Xiao Wu glanced back at Tang San, then at Dai Mubai. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing and left with Ning Rongrong.
Zhu Zhuqing, meanwhile, hadn't looked at Dai Mubai once.
When she saw Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong leave, she turned and headed toward the dorms as well.
Dai Mubai opened his mouth, wanting to call after her and explain.
But he had barely taken half a step when Zhu Zhuqing suddenly stopped and whipped her head around.
She shot him a look with her icy eyes. Her gaze held not a trace of warmth; it was even laced with a strong murderous intent.
At that look, Dai Mubai's feet seemed to nail themselves to the spot. The words he'd wanted to say were instantly choked back.
Zhu Zhuqing didn't linger. She turned and walked away.
Ma Hongjun stood beside Dai Mubai with his head bowed,
like a chicken with drooping feathers.
The two of them stood there in silence.
And from that moment on, an invisible crack formed within Shrek Academy.
Night.
Amphoreus Academy, the principal's office.
Ye Qiong sat back in his chair, eyes closed as he rested.
[Mission complete. Rewards issued.]
The sudden message made Ye Qiong open his eyes. He hurriedly opened the system, then spotted a card in his inventory.
"A special card? Last time it gave me a medicinal field card. What is it this time?"
As he wondered, he reached out and tapped it.
A flash of light burst forth, and the system's notification rang out once more:
[Level Two Academy Upgrade Card activated.]
The next second, a long string of information appeared before Ye Qiong:
[Academy funds doubled. Current balance: six million Gold Soul Coins.]
Ye Qiong raised an eyebrow:
"That much?"
He continued reading, but his eyes suddenly stopped on the next line:
[New facility: Simulated Reality.] [Function description: Students may enter the reality to train. It will automatically generate an instance suited to each user, featuring a variety of modes, including combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving. Each instance contains a gatekeeper boss. Defeating it grants rewards such as increased Soul Power.]
Ye Qiong stared at the information for a good ten seconds.
Only then did it sink in.
WTF, wasn't this just the youth-friendly, plus version of the Simulated Universe?
Ye Qiong's lips slowly curled upward. "Interesting."
He closed the panel, stood from his chair, and walked to the window to look out at the campus under the night sky.
"If Phainon goes in, will it generate Romantic Knight again in his instance?"
At the thought, an image immediately rose in his mind.
In a golden wheat field, a pink figure slowly turned, revealing a bizarre face beneath its pink hair:
"This is surely a Romantic Knight unlike any you've seen before. You think so too, don't you?"
Stop, stop, stop!
Ye Qiong shook his head hard.
Why had he suddenly thought of something so weird?
Hah, what a load of nonsense.
It had to be Aha's doing!
Damn Aha.
The next morning.
Everyone had gathered in two rows on the square at Amphoreus Academy.
Ye Qiong stood on the steps with his hands behind his back, dressed in a white robe.
Wang Sheng was the first to notice something different about the square. He pointed at a door that had appeared out of nowhere beside the teaching building.
"Teacher! What's that? It wasn't there yesterday!"
The door was translucent all over, pale blue ripples flowing across its surface.
Phainon followed his gaze and frowned too.
"Right. I didn't see it yesterday."
"Teacher, what did you do while we were asleep last night?"
Ye Qiong smiled faintly and took a step forward.
"This is the Simulated Reality."
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.
The Simulated Reality? What was that?
Ye Qiong briefly explained how it worked.
But before he'd even finished, Wang Sheng's eyes had already gone wide.
"What? It can generate an instance based on us? And we get cultivation rewards after we beat it?"
Ye Qiong nodded.
"That's right. But first, you have to be able to beat it."
Bai Chenxiang drew in a sharp breath.
"That's ridiculous... Our academy didn't even have this thing yesterday. It just appeared overnight?"
Anaxa pushed up his eyepatch, a glimmer of excitement in his single eye.
A spatial construct, or some kind of formation? I'd love to study how it works.
Cerydra stood at the very edge of the group. Her blue eyes swept over the door, and for once, a hint of interest entered her voice.
"If its function is indeed as thou hast described, then it will make for a rather useful place to train our troops."
Castorice stood among the crowd, but her gaze had quietly settled on Ye Qiong.
She watched him standing on the steps, the morning light falling across his shoulders,
and the composed smile on his face made her heart inexplicably skip two beats.
She lowered her head without thinking and raised a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Polyxena noticed her sister's little gesture and pressed her lips together to hide a smile.
She didn't know anything at all.
As everyone marveled at the door, Phainon stepped forward without hesitation. "Teacher, I'd like to go in and try it."
Mydei immediately followed suit. "I'm going too."
"Me too! Me too!"
The others came to their senses and raised their hands one after another.
Ye Qiong raised a hand and pressed it down.
"Don't rush. One at a time. The entrance to each instance only allows one person in."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the group.
Phainon and Mydei exchanged a look, then stepped forward at the same time.
Wang Sheng was just about to charge to the front, but Jiang Zhu grabbed him by the collar.
"Hold on. Let Phainon and the others go first."
Wang Sheng pouted and reluctantly stepped back.
Phainon and Mydei entered the door one after the other.
Wang Sheng craned his neck to peer inside. "They went in? I can't see anything!"
Anaxa had already moved up beside the door. He carefully reached out and touched the ripples on its surface.
"Constant temperature, a soft texture, no obvious energy fluctuations... Fascinating."
He immediately pulled a notebook from his robes and bent his head, scribbling something down.
Wang Sheng couldn't hold back any longer. At last, he charged forward.
"I want to go in too!"
As he spoke, he rushed straight at the door without a second thought.
The others went in too, leaving Anaxa behind to continue his research.
He circled the door three times. Half a page of his notebook was already crammed with writing.
"Energy circulation pattern, self-consistent structure..."
Without raising his head, he asked Ye Qiong:
"Teacher, do you have a blueprint of this door's construction?"
Ye Qiong shook his head.
"No."
Anaxa sighed and bent his head to continue taking notes.
A little while later, Anaxa finally decided to go in. He closed his notebook and stepped through the door.
Only Ye Qiong remained on the square.
As he looked at the door, a thought suddenly stirred in his mind.
At that moment, he suddenly felt that something inside it was drawing him in.
"What is it?"
Ye Qiong lowered his head and pondered for a few seconds, then shook his head.
"Never mind. I'll go in and take a look too."
With that, he walked up to the door.
He had just reached out to touch it
when a flash of white light filled his vision.
Genshin, launch!
Wrong game.
Simulated Reality, launch!
When Ye Qiong opened his eyes, he found himself standing inside a train carriage.
Beyond the window stretched an endless sea of stars.
Around him were leather seats and classical hanging lamps.
At the end of the carriage stood a black-and-gold metal door.
At the sight, Ye Qiong froze.
"This place is... the Astral Express?"