Returning to the dormitory building, it was equally deserted inside. Many dormitory doors were wide open, as if the students had left in a hurry.
He took out his phone and saw a missed call from the second eldest in the dormitory, with the ringtone lasting ten seconds.
He dialed back, but the response was that the user was temporarily unable to connect.
He called the other two dormitory members in turn, with the same result.
He entered the campus public account and saw a post about an earthquake warning in Wanghai City, with an official recommendation for citizens to evacuate nearby.
He had already taken down the Evil God, so what was there to fear from an earthquake.
He shook his head and didn't go to the evacuation site mentioned in the news. Instead, he returned straight to his dormitory 426, pulled the curtains, and lay down to sleep.
Half asleep, he vaguely heard a commotion outside. Before long, the dormitory door was suddenly pushed open, and several wailing voices rang out at once.
"Boss, you're back! Boss, wake up! You can't die, boss!"
Wu Chang, shaken awake, sat up irritably and said, "What the hell are you barking about? Keep it up, and none of you are sleeping tonight!"
The one shaking the bed the hardest was He Wei, the youngest, who was ranked fourth in the dormitory and nicknamed the Seed Emperor. He was the naive youth's spiritual mentor, a human machine for recognizing pictures and identifying images.
He had a square face, a proper crew cut, a poised demeanor, and the style of a mature and stable class leader. However, only after getting to know him well would one understand the saying, "people aren't always what they seem."
This kid had a treasure trove of stuff on his computer that could even make the Evil God curse. Wu Chang relied on his hidden folder to hold his ground against Leman.
"Boss, it's amazing you can sleep so soundly when it's chaos outside. While you weren't here, the second eldest almost got beaten to death," said a glasses-wearing man, standing at 188cm, with chest muscles like steel plates, and arms bigger than thighs.
Muscle-glasses Gao Xuezong, the third in the dorm, was the top student of their year.
He just passed the initial exam for graduate school at Yan University. Being versatile aka Physical Newton, during Wu Chang's transformation from a sports student's grievance to a metamorphosis, he was training with Gao Xuezong.
Wu Chang frowned and looked toward the dormitory door, only to see the second eldest Fang Hui with a bandage wrapped around his forehead and his left arm in a sling, grinning and waving.
"What happened?"
Fang Hui sighed, "Well, ran into a nutcase."
After hearing the brief recount, Wu Chang finally understood what had transpired during that time.
Shortly after he entered the Moonlight Sanatorium, Wanghai City issued an earthquake alert, and several universities were evacuated as a priority.
The evacuation management was extremely strict; as soon as the responsible department arrived, phone signals were blocked.
Phone calls couldn't be made nor the internet accessed. Fang Hui had just dialed Wu Chang when the signal got cut off.
Following the relevant department, several university students and some company employees were sent to an underground shelter.
Until today, many locals had no idea Wanghai City had such a thing underground.
At first, everything was tranquil upon entering the shelter, but soon the situation changed.
People started whispering, saying a massive earthquake was imminent, or claiming it was a sign of the end of the world, and that they were just abandoned cannon fodder while the wealthy had long escaped.
These absurd rumors would normally be treated as jokes, but under the circumstances, many unwittingly believed them.
Half an hour after the rumor appeared, people successively became agitated and tried to get out. The guards stopped them several times, and some people snapped, launching indiscriminate attacks on everyone around them.
The unlucky person Fang Hui fell victim when he was in the restroom.
He was dragged into a small cubicle and beaten up by a madman. If it hadn't been for a passing policewoman who heard the scream and subdued the madman, Fang Hui might have been beaten to death.
Previously, Wu Chang wouldn't have thought much, but now, knowing about the Abyssal Game, he couldn't help but overthink.
Although without evidence, he had a hunch that the unusual snow in Wanghai City and the strange evacuation actions were all linked to the Abyssal Game.
Judging from the player numbers, the Abyssal Game definitely didn't have a small number of players, and the higher-ups couldn't possibly be unaware of its existence.
So what department was involved in the emergency evacuation?
