immersive dungeon experience
"Jin Can, you have really disappointed me."
Jin Can suddenly came to his senses and found himself standing in the large office of the English teaching and research group, facing a private reprimand from his homeroom teacher, Ms. Yang.
Outside the window, the sunlight was warm as spring, but inside the office, one harsh accusation after another echoed. Teacher Yang's expression was more stern than ever before. Her usually gentle face was now filled with reproach, and her eyes were fixed on her.
"Submitting a blank exam paper for the midterm exam is no longer a matter of ability, it's a matter of attitude! Our No. 2 Middle School is a key municipal school, and since its establishment, we have never had a student with such an improper attitude as you!"
"What?" Jin Can exclaimed in shock upon hearing this, his mind going completely blank.
Handing in a blank exam paper?
How is that possible?
"What are you yelling for?" Teacher Yang's anger flared up even more from her reaction, and her voice suddenly rose several decibels.
"You still think you're right? Don't you know what you've done?"
The jeers and questions, along with the shouts, only made Jin Can's already chaotic thoughts even more confused.
At this moment, Jin Can felt that everything around him was both familiar and strange, filled with a sense of incongruity.
"Hey! System, what's going on?" she screamed in her mind.
A deathly silence.
The system that usually pops up from time to time to make its presence known seems to have vanished into thin air.
"Hey! System! Come out here!"
Jin Can frantically knocked on that empty door in her mind, but all she received in response was silence and Teacher Yang's incessant chatter in her ears.
"What exactly do you want? Huh?"
"You can work hard if your grades are bad, but if you don't have the right attitude to learn, no one can save you!"
"Our school isn't that strict in its management. You should cherish this excellent learning environment and not let yourself become complacent!"
what is going on?
Jin Can's memory has suffered severe gaps.
She clearly remembered that not long ago, she was sitting in the examination room, holding the answer sheet pen that Ge Ouchen had specially given her.
Didn't she even solemnly bow to the pen, praying for the "pen god" to possess her, and confidently prepare to answer the questions?
How did it all turn into a blank exam paper in the blink of an eye?
The process in between was as if it had been forcibly erased.
This is so strange!
Putting everything else aside, in the last math quiz, with the help of the system and her own efforts, she got her first perfect score ever, which attracted everyone's attention.
How could I possibly hand in a blank paper and fool everyone during the crucial midterm exam?
Teacher Yang seemed tired of talking, and her tone softened slightly, but her disappointment was evident.
She picked up the thermos on the table, took a sip of chrysanthemum tea, and gave a concluding summary.
"Alright, you're a girl, you're easily embarrassed, so I won't say anything harsh. Go home and think about it carefully."
She paused, put down her cup, and added, "Okay, go home and talk to your parents... talk to your mother. I'll call her tonight, and I need to have a good talk with her about your situation."
Call your parents!
The three words were like a mountain, crashing down on Jin Can's back.
She's already a high school student, and to have her parents called by her teacher for such an absurd reason is practically public execution.
Jin Can suddenly felt so ashamed that he wanted to disappear.
What else could she say?
She knew that saying anything now would be useless; Teacher Yang wouldn't be so bored as to deliberately tease her.
Jin Can could only nod numbly, replying "I know," and then silently walked out of the office like a ghost.
The afterglow of the setting sun filtered through the trees, casting a warm orange hue over the entire campus, yet it could not dispel the gloom in Jin Can's heart.
It was getting late, and the playground was deserted; the students who had been playing ball were nowhere to be seen.
Jin Can suddenly felt that the entire campus was strangely quiet.
When she returned to the classroom of Class 4, Grade 11, she found that there were still a few people sitting there in twos and threes.
Ge Ouchen was sitting next to Zhou Yu, patiently explaining the force analysis of a physics problem to her; Lin Xiaoxiao was handing out fruit candies she brought from home to Shi Yanxi and Chao Ningning, the three heads huddled together, laughing about something.
