Sometimes Mingqiao really wants to shout "I'm really convinced."

Ever since he entered this escape game, he has been like a walking rule-breaking machine. He may break any rule, whether he knows it or not, or even if he just reads the rule.

As soon as Shi Xin finished his reminder, all the lights in the library on Mingqiao's side went out. Then, the familiar red light that had just been off came on again, causing Mingqiao's eyes to hurt.

"Then tell me, why was the school established?" Apart from speaking a little louder, the boy did not become the second Fendi as Mingqiao had worried. Perhaps he still had a bit of rationality left, or perhaps this was the setting for this "NPC".

But Mingqiao couldn't help but move a few steps away from the boy before he spoke: "Based on my superficial understanding, the purpose of education is to impart knowledge and resolve doubts, and schools are established to facilitate education."

"Then why is it that once we enter school, the teachers only teach us how to improve our grades in order to achieve the goal of further study?" the boy asked again.

"Going to a higher school is for a better education." Ming Qiao said stiffly, "And if your teacher really only teaches you how to go to a higher school but doesn't teach you other principles, you can just think that this is an incompetent teacher and don't take it too seriously. This way you can relax, and he can relax too."

"But, but..." The boy mumbled for a long time without being able to explain. Ming Qiao hid further away and silently observed his reaction. Seeing that he stayed where he was, he decided to take the initiative: "Have you ever thought about why you study? To satisfy your parents? To find a job in the future? Or do you simply like studying? There must be a reason, right?"

The boy was dizzy from his string of questions, but slowly regained his composure and sat obediently on the building block stool, hanging his head, not knowing what he was thinking.

Mingqiao didn't dare to sit next to him anymore, so he went to a distance to find a few building blocks of similar size, stacked them up and sat on them.

"My mother wants me to study. She said that people who study a lot have good temperament. Otherwise, I will be like me, who is big and strong and looks like a scoundrel." The boy's voice was very low, and he almost buried his head in his knees: "But I don't like studying."

Mingqiao sensed something was wrong. The boy seemed to have a sour taste when he spoke, and his throat was suppressed and he couldn't make a high sound. So he asked tentatively: "Did something happen to your mother?"

"Yeah." The boy wiped his face imperceptibly: "She's dead."

Ming Qiao was a little dumb for a moment: "I'm sorry, I didn't expect that."

Mingqiao hesitated for a long time after he finished speaking, and swallowed his words back every time he opened his mouth. He didn't know how to persuade the boy in front of him. After all, he had only been a teacher for a short time and had no experience to deal with such a situation. If he said too much, it might backfire.

But to Mingqiao's surprise, the red light went out at this moment. The bright light shone down from the few remaining light tubes on the second floor of the library, which meant that the "violation" had been dealt with and everything was back to normal.

Mingqiao finally breathed a sigh of relief, but he still did not return to his original seat. He really didn't want to endure another inexplicable violation of the rules, even if there was no danger.

"Teacher Ming, the power suddenly went out just now. I can't see you here and there is no way to contact you." Shi Xin's voice rang out in the empty library.

At this time, Ming Qiao was too lazy to care whether he would scare the students. He just wanted to respond to Shi Xin quickly to reassure him: "I'm fine, the violation has been resolved."

The boy looked up at Mingqiao with tears and snot on his face, then turned his head around for a long time, but still couldn't find the other person who was talking.

"He is outside, we communicated through special means." Mingqiao explained briefly.

The boy nodded, not quite understanding. "Actually, I knew he existed when he told you the words on the book list. Teacher, you lied to me at the time and said I was hallucinating."

Ming Qiao thought about it and realized that he did not avoid him at the beginning. At that time, he was only concerned about asking Shi Xin to tell him the contents of the book list and did not have time to pay attention to these details. Now that he was exposed by the student, he was not embarrassed at all. He just shook his head and smiled: "Sorry."

"Teacher, please find my book list for me."

Mingqiao could clearly see the tears around his eyes. He handed him a pack of tissues, patted the boy's shoulder gently, and started to find a book for him.

The three of them rested for a while. Although there were some accidents, nothing serious happened. Shi Xin controlled the handle to move things as fast as ever. This time he didn't pretend anymore. He picked the book out of the pile and put it into Mingqiao's hands, who then handed it to the boy.

But when the building blocks were suspended in the air, the boy was still startled.

"Uh, this is a magic trick." Mingqiao lied.

"Oh." The boy followed Ming Qiao with a pile of books in his arms and asked quietly, "Teacher, is that your friend?"

Mingqiao piled a freshly opened book on top of the pile of books in his arms and said, "I guess so. What's the matter?"

"It's okay, just asking. Your friend is amazing, he must be very popular with girls if he can do magic like this."

