Chapter 26 Time Magic - Please Be Provoked
Thinking of this, Liang Jun felt a chill run down her spine.
"What's wrong with you? Why have you been spacing out on the way back?"
Gu Keke looked at Liang Xun with some concern, then pushed open the dormitory door.
Unlike when they left, Di Qing had already woken up and was sitting at her desk, writing something stroke by stroke.
We're back!
Gu Keke didn't forget her dormitory rules and still greeted the other person enthusiastically.
"Di Qing, what are you doing?"
Hearing the sound approaching, Di Qing quickly covered what he was writing, neatly put the paper into the locked drawer, and then turned around.
Her eyes were unfriendly, and the dark circles under her eyes were even more pronounced.
"What's it to you?" she scoffed. "Mind your own business."
"Hmm..." Gu Keke shrugged, not making a fuss about it.
Liang Xun followed behind Gu Keke and naturally noticed her less-than-pleasant expression.
She was somewhat worried, fearing that given Di Qing's current physical condition, he might suddenly die in the game level, so she kindly said, "Di Qing, your eyes..."
"I'm sleepy, I want to continue sleeping."
Before Liang Xun could finish her question, Di Qing spoke coldly.
Her desk lamp had completely run out of power and now sat forlornly in the corner of her desk.
Di Qing nimbly climbed the ladder, then covered himself with the quilt and fell asleep immediately.
She fell asleep faster and faster.
Before Liang Xun and Gu Keke could exchange more than a few words, regular snoring could already be heard coming from the upper bunk.
Gu Keke was about to continue complaining about Di Qing to Liang Xuan when she was interrupted by a sudden yawn.
Her mouth opened wide uncontrollably. Gu Keke turned her face away, and when she turned back, her eyes were already filled with tears.
"Why do I suddenly feel so sleepy..." Gu Keke said softly, "Oh no, I want to sleep too."
Yawning is definitely contagious. Liang Xun followed closely behind Gu Keke and also let out a tired yawn.
"Have you ever noticed that we feel inexplicably sleepy as soon as we enter the dorm?"
Liang Xuan barely lifted her eyelids; they were already on the verge of closing.
“We feel energetic when we’re outside, but once we step into the dormitory area, we feel uncontrollably tired.” Liang Xun rubbed her eyes. “I suspect this might be a debuff from the dormitory area.”
"debuff?"
Gu Keke had already taken off her hair tie and was ready to go to bed. "Negative effects?"
“Maybe,” Liang Xun said, getting ready and climbing the ladder to the bed. “This way, players will automatically enter a dormant state in the dormitory, and we won’t break any rules while we’re sleeping—this might be a kind of protection the dormitory provides for players.”
As for whether it's a debuff or a buff, Liang Jun doesn't play games much, so she can't tell the difference.
I might as well ask that game programmer after I wake up.
Gu Keke wanted to say something more, but the words that were about to come out turned into a soft murmur.
Dormitory 544 fell silent.
Perhaps the dormitory's area bonus was taking effect, as the group's sleeping time had been increasing these past few days.
Sleeping for too long is not good for your health either. Every time Liang Jun wakes up, she feels sore back, aches in her legs and cramps, which is even more tiring than staying up all night.
[Current progress: Survival days 4/7...]
[Successfully surviving by following the rules will allow you to clear the level. Keep up the good work!]
The heartless system broadcasted its message precisely as soon as Liang Jun woke up. Liang Jun pressed hard on her temples, forcing herself to power on.
Players have safely passed the first four days in the game.
The curtain has officially risen on the fifth day.
After her vision cleared, Liang Jun first looked towards the balcony on her left.
The sun was shining brightly, slightly slanted—it was probably around two or three in the afternoon.
She then scanned her gaze from left to right.
Gu Keke had also woken up and was sitting on the edge of the bed, having folded the blankets, preparing to tie her hair up.
Di Qing remained asleep, tightly wrapped in the blanket, motionless, like a corpse.
Liang Jun suddenly felt a little thirsty. She moved her somewhat numb legs and climbed down the ladder.
Di Qing has been sleeping longer and longer lately.
Is it because of their age? I always feel that compared to the other two, Di Qing was more significantly affected by the dormitory situation.
Liang Jun felt that there were more and more suspicious things about Di Qing, but her schedule was completely different from everyone else's, so even if she wanted to investigate her, she couldn't find a suitable opportunity.
After Gu Keke finished tidying up, the two of them quietly left the dormitory one after the other.
Luo Chuange and Song Ming had been waiting for a long time. As usual, the four of them prepared to go to the dining area for a meal.
Since the food anomaly yesterday, everyone has reflexively sniffed the new food as soon as they received it.
It's that familiar, fresh aroma of food—
The sizzling aroma of the spicy stir-fried chicken hit him right in the head. Without warning, Song Ming took a deep drag, only to choke and tear up.
"Cough cough cough!"
