Li Wei stared at Aitina, puzzled. The central figure had finally appeared, yet the system was still playing dead, without the slightest response.
Had I gotten something wrong?
"Please, neither of you say anything just yet."
However, instead of answering Li Wei's question, Aitina said something entirely unrelated.
"Since you've come here, I assume you've already discovered something. But there are some things I need to tell you next. You might find them hard to believe, but please trust me. Everything I'm about to say is true..."
As she spoke, Aitina looked at Li Wei.
"First, to answer your question about Professor Andrew: I know he's missing, but I truly don't know where he went."
At Aitina's answer, Li Wei raised an eyebrow and held back Katie, who was itching to speak. He remembered that Aitina had asked them not to say anything, so he decided to hear her out first.
"I believe you already know my true identity. Now, I'll tell this story from my perspective."
Aitina looked at Li Wei with a complicated expression-or rather, at the skeleton beside him.
"At first, when I opened my eyes, I was in an empty classroom. That surprised me. I remembered what had happened before, and by all rights, I shouldn't have been there. Later, when I realized I was at Shuo Academy, I was shocked. I even wondered whether everything I'd experienced before had just been a nightmare. But... when I tried to go home, I discovered..."
Aitina reached out and pointed outside.
"I couldn't leave. I couldn't get out of this place. It was as though a wall stood in front of me, and no matter what I did, I couldn't break through."
An earthbound spirit, huh.
Li Wei raised an eyebrow. He had often seen the concept in