Looking at the text, favors?
What kind of favors could she give?
Afraid that there was some trap hidden within, Yue Yiyue decided to ignore the message, as she had done before.
If it asked for her soul, fine, but what if it asked for her money?!
Besides, what happened just now wasn't that serious. She only scraped a little skin; she was used to much worse before.
Yue Yiyue tossed the phone, which came from an unknown source, into her desk and began to ponder what to do next.
When the Class Monitor returned, the class had already split into two factions.
The girls tacitly surrounded Gu Nanqiu and Fan Ning, maintaining a watchful distance.
The Class Monitor glared at the group, snorted coldly, and stood on the podium with a stern face: "The meeting just announced that new students have arrived. There will be a placement test in half a month."
Hearing this news, the students below became excited.
New students!
New feed!
"Also, those who violate school rules in the near future will be sent to the Small Dark Room. Please adhere to the school's rules." Saying this, the Class Monitor gave Yue Yiyue a half-smile look. He raised his hand as if taking an oath, declaring: "For the sake of getting out!"
The area below instantly erupted.
"For the sake of getting out!"
Amidst the clamoring crowd, Yue Yiyue instinctively looked at Gu Nanqiu.
She saw Gu Nanqiu give her a gesture of encouragement.
Against the sunlight, Gu Nanqiu seemed enveloped in a golden halo. For a moment, Yue Yiyue felt a sense of unreality. Could someone be so strikingly beautiful?
Her every movement captivated Yue Yiyue's gaze. The sounds around her faded, and Yue Yiyue's pupils were completely dominated by that face.
Seeing Yue Yiyue's stunned expression, Gu Nanqiu smiled lightly, her somewhat pale, pitiful lips opening and closing.
Yue Yiyue understood.
"Thank you. For the sake of getting out."
Fan Ning, who was standing not far away, looked at their interaction, lowered her eyes, concealing her disappointment, and carefully smoothed the somewhat wrinkled paper in her hand, cautiously tucking it into her textbook.
Fan Ning secretly looked at the person in front of her. She cautiously touched her own face, bowed her head, and reverently kissed her notebook, murmuring to herself: "She's back."
The bell for the end of the fourth period rang, and the monotonous main class of the morning was finally over.
There was still some time before the cafeteria opened.
Gu Nanqiu pulled Yue Yiyue toward the path used for strolling. Over the morning, she had gathered quite a bit of information. Now, she needed to discuss it thoroughly with her only teammate, lest they accidentally violate some rule.
Cafeteria opening hours are limited: 7:00–8:00, 12:20–13:45, 17:00–18:30. The cafeteria will not be open outside of these times. Please note the dining times.
If you miss the opening hours, please go to the supermarket to buy bread. Please remember that the supermarket will only have bread, not instant noodles. If you see instant noodles, please communicate with the owner and destroy them immediately.
There is no evening self-study session this term. You must not be near the academic building at night, or you will be caught by the strange security guard.
These were the rules that had to be obeyed, aside from the clothing regulations.
Also, some students had a private group chat where they discussed a lot of random things. Gu Nanqiu had gathered that they must never agree with anything any student says, and even had to object when necessary.
If something was unanimously accepted by everyone, it could become "real."
What would happen then?
No one knew.
Most importantly, a new Class Monitor would be elected before the monthly exam.
Speaking of this, Gu Nanqiu earnestly stated that she wanted to try running for the Class Monitor position.
She thought this might give her more chances to "get out."
Yue Yiyue listened quietly to Gu Nanqiu's idea, carefully assessing its feasibility.
The wind rustled through the treetops. The sun hung in the sky, emitting a dazzling light. Everything looked like an ordinary school day.
But both of them knew very well what consequences they would face if anything went wrong here.
Yue Yiyue organized her somewhat complicated thoughts: "Let's go to the cafeteria first, grab a meal, finish the afternoon classes, and then have a detailed discussion back in the dorm tonight about what kind of ghost this is."
Cafeteria.
With Gu Nanqiu's arrival, subtle glances drifted toward where she was standing.
The cafeteria auntie stared blankly as Gu Nanqiu, smiling brightly, took a large portion of food from the other side.
The auntie, whose face was completely covered by a mask, only showing her eyes, said something meaningless: "Fattening up, good. Plump and white. Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat."
Yue Yiyue, following behind, looked at the food with some concern, afraid there might be something disgusting in it.
But when she received her portion, Yue Yiyue saw shriveled, yellowish vegetable leaves, fatty meat, and only a tiny bit of greens.
She then looked at Gu Nanqiu's portion, which looked much more normal.
"I can't finish this. I'll get you a bowl, and we can share this portion," Gu Nanqiu was accustomed to being treated favorably, but in this context, it seemed unusually bizarre.
Worried that Yue Yiyue might suspect she was an accomplice to the people here, Gu Nanqiu cautiously observed Yue Yiyue's expression. However, those eyes only showed a feeling of gratitude.
Being looked at with such an expression, Gu Nanqiu tilted her head slightly and gave a sweet smile, asking Yue Yiyue what she liked to eat, telling her to go find a seat, and then turning back to the food service window.
Before long, Gu Nanqiu returned with a plate full of dishes and a bowl.
