Chapter 17: Terrifying Discovery

The two of them ran as fast as they could, with a twisted ghostly figure chasing after them. However, due to the ghost's lack of coordination, it was left behind by Zhao Yi's lead and the two of them were soon out of sight.

"Why didn't you use this thing earlier if it's so powerful?" asked Yang Linlin, panting and clutching her teddy bear.

"It takes a long time to cool down," replied Zhao Yi.

"And why are you holding your chest like that?" asked Yang Linlin, giving him a glare.

"I'm sorry, it was a special circumstance. Do you want me to help you massage it?" teased Zhao Yi.

"Get lost!" retorted Yang Linlin.

Women are truly strange creatures, thought Zhao Yi to himself. He had tried to help her, but she had told him to leave.

The computer room was located in another building, and they still had three hours until morning reading. They decided to try their luck in the computer room again. Who knows, maybe they could find something useful?

"By the way, where did you get that shotgun?" asked Zhao Yi.

"I went on a wilderness survival expedition in the last game, and I was worried that I might need it again, so I bought a lot of guns, knives, tents, firewood, ropes, fishing lines, sunscreen, waterproof blankets..." replied Yang Linlin, boasting about her preparedness.

Zhao Yi looked at her inventory, impressed. "I didn't expect you to be so well-prepared. Thanks to you, we have a gun now. Otherwise, we would've had to climb out the window, and we might've had to leave someone behind."

As he complimented her, Yang Linlin felt happy and raised her delicate chin, saying, "Of course! I'm not a newbie!"

She then took out a shotgun from her inventory and handed it to Zhao Yi, saying, "Here you go. As we'll be unlocking the domain system soon, using the shotgun now will also increase your proficiency in firearms."

Zhao Yi took the shotgun from Yang Linlin, thanking her. It wasn't an ordinary shotgun from the outside world; it was an item he had exchanged for in the game store. Although it didn't do much damage to ghosts, it could stun them and had good noise-cancelling effects. For newcomers, it was a precious item.

On the live streaming platform:

"Crusher is selling for 2000 points in the store, and my goddess just gave it away?"

"What the hell! Is Yang Linlin falling for that psychopath Zhao Yi? I'm unfollowing her!"

"Zhao Yi saved her twice, and regardless of personal likes and dislikes, it's only right to give a return gift."

"Wuwuwu, my goddess...my goddess...but it's okay, I'll still like you!"

"Stop trying so hard, dude!"

...

They found the computer room and Zhao Yi fired a shot at the lock, which broke open. The computer rooms in universities were rarely used, with students usually going in to play games instead of studying. However, they were almost essential facilities in universities that applied for special projects.

You might not know how to use them, but you must have them.

Yang Linlin kept watch while Zhao Yi used the school's network to search for information on Chen Qiong.

"How's it going?" asked Yang Linlin, unable to resist asking as she saw Zhao Yi frantically typing away.

"The other party has a lot of power and has even cleared away all the information online!" replied Zhao Yi.

"But it doesn't matter, I can access the 'Black Sea' to search for information."

"Yang Linlin was at a loss.

"'Black Sea, what is that?'

"'It's the internet's garbage dump.'

"Zhao Yi explained:

"'Usually, information on the internet is never completely deleted. When data is cleaned up, the code is dumped into the Black Sea.'

"'But getting the key to enter the Black Sea is tricky. It requires real-time compilation, trial and error, modification, and then logging in.'

"He didn't explain, but once he did, Yang Linlin was left dumbfounded.

"'Were you a hacker before? Why do you know so much?'"

"Zhao Yi looked serious.

"'No, I'm a psychiatrist.'

"'I used to have a patient, who was a hacker and suffered from severe delusions. He used to tell me every day that he could inject his spirit into the internet and roam in the boundless ocean of code...'"

"Yang Linlin rolled her eyes.

"'You believe in mental illness too?'"

"Zhao Yi continued:

"'At first, he was just wandering around in the virtual world, but after a period of treatment, we could finally play together inside.'"

"Yang Linlin: '???'

"Live chat barrage:

": Haha, so it turns out you were the one 'treated'!"

": I said this person must have some mental issues. Could it be that he got infected from being around mental patients for too long?"

": Haven't you seen his profile? Zhao Yi must be joking, he has treated over a thousand severely mentally ill patients!"

": I was a medical student back then. Even though I'm not a psychology major, the name 'Forgotten Angel' is really famous in the field of psychiatry!"

"..."

"'What happened later?'

"'After that, only I was left inside.'"

"'Why?'

"'Because I cured his delusional disorder.'"

"Yang Linlin rolled her eyes.

"'So you're saying you also have delusional disorder?'"

"Zhao Yi successfully logged into the Black Sea and snapped his fingers!

"'Delusional disorder?'

"'No, this is not delusional disorder.'

"'My spirit really can communicate with data.'"

"Upon hearing this, Yang Linlin burst into laughter, thinking Zhao Yi was just teasing her and didn't think much of it.

"But if Yang Linlin had walked around to the front of the computer, she would have been horrified to find out... Zhao Yi's computer hadn't opened any programs at all!

"The keyboard wasn't even plugged into the computer.

"'Found it.'

"Zhao Yi squinted, staring at the computer screen intently.

"The light and shadow fell on his face, leaving some shadows.

"'Chen Qiong's mother had an accident due to a dispute with the homeroom teacher of Class 18 of Shishan School, fell from the third-floor corridor, and died on August 13, 3032.'

"'Cause of death: severe brain damage.'

"'A week later, Chen Qiong sneaked into the school, wielding a kitchen knife, and split his homeroom teacher Liang Ming's head in half with one stroke, then escaped from the school.'

"'Since then, Chen Qiong completely vanished from the world... and the teachers and students of Shishan School began to mysteriously disappear one after another within a month...'"

"During this period, a city dispatched a large number of police officers to search Shishan School, but to no avail..."

"Zhao Yi's narrative left Yang Linlin stunned.

"'August 13, 3032... A week later is August 20, and another month is... September 20, 3032!'"

"'Isn't that... the day our main mission ends?'"

"Yang Linlin suddenly woke up, as if she had discovered an important clue!

"In the daytime, she saw an electronic calendar below the classroom's big clock.

"The date marked on it was in 3032!

"In other words...

"They had returned to...

"The past timeline!

"Back to the last seven days of the curse!"

"No wonder... the seating arrangement on that class register... was only arranged up to September 19!"

"Zhao Yi, your speculation is correct!"

"On September 20th, everyone... will die!"