Rules-related weird stories: 4016

“Isn't there a PE class today? I'll bring an extra pair of shoes just to be safe,” Wei Liang said calmly, the fear of being forced a shoe by a muscle-bound hunk a day ago still seemed to shroud him.

“Hey, stop yapping, did you sleep through your alarm? Get out of bed and wash your face!”

Wei Liang slung his bag over his shoulder and urged, “We're just waiting for you. I didn't realize you could sleep so much usually. How come you slept like a dead pig today?”

On the other side, Tian Bufan and the others were also ready, just sitting in their chairs, looking like they were waiting for him.

Seeing this scene, Lin Yi didn't bother to explain and quickly got out of bed to wash up.

However, the moment he lifted the quilt, a large cloud of white powder billowed up, looking as if someone had sprinkled flour on his quilt.

“Cough cough! Cough cough!”

Lin Yi accidentally inhaled a small amount of powder and coughed violently.

Seeing this, Wei Liang quickly leaped onto the desk and started patting Lin Yi's back: “Damn, Lin, what's going on with you? Is the wall plaster peeling off?”

He couldn't help but reach out to touch the quilt, then became even more confused: “Huh, why is it gone again?”

The violent coughing made Lin Yi's head spin. Hearing this, he carefully checked the quilt again, but this time, not only was there no white powder on his quilt, but it was also extremely smooth and there were no abnormalities at all.

Lin Yi was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that he wasn't coughing anymore. After shaking his head, he grabbed the bed frame and climbed down.

When his feet touched the ground, he seemed to think of something and couldn't help but look up at the ceiling.

Yesterday, in a half-dreaming state, the ceiling seemed to have turned into the floor, and the entire dormitory seemed to have been flipped 180 degrees.

Even now that he was standing firmly on the ground, he still had an unrealistic, dreamlike feeling in his heart.

He always had a dizzy feeling, as if his soul hadn't returned yet, and his vision was also a little erratic.

He slowly walked to the sink, propped himself up on the sink basin and panted for a while, and then turned on the faucet to wash his face.

But as he was washing his face, he noticed that the touch on his hands was smoother than ever before. He was stunned for a moment, then looked up at himself in the mirror.

In the mirror, his face had no features, as smooth as a peeled hard-boiled egg.

“?!”

Lin Yi was startled and staggered backward, accidentally slipping and falling on his butt on the ground, his back hitting heavily against the bathroom door behind him, which finally stopped him.

“What's going on, what's going on?” Wei Liang rushed over and helped Lin Yi up from the ground.

Lin Yi carefully looked at the mirror again and found that his reflection had returned to normal, as if it had just been a hallucination.

“It's…it's nothing.” Lin Yi waved his hand and started pouring water to brush his teeth and rinse his mouth.

“Do you want me to pack you a pair of shoes too?” Wei Liang asked.

“Uh…okay.” Lin Yi pondered for a moment, Lao Da's shoes were indeed good, but they were a bit tight after all.

「Glug glug…」

He looked at himself in the mirror and started brushing his teeth and rinsing his mouth. He didn't know if he hadn't pulled himself out of the dream environment yet, but he always felt that the environment in the mirror was a bit unfamiliar, and even he himself seemed a bit unfamiliar.

Suddenly, his gaze passed through the mirror and saw the window next to him.

The dormitory window…was open.

He clearly remembered closing it!

That strange creature in the middle of the night seemed to have opened the window, but the dorm manager who checked the rooms had closed the window again!

“Yin Bi opened the window.” Wei Shan's voice came from the side, “I saw it was a bit cold so I closed it a little, but Yin Bi wouldn't let me close it.”

“Isn't it good to get some fresh air in the early morning?” Kuai Hongji said with a sneer, arms crossed, “Remember to close it after you wash up.”

After Kuai Hongji finished speaking, he pushed open the dormitory door with a bag in his hand.

“Kuai, Kuai, are you leaving first?” Lin Yi asked.

