After waiting until the students had completely left, the two of them walked up and asked the gatekeeper if there was a teacher named Yu Yezhou at the school.
The gatekeeper was surprised when he heard the name: “A teacher? Are you sure?”
Gu Zhan and Mo Tuo exchanged a glance, wondering if they had made a mistake. Was this not the right address?
But then the gatekeeper said, “He’s our dean.”
“Dean?”
Now it was Gu Zhan’s turn to be surprised.
“When we knew him, he was still a teacher. When did he get promoted to dean?”
The gatekeeper looked at Gu Zhan and Mo Tuo. “You look pretty young. Have you known Dean Yu for so many years?”
Gu Zhan lowered his voice and said, “We’re his high school classmates. After graduating from high school, he moved away, and we’ve kept in touch. We recently heard from a friend that he was teaching here.”
After hearing the explanation, the gatekeeper finally relaxed.
“The dean hasn’t left yet. Let me give him a call for you.”
Gu Zhan nodded repeatedly. “Thank you.”
The gatekeeper went to the side to make the call. Mo Tuo leaned in next to Gu Zhan, nudged his shoulder, and whispered, “The rules in your human world are really complicated.”
Gu Zhan replied, “Yeah.”
Otherwise, how would he have ended up going from the human world to the monster world?
The gatekeeper quickly returned and, with surprise, told Gu Zhan and Mo Tuo, “You two wait here for a moment. The principal said he’ll come out to meet you.”
Instead of letting them go in and find him themselves, he would personally greet them.
This showed the importance these two had in the dean’s heart.
Gu Zhan and Mo Tuo were also surprised. They exchanged a glance, and in Gu Zhan’s eyes, Mo Tuo saw a hint of excitement.
In the brief moment that followed, hurried footsteps were heard outside the gate. Before Gu Zhan and Mo Tuo could even turn around, someone came from behind and tightly hugged them!
Yu Yezhou’s excited voice sounded from behind the two of them: “You’ve come! You really came! It’s really you!!”
“Hahaha... Hahaha...”
He couldn’t contain his laughter, even scaring the gatekeeper standing nearby.
Mo Tuo turned around with a half-smile, pushed away Yu Yezhou’s hand that was resting on Gu Zhan’s shoulder, and said, “Long time no see, Dean Yu.”
This cold and sharp tone instantly triggered Yu Yezhou’s memories of "beyond the rules". His hair stood on end, and he shivered, pulling his hand away from Gu Zhan.
“Haha... Hahaha…”
The laughter slowly subsided, becoming more and more guilty.
He had forgotten—this person was a monster.
Wait, how did a monster end up in their world?
Yu Yezhou was shocked again and looked at Mo Tuo with a different expression.
That infinite world... Could it be that it was going to invade their real world?
Mo Tuo immediately understood what Yu Yezhou was afraid of. He patted the human’s shoulder, half-joking, half-threatening, and said, “Let’s go, let’s talk somewhere else.”
Yu Yezhou: “...”
He forced a couple of laughs and said, “Alright, let’s go to my office.”
With that, he led them into the school.
The gatekeeper stood behind, somewhat confused by the dean’s reaction.
At first, he was so happy, as if meeting an old classmate.
But then... he felt like the dean had been threatened?
Dean! Was he being coerced by them?!
—
In the end, Yu Yezhou wasn’t kidnapped; he willingly led the two of them inside.
Once they entered the office and closed the door, Yu Yezhou asked, “How did you two get here? Is it that...”
Gu Zhan interrupted his panicked words, saying, “It’s nothing. We just came to see you.”
“Nothing?” Yu Yezhou paused, and only then did his expression relax. “You just came to see me?”
Gu Zhan smiled wryly and said, “It’s really nothing. Don’t be scared.”
“That’s good.” Yu Yezhou let out a sigh of relief.
Then, he became happy again. “I didn’t expect to have a chance to see you... well, you two, again. Wait, I have to call Yang Lin and Sang Yue.”
Hearing the names of his old friends, Gu Zhan became a little excited and asked, “Are they doing well?”
“Of course, you’ll find out when they arrive,” Yu Yezhou replied, turning to make the call.
He quickly told Gu Zhan, “They’re on the way. We’ll go have hotpot once they’re here!”
While waiting for Sang Yue and the others to arrive, Yu Yezhou chatted with Gu Zhan about what had happened after he left the world beyond the rules.
“The system truly fulfilled its promises. When I woke up, even though the vehicle had flipped, the children inside were unharmed. The school gave me credit for this, and they even promoted me to dean…”
Yu Yezhou scratched his head a little embarrassedly. “Sang Yue is a minor actress. She couldn’t even get an acting certificate at first. But after coming out of the world beyond the rules, she landed several good roles and has already become a rising star. As for Yang Lin, she finally solved the problems in her life, found herself a new position, and now she's the second-in-command at a company.”
“And then there’s Xu Yu... After leaving the game, he went missing. I heard he joined a peacekeeping force abroad.”
Yu Yezhou said all this as if it were a dream. “We discussed it later, and we concluded that it wasn’t just luck, but rather, these were rewards from the game system for winning.”
