"Su Ming’an, are you Su Ming’an?" a female student with freckles on her face asked in a low voice; it was clear that she was a player.
Because of the role-playing rule, the appearance of a player and the character they played differed, so to others, Su Ming’an just looked like an ordinary male student.
A few other players simultaneously looked over, their gazes filled with both expectancy and caution.
"Yes, I am," Su Ming’an replied, twirling a pen. He had never considered concealing his identity.
"Really... really?" Easily getting the answer, the players became somewhat uncertain. They exchanged glances with each other, unsure of what to think.
Just then, Shen Xue suddenly stood up. She somewhat protectively blocked the view of several female students and spoke in a gentle and soft voice, "Do you have any issues, classmates? Su Jian still needs to prepare and perfect his composition. If you have any questions about the topic, you can ask me."
Her voice was delicate, her stance somewhat forcible. When she saw the players look over, her finely shaped eyebrows visibly furrowed, seeming reluctant to let anyone come over and ask questions of Su Ming’an.
...Shen Xue should also be an NPC.
Su Ming’an thought; otherwise, she would not have had no reaction to the name "Su Ming’an" and still referred to him as "Su Jian."
At this moment, Wang Xingkong also stood up and came over, saying, "You, you really are Su Ming’an, thank you, you just saved me."
If it wasn’t for Su Ming’an speaking up just now, he might have died due to violating some teacher-imposed taboo.
However, as a result, letting the other party’s essay be read aloud by the whole class and going to the teacher’s office fraught with unknown dangers made Wang Xingkong feel somewhat guilty.
"It’s nothing." Su Ming’an passed his essay paper to him, "The essay is very positive and uplifting."
Wang Xingkong’s face turned red, feeling the awkwardness of coming from a cultural desert. He wanted to explain that he hadn’t written an essay in a long time but just then, someone walked into the classroom from the door.
A clear male voice came from the doorway. A tall male student parted the crowd and came over, his shoulder directly adorned with a vivid green mantis, startling some female students into screaming and jumping back in fright.
"Lv Shu?" Su Ming’an found it to be quite the coincidence. Out of three million instances, Lv Shu happened to be in the same one as him.
"I used a prop bought from the auction house; it guarantees that I end up in the same instance as you as long as I input your personal number," Lv Shu said. "Although the prop was expensive, the person tracking you doesn’t need your consent nor to form a team with you. Thus, some people with a grudge against you might stealthily come over . Be careful." Suddenly, he bent down and whispered in Su Ming’an’s ear:
"...When do you plan to go public?"
Su Ming’an knew he was talking about that screen recording.
If he made public the recording where Edward and his group threatened him, saying they would replace him, right in front of everyone, he would have an absolute advantage in public opinion.
Lv Shu looked at him, "Seize the opportunity."
Although Lv Shu had received a response, he felt that something was off about Su Ming’an’s current state.
"...Can your Cloning resurrect yet?" Lv Shu asked quietly.
"I’m still one Occupation Point short," Su Ming’an replied. He currently had 4 Occupation Points and needed one more to resurrect his Cloning.
"Be careful." Lv Shu wanted to offer more advice but suddenly felt himself being forcefully pushed away.
Shen Xue stood upright, fixing her gaze on him. Her expression was indifferent, but the sense of danger in her eyes made Lv Shu feel a bit startled.
Lv Shu furrowed his brows. He felt that this NPC girl was a bit strange... it seemed to exceed the scope of jealousy.
And at that moment, the bell for class rang.
"Be careful," Lv Shu cautioned with a glance at Shen Xue next to Su Ming’an before he turned back to his own classroom.
The other players dispersed reluctantly.
As the bell rang out, the music teacher entered from the door.
It was a male in his thirties, but the moment he stepped in, Su Ming’an felt something was off.
... His stride was excessively precise, his footsteps nearly silent, and his movements hinted at martial training.
Most importantly, at the music teacher’s waist... he spotted a glaring gun.
"Ahem." The music teacher walked up to the podium and scratched his head: "Let’s start singing now... uh."
He seemed stuck in place, his lips moving a few times without making a sound.
It was as if he was struggling with himself, staring at the musical notation for a while before suddenly lifting his head:
"Forget it, we’re not singing the songs from the book today." The music teacher scratched his head and said, "Let’s sing some old songs instead, I’m quite good at those... like ’Returning from the Shooting Range,’ ’Unity is Strength!’ Military songs, any will do! Whichever one you want to sing, I’ll teach you all!"
The players sitting in the classroom looked at each other in bewilderment.
... A player. Su Ming’an understood.
The man’s real identity was likely a soldier.
"Teacher." He noticed a female classmate next to him raise her hand, ponytailed and quite pretty, who bore an extreme resemblance to Shen Xue, bringing the concept of "twin sisters" to Su Ming’an’s mind.
The moment their eyes met, he was struck by a numbing sensation in his heart, as if he had exchanged glances with her numerous times before.
"Teacher, I remember that at the beginning of each class, it’s the music class representative who reviews the previous pieces, right?" the girl said. "I can review the pieces for everyone."
Su Ming’an realized her identity, after all, if she had been a player, she wouldn’t have known this.
The girl began to lead the class in song with her soft, pleasant voice flowing like a gentle stream, until the teachers who were players simply found chairs to sit down, allowing her to take charge of the lesson.
At the end of the music class, the teacher seemed to receive a message and announced:
"The day after tomorrow, we are arranging a dress rehearsal for ’Alice in Wonderland.’ The roles have been assigned; everyone just needs to gather together in the auditorium." The music teacher scratched his head again and left as the dismissal bell rang out.
Traditionally, the class representative should write the homework on the board, but players had entered the game only at noon and had no idea what classes they had in the morning, let alone the homework. But the girl, as if anticipating this, volunteered with "Let me write it for you," and then neatly copied the homework requirements on the board.
... Too understanding, almost to a fault.
Su Ming’an kept his attention on her until Shen Xue’s voice came from beside him:
"You’re always looking at Shen Yue." Her somewhat stiff eyes fixed on Su Ming’an; the action of organizing her pencil case automatically ceased as she spoke in a low voice with a smile, a complicated emotion swirling in her eyes. But soon that sense of danger faded away, like a playful tease: "My sister is indeed very pretty... Do you need me to be your go-between?"
Was she indeed Shen Xue’s twin?
Su Ming’an paused for a moment then shook his head: "I just think she is very considerate."
He diverted his gaze, simultaneously noticing Shen Xue’s eyes suddenly grow cold beside him.
As if completely sedimenting the darkness within.
[World Game · Remaining Players: 319,837,211]