ACIFITFDB – Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Conspiracy

The impassioned marching music of the athletes continued to play from the teaching building, adding a touch of vitality to the otherwise eerie school. Even the oppressive teaching building seemed to regain some of the youthful energy and rebelliousness unique to students. The sounds of student jeering and adult scolding could be heard from many classrooms.

Meanwhile, inside the principal’s office in the comprehensive building, a man wearing a mask angrily smashed an ashtray onto the floor.

“What’s going on! Who’s messing with the broadcast!? Where are the people I sent? All dead?!”

Someone replied, “It’s those police officers who came in later, I didn’t expect them to be so capable. We created four monsters and didn’t kill a single person, only crippled one…”

The masked man was furious, “We shouldn’t have let those people in!”

“That’s not something we can control. These grotesque beings naturally have an instinct to attract other humans into their domain.”

“Then we should have killed them the moment they entered!”

“In the domain, we can only follow the rules. It’s hard enough to prevent it from eating us.”

“Damn it, so in this situation, can we just kill them?”

“Of course.”

“Bring guns and shoot them dead!”

—

On the other side, Qin Xian sat calmly in front of the microphone in the broadcast room, organizing his thoughts before beginning his speech.

“Hello? Hello students, I am Teacher Qin, the one who just beat up the monster in the front plaza.”

“Wooo!!!!”

“Teacher Qin is so cool!!”

Qin Xian could hear the fan-like cheers outside even from the broadcast room. He scratched his face awkwardly, but thought that such a reaction was better; it would be easier to rally the students’ emotions.

“We are currently facing a serious and chaotic incident. You have left the real world and entered a strange space, where there are monsters called grotesque beings. Grotesque beings grow stronger by exploiting human fear, selfishness, suspicion, madness, and various other negative emotions. However, as long as everyone can maintain their true selves and encourage each other, the grotesque beings will become weaker. They can be defeated, they can be eliminated. I believe everyone saw what happened in front of the teaching building just now. Please be patient and wait, you will be able to return to the real world soon. Remember, don’t trust the enemy, trust yourselves, and protect yourselves first no matter what. Of course, if your life is already threatened, then unite and defeat the opponent!”

As soon as his voice fell, the previously silent teaching building immediately became noisy.

There were loud shouts from students, as well as reprimands from adults, and the sound of tables being smashed.

Qin Xian directly played the marching music on the desktop. The familiar music resounded powerfully throughout the campus.

But… Qin Xian faintly heard a few gunshots.

He immediately stood up and walked out. Before he could leave the room, he saw the Student Council President scramble in with hands and feet, and a bullet “bang” hit the doorframe.

After rushing into the room, the Student Council President immediately stood straight, ran his hand through his messy hair, and said, “Guns are quite formidable. If I get hit by one, I’ll be uncomfortable for a long time.”

Qin Xian ignored him, immediately crouched by the door, pressing his body as low as possible.

The enemy opposite clearly hadn’t used a gun much. Holding it up, they mimicked the actions from movies, kicking open the door with a startled cry and standing straight, raising the gun and shouting, “Don’t move!”

However, they clearly neglected their lower body. Qin Xian, crouched by the door, raised the sturdy microphone and smashed it down on the enemy’s knee.

A crisp sound immediately echoed from the broadcast, followed by a man’s scream and the sound of a gun hitting the floor.

The huge commotion startled Qin Xian for a moment. He quickly turned off the microphone, picked up the gun from the floor and put it away, then pulled out his folding knife and pointed it at the enemy’s head.

The man on the ground immediately broke out in a cold sweat and begged, “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!! Please!! You, you police officers can’t just kill people!”

Qin Xian crouched down and asked in a low voice, “Do I look like a police officer?”

With that, he moved the folding knife, scraping it down the man’s face. The tip of the knife stopped an inch or two from the tiles. A two-centimeter-long wound was cut on the man’s face, and blood flowed down the blade, connecting the tip of the knife to the floor.

The man’s mouth gaped in terror, but he couldn’t utter a single word.

Qin Xian retracted the knife and forcefully pressed his knee into the center of the man’s back, pinning him down.

“Hmm… if I kill you directly, you might turn into a ghost and cause trouble, but I can’t watch you, so…”

The man relaxed slightly upon hearing the first half of the sentence, but before he could hear the second half clearly, Qin Xian raised the gun and smashed the butt of the gun fiercely onto his right hand.

“Ah!!!” The man screamed, but then it was his left hand. The bones in both hands were broken. He raised his hands like a zombie and struggled on the ground.

“Tsk tsk tsk, how cruel, Teacher Qin.”

The Student Council President suddenly spoke from the side. Qin Xian then remembered there was still something in the room.

But Qin Xian, uncharacteristically, responded to his statement, “Too cruel? Alright, I’ll be kind then.”

With that, he lightly struck the back of the man’s head. The man immediately fell silent. This way, he wouldn’t have to suffer a fate worse than death from the pain.

The Student Council President leaned against the doorframe and clapped his hands.

Qin Xian glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and his handsome lips uttered icy words, “Useless.”

The Student Council President still had a smiling expression, “Hey, Teacher Qin, that’s oppressive education. And I completed your task perfectly. You didn’t ask me to deal with these people with guns.”

