Chapter 45: The Wriggler |
Gao Fan felt like he was going mad.
The biggest problem right now was that he already knew how to escape the classroom...
But he simply could not do it.
The danger-avoidance instinct from his Title, Lucky Escapee, told him that the classroom's front and back doors were sealed tight. His only way out was the window.
From his perspective, the method to escape was crystal clear—
He could see that both the front and back doors were a deep, dark red, while only the very top of the central transom window glowed a bright green.
Right below that window, a desk was flashing with a white light. His own desk was similarly emitting a faint green glow.
The implication was obvious: he needed to move his desk over there to use as a stepping stool.
...But the problem was that, as someone with dwarfism, Gao Fan was only 128 centimeters tall and weighed less than 40 kilograms.
It was the equivalent of asking an 80-kilogram adult to lift a heavy 40-kilogram table over their head and place it onto a platform at chest height.
Perhaps someone strong enough could pull it off, but he certainly could not.
And even taking a step back... even if he did manage to stack the desks, he would still be far from the opening above.
He would likely have to jump just to reach it. And from there, he would have to do a sheer pull-up to squeeze through...
And that was not even the worst of it.
The real problem was: how would he get down on the other side?
From that height, a drop would be enough to snap his legs!
Although once the game ended, it would only cost a single chip to heal any injuries by restoring his body to its past state... this was clearly a supernatural instance. If he ended up crippled, the real danger would be waiting for him afterward!
He might even... be abandoned by Big Brother Xiao!
Gao Fan paced around the room in a panic.
Meanwhile, the bloody handprints on the window had almost completely melted.
The melting handprints coagulated into thin threads, transforming into hideous, bloody streaks that looked like whip lashes on a bare back.
This made Gao Fan increasingly anxious.
It was an obvious countdown—a mechanic that appeared in various ways across all sorts of games. It could be an approaching nightfall or a rainstorm, a burning candle nearing its end, or even encroaching hunger and thirst... and this was clearly the countdown for his escape from the classroom.
But no matter how it counted down, he simply could not do the impossible!
Was this place designed to directly weed out anyone lacking the necessary strength and height?!
This was unfair! Everyone was supposed to have a chance to clear the game—
—Bang!
Suddenly, a massive crash echoed out.
Gao Fan's heart skipped a beat, and goosebumps erupted across his skin.
He whipped his head around!
Outside the blood-streaked window, someone had suddenly slammed a heavy object against the glass!
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
The continuous, deafening pounding made him hold his breath. He curled up in the shadows beneath a desk, not daring to move a muscle.
The window glass rattled with a buzzing hum, vibrating visibly.
Suddenly!
—Crash!
The glass was shattered directly from the outside!
Fractured shards exploded across the floor, narrowly missing Gao Fan's eyes.
Although it was an irregularly shaped hole not even large enough for a basketball to pass through, it was big enough for someone outside to poke their head in.
"Ugh..."
Accompanied by a groan that sounded like a sigh, a mangled, bloody head cautiously peeked in through the hole.
It slowly looked left and right, but saw no one.
Gao Fan held his breath, completely paralyzed.
Right now, he was pressing himself against the base of the wall like a maggot, huddled directly below the window. The head was almost directly above him.
Because the smashed window was located in the row right in front of the desk marked as the escape route!
And Gao Fan had originally been standing right there, trying to figure out how to lift his desk onto that very table.
He curled tightly into the dark corner formed by three desks, not even daring to look directly at the head. He only tracked it from the corner of his eye, terrified that it might sense his gaze. In his experience, monsters with this kind of mechanic were common in Adventure mode.
Finally, the figure slowly withdrew its head.
Listening to those heavy, drunk-like footsteps slowly fading away, Gao Fan gradually let out a sigh of relief.
"...Phew."
But right at that moment, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.
As the piercing ringtone blared, Gao Fan's scalp instantly went numb!
His hands began to violently tremble as he immediately shoved them into his pocket to turn it off.
The instant he powered off the device, the lights in the classroom and the hallway simultaneously went out.
Yet, just that brief second of noise was enough to make the footsteps outside halt.
Suddenly, heavy running footsteps echoed!
The head popped right back into the window!
This time, Gao Fan caught a clear glimpse of its mutilated face, along with its bloodshot, bulging eyeballs that trembled wildly in their sockets!
Relying on the advantage of the darkness, Gao Fan remained undetected by the security guard. The guard scanned the room but still failed to spot him.
But this time, the man in the security uniform did not leave.
Gao Fan heard him walk over to the classroom door and pull out a set of keys.
The bundle of keys clinked and jingled together. The guard picked one out and opened the classroom door.
As the guard pushed the door open, Gao Fan's heart leaped into his throat.
He saw the guard flick the light switch by the door, but no matter how many times he pressed it, no light came on.
Just as Gao Fan sighed in relief, he saw the guard pull a flashlight from his coat.
His heart instantly seized up again—
He watched as the guard started shining the beam from behind the teacher's podium, meticulously sweeping the flashlight down the gaps between every single row of desks.
But the only piece of good news was...
At least the main door was open!
Gao Fan had originally intended to take advantage of the guard checking the podium to take a shortcut, crawling rapidly under the desks straight to the door.
After all, he was only four rows of desks away from the entrance.
Yet, his intuition screamed that it was a dead end!
His only correct path was to crawl backward first, retreat to the very back of the classroom, and then take a massive detour to crawl past the podium. A glowing green path had already been marked out for him.
Almost instantly, Gao Fan understood why—
The floor right in front of him was covered in broken glass.
If he crawled straight ahead, never mind whether he would get cut... first and foremost, he would definitely make a noise.
And so, following the guidance of his instincts, Gao Fan silently crawled backward. Some glass shards had flown quite far, but even in the pitch-black room, he could see these dangerous fragments flashing with a red warning glow, allowing him to avoid them.
He crawled all the way to the very back of the classroom, then took advantage of the guard checking the left side of the desks to slip under the desks on the far right. Utilizing his "height advantage" with utmost agility, he crawled silently all the way to the very front of the room.
When Gao Fan evaded the guard's line of sight and slipped under the teacher's podium, he finally let out a breath.
The door was now barely two or three meters away. He could clear the distance with a quick sprint.
But... he could not rush it.
He absolutely could not rush it... he kept telling himself.
When victory is right at your fingertips, that is exactly when things are most likely to go wrong!
Thus, Gao Fan forced down the excitement and tension in his heart, continuing to silently wriggle across the floor.
But right at that moment.
"Hehehe~"
The laughter of a little girl suddenly echoed out.
Power was suddenly restored to the classroom and the hallway.
The interior lights flickered twice before brightly illuminating the room once again.
The security guard lifted his head.
And locked eyes right onto Gao Fan, who was lying flat on the floor, mere inches from crawling out the door.