10 Menggui High School (10)
Not even a single penny of salary!
“That’s not how it works,” Yak reassured them. “Although we’re bound to the live stream, we can return to the real world after each game instance is completed.”
He explained the rules of the horror game livestream to Zhao Jiayue in detail. New players would be forced to enter a game instance every seven days, but there were rest time vouchers for sale in the game store. After playing more games and accumulating a certain number of points, they could exchange them for rest time vouchers.
"However, I still suggest using your points on more important things. Points can be exchanged for physical attributes, purchased items and skills, and even some special and useful items that can be used in real life. You could say that there's nothing that the live stream shop doesn't sell." He reminded them, giving the frightened newcomers some hope for survival.
Sure enough, after hearing his words, Zhao Jiayue's expression improved; at least she no longer looked as hopeless and tearful as before.
As they were talking, the group arrived at the cafeteria.
Compared to the teaching buildings and dormitories in Menggui High School, the cafeteria is actually the most remote. It takes almost five minutes to walk there, not to mention having to queue for food.
When the group entered the cafeteria, it was very different from what they had imagined. The cafeteria was as quiet as some kind of assembly line factory. The only sound was the sickening chewing noise. In such a large space, there wasn't a single person talking.
Qin Fu'an looked around and found that all the NPC students were engrossed in eating their lunches. At first glance, they looked like copies of each other, with the same school uniforms, the same postures, and even the food on their plates was exactly the same.
As for the long queues in front, they were like dazed wandering souls, all with their heads down, not making a sound from the moment they lined up until they got their food and went to their seats.
"...Why does the atmosphere seem even more eerie than in the classroom?" Bai Song muttered to himself.
"They must be teachers on patrol," Nan Zhu whispered, gesturing for them to look to either side.
The cafeteria is not only filled with students, but also with staff serving food and teachers who are responsible for patrolling.
Among them was their familiar homeroom teacher from Class 4 of Senior Three, the teacher whose entire body was covered in terrifying eyes.
Caught off guard, Zhao Jiayue met one of the eyes looking at her. She trembled with fear, covered her mouth and desperately tried to hold back the scream that was about to come out, but her emotions became even more unstable due to fear.
At the same time, Chen Qi, who had been silent all along, gripped Zhao Jiayue's trembling wrist and pulled her behind him, successfully blocking Zhao Jiayue from making eye contact with the homeroom teacher.
Upon seeing this, all of the teacher's countless eyes blinked simultaneously, revealing a chillingly eerie quality in their depths.
“Don’t look into its eyes,” Yak warned in a low voice. “Perhaps the longer we look into its eyes, the deeper the mark it will leave on us.”
Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain the fate of those players who suddenly grew eyes all over their bodies and were then devoured by those eyes one by one.
So the players all lowered their eyes and, imitating the other NPC students, took their trays in an orderly fashion and lined up to receive their lunch.
Qin Fu'an: I think I know why all the students in the cafeteria were keeping their heads down and not saying a word.
It seems that even NPCs, when at the bottom of the food chain, develop a set of survival strategies.
Besides the teacher covered in eyes, the other patrolling teacher was a woman, wearing high heels and dressed very appropriately, looking no different from an ordinary woman in real life.
However, Qin Fu'an keenly noticed that when the two teachers occasionally made eye contact during patrols, the homeroom teacher was always the first to avoid eye contact.
Despite having so many eyes on its body, not a single one tried to spy on or observe the female teacher.
Qin Fu'an immediately mentally assessed the female teacher's danger level to be the same as that of the head of the teaching department.
Soon, it was the players' turn in the long queue.
Qin Fu'an stood at the front of the players. When he looked up, he met the eyes of the strange creature holding a large soup ladle and serving rice through the window.
They are perfectly normal eyes, if they weren't on a pig's head.
Perhaps he had been staring at it for too long, for the pig-headed man in charge of serving the food showed a hint of impatience in his eyes, and slammed the large ladle in his hand against the stainless steel rice bowl, making a loud noise that could be heard throughout the entire cafeteria.
"Do you still want to eat? If not, don't waste time!"
As Qin Fu'an got closer, he could even hear the animal grunting and squealing sounds mixed in with its words. The two large pig ears on its head were also flapping impatiently, making it look extremely fierce.
Before the two patrolling teachers came over, Qin Fu'an reached out and handed them his plate.
The next second, a clump of mushy pig feed with a strange smell appeared on the plate.
Qin Fu'an glanced at the paste-like substance on the plate, the ingredients of which were indistinguishable, and finally understood why his deskmate would rather stay in the classroom and go hungry than come to the cafeteria to eat.
Amidst the pig-headed monster's labored breathing, Qin Fu'an raised his eyes and gave it a deep look before silently turning away.
With him leading the way, when it was the turn of the players behind him, they all obediently handed over their plates and received a strange and disgusting clump of paste.
