Chapter 2
At 7:00, the melody of "Für Alice" sounded on time.
The person buried in the quilt had his eyelashes trembling slightly, as if he was trapped in a nightmare, and his expression was extremely uneasy.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes abruptly, and his amber pupils shrank suddenly when they touched the surrounding furnishings.
Cen Xun sat up in confusion and looked around the dim room. All the furnishings were unchanged, and the smell of cooking coming from the kitchen was the same as usual, showing the sense of security of home everywhere.
Cen Xun frowned and pressed his abdomen. The severe pain from the electric shock seemed to still linger in his nerve endings. He turned his head to look at his arm, which was smooth without any cuts.
Is it a nightmare?
But everything that happened in the dream seemed so real.
Cen Xun was distracted for a while, and only came back to his senses when the alarm clock rang for the second time.
Since there is no clue, let's just assume it was a dream.
Thinking of this, Cen Xun lifted the quilt and got out of bed as usual, preparing to wash up.
Because he was dazed for a while, Cen Xun didn't finish washing up until 7:10. The coolness of the cold water took away the last chaos in his head. Cen Xun looked at himself in the mirror and slowly exhaled.
Although last night's dream was a bit bloody, to be honest, it was quite exciting.
The blood, fear, and screams seemed to make him feel more interested in the feeling of walking on the edge of life and death than in the dull and uneventful teaching life.
Cen Xun took the towel and pressed it on his face, suppressed the strange thoughts, and walked towards the kitchen.
Her husband, dressed in a suit and tie, had his back to him, a panda apron tied around his waist. There was a bowl of steaming century egg and lean meat porridge on the table, and something was frying in the pan.
"Cen Xun narrowed his eyes, inexplicably feeling that this scene seemed mysteriously familiar.
He stood quietly behind his husband, looked over his shoulder into the pan, and sure enough, he saw a half-burnt fried egg.
What’s strange is that even though the egg is burnt, the husband turns a blind eye and continues to flip the egg mechanically.
The feeling that something was wrong became stronger and stronger. Cen Xun reached out her hand to help her husband turn off the fire, but the next second, her hand was held down by her husband.
A helpless, deep male voice sounded: "Stop making trouble, be careful not to burn yourself."
Cen Xun stared at his profile and reminded him, "Your eggs are burnt."
Hearing this, the husband turned around, bent down and kissed Cen Xun's forehead, and comforted him gently: "Hold on a little longer, it will be fine after the winter vacation."
Cen Xun looked confused: "?"
Why insist on it? If the eggs are burnt, just turn off the heat. Why bother with the eggs?
It's totally irrelevant.
The smell of the burnt eggs became stronger and stronger, and black smoke came out of the pan, but her husband still looked at her affectionately, unmoved by the danger behind him.
A real man never looks back at the burnt eggs behind him, right?
Cen Xun's mouth twitched, and he withdrew his hand, intending to turn off the fire manually. Unexpectedly, as soon as he moved, his husband seemed to have triggered some button and asked with a smile, "What are you going to do today?"
With a snap, the fire was finally turned off. Amidst the thick, pungent smoke, Cen Xun's expression was grim: "Today I'm going to blow up the school. I'm going to kill the principal in the morning, the students in the afternoon, and go to the police station and jail in the evening."
The husband smiled calmly, as if he hadn't heard his outrageous words, and asked gently, "Then should I pick you up at the usual time?"
Pick up your head!
Now Cen Xun was finally certain that something was definitely wrong with his husband.
Perhaps, his so-called "dream" was something that really happened, but for some reason, time went back to seven in the morning and everything started from the beginning.
A series of film and television works emerged in Cen Xun's mind.
Stuck in a loop? The Truman Show?
While Cen Xun was thinking, her husband made a gesture to turn off the fire, scooped out the black solid that was almost charred from the pot, and placed it on the table. His deep gaze swept across an empty spot on the chair, revealing a hint of possessiveness silently.
Cen Xun, who was standing beside him and witnessed this scene, said: ""
What are you acting to the air, may I ask?
Cen Xun was so angry that he laughed.
Okay, okay, he wants to see how crazy this world can get.
The husband opposite had already started drinking porridge elegantly. Cen Xun sat down opposite him, but had lost his appetite. He stirred the porridge carelessly with a spoon, lowering his eyes in thought.
His husband's behavior reminded him of an NPC in a game, where only by triggering a dialogue could he proceed to the next step.
