(2/2)
Yuying University
Chapter 492.1: Wen Jianyan, you have done all the bad things!
“…!!”
The moment that gaze fell upon him, Wen Jianyan’s breath hitched, and he subconsciously stumbled back.
His feet left the principal’s office.
After a brief pause, the dark shadow slowly turned its head back.
Soon, the feeling of being watched disappeared.
In the hallway, Wen Jianyan let out a long breath, his palm sticky with cold sweat.
It seemed… even though he was in a “memory,” he wasn’t completely insulated from danger. The dark shadow’s gaze just now seemed capable of penetrating the boundary between memory and reality to notice him.
After composing himself, Wen Jianyan looked up again toward the principal’s office.
“Wang Ni” stood before the desk, seemingly conversing with the dark shadow behind it.
Due to the distance, he couldn’t hear their conversation.
However, it was fortunate that his earlier movement had caused the door to the principal’s office to open wider. Even standing in the hallway, he could vaguely make out the scene inside.
He saw “Wang Ni” reach out and take something from the dark shadow in front of her.
Immediately after, footsteps approached the door.
Wen Jianyan’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly retreated.
With a “creak”, the door to the principal’s office opened.
“Wang Ni” walked out of the office. She walked straight ahead without a glance, her eyes sweeping past Wen Jianyan without lingering.
Wen Jianyan breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed “Wang Ni” couldn’t perceive his existence like the dark shadow could.
His gaze moved down to “Wang Ni’s” hands, and his pupils contracted slightly.
It was an inconspicuous-looking black box with no patterns or features on its surface, and it didn’t seem to be locked.
Judging by its size, it seemed to be just right for fitting into a drawer.
Wait, could this be—
Wen Jianyan subconsciously took a step forward, only to be stopped abruptly the next second.
No.
He quickly came to his senses and halted his movement.
Regardless of whether what “Wang Ni” was holding was their target item for this instance, he couldn’t do anything right now.
Not to mention they were still in a memory and it was questionable if he could even touch it. More importantly, Wen Jianyan hadn’t forgotten his current situation.
The danger that could penetrate the barrier of reality and memory was still stirring.
If he acted rashly, it was hard to say what would happen next.
He watched “Wang Ni” walk down the corridor, took a deep breath, and prepared to follow.
But, just as he took a step, Wen Jianyan’s breath caught.
He staggered, raising a hand to support himself against the nearby wall, and lowered his head.
Why… of all times.
The pain was like an activated seed, taking deep root in his flesh, growing wantonly with his bones and blood as nutrients.
Cold sweat seeped out, making his bloodless skin even paler. His dilated pupils trembled slightly, and his lips were pressed into a hard, straight line. Wen Jianyan clenched his teeth, forcefully swallowing the sound that was about to escape his throat.
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[Hiss… The interval between the badge’s side effects is getting shorter and shorter.]
[Yeah, and the intensity is increasing.]
Just then, the darkness that had been coiled motionlessly around Wen Jianyan’s wrist suddenly moved. A cold, soft tentacle, like a small snake, climbed up the young man’s wrist, bypassing his trembling, tense limbs, and silently shuttled under his clothes, over his forearm, shoulder, chest, and finally stopped at his heart.
The soft darkness spread along the curve of his skin, coldly covering the searing, hot pain.
He didn’t know if it was an illusion…
The pain seemed to miraculously lessen.
Wen Jianyan lifted his sweat-soaked eyelashes, only to find that the world in his vision had completely turned upside down.
He blinked and finally, slowly, realized he had fallen to the ground at some point.
…At this rate, two more times at most, and he would reach his limit.
He had to find a solution as soon as possible.
Wen Jianyan propped himself up with one hand on the ground, struggling to get up, and let out a shaky breath.
He undid his buttons and looked at the location of the badge.
But when his eyes fell on his chest, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but be stunned.
The relief he felt in his daze just now… wasn’t an illusion?
He looked down in thought for a long moment, then impassively re-buttoned his shirt. As he did, he nonchalantly tugged down the dark tentacle curled up on his chest.
