ACIFITFDB – Chapter 27

“By the way, you have to go through security to get in. You must have brought a lot of contraband,” Yuan Fengying reminded him before they went in. “Also, if you fail the first time, you’ll be rejected the second time. The security guard will say they’ve seen you before. So, we’d better get it right the first time.”

Qin Xian nodded and asked, “Have you tried climbing over the wall?”

Yuan Fengying replied, “Of course, we tried. But climbing over the wall just led to an empty campus with nothing. I guess we have to get past the security guard. By the way, we checked, and that security guard isn’t on the school’s employment list. He appeared out of nowhere. If we tried to grab him, our vision would immediately go black, and we’d be back at the school entrance.”

Recalling their previous failed attempts, she crossed her arms and snorted.

“I’ll try later… Speaking of which, what are you dressed as?” Qin Xian asked.

Yuan Fengying had changed her clothes and hair a few minutes ago. Her attire and wig were clearly an attempt to look like a teacher, but she resembled a rural teacher from the 1960s.

Yuan Fengying looked at her old-fashioned floral dress and said awkwardly, “I don’t have any clothes like a teacher’s. I only found this one my mom used to wear… The wig is what I usually use when I’m tailing someone undercover… Doesn’t this look like a teacher?”

Qin Xian said, “But teachers nowadays are quite trendy. If the gatekeeper rejects you, you can try saying you’re a cafeteria worker.”

Yuan Fengying gave a dry laugh. After a moment of thought, she actually found the cafeteria worker option viable.

“If I can get into the cafeteria, at least I won’t have to worry about weapons.”

Qin Xian gave her a thumbs-up. “Smart. Remember to get me two.”

Yuan Fengying nodded and walked towards the school gate.

Ten minutes later, she hadn’t returned. It seemed she had successfully entered the school.

Qin Xian didn’t bother to clear the contraband from his backpack and walked directly towards the security booth.

The moment he stepped into the security booth, the surrounding environment clearly changed. The city’s clamor vanished completely. It was eerily silent, as if he had walked into a giant glass dome.

The windows and doors of the security booth were tightly shut, and it was pitch black inside. It had been lit from the outside just moments ago. This place was already the entrance to the domain.

“What are you here for?”

A hoarse male voice sounded. A burly security guard suddenly emerged from the booth. His hat obscured his eyes, but he exuded a foul, fishy odor that was initially subtle but became increasingly nauseating once noticed.

Qin Xian replied, “My college entrance exams are approaching. My family kicked me out to go to school.”

As he spoke, he put his hands in his pockets, looking arrogant and like a troublemaker, a real school bully.

But the security guard said, “You’re not one of our students. We don’t need students like you.”

Qin Xian leaned closer to the guard’s face, pointing at himself. “Don’t I look like a student? Well, I’m actually 27.”

“Unauthorized personnel, leave immediately!” The security guard’s voice was as cold as a corpse.

Qin Xian chuckled, “Can I really not go in?”

After he finished speaking, he calmly tore off a bandage from a wound on his body and used his fingernails to pick at the still-healing wound. Blood clots got stuck under his nails, and blood welled up from the wound, dripping down.

Qin Xian raised his blood-stained fingers and offered them to the security guard, waiting for its reaction.

The security guard immediately took a greedy deep breath, swallowing repeatedly. Ah… what a wonderful aroma. This human is strong, and the stronger they are, the more delicious they are. But alas, at its level, it couldn’t touch such a delicacy.

It forced itself to restrain. “You can go in. However, you need an identity.”

Qin Xian retorted, “What do you think I look like?”

The security guard slowly uttered two words: “A teacher.”

“A teacher? Then what will I teach?”

“You’ll find out when you go in.”

The gatekeeper grinned, wagging its tongue as it opened the door for Qin Xian.

“Wishing you a long life, hehehe. But dying is also fine…”

Qin Xian didn’t bother to spare it a glance and walked straight into the campus with his backpack.

The school within the domain was completely different from the outside. The sky above the teaching buildings was an ominous dark red. Occasionally, the wind would blow through the school, carrying a faint scent of blood.

There were many chaotic sounds within the school, mostly the slightly immature voices of teenagers. Some were crying, some were arguing.

Qin Xian followed the road to the first building, which bore the sign “Comprehensive Building.”

Shockingly, the building had police tape around it, and there was a large pool of blood and drag marks at its base.

Someone had died here, but the body had only been hastily dealt with. The remaining bloodstains had been left untouched, turning a dark red. There were also messy bloody footprints nearby.

The third-year students were mostly concentrated in the third teaching building. Qin Xian walked for seven or eight minutes across the vast campus to get close.

Just as he was about to enter the building, two people dressed as security guards suddenly blocked his path.

They were identical to the security guard at the school entrance, seemingly mass-produced minor monsters. The two of them looked Qin Xian up and down and asked, “Are you a new teacher?”

Their voices were strange, not coming from their mouths or throats, but seemingly from under their hats.

Qin Xian’s expression remained normal. “Yes.”

“Do we still need teachers?” one of the security guards asked his companion.

The companion replied, “Of course, we do. Two died last night, and we rounded up nearly twenty. They didn’t support the current teaching philosophy and wanted to resist, haha.”

“Outdated educational ideas. Do they still think that stuff works in today’s society? Our current teaching philosophy and content are the most suitable and will help children not suffer in society in the future!”

“Exactly, exactly.”

Seeing the two “people” start rambling about the current education system, Qin Xian interrupted, “Oh? I’d really like to see that.”

The two security guards immediately shut up and looked unhappily at the person who had interrupted them.

“Heh, well, I hope you can truly learn and teach well. Otherwise, we have a punishment system.”