“Let's wait a bit, Lao Lin is awake anyway, a few minutes won't make a difference.” Tian Bufan's voice also rang out.

Kuai Hongji narrowed his eyes, then silently closed the door.

“Alright then.”

Lin Yi then went to close the window after washing up, but just as he reached out to grab the window handle, his gaze saw the outer wall of the dormitory through the window gap.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“Moss?”

The outer wall of the dormitory was actually covered with moss, and from his perspective, the outer wall of the dormitory…actually had the feeling of looking at a cliff.

Time was tight, so he didn't think too much about it and immediately closed the window.

6:30, everything was ready, and everyone planned to leave the dormitory.

Lin Yi suddenly thought of something and slapped his head: “I almost forgot about this!”

He returned to the wardrobe and rummaged through it.

“Don't bother looking, I've already folded that piece of paper for you and put it in your bag.” Tian Bufan said calmly.

Lin Yi was looking for the piece of paper left by Song Ren Tou, but Tian Bufan had already anticipated his actions.

“You're the best.” Lin Yi couldn't help but give a thumbs up in admiration.

…

6:35, Lin Yi and his group took the elevator down the dormitory building.

The journey was very smooth, mainly because someone very consciously didn't think too much about anything, just followed the group like a wooden man into the elevator and then came to the first floor.

There were quite a few experimental students leaving the dormitory at this time, but they all buried their heads and hurried on their way, not paying too much attention to the people around them.

The morning after the heavy rain presented a fresh and peaceful scene outside the dormitory building.

The sky was washed particularly bright, with some white clouds hanging on the blue sky. The morning sun shone through the clouds, casting mottled shadows, as if the outside of the dormitory building was covered with a layer of light golden light.

The air was filled with the fragrance of soil and grass. The trees and flowers in front of the dormitory building looked more vibrant after the rain, with crystal water droplets hanging on the leaves, shimmering with the morning light.

The accumulated water on the cobblestone road reflected the color of the sky, like countless distorted miniature mirrors, reflecting the surrounding scenery.

From time to time, a breeze blew, scattering the water droplets on the leaves, making a crisp sound.

Students walked out of the dormitory one after another, breathing in the fresh air, their faces filled with the joy of a rainy morning. They were either strolling on the path or chatting near the shade of the trees, enjoying this rare moment of tranquility.

The only thing that seemed strange was that no matter how fresh the air was or how quiet the environment was, the surrounding mountains and forests never showed any signs of life.

There was still some time before the cicada-filled summer season, but there shouldn't even be a single bird.

This was the 4th day of school, but Lin Yi had never seen a bird in the sky.

The entire S City University seemed to be a "Truman Show", so quiet that it was depressing and manic, and it made Lin Yi feel a sense of unease.

Even though the boundaries of his perception had expanded a lot, Lin Yi felt more and more terrified, and more and more afraid of the entire campus.

It was like the world of a frog at the bottom of a well was originally so big, but when it got closer to the wellhead, its vision became wider.

However, as it continued to approach the wellhead, the frog's original curiosity gradually turned into shock at the boundless expanse of the world as its vision expanded.

For this external world, which was many times larger than the world at the bottom of the well, the frog had no other emotions besides fear.

The group walked on the slippery cobblestone road, stepping on the thin mist at their feet, walking slowly towards the cafeteria.

Everyone was uncharacteristically quiet along the way, as if they were preoccupied.

“Young Master Tian…” After walking for a while, Lin Yi slowly opened his mouth.

“Oh?” Tian Bufan didn't stop, glancing at him sideways, “Have you sorted out what you want to say?”

“My experience last night…was very complicated.”

“Mm.” Tian Bufan responded calmly, as if whatever Lin Yi said was within his expectations.

“I mean, not only was the dream complicated…the experience was also very complicated.”

“I know.” Tian Bufan nodded.

Lin Yi opened his mouth wide: “Ah? You know? Wait, you know something entered our dormitory last night?”

