Chapter 15 Payment Successful. He was considered a prominent figure at school...
Wilson College Study Room Rules —
[1. The study room is open 24 hours a day, unconditionally. No one may disturb students who are studying diligently in this area.]
2. The study room access control uses facial recognition; non-students are not allowed to enter.
3. There is only one way to get to the study room: walk up the stairs on the right side of the library to the sixth floor.
4. There is a beverage vending machine in the southeast corner of the study room. The machine may occasionally malfunction; please do not shake it and wait quietly for a refund.
5. The study room is absolutely safe; please study with peace of mind. No one should disturb students who are studying diligently in this area.
The words "absolutely safe" are Liang Jun's reassurance.
From the very beginning of the tutorial, Liang Jun knew that this was how the system described the safe zone.
In other words, they can completely trust this 24-hour study room—provided they don't break any rules.
After Liang Jun entered the study room area, the other three people all gathered around her.
"Can we talk now?" Gu Keke looked at the two people beside her.
“Even if you can’t say it,” Song Ming teased in a low voice, “you’ve already said it now.”
"Yes, I can speak."
Luo Chuange gave a clear answer, then looked at Liang Xun as if seeking her opinion, "Absolutely safe, is that right?"
Liang Jun nodded.
She doesn't boast about how smart she is, but Liang Jun believes that Luo Chuange must have a very high IQ.
Otherwise, how could he possibly think the same way as himself every time?
Having received a positive response, Gu Keke nudged Liang Xun, signaling her to turn around and look towards the top of the doorway.
"There is also an electronic clock here."
Liang Jun did as instructed.
The flickering, dim red numbers on the screen remained unstable, with the timer 22:44 appearing intermittently above everyone's heads.
The study room was brightly lit, with the fluorescent lights on the ceiling burning continuously, as if they would never go out.
Long wooden study desks are neatly arranged, with matching study chairs placed quietly in their original positions. Stacks of books from various fields are displayed on the driftwood bookshelves, which students can borrow as needed.
They truly embody the image of someone eager to learn and living a peaceful life.
A few scattered players sat in the corner.
Liang Jun glanced at it.
Even including the four of them, there were only a dozen or so people in the study room.
Why are there so few people?
To follow the rules, Gu Keke lowered her voice and whispered to Liang Jun, "Isn't the study room a safe zone? Logically, there should be many players taking refuge here, so why are there only a few people..."
Liang Jun analyzed, "Players who don't stay in the teaching building until the last minute won't be able to unlock the hidden rules about the study room. From their perspective, the library is a completely new and unexplored area, so they naturally wouldn't risk coming here late at night; on the contrary, to be on the safe side, they would choose to spend their first night in the dormitory."
Gu Keke was about to speak when Liang Xun, as if knowing what she was going to say, added, "As for those players who escaped with us, they're practically dead. Do you think they'd still be in the mood to come to the library in the middle of the night?"
Song Ming chimed in, "Sister Jun is right. If I were still with the same group of people, the first thing I would do after escaping would be to rush back to the dorm and get a good night's sleep."
"Wake up," Luo Chuange, who was walking ahead, turned around and said, "If you follow them, you'll probably be back in your dorm by midday."
Song understood immediately, then stepped forward and patted Luo Chuange on the butt.
The relationship between the four became even stronger after going through a life-or-death battle.
They never forgot their identities. Before taking their seats, each of the four picked out a book that interested them from the bookshelf.
Liang Xun's seat was directly opposite Luo Chuange. Before she even sat down, she caught sight of the dark book on Luo Chuange's desk—
Unity from beginner to expert.
She then turned her gaze to Gu Keke beside her, "What book are you holding?"
"The Plum Blossom Divination Manual." The book was so old that the pages were dry and yellow. "I'm learning fortune telling; maybe it will come in handy someday."
Upon hearing this, Liang Jun barely managed to cover her book with her sleeve.
Gu Keke suddenly became interested and snatched the book that Liang Xun wanted to hug.
"The Effective Executive..." Gu Keke pondered for a long time, then gave Liang Xun a thumbs up, "I declare, yours is the most practical!"
The fact that the group was carrying books was just a pretext.
After spreading the books out in front of them, the four of them huddled together again to discuss their next move.
Luo Chuange took off his glasses. "It seems that the study room is the safe zone for this checkpoint. Why don't we just make this our base?"
“Hmm.” Liang Xun nodded. “But just because there are so many empty seats today doesn’t mean there will be fewer people here tomorrow.”
Gu Keke, whose head was throbbing from reading, chimed in, "Then how about we come earlier next time? At least not after closing time. This time might have been lucky, maybe next time..."
She pretended to crack her knuckles, "Who knows what we'll encounter next time."
Everyone just thought she was trying to ease the tension and didn't take it to heart.
Liang Jun further analyzed: "The library closes at 9 p.m. and starts clearing out the entire area at 8:30 p.m. So we have to be in the study room by 8 p.m. at the latest to ensure our safety."
