The notice board outside the Gymnasium

"Tomato sauce... came out of the keyhole?!"

Lin Yi whipped his hand away. With nothing holding it up, the napkin fluttered down.

Before it even reached the ground, the tomato sauce released a very faint, dark red mist, as though it were in a sauna.

At the same time, the tomato sauce visibly hardened into white, plaster-like fragments, which hit the ground with a crack! and shattered.

The part of the napkin stained with tomato sauce had disappeared.

The napkin looked as though it had a hole in it.

Lin Yi instinctively stepped back, his eyes fixed on the white powder by the keyhole.

"So... tomato sauce flowed out of the keyhole, turned into white powder in the sun, and then... drifted out?"

"But where did the tomato sauce inside the keyhole come from?"

He couldn't figure it out. Not at all.

This question was beyond him. Even if he could form a hypothesis, he had no idea where to begin.

He couldn't find a single lead.

He went down the steps and picked up two small dead twigs, carefully pinched the napkin between them, and dropped it into the trash can between the classroom door and the classroom office door.

He returned to the classroom in a daze, lifted the desktop, and sat back down.

He let out a long breath. Looking at the reasoning symbols in his booklet that only he could understand, he couldn't help feeling agitated.

"There still isn't enough information! I have no idea what's going on!"

"I have to go back to the Dormitory to sleep tonight!"

The more he knew, the more dangerous staying in the classroom felt.

Now he even felt suspicious of everything. Even the Head Teacher... no longer seemed quite so trustworthy.

Seeing Lin Yi like this, Wei Liang couldn't sit still.

He patted Lin Yi on the shoulder. "Were you going to knock on the Head Teacher's door just now? The way you hesitated and worried about how it might turn out looked exactly like me wanting to confess to someone but being afraid of getting rejected."

Lin Yi stared at Wei Liang in surprise.

Wei Liang shook his head helplessly and continued, "Don't worry. Even if you fail, it's fine. Once I've made a name for myself, I'll pass my treasured S City Rich Woman Register on to you."

Lin Yi's mouth fell open in astonishment.

"No... what the hell are you talking about? I spent a little time thinking, and you dreamed up this whole bizarre plot?"

"And where the fuck did you get some register, anyway?"

Wei Liang shrugged and waved his hands. "Oh, don't worry about all that. None of it matters... just focus on pursuing your office-lady Head Teacher in her black stockings!"

"..."

Looking at Wei Liang's obnoxious excuse for a strategist act, Lin Yi suddenly felt his teeth itch. He really wanted to pin his head to the ground and give him a couple of good thumps.

He folded the paper, tucked it into his little notebook, then snapped the notebook shut and stuffed it into his pants pocket.

Once he had finished, he checked his watch and compared it with the grandfather clock on the wall.

Both read 14:00.

By then, classmates were getting up one after another and heading out of the classroom.

Lin Yi guessed they were leaving for the Gymnasium, so he looked at Wei Liang. "Liangzi, PE starts in half an hour. Shall we go too?"

Xu Shunkang had said arriving fifteen minutes early would be about right. Factoring in the walk, Lin Yi figured now was a good time to leave.

Wei Liang glanced at the grandfather clock on the wall, then surveyed the classroom and nodded firmly. "Let's go, then. But let's try not to walk too close to them."

He paused, then suddenly leaned closer and whispered warily, "Who knows whether they're normal?"

Lin Yi instantly leaned back, looking astonished. "Liangzi, you've started 'thinking'...?"

"Thinking, my ass! Isn't that all stuff you said?" Wei Liang stared at him with wide eyes.

"Huh? When did I say that?" Lin Yi asked in confusion.

Wei Liang curled his lip. "Let's say I expanded on your ideas. It's actually pretty simple. Just treat everyone in the classroom except us as abnormal."

"A blanket judgment?"

"They're not allies anyway. What difference does it make whether we lump them all together?"

Lin Yi froze for a moment, suddenly feeling that Wei Liang's words... seemed to make a lot of sense.

"Everyone is abnormal..." He mulled over those words, then nodded seriously. "...Except us."

