“Ding-a-ling—”
It was time for the lunch break between classes.
Hua Huai quickened her pace, swiftly crossing the iron gate and entering the corridor.
She had made it inside, and the gate hadn’t closed.
At least, for now, the Anomaly showed no intention of attacking her.
The most likely reason was that she hadn’t triggered the Anomaly’s killing rule.
She jogged downstairs. It was getting late.
There might be classes in the afternoon, and if she didn’t want to go hungry, she had to get something to eat now.
At the cafeteria, Hua Huai went to the serving counter to get her meal.
Unfortunately, the counter was a little too high, so she had to stand on tiptoe to see what was inside.
Compared to yesterday, today’s dishes actually looked edible. They were just a little too vegetarian; there was hardly any meat.
The only meat dish was probably the steamed egg.
Just as she was about to speak, a meal was placed in front of her.
She had no choice.
Fine. She’d make do.
She didn’t want to get beaten up by the Instructor and those students over something like food.
After all, Gan Hong’s death that morning was still fresh in her mind.
In this instance, the most important thing was not to get hurt.
An injury would affect her stamina, making it impossible to complete the missions that followed and leading to even more inhumane treatment.
She turned with her meal in hand and happened to see all the Players except Tan Tai entering the cafeteria. They came face-to-face.
They saw her, but didn’t greet her.
In their eyes, she was as good as dead.
It was only natural that they couldn’t be bothered to greet her.
Hua Huai didn’t greet them either. She sat down and quietly ate the food in front of her.
The rice was dry and a little undercooked, making it hard to swallow.
The greens weren’t yellow anymore, but they still hadn’t been washed properly. After seeing so many green caterpillars, she was used to them.
Without a word, she used the back of her chopsticks to remove the caterpillar and set it in the corner of her tray.
Truthfully, she was quite scared. What if the Instructor thought the caterpillar was food too and forced her to eat it by pressing her head down?
She furtively glanced around. There was no Instructor here, though plenty of students were around.
From the words carved inside the meditation room, she knew that some of these students would report to the Instructor.
So she acted very cautiously, keeping her movements small.
Xiang Lu, Sun Sui, and the others sat not far away after getting their meals. They, too, feared the consequences of “picking out” food.
After hesitating, they didn’t pick out the green caterpillars in their dishes. Instead, they chose to eat them.
Hua Huai’s face nearly crumpled. She couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
After carefully finishing the food in front of her, she prepared to take her tray to the return counter.
That was what the students here did, she thought. She should do the same.
But before she could set it down, a Player blocked her way.
What was that Player’s name again? Zhang Mingxuan, she thought.
He said maliciously, “Didn’t you finish your food? You can’t be picky.”
Was he talking about the green caterpillar she’d picked out?
Had he seen it?
At the sound of his voice, all the students in the cafeteria turned their eyes to Hua Huai, as if they wanted to stare a hole through her.
It felt like a thousand needles pricking her back.
They were both Players. Why was he so malicious toward her?
The other Players, Xiang Lu and Sun Sui, watched indifferently, making no move to help her.
It wasn’t enough to leave her to fend for herself; they wanted to give her a push toward the edge.
Hua Huai felt deeply aggrieved. She glared at Zhang Mingxuan and said, “I finished everything. I wasn’t picky.”
Zhang Mingxuan wouldn’t let it go. “Then put your tray down and let everyone see if you really finished everything.”
Hua Huai refused to do as he wished. “Why should I listen to you?”
Zhang Mingxuan suddenly reached for it. “Then don’t blame me for taking it!”
Hua Huai knew she couldn’t wrestle it away from him, so she simply let go.
The tray landed in Zhang Mingxuan’s hands. It was completely clean; there was nothing on it.
He blurted out in disbelief, “How is that possible? I saw you put the green caterpillar in the corner with my own eyes.”
But he had no proof. Hua Huai felt utterly wronged. “You must have seen wrong.”
“Please give me my tray back. I need to take it to the return counter.”
No matter how unwilling Zhang Mingxuan was, he had nowhere to vent his frustration.
All he could do was return the tray to Hua Huai and let her take it to the return counter.
Hua Huai left the cafeteria and walked along a secluded path lined with thick shrubs.
Suddenly, a branch trembled slightly. A shriveled little green caterpillar hung from a leaf, blending into the grass and the surrounding scenery.
In the afternoon, the Instructor ordered all the Players to do three hours of military stance training.
They had to stand beneath the blazing sun without speaking or moving, or they would be whipped.
Most of the Players managed to endure it at first. Only Tan Tai seemed to be struggling badly.
He had been struck three times with a Riding Crop and doused with a bucket of cold water. He hadn’t recited the passage in class, so he hadn’t been given lunch either.
He had already been cold and hungry. Now he was alternating between hot and cold, so hungry that his lips had turned white and his face was completely bloodless.
Since he couldn’t move, liquid trickled from beneath his nose all the way to his mouth.
This Instance had nearly stripped him of his humanity.
However, everyone was looking straight ahead, so no one saw how wretched he looked.
An hour passed, and everyone gritted their teeth and held on.
Hua Huai was in poor shape. The effects of not sleeping at all last night were catching up with her. She was drowsy, and her mind was foggy.
The rice at the cafeteria had been undercooked, and her stomach was bothering her too.
She looked up. The Instructor sat in the shade some distance away, drinking an iced beverage and eating a fresh fruit salad.
How relaxing.
It was a stark contrast to the Players’ predicament.
It was also pushing their endurance to the limit.
“Gulp—”
The sound of people swallowing filled the air.
But no one broke the rules. Even Tan Tai managed to tough it out.
No one broke the rules before the military stance training ended.
The Instructor gave them an Anomalous smile. “I didn’t expect you to be in such good shape. Looks like I’ll have to make things harder tomorrow.”
The Players were stunned.
What?!
Even if no one broke the rules, the Instructor would still increase the difficulty on his own.
“How about adding another hour of military stance training?”
It was phrased as a question, but there was no hint of uncertainty in his voice.
There was no room for objection.
For every day that no one broke the rules, an hour would be added to the training.
If no one ever broke the rules, then on the seventh day of the survive for seven days Mission, the military stance training could last as long as eight hours.
After the Instructor left, the Players didn’t disperse.
Xiang Lu looked grim as she spoke. “The instance mission is to survive for seven days. It sounds simple, but in practice, it’s almost impossible to complete.”
“If we don’t break the rules, the Instructor will make the training harder, increasing the chances that we will. But if we do break the rules, we’ll get injured, and then the morning run, Recitation, and military stance training will all become major problems.”
Their eyes turned to Tan Tai. He was nearly on the verge of collapse.
Xiang Lu continued, “I doubt he’ll even make it through tomorrow. For him, this instance has at least reached Hell difficulty.”
Following her gaze, Sun Sui frowned. “Are you saying we’re all going to die?”
Xiang Lu shook her head. “Of course not. No Instance is designed to be unwinnable.”
“What I mean is that listening to the Instructor isn’t our only option. We’re adults, not actual students at this school.”
“Our thinking is too limited. Maybe we should step outside the role of students to find the answer.”