Moved, Then Turned Down

The next afternoon.

After physical training ended, Chen Feng headed straight for the third floor.

"He didn't even lock the door. That monster's way too careless."

Chen Feng pushed the door open and searched the desk for ages, but there was no sign of the key.

"That's strange. Was the map's information wrong, or did the professor take the key with him?"

Most people would have left empty-handed.

But Chen Feng was certain Li Guolong and the other two had gotten the key last time.

Without it, they couldn't even have crossed the field. They would have given up on escaping, so how had two of them ended up captured and one gone missing?

"I must have opened it the wrong way."

An idea struck Chen Feng. He stepped back out, shut the door, then opened it again with his key.

This time, the moment the door opened, a cold gust hit him in the face!

"Holy shit. A fake office and a real one!"

The monsters here really were devious. If Li Guolong and the others hadn't stolen the office key beforehand, Chen Feng would never have escaped on his own.

After a quick search, Chen Feng found a key engraved with a sheep's head in a desk drawer.

"This should be it."

"Monsters really aren't that smart. If it were me, I'd keep a key this important on me."

Chen Feng took the key back to the dormitory. By then, Fatty and Li Guolong had finished delivering the liquor.

Now they only had to wait a few hours for Pig Instructor to get drunk. Then they could escape under cover of darkness.

Yellow Hair stamped his feet impatiently. "Why isn't it dark yet? If only we could hit skip."

Watching Yellow Hair pace back and forth, Fatty grew irritated. "What's the rush? You eager to die?"

Yellow Hair was brimming with excitement. "What do you know? I can't wait to pull off a One-Life Clear of the Fourth Mental Hospital."

Fatty looked puzzled. "Who's pulling that off?"

Yellow Hair pointed at himself. "Me."

"Holy hell. You didn't steal the key. You didn't steal the liquor. You didn't do a damn thing, and now you're claiming the One-Life Clear?" Fatty got angrier with every word. "Forget the professor, I want to shock you myself."

As the two bickered, darkness finally fell.

Li Guolong called out, "Come on. Let's go to the bathroom together."

Fatty put on an act. "Holy hell, you're a grown man and you're scared to go to the bathroom in the dark? You need someone to go with you? Aren't you embarrassed?"

It wasn't the first time Chen Feng had seen it.

But he still had to say, "Terrible acting."

Fortunately, their audience, the Imposters, had only the most basic intelligence and would attack only when a living person broke one of the ten rules.

Going to the bathroom at night was clearly within the rules.

The four slipped out of the dormitory, skirted an Imposter patrol, and reached the field.

A thin layer of white fog hung over it. Anyone who walked into the fog without the key could walk all night, wear out their shoes, and still never find the way out.

"Brother Feng, the key!"

"Got it."

Holding up the key, the four passed through the fog and saw a high wall covered in electrical wires, the Academy's vermilion gates, and a lit guardhouse.

Even from a distance, they could hear snoring coming from the guardhouse.

Yellow Hair peered through its window and gave them a thumbs-up. "Out cold. Sleeping like a pig."

Fatty muttered, "He is a pig."

Li Guolong put a finger to his lips. "Keep it down. Don't wake the monster."

Under the guardhouse lights, something metallic gleamed at the center of the Academy gates.

It was an iron lock.

Thick and solid.

Anyone who saw it would have the same thought: unbreakable.

"Brother Feng, give me the key."

Li Guolong inserted the sheep's-head key into the lock, then froze.

It wouldn't open.

Yellow Hair's expression changed. "Wrong key. The gate can't be opened from this side!"

The map had only said the key would get them across the field. It had never said it would open the gates.

Fatty guessed, "Maybe Pig Instructor has the key."

"I'll check."

Chen Feng pushed open the guardhouse door, and the smell of liquor washed over him. Pinching his nose, he crept inside on tiptoe. A little while later, he came back out with his head hanging low. One look told them he'd found nothing.

Just as everyone was losing hope, Yellow Hair suddenly said, "Wait. I have a plan."

Fatty scoffed. "Sure you do."

"No, I really do," Yellow Hair explained. "I heard the Academy's electrical room is over by the sanatorium. If we cut the power, we can climb over the wall."

His voice trailed off as he spoke. "But the map clearly says the sanatorium is even more dangerous than the Internet Addiction Academy. Besides, none of us has ever been there."

Going alone to a place they knew nothing about—how was that any different from walking to their death?

Fatty said, "Good grief. Who'd volunteer to go die at the sanatorium?"

After a brief silence, Li Guolong said, "I'll go."

Fatty nodded. "Exactly. Nobody wants to go... Wait, what?"

Yellow Hair was stunned too. "Brother Long, you're joking, right?"

Li Guolong's gaze was resolute. "I'll go."

Chen Feng considered this.

So that's what happened. Last time, Professor Sheep had only brought back two of them because something had happened to Li Guolong at the sanatorium.

While Chen Feng was thinking, Li Guolong had already begun giving his final instructions. "Once you get out, find Captain Li on the police force and ask him for help. He's my father."

Captain Li?

He's Old Li's son!

It hit Chen Feng like a thunderclap.

Right. When someone gets taken into the Academy, all traces of their life are erased from the world.

But a few clues remain.

Old Li was so old, yet supposedly had no children. And despite having no children, his beloved windproof lighter bore a metal engraving that read "To Father"... So Old Li did have a child. His son had simply been taken to the Academy!

Realization dawned on Chen Feng. "No wonder Li Guolong felt familiar the moment I saw him."

By now, everyone was in tears.

Li Guolong said, "My father always said that if I couldn't make something of myself, I shouldn't come back and embarrass him. If you see him, please tell him that even though I didn't come back, I didn't embarrass him either."

Yellow Hair's eyes filled with tears. "Don't worry. I'll tell your dad."

Even Fatty spoke seriously for once. "Once I get out, I'm coming back to save you. I swear!"

"Thanks. I'm counting on you for the rest."

Having said what sounded like his last words, Li Guolong turned toward the sanatorium, determination in his eyes.

Just then, Chen Feng, whom they had all been treating like he wasn't there, clapped his hands to get their attention. "Hey, hey. There's still someone else here."

"Li Guolong, I'm genuinely moved by your willingness to sacrifice yourself."

"But hold on a second."

With that, Chen Feng took a deep breath, gripped the iron chain, focused all his strength into one point, and yanked hard.

Crack!

Under the force of his pull, the lock twisted and broke, scattering fragments across the ground.

Brute force worked wonders.

Chen Feng looked at the dumbstruck Trio and grinned smugly. "Who said we couldn't open the gate without a key?"

"Uh..."

Yellow Hair stared blankly. "I've never met anyone this badass in my life."

Fatty sighed. "Well, you have now."

As for Li Guolong, he thought back to all the embarrassing things he had just said.

Even his ears turned red.

After a send-off like that, wasn't it a little rude not to die?