Let's give space a touch of Chinese horror!

Chapter 105 Student Handbook

Geng Yao was taken aback for a moment: "You mean...?"

Tian Baiwei looked at the barbershop and said, "I'd like to go and take a look at that barbershop first."

Geng Yao didn't have any objections. She glanced at the other classmates, who were already gathered in front of the dormitory assignment form, curiously looking at their dormitory numbers.

Since no one was paying attention to them anyway, "Let's go..."

Outside the game, Li Xingzhuo nodded affirmatively: "This girl named Tian Baiwei has excellent observation skills..."

They actually connected the clues in the promotional video with the actual game so quickly.

He's a promising talent.

It seems... this class won't be boring.

In the game, Tian Baiwei and Geng Yao had already arrived at the small barbershop.

The shop was dimly lit and simply furnished, with only two old-fashioned barber chairs that could be raised, lowered, and rotated. The red leather surfaces were badly worn, revealing the dark yellow sponge underneath.

In front of the two barber chairs were two hazy rectangular mirrors. On the table in front of the mirrors were scattered clippers, scissors, combs and other tools, which looked like... hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

An old craftsman with a slightly hunched back was tidying up his tools.

"Master...?" Geng Yao called out softly.

The old craftsman paused, slowly straightened up, and turned his head.

He was wearing an old, yellowed white coat with frayed edges from washing; on the left breast pocket, the words "barber" were embroidered in red thread, though the red thread had faded and darkened, leaning more towards a dark brown.

His hair was almost completely white, his cheekbones were prominent, his cheeks were sunken, and his pale skin, which seemed to have never seen the sun for many years, hung loosely on his bones. His face was full of deep lines left by the years.

He spoke slowly, like a rusty machine, his tone devoid of any bullying, "What is it?"

Geng Yao swallowed hard. "Um, sir, can I get a haircut here?"

The stylist nodded. "I can cut it."

"How much does it cost for a haircut, sir?" Geng Yao suddenly realized that they didn't seem to have any money on them.

"Students get their hair cut for free," the barber said slowly.

"Great!" Geng Yao's eyes lit up. "Could you give us both the standard hairstyle that the school requires for girls?"

"No." The barber turned back around and went back to tidying up his barber tools.

"?" Geng Yao asked in confusion, "Why, Master?! Wasn't the haircut free?!"

The hairdresser didn't even turn his head. "I only cut hair for students here."

"Yes, we are!" Geng Yao said, puzzled.

Although they may not look like high school students, didn't the game already assign them the identity of students?

But no matter what Geng Yao said, the hairdresser ignored them.

"Hey! Vivi, maybe you just can't get a haircut here—"

"I see!"

Tian Baiwei, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Now I know why he won't cut our hair!"

"It's a school uniform!"

"We're not wearing our school uniforms!"

Because they weren't wearing school uniforms, the barber didn't consider them students; it was also because of the importance of school uniforms that the head teacher, Ms. Lü, took them to the dormitory to change into their uniforms immediately.

"Let's hurry back and change into our school uniforms!"

The two hurried back. There was no one downstairs in the dormitory building; they guessed everyone else had already taken their keys and gone to their dorms. Tian Baiwei and Geng Yao glanced at the clock posted on the door.

Judging from the dormitory assignment table, the dormitories are four-person rooms; these players are basically living together with the original student NPCs in groups of one, two, or three, and there are no dormitories full of players.

They were lucky enough to be assigned to the same dormitory.

But when they opened the dormitory door, the two were startled by what they saw inside—

Since the promotional video didn't show the inside of the dormitory, this was the first time Tian Baiwei and Geng Yao had ever seen... such a small dormitory!

Two opposing bunk beds filled one wall, making the dormitory room feel completely cramped. All four beds were covered with blue and white checkered sheets, taut and without a single ripple; the same blue and white checkered blankets were folded into sharp, square "tofu blocks".

If it weren't for the fact that two of the bunk beds had a set of blue and white school uniforms on them, the four beds would have been arranged almost identically.

