Finally, the class ended, but the news Yang Lin shared was disappointing.
"We went to the playground, but there was only a group of students waiting for gym class. Outside the playground is the town, and we saw it on our way here. There’s nothing special about it; the town looks the same from inside and outside the school."
"After a moment, Xu Yu said, 'We tried to climb over the wall to escape, but we almost got caught by the gym teacher. Afraid of an accident, we decided to come back.'
Yu Yezhou sighed, 'Ten minutes is too short. We could try again.'
'No, we can’t,' Yang Lin suddenly said.
'What’s wrong?'
Yu Yezhou thought she was in some trouble, but Yang Lin said, 'During this break, I need to go to the restroom.'
'…'
Only then did everyone realize that three classes had passed, and it was time to address personal needs.
The break was originally meant for students to use the restroom.
Unexpectedly, it seemed they had returned to the primary function of break time.
However, after four of them used the restroom, there wasn’t much break time left. They abandoned their plan to explore outside and returned to the classroom to chat with their classmates.
The students here appeared quite normal, discussing topics like cartoons, comics, or novels and TV shows.
Yu Yezhou had an incredible social ability, quickly becoming "good buddies" with his deskmate, and they chatted all the way to class.
The class bell rang, but the kid was a bit unable to stop, pulling Yu Yezhou along with his chatter. Yu Yezhou knew he had to follow the rules in this place and felt helpless. He quietly reminded the kid, but the kid continued as if nothing had happened.
Soon, the teacher entered.
The kid was caught off guard and happened to be seen by the teacher.
With a cold expression, the teacher said, '221-23B, what are you doing?!'
This title caught everyone off guard; why was it not a name but a code?
Even Yu Yezhou, who had been chatting happily with the kid, was stunned. He hadn’t asked for the NPC's name—because they were supposed to know each other in the same school, asking for names felt really strange.
Unexpectedly, even the teacher didn’t call out names.
Gu Zhan thought about the door number he saw when leaving home.
It was in the same format as what the teacher had called.
The others had also noticed this to varying degrees, their eyes revealing surprise.
After being scolded by the teacher, the kid quickly settled down, anxiously sitting at his desk.
This class was about nature, and the content was relatively simple.
Forty minutes later, the class ended, and the morning of learning was over.
It was already eleven-thirty, and immediately after class, it was time to go home.
While waiting at the door for their parents to pick them up, Yang Lin sighed, 'It’s tough. It feels like we lost our personal freedom the moment we entered this instance.'
Xu Yu said, 'That’s how kids are.'
Gu Zhan was still thinking about the door number, so before his parents arrived, he asked the others, 'Do you all remember your home address?'
'I do.' They were all experienced players, so they naturally paid attention to such details.
Gu Zhan said, 'Let’s share it. My home number is 109-3A.'
The others also reported their door numbers.
Yu Yezhou said, 'Make a note of it. I suspect this is our identity in this instance.'
Some instances assign players identities. For example, Gu Zhan had experienced two instances before. In the first, he was 'Patient 707,' and in the second, he was 'College Student Akiyama,' neither of which were his real name.
Perhaps '109-3A' was his identity in this instance.
—
Parents had long been waiting at the door. Their conversation didn’t last long, and as soon as the school gate opened, they had to find their parents.
After returning home for lunch with their parents, it was already afternoon by the time they saw each other again.
There was still some time before class, but Yu Yezhou hadn’t arrived yet… He only rushed in ten minutes before class started.
He was sweating profusely: 'My dad… I mean, the dad in my setup was busy today and almost forgot to take me to school. I said I’d go by myself, but they wouldn’t let me, insisting that it’s unsafe for kids to be out alone…'
Yang Lin couldn’t help but laugh and teased, 'You could have sneaked out yourself.'
Yu Yezhou shook his head. 'No, I promised my mom… I can’t run out by myself.'
The rules of the instance clearly stated that you could not refuse any requests from family.
He had just sat down for a couple of minutes when the teacher came in from outside.
Everyone had to stop talking.
The teacher started the lesson, while Yu Yezhou sat in his seat, nodding off, and was directly spotted and criticized by the teacher.
Yu Yezhou looked helplessly at Gu Zhan, their eyes meeting. He tilted his head to the side, indicating for Gu Zhan to look beside him.
Gu Zhan noticed that the seat next to Yu Yezhou was empty.
The student who had been reprimanded by the teacher earlier hadn’t come to class.
After class, the four gathered together to discuss this matter.
'The only thing we know so far is that he violated class rules, but is that really such a serious offense?'
'Good thing we didn’t confront the teacher earlier…'
They all felt a chill down their spines. In other instances, they had maintained the habit of challenging the rules.
But in this instance, the rules seemed extremely important.
Yang Lin said, 'But we still need to figure out how that kid disappeared… Maybe his parents helped him take leave. We don’t know him, but maybe other students do. We can ask around?'
Yu Yezhou said, 'Then let’s do that.'
Taking advantage of the break, they began to inquire among the other kids.
'One person is missing from the class today. Do you know him?' Gu Zhan casually asked a kid.
This kid was quite cooperative: 'Yeah, I know him… but I’m not very close to him! He’s always pulling others to talk and has been caught by the teacher several times! I don’t want to be labeled as a bad kid!'
