Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - Chapter 264

Chapter 264

Gray Crystal Ore was the origin of this remote town’s tragedy, and at the same time, the economic lifeline that had supported Gray Mist Town’s development.

It was precisely because the Gray Crystal Ore business had flourished that the town’s tax revenue became abundant, allowing Gray Crystal University, a public university, to be established.

It was both disaster and wealth.

Gu Huaiwei followed the other Trial-taker participants through the school gates.

Ou Doudou, his face bruised and swollen, squeezed fearfully into the middle of the crowd. He wanted to get closer to Gu Huaiwei, but Lin She was behind her, radiating a cold, sinister aura that made him too afraid to say much to her.

Thick fog shrouded the black arched gate.

On the sports field, the upperclassmen welcoming the new students wore especially indifferent expressions. They held signs, their eyes as hollow as marionettes.

Everyone’s phones received text messages at the same time with their class and dorm assignments.

The Trial-taker participants needed to find the corresponding upperclassmen welcoming new students, then follow them to report to their new classes.

Fang Zhao glanced at Bai Yuzhen and said, “School of Medicine, Nursing Program, Class 6. The two of us have been assigned to the same class.”

“School of Medicine, Nursing Program… It probably has something to do with Mist Lung Disease.” Bai Yuzhen looked at the words “School of Medicine” with a bad feeling.

Zhang Guoqing, Zhang Wenwu, and Ou Doudou were assigned to School of Chemistry, Applied Chemistry Program, Class 9.

Bai Yuzhen wanted to draw Gu Huaiwei over, so she spoke first. “Shopkeeper Gu, I’m the only girl on this team this time. Why don’t you come with me? We can stay in the girls’ dorm together.”

Gu Huaiwei nodded. “Sure. But I have to stay with Lin She. He’s male, so it might be a little inconvenient.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.” Even if Bai Yuzhen stayed in the girls’ dorm, she would be on full alert and wouldn’t dare let down her guard for even a second. She preferred having Gu Huaiwei by her side. Everything else was trivial to her.

Lin She turned his head slightly.

He did not particularly like being in a small, enclosed space with strangers.

Because their classes were different, the two groups had to split up.

Ou Doudou looked like he was about to cry. “Do we really have to split up? In horror movies, splitting up never ends well!”

If he hadn’t been afraid of Lin She’s gloomy, man-eating stare, Ou Doudou would have rushed over, latched onto Gu Huaiwei’s leg, and refused to let go.

Zhang Wenwu only had one arm left. His muscles bulged as he locked that arm around Ou Doudou’s shoulders and said with some disdain, “You’re a grown man. What are you scared of? We only just came through the gate! Right now, we’re being divided into classes. There’s no way for us to move together. If you run after them, that would be the real danger.”

Ou Doudou was especially spineless. He shrank his neck and said, “Then at least let Shopkeeper Gu come with us. With her around, we’ll be safer.”

Zhang Wenwu frowned, despising him even more. “Shopkeeper Gu already said she won’t guarantee our personal safety. You were so quick to collect Lifespan, so why are you getting all clingy after entering the Instance? Are you that afraid to die?”

“I… I… I’m doing this for everyone’s personal safety, aren’t I?” Ou Doudou had long since gotten used to living off others. Asking him to stand on his own was simply impossible.

“If you’re doing it for the team, then hurry up and find the corresponding class, then figure out the Rules. Stop whining here. Look, they’ve already left.”

Zhang Wenwu pointed at Gu Huaiwei and the others, who were already walking away.

Only then did Ou Doudou finally give up.

“School of Medicine, Nursing Program, Class 6…” Gu Huaiwei looked at the row of grayish-pale upperclasswomen holding signs on the sports field, but she couldn’t find the matching sign.

These upperclasswomen looked like copies of one another. When Gu Huaiwei tried to speak to them, they gave no response. Their faces were caked in thick powder, their lips bloodless, and all they did was stare straight ahead.

