Trapped at school
The system's response instantly soothed Jin Can's nerves, which were on the verge of collapse, allowing her tense muscles to relax. She almost collapsed to the ground and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Oh my god, you scared me to death..." She clutched her wildly beating heart and muttered to herself, "I knew it! Even if I don't like studying, I wouldn't hand in a blank paper!"
Her self-talk sounded like a frivolous joke to Ge Ouchen, a stubborn excuse that showed no remorse. This made his already stern face even darker.
He abruptly slung his backpack over his shoulder, turned and walked away without a word.
"Hey, Brother Gou, it's not Ge Ouchen... wait a minute!" Jin Can was anxious and subconsciously wanted to chase after him.
She wanted to explain to him!
Even if I don't know whether I should tell him about the current situation in the instance, I should at least let him know that I am not deliberately teasing him or trampling on his sincerity.
She never...and never will!
However, just as she was about to rush out of the classroom to chase after them, her steps were blocked by the trio of transfer students.
"Jin Can, what else do you want to do?" Shi Yanxi frowned, her tone filled with confusion.
"He's in a bad mood right now, there's no point in chasing after him," Chao Ningning calmly analyzed.
She could only watch helplessly as Ge Ouchen's figure disappeared through the classroom door.
"No, I have to go!" Jin Can thought for a moment, bypassed them, and rushed towards the school gate like a madman.
The setting sun cast her long shadow, making her appear lonely and stubborn.
She saw Ge Ouchen appear at the school gate. Even after hearing Jin Can's shouts, she didn't turn around and walked straight out, quickly disappearing into the crowd on the street.
"Ge Ouchen!" she shouted, rushing with all her might toward the iron gate that separated the inside and outside of the school.
They're getting closer, almost catching up!
However, just as her right foot was about to cross the school gate line, an invisible yet incredibly powerful resistance appeared out of nowhere, like a soft yet tough transparent wall, which bounced her back hard.
With a muffled thud, Jin Can fell backward and crashed to the ground.
A burning pain shot through his elbows and buttocks, but it paled in comparison to the shock and fear Jin Can felt at that moment.
What happened?
She struggled to her feet, staring incredulously at the school gate, which was wide open and completely empty.
She reached out her hand and cautiously extended it forward.
Sure enough, at the door line, her palm touched an invisible barrier.
Unconvinced, she took a few steps back and charged forward again.
As expected, she was bounced back hard once again, this time even harder, her head spinning and her vision blurring.
Outside, the traffic was bustling and people were noisy, the atmosphere of city life was right in front of him, but Jin Can could see and hear it, but could not touch it, like a movie scene separated by a layer of screen.
The prison of the dungeon confined her to this school that was so familiar yet now felt strange and suffocating.
[Warning: Player's attempt to break through the dungeon boundary failed, resulting in a decrease in mental stability.]
[Current mental breakdown level: 20/100.]
[Note: When the mental breakdown value reaches 100, the player's consciousness will be assimilated by the instance and permanently trapped there.]
A chilling system notification sounded in his mind, accompanied by a string of blood-red numbers, sending a cold shiver down Jin Can's spine.
The punishment for failure is eternal imprisonment here?
More terrifying than death!
She was breathing heavily from just chasing Ge Ouchen, and collapsed weakly to the ground, her chest heaving violently. Gazing at the free world outside the school gate, sweat streamed down her face.
"Can Can, what's wrong with you?" Lin Xiaoxiao was the first to catch up and immediately helped Jin Can up, her voice full of concern.
"Sigh, I'll have to explore this area later..." she muttered to herself, mimicking the voice prompts she'd heard in a game recently, trying to lighten her mood with a self-deprecating laugh.
Unfortunately, the mental breakdown value remained unchanged.
"Never mind, let's go back to the classroom first."
When Lin Xiaoxiao accompanied the distraught girl back to the flower bed in front of the teaching building, the three transfer students were standing there motionless.