The somewhat cheap spoon looked like beautiful silverware in Gu Nanqiu's hand. She carefully divided the food, then pushed the plate, which was piled up like a small mountain, toward Yue Yiyue.
Leaning forward, a strand of disobedient hair fell, almost touching the soup.
"Nanqiu, I have a hair tie here. Let me tie it for you." A passerby conveniently appeared next to them. She carefully asked Gu Nanqiu, waiting for her answer.
"Thank you, but my companion has an extra hair tie."
Gu Nanqiu had only intended to make an excuse to politely decline, but Yue Yiyue misunderstood and immediately and smoothly removed the hair tie from her own head.
Looking at the black hair tie lying quietly in her palm, Gu Nanqiu took it, about to ask Yue Yiyue what she would do for herself.
She then saw Yue Yiyue remove a bracelet from her wrist.
She casually wrapped it around her hair twice.
The whole process was so smooth and fluid. Gu Nanqiu turned and smiled at the girl next to them, quietly asking: "Is there anything else?"
The girl smiled regretfully but still handed her hair tie to Gu Nanqiu: "Just in case~"
After saying that, she happily walked away.
Yue Yiyue propped up her chin and took a bite of vegetables: "Not bad."
It was unclear if she was referring to the people here or the vegetables.
Gu Nanqiu put the items away: "We still haven't seen Zhang Yang or the others."
"And…"
"Wang Yong."
"Let's try to help Fan Ning. She's a good person and might know something," she said optimistically: "I'm glad I was assigned with you. Thank you for stepping in this morning. Does your hand hurt? It looked swollen when you bumped it."
Feeling a warm sensation on her hand, Gu Nanqiu had already curiously taken Yue Yiyue's punching hand and was examining it seriously: "You were so cool then, but I also saw that you were scared at the time, yet you still protected me."
Gu Nanqiu flashed Yue Yiyue a sweet smile, bowing her head, her warm breath puffing onto Yue Yiyue's fingertips.
A gentle breeze wafted over her fingertips. Yue Yiyue came to her senses and saw Gu Nanqiu carefully blowing on her hand. Then, a light pink band-aid appeared on her hand.
She felt as if she had seen this scene somewhere before…
Flashes of memory crossed her mind. There was once someone who treated a messy person like herself as a treasure.
Cautiously.
"I'm so lucky to be your friend. You're so reliable."
This remark slipped out of Gu Nanqiu's mouth, interrupting Yue Yiyue's thoughts.
She didn't have many friends; most of her contacts were the sisters from the orphanage. She didn't really understand social interaction. This level of intimacy made her feel awkward. She instinctively pulled her hand away and said stiffly: "N-no. I'm happy to be able to help you."
A grating sound of tables and chairs being dragged came from afar. Gu Nanqiu ignored it, but her expression became slightly guilty: "Yiyue, are you mad at me? If it weren't for me, you would have left already."
"No." Yue Yiyue froze for a moment and immediately shook her head like a rattle: "I just haven't fully recovered from the confusion today."
And the subtle glances all around her were not friendly.
Although she knew they were all looking at Gu Nanqiu, sitting near Gu Nanqiu still felt somewhat awkward.
Especially with that warning sound just now, Yue Yiyue had to consider whether they should operate separately.
But this setting wasn't suitable for discussion.
"Let's eat first. We can discuss other things back at the dorm. If I remember correctly, it's just the two of us in the dorm."
Hearing Yue Yiyue's explanation, Gu Nanqiu's earlier depressed expression vanished. She nodded: "Yes, it's a double room. Can I sleep with you then?"
"I'm a little scared."
Afraid that Yue Yiyue would refuse, Gu Nanqiu sighed: "Every time I close my eyes now, I see that bloody scene. Stay with me tonight."
The afternoon class passed quite quickly. She didn't know if it was because the time flow here was different from the outside world or for some other reason.
Yue Yiyue cleaned up her desk, deciding to return to the dorm with Gu Nanqiu just to be safe.
She would start searching after she became familiar with the place.
She remembered her script mentioning a card for switching factions.
She didn't know how to use it, but she still needed to find it.
Thinking of this, Yue Yiyue recalled Gu Nanqiu's ability.
The reason why Gu Nanqiu was able to purify those strange evil spirits later was because the ability she drew here was Purification.
This also destined her to be involved in many more such incidents later on.
After all, being dragged into this place meant the balance between the two worlds had been broken, and the death rate in the "Outer World" would soar afterward.
What was the original sentence in the novel?
"Pandora's box was opened by greedy people, but the whole world is responsible for her."
Not knowing how long she could survive here, Yue Yiyue sighed, thinking of the messy text messages and Aunt Zhang, who was still lying in the hospital bed.
More tragically, as the plot progressed, many people would die before the great boss here was redeemed!
Because it wasn't just the four of them here; some unlucky passersby had also been dragged in.
She mechanically followed Gu Nanqiu downstairs from the academic building.
Suddenly, she vaguely heard someone shouting for help in the distance.
And the sound of something falling to the ground.
"The original story of the murder mystery game is related to bullying, isn't it?" Gu Nanqiu immediately reacted: "Let's go, we need to help her."
"No matter if this is a weird, virtual world, this kind of thing is absolutely unacceptable."