Wei Liang stood up with a grin and patted his pants. "Heh heh heh. Come on, let's go to PE."

"Ow!" He suddenly let out a yelp, startling Lin Yi.

"Huh?"

Wei Liang suddenly slapped his forehead. "I forgot I don't have shoes!"

"Don't you have any in your bag?" Lin Yi asked.

They had brought backpacks, leaving them by their feet after entering the classroom last night.

"Come on, you put shoes in your bag?" Wei Liang was speechless, then continued, "I've only got a few pairs of underwear in mine. I didn't even bring compressed biscuits this time."

"All right..." Lin Yi shrugged, then added, "You'll have to count on me."

"Huh?! You fucking... stuffed shoes in your bag?" Wei Liang was utterly astonished.

Lin Yi looked around, found where they had sat the night before, and went over to retrieve both their bags.

Then he opened his own bag, pulled out a stack of socks, and handed some to Wei Liang.

"No shoes, but I've got socks. Put on a few extra pairs and make do?"

"Fine. Socks are better than bare feet... the ground at this school really digs into your soles." Without hesitation, Wei Liang reached out and took the socks. "Huh, you brought your phone too?"

"There's no signal coverage anywhere on this Campus. Bringing it is pointless."

"And there aren't even any outlets in the Dormitory... who knows whether the school did that deliberately or by accident."

Lin Yi glanced at his phone.

"Oh... I know. You told me before. But I didn't want to hand it in, so I brought it."

Hearing that, Wei Liang thought Lin Yi might want to turn it on and contact his family as soon as he left the Campus, so he didn't ask any more questions.

He lowered his head and put on the socks. Before long, he asked, "Got any more?"

"Any more what?"

"Socks!"

"Didn't I give you some?"

"For the other foot."

Lin Yi froze briefly and silently glanced at him. In no time at all, he had wrapped his right foot up tightly. At first glance, it looked like a giant pig's trotter.

"..." Lin Yi couldn't help saying, "Dude... don't put them all on one foot!"

Wei Liang smacked his lips and reluctantly began rearranging his socks.

Suddenly, Lin Yi sensed something and glanced out the window.

Another cloud seemed to have drifted over by the mountains.

"The wind's picking up... Liangzi, let's hur-huh?"

He looked away from the window, only to discover that Wei Liang was no longer where he had been.

"Wind, my ass. Let's go, let's go!" Wei Liang waved at him from the steps, urging him on. "Just leave the bags in the classroom. If someone takes them, we can get the school to cash us out... I mean, compensate us. Come on, come on!"

"Holy shit! Are you a ghost? I turn my head and you've floated outside?" Lin Yi quickly put his book down and followed Wei Liang.

After leaving the classroom and descending the steps, they followed the route marked on the map, heading toward the Gymnasium along a cobblestone path lined with streetlamps.

Interestingly, judging by the map provided in the Student Rules, the buildings on S City University's Campus were all roughly the same distance apart.

As he walked along the path, Lin Yi examined the numbers on the streetlamps.

"Teaching Building-054," "Teaching Building-065," "Teaching Building-099"... "Gymnasium-005," "Gymnasium-071"...

Lin Yi's eyebrows twitched.

"Looks like we're in the Gymnasium area!"

He looked ahead and saw a winding slope. Below it, on a relatively flat patch of mountainside, stood an enormous building shaped like a bird's egg.

Barring any surprises, that was the Gymnasium.

But just then, a thought suddenly struck Lin Yi.

He glanced back.

All the rules so far had told them not to look back under abnormal circumstances, so this time, Lin Yi looked back under normal circumstances.

But the sight still shocked him into freezing on the spot.

There was no Teaching Building behind him.

They had clearly only walked a short way, yet the Teaching Building had vanished without a trace.

According to the map, the Teaching Building and the Gymnasium weren't very far apart-about a fifteen-minute walk under normal circumstances.

But while he was in the classroom and the Teaching Building, no matter how he looked around, he couldn't see any other buildings. All he could see outside was the Wooded Belt or landscaped greenery, and beyond that, overlapping mountain peaks.