While eating candy, Shi Yanxi was also helping Chao Ningning memorize English words.
Everything seemed so normal, so harmonious, as if they were a group of close friends, and I was an intruder who didn't fit in.
The moment Jin Can walked into the classroom, all five of them turned to look at her almost simultaneously, their gazes so complex that she couldn't decipher them—surprise, disappointment, anger, and even a hint of...contempt.
After a brief pause of only a few seconds, everyone seemed to have agreed beforehand to gradually look away and continue doing what they were doing before.
However, the atmosphere clearly became awkward and heavy.
Jin Can stood there, unsure of what to do with his hands.
"Um... I submitted a blank paper for my midterm exam?"
She walked to her seat, her voice barely audible, and cautiously sought confirmation from these supposedly closest "comrades-in-arms".
Ge Ouchen's clenched fists turned white at the knuckles. He seemed to be extremely angry. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down before squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth: "I'm truly impressed."
Zhou Yu, who was standing next to him, sighed softly and whispered, "Don't be angry, it's not worth it."
"Is it fun to play tricks on us? Huh? Say something!" Chao Ningning suddenly stood up, her grip on the vocabulary book deformed.
She was always the most energetic one among them, and at this moment she made no attempt to hide her anger.
Jin Can's doubts snowballed, growing bigger and bigger. How did it turn into "playing with everyone"?
She still didn't understand the situation.
"We've poured our all into tutoring you after school every day, studying together as a group to improve together, and all you do is hand in a blank paper! Do you think our time is cheap?" Shi Yanxi said coldly, her tone full of disappointment.
"Exactly, I spent so much time answering your questions for nothing!"
"You've really misunderstood my good intentions!"
A barrage of criticisms rained down on Jin Can, leaving her dizzy and breathless, unsure how to respond.
She subconsciously turned her gaze to Ge Ouchen.
"Brother Dog, you...I..." She tried to say the words, but found herself unable to utter a single one.
explain?
She herself didn't know how to explain it. What was there to explain?
Ge Ouchen didn't even give Jin Can another glance. After explaining the last step to Zhou Yu, he went straight back to his seat in the last row, exuding an aura of "keep away".
In the end, it was Lin Xiaoxiao who brought this noisy trial to a close with her seemingly gentle yet most hurtful words.
"Can Can, you really went too far!" Her eyes were slightly red, and her voice even sounded like she was about to cry.
"We trusted you so much, why did you... betray us?"
She was completely at a loss.
Seeing that the crowd's anger was not subdued, she grabbed Shi Yanxi, who was closest to her, and pulled her to a corner at the back of the classroom, asking urgently in a low voice:
"What exactly happened? I really don't remember!"
Shi Yanxi tried to shake off her hand forcefully, her face still filled with barely concealed anger: "What do you mean, what happened? What else could it be but a blank paper? Jin Can, we all misjudged you! We agreed to work together to improve our grades and get into the top ten of the grade! If you don't want to study, you can just say so. There's no need to humiliate us like this! If you don't want to study, go home and we'll study on our own!"
"Um... what about the system? What about Ge Ouchen's favorability? You guys... aren't you going to care about the mission?" In his desperation, Jin Can blurted out his biggest question.
Upon hearing this, Shi Yanxi looked at her as if she were a madwoman, and even subconsciously took half a step back to increase the distance between them.
"What is this? A system? Affection level? Are you out of your mind?" She frowned, her face full of disbelief.
"I think you've been reading too many novels and your brain has gone foggy! Let me tell you, the one who's most furious right now is Ge Ouchen! He's gone to so much trouble and effort to persuade you to study, and this is how you repay him? I feel so sorry for him!"
After saying that, Shi Yanxi forcefully pulled her hand back, rolled her eyes, and walked away without looking back.
Something's not right, this is really not right!
Jin Can's mind was racing.
According to the rules of the "Empress System", if she fails to complete the main task of "entering the top ten in the grade in the exam", then this world should be reset immediately, and the timeline will rewind to before the exam, allowing her to start over.
