38 Flame
◎What you fear is your weakness.◎
The door of the gymnasium slowly opened in sight. Qi Qiuxue looked inside and found that the structure and facilities inside were no different from those of an ordinary gymnasium.
This gymnasium is very large and is divided into four areas. Each area contains spectator seats and venues for different functions. In addition, there are some scattered lounges, utility rooms, toilets, etc.
At first, everything was normal and there was nothing unusual. Qi Qiuxue quickly checked the sports fields and then turned to go to the lounge.
There are four lounges in total, one in each area, without windows. Probably to highlight the elegant taste of the school leaders, each one is decorated in the utmost luxury. There are not only leather seats for resting, but also shower rooms with various toiletries displayed, numerous storage cabinets, chic and exquisite vases and display tables. Even the doors are solid and heavy soundproof doors to prevent people from being disturbed by external sounds while resting.
The first three lounges were normal. Qi Qiuxue quickened her pace, not missing any clues, and headed for the fourth one again.
She opened the door and stood there looking around. Just like the previous three lounges, there was nothing unusual here.
But the moment she stepped in, everything changed.
The scene during the break changed rapidly in her sight, like a garden burned by a fire, quickly withering, and everywhere was pitch black. Visible and invisible things were scattered on the ground, and dust was everywhere. It was terrible and chaotic. When she inhaled, her nostrils were still filled with the smell of burning.
There was a fire here before.
This thought suddenly popped up in Qi Qiuxue's mind.
But why does it still appear intact from the outside? Is this an illusion deliberately created by someone to avoid being discovered?
Time was running out, so Qi Qiuxue didn't think much and continued walking inside. She lowered her eyes and surveyed the wreckage, instinctively feeling that there must be some key information in it.
Soon, a golden, shiny object caught her attention.
She squatted down and dug the object out of the wreckage. It was a gold necklace, which was covered by the fragments of the fallen ceramic vase and retained its original shape.
The pendant above has a unique shape, a small, somewhat childish girl's face.
Qi Qiuxue recognized it; it belonged to NPC Jiang Yu.
The pendant was not a style sold in bulk in shopping malls, but was specially made by Jiang Yu's mother. The inspiration for its design came from Jiang Yu's childhood drawings, a slightly childish but cute picture of herself.
Because it was extremely precious, Jiang Yu always wore it around her neck. Qi Qiuxue noticed it one day and asked about it casually. Jiang Yu proudly introduced it to her, saying that this necklace was the only one in the world and it represented her mother's endless love for her.
Only one.
Qi Qiuxue picked up the necklace and placed it in her palm. If Jiang Yu's necklace was here, how to explain the one around her neck?
Qi Qiuxue stood up and continued to patrol. The further she walked away from the fire, the clearer the shape of the wreckage became. Qi Qiuxue identified several brooms and dustpans that were not completely burned, some miscellaneous items, and even fragments of clothing.
It's the stuff of those NPCs.
Qi Qiuxue frowned, becoming more and more certain that this group of NPCs were here when the fire broke out in the gymnasium. Judging from the extent of the burning at the scene, the fire seemed to be very large, the flames were scorching, and the temperature was extremely high.
Why wasn't the fire extinguished in time? There was clearly a source of water right here, wasn't there?
Qi Qiuxue walked into the shower room and tried to turn on the faucet on the sink, but no water came out. It seemed that the water supply had just been cut off when the fire broke out.
Then why didn't they escape?
Qi Qiuxue turned around and checked the door behind her. There were many clear scratches on the inside of the door, which were traces left by the NPCs when they were struggling and calling for help. They probably wanted to escape, but the door was locked tightly for some reason and could not be opened no matter what.
Judging from the extent of the burning at the scene, the NPCs trapped inside are probably in danger. Even if they don't die, they will definitely suffer severe burns.
In this case, the one who has been standing before the players in perfect condition all these days is——
"ghost?"
Qi Qiuxue murmured softly.
The next second, a system notification sounded: [Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement - NPC's true identity.]
Just like a scene replay, some images suddenly appeared in front of Qi Qiuxue's eyes.
【Time: October 12, midnight.】
The evening study finally ended, and the other students excitedly packed their bags and prepared to go back to the dormitory for a good sleep.
Tomorrow is a rare rest time, and a week of hard study life comes to a brief end. Everyone's face is filled with happy smiles. They are excited and happy.
Except Lin Yan and Jiang Xiaoxia.
Lin Yan slammed her pencil case onto the table, making a loud noise. "I'm so annoyed! I have to stay on duty tonight. Not only do we have to sweep the messed-up classroom and sanitation area, but we even have to clean up the gymnasium."
"Why aren't Zhang Xue and Li Yiqing here?" she complained in extreme dissatisfaction. "With so many people gone all of a sudden, it just adds a lot of work for us."
"Yeah." Jiang Xiaoxia agreed with her in the same displeasure, "When they come back, we must teach them a lesson."
"Do you have any ideas?" Lin Yan sneered, picked up the broom with a look of disgust, and called the other people in dormitories 403, 404, and 405 to start cleaning together.
"Isn't it hard to think of an idea? Why not just pick a few of the methods we often use?" Jiang Xiaoxia raised an eyebrow, and after a moment, said, "After all, we are roommates. We can't let them embarrass themselves too much. A small punishment is a big warning."
After he finished speaking, several people laughed together.
