The floor-to-ceiling window opened, and the biting coldness in the mist hit them in the face, forcing everyone to take a step back.
Each of them clutched a protective amulet and gritted their teeth as they made their way out. Zhang You was in the front, Wan Qing and Guo Guo in the middle, and Tang Xin Jue brought up the rear. The four of them pressed themselves against the balcony wall, advancing as quickly as possible.
Sensing someone, the fog suddenly rolled up and seeped into the balcony at a significantly faster speed.
Even though they were very careful, their bodies were still touched by the white mist. With a slight sound, the protective amulets in the hands of the four people spontaneously combusted without any wind!
The moment of contact is the moment of attack.
Zhang You quickened his pace to the window of his dormitory. He pulled with one hand but found it wouldn't move. He immediately switched to pushing with both hands, his face pale, "I can't push it!"
Is the window sealed again?
Guo Guo rushed over and pushed with her, exerting all her strength, and the window was barely opened a crack. Before she could even get a leg in, she shouted anxiously, "What should I do? It seems like the window is going to move back again!"
Zheng Wanqing's hands were not working properly, so Tang Xinjue immediately switched positions and rushed forward, thrusting the rubber end of the plunger into the gap, barely locking it in place. Then, using the corner as a fulcrum and the firmness of the plunger, he slowly pushed the window open. Zhang You and Guo Guo worked alongside him, finally creating a gap wide enough for one person to pass through.
Tang Xin Jue changed his hands to fix the window: "You go in first."
The three of them quickly got in. Tang Xinjue had just put away the toilet plunger when he heard a shout from the direction of the next dormitory. It was Xu Wei's voice: "Wait a minute, catch this!"
The short-haired girl with gauze wrapped around her hand risked her life to show her head and threw a package into her arms: "Thank you for giving me the medicine..."
After catching the item, Tang Xinjue bent down and went into the dormitory without hesitation. Just before the fog completely enveloped him and the window closed, he could still hear Xu Wei's shout from the next door dormitory:
"Keep living! Live well!"
White mist shrouded the window, the outline of the balcony disappeared, and the world became chaotic and silent again.
A few people tentatively called out to the neighboring dormitory, but received no response. It seemed as if their brief connection with the outside world had been severed once again, and the dormitory had returned to its previous state of isolation.
"Ding-dong-dong, dong-dong-ding—"
"Happy Wednesday, class time has come, the exams have been distributed, everyone get ready~"
"Dear students, did you study hard today?"
A familiar ringtone came in from outside the window. Tang Xinjue turned on his phone and saw that it was exactly eight o'clock in the morning.
Exactly two hours had passed since the "Crazy Wednesday Sale" began at six in the morning. Apparently, that was also the time limit for the entire event. When eight o'clock arrived, the exam would begin as normal.
The interactions with the neighboring dormitories were also limited to this short two hours. If we exclude the time they were busy with activities, the actual interaction with Liang Jing and the others was only half an hour.
Guo Guo slumped in his chair and sighed, "It's really too short. Half an hour longer would be fine."
Zheng Wanqing waved her only hand and shouted in encouragement, "At least this encounter proves that we're not the only ones struggling in the game. There are many, many compatriots as well! Although we can't meet in person, I believe this is only temporary. As long as we live long enough, anything is possible!"
Zhang You nodded. "Wanqing is right. I think since this event is happening, it means the game won't lock us in here forever. Perhaps there will be more opportunities in the future."
Listening quietly to his roommate's conversation, Tang Xinjue lowered his eyes to look at his palm. The protective amulet had burned to ashes.
Just a little contact with the white mist consumed four protective charms. If they were directly exposed to the white mist, even with all the protective items on the four people combined, they might not even last more than five seconds.
The dormitory is both a prison and a protection for them now.
She gently poured the ashes into the trash basket and said, "The premise of everything is that we must survive."
Just like what Xiaohong said in the Ghost in the Mirror copy, they have to pass the level, become stronger, and grow faster than the speed at which danger comes, so that they can survive to the end.
"But before that," Tang Xin Jue smiled, "to celebrate today's break, shall we open a can?"
…
After approval from Logistics Minister Zhang You, the few of them finally opened a can of salted fish from the dormitory supplies and divided two cans of Wangzai milk into four parts as a rare celebratory meal.
"And this." Tang Xinjue took out the bag that Xu Wei threw over, which contained two bags of spicy chicken feet.
Guo Guo couldn't help but slurp: "My saliva has started to secrete."
Their original food reserves had long been eaten up, and now their food reserves depended entirely on the accumulation of points from the mall lottery. They were reluctant to spend a large amount of points on buying food, so they could only eat biscuits and drink mineral water. They had no choice.
A bag of snacks is a rare delicacy for the four of them now.
After preparing the food, several people sat together and started to have breakfast, while turning on the new TV with curiosity.
Snowflakes flashed twice on the black screen, and then a large smiling face popped up:
[Look for Wang Jiji for home appliances and be in a good mood every day!]
The next second, the screen switched, and a pale, noseless face filled the entire screen. Two streams of blood flowed from the corners of the eyes, and the bulging eyeballs were pressed against the screen fiercely, as if staring at someone outside the screen.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Guo Guo gulped down the contents of his mouth and started coughing violently.
Thanks, my good mood is gone.
Several people were about to jump up as a reflex, but then they saw the pale ghost face on the screen move slightly, two purple-black lips touched up and down, and human words came out:
"Next, please listen to today's report..."