It's absolutely impossible for things to turn out like this: the mission failed, but time continues to move forward, even leading to strange follow-up plots like being "called in for a talk with the teacher" and "being isolated by friends."
Moreover, Shi Yanxi's reaction was too real; she seemed to have completely forgotten her identity and the so-called "system mission".
Looking at Chao Ningning and Zhou Yu, one had her cheeks puffed up with anger, while the other looked like she would never speak to her again.
They... seemed to have all become real, ordinary high school students.
The system is gone, and so are the bullet comments.
Jin Can felt a wave of dizziness. She casually pulled over an empty chair and sat down, running her hands through her hair to force herself to calm down and think things through.
Could it be... that I've really gone crazy from studying? Am I hallucinating?
In fact, we are all normal ordinary people. We are all natives of this world. Shi Yanxi, Chao Ningning and Zhou Yu are just ordinary transfer students.
What "Empress System", what "Strategy Missions", what "Bullet Comments"... are they all just figments of my imagination?
The thought lingered in Jin Can's mind as soon as it appeared.
A system that appeared out of nowhere, and three transfer student friends whose actions all revolve around her and Ge Ouchen...
Looking back and thinking about it carefully... it seems that everything before was even stranger and illogical!
So, were all those warm and ambiguous moments—the fist bump with Ge Ouchen at his doorstep at night, the exchange of pens and marking markers as tokens—just figments of my imagination...?
Jin Can dared not think any further. This conclusion made her feel even more ashamed, horrified, and desperate than the fact that she had submitted a blank paper.
But it seems like it really happened that they tutored me and stayed up with me to study until late at night!
That's why they're so angry now, feeling that her hard work and trust have been ruthlessly trampled on...
From this perspective, their anger is quite reasonable.
“Brother Gou…” She stood up dejectedly, walked to the last row of the classroom, and went to Ge Ouchen’s side.
She reached out and, as usual, gently tugged at his school uniform sleeve.
Ge Ouchen's body stiffened for a moment. He didn't look up, but let out a long sigh, full of exhaustion and helplessness.
"Sigh... Jin Can, I really... never want to deal with you again."
His voice was soft, but every word pierced Jin Can's heart like a needle.
"Don't call me that anymore. My name is Ge Ouchen." He finally turned his head, but his gaze fell on the table and chairs next to him. He added in a cold voice, "No wonder you're bad at Chinese. You can't even remember other people's names."
Jin Can panicked completely.
She's been calling him "Dog Bro" for over ten years, and now he doesn't want that nickname anymore?
Ahhhhhhh—
What exactly is going on?!
Just now, I was taking the answer sheet pen that Ge Ouchen had specially handed me, and I was devoutly praying to the pen god, preparing to show off my skills and take this damn midterm exam.
The system also prompted me that bullet comments and other functions are temporarily disabled... wait?
Blocking? What blocking? Why block?
because……
A large-scale instance has been detected. To ensure an immersive experience for players, some system functions and the bullet screen channel will be temporarily closed.
This was the last message the system left before she lost consciousness!
"So, I'm... in a dungeon?"
As if struck by lightning, Jin Can suddenly snapped back to reality, all his confusion and hesitation vanishing.
She grasped the idea almost instinctively and saw a glimmer of hope.
perhaps……
All of this before my eyes—the teacher's reprimand, the friend's betrayal, Ge Ouchen's indifference, and even this "blank paper" incident—is just part of the game's premise!
This is the "false reality" that this instance wants to impose on her!
So, what is her mission? Since the core of the instance is a "blank exam paper," the mission must be related to that.
Could it be... finding one's real midterm exam paper filled with answers?
bite--!
A crisp, pleasant electronic notification sound, like heavenly music, rang in her mind.
[Correct answer.]
[The dungeon quest has been triggered: Retrieve the real exam paper.]
Enjoy the game!
The system has finally appeared.
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