Lin Yan continued to direct, "Just clean the classrooms and the sanitary area. We're busy with the volleyball game on Monday, so I guess no one will be checking. The most urgent thing is to clean up the gymnasium as soon as possible."
"I don't know why we have such bad luck that it's our class's turn to prepare for this event."
After she finished speaking, she took the lead and swept the floor twice, then called on others to go to the sanitation area. After a simple cleanup, they finally arrived at the gymnasium. The gymnasium was not too far from the teaching building. Knowing that someone was coming to clean, the guard had come to open the door in advance. After entering, several people went to the lounge. They had almost cleaned the venue yesterday, except for this place.
At first, they cleaned the first three rooms smoothly, until they pushed open the fourth door and stepped in, they smelled an extremely unpleasant odor.
"What's that smell?" Jiang Xiaoxia covered her nose and looked at Hu Meng beside her. "It smells terrible."
"I don't know, maybe it was...alcohol?" Hu Meng speculated. "Who treated the wound here?"
"Ah? No way, who else could it be besides us..." Jiang Xiaoxia didn't finish her words, because she suddenly noticed that the incense burner, which was originally used only as a decoration, was lit by someone. There were a few incense sticks stuck crookedly on it. Those incense sticks were almost burned out, and the flames carrying the incense ashes fell from above and landed on the ground.
Almost in an instant, a raging fire broke out on the ground. The flames spread rapidly, and then ignited the paintings, curtains, and even the sofa behind.
Several people were stunned. They looked at each other and quickly rushed into the room to put out the fire. Fortunately, there was a bathroom at the deepest part where they could get water. But when they turned on the faucet and tried to turn on all the showers, they discovered a terrible fact.
There is no water, there is no water...
"What should we do?!" Jiang Xiaoxia asked Lin Yan beside her loudly. At the critical moment of life and death, several people's hearts were beating like drums, their bodies were shaking, and fear was written in their eyes.
"Run!" Lin Yan didn't care about anything else. Compared to the gymnasium, life was more precious. "Let's get out of here first!"
"Then what should we do here? Just let the fire burn?!" others asked hurriedly.
"What are you afraid of? Who among us doesn't have some money?" Lin Yan angrily scolded them. "Why are you still thinking so much at this time? Even if the gymnasium is really destroyed, we can donate a new one. Hurry..."
I couldn't even utter the word "run".
As if blown by the wind outside the window, the door of the lounge suddenly closed with a "bang" at this moment. Several people screamed in fear and panic, rushed forward at the fastest speed in their lives, and shook the door in front of them hard.
They couldn't open the door no matter what they did. They called for help, shouted, and pounded on the door, but no matter what they did, they couldn't attract other people's attention. The flames seemed to have life and spread rapidly from behind them. The fire grew bigger and bigger, and the temperature became higher and higher.
Several people began to feel difficulty breathing, and the flesh all over their bodies was burned by the rising flames. They cried and cursed, and finally lost their strength and could only collapse to the ground and watch the flames devour them.
Until the end, when everything was reduced to ashes, the school finally reacted and called in firefighters and all the teachers and students to put out the fire together. But no matter how much they tried to remedy the situation, it was too late.
The flames were extinguished, but what could not be extinguished was the deep resentment of Lin Yan and the others.
The school gave the students a holiday overnight and allowed the frightened students to go home and rest. However, the "players" who were unable to attend school on October 12 for various reasons were completely unaware of this. They were like those who had been blinded by ghosts. They did not see the notices issued in the class, did not see the reports in the news, and did not even hear the questions and warnings from their family or friends.
They were summoned back by the resentment of ten people including Lin Yan, Jiang Xiaoxia, and Liu Ziman, and stepped into this campus woven by illusions, which was already deserted and looked as good as new.
“…”
The revolving images before her eyes finally vanished. Qi Qiuxue rechecked the achievement panel and saw a line of small words written at the bottom:
【What you fear is your weakness.】
【Author’s words】
I'm here. I was a little late today because I was busy. The illustration activity has been approved. You can try to participate. Hehe~
Special thanks to Ruoli baby for the deep water, it was so expensive, thank you baby, and thank you to all the babies who support me. You have always been with me, supported me, thrown nutrient solution to me, left comments and read my articles. You are such warm babies, hold me tight!
Thanks to the little angel who cast the deep-water torpedo: Ruoli is not a loli 1;
Thanks to the little angel who threw the shallow water bomb: I threw a skull to you;
Thanks to the little angel who threw the rocket launcher: He threw a skull 3 at you;
Thanks to the little angels who threw the grenade: Ye Siran, Shi Yi, Zui Xiao Pei Jun San Wan Chen, and Langli's dog 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: 4 for the 柃殇 (Zhe Shang), 2 for the Lang Fairy, the Cat Selling Grilled Fish, and 2 for the Mancao (Mancao); 1 for the Lanli Dog, 30,000 Games of Drunk Laughter with You, 1 for the Internet Addict, 1 for the Qiu Lang Beauty Fairy, 1 for the Uncontested, and 1 for the Internet Police;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Ye Si Ran 81 bottles; Han An ＾3＾ 50 bottles; Glowing Su 18 bottles; Sooner or Later, It Will Become a Deep Well Ice 12 bottles; Langley's Dog 10 bottles; Pond Fish 2 bottles; Zui Xiao Pei Jun 30,000 Fields, R, Learn to Appreciate the Scenery Along the Way, Throwing a Skull at You 1 bottle;
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