“Everything is for the sake of educating outstanding individuals, hehehe. Follow us. You need to see the Dean first.”

Qin Xian followed behind the two, turning his head to carefully observe the teaching building beside them.

The students were all in their classrooms at this time, and the teaching building was filled with noisy sounds.

City No. 1 High School was a century-old school with very ancient buildings. The camphor trees beside them spread their branches, covering more than half the sky.

The campus environment was originally quite good, but now the white walls of the teaching building were newly painted with crudely written slogans: “Be stingy, be mean, live a happy life”; “Selfishness is human nature”; “The strong distribute resources, the weak obey the strong.”

Qin Xian frowned.

What kind of terrible slogans were these? But at a glance, they fit some of the dark sentiments found on the modern internet. Some people would surely support such statements, but if everyone truly lived by them, society would undoubtedly become a hellscape.

“Alright, we’re here. This is the Academic Affairs Office.”

The two security guards brought Qin Xian to the office door and turned to leave. Qin Xian didn’t knock and walked straight in.

Inside the office, he saw a boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old sitting by the desk. He had a cigarette in his mouth and his feet casually resting on the desk. His relatively young face was trying to mimic the arrogant expression of a superior adult.

Seeing Qin Xian enter, he didn’t even bother to lower his feet and directly asked, “Oh? Are you a new teacher?”

Qin Xian asked, “Are you the Dean?”

The boy’s face immediately soured. He threw the cigarette butt at Qin Xian and cursed, “Fck your mother! What? I don’t look like it? You’re underestimating me?! But you have to listen to me now!”

This kid was like a gasoline barrel, ready to explode at any moment. He was irritable, rebellious, and self-centered.

Qin Xian wasn’t interested in educating him or causing too much trouble that would bother him from the start. In fact, kids like this were actually very easy to deal with. He calmly replied, “Oh, so what are your arrangements? What subject will I teach?”

As expected, seeing that he didn’t argue, the boy immediately lost interest.

“Whatever you want. Just pick one of these subjects yourself.”

He threw a class schedule at Qin Xian.

Qin Xian opened it and saw:

Required: Internet Language Arts, Interpersonal Relationships, Aesthetics of Violence, Art of Crime, Religion.

Electives: Deception Studies, Unspoken Rules, PUA Methodology.

Wow, these courses were certainly…

“So, which one will you choose to teach?” the boy asked. “Let me remind you, you must teach according to the course standards. If you teach anything else positive and we find out, you’re dead.”

Qin Xian pointed at the words “Aesthetics of Violence” and said, “This suits me well.”

The boy leaned closer and looked. He clearly didn’t believe it. “You can teach this? You pretty boy know how to fight?”

But as soon as he finished speaking, Qin Xian kicked his stool.

With a thud, he fell directly off the chair, his face contorted in pain as he clutched his backside.

After a few seconds, he stood up furiously and lunged at Qin Xian with his fists. “You fcking son of a btch!”

However, Qin Xian easily blocked his fist with one hand and then grabbed his wrist and twisted it forcefully.

“Ah!” The boy’s arm immediately went limp, dislocated.

“Shh,” Qin Xian said, covering the boy’s mouth with his hand. “Don’t scream. Can I be qualified for this subject now? If you promise, I’ll fix it for you.”

The boy nodded desperately without hesitation.

With a “crack,” the dislocated bone was successfully reset.

The boy collapsed on the ground in pain, wanting to curse further, but he immediately cowered when he saw Qin Xian’s eyes.

“Fine, fine, fine. You can teach this. You can go to class right away! Room 2212 on the third floor. That class has no teacher, so you go directly there!”

Qin Xian didn’t move. He stood in place and continued to ask, “Who made you the Dean? How did you become one?”

The boy’s face was sour, but he didn’t dare to have any objections to Qin Xian. He obediently replied, “They said someone needed to stay here to manage students and teachers. So, I said I wanted to be the Dean, and they let me stay.”

“They?”

“I don’t know them. They must be the ones who took over the school. They all wear masks and are very mysterious…”

He looked bewildered. Qin Xian couldn’t get any more valuable information from him. It seemed this kid was just randomly assigned here.

Qin Xian glanced at the boy’s office. A pack of cigarettes and a lighter were on the desk.

Seeing him eyeing his prized possessions, the boy immediately stuffed the cigarettes into his pocket. “What! I’m the Dean now. It’s not against the rules for me to smoke.”

A ridiculous kid, a baffling arrangement.

Qin Xian asked, “You’re the Dean here, do you know what your job is?”

The boy looked a bit bewildered. “Uh, I arrange the class schedules, and if there are new teachers, I just assign them a subject. Also, I can punish students who break the rules…”

“Oh,” Qin Xian suddenly showed a kind expression. “From now on, unless something threatens your life, don’t leave this office easily. If I see you outside, I’ll smash your face in front of your classmates.”

With that, he punched a nearby desk. The wooden surface instantly shattered and dented.

“Holy sht! Superman!” the boy exclaimed, but immediately shut up under Qin Xian’s terrifying gaze.

After disciplining the brat, Qin Xian left the Academic Affairs Office. He went upstairs to the third floor. Qin Xian first stopped at the back door of classroom 2211, choosing a vantage point that others would find hard to notice to observe inside.

A middle-aged man with a potbelly stood on the podium, lecturing the students below about physiology.

However, unlike normal physiology education, the content he spouted was filthy. Most of the students below had grim expressions, and some were desperately covering their ears.

———————–

Author’s Notes: There are no rankings this week. It’s so disheartening, sigh… It looks like it’ll be hard to get into the VIP section. But I’ll still update daily and won’t update based on rankings.