Chapter 7 Happy University (Part 7)

Objectively speaking, under the steel and concrete, the central artificial lake is a very rare natural landscape.

The premise is to come here at the right time.

Feng Zhibei looked at Xiaomei, whose expression became increasingly weird, and couldn't help but quietly take a step back.

After she finished speaking her wish, she fell into an inexplicable anxiety, her eyes constantly drifting towards the lake.

"Who did you first hear this rumor from?" Feng Zhibei changed the subject and asked Liu Hongtao.

Liu Hongtao replied, "Oh! He's my roommate, Feng Zhibei's brother. He told us about him before... You should know him too, right? His brother is also a teacher at the school."

Feng Zhibei shuddered all over - when he heard the name, even though he could react and realize that it was not his name, his body still jumped reflexively.

He scratched his palm subconsciously, and thought again of the strange behavior of "Feng Zhibei's" brother at the dormitory door.

Liu Hongtao seemed to have found a new topic and began to tell the story of his roommate and his roommate's brother.

"It's really weird, isn't it? They're obviously not biological children, but they've always been together. They're closer than biological children!"

He recounted his roommates' brotherly affection, "Sometimes they would come back from dinner together and hug each other for a long time before separating. When taking a shower, one person would wait for the other to join them..."

"Oh! They often come to the lake, too. Anyway, they're very close."

Xiaomei was silent for a long time, staring blankly at the artificial lake, seemingly distracted.

She didn't look very happy, on the contrary, there was some confusion between her brows.

"By the way, teacher, we have a club! His brother is leading us to do it..."

Feng Zhibei suddenly shuddered and looked at Xiaomei fiercely.

At the same time, Xiaomei suddenly looked up at Feng Zhibei and stared at him: "Teacher, don't you want to make a wish?"

This time it was Feng Zhibei's turn to remain silent.

He looked at Xiaomei's cheeks, which were bulging slightly, with blood vessels bulging and looking like they were about to burst.

…Why don’t you take care of your girlfriend!!

Feng Zhibei glared at Liu Hongtao, but the other party was unaware and was touching Xiangxiang's girlfriend's hand while continuing to talk about his roommate's private life gossip.

-

In addition to scene fusion.

"Damn, this lousy wilderness is even worse than the games I used to play. They only update when people are leaving the dungeon. Are you crazy?"

Tang Shui kicked a stone on the roadside hard, causing it to emit a crackling sound of electricity, and red and blue mosaic blocks appeared as if there was a malfunction.

It should have been a very terrifying thing that a three-dimensional object suddenly became two-dimensional, but she just sneered, cursed "shit", and stopped paying attention to the stone that was twitching alone.

A letter from Wildlands developers to all players:

Due to a bug in the version update, we will be performing emergency maintenance within half an hour. You will not be able to enter the game during the maintenance period. If you have already entered the game, please wait for the maintenance to be completed. Thank you for your understanding. The wilderness will become more complete!

He Yutong was shivering beside him, and all kinds of mosaics and afterimages kept appearing around him.

His first dungeon experience was uneventful and he never encountered any emergency maintenance.

The performances of the other anchors were similar, with only a few experienced players holding on and standing calmly by the side.

The sky over the entire school turned into a highly saturated blue, and the surrounding scenery, mixed with mosaics, kept shaking, collapsing and overlapping.

Tang Shui waved to Chen Jieying, who was standing not far from her and comforting the newcomers.

"Old Chen! Have you ever encountered something like this before? This crappy game is so 2D."

Chen Jieying didn't look in her direction, but gestured backwards, indicating that she should be quiet first.

Tang Shui stuck out his tongue.

She looked up at the sky, which was still changing. The highly saturated and dazzling colors faintly revealed a layer of dense things. Even she could only look at it for a few seconds before looking away.

"I've heard the president talk about a similar experience before."

Chen Jieying walked up to her without her knowing when.

"Didn't the dog system say it's not allowed to move?" Tang Shui frowned.

"You've already said he's a dog system, why should we listen to him?" Chen Jieying shrugged and walked under the constantly changing tree.

"Sometimes not all the rules in the game need to be followed. You have to slowly learn to discern the information given by the system so that you can lead the team well even without me by your side."

He reached out and touched the tree from which mosaics kept falling, making a crackling electric sound.

"...Three years ago, the guild leader still led the team to the dungeon, and we encountered emergency maintenance midway."

Chen Jieying looked up at the sky.

"The commentator was with the guild leader, but he disappeared after that, and his profile picture on the ranking list turned gray. And then... the Wilderness officials removed him from the team and directly recycled him. They couldn't even guarantee his future. So I'm wondering..."

Chen Jieying turned his head to look at the teaching building that was being dismantled.

"...Forget it, it's too early to talk about this now. Let's get out of this dungeon safely first."

Tang Shui looked at him for a long time before whispering, "I hope this will go smoothly. There's not much time left."

"Time is running out for all of us."

Chen Jieying retracted his gaze. "If this new commentator can survive this instance, we must drag him into the future at all costs."

"I hope he's the next Master, able to fully understand all the rules of the dungeon."

In the live broadcast rooms of various anchors, the live broadcast was interrupted, and rows of barrages were scrolling on the dark screen.

[Why is the wilderness getting more and more outrageous? Emergency maintenance is being carried out right when people are entering the dungeon. Isn't this a waste of time?]