At that moment, another kid squeezed over, saying, 'I’m familiar with him! I play games with him and have been to his house!'
Gu Zhan asked, 'Do you know why—'
Before he could finish, a piercing cat scream echoed from outside the window, followed by a shadow falling from outside the window.
The children around were startled and scattered back to their seats in a flurry.
Gu Zhan walked to the window and leaned out to take a look—this was a four-story teaching building, and they were on the second floor. In the flower bed below, there lay a black cat that had been squashed flat.
“What’s going on?”
The others gathered around, and they all stared silently at the black cat outside the window.
[Curiosity killed the cat; every time you curiously ask the teacher "why," an innocent cat dies.]
This was the rule set by the system.
Gu Zhan said, “It seems we can’t ask questions,”
especially not those that begin with “why.”
Yang Lin frowned, “But it can’t be that asking just one question kills one cat… What does this even mean?”
Yu Yezhou said, “It feels more like a warning.”
So far, they hadn’t asked the teacher anything.
Simply saying “why” to someone nearby counts as a warning.
If they were to ask the teacher…
“No, that’s not right.” Gu Zhan whispered, “It can't be that simple.”
Rules target a specific category or group; they definitely don’t apply to specific individuals or events.
[Curiosity killed the cat] surely had some underlying logic.
“Ding ling ling…”
“Ding ling ling…”
The sound of class starting echoed in the school, and the students all settled back in their seats.
The four exchanged glances and returned to their spots.
The teacher entered, and a new lesson began.
---
They spent the day at school like this.
It really seemed like an ordinary school; anywhere out of sight of the teacher, both inside and outside the school, was fair game, as long as they returned to the classroom before class.
Soon, evening arrived, and school ended. Elementary schools let out early, so they agreed to “hang out” after going home.
It was normal for elementary school students to play with friends after school, and as long as they informed their parents, they should be allowed to go out.
However, when Gu Zhan mentioned this to his puppet mother after returning home, the female puppet just smiled slightly and said, “Baby, you haven’t finished your homework yet. You can’t go out to play until you’re done.”
“…”
The memory of doing homework after school felt distant, like it belonged to a past life.
With that reminder, Gu Zhan remembered the unfortunate reality that elementary school students had homework to do.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, Yu Yezhou called, telling him that their plan to hang out was canceled because he had to do homework.
Gu Zhan asked his puppet mother, “But I promised my classmates I would go out with them. Since I can’t go now, can you call them to let them know?”
The puppet mother smiled and said, “Sure! What’s their house number? Mommy will let them know.”
Gu Zhan told her the house numbers for Yang Lin and Xu Yu, and the puppet mother made the calls.
After a while, she returned and said, “They said they know. One of your other friends has already informed them.”
At this point, the puppet mother seemed a bit displeased: “You’re all students; your main task is to study. If you haven’t finished your homework, why are you always thinking about going out to play?”
Gu Zhan replied, “I’m sorry, Mom. The teacher told us to do a social practice project, so we wanted to give it a try… We have to do homework tonight, but can we go out on the weekend?”
As soon as she heard it was about social practice, the mother’s attitude immediately changed. She said, “Of course you can, but only after your weekend homework is done.”
“…” It turned out there was homework on the weekend too.
---
Dinner was quite sumptuous.
However, it seemed that children weren’t allowed to speak at the dining table.
At least, they couldn’t participate in the adults’ conversations.
Gu Zhan was very sensitive to this atmosphere, having grown up in an orphanage, a place that valued the mood greatly.
He wisely kept his mouth shut, maintaining a calm atmosphere until dinner was finished.
While the female puppet was clearing the table, she asked Gu Zhan, “Baby, have you finished your homework?”
Gu Zhan replied, “Yes, I have.”
The female puppet smiled and said, “Then you can go watch TV on the sofa for a while.”
Gu Zhan went to the sofa, where his puppet father was already sitting at the other end. Seeing Gu Zhan come over, he patted the empty space next to him.
Gu Zhan sat down.
The television was playing a very ordinary cartoon, and Gu Zhan found no joy in such things anymore, but to play the obedient child, he watched it from start to finish.
Around eight-thirty, the female puppet urged him to take a shower.
The male puppet got up and left first. Just as Gu Zhan was about to stand up, the system suddenly chimed.
[Congratulations! You have triggered the side quest <Complete the Mini-Game Pikachu>.]
[Quest Description: A few days ago, you secretly opened your dad's phone and played the mini-game Pikachu on it. It was so fun, way more interesting than school! Unfortunately, the game has ten levels, and you only passed five, so there are still levels left to complete. You’ve been thinking about that game for days.]
[After Dad leaves, you see his phone on the sofa. If you can bring it back to your room, you can play that game! Dad has a bad memory; as long as you return the phone before he wakes up in the morning, you’ll be fine! This time, you must complete the mini-game!]
[Congratulations! You have accepted the side quest <Complete the Mini-Game Pikachu>.]
By the time Gu Zhan came back to his senses, the phone was already in his hands.
This side quest was quite different.
Without asking him if he wanted to accept it, it just appeared in his hands.
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