manynovel Chapter 56 Stop at red lights, go at green lights
Chapter 56 Stop at red lights, go at green lights
The two roommates, shocked by Apler's pale face and extreme fear, followed him into the hallway with mixed feelings of horror and doubt.
The giant snail with a human face had already crawled out of the toilet door, leaving a wide, sticky trail on the corridor floor in the dim, flickering light.
Just then—
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Two figures dressed in black uniforms, moving with ghostly speed, appeared out of nowhere.
They were two school workers, but their faces were eerily shrouded in a blurry shadow, making it impossible to see any facial features.
One of the school workers was holding a long iron pole with a sharp hook at the top.
Without the slightest hesitation, the school worker deftly raised the iron hook and precisely pierced the snail with the human face—or rather, pierced Thomas's soft, sticky flesh!
With a muffled "plop," the snail (Thomas)'s body trembled violently, and a look of extreme pain seemed to flash across its human face, but it couldn't utter a sound.
Then, the school janitor roughly dragged the snail into the darkness of the corridor stairwell as if it were a piece of lifeless trash.
Another school worker followed silently behind.
On the ground, only a wide, long, sticky, and dirty drag mark remained.
Aple and his two other roommates, who witnessed the whole thing, collapsed to the ground, pale-faced, their teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Extreme cold enveloped them; it was a chill that seeped from the depths of their souls.
........................
After a brief, deathly silence, the live stream chat exploded:
"Holy crap!!!! I feel like my soul has been struck a critical hit!!"
"I'm throwing up! It's like Junji Ito has possessed me! This is mental pollution!"
"The iron hook...it pierced through...that must have hurt so much!! (dizziness)"
"No...no, it can't really be like what's written on the partition, they were dragged to the cafeteria and cooked into food, right?!"
"Stop talking! I think I thought the baked snails were pretty good yesterday! (Spits out emojis)"
........................
About five minutes later, almost all the psychology freshmen's phones vibrated at the same time.
[The Elite School of Social Sciences, Class of 25 Psychology Freshmen Group (currently muted)]
Administrator Su Wan posted a group announcement:
[Announcement]
[Thomas (student ID 25041407), the chosen one of Raccoon Kingdom, seriously violated Article 3 of the "Dormitory Management Regulations" by reading the text on the door panel in the dormitory building's public restroom at 21:17 tonight, causing an extremely negative impact.]
[Following a review by the school administration, this individual has been removed from the school as a deterrent.]
We urge all students to take this as a warning and strictly abide by school rules and regulations.
Inside room 404, Lin Feng stared intently at the announcement on his phone screen.
Park Bu-sung touched the towel that had covered his eyes with lingering fear.
Wasim and Sato Ichiro exchanged a silent glance, both seeing deep apprehension in each other's eyes.
........................
As night deepened, there were less than twenty minutes left before lights out at 23 p.m.
The atmosphere in room 404 was heavy.
The four sat around in the center of the dormitory room, each holding a strip of pills they had taken from their respective drawers.
One board is blue, and the other board is red.
[Dormitory Rule 7: Every night before bed, please take one of the blue pills found in your desk drawer. If you notice your nasolabial folds are unusually deep in the mirror in the morning, please immediately take one of the red pills.]
"Is this medicine... really safe to take?" Park Bu-sung asked, holding a blue pill in his hand, his eyes filled with doubt.
Wasim crossed his arms, his brow furrowed; the detective's caution led him to suspicion.
"There might be a trap in the rules. I suggest we choose one person to take half a pill first and observe the reaction."
"If there is a problem, the impact can be kept to a minimum."
"No, no! That's too risky!" Park Bu-sung waved his hands repeatedly. "How about... we try finding a mouse or an insect instead?"
Sato Ichiro unconsciously tapped his arm with his fingertips as he retorted:
"There's not enough time... Besides, animals' reactions aren't necessarily the same as humans', so they can't be used as a reference at all."
Lin Feng remained silent, quickly weighing the pros and cons of various methods.
The risks of personally testing drugs are unknown, and waiting and observing may cause you to miss the protection period of the rules, or violate the mandatory clause of "must take".
Just as the discussion reached a stalemate—
"Ring ring—!"
The shrill ring of the telephone suddenly rang out in the quiet dormitory, startling everyone.
Wasim, who was closest to the phone, exchanged a glance with Lin Feng. After the latter nodded slightly, he took a deep breath and pressed the speakerphone button.
"Hello, this is Su Wan." A familiar voice came through the receiver, but it carried a hint of urgency.
"Listen, time is running out." Su Wan's voice was quick and low. "You haven't forgotten rule number seven of the dormitory rules, have you? You must take the blue pill before going to bed!"
Lin Feng's eyes narrowed as he keenly noticed the unusual emphasis in her words.
On the other end of the phone, Su Wan paused, as if she was carefully choosing her words.
Then, she lowered her voice even further and spoke faster, as if afraid of being overheard:
"By the way, you must be careful when crossing the street."
"There have been so many accidents in the news lately. Remember, stop at red lights and go at green lights!"
Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat; this was definitely not just an ordinary reminder.
After a moment's hesitation, he leaned closer to the phone and asked in as natural a tone as possible:
"Counselor Su, thank you for reminding me. Also, I wanted to confirm if the book you found for me in the dorm earlier was 'Cognitive Psychology'? I can't seem to find it."
"It's not 'Cognitive Psychology,' it's 'Social Psychology,'" Su Wan replied without hesitation. "Look carefully; I left it on your desk."
Lin Feng knew perfectly well that this Su Wan was still the same Su Wan as before, and could be trusted.
Before the echo of the phone call had even faded, Lin Feng immediately turned to his roommate:
"We're trapped on campus and can't get out at all. What Counselor Su said about encountering traffic lights when crossing the street is completely irrelevant to us!"
"So, I think she was implying that we should never take the red pill, even if we find our nasolabial folds are deeper the next morning. And the blue pill must be taken before going to bed."
The three nodded in agreement.
Without hesitation, Wasim took out a blue pill, drank some water, and swallowed it.
He slammed the empty water glass on the table, his gaze sweeping over his three companions:
"Wait a moment, let me see your reaction."
Time crawled slowly in the silence, and everyone's eyes were focused on Wasim, watching for the most subtle changes in his expression.
At 22:57 PM, after carefully assessing his physical condition, he finally spoke to confirm:
"I don't feel anything unusual. Time is running out, so you should take it quickly."
The three immediately took the pills and quickly climbed into their respective beds.
At exactly 23:00 PM, the lights in the dormitory room went out with a "snap," plunging room 404 into darkness and silence...
P.S.: There will be another chapter this afternoon.