Tian Bufan nodded.

“No…how would you know? Don't tell me you weren't asleep?”

“I was asleep at that time, but Wei Sang was awake.” Tian Bufan glanced at Wei Sang.

The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ say ⊥ in ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥ ⊥ book ⊥ ⊥ bar ⊥ ⊥ first ⊥ hair!

“Wei Sang? Wait, so you mean…” Lin Yi thought of something.

“That's right, I deliberately swatted away that dirty thing.” The chubby Wei Shan said upon hearing this.

Kuai Hongji crossed his arms and said sarcastically: “Lao Lin, you wouldn't really think it was such a coincidence, would you?”

"Coincidentally, just as that thing was about to get close to you, Wei Shan adjusted his position and used a pillow to smack it away?"

"Uh…" Lin Yi paused, "This… Wei Shan, you didn't sleep all night?"

"How could I not sleep?" Wei Shan retorted, "I—no, we, just…"

He hesitated, glancing at Tian Bufan as if seeking his opinion.

Tian Bufan nodded and took over, saying, "We were just taking turns staying awake to help you… 'keep watch'."

"Taking turns staying awake?" Wei Liang, who was listening, couldn't help but gape and complain, "Are you two sharing a biological clock? Seamlessly switching sleep times, how ridiculously absurd is that?"

"Great, so I'm the only one who properly crashed and slept like a log?"

Tian Bufan gave him a faint look: "Whether you slept or not, you know it in your own heart."

"We're used to it anyway."

"Yeah, Liangzi, you didn't fall asleep either, did you?" Lin Yi looked at Wei Liang in surprise, thinking that this guy always claimed to be asleep while making deafening snores. He really couldn't tell if Wei Liang was truly asleep or just pretending.

Could it be… that he was the only one in the entire dorm who was actually sleeping?

Wei Liang said speechlessly, "Of course I fell asleep, and I slept like a dead pig!"

"You could use a different analogy… who compares themselves to a dead pig? It's bad luck," Lin Yi said.

"It's just an analogy, what's lucky or unlucky about it? Why care so much about life and death?" Wei Liang waved his hand dismissively. "So, Lao Lin, what did you dream about this time?"

"Well… let's talk about the dream first," Tian Bufan added.

His meaning was clear: we don't know about the dream yet, but you're the only one who doesn't know what happened at night.

Priorities were obvious.

"The dream… is complicated." Lin Yi wondered if he should reveal that, besides dreaming about Maozi's experiences, he could also dream about their experiences.

He hesitated for a moment, deciding to share Maozi's experiences first, then talk about the other matter.

"The dream goes like this… The timing is amazing, picking up exactly where it left off last time, just like watching a TV series…"

He slowly began to recount.

"Maozi and Mu Daxian came to the campus around dusk on May 7th, taking the elevator on the art building side…"

"The art building's elevator is indeed in the watchtower. That passage is full of indescribable strange characters and symbols…"

"However, the elevator shaft in the art building has a code starting with the character 'Moon', which should have the same meaning as the art student code on the student commemorative coin. I feel that this 'Moon' has some kind of meaning in the art department…"

"On the way back to the campus, the elevator stopped at the library before returning to the teaching building…"

"At the library, someone got on the elevator. Their clothing was a bit like a Pseudo-Human Art Student, but they didn't exude any malice. They had some Pseudo-Human characteristics, but they weren't obvious, and they seemed to be afraid of Mu Daxian… Art students aren't afraid of Mu Daxian."

"Oh, right, about the concept of 'Pseudo-Human Art Student'… it's actually the people we previously called 'Strange Art Students'. They are… products transformed after art student contamination crossed the line, and they no longer seem to belong to humanity."

"I'll explain some other concepts together later."

