Different Choices

After the students wearing armbands walked in, the room quieted down considerably. It wasn't until these "armband-wearing" students dispersed to buy food at various windows that the other students resumed their noisy chatter.

"Is that an inspector?" Zhao Mou muttered to himself.

"Maybe so. They don't plan to eat at Zhuiniao. Maybe..." Wen Qinghuai lowered his voice, then realized it wasn't necessary. The other students were eating and drinking as usual, wolfing down their food while talking, completely drowning out his voice. So he raised his voice again, "Maybe they're no longer averse to eating bloody ingredients."

What does this mean?

This means that the thinking of these "armband" wearers has begun to become alienated, and they are no longer like ordinary people.

There were more than a dozen students wearing armbands. After they got their food, they sat down in various places in the cafeteria. Yu Xing then realized that there were empty seats in various parts of the cafeteria, as if they had been marked, giving them an excellent view of the whole place with almost no blind spots.

One of them came to Yu Xing's table and sat at the next table, very close to the six girls.

As the distance closed, Yu Xing clearly observed the student wearing the armband. He was a boy with a somewhat boyish face, curly blond hair, and looked like a noble young master. However, his temperament was like that of an old, decaying piece of wood—lifeless and expressionless.

No, there are still some.

In an instant, Yu Xing's eyes met those of the male student, and a feeling of being stared at by a venomous snake rose up Yu Xing's spine. He suddenly saw intense hunger and ruthlessness in the boy's brown eyes.

The fleeting glances between them made Yu Xing feel a malice rising from within her.

The student wearing the armband was searching, expecting, and waiting for someone to break the rules and be caught. His hunger did not come from the body, but from the desire and dissatisfaction of a twisted urge.

The boy had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept enough. His thin hands had prominent knuckles, an exaggerated kind of protrusion that looked like skin wrapped around bones. He was using this hand to feed himself bloody food with a spoon, and found a tooth inside. His lifeless lips opened, and without hesitation, he swallowed the "tooth," his eyes still scanning the students frantically.

"..." Even Yu Xing was in a normal state, felt a chill at this sight.

The other four naturally witnessed this scene as well. Qu Xuanqing chuckled and said, "This classmate has quite an appetite."

"Indeed." Zhao Mou had a lot to say, but what was more terrifying than the student himself was the power behind him that had changed him.

They became even more determined not to eat ghostly ingredients casually.

A dozen minutes passed, and apart from a slightly oppressive atmosphere, the entire cafeteria remained peaceful.

After finishing their food, students immediately stood up, put their utensils in the recycling bin in the corner of the cafeteria, and hurried out.

"They're in such a hurry, rushing back for their afternoon nap?" Yu Xing had finished eating too. He rested his chin on his hand and tilted his head. "The pressure of studying must be immense. If they don't take a nap, they'll feel sleepy in the afternoon, which is a terrifying thing for someone who wants to study."

"We'll probably be like this starting tomorrow, but I don't know how long we'll be stuck here." Zhao Mou guessed it wouldn't be short. Based on the information Yu Xing had shared before, the process at the general store took an hour, the art museum process normally took eight hours, and with such a large school map... it should take at least half a month, right?

In fact, they didn't know the flow rate of this instance, because Qu Xuanqing and Huang Bai had already tested it and found that the flow rate of time inside the instance and on the Dead Silent Island might be different. Therefore, Zhao Mou conservatively guessed that it would take one month inside the instance and two or three days outside.

Because there are too few existing patterns, he wasn't sure if this school instance would be an extremely long instance like the one that lasts for half a year. He could only hope that the time flow difference on Dead Silent Island wouldn't be that exaggerated.

Suddenly, a scream shattered their observation and thought. Almost instinctively, everyone looked toward the source of the scream and saw a terrified red-haired girl stand up. A tall boy wearing a red armband grabbed her wrist, and on her fingertips was a bright red fingernail.

The boy in the red armband didn't do anything to her, but she was terrified the moment her hidden fingernails were discovered.

