“Oh yes, oh yes. Mr. Nan checked it personally.”
The headmaster was still struggling to explain to the educators when the Devil cooperatively lent a helping hand, and he hastily followed along this tangent. “Mr. Nan had the same question when he took this class. It’s all a misunderstanding, haha, just a misunderstanding.”
It would be disastrous if this little episode caused the educators’ impression of the school to turn foul.
First High’s management stared anxiously at those few faceless people. Only when the other party nodded and let it pass did they finally sigh in relief.
Yet at this time, there was a sudden change!
A half-vampire suddenly collapsed under the basket and his head hit the ground. There was no reaction after that, his lack of movement beginning to stir unrest.
The basketball players reacted swiftly, halting their actions at once and crowding around.
The referee blew his whistle, going over with a clipboard. “What’s going on?”
Index 99 crouched down. He put his hand under the trainees’ nostrils and stuck his ear to the other’s heart. He was stunned. “Teacher, he isn’t breathing and has no heartbeat!”
At this statement, the other basketball players made a ruckus.
Since there was a distance between the centre of the court and its edge, students from other classes didn’t know what happened and looked at each other in disbelief. Although the bullet chat was able to zoom in and happened to witness the whole process, they were just as incredulous as the trainees on the team.
[Huh? What the heck, what is this? Is he dead??]
[Frankly, if you look at it from a medical perspective, there is a possibility of instant death when falling from that height and hitting one’s head. Still… this is too confusing.]
[No way, isn’t it just a fall? How could he die just from this? I’m so confused. Did anyone get a clear look at what happened just now?]
[I wasn’t paying attention. Wasn’t the Magician jumping in an attempt to dunk the ball, then this trainee and No. 2 went to snatch the ball at the same time? I think they might have accidentally hit each other, that’s why they fell on the way down… but a fall from this height can’t seriously cause him to kick the bucket, right? /horror.jpg]
The educators, who were just about to move on to the next area, also noticed the fuss from afar.
The referee gave everyone a stern look, his flat visage scrunching a grim expression. “Shut up. Everyone has to get up right now.”
The two basketball players exchanged a look and stood up.
After everyone got to their feet, the referee knelt and pretended to pick the still ‘corpse’ without a heartbeat off the ground, calling out. “Doctor! Where’s the school doctor? This student seems to be suffering from heatstroke. Hurry and move him to rest in the shade.”
This ability to manipulate the facts was quite something.
Today was a grand occasion wherein high-level educators had come to observe the school. If it were any other day, First High School wouldn’t have paid it any mind. Yet due to the special circumstances today, there was naturally no way they’d allow such a situation to blow up. The referee was deeply aware of the strictness of the school rules and made a snap decision to first disguise it as fainting from heatstroke.
Despite his prudence, the commotion still caught the attention of the educators.
The faceless educator leading the group walked over. “What exactly happened?”
Their lines of sight shifted to the cameraman who had been filming the whole event with his camera.
Ktf ijaafg ribkfv atf obbajuf ys tjio jcv tfiv la eq.
Ktf rmgffc rtbkfv ktja tjv bmmeggfv pera fjgilfg.
Ktf ktlaf-tjlgfv sbecu wjc, ktb kjr pera vglyyilcu atf yjii qjra atf qijsfgr, revvfcis oijrtfv. Llr rcfjxfgr rdefjxfv bc atf mbiv qjlcafv ugbecv, tlr ktlaf tjlg oilmxfv yftlcv tlw, jcv tlr fsfr kfgf rtjgq.
With the basketball in his hands, he effortlessly bypassed the players in front of him in three steps, then turned sharply, faking with his arms but bending his knees minutely. Then, he arched his back and jumped up, just an arm’s length away from the basket.
It was also at this time that Van Zhuo reached for the ball at the same time another half-vampire did, flanking the white-haired young man on both sides. The moment was thrilling.
Twoosh.
His amazing jumping force allowed the Night Clan leader to easily intercept the ball mid-air.
Yet for some reason, perhaps due to the coinciding trajectories of their jumps, the three people all leapt towards the centre, and the half-vampire on the other team was unfortunately knocked into by Van Zhuo.