Below the bed, several pairs of shoes were arranged at the same exact intervals, with the toes pointing outwards and the heels aligned with the edge of the bed, as if bound by invisible lines.

Between the two beds, directly opposite the door and under the window, were four small, stacked metal cabinets. Two of the compartments were already filled with various personal items.

The toothbrush cups were placed precisely along the edge of the cabinet, with the handles pointing in exactly the same direction. Even the toothbrushes inside were placed in the same position and at the same angle. Not to mention the other items inside; the items in the two cabinets were arranged as if copied and pasted, with everything seemingly having its designated place.

In addition, in the not-so-spacious aisle, between two bunk beds, there were four not-so-spacious desks. On two of the desks were some study materials, the books stacked in a step-like fashion from largest to smallest, with the spines aligned perfectly.

The dormitory looked very clean and tidy, but it was completely deserted.

Everything was so precise, aligned, and meticulous, without any personal items bearing individual color or emotion, exuding an order that had been carefully calculated and strictly maintained; the only "decoration" was the calendars—they hung on the bare, whitewashed walls, with the dates of various exams circled in red pen, densely packed with red circles at a glance.

Time seems to stand still here; the overly rigid order has frozen this place into a meticulously crafted yet lifeless still life painting.

"My God!"

Geng Yao exclaimed, "Even in our dorm, the discipline isn't this strict!"

"Let's change our clothes first..."

Tian Baiwei found the name tag on the headboard; they had both been assigned to the upper bunk. She reached for her school uniform, which was placed in the middle of the bed, but it was a bit far away. After a couple of attempts, Tian Baiwei couldn't reach it, so she simply climbed up the bed ladder to get it.

When Tian Baiwei pulled the school uniform over, she felt something was wrong; the clothes seemed a bit too heavy.

She pulled her school uniform over with force, and the next second, with a muffled "thud," a thick book fell out of the uniform.

"What is this?!" Geng Yao had obviously discovered the same thing as well.

Tian Baiwei picked up the book, which was as thick as a brick, and saw the words "Student Handbook" written in black on a white background on the cover.

"The Student Handbook? It's so thick?!" Geng Yao held the book in her hand and waved it around, feeling that it was quite comfortable to handle. "It would be good as a weapon."

Tian Baiwei casually flipped open the "Student Handbook," and the first page read, "Obeying school rules is a student's most basic obligation."

—It's similar to what Teacher Lü said before.

Tian Baiwei flipped through the booklet again; it was filled with rules and regulations. She glanced at a few at random; they were all things like:

"Students must wear the school uniform as required while on campus and keep their clothing neat and appropriate."

"Students' hairstyles must comply with the 'Student Appearance and Grooming Regulations.' Boys are not allowed to have long hair, and girls' hair must not be longer than their ears, so as to maintain the simple and dignified appearance of secondary school students."

"The school advocates a diligent and hardworking academic atmosphere. Students should cherish all their spare time, make full use of their free time for reading and independent learning, broaden their knowledge horizons, improve their overall quality, and not waste a single second."

"Student dormitories must be kept clean and tidy at all times. All personal and public items must be placed in designated locations in accordance with dormitory management regulations and must not be left lying around."

……

Perhaps there were just too many rules to follow, and the font was set particularly small, making it tiring to read. Tian Baiwei's eyes started to hurt after reading only a few, so she immediately closed the student handbook.

She climbed down the bed ladder, accidentally kicking the bed sheet with her toe along the way, leaving an undeniable blemish on the otherwise smooth sheet.

"Oh dear—" Tian Baiwei bent down and quickly tidied up the bed for the other person.

She didn't know how they made their beds, but after trying for a while, Tian Baiwei couldn't get them as smooth as before. She could only lift the mattress and tuck the sheets back in, but after lifting the mattress, her movements suddenly stopped.

"I've changed! Vivi, how did you do? — Hey, Vivi, what are you doing?" Why did you suddenly stop moving?

Geng Yao, who had already changed into her school uniform, looked at Tian Baiwei, who was bent over and motionless, with a face full of confusion.