What about him? As the person who accompanies Feng Jihan in performing the daily life of a couple, will he also be an NPC in this world?
Cen Xun tried to recall the past. The memory of meeting and falling in love with Feng Jihan was still vivid and colorful. It seemed that only after he became a professor of folklore at H University, his memories of life began to blur, until they were replaced by some repetitive fragments.
The scary thing is that she herself is not aware of this fact at all. She wakes up at the same time every day, washes at the same time, interacts with her husband in the same way, and then enters the classroom at the same time.
Cen Xun's brows twitched, and it was difficult to remain calm when he thought of this.
No, you have to calm down.
Cen Xun now has three questions in his mind:
1. If he and Feng Jihan's life were normal before entering H University, what was the reason that caused them to fall into the NPC loop?
2. Previously, as an NPC, he had been unable to break free from the cycle. Why did he suddenly awaken today?
3. Since he can awaken, does it mean that Feng Jihan can also awaken?
The reason for falling into the cycle is still unknown, but the opportunity for awakening is traceable.
Let’s just call yesterday yesterday. The only difference between yesterday and the past was that Cen Xun was surrounded by a small group and then killed Gu Shao.
Wait! Cen Xun suddenly remembered that before he lost consciousness, he seemed to have heard some voice that vaguely mentioned words like "first kill", "camp", and "reward". Unfortunately, he could not remember the specific content.
Cen Xun knocked his head and was about to concentrate on thinking when the husband opposite him suddenly stood up, picked up the suit jacket on the back of the chair and walked out, then stopped at the entrance and stood still.
What is this doing?
Cen Xun came back to his senses, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly realized. Often after breakfast, Feng Jihan would adjust his collar and button up the top button to cover the mark on his neck.
In the past, this was undoubtedly a manifestation of possessiveness, but now
Cen Xun looked at Feng Jihan who was gazing at the void with a dark gaze, holding her forehead with a headache, and repeatedly clenched and unclenched her slender fingers into fists. She had to walk to the corresponding point to trigger her husband's next move.
This kind of life is really fucked up.
We must find a way to break the cycle!
Due to some delay, Cen Xun actually went out five minutes later than usual.
At 7:32, the car drove onto the overpass.
Cen Xun was actually a little curious. If he hadn't driven onto the elevated highway at the same time, would he still be able to see those familiar cars that usually cut in line?
If they can still see it, it means that the world revolves around them, everyone else is a tool, and they are the only two protagonists.
If you see different cars, it means that everyone is an independent NPC and has their own fixed schedule.
Soon, Cen Xun got the answer.
It is the second case.
After driving onto the overpass, they encountered different cars.
Cen Xun put his arm on the car window, squinted his eyes to look at the traffic jam he was about to enter, and fell into deep thought again.
It is known that everyone has his or her own route, and he and Feng Jihan left home five minutes late. If they continued along their original route, would they bump into the routes of people who traveled at other times?
As they got closer and closer to the car in front, Cen Xun's Adam's apple rolled slightly and he stared at the Audi in front.
Getting closer and closer.
Feng Jihan in the driver's seat looked calm, as if he didn't notice the increasingly dangerous distance between the cars, and he showed no sign of releasing his pressure on the accelerator.
Cen Xun already knew the answer to that question.
Shit! It’s really going to hit us!
They don't even have the awareness to dodge. These unawakened NPCs are really not smart at all!
The endless stream of traffic blocked the elevated road. The Audi in front slowed down, its red headlights came on, and the next second, it braked to a sudden stop.
The car that Cen Xun was riding in showed only a slight sign of slowing down, because in their original time period, this short section of road was unobstructed, and it was not until a little further ahead that it was blocked by traffic.
If they waited for Feng Jihan to slow down, it would definitely be too late. Cen Xun thought to himself that it was not good. Seeing that they were about to hit the Audi, in a flash, Cen Xun made a prompt decision, quickly reached out and pulled up the electronic handbrake.
Their car came to a near-miss. The huge inertia caused Cen Xun to rush forward suddenly, and he was then pulled back to the seat by the seat belt.
The crisis was temporarily resolved. The first thing Cen Xun did after he recovered was to unbuckle his seat belt and prepare to open the car door to get out. However, just as his hand pressed on the door button, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a shocking scene in the rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye.
A black Volkswagen was coming straight towards them.
Every car has its own fixed route, and there are certain fixed locations for each car to be parked.