Everyone: “…”
They watched helplessly as the Noseless Ghost Face wiped the blood and tears from his face indifferently and began to report the news in a serious manner:
"The day before yesterday, a teacher at a third-tier university publicly stated that his required course, 'Four Seasons Protection Guide,' had received a malicious report. This has seriously affected his application for promotion to a second-tier university. He has now filed a complaint with the education center and vowed to find the lawless whistleblower and bring him to justice."
After reading this, the Noseless Ghost paused, his voice filled with confusion: "But as far as I know, our university town has never enacted any laws. How can someone be punished by law..."
There was a ding on the screen, as if warning it. The Noseless Ghost shut up and obediently read the next line:
"The second-tier university has completed renovations the day before yesterday. Students are welcome to apply to visit."
"The renovation team of the first-tier university claimed that the second-tier university copied their design elements, including but not limited to Hell, Mengpo Bridge, Nightmare Abyss and other attractions. We have lodged a strong protest with the education center."
"Additional report: The two renovation teams met at the entrance of Sanben University an hour ago and engaged in a brawl."
"Additional report: Both parties have been detained."
"The report adds: Three universities have filed for compensation, claiming their gates were damaged. The only heating worker was also injured while passing by and is currently providing assistance."
"I've received a notification that the heating workers failed to save the system. The three universities are experiencing a four-season disruption again. It is expected that many courses will be affected..."
…
The Noseless Ghost's report ended with the tragic loss of the three universities. Then he went on to the next section:
"Today's livelihood sector: None."
"Today's student education section: None."
After reading it, the Noseless Ghost breathed a sigh of relief, and two lines of blood flowed down again:
"Everyone is welcome to contribute to this channel. Today's University City News broadcast ends here and will begin replay soon."
The hoarse and unpleasant ending music sounded, and the screen jumped when the noseless ghost stretched out eight hands to collect the manuscripts, and returned to the original state of the ghost face facing the screen.
After watching a news program unexpectedly, the dormitory fell into silence.
Zhang You opened his mouth, as if he had a thousand words to say, but he didn't know what to say specifically, so he could only turn and look at Tang Xinjue.
Tang Xinjue had torn off a piece of paper and started writing quickly, writing down all the content of the news, including the final channel hotline.
Seeing her pick up the phone, everyone asked in shock, "Are you going to submit an article to this show?"
Tang Xin Jue shook his head: "Test the rules."
The call went through, and a hoarse voice came from the other end: "Hello, this is the University Town News submission hotline. We only accept submissions related to education, livelihood, and students. We do not accept any complaints."
Tang Xin Jue thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any requirements for submissions?"
"Are you a student? You need to pay 50 points to submit your article, and the phone charges are extra."
"Thank you for bothering me."
After decisively hanging up the phone, the four of them looked at each other.
It was obvious that in the past five minutes, they had been exposed to a new world beyond their current cognition.
It is said to be unfamiliar, but it seems to be closely related to their experiences in the game.
Guo Guo whispered, "The report on the Four Seasons Protection Guide? This seems to be... something we did, right?"
It seems that they have offended a teacher-level NPC without realizing it?
Tang Xin Jue nodded: "That's right. It also talks about first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier universities. The rules are the same as those shown in the app. It's just..."
Judging from the reaction of the noseless ghost, these universities are not a "conceptual" existence, but real buildings?
——If we go by the level they are at, then at this moment, could the true face of the “third-tier university” hidden in the vast white fog outside the window be it?
Too many questions came up along with the information, and several people watched the replay again. They found that replay after replay was still replaying. It seemed that this channel only had this one program, and it had a tendency to repeat itself endlessly.
So they tuned to the next channel.
Black screen.
Next channel.
Still black screen.
Further down, the screen jumped back to the first news program, with the noseless ghost reporting indifferently while bleeding.
“…”
Is this the "high-definition, large-screen, multi-channel" mentioned in the mall's slogan?
"There are only three channels in total, and two of them are unavailable."
Zheng Wanqing flew into a rage: "Swindler!"
Fortunately, they earned this from activities and didn’t buy it with money, otherwise they would be heartbroken.
After they finished breakfast, they switched to the second channel and found that the screen had changed.
A green screen stage appeared on the TV. On the stage stood two creatures with fish heads and human bodies. Their clothes revealed they were a man and a woman. They held microphones and their gills moved.
"Happy holidays, dear audience! Welcome to the University Town Festival Gala Stage!"
"The annual Freshman Orientation Festival has begun. I'm sure everyone's still reeling from the celebrations three days ago. But don't worry, starting today, the gala stage will continue to bring you wonderful performances every Wednesday!"
As the two fishmen announced the scene, the green screen turned into a field of grass, and a little girl in a red dress ran onto the stage, her hands clasped together nervously. "Hello everyone, my name is Little Red Riding Hood. Now I'll perform a dance for you."
Then she lifted one leg and began to spin in place. After a few rounds, she spun faster and faster. She accidentally lost control and her head fell down in excitement.
I saw the head flying higher and higher in the air, getting closer and closer to the screen——
"thump!"
Little Red Riding Hood's head passed through the screen and fell into the dormitory.
The four people who were watching TV attentively: "..."
The little girl's head turned twice in confusion. After realizing that she had fallen into the audience room, she opened her mouth at a loss and blurted out subconsciously: "Happy holidays!"
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