And now that he was here, he couldn't see the Teaching Building either.

"Strange..." Lin Yi muttered.

"What's strange about it?" Wei Liang asked.

"The Teaching Building is gone," Lin Yi said.

Wei Liang gave him a peculiar look and pointed back the way they had come. "There, isn't it right there? That huge row of buildings."

Confusion appeared in Lin Yi's eyes. Dubiously, he looked in the direction Wei Liang was pointing...

There was no Teaching Building.

There simply wasn't a Teaching Building!

"Fuck... I can't fucking see the Teaching Building?!" Lin Yi's eyes widened slightly. A bead of cold sweat seeped from his forehead and slowly slid down the bridge of his nose.

He thought of how Mao Feiyang hadn't been able to see the office on Basement Level One last night.

Wasn't his inability to see the Teaching Building now... exactly the same thing?!

"How could... this happen?!"

His throat bobbed slightly. Despite standing beneath the sun, he felt a chill run through his body.

"Lao Lin, what's wrong? Did something scare you again?" Wei Liang waved his hand vigorously in front of his eyes.

"Liangzi, I haven't zoned out..." Lin Yi said with difficulty.

He looked down at his watch.

14:06.

"Twenty-four minutes until PE starts..."

He looked up at the sky again.

The afternoon sun shone brightly. Although there was a cloud on the horizon, it still had a long way to drift before reaching them.

He had a guess.

He looked at Wei Liang. "Liangzi, stay here. Wait for me a moment."

With that, he headed back the way they had come.

Watching Lin Yi's retreating figure, Wei Liang suddenly felt as though he had inexplicably dropped a generation in seniority. For some reason, he felt that Lin Yi ought to be holding an orange when he returned.

"Hey, wait for me. Let's not split up. If we're going, we're going together!" Wei Liang hurriedly called after Lin Yi and rushed to catch up.

But after only a few steps, he discovered that Lin Yi had stopped again.

"Oh, come on... are you playing red light, green light?" he couldn't help saying. "Huh? Is something wrong with the Teaching Building?"

He noticed that Lin Yi was staring at the Teaching Building.

"No... not anymore," Lin Yi replied.

He could see the Teaching Building again.

"I think I know what's going on..."

He glanced at the streetlamp pole beside the path.

"Teaching Building-099."

He turned and walked toward the Gymnasium, watching the changes in the streetlamp numbers as he went. When he saw the prefix change to "Gymnasium-005," he looked back toward the Teaching Building.

Sure enough, the Teaching Building had disappeared from his sight again.

"So... I can only see the Teaching Building when I'm in its area, and only see the Gymnasium when I'm in its area?"

"Why isn't Liangzi like that?"

"Is something wrong with me... or with him?"

Lin Yi looked at Wei Liang suspiciously.

Under Lin Yi's strange gaze, Wei Liang immediately felt uncomfortable. Inside his super-thick socks, his toes instinctively curled, scrabbling at the ground...

"Y-y-y-you... why are you looking at me like that?"

"Uh... nothing." Lin Yi's expression remained unchanged as he shifted the subject. "Let's go to the Gymnasium!"

Liangzi is probably fine...

So...

Out of Wei Liang's sight, he silently let out a breath...

So when did something go wrong with me?

May 7, X023, 14:12, in the Gymnasium area, on a streetlamp-lined path surrounded by flourishing camphor trees.

Lin Yi and Wei Liang walked side by side.

He suddenly missed Tian Bufan very much. He felt certain Tian Bufan had noticed some things. If he could discuss them with Tian Bufan, much of his confusion would surely clear up...

"Young Master Tian..."

He let out a lingering sigh.

He had originally been far too optimistic, hoping he might run into Tian Bufan or his other roommates while eating in the Cafeteria.

He had indeed run into someone, but it was an incredibly enthusiastic Green Apron Chef who wanted to treat him to Tomato Meat Sauce Pasta, along with a crowd of enthusiastic classmates who wanted to have lunch with him... he had nearly fucking died in there.