As if sensing the force pulling it down, the tentacle clung even tighter. Small, granular bumps emerged on its once smooth, cold surface, latching firmly onto that patch of skin. When it was pulled, it happened to—
“…Ugh!”
An unexpected cry escaped his throat, only to be bitten back by his teeth the next second and forcefully swallowed.
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[? Does the side effect last this long this time?]
[Hmm… Is the anchor still in pain? But doesn’t his voice sound a little weird?]
“…”
Wen Jianyan’s face was grim as he re-buttoned his shirt one by one, all the way to the top.
A pathological flush had appeared on his previously bloodless face.
Damn it.
Although he knew that since Wu Zhu dared to leave a part of his darkness for him to take, he must be confident it wouldn’t be detected by the Nightmare. Even if it was occasionally exposed to the livestream’s camera, it wouldn’t attract attention—but that didn’t mean Wen Jianyan was willing to unbutton his shirt and wrestle with it in front of everyone, to forcibly pull this thing off from where it shouldn’t be.
Losing face was secondary; being targeted by the Nightmare due to the audience’s unusual reaction would be disastrous.
So, no matter how much Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth in hatred, he could only let it be for now.
Fortunately, after he moved his hand away, it stopped moving and remained still against his skin, as obedient as some kind of ornament, easily forgotten if not paid attention to.
Wen Jianyan expressionlessly got up.
…He would remember this debt and pin it on Wu Zhu.
After standing up, Wen Jianyan looked up into the corridor ahead—the spot where “Wang Ni” had been was now empty, and even the dark shadow in the principal’s office had disappeared without a trace.
Wen Jianyan frowned, pushing his sweat-dampened bangs back, his expression unable to hide his frustration.
The timing of the badge’s side effect was truly terrible. Temporarily being unable to move was a small matter; losing track of “Wang Ni” was the major issue.
It seemed he had to carefully consider his next strategy.
However, before Wen Jianyan could start thinking, a very light footstep sound came from downstairs.
“?!”
Wen Jianyan was startled and subconsciously stepped back, his gaze fixed on the source of the sound.
The footsteps grew closer.
The higher it went, the lighter the sound became, as if deliberately suppressed to avoid being heard by others.
Soon, a black shadow fell on the floor of the third-floor corridor, followed by a foot stepping up.
Then, a young face appeared in Wen Jianyan’s line of sight.
It was a pale and neurotic face, with deep, dark circles under the eyes, looking as if it had endured a long period of torment and torture. He looked around nervously, as if searching for something—his gaze swept past Wen Jianyan without stopping.
But likewise, this was also a strange face.
So strange that Wen Jianyan had no impression of him at all—which proved that he had not seen this person since entering the instance.
However, upon seeing the other’s startled-bird-like expression, Wen Jianyan almost immediately knew his identity.
Richard.
Wen Jianyan watched intently as he walked forward, looking around nervously. After confirming there was no one else around, he took a deep breath and reached for the principal’s office doorknob.
“…”
Wen Jianyan watched silently as the other person entered the principal’s office and came out a few minutes later.
And this time, his hand was tightly clutching something Wen Jianyan couldn’t be more familiar with:
An oil lamp.
Perhaps because it wasn’t lit yet, it could be carried easily at the moment.
Watching the other person slip away like a thief, Wen Jianyan slowly let out a long breath.
He knew this meant his previous speculations were being verified and re-enacted, one by one.
The questions that had been hanging in the air were now being filled with their corresponding answers.
Following the direction Richard left, Wen Jianyan once again gave chase.
Inside the library.
Staring at the rows of bookshelves before them, Tian Ye hesitated and spoke, “Uh… how are we supposed to search?”
He asked in a low voice:
“Just flip through them one by one?”
Hugo looked up: “Hand of Guidance has no reaction.”
It seemed he had activated the item as soon as he entered the library.
But apparently, he hadn’t obtained any useful information either.
Everyone’s heart sank.
Although the previous movie plot had guided them, narrowing down the general area where the clue was located.
The most critical problem had not been solved.
—They didn’t know what they were looking for.
A book’s title page? A signature? A paragraph? Or just something tucked inside a book?
In this directionless situation, even if they searched the entire area, it would be difficult to find anything.
