CNC: Chapter 62
Mosaic School (13)
“Let’s try this later,” Chi Nan expressed his thoughts, “The teacher never said that the position where she is standing is the finish line of the game.”
Everyone was feeling confused, but Tang Yu was the first to understand. Her eyes lit up slightly. “Yes, if the starting point is the middle of the classroom, then the end point likely isn’t the end of the classroom but where we are standing now.”
“It is possible, but how did you know?” Guo Xian understood, but he couldn’t figure out Chi Nan’s deduction process. He expressed his doubts.
Chi Nan looked at the clock on the wall. “The time in this classroom is going backwards and the password to start the game is reversed from the normal order. Therefore, I guessed that the end point of the game and the end point in our cognition are reversed.”
In normal circumstances, the ‘statues’ would assume that the place where the supervisor was standing was the end point of the game. All they needed to do was move forward to reach the end point while the supervisor had their eyes closed.
However, if this was a reverse time-space and the starting point was in the middle of the field, then the end point would also be reversed. The players would need to reach the end point by going backward to gain freedom.
The group seemed to understand and nodded. It was just that the rest of the time wasn’t enough for them to fully understand it. Soon, the third group of players stood at the red starting line at the urging of the female teacher.
The four people exchanged glances. Tong Yu had already tried to move forward, so their group retreated in the opposite direction according to Chi Nan’s judgment. They took the red rope at the door as the finish line.
Now this was the only method they could try.
According to what he observed from the two groups just now, Chi Nan found that the female teacher might use various methods to scare the statues, but she only used visual and sound attacks. She never touched the statues, so this made him completely relax.
After all, there was nothing that made him afraid except for the touch that caused tears.
The game soon started. Apart from Jiang Liang accidentally violating the rules due to the female teacher’s scare, the remaining three people were calm.
Tang Yu’s growth amazed everyone. In just three days, she had gone from being a newcomer who shouted after finding her roommate dead to a sleepwalker full of potential who could control her emotions and calmly play the game.
The female teacher tried her best, but failed to scare the three people. In the end, Guo Xian retreated across the red line first with keen movements. Everyone watched his movements and instinctively held their breaths.
Later, Chi Nan and Tang Yu crossed the red line by the classroom door at the same time. The female teacher finally turned around slowly, the cracked smile on her face not very happy. “Congratulations to the participants in the third round of the game. A total of three students have successfully reached the finish line to clear the game and unlocked the taboo information for tonight.”
The people who had been feeling nervous and depressed couldn’t believe their ears for a moment. The classroom was silent for two seconds before a huge cheer erupted. “F*k! It really worked!”
“This game is such a pit. It actually set a backwards trap!”
“Fortunately Chi Nan discovered the rules this time, or we would’ve been completely wiped out in the physical education class.”
Everyone cheered and praised people happily. Guo Xian was the only one who wasn’t relieved. He asked the female teacher impatiently, “So what is the information?”
Tang Yu glanced at him. Guo Xian’s state wasn’t quite right today. He seemed more anxious and irritable than usual.
She had always been very sensitive to people’s emotions and her intuition wouldn’t be wrong. Therefore, she paid special attention to Guo Xian’s actions.
The female teacher handed him a small box and said in an encouraging tone, “You are the first student to successfully complete the Statues task. The clue is in the cardboard box. Open it and take a look.”
Guo Xian faced the female teacher and naturally turned to the group of sleepwalkers. He didn’t hesitate to open the box. However, it was unknown if he was nervous or something, but his actions seemed to pause. He took a moment to pull a small piece of paper out of the box.
Tang Yu looked at his left hand hidden in his sleeve and frowned.
However, she had never been a provocative character so she didn’t accuse him of being suspicious.
“What is written on the piece of paper?” The group had already gathered around. The moment the piece of paper was opened and the number 210 written in red ink appeared in front of them, everyone looked at Chi Nan in unison.
“210… Is it the meaning of Room 210?”
“I can’t think of anything other than that.”
