Global Collapse-Chapter 662 - 630: Feeling Lost after Looking Around_1
Chu Changge pushed up his glasses. "We're heading to the office to look for the files on our case suspect."
"I see..." Wang Youcai nodded. "We're going to the victims' classrooms to see if we can find any clues."
Notably, neither of their groups had entered the school openly through the main gate. This high school enforced strict access control; only teachers and day students with passes could enter. These few, all looking like adults from outside the school, had no choice but to sneak over the fence in the dead of night.
That was how Chu Changge had gotten in as well.
Yan Shuang Fei was stunned to see the usually stern, bespectacled Chu Changge hoist his leg to climb the school fence. Chu Changge, clearly not adept at such activities, twisted his ankle and stumbled slightly upon landing but promptly pushed up his glasses as if nothing had occurred.
"We don't have keys to the classrooms, so we plan to climb in through the hallway windows," Wang Youcai said, glancing at the ankle Chu Changge had just twisted. "The office probably doesn't have windows you can climb through, does it?"
Chu Changge took a step back. "You don't need to concern yourself with that."
With that, he turned and left.
Yan Shuang Fei and Li Yuan hurriedly bid farewell to Wang Youcai and his teammate, Screw-head, then rushed to catch up with their own team.
The school was vast, and the academic buildings looked identical, making it easy for newcomers to get lost. Moreover, night had fallen, and darkness enveloped the entire school, obscuring anything in the distance.
But Chu Changge had an excellent sense of direction. He took hardly any wrong turns, leading his three teammates directly to the foot of the building they were looking for.
Watching Chu Changge's back, Yan Shuang Fei couldn't help but mutter to Li Yuan, "I get the feeling our Judge doesn't like us much, does he? He hasn't looked back once to see if we've gotten lost."
Li Yuan felt the same. Their Judge seemed indifferent to them, as if they were dispensable.
Chu Chu, who had quickly become acquainted with the two, overheard their grumbling and chimed in, "Our Judge is the most aloof, isn't he? Judge Wang Youcai, whom we met earlier, seemed very responsible and considerate of his teammates."
"And what about the Judge from Bai Lu's team we met? He looked like he was no pushover. Did you see his nickname? It was green! Do you think he paid real money for that?"
At that moment, Chu Changge, walking ahead, suddenly glanced back at them. The trio immediately fell silent.
「Meanwhile」
Wang Youcai and his three teammates arrived at their destination: the academic building where the victims had attended classes.
They looked up. The three large red characters for "Diligent Learning Building" were affixed to the building's exterior, likely chosen by the school to be conspicuous. However, the vivid red font appeared somewhat eerie in the night, like fresh blood seeping from the building.
Twist off your head stared at the ominous red characters, his heart heavy with hesitation. "This is an instance where death is real," he muttered. "Are we seriously going into this deserted academic building in the dead of night?"
Wang Youcai said solemnly, "I'm afraid we wouldn't even be able to get in during the day." He was right. The four of them clearly looked like adults from outside the school. If they tried to enter during the day, they'd likely be discovered by teachers and promptly kicked out. Each building only housed a few classes, and most teachers knew one another, so posing as one was impossible.
Besides, they needed to search the victims' desks in the classrooms. During the day, classrooms were usually occupied. High school PE classes were usually only once a week and often canceled anyway, so they couldn't hope to sneak in while students were supposedly in PE.
Grass Aguirre also found the empty academic building rather creepy. "You know, most old ghost stories are set in schools. Things like a woman washing her face in the girls' restroom, the thirteen steps, moving statues... all classic school ghost stories."
Twist off your head hunched his shoulders, trying to reassure himself. "But there haven't been many new school ghost stories these days, have there?"
Grass Vivi glanced at him. "That's because writing about haunted schools nowadays can easily get your book banned."
"Haha, that does seem to be the case," Screw-head said, scratching his head. "I remember a while back, to avoid getting books banned, authors couldn't even mention 'ghosts.' They all became 'specters'... There are quite a few ghosts in this global game. It'd be great if they could ban this game too."
After some idle chatter, the group felt a little braver and stepped into the academic building together.