And now they were parked at the parking spot of the black Volkswagen.
Cen Xun suddenly realized that perhaps, from the moment he drove onto the elevated road, he had stepped into a dead end.
"Bang"
The melodious piano music sounded again.
Cen Xun suddenly opened his eyes and saw the familiar furniture again.
"" actually restarted again.
Putting aside the tragic memory of the series of rear-end collisions, Cen Xun began to think about how to break the deadlock.
If one wanted to avoid being killed by a path, the best way was to stay indoors. However, the problem was that Cen Xun needed to understand the truth of this world. To obtain more clues, he had to contact people like Gu Shao.
Clues won't come to him on their own, so he has to go out.
In fact, it is very simple to avoid path killing. Just go out at your usual time and take the original path and you won’t go wrong.
The only problem now is that Cen Xun has left the NPC state and lost program control. He cannot complete each process accurately to the second, and time errors are inevitable.
Cen Xun was not sure whether this few seconds of time error would cause a butterfly effect.
Cen Xun closed his eyes and recalled every moment since leaving the house. They lived in a villa complex, and before they got onto the main road, there were no vehicles in front or behind, allowing for a few seconds of error. The section from the main road to the elevated highway was also lightly trafficked, and the road surface was wide, so the error was negligible. This was also why he had been able to reach the elevated highway safely the previous time.
However, once on the elevated
Cen Xun opened his eyes, his amber pupils staring calmly at the ceiling, having already made a decision in his heart.
In congested traffic conditions, any error is fatal.
You must never drive on the elevated road!
When the alarm rang for the second time, Cen Xun turned it off and sat up with a sullen face.
After quickly washing up, Cen Xun dressed neatly, picked up his briefcase and planned to leave immediately, but he suddenly remembered something and turned to the kitchen.
Only when a conversation is triggered will the husband turn off the stove.
Cen Xun didn't want to find his ex-boyfriend choked to death by smoke in the kitchen when he returned home at night.
When Cen Xun reached out from the side to turn off the fire, her husband grabbed his arm and said, "Stop it! I'll burn you."
After staring at him coldly for a moment, Cen Xun suddenly curved his lips slightly and said, "I want to be number one."
The husband was still so gentle. He turned around, kissed the empty air, and whispered softly, "Hold on a little longer. It will be fine by the winter vacation."
"That's what you said."
Cen Xun pulled her hand away, ignored her husband's questions behind her, and strode towards the entrance.
"What are you going to do today?"
"What are you going to do today?"
"What are you going to do today?"
No one answered. The husband smiled and asked again and again like a stuck robot. The deep male voice echoed in the empty villa, with an inexplicable eerie feeling.
As Cen Xun listened to the questioning voice behind him, a hint of coldness and anger appeared in his beautiful eyes.
Whatever had brought his life to this state, he wanted it dead.
His unkempt hair was blown messy by the wind, but Cen Xun ignored it, took out his cell phone and searched for the bus route to H University.
If you want to avoid path killing, there is another way.
Since you can't walk your own path, then walk someone else's path.
Feng Jihan's path will be affected by him, but strangers who have nothing to do with him will not.
For example, there is no pre-set interaction between the bus driver and Cen Xun, and Cen Xun getting on the bus will not affect the driver's behavior.
But just in case, Cen Xun did not choose to squeeze into the bus through the front door like other passengers, but got on through the back door.
Professor Cen, who openly evaded the ticket, had no sense of shame. He found an empty corner and stood there, thinking about what to do next.
Judging from the situation in the previous round, Gu Shao’s group is not controlled by the “program”. If his world is compared to a game, he and Feng Jihan are both “NPCs”, and Gu Shao’s group is the so-called “players”.
Cen Xun could see that Gu Shao's group actually looked down on him, so they dared to do those absurd things to him.
Since ancient times, the first tree to stick its head out gets shot. If those people found out that he suddenly had self-awareness, it would definitely arouse their vigilance.
Therefore, Cen Xun decided to continue acting according to the original script and not reveal the fact that he had awakened.
Cen Xun was lost in thought, his fingers subconsciously stroking the wedding ring on his ring finger, and his calm thoughts suddenly became disturbed.
Feng Jihan
Thinking of this name, Cen Xun's drooping eyelashes trembled slightly, and his nerves, which were gradually becoming excited due to thinking, tensed up a little.
Cen Xun likes challenging things, so when he encountered this strange situation, he not only did not feel scared, but found it very interesting.