He nearly coughed up his food, hurriedly wiping away his tears, "So spicy! So pungent!"
The food is back to normal.
It seems Liang Jun's method yesterday worked. As long as food isn't wasted, the dining area won't serve rotten or spoiled food as a punishment for players.
The group had been starving all day, and after finding a spot, they all began to eat frantically in silence.
As the number of players in the dining area increased, the noise around Liang Jun also grew louder.
She didn't take it to heart and continued to stuff her mouth with steamed buns.
But the noise around me gradually became clearer, and it seemed that some people were arguing with each other.
The arguing sounded noisy and jarring in the crowd.
Liang Jun put down the steamed bun and looked around curiously. The others also clearly noticed the unusual situation and looked around as well.
The once orderly queuing area was now packed with people, three or four deep.
Liang Jun and Luo Chuange exchanged a glance and decided that one of them would stay behind while the other went to check on the situation.
Liang Jun stood up. "I'll go over there."
After saying that, she walked towards the crowded area.
Liang Jun was rather thin, and by squeezing through the gaps between the people, she was helped to get a seat in the front few rows.
She peered into the center and saw that everyone was gathered around a leader in a suit.
It seems somewhat familiar.
Liang Jun tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered—
He was the leader who came to inspect the dining area a few days ago!
The clues instantly connected in my mind.
Liang Jun subconsciously turned around and looked at the electronic clock at the entrance of the dining area.
The red subtitles are flashing, indicating that today is April 26th.
Leaders shouldn't show up on even-numbered days.
"Students, you should line up properly."
The leader was so frightened by the large crowd that he broke out in a sweat, repeatedly wiping his forehead with a tissue.
"We're not queuing!" a few daring players on the inner level shouted. "Who do you think you are? You think you can just make us queue up because you say so? Why should we obey you?"
Upon hearing this, the surrounding players seemed to be ignited with some kind of passion, and they all rushed to refute the weak leader.
[Hidden rule triggered.]
4. Please observe discipline and dine quietly. Supervisors will inspect the dining area on odd-numbered days. If you see a supervisor at other times, please be sure to confront them.
I see.
The fact that a leader shouldn't appear on even-numbered days is a bug in itself. If players still strictly follow the school leader's orders as usual, that would be a real violation of the rules.
It seems these players had already figured out this hidden rule and were using it to attack NPCs.
The NPC clearly hadn't expected this scene; he was drenched in sweat, and the tissue in his hand was completely soaked.
Several leading players were still focusing their fire on the NPC, and the surrounding crowd was joining in.
Liang Jun uttered a few token curses, then quietly withdrew from the crowd.
"What's wrong?"
After she returned to her seat, Gu Keke asked Liang Xun curiously, "What happened over there?"
Liang Jun told everyone in detail the rules she had learned.
Upon hearing this clue, Luo Chuange's lips twitched a few times.
"There's... such a rule..."
Song Ming had almost finished eating, and he quickly got up from his seat.
"Wait for me! I'm going to go and yell a few words too!"
Before anyone could react, he had already rushed to the front lines.
A few minutes later, Song Ming happily returned to his original position.
"Sure enough, it feels so much better to let it all out..."
The group's siege of the NPC was going to continue for who knows how long. Even though they had finished eating, the noise over there was still incessant.
Having learned the rules, the four of them saw no need to join in the fun, so they cleared their plates and left the dining area.
It was a bright sunny day when they were having their meal, but when they came out, the sky was full of stars.
The flow of time in the game world seems to be accelerating—
Liang Jun confirmed this on the sixth day of the game.
She and Gu Keke woke up at sunset, having slept for almost the entire day.
Aside from increasingly aching bodies, they showed no other abnormalities.
"May I use your desk lamp?"
Di Qing sat at the desk under the bed and looked at the two people on the bed. "My desk lamp is out of power."
Her tone was cold, and her expression was serious, leaving no room for rebuttal.
Liang Xun handed her desk lamp to Di Qing, then looked at Gu Keke.
"Should we put all the desk lamps together so that whoever needs them can take one? This way, we can save electricity as much as possible."
Gu Keke had no objection to this behavior, while Di Qing didn't care at all.
"Look at you guys, anyway, my desk lamp is out of power."
After saying that, she turned back to face the desk and began to write and draw.
Even though they had just woken up, it wasn't long before that familiar, tiring feeling of sleepiness returned.
It felt like I hadn't closed my eyes for three days and three nights; my head was swollen and dizzy, and my limbs were weak and powerless.
Liang Jun wanted to stay in bed all the time.
That night, the dormitory manager did not conduct any room checks.
After Liang Jun reminded everyone that the lights were off, Di Qing obediently put the lamp back in its place.
The sound of the three breathing was exceptionally peaceful in the pitch-black dormitory.
However, this peaceful atmosphere probably only lasted for two or three hours.
Then, the sound of fabric rubbing could be heard from inside the dormitory.
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Author's note: The countdown is almost over!
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