Wei Liang's words were more chilling than the breath drifting from the stairwell, and Lin Yi found his hands trembling even more violently.
"Old Lin, the regulations for the Teaching Building state that it has and only has four floors, without a basement or additional floors..."
Wei Liang, gripping Lin Yi's hand, shook his head, indicating that he should not enter the stairwell, his eyes filled with pleading and fear.
Lin Yi hesitated, but the image of the Teaching Building he had just seen surfaced in his mind—the visible number of floors was at least seven!
"The Teaching Building only has four floors? But I clearly saw at least seven floors!"
Lin Yi was confused; he looked again at the stairwell entrance before him.
Behind this isolated fire door seemed to be another world, with dim lighting guiding the path to hell, and the pitch-black tunnel echoed with intermittent wind sounds, like a call from another world.
Just as he was hesitant about whether the stairwell existed or how many floors the Teaching Building should have, a feeling of exhaustion and weakness quietly rose from his heart.
At first, he did not notice anything unusual, but soon he realized that the entrance to the stairs seemed to be distorted by some force, and the ground beneath his feet also began to show some irregular twists...
It seemed he was hallucinating, as something was assaulting his cognition of the Teaching Building.
This indescribable terror was gradually twisting his will and cognition, as if it wanted to swallow him.
At the critical moment, a hand rested on his shoulder, and Tian Bufan's resolute voice rang in his ear, "The stairwell truly exists."
That statement was decisive, shattering his hesitation.
Lin Yi, holding his forehead, took several deep breaths, and the weak and exhausted feeling in his heart gradually dissipated, the previously distorted Teaching Building seeming to return to normal.
The preceding scenes were like a ridiculous hallucination.
"To abide by the rules, to understand the rules, that is what a qualified player should do," Tian Bufan said, stroking his nose, looking toward the abyss-like entrance to the stairwell, "First, we can be sure that this campus is very abnormal."
"Furthermore, from everything that has happened since we entered the school, following the Student Rules, or rather, following the part of the rules that should be followed, is the key to ensuring our safety in this survival game."
Tian Bufan glanced at Wei Liang.
"Now it seems, in addition to the Student Rules, there are more rules... "
"This is really interesting! It's getting more and more interesting!"
"What do you say, shall we go together?" Tian Bufan looked at Lin Yi, excitement flowing through his calm eyes.
Lin Yi looked at Wei Liang, gently placing his hand on Wei Liang's arm.
"Liangzi, the most important thing now is to get the Student ID, otherwise we won't even meet the premise to follow the rules."
Wei Liang's face showed a look of pain; his gaze moved back and forth between Lin Yi and the stairwell, his eyes filled with struggle.
In the end, he shook his head helplessly with a bitter smile.
"Ah... although I've been here once, it seems I have no other choice now but to cling to your coattails!"
After saying that, he closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, adjusted his mood, tried to calm himself, and then said, "Let's go."
Seeing this, Tian Bufan nodded and took the lead into the stairwell.
Lin Yi glanced at his wristwatch.
19:45.
He silently noted the time in his mind and followed Tian Bufan's steps.
The rest followed closely behind.
...
May 6, X023, 19:47.
Teaching Building, in the stairwell to the basement.
Having descended the stairs for two minutes, Lin Yi still hadn't seen the exit of the staircase.
He looked back at the stairs he had passed, and then at the stairs beneath him, the spiral staircase in his view resembled a Fibonacci sequence diagram, and they were just a tiny point within it.
Although it was just a narrow stairwell, after walking for a while, Lin Yi found the stairwell seemingly expanding, giving him a strange illusion that the world was being stretched.
After walking for some more time, Tian Bufan suddenly stopped in his tracks, pensive, then asked, "What time is it now?"
Lin Yi looked at his watch: "19:52."
"What about when we came in?"
"19:45."
"Almost ten minutes and we still can't get down to a basement?" Tian Bufan frowned, "Shouldn't be, right?"
"What do you mean... which part has gone wrong?"
Tian Bufan shook his head.
"No, nothing's wrong, but that exactly is the biggest problem."
"That's like saying nothing at all!" Wei Shan showed some irritation, "I just want to know how we can leave this place?"
Kuai Hongji crossed his arms in front of his chest, descending the stairs leisurely, ominously said, "I don't mind, it's quite cool here."
Wei Shan glared at Kuai Hongji, sarcastically said, "Yin Bi loves chilly things, might as well bury you here!"
Kuai Hongji smiled, looked to Tian Bufan and said, "Young Master Tian, better think of a way to get out soon before someone blows a fuse again!"
"Hmph—" Wei Shan suddenly charged at Kuai Hongji, grabbed his collar in one hand, and slammed him against the wall with a "thud."
Kuai Hongji, his neck being squeezed, his complexion turned somewhat reddish, but he managed to laugh it out, his eyes unapologetically full of provocation, "No strength at all, didn't you eat?"
"Stop it!" Lin Yi walked over, pried Wei Shan's hand away, while patting Kuai Hongji on the shoulder, lowered his voice, "If you have something to say, wait until we're out of here!"