Ding-dong

 

At 7:30 am, the preparatory bell for classes at Third High School rang punctually.

 

Chronicle arrived in class just in time, greeted the four classmates who had already arrived, and then returned to his seat.

 

A few minutes later, Wei Ya finally arrived, carrying a thick stack of files.

 

"How did you all rest yesterday?" she asked with a smile from the podium.

 

"Fine," they all replied, but their faint dark circles under their eyes mercilessly betrayed them.

 

After obtaining good materials, they had been busy designing stories around relevant elements, even forgetting to eat and sleep.

 

This was a common problem among Card Craftsmen.

 

Wei Ya, who was well aware of this, did not expose them. Instead, she simplified the content of the lecture to allow their brains to rest for a while.

 

In this way, the morning passed quickly.

 

After lunch, the five of them returned to the classroom, only to see a weary middle-aged man standing next to Wei Ya.

 

"This is Mr. Su Wen, an officer from our city's Card Craftsman Association. He is here to take you to the unified training," Wei Ya introduced.

 

"Hello, Teacher Su," the five of them said politely in unison.

 

Su Wen responded with a refined smile, saying, "Hello, children."

 

Then he turned to Wei Ya and said, "Teacher Wei, I'll take the children with me now. Don't worry, in half a month, I will return to you five more comprehensive Card Craftsman geniuses!"

 

"Thank you, Mr. Su," Wei Ya said politely, feeling a bit stifled.

 

As a teacher, she had finally received five students with exceptional talents. She had only taught them for less than a day, and now she had to hand them over to someone else.

 

This feeling…

 

"It feels like NTR," Wei Ya thought, turning her head away to avoid watching the five students leave the classroom.

 

Just then, someone tugged at her sleeve from behind.

 

She turned her head to see Lu Youyou looking at her with concern, a Truth Stick lying in her clean palm.

 

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Wei Ya said with a gentle smile, her mood instantly improving.

 

But when she turned her head, she saw the other four students laughing and talking as they followed Su Wen out. Her mood soured again, and she couldn't help but curse in her heart, "These little bastards."

 

Meanwhile, Su Wen had already led the group to the lobby on the first floor.

 

After a short wait, another middle-aged female teacher arrived with several students also wearing Third High School uniforms.

 

One of them saw Chronicle and shouted, "Chronicle Brother," attracting everyone's attention.

 

It was Chen Yuan, who they hadn't seen for a few days.

 

Feeling the gazes converging on him, Chronicle sighed slightly and waved back in greeting.

 

"Alright, students," Su Wen stepped forward to defuse the situation. "It's getting late. Let's leave as soon as possible and try to reach the training location before 8 pm."

 

With that, he turned and walked towards the exit, with everyone following closely.

 

Outside, they saw a huge creature resembling a Triceratops, obediently lying on the playground with a carriage on its back.

 

Seeing Su Wen leading a large group of people over, the giant beast quickly got up, accidentally flipping over the turf and revealing the dry ground underneath.

 

Seeing this, Su Wen quickly clapped his hands to distract everyone, "Please get on the carriage in an orderly manner, we are about to set off."

 

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly formed a line and one by one, they entered the carriage on the beast's back.

 

Sitting in the slightly rudimentary carriage, Chronicle found it quite novel – this was his first time riding a vehicle powered by animal strength.

 

With Su Wen's command of "Let's go," the giant creature began to move.

 

Although the ride was stable, the speed was not slow.

 

Judging from the changing scenery outside the windows, it was no slower than a regular bus.

 

Even so, the giant beast walked for several hours before they arrived at the training location.

 

Carrying his backpack, Chronicle stepped out of the carriage and looked around.

 

Countless locust trees swayed in the night wind, creating waves like the sea and revealing a cold, pale half-moon.

 

In the infinite darkness in the distance, the cries of some animals could be heard from time to time, mournful and desolate, making one's hair stand on end.

 

Lu Youyou and Ginger Tea couldn't help but shiver, tightening their oversized and ugly school uniforms.

 

Li Baitian, also a girl, crossed her arms with an indifferent expression.

 

She even nudged Chronicle with her elbow and played a lame joke she had heard somewhere, "Cheese fox."

 

"Cheese civet," Chronicle responded perfunctorily, then took out his phone from his pocket, only to see a small cross under the signal icon.

 

This meant that for the next half a month, he would be cut off from the internet.

 

For a modern person, this could be described as torture.

 

"It hurts, it hurts so much," Yao Yuan, who had also realized this, wailed.

 

Just then, Su Wen, who had put away his mount, came over from a short distance away, still smiling:

 

"Alright, students, whether you like it or not, this is your training ground for the next half a month. Let's go see where you'll be staying."

 

As his words fell, a torch appeared out of thin air.

 

Su Wen held it steady in his hand and led everyone into the depths of the forest.

 

After a few minutes, a flat, open space appeared before their eyes.

 

On it were buildings that looked like they had been copied and pasted.

 

Each was a two-story house with its own yard, but the area was small and the distance between them was somewhat large.

 

However, this didn't matter much to Chronicle, who had sold his house and lived in a dormitory, and didn't have high demands for his living conditions.

 

But even so, he had some trouble accepting the shape of these buildings.

 

"Chronicle Brother, don't you think… these 'villas' look a bit like standing tombstones?" Chen Yuan said from the side.

 

Chronicle nodded in agreement, deep down feeling that this place was rather ominous, and he really didn't want to stay here.

 

However, Su Wen, who had been very "understanding" all the way, seemed to be oblivious to the resistance on everyone's faces at this moment.

 

After arranging for them to each have a room and move in, he turned around and left, quickly disappearing into the vast night.

 

Forced to enter one of the "tombstones", Chronicle could only rely on his decent night vision to observe his surroundings:

 

The first floor living room was covered in dust and a bit run-down, with every window shielded by pure black, heavy curtains.

 

Seeing this scene, he subconsciously summoned Osiris, holding him in his hand.

 

Then, after carefully searching the first floor, he finally found the light switch.

 

But after pressing it for a while, there was no response, only a handful of dust.

 

With a light sigh, he had no choice but to give up, instead walking to the staircase, slowly ascending along the dust-covered handrail.

 

After an unknown amount of time, he finally arrived on the second floor.