"...Geng Yao, come and see." Tian Baiwei's voice was very low.

"What's wrong?" Geng Yao moved closer to Tian Baiwei.

"My God!" she exclaimed. "What is this?!"

Underneath the mattress that Tian Baiwei had lifted, the wooden bed board was covered with tiny black writing.

— Densely packed, layered, the original color of the wooden bed frame is almost invisible.

"W-what...what does this say?!"

Tian Baiwei's voice was dry: "It's the student code of conduct." It's the rules and regulations in the "Student Handbook" that students are required to follow, or rather... rules.

"My God..." Geng Yao was so shocked by the scene before her that she couldn't speak. After a moment of stunned silence, she seemed to remember something, quickly ran back to her bedside, and lifted the sheets to take a look.

Phew... thankfully, the bed frame was still clean.

Otherwise, she was really afraid that she would have nightmares if she lay on it.

She stood there for a moment, then bent down and carefully lifted the mattress of her lower bunk, the one belonging to the student NPC who originally lived in this dormitory.

Sure enough, the side of the bed board covered by the mattress was also densely covered with the rules from the student handbook.

"It seems this student handbook is quite important," Geng Yao concluded.

Tian Baiwei hummed in agreement. "Let's take the things (student handbook) with us first."

"Time is running out." She glanced at the clock hanging by the door—there weren't many other things in this school, but clocks and similar items were the most common. Tian Baiwei had been able to see the time everywhere along the way—Teacher Lü had said that he would come to pick them up in two hours, so they had to hurry down to get their hair cut.

"Do you really have to cut it..." Geng Yao held the student handbook in one hand and touched her long hair with the other, her tone full of reluctance and unwillingness.

The main problem is that the hairstyles the school requires girls to have are really unattractive.

"Cut," Tian Baiwei said decisively.

Tian Baiwei was initially hesitant, but after seeing the densely packed student handbook on the bed board, she no longer hesitated. Although she didn't know why those students had recorded the rules in the student handbook so horribly, she could at least understand one thing: only important things, things that one is afraid of forgetting, need to be written down like this.

Therefore, Tian Baiwei believed that the rules in this school must be followed.

Since the hairstyle issue is already written in the student handbook, they'd better go for it.

Perhaps, the two hours that Teacher Lü gave them were time for the game to help them tidy up their appearance if it didn't meet the rules.

Anyway, this is a game, so cutting it out won't affect my appearance in real life.

"That's true..."

The two pushed open the door, ready to go downstairs.

When I went downstairs, I ran into other students who had also changed into their school uniforms and were wandering around the dormitory building or looking for clues.

"Class monitor, Tian Baiwei..." Seeing the two of them looking so hurried, the others couldn't help but ask curiously, "Where are you two going?"

"Oh..." Geng Yao continued walking, "Let's go get a haircut!"

She then turned around and enthusiastically called out to her classmates, "Are you guys going?"

"Huh?!" The other military academy students were stunned for a second, then stared at Geng Yaotian and Bai Wei with strange looks: "You two are so engrossed?" Do you really think you're students of this school?!

"Didn't you see the promotional documentary?" Geng Yao kindly advised, "All the students in it have the same hairstyle. Now that we're students at this school, of course we should keep the same look!"

Her good intentions didn't elicit gratitude from her classmates. "Hahaha, class monitor, you're hilarious..." the other students laughed heartily. "It's just a game, why are you taking it so seriously!"

"Yeah, class monitor, all the hairstyles in that video are so ugly!" Even though this is just a game, there are other classmates watching outside! They don't want their own freshly made memes to flood their screens after the game ends.

"Alright..." It's hard to reason with a damned devil. Geng Yao felt she had done her best to remind him, so she shrugged and continued downstairs with Tian Baiwei.

The two rushed all the way to the barbershop they had visited before.

Welcome!

The two had barely reached the door, still catching their breath, when the barber who had previously ignored them greeted them warmly, "Hey, ladies, want a haircut?"