Xu Yuan quickly recounted everything that had happened to Nan Yue, who looked at him with a hint of surprise.
Xu Yuan had only recently been promoted to the digital city state, making him just one of the many newcomers, but he had truly survived this time through his own capabilities.
"Your observations were very meticulous."
Xu Yuan forced a stiff smile, his mind still filled with the image of Zhao Zhenzhen's death.
"If you had made a scene yesterday and discovered someone was missing, you might have violated a rule."
"There is a pair of twins in this school."
Everyone was stunned, finding it somewhat hard to believe.
"Are there? I didn't see any!"
Nan Yue pulled out the photo she had found previously.
"There are, but they usually don't present themselves as twins."
She pointed to the two girls in the photo. "But in this photo, they look exactly the same."
Everyone gathered around to look at the photo again and again.
When Xu Yuan saw those two identical faces, he shuddered.
"It's her!"
Zhu Xi Ning let out a small cry of surprise. "I remember them. They're usually inseparable, but they don't look that much alike. They only look about thirty percent similar."
Nan Yue sneered. "These children really do have some tricks up their sleeves."
As teachers, they spent every day with the children, especially while on a mission, so they remembered the children's appearances clearly.
Therefore, even when they got the photo, they would rely on the existing impressions in their minds when comparing, failing to notice that two girls in the crowd weren't quite right.
If it hadn't been for Xu Yuan's experience, Nan Yue would have overlooked it as well.
Xu Yuan let out a long sigh of relief, his gaze complicated. "Then Zhao Zhenzhen..."
Nan Yue glanced imperceptibly at Chi He, who was wearing an "I'm so scared" expression.
"She... I'm afraid she went at the wrong time because of the curriculum."
Chi He let out an "ah," slapped his forehead, and said hesitantly, "Yes, I remembered the time wrong. She showed up during my class."
Xu Yuan frowned. "But she didn't skip class. Just coming at the wrong time shouldn't count as a violation, right?"
Chi He hid behind Bai La La, looking dejected. "But she cursed at me..."
Everyone fell silent.
Zhao Zhenzhen's mental stability had been unstable, and at that moment, her outbursts had disturbed the order of the classroom.
"How are you going to be sure?"
No one wanted to pursue the matter of Zhao Zhenzhen's death anymore; they only wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
When Nan Yue knocked directly on Director Wu's door, everyone else broke into a cold sweat.
"There's something wrong with the children in the school, isn't there?"
Nan Yue stared at Director Wu, who was wearing a strange smile.
"They are the real culprits behind the deaths of the teachers."
This time, Director Wu didn't speak in riddles but laughed with a raspy voice.
"Hee hee, devils. They are all devils."
"Thirty-two children were sent here because they all had problems. As the earliest teachers, only you and Engineer Yang remain."
"Batch after batch of teachers died. Teacher Gao was the lucky one who survived."
"The person in charge is a child, right?"
Nan Yue's voice was very low for that last sentence, but Director Wu heard it.
She pulled back her eerie smile, her expression clouding over with sorrow, finally looking like a human being.
"I was the most famous child psychologist and educator in the country, so when I first came to be the person in charge of this school, I was very confident."
"I believed I could cure them, or at least give them a place in society later on."
"But I overestimated myself..."
"Engineer Yang is my lover. We came here with great ideals, only to end up as ghostly accomplices... We... wanted to live."
Heartache flickered in the eyes of the skeleton-like man as he placed a withered hand on Director Wu's shoulder in silent comfort.
"They aren't children at all; they are demons, vengeful spirits crawled out from hell."
"No educational methods worked, and the teachers who came with us died miserable deaths one by one."
"...Now, we are merely ghostly accomplices."
Everyone felt a sense of lament as they listened.
They didn't say it, but whether it was those children or the three remaining teachers, none of them could be considered human anymore.
The photo Nan Yue found was at least fifty or sixty years old based on the wear and tear, yet their appearances hadn't changed at all.
They had long been trapped in this school forever by this mission world.
"Go. As long as you haven't promised them you'll stay, leave while you still can."
There was envy, resentment, regret, and many other emotions in Director Wu's eyes that Nan Yue couldn't decipher.
Gu Yun, however, could not empathize with these NPCs.
He hurried back toward the dormitory, just as students were starting to get up to wash.
"Who is the person in charge? What should we do?"
Nan Yue didn't delay any further.
She walked straight to the door of a dormitory where Li Xue'er stood still, looking up at her.
"Teacher, what's wrong?"
Nan Yue's tone was flat. "I need the person in charge to sign my performance file."
"You are the person in charge of Zhengmiao Childcare School, Li Xue'er."
Whether it was Li Xue'er's uniqueness or his identity, he was the only person in charge of this school.
His parents must have died long ago, though it was unknown if it was of natural causes or...
But none of that mattered. They had given birth to this child who shouldn't exist and had finally suffered the backlash.
After Nan Yue said those words, the children who had been noisy in the hallway suddenly went silent.
Over thirty children turned their heads toward Nan Yue at the same time.
They were expressionless, their original innocent looks replaced by a dark and eerie silence.
Being watched by such children made everyone's hair stand on end.
"Sign it."
Nan Yue refused to back down an inch; this was the agreement the rules had with the boss.
A scavenger would die for violating the rules, but once the answer was found, the boss had no choice but to comply.
Li Xue'er's gaze was venomous.
As soon as Nan Yue finished speaking, a piece of paper appeared in everyone's hand, recording their work status, with the signature space for the person in charge left blank.
Fearing a trap, Gu Xiang Kai rushed up first.
Li Xue'er waved a hand, and a line of text appeared on the white paper: Qualified.
Gu Xiang Kai's figure vanished on the spot.
The others breathed a sigh of relief, waiting for Li Xue'er to sign for them.
When it was Nan Yue's turn, Li Xue'er suddenly flashed a smile.
"But Teacher Nan, I really like you. If I can keep you here, violating the rules and being punished isn't unacceptable."
Nan Yue's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't expected such a move.
It seemed this boss had developed a complete grudge against her.
Seeing that Li Xue'er was about to sign her file, Nan Yue's hand tightened around it, and a surge of black mist suddenly snaked onto Li Xue'er's hand.
Li Xue'er's face turned deathly pale instantly.
He was both resentful and furious, turning into a panicked child.
"...Get out, get out, get out!"
The word Qualified appeared on Nan Yue's file.
Only Chi He and Gu Yun were left.
Rate on N.U.