Did they really have to resort to the most stupid brute-force method?
Did they really have enough time?
Just then, Su Cheng, who was beside them, spoke up: “I might have a clue…”
The others were stunned and turned to look at him.
Su Cheng: “Before, in the library, I remember before I was affected, our president asked me a few questions, then stopped in front of one of the bookshelves. From the way he looked, it seemed like he had found a clue.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s heart filled with joy.
They also had an impression of this matter.
However, at that time in the library, they were too scattered. At most, they had only heard Wen Jianyan asking Su Cheng questions from a distance, but they didn’t know what followed.
Since entering this instance, they had gained a very clear understanding of Wen Jianyan’s intelligence. If there was anyone who could change their current predicament, it would probably be him.
But unexpectedly, they only heard Su Cheng continue apologetically:
“But… it was too dark at the time, and there was some distance between us. I don’t remember which specific bookshelf he found… I’m sorry.”
This…
Everyone looked at each other in dismay.
Hugo looked at Su Cheng and asked thoughtfully:
“Where were you standing at the time?”
Su Cheng walked to the spot from his memory: “Around here.”
“And him?” Hugo asked.
Su Cheng looked around and pointed: “Around that direction.”
Hugo walked over and stood still: “Here?”
Su Cheng thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head: “No, it should be a bit more to the left…”
With Hugo’s patient and tireless questioning, the two finally managed to reconstruct Wen Jianyan’s approximate position at the time.
From not far away, Su Cheng’s voice came:
“That should be about right.”
Hugo turned his head and looked at the bookshelf in front of him—
His gaze stopped on the lower left corner of the side of the bookshelf. There, a small, seemingly old copper plate was nailed, with two words written on it:
“School History”.
At this moment, the other members of the team had also walked over.
“Let’s start looking.”
Hugo said.
“Don’t miss a single one.”
Even though they still had no specific direction, the scope had been narrowed down to one bookshelf, which would greatly reduce their burden.
Everyone quickly divided the areas and began to take out books from the shelf, flipping through them one by one. However, the further they flipped, the more hesitation appeared on their faces. In the end, they even started looking at each other.
“…Isn’t this the same as the library outside!”
Looking at the gibberish in the book, Tian Ye cried out in disappointment.
He didn’t control his voice, and it sounded very clear in the quiet library, attracting the attention of a few students in the distance.
Wei Cheng, expressionless, reached out and gave his head a heavy smack.
“Ouch…”
Tian Ye clutched the spot where he was hit, his expression contorted.
“Shh,” Yun Bilan turned to him, her eyes filled with reproach, “Keep it down.”
Tian Ye grumbled softly: “Sorry… I forgot…”
Although the others didn’t show it as obviously as Tian Ye, they were just as disappointed.
After flipping through several books, they finally confirmed that even though this was a memory, the books in the library were still the same as outside. All the text was unreadable gibberish, completely indecipherable.
This meant that the information here was also hidden… and perhaps hidden even deeper than outside.
After all, this time, they hadn’t encountered any danger.
Which also meant there would be no hints.
Wei Cheng hesitated and spoke: “Could it be… the clue we want isn’t actually here, but in the library outside?”
If that were the case, it would be terrible.
The library outside had already been burned down and could not be restored no matter what.
Hugo didn’t answer but turned to look at the bookshelf in front of him.
He raised his hand and made the sign of the cross on his chest. The gesture didn’t look like a prayer, but more like the activation ritual for some item.
Then, Hugo reached out, his well-defined fingers pressing on the spine of a book, and pulled it out, slowly flipping through it.
The rustling sound of pages turning echoed in the dead silence.
Soon, he stopped.
Hugo used his finger to hold a page of the book and turned it around to show everyone.
The text was still illegible, but on the right-hand page was a somewhat blurry, low-pixel photo.
“Do you remember this person?”
Wei Cheng leaned in, his gaze falling on the person Hugo was pointing at, and was suddenly startled: “Wait, isn’t this one of the people in the photo on the principal’s desk?”
A person who appeared in the photo in the principal’s office and also appeared in the school history, there was, and could only be, one.
