Extra 9 Strange Students

The passage that the head teacher made sideways was like a huge mouth ready to devour anyone.

The scene outside the door was not the familiar corridor, but a staircase extending downwards and covered with dark red carpet. The light was extremely dim, with only a wall lamp covered with thick cobwebs and emitting a bleak green light hanging at the corner.

The smell of old paper, disinfectant, and a sweet, decayed scent grew stronger, almost solidifying as it rose faintly from below.

Gao Meng's legs felt as if they were filled with lead and he could hardly move.

Zhao Sha's teeth were chattering, and she only managed to avoid collapsing thanks to Li Mu holding her arm tightly.

Li Mu's heart was beating so hard it was about to burst out of his chest. Suddenly he heard Feng Tianning's voice transmission:

"Follow the rules and survive."

Survive.

These three words became the only belief supporting all his actions.

He almost dragged his two companions with him as he stumbled out of the classroom door and stepped onto the overly soft carpet that extended downwards.

The door behind him closed silently, completely isolating him from the creepy "teaching" sounds and thirty-six cold "gazes" in the classroom.

However, the fear brought by the unknown ahead has not diminished in the slightest.

The stairs seemed to have no end, spiraling downwards.

The walls were cold, rough cement walls with no decoration except for large patches of dark water stains of unknown origin and peeling paint.

The single green light flickered, stretching and distorting their shadows, casting them on the walls and steps like following ghosts.

"We...we really have to go see the principal?" Gao Meng's voice was tearful and sounded extremely weak in the narrow space.

"What else? Go back and get torn to pieces by those things?"

Li Mu gritted his teeth and retorted, his voice also trembling, but he forced himself to say:

"The rules say...the homeroom teacher is trustworthy...he told us to go..."

"But the rules say teachers are 'it's' minions!"

Zhao Sha reminded with tears in her eyes.

She spoke tremblingly:

"And... didn't you feel it? The further down you go... the colder it gets... and the strange smell... is getting stronger..."

She is right.

The temperature was dropping noticeably, and the breath I exhaled turned into white mist.

The sweet, rotten smell was almost pervasive, sticking to the nose and throat, making people feel nauseous, but also strangely evoking a drowsy feeling.

Li Mu bit the tip of his tongue fiercely, and the severe pain made him sober up a little:

"Don't smell it! Hold your breath! Go!"

He didn't know where the stairs led to, but staying there was obviously more dangerous.

Just as they turned another corner, Gao Meng, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped, took a breath, and pointed down.

The stairs end.

But what appeared was not the expected corridor or room, but a heavy door that looked like it was made of metal.

The door was dark red, blending in almost perfectly with the color of the carpet. There was no sign on it, only an electronic lock that required a password and emitted a faint red light.

And in the shadows by the door, there was a small figure squatting.

The figure was wearing a blue school uniform, with his back to them, his shoulders shrugging and making very slight, suppressed sobs.

Are you a student?

The three newcomers' hearts instantly rose. Rule 4:

【If you see any students wearing red school uniforms, please ignore them.】

Blue school uniform...should be...okay?

The sobbing sounded so real and helpless, and it was particularly sympathetic in this dead and cold environment.

"Hey...you..." Gao Meng subconsciously wanted to ask.

"Ignore him!" Li Mu growled suddenly, remembering the rules. "Ignore him! Go around him!"

He forcibly pulled the two of them close to the wall on the other side, trying to go around the squatting figure and get closer to the password door.

However, just as they passed the figure, the sobbing suddenly stopped.

The squatting student suddenly raised his head.

A pale, swollen, tear-stained face turned over, its eyes red and swollen from crying, but the corners of its mouth were turned down in an extremely aggrieved arc.

"Were you... also punished?"

"Are you students from classroom 1605?"

He asked with a heavy nasal voice that made him sound like a normal kid.

"I know the password... but I forgot the last digit... Can we try it together? If we make a mistake, there will be an alarm... 'It' will find it..."

His eyes were full of pleading and helplessness, and he looked completely harmless.

Gao Meng and Zhao Sha subconsciously paused.

Know the password?

Li Mu's heart suddenly tightened! Rule 6:

[Your class is 1801. If someone says you are from another class, please stay away from them immediately.]

This person actually said they were students of Class 1605.

Li Mu couldn't help but shudder.

More importantly, Rule 15: [If someone invites you to play, please ignore him/her. Your mission is to learn.]

“Let’s try the password together” – is this an invitation to “play”?

"Go away!" Li Mu shouted sternly, and suddenly pulled Gao Meng and Zhao Sha back, away from the student.

“We don’t need it!”

The grievance and helplessness on the student's face disappeared instantly, replaced by a cold, resentful look.

"Why don't you help me?!"

His voice shone, and his body suddenly jumped up from the ground as if it had no bones, and pounced on them.

"You look down on me too! You all deserve to die!"

His fingernails instantly turned black and long, grabbing Gao Meng who was in front!

"Bang!"

There was a dull thud. Zhao Sha, having reacted quickly, flicked her finger and unleashed an invisible stream of energy, striking the wrist of the charging student with pinpoint accuracy, deflecting his attack.

The student uttered a scream of pain, his movements paused, he glared at them with resentment, and his figure suddenly shrank back, disappearing as if blending into the shadows, leaving behind only an even stronger sweet and greasy stench.

Gao Meng was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

Li Mu also had cold sweat on his back and his heart was beating wildly.

He stared at the code door and then looked at the empty staircase.

Rules… rules are the only way to survive.

"Get up! Find a way to open the door!" Li Mu pulled the two of them up and rushed to the password door.

The keyboard shows the numbers 0-9, without any prompts.

"How do we try? He said there would be an alarm if we tried and failed." Gao Meng said in despair.

Li Mu forced himself to calm down, his mind racing. Homeroom teacher... Dean of Students... Principal... Office of Academic Affairs... Rule 5: [If you unfortunately encounter a conflict with a student wearing a red uniform, please go to the Dean of Students. They will help you resolve the issue.]

Did they just have a "conflict"? But where was the dean?

Just when his thoughts were about to get tangled, Zhao Sha suddenly pointed to an extremely inconspicuous corner next to the password keyboard, where a few small words that seemed to be carved with a sharp object and were almost worn away were seen.