"Then, according to Mu Daxian, the library is indeed Building D of the teaching building, but there seems to be a strange mechanism that prevents returning after arriving…"

"Mu Daxian hasn't mentioned this mechanism yet. I suspect it might be similar to the way the staircase on the first basement floor of the teaching building moves. It's a one-way passage. The specifics need to be investigated when we have the chance."

"Then, Mu Daxian was originally registered in Class 2 of Group B, where Liangzi and I are. Later, he also registered Maozi here."

"Unfortunately, to prevent them from being seen by ordinary experience students, Mu Daxian precisely calculated the time, perfectly avoiding most people, so we never met in the middle…"

"The message on our blackboard was originally left by Mu Daxian."

"That Mu Daxian… he seems to know a lot of rules, like he's already done part of what we're currently doing, collecting a lot of rules."

"Moreover, I feel that his understanding of the rules isn't as simple as just obtaining them. He seems to have once been the kind of 'unit' that must be obeyed. According to his own words, he should be an art student transformed from an experience student, so he knows the Experience Student Series Rules and some Sports Student Rules…"

"And he also served as a dormitory manager for a period of time, so he knows more comprehensive Dormitory Series Rules than us, including the 'Dorm Manager Rules'. I even suspect that he has mastered some of the abilities to use old kerosene lamps… because he can explode the lamps with his bare hands. This skill seems to be rarely mastered, giving me the feeling of a 'burst' of power."

"Moreover, he's best friends with a black-apron chef, so he even knows the 'Chef Rules', and supposedly even the deeper 'Black-Apron Chef Rules'… Of course, this is just my guess, because I feel that blue-apron chefs and black-apron chefs might have different rules."

"'Black-apron chef'?" Tian Bufan narrowed his eyes.

Lin Yi nodded and explained first, "Besides the green-hat and blue-apron chefs who haven't been contaminated, there's also a black-apron chef. It's said that they are responsible for 'logistics', which means they are responsible for cooking in the cafeteria, but they do everything once they leave the cafeteria…"

"Like a group of super agents who know everything."

He briefly introduced the black-apron chef but didn't dwell on the topic.

"In addition, Mu Daxian himself, as a 'leader'-like existence among art students, seems to know as many rule systems as an art teacher. I feel that he sometimes seems more like an art teacher, with a feeling of… being able to 'break through' but 'not breaking through'. I don't know if it's because art students can do things that art teachers can't do to some extent…"

Lin Yi obviously had his own insights, so while normally stating the facts, he also shared his "experiences".

As for Mao Feiyang's experiences in the dream, Lin Yi was actually talking more about Mu Daxian as a person.

Because Mu Daxian seemed to be the epitome of the art department, and from him, there was a lot of information and clues about the art department and non-art departments.

"And… what I think is most outrageous is that Mu Daxian knows a rule called the 'Night Watchman Iron Law'."

Tian Bufan stroked his chin, pondering at a tricky angle, "The Night Watchman Iron Law should be the rules of that legendary 'Night Watchman'."

"Named with 'Iron Law', besides the coolness, what I feel more is that it should reflect some kind of binding force…"

"Binding force…?" Lin Yi was stunned. He hadn't thought of that.

"Like the 'Global H-Bomb Agreement', the more powerful something is, the more it needs to be 'controlled' and 'constrained'…" Tian Bufan squinted his eyes, "Perhaps, the Night Watchman Iron Law is different from the rules. The rules are used to protect the observers from being contaminated and harmed, while the iron law… is used to restrain the Night Watchman from harming others and limit their ability to act?"

Lin Yi's eyes flickered. He remembered that Mu Daxian had mentioned that the Night Watchman never seemed to have left the art building. Could it be… that it really was a constraint?

The Night Watchman protects the art building, but likewise, is the art building also the Night Watchman's prison?

Or rather, could there be some special relationship between the Night Watchman and the art building, just like… Lao Mo and the cafeteria?

Thank you to book friends “圆月与清辉”, “usjdnshhs”, “书友20240602125218125”, “SNF”, and “SUPK” for their rewards!!

Added 1000 words.