But this matter involved Feng Jihan, which made Cen Xun unable to remain completely calm.
When Cen Xun was very young, he was abandoned by his parents for unknown reasons. When his life fell into a quagmire, Feng Jihan appeared and led him out of the abyss.
Cen Xun was convinced that even if the whole world was fake, Feng Jihan was absolutely real.
Cen Xun thought expressionlessly that he didn't want an empty shell without a soul.
He wants to rescue Feng Jihan from the cycle.
The sound of the bus arriving at the station brought Cen Xun back to his senses. Cen Xun withdrew his attention from the past, lowered his eyes and got off the bus.
Standing at the bus stop, Cen Xun looked at his wrist. It was 7:56. It looked like he was going to be late.
Cen Xun frowned, slowed down his pace, and walked leisurely towards the teaching building called "Muzhi Building".
The character "幕" in "幕志楼" is a bit old, and the character "瑾" below is even more seriously damaged. The "丨" on both sides fall towards the middle, forming a somewhat distorted character "土".
From a distance, it looks like a "tombstone building".
Cen Xun had never felt anything was wrong before, but now he saw that this university was weird in every way.
Cen Xun's expression remained unchanged as he calmly stepped onto the steps where Gu Shao had fallen to his death and walked into the gate.
Just at this moment, a student came towards him. When he saw him, his face changed. His eyes, mixed with curiosity and fear, swept over him. The moment he met Cen Xun's gaze, he was so scared that he quickly looked away.
"Oh my god! How did I run into Teacher Cen at this time? Can't you see me? Can't you see me?"
A mysterious voice sounded, and Cen Xun, who wanted to pass by the student, stopped and squinted at the student's lips. He seemed not to have seen the other party open his mouth to speak just now.
So the question is, where did that sound come from?
In order to confirm, Cen Xun changed direction and was about to walk towards the student, but the next second when he approached, the student looked panicked and turned around and ran away!
"Ahhhhh don't chase me, I don't want my eyeballs to be popped out by a pen!!"
Cen Xun: “”
Although he didn't know whether the voice was actually made by this student, Cen Xun could confirm that this student was also a "non-NPC" person similar to Gu Shao. Not only would their memories not be reset, they even had special information channels internally.
And Cen Xun's eye-catching record was obviously widely circulated among this group of people.
Cen Xun did not chase the student, but continued walking towards the classroom.
I believe that the "non-NPC" students in the classroom will bring him more surprises.
At 8:04, Cen Xun walked into the classroom amid the clamor and calmly apologized to the students: "I'm sorry, something happened on the way and I accidentally delayed you a little."
The considerate college student did not ask any further questions and slowly quieted down. In this silence, several noisy voices stood out.
"No way, no way, you're suddenly late. Professor, are you going to poke someone's eye on the way again?"
"The professor looks as beautiful as ever today! I'm clapping! Sending this to the fan club on the forum to let them know she's safe!"
"Angel face, but a heart of a snake. What should I do? It seems I love my wife even more!"
"Ahhh that damned pervert, how dare he lay his hands on the professor? I couldn't even get him, so what right did he have? This pervert deserves death!"
Cen Xun: “”
Cen Xun maintained his expression unchanged and glanced down calmly in between debugging the equipment. Among a room full of listless college students, he could immediately identify a few energetic outliers.
Cen Xun thought, these people didn't move their lips, but he could hear their voices. Could it be that he could now read the brain waves of these specific groups?
Just as Cen Xun was thinking about this, a familiar electronic sound suddenly rang in his mind.
[The first kill reward has been issued. Please open the panel for details. 】
Cen Xun's movement holding the page-turning pen froze slightly, and he turned around and began to speak the opening remarks that he had repeated many times as usual.
This day had been repeated so many times that Cen Xun could recite the course content by heart. He simply tried to do two things at once, teaching soullessly while thinking about what a "panel" was.
Cen Xun didn't expect that just when he thought of the word "panel", a translucent light screen suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, with blood-red words on a black background, and eerily displayed several lines of messages from the "Nightmare System".
Dear Cen Xun, congratulations on achieving the first kill in the Nightmare faction. The first kill reward, "Mind Reading," has been issued.
[Please note! This reward is valid without restrictions only during the beta phase. After the game is officially launched, the usage conditions will be adjusted to 100 points/point (minimum level)]
Cen Xun: “?”
What a crappy game, so stingy.
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