Bai Yuzhen also noticed something strange about the signs. A little nervous, she said, “Everything written on them is Class 9.”
Gu Huaiwei shrugged. “The numbers on the signs are nailed on. Turn a 6 upside down, and isn’t it a 9?”

This was obviously a trap the Anomaly had laid for the Trial-taker.

“Then how are we supposed to tell?” Bai Yuzhen asked, her head starting to ache.

They had yet to find any Rules, so she didn’t dare act rashly.

Gu Huaiwei held out a hand to her. “Let me see your phones.”

Bai Yuzhen immediately handed hers over.

Gu Huaiwei saw that they had already joined the class group chat.

In the chat, the academic advisor had posted a very blurry photo of the Class 6 sign, along with a photo of the corresponding senior guide.

The senior in the photo looked youthful and full of life, with a stylish hairstyle. She was completely different from the row of deathly still seniors before them, who looked as if they had been copied and pasted.

The key wasn’t the sign. It was the senior guide.

Gu Huaiwei held the phone and used her index finger to zoom in on the photo of the senior. Her voice was low and calm. “We need to find the person in this photo.”

Bai Yuzhen leaned closer to look, tension in her eyes. “I observed them earlier. These Anomaly have such thick makeup on their faces that there’s no way to tell them apart.”

“Look at their shadows. Their shadows are different.” Gu Huaiwei lifted her head, her gaze sweeping over the rows of seniors who stood there like lifeless clones. “There was sunlight on the sports field in the photo. Use your flashlight on these seniors, then distinguish them by their shadows.”

Bai Yuzhen clapped her hands together. “Good idea!”

Fang Zhao immediately turned on the flashlight on his phone.

Phone battery was limited.

Each of them only had 15% battery.

They didn’t have chargers.

Once their phones ran out of battery, they would no longer be able to receive information from the class group chat.

In an Instance, that was fatal.

Gu Huaiwei’s phone was at full battery. As she spoke, she walked closer to the seniors, the light from her phone falling on the shadows behind them.

Their shadows were all vivid and alive.

Gu Huaiwei stopped in front of one senior and asked, “Is this the gathering point for Class 6 of Nursing Major?”

The senior gave no response. Her gaze remained blank and dull.

Seeing that Gu Huaiwei had found the correct senior, Fang Zhao and Bai Yuzhen immediately turned off their phone flashlights and ran over.

The flashlight function drained too much power.

They couldn’t afford to use even a bit of it.

There was an extremely thin line of blood at the corner of the senior guide’s lips, as if it had just been torn open, but that face remained completely motionless.

Gu Huaiwei was not a Trial-taker, so the senior guide would not respond to her.

“It won’t work if I ask. You have to ask her.”

Fang Zhao stepped in front of Bai Yuzhen and said to the senior, “Please take us to Class 6’s gathering point.”

Bai Yuzhen sensed the Class Monitor’s care for her, and a trace of warmth stirred in her heart.

The senior mechanically turned around and walked forward.

The other seniors around them remained stiffly standing in place.

Gu Huaiwei could clearly feel that as they left, the remaining seniors’ hateful gazes followed them closely.

The four of them followed behind the senior.

The lights in the Corridor flickered on and off. Beside their ears came the faint sound of several pairs of shoes scraping against the floor.

The teaching building was deathly quiet. Every classroom was packed with students, and all of them had their heads twisted around, staring in unison out into the Corridor beyond the windows.

Suddenly, the senior ahead of them stopped. She slowly turned her head and stared straight at them with those hollow eyes. “Kakaka… Please find your assigned seats and take the entrance exam.”

Then Fang Zhao saw the Rules posted at the classroom door.

His brows furrowed, and he immediately barked, “Bai Yuzhen, put your phone away! The Rules say if a teacher sees a phone, they’ll confiscate it!”

Bai Yuzhen quickly stuffed her phone into her pocket.

Gu Huaiwei’s clothes had no pockets.

The senior’s head rotated back around 180 degrees. The bloody line at the corner of her lips split open. “Kakaka… Hello, teacher.”