What was their attitude toward the Abyssal Game players?
As Wu Chang pondered, Fang Hui said, "To celebrate my survival, I'll treat everyone to skewers at the North Gate later!"
Fang Hui's family was in business, making him a minor second-generation wealthy kid. Now that it was the end of the month and everyone was struggling financially, the group had no reason to turn down a treat from this patron.
Wu Chang: "All expenses tonight are on Young Master Fang!"
Gao Xuezong shouted, "Young Master Fang is generous!"
He Wei: "Father, please accept a bow from your child!"
Fang Hui extended his hands, "Rise, my beloved courtiers."
At eight in the evening, at the North Gate skewers, everyone feasted until two in the morning.
Each of them had drunk a bit. He Wei, the worst drinker, was the first to surrender and was being carried on Gao Xuezong's back.
Fang Hui could handle his drinks a bit better but had his limits, so Wu Chang assisted him.
Once drunk, Fang Hui talked a lot. He looked at the sky and slurred:
"Boss, truth is, when I was stuck with that bastard in the restroom, I saw my life flash before my eyes. As I struggled not to get dunked in the toilet, I pondered the meaning of life, and in a daze, I saw someone."
Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, "Did you fall for that policewoman?"
The 426 dormitory was full of talent. Besides being wealthy, Fang Hui was more famous for his romantic luck, although it was all ill-fated romances.
In four years of college, Fang Hui had over ten girlfriends, each one skilled in something.
Stalkers and Yanderes were commonplace. In the second half of his junior year, he dated a foreign Chinese, discussing marriage abroad, only for her to vanish. It turned out, after the authorities came looking, she was an international fugitive.
Whenever Fang Hui found a new girlfriend, Wu Chang and the others always exclaimed, "Another expert!"
Having gone through so much, Fang Hui still had hope in love, making anyone who saw him call him a "Love Sage."
Fang Hui: "We merely exchanged contact info; it's still early days. I'm talking about my deceased uncle, who told me something that instantly enlightened me."
"Life is fleeting; it might end at any moment. I want to do what I truly wish to do while I'm young, so I won't regret wasting my youth when I'm old, lying in a hospital room."
"What did your uncle say to you?" Wu Chang asked curiously.
"He said to me, what you love is your life."
Wu Chang: "…"
"This uncle of yours, is he serious?"
Tipsy, they strolled along the street. When they passed by White Water Bay near the school, He Wei, perched on Gao Xuezong's back, suddenly sat up and pointed to the distance:
"Look, is that idiot streaking over there?"
Wu Chang and the others looked in that direction, seeing a bald, burly man in just his underwear, jogging on the beach in minus 14-degree cold.
"Seems like it. This guy's more pumped than Hui. Did he also survive a close call?"
"Maybe he's a winter-swimming enthusiast."
"Where's my phone? I should record this and post a short video; it might go viral."
The bald man heard their chatter and quickened his pace. He vanished from sight at a speed comparable to Bolt's before they could take out their phones.
The next morning, Wu Chang was awakened by a phone ring.
He squinted at the phone, displaying: Saturday, 9:15 AM, with HR in the contact line.
"Mr. Wu, there was an unforeseen event yesterday, so the interview was canceled. We apologize. Would you be willing to…"
He didn't wait for HR to finish and hung up directly.
After such a massive evacuation yesterday, how could they resume interviews today? Are people this fearless?
But that wasn't the main issue. The issue was, what happened to the promised dual weekend off? Why was there still work on Saturday?
Evacuation counts as time off, huh.
Ridiculous.
Having just cleared a life-threatening game, he was more empathetic toward Fang Hui's brush with death.
The Abyssal Game concerns not only humanity but the entire Blue Star. So long as one becomes a veteran player, they might uncover its truths.
He left the dormitory after freshening up and found a quiet corner on campus.
After a night's rest, he had recovered from the Moonlight Sanatorium, and it was time to enter the Abyssal Game again.
He looked at the newly appeared player pass on his Attribute Panel and chose to enter the Crimson Courtyard.
"""