They were relieved about their luck, but they also gazed sympathetically at Chi Nan, who might face punishment.
“The female teacher said that the box is a reminder of tonight’s punishment. Then there is a high probability…” Guo Xian glanced at Chi Nan and continued to speak in an embarrassed manner, “Tonight’s taboo rule is the number of the dormitory. The sleepwalker who is drawn will face punishment.”
Tang Yu was anxious for Chi Nan. “What can we do about this? We previously asked the teacher and we can’t privately change dormitories. Is there no solution after being selected?”
Chi Nan himself was very calm. He thought about it and said, “The rule just said we can’t change dormitories. It didn’t say we can’t do anything about the room number.”
Tang Yu blinked. “Huh?”
Chi Nan naturally explained, “I’ll just take down the room number.”
Chi Nan was well aware of the preferences and temperament of this 229 after the first instance, You Yu’s Dream. He liked to exploit loopholes in the words and make unexpected ways to clear the game.
It might not be enough to take it down. He might have to replace it.
Chi Nan already had a plan in mind.
Before leaving, he looked at the clock on the wall of the classroom. Sure enough, the time was still rewinding and it was now 3:30.
This glance made Chi Nan notice that the dance studio was different from the other classrooms. It was equipped with surveillance cameras.
It seemed that in addition to the female teacher, there were people who helped to monitor the actions of the statues in the dark. It was no wonder why the female teacher could turn around at the most dangerous moments and startle them every time.
In the evening, it started to snow and the boys sighed with relief. They had never looked forward to the murderous snow before. After all, they didn’t need to wear female clothing on snowy nights.
At the end of the day, Chi Nan earned 15 credits after he found the school rule and successfully passed the Statues game.
He received a bunch of little white flowers and took out a hammer and wrench from his toolbox. Then he stood at the door and banged on the door number with 210 written on it.
Tang Yu stuck her head out of the dormitory. Chi Nan apologized to her, “Sorry, I’ll be done soon.”
He thought it was his demolition project that disturbed his neighbor.
“It’s fine.” Tang Yu was a bit worried about Chi Nan, whose dormitory number was drawn. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Thank you, but it isn’t necessary. I’ll finish it soon.” There was a bang and the door number with 210 written on it fell to the ground. Chi Nan picked it up and put it in his pocket. Then he walked to the door of the infirmary, Room 211, and continued to pry off the room number.
Tang Yu was a bit confused. “You are planning to…”
“It might not be enough to take down the room number. For the sake of insurance, I will change it to Room 211.” In a few minutes, Chi Nan had skillfully removed the 211 door number and picked up the hammer to nail the 210 door number to the door.
Tang Yu choked up before smiling. “I see. I’m suddenly looking forward to it.”
“Yes, I’m sure the doctor in the infirmary can handle tonight’s punishment.” Chi Nan finally slammed the hammer against the nail and the 210 door number was firmly fixed to the door of the infirmary.
Chi Nan changed the 211 door number to his own door and locked the door. He took a hot shower before getting under his quilt.
He went to bed earlier than usual because he anticipated that there wouldn’t be a quiet night awaiting him.
At 3 o’clock at night, there was a restrained and polite knock on the door.
Chi Nan opened his eyes.
It was strange to say that the longer he stayed in the Nightmare World, the more his sleep time decreased. Recently, he was always woken up frequently at night.
Chi Nan put on his clothes and walked to the door. “Who is it? What is the matter?”
He had already guessed who was knocking on the door, but this didn’t prevent Chi Nan from asking politely.
“Can I trouble you to help me open the door? I forgot the key.” A familiar voice was heard outside the door.
Chi Nan yawned and said lazily, “Did you go to the wrong room?”
“Huh? Is that right? I saw that 211 is written outside the door.” The other person insisted with a smile.
“Is the school doctor so busy? You still have to stay at the school infirmary at night?”
“I’m not a temporary worker. I have signed an agreement with a salary and I have to stay at the school 24 hours a day.” The other person gave a reasonable sounding explanation. “The door number says 211. It is my room so I can always come in, right?”