As it happened, when the basketball was intercepted, Zong Jiu also reached out in an attempt to block the ball.
What no one expected was the two men’s impact conversely ended up implicating the innocent half-vampire and causing him to collapse, and the back of his head, unfortunately, hit the concrete ground.
This wasn’t part of the programme.
Many onlookers were unclear about the situation and still believed it was a sudden injury. Only the bullet chat knew the truth.
[Sorry, I was that contender with medical expertise from earlier. I didn’t notice before this was a half-vampire. I take back my words, pretend I didn’t say anything. /bows out.jpg]
[I was shaken earlier but now it’s starting to feel ridiculous… The one that collapsed is a half-vampire. If he actually died from a knock on his head, the Night Clan wouldn’t be in business.]
[Half-vampires don’t have to breathe, nor do their hearts even beat in the first place. I’m cracking up. What have they got up their sleeves?]
[Hang on. I just thought of something. Don’t you guys remember before when Class 9 said they had to sneak into the Corpse Pit for a look?]
With this raised, the other contenders camping the live broadcast also recalled the same.
Class 9’s live broadcast was usually the most popular. When they were previously discussing the plan in the classroom, everyone had gathered. Though they could block First High School’s security cameras, they couldn’t stop the panoramic cameras of the live broadcast.
[Just think about it. There’s always someone guarding the Corpse Pit, so the best way to enter it is… precisely with a dead person!]
It dawned on everyone then.
At first, everyone guessed Class 9 wanted to wait for all the teaching staff to congregate at the quadrangle to sneak in, but they didn’t expect them to directly employ the smartest trick in the book.
The Corpse Pit was where First High destroyed corpses. Purportedly, the foul gutters around the quadrangle all led there, the final resting place of executed students.
Everyone considered diving in, but on second thought… if a corpse would be hauled inside for disposal, why not just have a ‘corpse’ dive in?
After the conversion, the half-vampire didn’t have to breathe nor did he have a heartbeat. He looked no different from a regular corpse, so it was only natural for him to be put up to the task.
“It’s… a basketball competition. It’s normal for there to be injuries.”
The teaching director immediately stepped up to mediate, a smile across his face.
Only No. 1 remained where he stood, watching the full footage. Then, he turned a humourless gaze to the white-haired young man a short distance away.
Zong Jiu’s eyes were narrowed, looking down at his nose. He appeared worried, duly playing the role of a blameless perpetrator who had accidentally knocked down another student and caused an accident.
First High couldn’t punish No. 2 and the Magician by virtue of their excellent grades.
The teaching director didn’t even ask how badly hurt the half-vampire was, instead nervously turning his head to ask them if they’d received any injury.
Soon, school doctors arrived with white coats flapping behind them.
Nobody knew which corner these school doctors had popped up from. There wasn’t even a sickbay in First High School, yet now they suddenly showed up and carried the half-vampire away on a stretcher.
Index 99, upon receiving a look from the two captains, caught the signal. As the stretcher was taken away, he slipped off to the washroom under the identity of a substitute, following behind.
This matter was resolved without incident. To cover it up, the teaching director changed the subject, and the referee immediately announced the resumption of the match.
Zong Jiu crouched down to tighten his shoelaces before shaking hands with Van Zhuo again, who nodded imperceptibly at him.
The basketball was tossed skyward once more.
Index 99 headed for the washroom on the surface, but in reality, he was plastered to the exterior wall of the ground-floor washroom. Listening carefully for any movement in his vicinity.
Van Zhuo and Zong Jiu came up with a well thought out plan. Tsuchimikado too had offered his skills by providing them with two communication talismans.
One stuck to the half-vampire playing dead, while the other was with index 99.
With this talisman, index 99 could hear any activity surrounding the half-vampire.
He calmly crouched in wait.
Sure enough, the school doctors re-emerged with the stretcher not long later.
In truth, those couple of school doctors were teaching assistants in disguise. This school didn’t care about the death of its students. Their first reaction upon discovering something happened was to suppress the news and destroy all evidence.