Qin Xian stuffed the gun into his pocket and walked out. Before leaving, he said to the President, “I like people who take initiative, understand?”

“Initiative? Okay, I understand.” The Student Council President’s cheeky smile grew even wider.

Qin Xian’s expression remained blank, but he thought to himself:

I shouldn’t have said that just now. I should have ignored him.

—

Occupying the broadcast room was meant to inform the students of the general truth before the enemy could, thereby reducing the effectiveness of this group’s brainwashing.

Qin Xian could see by now that this group’s objective wasn’t to kill all the students to create panic, but rather to strengthen their own power, expose and distort the event of the grotesque invasion, and thus trigger social panic.

Of course, creating a certain degree of death was definitely part of the plan.

However… for an event with such a significant impact, the overall planning was a mess.

If he were to design it, he would first slowly let the grotesque beings spread and control the entire school. For example, by using common school rule horror stories to create accidents, gradually causing student panic and suspicion. Or even, if he wanted to be more disgusting and dark, he could try to corrupt the minds of the school teachers and leaders.

After all, with such a large school, when an accident first occurred, there would definitely be people trying to “hush things up.” Once others compromised and agreed not to publicize the accidents happening within the school, then from that moment on, everyone would step further into the mire.

Within a week, the entire school could completely turn into hell. They wouldn’t even need to act themselves; most people would fall into madness.

At that time, this school would breed a very terrifying monster.

Something’s not right…

Qin Xian stopped and hid in a dark corner to ponder.

An organization formed by Infinite Stream players, an organization that strives for the ultimate expansion of influence, would send such a group of useless people to organize this operation?

He and the other few police officers had been doing well so far, constantly disrupting and succeeding. It was true that someone came to stop them, but they were all pathetically weak, feeling like there was no unified command.

“Bang! Bang bang!!” The gunshots from downstairs brought Qin Xian back to his senses.

He quickly rushed downstairs and found Yuan Fengying engaged in a battle with the gunman. However, the Student Council President had already subdued the person and taken the gun. Seeing Qin Xian arrive, he smiled and waved the gun in his hand, looking like he was seeking praise.

Qin Xian immediately looked to the other side.

Not far away, Yuan Fengying was holding a strange board and breathing heavily.

Seeing Qin Xian, she ran over, warily eyeing the Student Council President beside her.

This strange student had launched a surprise attack on her enemy from behind, subduing him in two moves. This was simply not something a high school student could do.

Yuan Fengying couldn’t help but ask, “Who are you?”

However, the Student Council President didn’t even glance at her. Instead, he looked at Qin Xian and said, “Was I proactive?”

Yuan Fengying’s expression was strange. She turned to Qin Xian and asked, “Do you know him? Are you together?”

“Yes, we’re together.”

“No, we’re not.”

Both of them gave completely different answers simultaneously.

Yuan Fengying scratched her head, “Never mind, I won’t dwell on who you are. I’ll trust Mr. Qin’s attitude.”

Qin Xian: “?”

What attitude of his? What attitude did he show that made this mysterious Student Council President gain the trust of the police?

The Student Council President, on the other hand, seemed quite happy. His radiant expression at that moment truly matched his persona as a high school student.

Never mind, there were more important things at hand.

Qin Xian asked Yuan Fengying, “Tell me the truth, do you police have information on the members of the Path of Communicating with Ghosts organization?”

Yuan Fengying was taken aback and hesitated, “Why are you asking this? It might not be convenient to disclose internal information…”

Qin Xian suddenly pulled off the mask of the enemy nearby and asked, “Is this person on your wanted list?”

The man’s eyes widened in horror. He was a plain-looking middle-aged man with little distinguishing features.

But Yuan Fengying recognized him immediately, “This person is here. He’s a squad leader in the Path of Communicating with Ghosts!”

“Tie him up and keep him with you.” Qin Xian pointed at the Student Council President, then beckoned to Yuan Fengying, “You come with me.”

He led them to the teachers’ office on the first floor. Several teachers who had been proselytizing were unconscious inside. Qin Xian pulled off their masks one by one. Yuan Fengying’s expression also became solemn, “These people are indeed all wanted by our police. We started arresting them two days ago, but we couldn’t find them.”

Qin Xian frowned, “Then my guess has likely come true. This organization’s main objective isn’t the students; the students are just collateral. The real target is these members who have been caught by the police. It’s a cleanup operation for these personnel!?”

Yuan Fengying pondered, “Then we have to save these people? Or act immediately to try and force out valuable information?”

Qin Xian shook his head, “It’s probably too late to ask. These people are bound to die. If this organization is even a little bit smart, they won’t give us a chance to get information. They just want to extract the last bit of value from these doomed individuals and create a grand spectacle to attract the enemy’s attention. If these trash can complete the mission, that would be great. But even if they fail, they can successfully test the police’s strength… and even discover potential threats.”

Yuan Fengying clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, “Although I really want to refute your words, I think you’re telling the truth.”

—

Author’s Note:

Doggy: Wags ears and tail, signaling he’ll proactively grab the gun and help.

Kitty Cat: Looks away.

Doggy: Ears disappear.