"I caught you!" the boy drawled, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

The girl trembled, repeatedly saying things like, "I'm sorry, please let me go, I was wrong, please," tears streaming down her face. The students who hadn't left the cafeteria completely went silent this time, all looking at the center of the accident. Some faces showed sadness, others indifference, but not a single one of them moved, including those who had already reached the door and were about to leave.

"You've broken the rules, classmate." The boy with the red armband who had grabbed the girl's wrist raised her hand high, shook it as if to show it off, and then grinned, revealing the most vivid expression he had shown since entering the cafeteria.

He looked at the small name tag on the girl's chest and read, "Class 2, Grade 3, Mi Jia."

"Wasting food."

I will report this to the dormitory supervisor before this afternoon.

With each additional word spoken, the red-haired girl named Mi Jia's face grew paler, until the words "life teacher" were uttered, at which point she collapsed helplessly to the ground.

Yu Xing was still wondering why the other students weren't leaving and were instead watching this scene when she heard the girls at the next table whispering, "Class 2, Grade 3, Mi Jia..."

"I'll remember her," said the girl with round eyes.

"This is the thirteenth this month," said the girl with freckles on her cheeks.

Not just them, Yu Xing seemed to hear all the students in the cafeteria, except those wearing red armbands, softly repeating the name of the red-haired girl. Although their expressions were different, the meaning seemed to strangely overlap.

Five or six seconds later, the person who wanted to leave turned and left. Those still eating in the cafeteria silently repeated the actions they had before the accident. Yu Xing narrowed her eyes, pretending to be very curious and a newbie, leaned to the side, stretched out her arm and patted the shoulder of one of the six girls at that table, and whispered, "What are you doing? Why are you remembering her name?"

Perhaps it was his appearance that prevented girls from disliking him, giving him a natural advantage in striking up conversations and gathering information. The girl didn't show any nervousness or resistance; instead, she glanced at the blond student with the armband who was very close to them out of the corner of her eye and gently shook her head.

Then, she slightly raised her chin, pointed to the cafeteria exit, stood up, and carried the clean plates toward the recycling bins.

The other girls didn't say anything either, but judging from their actions, these people all retained a sliver of goodwill.

Yu Xing shrank back and turned to her companions, saying, "Let's go out too."

They had already finished eating and were still in the cafeteria only to gather more information about it. Now that the situation was clear and the girls obviously had something to say, they had no reason to stay in the cafeteria any longer.

After putting away their tableware, the group left together. Soon they saw the girls waiting under a maple tree outside the cafeteria. Only two of the six girls remained, and they waved to each other.

"You're transfer students, right?" the freckled girl said directly. "This school has a few transfer students every semester, and we heard this morning that a transfer student will be in our class, so from now on we're classmates."

Yu Xing glanced at the girl's chest; there was a badge on her school uniform with her name, Rebecca, written on it.

"This is your ID tag. Every student has to wear it at all times. Your homeroom teacher will give it to you when you come to class this afternoon." Seeing where Yu Xing's gaze fell, Rebecca wasn't shy at all. Instead, she introduced it seriously and then brought up the topic that hadn't been continued in the cafeteria.

"This school is sick, or rather, the world is sick." Rebecca shook her head and sat down on a bench under the maple tree with Parey beside her. As she spoke, she looked at Yu Xing, clearly regarding him as the leader of the transfer student clique.

Yu Xing sat down, and the other four stood guard nearby to prevent any teachers or students like those wearing red armbands in the cafeteria from suddenly approaching.

"This school has many top students who consistently score above 580 on exams, yet they were still admitted. Do you know why?" St. Johnis Middle School has a maximum score of 600, and 580 is considered a very high score. Even outside the school, it's among the top-performing schools. Rebecca's lips curled into a slight sneer, seemingly not expecting Yu Xing to answer. She continued, "Because they all spoke out against the unfairness and absurdity of the system at other schools."