“He doesn’t seem to be breathing…”
“Toss him into the Corpse Pit then, his heart isn’t even beating anymore. After all, he’s just an underachiever. Who cares whether he lives.”
With that, they hurried downstairs and carried the stretcher to the iron door.
“Keep an eye on it. It’s fresh so it should be fine for us to just dump it.”
“This year’s fuel is rather decent, there’s a good amount of biogas produced. The hot water for showering is warmer this winter compared to previous years.”
“That’s only natural. Three classes have already died and fermented. There’s more than enough to go around, of course it’s more comfortable than usual.”
Immediately after their conversation, the lock turned amidst the noisy rattling of a key.
No. 10 once surveyed this location a short while ago, even making a few seals. He safely concluded there were indeed no malevolent spirits formed in this school.
This however did not mean the air of resentment wasn’t thick. A deep chill could be perceived just by approaching the iron door that sealed the Corpse Pit.
He only realised this from the exchange between the teaching assistants. It turned out the electricity and heating of the whole of First High School, even the lights and water heater… all came from methane gas generated from the Corpse Pit.
Compost from the rotten flesh of corpses and human faeces was the perfect material for producing biogas after all.
Index 99 only sensed air stifled in his chest. He really wanted to retch.
This per-named Corpse Pit was in actuality a humongous methane tank; a septic tank.
They lived on the decomposition of corpses every day.
—
The harvest on index 99’s end was bountiful, and Zong Jiu saw a new development on his end as well.
Though this development wasn’t much cause for elation.
The match between the second and third teams came after the match between the first and second teams.
After a fifteen-minute intermission, the captains of the two teams symbolically shook hands.
Black Shaman’s hand was slender and firm, though overly gaunt. His joints jutted sharply, like they were only bundled by a thin layer of skin.
When shaking hands with him, Zong Jiu felt a bone-piercing chill.
In that split second, he understood something.
During the moment he crossed the line to shoot, Zong Jiu’s fingers swept diagonally upwards.
—Just as expected, he came into contact with icy steel wires.
“Oh yes, oh yes. Mr. Nan checked it personally.”
The headmaster was still struggling to explain to the educators when the Devil cooperatively lent a helping hand, and he hastily followed along this tangent. “Mr. Nan had the same question when he took this class. It’s all a misunderstanding, haha, just a misunderstanding.”
It would be disastrous if this little episode caused the educators’ impression of the school to turn foul.
First High’s management stared anxiously at those few faceless people. Only when the other party nodded and let it pass did they finally sigh in relief.
Yet at this time, there was a sudden change!
A half-vampire suddenly collapsed under the basket and his head hit the ground. There was no reaction after that, his lack of movement beginning to stir unrest.
The basketball players reacted swiftly, halting their actions at once and crowding around.
The referee blew his whistle, going over with a clipboard. “What’s going on?”
Index 99 crouched down. He put his hand under the trainees’ nostrils and stuck his ear to the other’s heart. He was stunned. “Teacher, he isn’t breathing and has no heartbeat!”
At this statement, the other basketball players made a ruckus.
Since there was a distance between the centre of the court and its edge, students from other classes didn’t know what happened and looked at each other in disbelief. Although the bullet chat was able to zoom in and happened to witness the whole process, they were just as incredulous as the trainees on the team.
[Huh? What the heck, what is this? Is he dead??]
[Frankly, if you look at it from a medical perspective, there is a possibility of instant death when falling from that height and hitting one’s head. Still… this is too confusing.]
[No way, isn’t it just a fall? How could he die just from this? I’m so confused. Did anyone get a clear look at what happened just now?]
[I wasn’t paying attention. Wasn’t the Magician jumping in an attempt to dunk the ball, then this trainee and No. 2 went to snatch the ball at the same time? I think they might have accidentally hit each other, that’s why they fell on the way down… but a fall from this height can’t seriously cause him to kick the bucket, right? /horror.jpg]
The educators, who were just about to move on to the next area, also noticed the fuss from afar.
The referee gave everyone a stern look, his flat visage scrunching a grim expression. “Shut up. Everyone has to get up right now.”