—The principal of ‘Yuying Comprehensive University’, who has had no presence in the instance so far, but seems to have never completely disappeared from everyone’s sight.
Zhang Yunsheng.
Hugo: “The text is unreadable, perhaps because the clue isn’t hidden in the text.”
As he spoke, he raised his hand and tossed the book to Tian Ye.
Tian Ye fumbled to catch the book.
“Remember this face.”
Hugo turned his head, his gaze falling on the bookshelf in front of him, and continued, “Find the pages in every book that have this face—if there really is a clue here, it should appear after we’ve found them all.”
On the other side.
Wen Jianyan’s gaze was tightly fixed on Richard’s back not far away, sprinting with single-minded focus.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, Richard stopped.
Wen Jianyan panted, looking up.
The dome of the gymnasium appeared not far away.
—As expected.
Looking at the familiar building, Wen Jianyan was not surprised.
Richard stood in front of the gymnasium, looking up at the building before him. Due to the angle, Wen Jianyan couldn’t see his expression.
After standing for a long time, he finally made a move, slowly pushing the door and walking in.
Wen Jianyan followed.
He placed his hand on the heavy iron door and slowly applied force. A familiar scene appeared before his eyes.
Bright sunlight poured down from the skylight at the top of the gymnasium, but it didn’t seem to have much warmth. From Wen Jianyan’s angle, he couldn’t see the water surface in the pool, but he could see the shimmering light reflected on the walls.
Richard walked step by step toward the edge of the pool.
Wen Jianyan followed.
However, just as he took a step forward, a familiar “watched” feeling that made his hair stand on end appeared again.
…Something was ‘watching’.
He shivered and reflexively retracted his step, staying outside the swimming hall.
The feeling of being watched disappeared, but Wen Jianyan did not relax because of it.
He looked up, looking around in surprise and uncertainty, searching for the source of the anomaly.
What was going on?
Suddenly, Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell on the wall not far away.
His eyes sharpened.
The wall was empty, without a speck of light.
Generally, even if the sunlight dimmed, the light reflected from the water surface would also dim, but it wouldn’t disappear completely. There would always be some faint ripples reflected.
But…
On the wall, the blue shimmering patterns that had been there just a moment ago had now disappeared—completely, without a trace.
For this to happen, there were only two possibilities.
First, all the water in the pool had been drained.
Second… the nature of the water surface had changed.
From a bright surface that could reflect light to a dark one that could only absorb it.
For some reason, Wen Jianyan recalled the pool they had jumped into before entering this “mirror world.”
The dark, inky water that seemed to swallow all light, and the strange, non-malicious attraction from the depths of the pool, dragging him deeper.
“…”
Seeing this, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but shiver.
He didn’t dare to continue forward and could only stand at the entrance of the gymnasium, looking inside from afar.
He saw Richard standing motionless by the pool, his head bowed, looking at the water surface that had changed into an unknown state.
Time ticked by, but he did nothing.
Staring at his back, Wen Jianyan had a strange feeling…
He didn’t seem to be deep in thought… but rather as if he were conversing with something under the water.
Wen Jianyan was startled by his own guess.
Unfortunately, due to the distance, not only could he not see the current state of the pool, but he also couldn’t confirm Richard’s condition. He could only continue to wait from afar.
He didn’t know how much time had passed…
Suddenly, the sound of water echoed. Under the surface, something seemed to be surging, rising.
The next second, a drenched girl slowly emerged from the pool.
The moment he saw her face, Wen Jianyan’s breath caught.
…It was Wang Ni.
Or perhaps, Chu Chu?
The girl had a smile on her face and extended her arms toward Richard.
Richard stood by the pool, his body clearly trembling violently—even though he couldn’t see his face, Wen Jianyan could still read the strong hesitation in his body language.
The next second, Richard’s hand loosened.
With a “clang,” the oil lamp fell from his hand, tumbled to the ground, and rolled to the side.
He slowly knelt on the damp ground and reached out to the girl in the pool.
Watching Richard’s actions, Wen Jianyan’s heart sank.
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[Tsk tsk tsk, Richard, you’re so foolish!!]
[That’s not your girlfriend, that’s the mirror image that burst out of Wang Ni’s body!]