[There will definitely be compensation later, but I don’t know what it is]

[This is the fourth maintenance update this month...]

【Is there something wrong with the fusion of the previous scene? 】

[Don't mention this, it makes me angry. He didn't even set up the live broadcast. We couldn't see the host when he went in.]

【What an idiot! 】

[Speaking of which, how long do you think that new commentator can survive?]

[Three years ago, the Master only made it through five instances. He probably only made it through one or two at best.]

What a shame... the conditions are good in every way.

As the audience was discussing and the players in the dungeon were feeling uneasy, the system prompt sounded.

[Ding! Emergency maintenance has been completed. The maintenance details and compensation will be sent to each player's inbox later. Thank you for your understanding and support of Wilderness!]

Someone pouted, "Who the hell understands and supports you?"

The changing scene finally gradually stabilized, the saturation decreased, and returned to its original appearance.

The crow flapped its wings and landed on the dry branch again, staring at the people below with its red eyes.

"You can continue. The next person will go in and get their application to leave school. Once you have received it, leave school as soon as possible and proceed to the next scene."

Chen Jieying raised his voice and signaled the newcomers to continue heading towards the teaching building.

He stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "President, is it really as you said, that the wilderness is about to change..."

In the scene fusion, Feng Zhibei, who was completely unaware of this, felt something was wrong.

Not only is the dungeon difficult to advance, but the NPC on the opposite side is also a bit strange.

Just now, Liu Hongtao suddenly began to repeat what he said five minutes ago, and Xiaomei's face kept cycling in a state of being about to crack.

Feng Zhibei coughed a few times tentatively, trying to attract their attention.

The other party did not respond and continued to talk to himself like a broken gramophone.

"That afternoon, Feng Zhibei's brother and I went to the lake. He told me that there were statues of gods at the bottom of the lake, protecting the safety of everyone in the school. All I had to do was row a boat to the center of the lake, place my hands on the surface, and make a wish..."

Liu Hongtao paused and began to repeat: "That afternoon..."

Xiaomei's face puffed up and then calmed down, staring at Feng Zhibei: "Teacher, don't you want to make a wish?"

Feng Zhibei suddenly thought of the RPG game he had played before.

If the following plot is not explored, the NPC will only repeat his lines.

He looked around, and he didn't know when the cold feeling subsided, the dark color of the lake faded, and the bright white full moon was reflected on the lake surface, being crushed and overlapped.

...Wait, a full moon?

Feng Zhibei was horrified. He looked up suddenly and saw that there was clearly no moon in the overcast sky.

But the reflection of the moon in the water does exist.

Maybe this is the key to progressing the game?

He ignored the two NPCs who kept repeating themselves and walked straight to a place closer to the lake.

The closer we got, the more distinct the sound of the water became. Behind several layers of tall seaweed, a small boat, barely big enough for one person, was moored in a corner.

The hull had rotted somewhat, revealing the rusted skeleton.

Feng Zhibei walked forward cautiously and took a tentative step forward.

The boat creaked and barely managed to stay steady.

He weighed it over and thought that there should be no problem getting on, so he stood up on the boat.

The lake surface was rippling with waves, and then returned to calm.

The space on the boat was very small, and a strong fishy smell mixed with water vapor made it difficult for him to breathe.

There was a tattered dark red cloth tied to the oar, as if something had been hung there before.

Feng Zhibei looked for a few seconds and then looked away, picked up the oar and prepared to row the boat to the center of the lake.

He could row, but not very skillfully. He had a difficult childhood and often had to fend for himself. The tutor hired by his family did his best to teach him almost every skill.

but……

Feng Zhibei's eyes darkened. That was not a good memory.

It has even become blurred by the brain's self-protection mechanism.

The Feng family also had a lake, and he would occasionally row a boat alone on the lake and paint for a whole day, until one day he was seen by the family's housekeeper, who told his father.

“…”

He touched his throat, which was aching, and stopped thinking about the past. He paddled the lake water and floated towards the center.

Liu Hongtao and Xiaomei by the lake had become quiet at some point, their two pairs of empty eyes fixed on the lake surface, and they remained motionless even when they were splashed with water by Feng Zhibei's shots.

It was not until he approached the center of the lake that he discovered that the strange moon shadow was cast in the center of the entire lake, swaying with the ripples created by the boat.

"Paddle the boat to the center of the lake and place your hands on the surface..."

Feng Zhibei gestured, a bit like trying to catch the moon.

The boat slowly sailed to the center of the lake and docked next to the moon shadow.

Feng Zhibei carefully touched the moon shadow with the oar, and just like all ordinary reflections, it shattered at the touch, and returned to its original shape after several fluctuations.

He stretched out his hand and tentatively touched the water surface. The lake water was not as cold as he had imagined, but had an inexplicable warmth.

So Feng Zhibei placed his hand on the lake surface, and the moon trembled under his hand.

"Make a wish... I don't think I have any wishes..."

He lowered his eyes, feeling the waves coming from the lake.

After all, the dead cannot be resurrected. I have been dead for so long that I have no desires or wants anymore.

Suddenly, he froze for a moment and quickly removed his hand from the lake.

The moon in the water suddenly split open, and a pale hand stretched out from the lake, bringing up a string of cold and wet water, and grabbed Feng Zhibei's wrist before he could retract it.

The author has something to say:

1.31: Added some scenes of Xiao Ming