"...Can this thing really be eaten?" Yak couldn't help but complain.
Even the usually composed Chen Qi closed her eyes in pain and commented, "To be honest, at my grandparents' house, even the pigs ate better than this."
Nowadays, society advocates scientific pig farming. It's not an exaggeration to say that piglets need good food, water, and shelter to grow well. In fact, pigsties might be cleaner than some human bedrooms.
So here's the question: how are they supposed to force themselves to swallow this mushy mess without spitting it out?
Nan Zhu: "..."
While the players were struggling with their questions, Qin Fu'an, carrying his tray, walked towards the patrolling homeroom teacher.
Probably not expecting a student to approach him, all the eyes of the homeroom teacher turned to look at Qin Fu'an as he approached.
"Teacher, did you come to patrol right after you finished teaching us?" Qin Fu'an asked naturally as he sat down in the seat next to it with his tray.
The homeroom teacher nodded a beat late.
"That must be really tough," Qin Fu'an said sincerely. "Teaching a senior class is already tiring enough, and after class you don't even have time to rest. You have to stay in the cafeteria until all the students have finished eating before you can have a short break... Isn't there anyone who can switch shifts with you?"
From the moment Qin Fu'an spoke, the homeroom teacher's emotions were stirred up. Hearing him ask such a heartfelt question, the teacher felt a little sorry for him.
Seeing it shake its head, Qin Fu'an asked it curiously, "Teacher, you work so hard, being a homeroom teacher and watching over the students' meals every day... Will our school pay you double the salary and various subsidies?"
Before the homeroom teacher could answer, Qin Fu'an guessed to himself, "There must be some, right? Not to mention holiday subsidies and social insurance and housing fund, the homeroom teacher's salary should be higher than that of a regular subject teacher. Plus, with such a long patrol at noon, it would be unreasonable not to give them two high salaries."
Qin Fu'an, engrossed in his own speculation, seemed unaware that as his reasoned guesses unfolded, the violent emotions in his homeroom teacher's eyes were silently accumulating.
When he finally noticed, his surprise was genuine. "Teacher? Why do you look so pale? Could it be... that our school isn't paying you a second salary?!"
The boy's clear voice echoed in the extremely quiet cafeteria. To the homeroom teacher, every word he spoke was like a sharp needle piercing his fragile heart.
Because it works so hard and has sacrificed so much for the school, it doesn't even receive a second salary! It's been working for the school for free from beginning to end!
"...Did I say something wrong?" Seemingly frightened by the increasingly ugly and fierce expression of the homeroom teacher, Qin Fu'an turned to another patrolling teacher for help, but her beautiful and clear green eyes hid a hint of amusement as if she were watching a good show.
The crisp sound of high heels hitting the ground approached rapidly. Qin Fu'an watched as the female teacher, who was a few meters away, was in front of him in the blink of an eye.
Such an eerie speed, so fast that no one had any time to react or prepare.
"Which class are you in?" The female teacher looked down sharply at Qin Fu'an, who was sitting at the dining table.
Qin Fu'an's light green eyes darkened slightly, then quickly returned to normal. Ignoring the homeroom teacher who was breathing rapidly beside him, he stood up and tried to keep eye contact with the teacher as much as possible. Then, he answered calmly, "Teacher, I am a student in Teacher Liu's class. I am also the substitute teacher that the Dean of Students has personally acknowledged. I will be teaching the students in place of Teacher Zhang for the next few days. My name is Qin Fu'an."
"It's you?" The other person seemed to have heard of his name before, and looked him up and down with a critical gaze.
However, the conversation between the two ended there, because the homeroom teacher, who was being bewitched by Qin Fu'an's words and was becoming increasingly angry, was now blinking his eyes very rapidly. Some of the well-behaved students nearby even started to grow new, aggressive, blood-red eyeballs.
The teacher could only restrain the homeroom teacher amidst the students' painful screams. After hurriedly telling Qin Fu'an to keep an eye on the students, the teacher quickly left the cafeteria with the increasingly aggressive homeroom teacher.
"Judging from this direction, they're probably heading to the principal's office." Bai Song had already memorized almost all the buildings in the school.
The players looked at Qin Fu'an, who was pouring the paste from his plate into the slop bucket, with awe. It was hard to imagine how he had managed to provoke the homeroom teacher into such a frenzy with just a few words.
Is it really possible for someone to be so eloquent, and for every word to strike a chord with people?
I always felt that if someone else had said the same thing, the result might have been completely different.
[Author's Note]
Class teacher: You heartless capitalists, prepare to die!!!
Anzai: Tsk tsk tsk, how tragic. Luckily, I'm just a substitute teacher.
Yunzai: Hungry...
.
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution:
One bottle of "Clear Rain and Lonely Boat";
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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