Shi Xin sat next to the screen, clicking the game controller while watching the white speech bubbles popping up above the heads of the two pixel men.

Sometimes he didn't want to be just friends with Mingqiao, he also hoped to be liked by Mingqiao.

Mingqiao didn't say anything, but just lowered his head and counted the books. When he put the last one into the boy's arms, he finally straightened his back and twisted his sore cervical vertebrae.

"Thank you, teacher." The boy carefully put the book list written by Mingqiao into his trouser pocket, "Then I'm leaving now."

"Okay, I'll take you there." Ming Qiao followed the boy and watched him walk around piles of building blocks that had not been sorted out and stand at the door of the library.

"Teacher, please open the door, I have no hands."

Mingqiao originally thought that the NPC should have a unique way to leave the dungeon, but he didn't expect that he would still go through the main door. He walked over, grasped the door handle, and tried to turn it.

Not open.

Mingqiao knew that this might be the result. His previous copy experience told him that if he wanted to get out, he must find clues to escape. Even if the door was not locked, there would be an "invisible wall" or something like that blocking him.

"Do it yourself." Mingqiao took the book from the boy and motioned him to open the door, but the boy turned the door lock and did not open it.

The two stared at each other, and Mingqiao suddenly thought of something and asked, "Are you a student?"

"Of course I'm a student." The boy touched his head, with a question mark on his face: "Teacher, why did you lock the door?"

"I didn't lock it." Mingqiao's expression became serious, and he continued to ask, "How did you get in?"

"I came in through the door."

"Shi Xin." Ming Qiao called him: "You have been at the door, did you see him come in?"

"Mr. Ming, no. I had just finished telling you about the second mission, and when I looked up I saw another person in the library. I thought he was teleported in by the game system."

Ming Qiao looked at the boy and asked again: "Are you sure you are a student? Not an NPC?"

"Teacher, are you playing games? There are no NPCs." Seeing Mingqiao didn't believe him, the boy took out his ID card from his school uniform collar and said, "I'm from Class 11, Grade 2, my name is Cao Haibo, and my homeroom teacher is..."

Cao Haibo talked for a long time, from his teachers to his classmates, to the big and small things in school, he could tell everything clearly, and he really didn't look like an NPC. At least if Mingqiao was a game planner, he wouldn't bother to arrange such complicated interpersonal relationships and life experiences for a small character.

There is an eighty percent chance that Cao Haibo is a real person, but given his criminal record, Mingqiao still remains a little wary.

"Teacher, what's going on?" Cao Haibo looked wronged: "Just tell me about it."

Mingqiao briefly told Cao Haibo what he had experienced and speculated before. Cao Haibo opened his mouth wide and screamed.

"But I did come in through the front door. I haven't seen your friend sitting at the door, and I don't know what the mission is." Cao Haibo calmed down and said, "I just got a list of books, and I came to borrow books during the break."

Mingqiao did not doubt it this time, he thought of another explanation.

Or maybe he had thought of this possibility before.

——This escape game may be in another time and space, the so-called parallel world, where all the strange things correspond to the original world, and the people who accidentally enter are trapped in this time and space and struggle to survive. Or their souls are cut out and transported to some strange independent space.

No matter which guess it is, it can explain why there is no signal, time is confused, and strange things happen frequently in this school.

Mingqiao was frightened by his own imagination and broke out in a cold sweat.

If this is true, can walking out of the school gate really be considered a "successful escape"? If not, how can they return to their original world?

"Teacher Ming, what are you thinking about! Stop!" Shi Xin looked at the little man on the screen, bending over and gasping for breath, and was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"Shi Xin." Ming Qiao said, "Can we really get out?"

Shi Xin was stunned by his question.

"If I go out, will there be another me in the original world? How will we deal with it then?"

"Ming Qiao." Shi Xin rarely called him by his full name, but this time he was particularly serious and affirmative: "Don't think too much, let's go out first and solve the current problem."

"...You're right." Mingqiao shook his head, his consciousness gradually regained clarity, and his remaining rationality made him stop his endless imagination.

But he couldn't muster the energy.

"Teacher Ming, you are too tired." Shi Xin said.

"I'm not tired." Mingqiao returned to the center of the library, found his own small bench and sat down.

"You're mentally exhausted." Shi Xin's tone softened, and he seemed to be a different person from the one who had just scolded him: "You've been busy for several days since we met at school. Every day you're either thinking about saving people or thinking about how to get out. Take a break and relax your nerves. Sometimes mental exhaustion is more torturous than physical exhaustion."

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The author has something to say:

The content about education in this article is just my nonsense, don't take it seriously (●°u°●)