Inside the room, Chi Nan was silent for a moment before finally opening the door.
There was light from the snow outside the window so the room wasn’t too dark. The light was ambiguous enough to just see the facial features of the other person.
However, Chi Nan always felt that 229 had a bug with his identity. Every time, he felt that the other person’s expression was blurred, as if separated by a layer of fog.
“The teacher said that you can’t change your dormitory at will.”
“That is for you students. The school doctor isn’t within the scope of the rules.”
“Please come in,” Chi Nan spoke without hesitation.
The doctor smiled briefly. “Thank you.”
Then he handed the glasses to Chi Nan. “They are fixed. You can try them.”
Chi Nan took the glasses and put them back in his pocket. “Thank you, but they aren’t mine. I won’t try them.”
After closing the door, Chi Nan and the doctor were opposite each other. The doctor naturally sat on the bed. He quietly looked at the white snow flying outside the window and neither of them spoke immediately.
For a moment, Chi Nan had the illusion that he had returned to Room 303 of the Twilight Cruise and Room 101 of Candleman Town.
It was strange. 229 had changed to a brand new appearance and identity as a doctor, but Chi Nan didn’t feel too much of a sense of violation. It was as if he and the soul under this shell had long known each other.
Everything was natural and tacit, although 229’s actions often bothered him.
Regarding 229’s identity as a dream maker, Chi Nan didn’t think that dream makers and sleepwalkers were absolutely opposites like other sleepwalkers, nor did he regard 229 as a god of death.
In his view, dream makers and sleepwalkers were the same. They each expended energy on the wishes they wanted to fulfill and helped the world to function.
“Brother Nan, I’ve always been curious about something.” The doctor very naturally leaned back on the bed and crossed his legs. “Why did you have to spend 100 favorability to come to my nightmare?”
“It is the same as you. I am curious and interested.” Chi Nan never hid his thoughts.
The doctor slightly raised an eyebrow. “What else?”
“To come and get a higher score,” Chi Nan answered concisely.
The doctor gave a low laugh. “Are you sure you can gain more points with me? Is it the nightmare of You Yu’s Dream that gave you the wrong judgment? I wanted you to regain your vision, but I don’t necessarily want you to stop crying.”
“It doesn’t matter. Gaining points requires relying on my own ability.”
Of course, he also wanted to see what type of nightmare this dream maker had built. After all, You Yu’s Dream was far from enough to know this person.
This was the first time since Chi Nan was liberated from the painting that he wanted to get to know someone…
If the dream maker was also a human…
The doctor looked over with great interest. “Still, since Brother Nan is willing to spend 100 favorability to come to me, I definitely won’t let you go home empty-handed.”
Chi Nan gazed back at him. “You borrowed my design for the death rule. Can the copyright fee be paid?”
The doctor was stunned for a moment before smiling. “As the top student with the highest credits, you will naturally receive a generous reward at the end of the semester.”
“I believe that Brother Nan will be able to survive until the end of the semester, right?”
“Hopefully.” Chi Nan turned to face the wall. “Why did you give us the regret medicine in Candleman Town?”
229 was very honest. “Human fear is magnified in three situations: the unknown, imagination, and making choices. I gave you the regret medicine to see the fear shown when making a choice. That is my job.”
“It wasn’t my nightmare, but it didn’t prevent me from doing my job,” he added.
“It turned out to be like this.” Chi Nan yawned. “I am going to sleep. I still have morning class tomorrow.”
He didn’t mind 229 sleeping in his room. The entire boarding school was open to 229.
The doctor turned around and looked at Chi Nan’s back, just like in the previous two instances. “Brother Nan, can I ask you another question?”
“Hmm.” Chi Nan’s voice was already sleepy and a bit hoarse.
“Don’t you want to redeem your wish and leave this world sooner?”
229 usually spoke softly, but he always had a sense of cynicism about him. Now he asked this question, and Chi Nan heard a rare seriousness in his tone.
Proofreader: Kat