They chased after him, but when they saw Jin Can's disheveled appearance, they stopped running towards the school gate. The anger on their faces was gradually replaced by worry, confusion, and doubt.
"What were you doing just now?" Shi Yanxi frowned.
They all naturally saw Jin Can's two strange "self-falls" just now.
Zhou Yu remained silent. She carefully examined Jin Can, then glanced at the school gate in the distance, seemingly deep in thought.
Jin Can hesitated. Since he had already seen everything, maybe... he could ask them for help now? This instance was too strange; he still hadn't figured out what was going on.
She needs allies to fight alongside her; she can't hold on by herself alone.
She took a deep breath and said in an unprecedentedly serious tone, "I... might be trapped in this school... or rather, in a dungeon."
She spoke rapidly, recounting everything she knew—
"The school we're in is a copy, and our mission is to find my midterm exam papers that have been altered to be blank and filled with answers!"
"I still don't know what happened. I should have been taking an exam..." Jin Can's voice trembled slightly.
The air fell into a deathly silence.
Zhou Yu continued to stare at the school gate, her expression unchanged.
Chao Ningning and Lin Xiaoxiao looked at each other, their faces filled with shock.
Shi Yanxi kept her head down, quickly processing these bizarre remarks.
"Don't rush, calm down first." It was Chao Ningning who broke the silence first.
She stepped forward, gently patted Jin Can's back, and said in a soothing tone, "If what you're saying is true, there's no use in worrying. Let's sort things out first."
"Can Can... I believe you. You're not the kind of person who would hand in a blank paper for no reason." Lin Xiaoxiao had the best temper and the softest heart. Seeing Jin Can's pitiful appearance, she almost immediately chose to believe her.
Jin Can looked at her gratefully, feeling a little more at ease.
"I'd like to see what you're up to."
Just then, Shi Yanxi suddenly raised her head and looked directly at Jin Can: "Words are no proof. You said you can't get out, right?"
Jin Can nodded vigorously.
“Okay, let’s go to the school gate now. The four of us will try it one by one.” Shi Yanxi said decisively.
One minute later, everyone arrived at the school gate.
After Jin Can demonstrated the flat-ground fall to everyone again, everyone tried it one by one.
When the four of them tried everything they could, but were still blocked inside the school by that invisible wall, everyone's worldview seemed to be severely impacted. Even Zhou Yu, who had been silent all along, changed his expression slightly after trying.
"How... how did you do that...?" Chao Ningning touched the void, the cold touch on her palm making her marvel.
Shi Yanxi's expression turned unusually serious. She pushed up her glasses, her eyes behind the lenses flickering as she realized the gravity of the situation.
"It seems you're telling the truth." She turned to Jin Can, her tone no longer carrying the sarcasm and doubt of before.
In the end, Zhou Yu concluded: "We are really trapped in the school."
Why was Ge Ouchen able to get out, while the other four were trapped here?
Jin Can was also a little curious.
Could it be because she revealed the details of the copy to them and sought their help?
Panic spread through Jin Can's heart, mixed with a strange sense of guilt.
[Mental breakdown level rising... 21, 22]
"Then... what should we do now?" Lin Xiaoxiao's voice was trembling with tears.
"Find my exam paper!"
Jin Can said firmly, "After all, this is our only clue and our only way out!"
“The exam paper…” Shi Yanxi quickly began to analyze it.
"Midterm exam papers generally go to one of three places after they've been taken. They're either still in the hands of the teachers who graded them or the teachers who taught them in each class; they're stored in the offices of the subject teaching and research groups for each grade; or they've already been filed up in the academic affairs office."
Jin Can thought for a moment and said, "I just came from Ms. Yang's office, and I didn't see our test papers in the English teaching and research group office. She must have left the school by now. I think it's more likely that they're in the academic affairs office!"
“Okay, let’s go to the Academic Affairs Office first!” Chao Ningning responded immediately.
Once they had set their goal, they stopped lingering at the school gate and immediately turned around and walked briskly toward the administrative office building.
