Pure darkness and extreme cold seemed to drag the world into a frigid abyss. Lin Yi heard terrifying whispers by his ear, different from the tormented screams he had heard before, dissimilar to calls amidst the sea breeze, and more like an even purer, more primitive, more rugged, unembellished roar.
It was similar to the kind of cry Superman would make before death.
"Lin Yi... Lin Yi! Lin Yi!!!"
The layers of sound piled on one another, one wave surpassing the next, pushing the mist to surge faster...
"Lin Yi! Lin Yi!!"
The voice became clearer, but in this moment... it wasn't Lin Yi's voice, it was—Li Huiyuan's!
Lin Yi was stunned, then stunned again, suddenly realizing a shopping terminal had clearly appeared in front of him...
"?!"
Lin Yi's pupils quaked as he suddenly noticed the shouts and roars by his ear had disappeared without a trace at some unknown moment.
He looked at his watch.
17:27.
"17:27...?!"
"How could this happen? Did I lose minutes of memory?"
Right then, several fragmented images flashed before him.
Images of him running, gasping for breath...
Images of his vision blurred by sweat...
And his panting, drowned out by a deep beast-like roar "fufufu," and then like a racing car engine howling, he suddenly began to speed up in the images...
The last image was of him arriving at the shopping terminal, hands braced on the counter of the terminal, gasping for breath.
"What did I just...?!" Lin Yi murmured.
"You, you were about to stop running several times, then somehow, like you turned into another person, you started running madly, all the way here,"Li Huiyuan had already been set down by him and was standing by his side, leaning on the edge of the shopping terminal.
"Lin Yi, are you, are you okay?" Li Huiyuan asked with concern.
"I'm fine... Maybe I just ran too fast and didn't catch my breath for a moment. I'm fine now," Lin Yi shook his head slightly.
At this moment, he noticed some redness on the outer side of Li Huiyuan's thigh, seemingly rubbed raw by his tight grip.
"Did I... run here just now, and then because I was too tired, I was taken advantage of by the 'contamination'?"
Understanding what had happened, Lin Yi quickly scanned the two rolls of biscuits he had at the checkout of the shopping terminal, then reached to take down the blanket that was draped over Li Huiyuan.
"It's good that I took precautions. Without this blanket, I might not have been able to carry you out."
A person can choose at most three daily necessities or ready-to-eat food items at one time. Lin Yi had gone to find something to secure Li Huiyuan with and eventually only found a blanket, which he made do with.
After scanning the blanket's barcode, Lin Yi tapped [Confirm] on the shopping terminal.
Immediately after, a face-scanning interface appeared at the top of the screen, a very accurate dynamic capture technology. After scanning Lin Yi's face, it immediately switched to the card-swiping interface.
The card-swiping interface showed three options: [Student ID card], [Student Souvenir Coin], and [None]. Lin Yi decisively clicked [Student ID card], then took out his Student ID card and swiped it.
"Beep—"
Lin Yi's information popped up on the screen:
"Name: Lin Yi."
"Student ID: X0230506098."
Lin Yi clicked confirm, then put the Student ID card into his pocket.
Just then, he suddenly noticed Li Huiyuan staring at his pants pocket, her gaze quite peculiar, as if mixed with some unusual emotions...
"What's wrong?" Lin Yi asked.
"I... I just saw your Student ID card and suddenly felt a strong urge to snatch it away," Li Huiyuan said, pursing her lips without concealing her thoughts, "My problem might have gotten serious..."
"Don't think too much; it's not a checkmate yet," Lin Yi said in a deep voice, "The student rules mention we shouldn't stay overnight, and we still have nearly seven hours until that time comes."
"Swipe your stuff, and after we get back to the Teaching Building, we'll find the class advisor to see if there's another way."
Lin Yi glanced at the mist ahead, which, accompanied by the darkness, kept pouring in, almost entirely engulfing his field of vision, yet there was still a considerable distance from their position.
Time was ample, assuming no mishaps occurred like a shopping terminal suddenly losing power or short-circuiting... Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey.
"Mhm," Li Huiyuan nodded, and she too began to check out, tallying up a roll of cookies and a loaf of bread.
The process was very similar to his; the difference was that after she swiped her face, she clicked on [No], and once the screen scanned her face again, the transaction was complete.
"Let's go." After they had gathered their things, Lin Yi picked up Li Huiyuan in a princess carry and headed towards the Convenience Store door emitting white light.
Lin Yi took a quick look at the door, and there was a blue sign next to it: [Convenience Store Exit, dear~]
Lin Yi curled his lips, that "dear" echoing the tone of the Convenience Store Notice, and in his heart, he couldn't help but sneer - those rules of yours sure are something.
After muttering to himself, he stepped into the door of the Convenience Store.
As he took that step outward, he seemed to hear the unwilling roars coming from the darkness behind and numerous calls, but he had no intention of stopping and burst out of the Convenience Store.
His figure quickly disappeared into the white light, and as it enveloped him, the restlessness and discomfort that had unsettled him dissipated, as if the door of the Convenience Store had a built-in filter that stripped away the ominous Breath clinging to him.
And in that instant, he suddenly found a figure standing beside him.
This figure stood by the frame of the Convenience Store exit door, obscured by the white light, so Lin Yi hadn't noticed its presence before...
But that wasn't the reason for Lin Yi's shock!
The shock came from the fact that someone was standing by the door, and he hadn't received the slightest premonition or perceived anything amiss!
But this thought was just a flash, and his figure quickly submerged into the white light...
...
After stepping through the portal, Lin Yi's first step was very firm, but the ground beneath felt uneven, and he realized he was most likely stepping on some rough steps.
The white light quickly dissipated - or rather, his vision began to adjust to the lighting of this new environment.
He found himself standing in a circular arched tunnel, one... very similar in layout to the Convenience Store.
Only, this place didn't have shelves, nor did it have the seemingly endless space; just a horizontal floor about twenty to thirty meters in width and an arched ceiling above.
At the top of the tunnel, hung many incandescent lamps, the glaring light stinging Lin Yi's eyes, so much that he couldn't look up for long.
This place seemed like an extension of the Convenience Store, but as soon as he stepped out, it became normal.
Beneath his feet was a stone staircase, not too steep, with a gigantic arrow painted in blue pointing towards "→School Zone" on the surrounding walls.
Lin Yi looked down at his watch.
17:29.
Perfectly normal.
So he continued on, carrying Li Huiyuan down the stairs.
Walking and walking, he couldn't tell for how long, suddenly he felt a thin layer of Mist underfoot, and the lights around weren't as blinding anymore.
Glancing at the walls, something felt familiar, and the Convenience Store-style arched tunnel had turned without warning into a coarse yellow-brown stone wall at some point. The steps beneath also transformed, adorned with some Moss, with the thin Mist still lingering in the tunnel.
A jolt went through Lin Yi's heart, his first reaction being, "Damn it, not the layer glitch again?" But on second thought, something seemed off. This familiar environment and layout felt less like a glitch and more like—
He turned to look back at the steps behind him.
At the end of the staircase, the interweaving light formed a hazy silhouette, where astonishingly, a chef with a blue apron stood.
And this chef was none other than "Ru Zai," the one with the blue apron.
"Damn, so it really is... the Student Passage?!"
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