“In addition,” Liang Jun nudged Gu Keke, who was still studying fortune telling, “I suggest that everyone check the current time of the electronic clock in the dining area before entering the library.”
"Why?" Song Ming stretched his limbs and looked up at Liang Xuan.
“What happened tonight shows that time in this checkpoint is unpredictable, and only the electronic clock is the only standard we can confirm.” Liang Xun’s gaze fell on his bruises again. “Currently, we know of three electronic clocks, but outside the library, there is only the one in the dining area.”
Luo Chuange picked up where she left off, saying, "Check the time before entering the library. If you're running late, or if there's anything unusual in the dining area, don't rush into the library."
Song Ming responded and was about to lower his head to continue reading when his left shoulder was slapped hard.
The wound on his left shoulder hadn't fully healed, and the slap really hurt Song Ming. He gritted his teeth, groaned, and lay on the table, not daring to make a sound and disturb the atmosphere of the study room.
Seeing this, Liang Jun glared at the outsider.
He was a boy who looked to be about the same age as them.
The boy had white hair, blended into black at the roots. He wore a loose white short-sleeved shirt and classic light blue jeans.
With her decent looks, she was quite a popular figure at school.
Seeing Song Ming slumped over the table, Bai Mao's expression softened slightly. "What's wrong?"
Upon seeing the visitor, Song Ming's expression became slightly awkward.
"Why is it you?"
Why can't it be me?
Seemingly finding Song Ming's words amusing, a hint of mockery appeared at the corner of Bai Mao's mouth.
Taking advantage of Song Ming's inattention, Bai Mao grabbed the book he had just been reading.
"Five-Year College Entrance Examination, Three-Year Simulation?" White Hair burst into laughter. "The last-place student is reading this? Am I seeing things?"
"Give it back to me!"
Song Ming tried to grab it but missed. Luo Chuange, who was next to him, stepped in and, taking advantage of Bai Mao's inattention, snatched the book back for him.
Only then did Bai Mao turn his attention to the other three people beside him.
His gaze swept over Luo Chuange and Gu Keke, finally settling on Liang Jun, who showed him no kindness.
He nodded to Song Ming, "So that's the new boss you found? And she's a woman?"
Song Ming couldn't take it anymore and angrily retorted, "Are you sick in the head?! Can you stop talking nonsense?!"
White Hair seemed used to it, still smiling and giving a perfunctory reply.
Gu Keke had a very bad first impression of him.
She likes handsome men, but not the kind of sleazy, roguish handsome men.
She frowned at Song Ming, "Little Ming, who is this?"
Seeing that everyone else was curious about the white-haired man's identity, Song Ming could only awkwardly introduce him.
“He was a player in the same class as me, and also my roommate. We followed Yang Ge from the very beginning of the game, but at lunchtime today, that group threw away his food, and in a fit of anger, he went out on his own.”
Seeing that the white-haired man was still smug and didn't look human, Song Ming added another sentence.
"Because I ranked last in the entrance exam and he ranked second to last, neither of us was well-liked by that group..."
"Perfect, why bother talking about that?" White Hair waved his hand dismissively. "That's all in the past. Now we need to look forward!"
After saying that, he casually pulled Song Ming up from his seat.
"I'm a little thirsty. Luckily you're here, come with me to the vending machine to buy a bottle of water!"
He turned around and gave Liang Jun a flirtatious wink.
"You don't mind if I borrow someone from the female boss?"
Liang Jun's lips twitched, then she lowered her head to study her management manual, no longer wanting to pay attention to the white-haired man.
Walk straight ahead from their location, and you'll see a beverage vending machine standing in the corner.
Bai Mao scratched his arm, then raised his hand to put it on Song Ming.
"What would you like to drink? It's on me!"
Song Ming moved nimbly, like an eel, avoiding Bai Mao's physical contact.
"No, I'm not thirsty."
The white-haired man didn't linger.
The vending machine is filled with a wide variety of popular drinks.
White Hair pressed his face against the glass of the vending machine, scanning the merchandise from top to bottom. "They actually require points to buy things here..."
Perhaps because he didn't have many points, after thinking it over, Bai Mao finally chose the cheapest mineral water in the whole machine.
He pressed the button twice and successfully paid 200 points.
Song Ming stood far to the side, not saying much.
The vending machine announced "Payment successful," and then two bottles of mineral water fell off the shelf one after the other.
However, the shipping outlet, which should have been opened, remained unopened for a long time.
At first, Bai Mao had a smile on his face, but after two minutes, he couldn't even keep up the smile.
"What happened? Where's my water?"
Bai Mao was anxious and was about to reach out and shake the machine when he suddenly remembered the rules that restricted him, so he quickly stopped.
He then gathered up his oversized clothes, pulled up his trousers, and half-lay on the ground.
White Hair pushed open the panel marked "Discharge Port" with one hand. The moment it opened, the chill unique to the freezer rushed out.
His other hand reached into the dark void.
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Author's Note: Coco: You all don't know, do you? Our boss is really learning how to lead a team!
Ge Tou: The books she was reading were all about management...
Sister: (Holding a book, she falls asleep)
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