The School History in the Dark

The sound of the female administrator's footsteps inexplicably overlapped with the sound of a knife being chopped down hard on a chopping board in Yu Xing's ears. His gaze was fixed on the heels of her high heels, but the stench of decay at the tip of his nose quietly disappeared.

It was as if it were a hallucination he was experiencing due to doubt and psychological suggestion.

"Can I go read now?" After a few seconds, Yu Xing looked away. The female administrator nodded, walked to the side with her slender legs, and pulled out a piece of paper from one of the bookshelves.

"You don't have a student ID card yet. If you want to borrow books, please register, good boy." She handed over the paper and pulled out an expensive-looking fountain pen from the pocket of her uniform skirt suit. Her serious face showed an effort to be kind, but unfortunately, she looked more like a strange auntie trying to abduct a child.

Yu Xing took the paper and pen and saw that there weren't many blanks to fill in, only three columns: name, class, and reason for entering the library.

Interestingly, at the end of the table, there is a very prominent note.

[This form is only applicable to a small number of students who wear ID badges. Students are requested to fill in their names accurately as a supplement to the ID badge borrowing record.]

He discovered that the entire St. Johnis Middle School took the identity tags very seriously. Whether it was wearing the tags while walking outside the dormitories or reading out the name and class of the person being arrested before making an arrest, Yu Xing that the significance of the identity tags probably went beyond what was apparent.

He doesn't have an identity card right now.

If...

Yu Xing curled her lips into a smile from an angle where the female administrator couldn't see her, and filled in the information on the form.

Class 3, Grade 3, Jad.

Fake.

Anyway, the female administrator can't tell whether the name he wrote matches the person. To be honest, even if he is found out later, he has his own way of dealing with it.

He handed the form back to the female administrator, who glanced at it and waved him away, saying, "Go find some books to read. The first floor is full of study guides, and the second floor has advanced materials suitable for you senior high school students."

"What about the third floor?" Yu Xing asked deliberately, "Wouldn't the information on the third floor be more useful?"

"The third floor contains some documents, including our school history, and some other books, not what you're looking for." Unexpectedly, the female librarian didn't shy away from the books on the third floor. Yu Xing had originally thought that, as a library in a school like this, the third floor was probably a "forbidden" room that ordinary students weren't allowed to go up.

"Thank you," Yu Xing said politely, then asked, "Where do you usually work? I don't see your desk. How can I find you if I have any questions?"

What I really want to know is how long it would take for the female librarian to arrive and punish him if he caused trouble.

"I usually stay on the first floor. If you need anything, come down and find me. All children who love learning are so adorable." The female administrator still tried to smile. Yu Xing looked at her and, to repay her temporary kindness, gave her a bright, sunny smile—a kind of "helpful smile for teaching."

Before the female administrator could say anything more, Yu Xing interrupted her, "Thank you so much, I'm going now."

He turned around and walked into the bookshelves. The staircase leading to the second floor was located further inside, and he had to wander among the bookshelves for a while before finding it. The layout of the library was strange; everywhere had the same patterns, the same decorations on the walls, and even the floor was the same, with a dazzling array of grids.

Like a maze.

Once he reached the second floor, he found the situation even more pronounced. The overlapping layers of dark colors, along with the identical bookshelves and heavy hardcover books, created an indescribable pressure on his brain.

Students in such schools already face immense academic pressure. If they were to absorb knowledge in such an environment in the library, those with poor mental fortitude would likely be driven to madness in no time, while even those with strong mental fortitude would become quiet and silent amidst the daily dullness and dizziness.

When he realized that he had unconsciously used the adjective "indescribable" to describe this kind of architecture, he suddenly thought of the giant human-faced fish he had seen when he arrived on the island. Upon closer inspection, he felt that the two gave him a very similar, mysterious feeling.

"That's interesting..."

Yu Xing was certain that, apart from the obviously suspicious female librarian, even the building itself had a certain degree of disguise, like a silent monster, disguising itself as a building, waiting for its prey to come.

