
The Dean of Students was also the homeroom teacher of Class 3.
After noticing something wrong with Li Yuan and sensing the increasingly strange atmosphere in the class, the Dean of Students, Zhang Yuanfan, decided to visit Li Yuan’s home and speak directly with his parents in the hope of resolving the boy’s problems.
Zhang Yuanfan was an exceptionally responsible teacher. He patiently watched over every child’s growth and served as a guiding light along their path through life.
The journal recorded the circumstances of many students over the years. It represented the labor of Zhang Yuanfan’s entire teaching career.
But that same sense of responsibility ultimately killed him.
According to the journal, Mr. Zhang did not meet Li Yuan’s father when he visited the boy’s home.
Li Yuan’s mother claimed that the man had left the family long ago. He disappeared without a word and never returned.
During their conversation, Li Yuan’s mother repeatedly suffered emotional breakdowns and beat and berated her son in a near-frenzy.
[I discovered that the child’s home is filled with certificates and medals he earned in every subject, dating all the way back to elementary school.]
[He appears to have been a very intelligent and obedient child… At least, I never earned so many honors when I was young.]
[But his mother’s mental state is deeply concerning. She places him under tremendous pressure and ignores every achievement he makes. No matter what certificate he brings home, how high his grades are, or how much he accomplishes, she responds with nothing but criticism.]
[Perhaps I should speak with him about this…]
After returning from Li Yuan’s home, Mr. Zhang continued to approach him with the intention of helping him.
The next several pages had been torn out.
After the destroyed section, Mr. Zhang’s attitude changed drastically.
[That child… Something is wrong with him!]
[No, he isn’t the problem. It should be the other one… I don’t know what is happening. I am supposed to believe in science…]
[But the thing inside that child… I cannot explain it…]
[I must tell the principal. We have to remove him…]
By this point, Qin Lan more or less understood.
Li Yuan was a troubled boy with a hereditary mental illness.
He had grown up without a father’s love and received virtually no affection from his mother. His twisted home environment caused severe distortions in his perception.
Then something from the Abyss found him.
Qin Lan did not know what form the encounter had taken.
What he did know was that the Abyssal spawn remained inside Li Yuan and guided him step by step toward ever more horrifying extremes.
Eventually, the Abyssal spawn achieved its goal, and Wind Chime High School was transformed into Dead Silence Academy.
Music was their final class.
Qin Lan had wondered why a school obsessed solely with college entrance exam scores still offered a minor subject like music.
Normally, a core academic subject would have taken over the period.
When the music class ended and the teacher finally stopped playing that bizarre melody capable of making listeners’ heads explode, Qin Lan understood.
A sheet of music remained on the decrepit, unusable piano in the empty classroom.
The music teacher had written a message on it.
[You are very talented, and I can see how deeply you love music.]
[Consider this score a gift from me. Remember to practice diligently.]
Qin Lan sneered at the words.
“I was wondering why an exam factory still offered music. So it’s because you liked it…”
At last, the dismissal bell rang.
The school day was over.
[You survived until after school.]
[Clear condition achieved. You may leave the instance.]
Qin Lan did not leave.
“Chuan, did you have fun in this instance?”
Qin Lan looked at Xue Chuan’s dark, sullen face.
Xue Chuan gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words. “Fun?”
“Why don’t I give you a tube of mustard to smear on yourself? Or treat you to a serving of raw, marinated pork intestine?”
His resentment looked powerful enough to form a second Dead Silence Academy.
Qin Lan nodded and spoke coldly.
“Honestly, I didn’t enjoy myself either.”
“After being put through all that disgust, slinking away with our tails between our legs isn’t an option.”
“Someone has to pay.”