Chapter 28

Chapter 28

[Zhihui Primary School Instance Group B Clearance Condition:

1. Discover the secret of “It” and open the school gates to leave. Merit Points +200.

2. Fulfill the wish of “It,” and it will tell you where the emergency exit is. Merit Points +100.

3. Wait for summer vacation to arrive. When the time comes, a bus will come pick everyone up. Merit Points +50.]

“I knew it. That woman in the cafeteria this morning was lying!” Anger flared in Xu You’s eyes.

“Not necessarily.”

Wei Sen’s expression was grave. At first, she had also thought Bai Xue must have been lying, but looking at it now, perhaps Group A’s Clearance Condition was different from theirs.

But even if they were different, Bai Xue had still deliberately concealed everything she knew. She had never intended to care whether Group B lived or died. She had even used the information gap to take advantage of them.

“Put this away. Find a chance to tell Xiaoxue and Chen Lin first.” Wei Sen handed the note to Xu You. “As for the security guard and Xia Susu, we should confirm where they stand before deciding whether to share the information.”

“Mm, got it! But what exactly is the entity called “It” that they keep mentioning?” Xu You asked, scratching her head.

“The principal,” Wei Sen answered with certainty.

“The principal?! Why?”

“Remember what I said yesterday when we hid in the Infirmary? I had a theory.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“One of the School Rules was made by the entity called “It.” Thinking about it in reverse, why would “It” make rules? There are only two reasons: to hurt others, or to benefit itself.”

Xu You rubbed her chin in thought. Then something suddenly occurred to her. “Judging from the comparison between the Identity Rules and the School Rules, quite a few of the School Rules are fine. Among the remaining rules we haven’t tested, the one that best fits either ‘hurting others’ or ‘benefiting itself’ is… Rule Three. If you have a problem, you may seek out the principal, but remember, as a faculty member of this school, you must obey the principal!”

“Right. That rule is fake! Originally, it was only a theory that the entity called “It” was the principal, and that it made this rule to benefit itself as much as possible. As long as we all obey the principal, it can easily control whether we live or die.”

Wei Sen frowned. “It wasn’t until I ran into the principal during class today that I confirmed the answer. The principal appeared outside the door while I was teaching and tried to lure me into breaking the rules. That means the principal is not on the same side as us. Yet the rules say we have to listen to the principal to stay safe. That’s a contradiction, so there has to be a problem.”

Xu You nodded in sudden realization. “So that’s it… Then our Clearance Condition is to find the principal’s hidden secret? Or fulfill the principal’s wish!”

“Mm. I’ve already spoken with the principal, but he revealed very little. So I think we should make a trip to the Principal’s Office. There may be something there that we want to know.”

Whether they wanted to know why Wang Hua and Sun Qiang had been punished, or investigate the principal’s secret and wish, they had to take the initiative. The Principal’s Office was definitely a place with clues.

“When I left the teaching building earlier, I checked the floor plan. The Principal’s Office is at the very end of the seventh-floor corridor. Your rules mention that you can’t leave your post without permission, so I’ll go take a look first.”

“It’s too dangerous for you to go alone. Ask Chen Lin or Xiaoxue and find someone to go with you. If anything happens, you can help each other.”

“No need.” After Wei Sen said that, she glanced at her watch. Her Merit Points had not changed, so she added, “If there’s danger, it’s enough for me to face it alone!”

///Ding~ Congratulations, Host, for achieving Thinking of Others. Merit Points +5. Current Merit Points: 391.///

The corners of Wei Sen’s mouth lifted in an almost imperceptible curve. It seemed reaching 500 Merit Points would not be that difficult after all.

Xu You, however, was deeply moved. “You really are an excellent person!”

“…” Wei Sen did not explain. After all, once they left this Instance, they would never see each other again.

“I’ll go to the Security Booth first. This is a good chance to test that security guard’s attitude,” Wei Sen thought.

“Mm, got it! Be careful!”

“Mm.”

After leaving the Infirmary, Wei Sen headed straight toward the school gates. The Security Booth was just inside the entrance.

But when Wei Sen arrived at the Security Booth, it was empty.

She checked the time. 9:55. She remembered one of the Security Guard Rules: Ensure that no students linger outside classrooms during class time, except during P.E. class.

So at this hour, that man should be patrolling the school.

There was another Security Guard Rule: Do not leave the Security Booth during breaks, or things outside the school may very well slip in.

After confirming the situation, Wei Sen circled the Security Booth once. She did not find any separate location rules, but just in case, she still did not rush inside.

Instead, Wei Sen moved closer to the school gates. They were very old iron sheet gates, two panels on the left and right, with a narrow crack in the middle through which she could barely see outside.
What exactly was outside the gate?

Why was it that during class, even when the security guard wasn’t in the Security Booth, the things outside wouldn’t come in?