The two basketball players exchanged a look and stood up.
After everyone got to their feet, the referee knelt and pretended to pick the still ‘corpse’ without a heartbeat off the ground, calling out. “Doctor! Where’s the school doctor? This student seems to be suffering from heatstroke. Hurry and move him to rest in the shade.”
This ability to manipulate the facts was quite something.
Today was a grand occasion wherein high-level educators had come to observe the school. If it were any other day, First High School wouldn’t have paid it any mind. Yet due to the special circumstances today, there was naturally no way they’d allow such a situation to blow up. The referee was deeply aware of the strictness of the school rules and made a snap decision to first disguise it as fainting from heatstroke.
Despite his prudence, the commotion still caught the attention of the educators.
The faceless educator leading the group walked over. “What exactly happened?”
Their lines of sight shifted to the cameraman who had been filming the whole event with his camera.
Ktf ijaafg ribkfv atf obbajuf ys tjio jcv tfiv la eq.
Ktf rmgffc rtbkfv ktja tjv bmmeggfv pera fjgilfg.
Ktf ktlaf-tjlgfv sbecu wjc, ktb kjr pera vglyyilcu atf yjii qjra atf qijsfgr, revvfcis oijrtfv. Llr rcfjxfgr rdefjxfv bc atf mbiv qjlcafv ugbecv, tlr ktlaf tjlg oilmxfv yftlcv tlw, jcv tlr fsfr kfgf rtjgq.
With the basketball in his hands, he effortlessly bypassed the players in front of him in three steps, then turned sharply, faking with his arms but bending his knees minutely. Then, he arched his back and jumped up, just an arm’s length away from the basket.
It was also at this time that Van Zhuo reached for the ball at the same time another half-vampire did, flanking the white-haired young man on both sides. The moment was thrilling.
Twoosh.
His amazing jumping force allowed the Night Clan leader to easily intercept the ball mid-air.
Yet for some reason, perhaps due to the coinciding trajectories of their jumps, the three people all leapt towards the centre, and the half-vampire on the other team was unfortunately knocked into by Van Zhuo.
As it happened, when the basketball was intercepted, Zong Jiu also reached out in an attempt to block the ball.
What no one expected was the two men’s impact conversely ended up implicating the innocent half-vampire and causing him to collapse, and the back of his head, unfortunately, hit the concrete ground.
This wasn’t part of the programme.
Many onlookers were unclear about the situation and still believed it was a sudden injury. Only the bullet chat knew the truth.
[Sorry, I was that contender with medical expertise from earlier. I didn’t notice before this was a half-vampire. I take back my words, pretend I didn’t say anything. /bows out.jpg]
[I was shaken earlier but now it’s starting to feel ridiculous… The one that collapsed is a half-vampire. If he actually died from a knock on his head, the Night Clan wouldn’t be in business.]
[Half-vampires don’t have to breathe, nor do their hearts even beat in the first place. I’m cracking up. What have they got up their sleeves?]
[Hang on. I just thought of something. Don’t you guys remember before when Class 9 said they had to sneak into the Corpse Pit for a look?]
With this raised, the other contenders camping the live broadcast also recalled the same.
Class 9’s live broadcast was usually the most popular. When they were previously discussing the plan in the classroom, everyone had gathered. Though they could block First High School’s security cameras, they couldn’t stop the panoramic cameras of the live broadcast.
[Just think about it. There’s always someone guarding the Corpse Pit, so the best way to enter it is… precisely with a dead person!]
It dawned on everyone then.
At first, everyone guessed Class 9 wanted to wait for all the teaching staff to congregate at the quadrangle to sneak in, but they didn’t expect them to directly employ the smartest trick in the book.
The Corpse Pit was where First High destroyed corpses. Purportedly, the foul gutters around the quadrangle all led there, the final resting place of executed students.
Everyone considered diving in, but on second thought… if a corpse would be hauled inside for disposal, why not just have a ‘corpse’ dive in?
After the conversion, the half-vampire didn’t have to breathe nor did he have a heartbeat. He looked no different from a regular corpse, so it was only natural for him to be put up to the task.