"The deceased victims were students from Senior Year Class 5," Wang Youcai said as he started up the stairs. "Class 5 is on the top floor. Keep quiet on the stairs to avoid any accidents."
They huddled together, tiptoeing up the steps. Though they were extremely careful, in the dead silence of the night, any sound was infinitely amplified. The stairwell echoed with their four sets of footsteps and soft breaths.
Screw-head, at the rear of the group, kept glancing back into the darkness, terrified that something might be following them. The middle-aged Wang Youcai, leading the way, was equally uneasy. Every time they reached a staircase landing, he felt an Evil Ghost might be lurking above, waiting for them.
They finally reached the fourth floor without incident, though not without some anxiety. No strange ghosts had jumped out at them. Senior Year Class 5 was directly opposite the staircase landing; they spotted their target classroom as soon as they arrived.
An old classroom door blocked their way. A large, sturdy lock was securely fastened, making it difficult to break open by force.
Wang Youcai looked down the corridor. He could see to the end of the dark corridor at a glance. This floor housed five classrooms, Class 1 through Class 5. Class 5 was at their end, while Class 1 was at the far end.
The restroom was next to the staircase landing, its door wide open. From the corridor, they could see a large mirror inside. As players, they were sensitive to mirrors; Wang Youcai quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look longer.
The classroom door was locked. Fortunately, there was a window set high in the classroom's corridor wall. Though high, it was climbable. They looked up at the rectangular window. It was somewhat small but definitely large enough for a person to squeeze through. Behind it lay the pitch-black classroom. The corridor still had some faint light, but the classroom seemed utterly devoid of it. The students had probably drawn the curtains before leaving their evening self-study session, preventing any outside light from entering.
"Do we... all have to go in?" Screw-head asked, looking at the dark window and hesitating. The door was locked from the outside. They would have to use the window to get in and out. If there was danger inside, their only escape route would be to slowly climb back out the window, a difficult proposition.
"Two of us can go, or even just one," Wang Youcai said, having also considered this. "The fewer people inside, the less chance of blocking the window during an escape if there's danger." After a moment's thought, he asked, "I'm going in. Anyone else?"
Grass Vivi said with a grave expression, "You're the Judge. If something happens to you in there, our entire team is finished. So, I'll go. I'm slimmer; it'll be easier for me to get through the window."
Wang Youcai frowned, considered for a few seconds, then nodded hesitantly. "Alright, be careful then."
Just then, Screw-head, standing beside them, also raised his hand. "I'll go too. Two people searching will be faster."
"Okay," Wang Youcai said, looking at the two of them. He then took out two bundles of rope. "Tie these around your waists. We'll hold the other end out here. If you encounter danger, we'll pull the ropes. It should make escaping through the window a bit smoother."
Vivi and Screw-head took the ropes and secured them around their waists.
Since there was nothing in the corridor to use as a foothold, Vivi climbed onto Wang Youcai's shoulders to reach the window. Nearby, Ye Qianqian watched with trepidation, repeatedly calling out, "Be careful!"
After Ye Weiwei jumped into the classroom, Screw-head also climbed onto Wang Youcai's shoulders and squeezed through the narrow window.
Just as the two of them landed inside the classroom, the locked classroom door suddenly made a loud BANG.
The pair, having just found their footing, immediately ducked into a corner, not daring to move.
Outside, Wang Youcai and Ye Qianqian were also startled by the sound. They quickly scanned their surroundings and relaxed slightly when they saw nothing unusual. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"That was just the wind, right?" Ye Qianqian whispered.
No sooner had she spoken than the door of Class 2, not far away, rattled as a gust of wind blew through.
Only after confirming there was no danger inside did the pair in the room stand up and begin to feel their way around the dark classroom.
"So... should we turn on the lights?" Screw-head asked, looking at the dark classroom, a sense of unease creeping over him.
Ye Weiwei pondered for half a second. "Better not."
They had to be extremely cautious in the instance; who knew if turning on the light would attract something?
She touched the rope around her waist and moved towards the lectern at the front of the classroom, where the class seating chart should be posted.