And why, during break, did the security guard have to be inside the Security Booth to make sure the things outside couldn’t get in?

Questions still crowded her mind. She leaned closer to the crack in the door and looked out.

Outside was a blanket of fog. She couldn’t make out the scene at all.

But vaguely, she could see what looked like many black silhouettes wandering through the mist.

Those… were they Eerie Entities?

Wei Sen pressed her eye closer to the crack, trying to get a clearer look.

But the instant she blinked, and then opened her eyes again, a blood-red eyeball appeared right in front of her, separated from her only by the door.

Wei Sen reacted quickly, taking half a step back. Through the crack, she could see a figure. It looked like an elderly woman with a head full of white hair.

“Teacher…” The person outside spoke in the hoarse voice of an old woman. “Teacher, I’m looking for my grandson. Could you open the door for me?”

Wei Sen stayed on guard. It was class time right now, so as long as she didn’t open the door herself, the thing outside couldn’t get in.

“Granny, who is your grandson?” Wei Sen asked, standing where she was.

“My grandson is in Class 2, Grade 3. His grades are very good. He’s such a good boy. Teacher, could you open the door?”

Class 2, Grade 3 again. Just what had happened in that class?

“What’s his name?” Wei Sen asked again.

“Teacher, please open the door for me, all right? I need to find my grandson. I need to find my grandson. I need to find my grandson…”

The old woman’s entire face pressed against the door. That blood-red eyeball looked as if it was about to squeeze through the crack, and a line of bright red blood slid down the iron door from her eye socket.

Wei Sen sucked in a cold breath and instinctively stepped back. The old woman seemed like she wanted to mash her own body into a pulp and squeeze in through the crack!

“Back!” A black shadow suddenly rushed up.

Wei Sen focused and saw who it was: the man named Huang Xinze. Dressed in a black security uniform, he charged toward the bamboo broom by the entrance of the Security Booth, grabbed it, and started striking the sheet-metal door.

“Back! Back! Back! Back!” Huang Xinze chanted under his breath while hammering the door with the broom.

Wei Sen stared, stunned. But after Huang Xinze’s frantic maneuvering, the old woman’s figure was already gone from outside the iron door.

“Phew, good thing I made it back in time!” Huang Xinze had barely finished speaking when the bell rang across the school, signaling the end of second period.

“If you hadn’t made it back during break, that thing just now would have come in through the crack?” Wei Sen asked back.

“Yeah! Scared me to death. That’s the first time I’ve seen it too!” Huang Xinze looked terrified.

“Then how did you know the broom could drive it away?”

“It was written in the Security Work Notes!” Huang Xinze said with a grin. “You’re Wei Sen, right? I heard them all call you Sister Sen.”

“Mm.”

“Why’d you come all the way to the gate? It’s dangerous here,” Huang Xinze reminded her, still gripping the broom tightly and staying alert for any movement at the door.

“I came to find you,” Wei Sen said bluntly.

After a few seconds of shock, Huang Xinze put on the exact wicked smirk from a domineering CEO meme and said, “Heh, heh. So I’m actually this charismatic, huh?”

“Not really.” Wei Sen’s expression remained perfectly serious.

The man in front of her clearly had a bit of narcissism going on, but she wasn’t the sort of person with the leisure to joke around with others. So she got straight to the point. “What’s your relationship with Xia Susu like?”

“Heh, heh. As long as she’s a beauty, our relationship is pretty good. After all, with charm like mine, what can I say? It can’t be helped.”

“…She put on the red staff uniform in the cafeteria.”

“Red?” Huang Xinze’s eyes widened. He thought seriously for a few seconds, then said, “Red doesn’t really match her vibe. She looks better in white!”

Wei Sen’s fist clenched involuntarily. She decided to make herself even clearer. “She’s been affected by Contamination.”

“Oh… huh?!” Only then did Huang Xinze realize the severity of the situation. “Why? What happened? What does wearing red have to do with anything?”

“Looks like your relationship with her isn’t that good after all.”

Wei Sen thought for a moment. The security guard’s shift began at six in the morning, while the cafeteria opened at six thirty. The person in front of her probably hadn’t been to the cafeteria yet, so of course he didn’t know the Cafeteria Rules.

“Hey, we’ve only known each other for a day, and we even slept separately last night. How good could it be… Ahem, no, wait. What did you just say happened?” Huang Xinze tried hard to look like an upright gentleman.

“Put her matter aside for now. I need your help with something. Of course, you can refuse.” As Wei Sen spoke, she checked the time. There were three minutes left before third period began.

“It would be my honor to lend a beauty a hand!” Huang Xinze snapped to attention, putting on a fake solemn expression.

Wei Sen narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at the man before her with suspicion. “You… were you a soldier?”