As the sun quietly set, the streetlights on campus lit up one by one. The daytime hustle and bustle and energy dissipated, leaving only a tranquil silence tinged with an eerie unease.
The doors to the administration building were ajar, as if deliberately waiting for their arrival.
"Be careful," Shi Yanxi whispered, then pushed open the door and went inside first.
The empty administrative office building was eerily silent; only the footsteps of the five women echoed clearly.
The hallway was even darker than outside, with a few emergency lights on, emitting a faint green glow.
[Mental breakdown level rising... 23... 24]
Jin Can was terrified, and the final value settled at 29.
They dared not make a sound, tiptoed down the corridor, their hearts pounding in their throats.
The Academic Affairs Office is on the third floor.
When they finally reached the third floor and found the office door with the sign "Academic Affairs Office," they discovered that the door was locked.
"What do we do now?" Chao Ningning asked as she tried to turn the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge.
Just as Shi Yanxi was about to suggest looking for any open windows, the door to an office next door with a sign that read "Document and Archives Room" opened from the inside.
A male teacher with gray hair and reading glasses poked his head out from inside the door.
It's Mr. Wang, the history teacher!
Jin Can had taken his class in her first year of high school. After she was placed in the science class in her second year, Mr. Wang gradually became a blur in her world and his presence became less and less noticeable.
"You lot, why aren't you home yet, it's so late?" Teacher Wang's usually gentle smile seemed distorted slightly under the dim light, appearing sinister and strange.
"Hello teacher, we left something at the registrar's office and would like to come and get it." Shi Yanxi reacted quickly and immediately made up an excuse.
"Oh, the teachers have all gone home. Come tomorrow."
Teacher Wang's gaze swept across the five faces one by one, and finally settled on Lin Xiaoxiao's face.
"Oh, Lin Xiaoxiao, I remember you. You're a boarding student, right?"
Lin Xiaoxiao paused for a moment, then nodded: "Ah, yes...yes, Teacher Wang."
"That's great!" Teacher Wang's smile widened even more.
"Perfect timing. I have a batch of first-year high school students' daily grades that I need to record. Since you're a boarding student and have the time, why don't you stay and help me out? It'll be quick."
“I’m your evening study teacher for boarding students today. Once things are settled here, we’ll go over together,” Teacher Wang said calmly.
These words sound reasonable, but in the current context, they carry a chilling undertone.
“Teacher, we still have something to do together…” Chao Ningning tried to refuse.
Teacher Wang's tone suddenly turned cold and hard, and his gaze behind his reading glasses revealed an undeniable pressure:
"It's just helping to calculate and enter the scores, nothing complicated. The rest of you should go home now and not linger at school!"
Lin Xiaoxiao has always been a well-behaved student, and she instinctively dares not disobey her teacher's requests.
She looked to the others for help, her eyes filled with uncertainty.
"Xiaoxiao..." Jin Can tried to step forward and pull her back.
"Come in with me."
Without a word, Teacher Wang let Lin Xiaoxiao into the resource room, then waved to the remaining four students and said in a cold and emotionless tone, "Alright, you can go home now."
"Mr. Wang... do you know where the midterm exam papers for the second year of high school are now?" Lin Xiaoxiao knew she shouldn't be so direct, but she couldn't help but ask, her tone urgent, as if she were grasping at the last straw.
"Why are you asking this?" Teacher Wang glanced at the group of people, paused, and then said.
"I don't know the specifics, but I heard it was in the chemistry lab. The tables there are big, and they were empty today. They were borrowed to analyze the points lost in each subject, calculate and record the scores, and rank the students."
As soon as he finished speaking, Teacher Wang bent down and started flipping through the documents, and Lin Xiaoxiao began to get busy under his instructions.
A cold draft blew in from somewhere.
"Bang!"
The heavy wooden door to the archives slammed shut in front of the four of them, leaving them standing in the dimly lit corridor, looking at each other in bewilderment.
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