The fall

The boy slowly woke.

It was pitch-black around him, but his sense of touch kept telling him that he was still lying on the soft bed at home.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"It is now 7:30 a.m. Classes begin in one hour."

The alarm clock hidden in the cabinet announced the time.

The boy thought for a moment.

He had spent less than an hour in the Metaverse's Experimental Zone, yet in the physical world, he had slept for ten hours.

Was there a time difference?

Or had I fallen asleep without entering the Metaverse right away?

Still, this login had confirmed two things.

First, he really could log into the Metaverse without any equipment!

He would no longer be constrained by login time limits!

Second, every one of his mental illnesses had a separate effect in the Experimental Zone!

And each was a unique ability!

Swish.

The boy pulled back the heavy curtains. The morning sun had just risen above the horizon, spilling warm sunlight into the room.

A smile gradually appeared on his face, which was also bathed in golden sunlight.

Senior year, Class 11.

Qin Yiguan had barely pushed open the classroom door when he saw hundreds of people crowded around a seat, forming ring after ring.

A girl's faint sobs drifted from within the crowd.

Taotie Clam appeared beside him as if he had teleported, whispering into Qin Yiguan's ear, "Someone accessed Shangguan Xiaotao's electronic textbook without permission yesterday. She's over there crying now."

The boy was puzzled. "What's the big deal? At worst, someone copied her homework."

"If only it were that simple."

Clam grimaced. "The problem is that Shangguan Xiaotao stored a lot of photos in her textbook. In plenty of them, she was wearing very little-barely any fabric."

"Private photos?"

Qin Yiguan understood immediately.

Shangguan Xiaotao was one of the prettiest girls around. Though she was only eighteen and just beginning to blossom, she already had curves in all the right places. They certainly were worth preserving in photos...

But storing those photos in an electronic textbook was genuinely risky.

After class, students usually left their electronic textbooks in the classroom. After all, the devices held login keys that prevented outsiders from accessing them.

"And..."

Clam looked disgusted. "We also found some strange scratch marks on her electronic textbook. Whoever did it seemed really excited!"

The boy frowned. "Did they catch the culprit?"

Clam shook his head. "Of course not, but they already have a suspect."

Qin Yiguan found this just as intolerable. "Who?"

"You."

"Me?!"

"Right!"

The boy froze.

Just then, Jiu Zhengxuan, still dressed in a spotless white suit, slowly walked over to him and fixed Qin Yiguan with a piercing stare.

A moment passed.

Jiu Zhengxuan spoke slowly. "Yesterday, everyone went into the Experimental Zone to have fun. Other people might have missed it, but I noticed that you weren't with the group at any point."

"I know you're from Rust City. A lot of our classmates think you can't enter the Experimental Zone."

"But that information is already out of date."

Jiu Zhengxuan stared unblinkingly at Qin Yiguan. "I've clearly seen you in the Experimental Zone, so you must have successfully applied for a Nutrient Pod. And right now, you should be using a Nutrient Pod to log in, too."

"In other words, you had no restrictions, yet you deliberately skipped the group activity and chose to stay in the classroom alone."

Jiu Zhengxuan took half a step forward, exerting a faint sense of pressure. "May I ask what you did while you were alone in the classroom?"

Qin Yiguan hesitated.

That really wasn't easy to explain.

He could enter the Experimental Zone, true, but only in his sleep!

But...

Would you believe me if I told you?

And right now, wearing this low-end helmet, I'm still one of the Castoffs, whose movement and login time are both restricted!

Their classmates began whispering among themselves.

Jiu Zhengxuan's eyes were filled with suspicion.

But the next instant, Jiu Zhengxuan straightened. "Still, don't worry. I'm not stupid enough to jump to the conclusion that you're the culprit. After all, there's no direct evidence."

"But."

Jiu Zhengxuan narrowed his eyes, as though trying to see through the evil concealed within Qin Yiguan. "I'll keep watching you, and I'll keep gathering evidence. If I discover that you really did something disgraceful..."

Jiu Zhengxuan's tone grew firmer. "I will have you expelled from this class. This is a classroom. I won't allow a single rotten apple here!"

"Of course."

"If someone else is the culprit, then we'll remain on good terms as classmates. I'll also apologize for suspecting you today."

Jiu Zhengxuan gazed at Qin Yiguan, rational and as upright as ever.

The boy remained silent.

Although no conclusion had been reached about today's incident,

These two boys of roughly the same age always seemed destined to clash, neither willing to yield an inch.

"Ahem!"

"Get ready for class."

A middle-aged teacher in a gray shirt stood at the classroom door, an electronic teaching manual tucked under his arm, his head held high and his chest thrust out.

His surname was Ying. Given his hooked nose, which looked capable of holding a shopping bag, the students secretly called him Falcon.

What was he doing here?

According to the schedule, the first period was Teacher Qing's exploration-sharing class!

The students were puzzled. "Someone actually dared to replace Teacher Qing's class?"

"As for that Teacher Qing of yours... the one who loves taking over my class periods."

"Heh. I'm afraid you won't be seeing him for a while."

Falcon looked rather pleased, as though he had finally gotten his revenge. "He's taken leave, and there's no set date for his return! Now, stop wasting time and get back to your seats!"

Intimidated, the students hurried back to their places.

Qin Yiguan and Clam did the same. Their seats were next to each other.

Clam leaned over. "I was going to tell you all about what I saw in the Snow City of Heavenly Light, but I got some news this morning that completely killed my mood!"

Qin Yiguan turned toward him. "What news?"

Clam hid his arm beneath the desk and lightly pressed his wristwatch. An image resembling a news photograph appeared.

In the image,

Yellow sand filled the sky.

An enormous city lay tilted to one side, crashed into the wasteland!

Less than half of the city remained intact. The buildings at its front had shattered like glass, scattering across a radius of more than ten kilometers!

It was still possible to make out how vast and magnificent the city had once been.

But now,

The city looked as though it had met a tragic end. Battered and deserted, it was nothing but a ruin, desolate and forlorn.

The lower-right corner of the photograph was clearly labeled: From the Experimental Zone, four hours ago.

Qin Yiguan's pupils trembled slightly, and shock thundered through him.

Was this...

The Snow City of Heavenly Light?

How could this have happened!

To Taotie Clam, Qin Yiguan looked ten times more shocked than he had expected.

"You two! What are you doing?"

"Stop sneaking around and open your textbooks!"

At the podium, Falcon's gaze spread in every direction as he fully activated his "thousand-eyed demon" mode. In his field of view, a red circle enclosed Qin Yiguan and Clam.

Four-Dimensional Expansion helped him precisely identify any student's covert movements, likely down to the micrometer.

His brows were tightly knitted as he scolded them loudly.

Clam shuddered and immediately sat up straight.

The boy had no choice but to straighten up as well.

Yet the boy could not erase that photograph from his mind for a long time, nor could he calm himself.

Then,

Qin Yiguan slowly pressed the button on his electronic textbook. Teacher Qing had given him this brand-new device just yesterday.

A blue holographic screen flickered.

On its first startup, the device displayed a message from Teacher Qing before anything else.

It appeared in handwriting floating against a black background.

"Everyone carries a world within them-a world they have fought for, conquered, been moved by, and loved."

"Press bravely onward. Make the most of your youth, and have no regrets."

-May every one of my students become the strongest advent in this new world.

The boy read it silently.

For some reason, hot tears filled his eyes.