He didn't linger on the second floor. Regardless of whether the female administrator was telling the truth about only being on the first floor, he felt he had to take advantage of this opportunity to visit the third floor, especially the so-called school history.

The staircase from the second to the third floor is also made of wood, with intricate patterns inlaid on the spiraling, openwork wooden staircase. Blooming flowers are connected by vein-like patterns, and in the center of each flower is an eye without eyelashes.

Those tiny wooden carved eyes seemed to be staring at him, and at everyone who walked down the stairs.

After realizing that there were many eyes hidden in the pattern, Yu Xing wanted to get closer to take a look. However, although he was fine when he walked up, as soon as he focused his gaze on one eye, he felt like he was staring at some strange creature. There were many other people around, and even just one eye gave him a strong feeling of being spied on.

It was as if the staircase was alive.

Never mind.

Yu Xing withdrew his curiosity. In the face of mysterious systems like Cthulhu, the best way to live is not to see, not to hear, not to speak, and not to investigate. After all, this system has always advocated that the less you know, the longer you live. If you know too much, you will either go crazy or die.

As he pondered this, his body obediently climbed the stairs. His body kept changing direction as he walked up the spiral wooden staircase. As he walked, he found that this staircase was even more disorienting than the one below. It felt as if he was walking on sponges that made his legs weak, rather than on wooden planks.

The first layer is a deep yellow mixed with orange-red, just like the exterior walls of a library. The second layer is a deep red, with occasional glimpses of brighter orange. The third layer is even darker than the deep red, and even with the white lights overhead, they can't illuminate much of the area. Those white lights are like powerless lights floating in dark eyes, trying their best to guide people, but ultimately unable to do so.

In Yu Xing's eyes, the third floor was like a dark, unknown place, with small patches of light at intervals, and the darkness in the middle irreversibly concealing something terrifying. It could be anywhere, but it could never be a library for students to study in.

How can you learn if you can't even see the words clearly?

He felt around through the chest pocket of his school uniform shirt and felt something hard. He calmed down and started walking towards the third floor, where something was clearly wrong.

This time, he mainly focused on the names on the spines of the thick books on the bookshelf. The small patches of white light surrounding them were still usable enough for him to barely make out the large printed titles.

The bookshelf closest to the stairs was filled entirely with the school's history. Depending on the year and the events recorded, it covered events from over fifty years ago to the present day, with no fewer than ten books for each year. The upper and middle sections of the bookshelf were completely filled, while the lower section was empty, presumably reserved for future school histories.

Yu Xing randomly picked up this year's school history book, flipped through the table of contents, found it vague and meaningless, so Yu Xing flipped to the back, randomly picked a page, and stepped into the light to begin.

The book recorded events from the first half of this year. The page he turned to mentioned the previous batch of transfer students. It clearly stated in black and white that one of the transfer students from Class 6, Grade 3, was caught stealing in the Principal's office. The Principal was merciful enough not to execute the student in front of all the students, but instead gave this morally corrupt thief the opportunity to commit suicide.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow. No matter how you looked at it, this matter seemed to have nothing to do with the word "reward." Yet here, the act of driving someone to death and the word "reward" were strangely combined and recorded in what appeared to be a very solemn school history, without anyone objecting.

"But it really was the right decision to come. This isn't a small matter; it's a clear disciplinary record..." Yu Xing tentatively flipped through a few more pages. What followed was a small-scale group suicide incident that occurred after the thief's suicide. Apparently, it was because the transfer student thief had many admirers. After this incident, many students who usually studied hard seemed to be "possessed," and every morning, they would stand in front of the Principal's office window and choose the time when there was the most traffic to jump.

Yu Xing paused, ran her hand over the words on the paper, and turned the page again. It was another matter, unrelated to the suicide incident.

He flipped back and reread this section, focusing on how the matter was handled. The teachers and volunteers were furious about the students' blatant defiance of the school and opposition to the Principal. They launched a large-scale campaign, encouraging students to report on each other about who else had close ties with the thief transfer student. Finally, on a hot day, the Principal, still showing mercy, gathered the betrayed students together and forced them to reveal their true thoughts.

