“An echo?”
“Yes, it sounded like he was trapped inside some kind of empty, small room.” Zhang Guanxing gestured with his hands. “He told me on the phone that he was fine. He was studying in the classrooms. I thought he really must have turned over a new leaf. He used to be the first to escape from the classroom when the bell rang. But now he’d stay to revise his homework after school? No wonder his result improved so much. Hearing the normalcy in his voice, the anxiety in my heart slowly faded away. He even joked with me like usual.
“However, the concern returned when I made another call to him at 11 pm that night. The voice from his end was blurry. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was still in the classroom studying! The classrooms should have been closed by then. The lights were off, so how could he still be studying?
“I instantly realized something was wrong. I sneaked out from Room 104 and ran to Room 201. I tried knocking on the door and the bedroom door swung open easily. I looked into the room and saw there was only one student left beside the can. His head was lowered as he looked into the can with undetached attention. His expression was unusual. I did not dare to get too close so I grabbed the broom from behind the door and pushed him lightly with it. He turned around and his expression instantly turned back to normal. He smiled at me and told me to be quiet as he gestured for me to get closer to him. He told me to join him, apparently there was something interesting inside the can.
“To be honest, I was quite curious. The can appeared to have some kind of magic, and it pulled my attention. My legs moved involuntarily forward. When I snapped out of it, I was already inside Room 201. The student beside the can continued to smile at me but there was something fake about his smile like he was not the one smiling but someone was pulling his facial muscles into a smile.
“Wary of him, I didn’t get any closer. Instead, I called my friend’s name loudly but there was no reply!
“I knew then my friend was not inside the bedroom. There was no reason for me to stay inside that bedroom anymore. I couldn’t wait to leave. As I turned to exit, I took out my phone and called his number. The phone was picked up after one ring. I shouted into the phone but a moment later, two echoes of my friend’s voice appeared inside the room. One came from my phone and the other came from inside the can!
“I was stumped. When I turned back to look, I saw a pair of hands were around the neck of the student beside the can. The pale arms slowly dragged the student into the can. Blood dripped on the rim of the black can. Then the room was empty like the students were never there in the first place. My legs went out under me. At that moment, I heard my friend’s voice again, he told me to go accompany him inside the can. I had no idea how I got out from that bedroom, in any case, I won’t be going back to Room 201 ever again.”
Zhang Guanxing was clearly frightened or else he normally would not have been such a model student and answered every question Han Fei had so obediently. “Sir, can you bring me out of this hostel? Things are getting stranger and stranger around this place! I have a feeling that bad things will happen if we continue to stay here!”
After hearing Zhang Guanxing’s story, the system sounded in Han Fei’s mind.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered Grade G Hidden Mission—The Can.
“Mission Requirement: Open the can with your own hands and look inside it for 3 full minutes.
“Time-limited Mission: The Mission will automatically end one hour after it is triggered. If you have not completed the mission by then, the mission will be considered a failure.
“Warning! Yi Ming Private Academy is a unique map! The completion of each mission will increase the overall difficulty needed to clear the map!”
When Han Fei heard the mission requirement, his expression dropped. He knew looking into the can would bring tragedy but the mission demanded him to do that very exact thing. To quit the game, he had to complete at least one mission and stay for 3 hours. Therefore, Han Fei had no choice but to accept this time-limited mission for now. The moment he did so, the system continued to announce, “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered Yi Ming Private Academy’s Grade F Hidden Mission—Jin Sheng’s Tales of School Horrors.
“Jin Sheng’s Tales of School Horrors (Grade F Hidden Mission): Challenge 7 Ghost Stories inside Yi Ming Private Academy!
“Time-limited Mission: The Mission will automatically end 7 days after it is triggered. If you have not completed the mission by then, the mission will be considered a failure!
“Warning! All the missions inside a hidden map will be hidden missions, they provide extremely valuable rewards!”
Staring at the mission interface, Han Fei was shocked to have undertaken 2 missions in such a short amount of time. The Grade F mission even directly had Jin Sheng’s name on it. The mission had to be the key mission at Yi Ming Private Academy!
‘I need to challenge 7 ghost stories at this school?’
“Sir, sir, hello?!” Zhang Guanxing called him several times before Han Fei turned his attention back to the young man.
“Yes, Guanxing?” It was Zhang Guanxing who brought him two missions so he was kind towards the little ruffian.
“The name Guanxing was given to me by my parents, I have abandoned it a long time ago. Why don’t you call me Wild Hound? I prefer…”
“You’re still too young for the streets. After we leave this place, I’ll help you reassess your goals in life.” Using Soul-depth Touch, Han Fei patted Zhang Guanxing on his shoulders. He could feel fear, panic and hatred towards his father from the boy.
“You’re the teacher, I’ll listen to you.” Before the threat of unknown danger, Zhang Guanxing was as meek as a sheep. “Should we go find the hostel manager or the other teachers now?”
“We’ll head to Room 201 first, I want to take a look at that can.” Han Fei’s words immediately stupefied Zhang Guanxing. “Why? Sir, you don’t believe me?”
“It’s because I believe you that I have to go there! There are 4 of my students inside that can, you want me to abandon them and escape on our own? Is that something a teacher should do?” Han Fei grabbed Zhang Guanxing by his hand. “Let’s go.”
“I have to go with you? Wait! Sir! Let go please!”
“Shush, there are things more dangerous than the can at this building. You’re safest with me.” Han Fei warned sincerely. “I’ll worry if I leave you here on your own.”
With Zhang Guanxing in tow, they exited Room 104 and entered the left staircase. When they were close to the bathroom, Han Fei stopped temporarily. While Zhang Guanxing looked anxiously about, a shadowy snake slithered out from the bathroom and crawled up Han Fei’s body. The night was thick. Shadows flickered inside the hostel and red eyes appeared to open at the end of the corridor. Room 201 was directly next to the staircase. The door was not closed, it was left open a gap.
“How about I wait for you outside the door?”
“How do you plan to join the gang if you’re that cowardly? You disappoint the name of Wild Hound.” Han Fei dragged Zhang Guanxing into Room 201 and he closed the door. Room 201 looked normal but there was a wooden table placed in the middle of the room and on top of it sat an aged can painted black.
“Sir, don’t get too close to it, hands will come out from it!”
“You stay beside the door. And grab that broom, hit me with it if I start acting funny.”
“Okay.”
Han Fei took tentative steps towards the can. When he was about to reach the can, he turned back to tell Zhang Guanxing, “If I do not respond to the broom, or I was captured by the ghost and pulled into the call, then do not hesitate and run back to Room 104 to hide. Do not wander about aimlessly.” After giving the last advice, Han Fei had Xu Qin’s pet curl around his arm while he reached over to flip open the can’s lid.