"They were sent here under various pretexts because they said things they shouldn't have?" Yu Xing raised an eyebrow.

"That's right. In fact, those so-called educators and those in power all know that St. Johnis Middle School is an extremely chaotic place. They send in the kids they don't like, and then the Principal will cooperate by destroying them under all sorts of pretexts, just like throwing away a bag of garbage."

Parey, the girl with round eyes standing next to Rebecca, joined the conversation, her tone filled with disgust and sorrow. "Every year, some people do pass the final exam and are sent out as successful reformers, but those who are forcibly sent in, no matter how good their grades are, will never get out."

"This school isn't meant to save struggling students; it's more like an institution used by capitalists to control the future. Most people don't know this when they're outside, only realizing its true nature after they're sent here," Rebecca said. "We feel very sad. Some people are gradually being worn down, some are colluding with those teachers, and some, like Parey and me, are doing our best to protect our minds, just in case the light comes one day?"

"So in the cafeteria...?" Noticing the conversation was getting off-topic and becoming increasingly broad, Yu Xing reminded her.

"That's an unspoken understanding we've all developed," Rebecca sighed. "In this world, successful people are admired by thousands, while failures are no different from animals. But we... we who are gradually becoming aware know that it shouldn't be like this."

"Everyone who is born and lives deserves proof of their existence. If our parents don't want to remember us, the rest of the world will certainly not remember a piece of trash. We are already so humble and fearful under oppression; we should not simply disappear from everyone's minds as if we never existed."

"That girl named Mi Jia will probably die tomorrow. All the classmates who refuse to bow their heads, or who have already become numb, will remember her name at the moment she is sentenced to death. That way, at least while some of us are still alive, those classmates who have died will not be completely forgotten by the world." Rebecca firmly affirmed their actions, "After all, there's nothing more we can do."

The strategists, who had diverted their attention to keep watch and could actually hear Rebecca speaking, were somewhat moved.

Yu Xing paused for a moment before asking, "So now, some people in school help the teachers; some give up resistance and blindly study and take exams; and some, like you, silently rebel?"

"Yes, we're rebelling. As long as we graduate and get enough grades, we can enter the outside world as successfully reformed children, and then gradually infiltrate it." Rebecca tried to smile, but perhaps because she hadn't smiled in so long, the expression failed due to the stiffness in her face.

"We just transferred here, and you dare to say this to us? Aren't you afraid we'll tell the teacher, or that we'll become the kind of students who do things for the teacher?" Wen Qinghuai couldn't help but ask. This was the strangest thing to him. If you really wanted to rebel silently, you shouldn't have revealed such thoughts to others so easily.

"It's not that complicated," Rebecca said. "Entering this school is like entering a prison until graduation; no one leaves alive. Under this premise, whether you submit and become numb or rebel, it's all just a performance for the teachers. They enjoy watching birds fight each other. So, the teachers are well aware of the existence of students like us who are still rebelling, but they won't say it out loud."

"Every time a transfer student comes, not only us, but also their classmates will tell them these things, letting them choose their own path," Parey interjected. "Choosing to be numb is the most boring thing. The teachers will make them do all sorts of chores, give them extra homework and tests, increase their academic pressure, just to drive them crazy."

"Choosing to rebel will make your future life very difficult. You will be watched by teachers and those red armband-wearing officials at all times. If you make even the slightest mistake, they may seize on it, and the price could be death."

"If you choose to comply, you'll receive the teachers' utmost leniency, and making small mistakes occasionally won't matter, but..." Parey scoffed sarcastically, "You've seen those people wearing red armbands in the cafeteria, haven't you? That's the result of compliance. They've long been turned into monsters by the teachers, terrifying beyond belief. I have a red armband-wearing student in my dorm; she's practically a monster, a venomous snake, always thinking about biting others, but she ignores the fact that she herself has already been disemboweled."

"Even if such people eventually graduate and enter the world, they will definitely be eliminated because they cannot perform normal work. At that time, everything will be back to square one, and they will still be trash."