Either publicly declare that the thief transfer student "deserves" to everyone, asserting your innocence and condemning the series of people who jumped from the Principal's office, or...

Yu Xing's gaze was fixed on the last few words.

"Hand him over to Director Gene for execution."

After that incident, no one jumped from the Principal's office window again, as if they were terrified, or as if all the hidden dangers had truly been exposed.

Tsk tsk tsk... Yu Xing felt that the few pages she randomly flipped to contained a huge amount of information.

Judging from this school's style—inciting conflict, encouraging whistleblowing, and engaging in unbridled oppression—as well as the bullying among students as inferred from the contents of the pink envelopes, the Principal must bear the greatest responsibility for this atmosphere.

Could the Principal single-handedly raised this kind of school be so merciful as to ensure that even his personal belongings are passed to a student so they can die with dignity?

Yu Xing disagreed.

This could only mean that there's something hidden in the Principal's office that can't be known to others. The transfer student, Yu Xing, doesn't know if the other party was an outsider who came to the island last time or a variable generated by the instance itself. In any case, the transfer student must have investigated something, learned some of the Principal's secrets, and risked going to the Principal's office to steal evidence, but unfortunately, he was discovered.

The Principal avoided going out in public simply because he didn't want the transfer student's voice to reach the ears of other students, and he wanted to prevent any possibility of the secret being leaked. Therefore, the transfer student was "forced to commit suicide."

As for those students who ran to the Principal's office and jumped off the building because of this incident, Yu Xing guessed that these people might also know about the transfer student's plan to steal evidence, but they certainly wouldn't be outsiders, because outsiders would voluntarily end their own lives because of what happened in the game.

Those students, like Rebecca, who harbored rebellious intentions and saw a bright future within reach, finally saw their resistance take effect, only to be nipped in the bud. The light was extinguished, and darkness once again enveloped them. They could not breathe, felt suffocated, and had no choice but to use their lives to demonstrate their stance.

Then the Principal and teachers went along with it, gathering a large group of students who were inclined to rebel, and collectively executed them.

Despite the apparent calm, Yu Xing suspected that not all of the original rebels had died. There must be some who knew how to endure and were hiding among the current students, waiting for the next opportunity. Perhaps he could try to find them during his future school years and maybe even reshape the Main Quest.

Yu Xing couldn't believe that the entire school history revealed such a huge flaw. Not to mention the thick copy in her hand, there were more than fifty different copies on the bookshelf.

He patiently flipped through the pages, and sure enough, the previous pages were all individual cases of executions, as well as various international accolades and awards that St. Johnis Middle School had received. Occasionally, educators from other schools would come to St. Johnis Middle School to give lectures and seminars, and professors from St. Jonis's University would come to evaluate the senior students and select a group of high-quality preparatory students in advance to skip the entrance exam and enter university to continue their four years of imprisonment.

Occasionally, the book will publish the achievements of outstanding graduates from previous years in society. Admittedly, this school is a terrifying institution that puts students under immense pressure, but each year, 30% of the graduates are still sent out to other universities, some to enter various universities including St. Jonis's University, and others to enter the workforce.

Less than one percent of the students are eligible to be included in the school's history.

Whenever this type of history is recorded, the book thoughtfully includes photos of the students when they were in school. Yu Xing has seen them; their eyes are dull and numb, and they even reveal a hint of malice that makes people very uncomfortable.

They are all "incomplete individuals" whose personalities and minds have been infiltrated by the cruel school system.

Having been immersed in this strange atmosphere for so long, they are no longer healthy people; what may be hidden beneath their human skin are actually perverted and twisted monsters.

Seeing these things too often gets boring. Yu Xing attributed his ability to see important information at first glance to luck. After all, his Persona Mask is named "Lucky," so it wouldn't make sense if he were always so unlucky.