Nightmare?

Elsa looked at Zhou Bai curiously. "What's wrong, Zhou Bai? Why do you look so pale?"

"Nothing... nothing." Suppressing the doubts in his heart once more, Zhou Bai looked at Elsa and said, "What did you just say? It's time for class?"

"That's right, that's right!" Elsa sprang to her feet and shouted, "Hurry up and eat breakfast! We have class after breakfast! If we're late, we'll be punished and won't get lunch!"

Elsa dragged Zhou Bai all the way toward the cafeteria. Class, huh... Come to think of it, the children here seemed to have lessons with Dr. Zhuang every day. I wonder what they learned in class.

Since Zhou Bai had only just arrived, Dr. Zhuang had told him to rest for a few days and get used to life here, so he had not required him to attend class. But yesterday, he had specifically come to remind Zhou Bai that he would be starting classes today.

After finishing the sticky, mushy, disgusting breakfast, Zhou Bai followed Elsa into a large room. The other children were already seated in neat rows in what looked like a classroom, and Elsa led Zhou Bai to an empty seat.

A little black-haired girl sitting nearby looked at Zhou Bai curiously and waved her tiny hand. "Hello, I'm Alice. You're the new Zhou Bai?"

Zhou Bai nodded. Though he had spoken with some people over the past few days, he still had not gotten to know everyone in the base.

Alice asked eagerly, "What's it like outside? Is there a blue sky? Is there an ocean?"

Zhou Bai froze for a moment. "You've never been outside?"

Alice nodded. "Mm-hmm. I've lived in the base since I was born. I've never seen what it looks like outside."

"Me neither."

"Me neither."

One little head after another leaned over, looking at Zhou Bai with curiosity and anticipation.

"Zhou Bai, have you always lived outside?"

"Have you ever raised a puppy?"

"Have you seen mountains?"

"Is it really impossible for people to live outside now?"

"I'm so hungry... Zhou Bai, aren't you hungry?"

Questions flew at Zhou Bai one after another, leaving him dazed. Only after a while did he smile and say, "I've got a bit of amnesia, so I don't really remember what it looks like outside now. But I still remember some things from before—the blue sky and white clouds, the ocean, the mountains..."

Zhou Bai described the Earth as he remembered it. Elsa, Alice, and the others listened with shining eyes, their faces full of yearning.

And through the conversation that followed, Zhou Bai learned that every one of these children had lived in the base ever since they were old enough to understand things. This strange situation made him even more suspicious of the base.

If that's the case, then the oldest child has lived here for over ten years. After that, the teacher gradually brought more children in.

Just as Zhou Bai was talking with Alice and the others, the classroom door opened, and Dr. Zhuang walked in with a cold expression.

"Class begins now..." Dr. Zhuang said icily. "This morning, we'll study language and mathematics. First-years, listen to the lesson first. Second-years, do the exercises on page nine of your workbooks. Third-years, prepare for dictation... Students from all other grades, study on your own... Oh, and Zhou Bai, listen along for now. Then I'll assign you a grade based on your level."

Zhou Bai also held down the countless questions in his heart and obediently listened to Dr. Zhuang's lesson. He found that the language class consisted of ordinary grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and similar subjects.

It was only that the material was in a strange language Zhou Bai had somehow learned, and the teaching did not involve anything related to history.

Mathematics was almost exactly the same as the math Zhou Bai knew, merely divided into different grades.

As he listened to the lesson, Zhou Bai considered his next move. No matter what, there are far too many suspicious things about this base. I have to find a way to get out and take a look. Has the outside world really ended?

If it really has ended... then what happened to Mom and Dad... Is this even still my world?

He had studied diligently since childhood, fighting for first place in class every year, working hard to get into college, then working hard at his job. At last, he had finally been able to stay home every day in peace, playing games, watching anime, and reading novels...

Yet now, for no reason at all, he had ended up in this place. Thinking of the games he had just bought that month, the newly updated anime and novels, and all the delicious food he could never finish eating... Zhou Bai could not help growing irritated. At that moment, he missed the happy life of modern society more than ever.

The morning lessons passed quickly. After lunch, Zhou Bai followed Elsa and the others to another large room for the afternoon classes.

The moment Zhou Bai entered the room, he saw enormous statues arranged along both sides. They were humanoid statues with strange appearances and an air of chilling gloom.

Zhou Bai looked toward one of the statues. It was a man glaring furiously, clad head to toe in armor and holding a long spear. Its open mouth looked as though it were roaring. What was even more unsettling was that an eye grew from its outstretched tongue, while a head resembling both dog and wolf grew from the shoulder beside its mouth, creating an utterly warped impression.

Most of the remaining statues were the same—distorted and bizarre in every way, none of them resembling normal humans. Zhou Bai kept frowning as soon as he entered. The atmosphere in this room made him deeply uncomfortable.

The others, however, seemed long accustomed to it. They found their seats and waited for Dr. Zhuang to arrive.

Dr. Zhuang entered the room wearing a loose robe, his expression grave. Looking at everyone, he said, "Now that the apocalypse has descended, the outside world has long been occupied by demons. You must master the power to subdue demons. In today's Demonology Class, we will continue discussing the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf General..."

"Demonology Class?" Zhou Bai listened to Dr. Zhuang's lecture in shock. He had never imagined that demons would be the subject of the lesson.

Dr. Zhuang walked over to the statue Zhou Bai had just been examining and pointed at its features. "An eye growing on its tongue, and a wolf's head growing from its shoulder—these are the traits of the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf General we discussed last class."

"This demon loves battle and slaughter above all else. It possesses an indestructible body and the ability to transform in a thousand ways..."

"To subdue this demon, the key is to keep your mind unwavering and not allow its killing aura to taint you. Never fear death. Never fear slaughter..."

As Zhou Bai listened to Dr. Zhuang's explanation and watched Elsa, Alice, and the others attentively listening and even taking notes, an intense sense of absurdity rose within him.

What on earth is going on? Zhou Bai once again recalled the white-furred monster face he had seen the previous night, as well as the Auxiliary System on his body. Could there really be demons in this world?

No. I have to get outside and see what's going on. I have to find out what this is all about.

At that moment, Zhou Bai wanted more than anything to go outside and see—to see what Earth had become, whether it truly was the end of the world, whether so-called demons truly existed. And if they did, what had happened to his parents and relatives? Or had he crossed over into another world?