I can only hope Young Master Tian and the others meet up in the Dormitory as we originally agreed... Lin Yi thought.

Before coming here, Lin Yi had learned from S City University's Experiencer Announcement that they could choose to stay in the Dormitory, so they had reserved the same room.

As long as they reached the Dormitory, they could meet up in that room.

"Hopefully everything goes smoothly..."

He sighed. He was most worried about Mao Feiyang. After all, abnormal as the Teaching Building was, at least it was still the Teaching Building. As for Mao Feiyang... he still had no idea whether Mao Feiyang had managed to leave the stairwell and enter the Teaching Building afterward.

Just as Lin Yi was thinking about his roommate, Wei Liang's voice interrupted him. "Lao Lin, we're almost at the Gymnasium!"

Wei Liang pointed at a Notice Board ahead. "Once we're past that, it's another two or three minutes!"

Lin Yi immediately looked over. A huge Notice Board had been planted unceremoniously right in the middle of the road. From a distance, it looked like an axe embedded in a tree stump.

Lin Yi asked, "Is that the Notice Board outside the Gymnasium?"

"Yep!" Wei Liang nodded. "Just like the Dormitory, the Gymnasium has a Notice Board as well as its own specific rules."

"Actually... supposedly every place has a Notice Board, but I've never been to the Library."

As they talked, the two reached the Notice Board outside the Gymnasium.

Lin Yi looked up and saw a line of enormous text on the Notice Board:

"[Notice Board: Gymnasium]"

"Opening hours: open 24 hours."

"The Gymnasium is open twenty-four hours?" Lin Yi was slightly taken aback.

The classrooms in the Teaching Building had times when leaving was forbidden, and the Cafeteria had designated opening hours, yet the Gymnasium was actually open around the clock.

Compared with the Teaching Building and the Cafeteria, the Gymnasium instantly seemed much more impressive.

Lin Yi read on. Below the opening hours were two lines of huge, conspicuous, bold black text:

"There is one and only one road leading to the Gymnasium. Streetlamps are installed along this road, each with a Streetlamp Number. Do not take any road without streetlamps."

"Note: the Gymnasium was built in a somewhat unusual location, so the wind may be a little strong. Do not worry. As long as no rain or fog appears, this is normal."

"Huh?" Reading this, Lin Yi immediately felt that the Gymnasium was no simple place either. Who knew how much information was hidden in those two simple lines? He suppressed the thoughts he should not be having right now and read all the remaining rules in one go.

Below those two lines was an asterisked notice enclosed in a huge box:

"If you notice rain on the way to the Gymnasium, please decide where to go based on the first building you see: 1. If you are facing the Gymnasium, please rush toward the Gymnasium as fast as possible along the correct road."

"2. If you are facing the Teaching Building, please rush toward the Teaching Building as fast as possible along the correct road."

"3. If you look up and see any other building, especially a Castle built in a Western architectural style, please look around until you find the Gymnasium or the Teaching Building."

"Please firmly believe: there is no Castle on Campus (this sentence is underlined in bold)."

"4. If you see no buildings other than the Castle, please follow the instructions in the Student Rules to find the nearest streetlamp. Hug it tightly and hold on until a Gym Teacher or Security Guard appears."

"A Gym Teacher is someone wearing blue-and-white sportswear with a Gym Teacher's Badge on their chest;"

"An Athlete Student is someone wearing blue-and-white sportswear who has no Student ID."

"If you encounter anyone who does not match the descriptions above, please do not respond, no matter what they say to you."

"5. You must not travel together with an Athlete Student."

"After arriving at the Gymnasium, please scan your Student ID at the Self-Service Lending Machine by the entrance to obtain the Gymnasium Rules, then enter the Gymnasium through the main entrance. Do not use any other doors or stairs."

"The interior of the Gymnasium is the safest place on Campus. You are welcome to visit."

"This chapter is 5,000 Chinese characters long, including 1,000 extra characters for Alliance Leader Full Moon and Clear Radiance... I currently still owe 9,000 characters of bonus updates."