When Yu Yezhou reached this point, he looked at Mo Tuo with some emotion in his eyes: “I didn’t expect that your damn system actually has some credibility.”
Mo Tuo raised an eyebrow. “The system is the system. It does its own thing. Don’t drag me into it.”
“Pretty much, pretty much. Anyway, you’re in it together.”
As he said this, Yu Yezhou seemed a bit melancholic as he looked at Gu Zhan. “Now you’re with them too.”
Mo Tuo immediately became tense, reaching out to pull Gu Zhan’s sleeve. “He’s with me.”
Gu Zhan noticed that ever since arriving in the human world, the monster had been unusually nervous. He reached out to touch Mo Tuo’s hand, signaling him to calm down.
Well why would Yu Yezhou want to compete with Mo Tuo for Gu Zhan?
He is certain that if Gu Zhan wants to leave the system's rules, whatever the system sends him will only increase, not decrease.
He is unwilling, but no one can force him.
While they were chatting, Sang Yue and the others arrived.
A group of people crowded into the office, pushing Yu Yezhou out.
Sang Yue and Yang Lin were crying. Yang Lin grabbed Gu Zhan’s hand and sobbed, “A married woman is like water that’s been poured out, wailing... In the future, if you’re wronged, we won’t be able to help.”
Sang Yue added, “We weren’t able to help in the first place.”
Yang Lin cried even harder.
“Alright, alright, don’t cry,” Sang Yue stepped in to comfort her. “If you’re wronged, he may not be, and who knows, maybe even the system will be dismantled. Didn’t we agree to go eat hotpot together?”
“Stop crying! Come on, my boss lady...” Sang Yue seemed scared by the crying and kept signaling Gu Zhan to comfort her.
Gu Zhan had never seen this kind of scene before. He hesitated for a long time, finally saying, “I’m not wronged... Qin Yue really misses you all.”
Mentioning Qin Yue, Yang Lin suddenly went silent.
The others also looked uncomfortable, asking, “He’s alright, right? Is he doing okay?”
Gu Zhan thought about Qin Yue’s situation. He wasn’t afraid of Xiao Xue anymore and was always chasing after Sun Jingqiu and Xiao Xue, calling them "sister" endlessly. Every few days, young girls from the town would come looking for him...
“Well... he should be doing fine.”
He’s found his happiness now.
Gu Zhan selectively shared some of this with everyone.
Suddenly, Yang Lin stopped crying and smiled, “He’s actually doing quite well.”
“Yes.” Gu Zhan nodded.
Yang Lin wiped her tears and said, “I was worried for nothing. It seems he’s living better inside than outside.”
"Isn’t this a good thing?"
Gu Zhan looked at Yang Lin and said calmly.
His usual calm expression made Yang Lin feel as if they were still in the dungeon together.
Back then, it was the same. She would look at Gu Zhan’s calm face as they faced the troublesome and difficult dungeon challenges.
Now, time had passed, and only Gu Zhan remained the same as before.
"That's great."
Yang Lin sighed.
"Alright, alright, let's stop here."
Sang Yue grabbed Yang Lin and said, "Let’s go, it’s time to eat!"
A group of people made their way to the hotpot restaurant.
They ate until late into the night.
By the end of the meal, everyone was scattered, drunk and disorganized, leaving only Yu Yezhou to clean up.
When the meal was over, Xu Shi got up and helped Yu Yezhou and the others back to the car. In a while, he would take them home.
Gu Zhan, however, remained seated, leaning against Mo Tuo’s shoulder, staring off into space.
Mo Tuo, always sensitive, noticed the faint sadness on Gu Zhan’s face.
He gently ran his hand through Gu Zhan’s hair and softly asked, "What’s wrong?"
"Mm." Gu Zhan's voice was muffled, and he nodded slightly.
Mo Tuo said, "Well, you can’t back out now."
"Mm." Gu Zhan actually hadn’t planned on backing out, but he was surprised to find that even someone like him could experience a moment of reluctance.
These tender feelings quietly buried themselves in his heart, unfamiliar and strange.
"I thought I would never care about these things."
Gu Zhan chuckled softly, saying incredulously, "Why is it that I’ve become a monster, but my heart feels more human now?"
Mo Tuo, feeling a bit wronged, said, "Although I don't know how you humans define monsters, from my perspective, it's just that my food type is different from yours. What else is different? Not all monsters have a SAN score of zero."
Gu Zhan gently patted Mo Tuo's head and said, "I know, you will also have things you like and love, things that make you uneasy and make you speculate... I am human, but I am also a monster."
"You are a monster, but you are also human."
—
After Gu Zhan finished speaking, the drunkenness suddenly surged up.
He leaned against Mo Tuo, half-closing his eyes.
Gradually, he fell asleep.
After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard the system's broadcast voice in his ear.
【Welcome, player. You have entered the game world Betond the Rules. Here, you may have the chance to fulfill the impossible desires deep within your heart...】
Gu Zhan suddenly opened his eyes, only to find himself lying under a vast sky, surrounded by white clouds.
Beside him was Mo Tuo.
He was resting his head on Mo Tuo's leg. As he moved slightly, Mo Tuo lowered his head to look at him.
"You're awake?"
A smile appeared on the monster's face.
"The new game has begun."