“It’s… a basketball competition. It’s normal for there to be injuries.”
The teaching director immediately stepped up to mediate, a smile across his face.
Only No. 1 remained where he stood, watching the full footage. Then, he turned a humourless gaze to the white-haired young man a short distance away.
Zong Jiu’s eyes were narrowed, looking down at his nose. He appeared worried, duly playing the role of a blameless perpetrator who had accidentally knocked down another student and caused an accident.
First High couldn’t punish No. 2 and the Magician by virtue of their excellent grades.
The teaching director didn’t even ask how badly hurt the half-vampire was, instead nervously turning his head to ask them if they’d received any injury.
Soon, school doctors arrived with white coats flapping behind them.
Nobody knew which corner these school doctors had popped up from. There wasn’t even a sickbay in First High School, yet now they suddenly showed up and carried the half-vampire away on a stretcher.
Index 99, upon receiving a look from the two captains, caught the signal. As the stretcher was taken away, he slipped off to the washroom under the identity of a substitute, following behind.
This matter was resolved without incident. To cover it up, the teaching director changed the subject, and the referee immediately announced the resumption of the match.
Zong Jiu crouched down to tighten his shoelaces before shaking hands with Van Zhuo again, who nodded imperceptibly at him.
The basketball was tossed skyward once more.
Index 99 headed for the washroom on the surface, but in reality, he was plastered to the exterior wall of the ground-floor washroom. Listening carefully for any movement in his vicinity.
Van Zhuo and Zong Jiu came up with a well thought out plan. Tsuchimikado too had offered his skills by providing them with two communication talismans.
One stuck to the half-vampire playing dead, while the other was with index 99.
With this talisman, index 99 could hear any activity surrounding the half-vampire.
He calmly crouched in wait.
Sure enough, the school doctors re-emerged with the stretcher not long later.
In truth, those couple of school doctors were teaching assistants in disguise. This school didn’t care about the death of its students. Their first reaction upon discovering something happened was to suppress the news and destroy all evidence.
“He doesn’t seem to be breathing…”
“Toss him into the Corpse Pit then, his heart isn’t even beating anymore. After all, he’s just an underachiever. Who cares whether he lives.”
With that, they hurried downstairs and carried the stretcher to the iron door.
“Keep an eye on it. It’s fresh so it should be fine for us to just dump it.”
“This year’s fuel is rather decent, there’s a good amount of biogas produced. The hot water for showering is warmer this winter compared to previous years.”
“That’s only natural. Three classes have already died and fermented. There’s more than enough to go around, of course it’s more comfortable than usual.”
Immediately after their conversation, the lock turned amidst the noisy rattling of a key.
No. 10 once surveyed this location a short while ago, even making a few seals. He safely concluded there were indeed no malevolent spirits formed in this school.
This however did not mean the air of resentment wasn’t thick. A deep chill could be perceived just by approaching the iron door that sealed the Corpse Pit.
He only realised this from the exchange between the teaching assistants. It turned out the electricity and heating of the whole of First High School, even the lights and water heater… all came from methane gas generated from the Corpse Pit.
Compost from the rotten flesh of corpses and human faeces was the perfect material for producing biogas after all.
Index 99 only sensed air stifled in his chest. He really wanted to retch.
This per-named Corpse Pit was in actuality a humongous methane tank; a septic tank.
They lived on the decomposition of corpses every day.
—
The harvest on index 99’s end was bountiful, and Zong Jiu saw a new development on his end as well.
Though this development wasn’t much cause for elation.
The match between the second and third teams came after the match between the first and second teams.
After a fifteen-minute intermission, the captains of the two teams symbolically shook hands.
Black Shaman’s hand was slender and firm, though overly gaunt. His joints jutted sharply, like they were only bundled by a thin layer of skin.
When shaking hands with him, Zong Jiu felt a bone-piercing chill.
In that split second, he understood something.
During the moment he crossed the line to shoot, Zong Jiu’s fingers swept diagonally upwards.
—Just as expected, he came into contact with icy steel wires.
