My Healing Games

Chapter 823 Gao Cheng
Upon arriving in this strange and eerie world, where cannibals seemingly exist beyond reason, the thirty students in the class did not panic too much.

They forgot many things, leaving only the numbers and instincts, but in many cases, that was enough for them.

"We have three days to prepare." Zhou Qi, number five, leaned on the podium with both hands: "Although the trip three days from now is dangerous, it is also a chance to regain our freedom."

“Don’t decide on a target yet.” A student in the last row of the classroom twirled his pen, his legs crossed casually, dressed like a hoodlum: “Since the teachers, other students, the school, and the surrounding residents may all be our enemies, why don’t we consider taking them all out with us? There are ghosts sealed inside the building; if they want to sacrifice us, we can sacrifice them too.”

"Number 9, your thinking is very dark." Number 5 Zhou Qi tapped the blackboard: "At this stage, we should focus on self-preservation and not always think about revenge against others."

“If you don’t bully others, others will bully you. I’m doing this for everyone’s good.” Number Nine glanced at the notebook on his desk, which bore the name Tang Ling: “We can’t even remember our own names. What moral principles do we care about in this situation?”

"Whether it's losing memories or other things, as long as everyone is still here, that's all that matters." The boy sitting in the first seat of the first row of the classroom spoke up. He was a head taller than the average child, and his body seemed to contain terrifying power. His name on his workbook had been crossed out and replaced with a number—the number one.

Once number one spoke, no one in the class had any further objections.

"Number Five is the strongest leader among us. He can quickly and accurately assess risks, take a comprehensive view of the big picture, and have insight into the development trend of the macro environment. Let Number Five be the class monitor."

The leading children nodded in agreement, and Number Nine did not object.

“If we are offerings to ghosts, then at least we are safe for these three days. Everyone, hurry up and learn about this world and yourselves. We can only rely on each other.” Number One’s temperament was different from all the other children. There was a trace of pain in his eyes that others could not understand. His eyes were like pearls that had been soaked in the river of despair for thousands of years, bright and beautiful, yet filled with sorrow.

“This bizarre world is dangerous, but we will definitely survive.” Number One looked at everyone: “I have forgotten most of my past, but I have a vague feeling that we have experienced things that were hundreds of times more desperate than this.”

“Yes, I feel the same way.” The child who lost both legs silently tidied his desk: “For those children who have never been abandoned, this place may be hell, but for us it’s just a simpler prison.”

“Let’s just treat it as a game.” Number Eight, who was short and wore glasses, spoke up, picking up his notebook covered with cartoon images: “Chen You, I really like this name.”

"You are always so optimistic, but deep down you all resist death. You are contradictory and full of contradictions." A tall, thin boy sat in the corner, writing the number four repeatedly on a piece of paper with a pencil. The densely packed number fours eventually merged into a self-portrait: "Death is the only relief. Living like this is too tiring."

The class has thirty children, each with their own unique personality. They were recruited by Yong Sheng Pharmaceuticals from all over the country over several years, and each personality represents a secret deep within human nature.

Some of them are strong, some are weak; some are confident and optimistic and will not be defeated no matter how difficult the situation, while others are completely shrouded in pessimism and always think about dying.

These thirty children formed a class, and they will struggle to survive in an unspeakable future, living in a post-apocalyptic world where the subterranean world and reality have merged.

……

Clutching the medicine bottle tightly, Han Fei, his mind corrupted, walked down the school corridor. The world in his eyes was covered by large shadows, and many normal things looked different to him. He felt as if he were walking towards a nightmare.

"Teacher Gao Cheng? Why did you run out of the infirmary? Go back and lie down. I'll cover your classes for the next few days."

A warm voice sounded behind Han Fei. He turned around and saw a middle-aged man standing not far away. The man seemed to have obsessive-compulsive disorder; he was dressed very neatly and there was nothing wrong with him.

"you are?"

"Has the mental pollution gotten so bad that it's starting to erode memories?" The middle-aged man helped Han Fei up. "I'm Director Ya. Don't you even recognize me?"

The carrion-eating crow was impeccably dressed.

Before Han Fei could answer, the middle-aged man had already pulled a medicine bottle from his pocket, broken one of the pills in half, and put it into Han Fei's mouth: "The inhibitory effect of the drug will gradually weaken. Take half a pill at a time and let your body adapt slowly."

After taking the medicine, Han Fei did not feel any relief from his mental anguish. Instead, he felt drowsy and had no energy to do anything. He just wanted to get some sleep.

"What kind of medicine is this?"

"Of course it's medicine that can save you." Director Ya helped Han Fei to his office, where another teacher, who looked to be in his early thirties with a long scar on his cheek, was standing. "Teacher Wang? Did you need something?"

The scarred teacher's name is Wang Chuqing. Chuqing was his girlfriend's name. After she died, he changed his name.

“The students are going out to take exams in three days. Teacher Gao is definitely not able to lead the team in his current state. Why don’t I help him?” Scarface’s tone was gloomy, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop as he spoke. His gaze toward Han Fei was also extremely unfriendly.

Upon hearing Teacher Wang Chuqing's words, Director Ya smiled slightly. He stared intently at the scarred face and said, "According to the order, it should be your turn to be in charge of Class 5 this time. What? Do you really think of yourself as their father?"

"I just wanted to cover for Teacher Gao's classes."

"Stop your unnecessary pity. You don't want the kids from Class 5 to be fed to the ghosts, so you want to use the kids from Class 7 as substitutes?" Director Ya's face was close to Teacher Wang Chuqing's: "This is not kindness. If you do this, then you are a murderer who violates the rules."

At this moment, Han Fei also realized that something was wrong. He noticed the problem from the conversation between Director Ya and Teacher Wang Chuqing. The assessment three days later was not simple. It seemed that each class had a fixed number of "ghost-feeding slots".

Teacher Wang did not reply. After exchanging glances with Director Ya for a moment, he glanced at the weak Han Fei and then left.

"Teacher Gao, you don't need to worry, everything will proceed according to regulations." Director Ya regained his amiable demeanor: "Take these three days to rest well, and try to accompany the children to the assessment."

"What exactly is the assessment?" Han Fei leaned against the wall, his body seemingly about to collapse at any moment.

"Have you even forgotten this?" Director Ya frowned slightly. "The assessment is just a simple assessment, to stimulate the potential personality of each child and see if they are food or a spark."

What will happen to the food? What will happen to the fire?

"The food will be eaten, and the fire will be extinguished." Director Crow's voice was somewhat cold, directly dispelling the drowsiness in Han Fei's mind.

“The students’ textbooks say that two-thirds of the city is occupied by those things. In fact, after these years of resistance, nine-tenths of the city is now occupied by those things, and that’s without them actively expanding.” Director Crow pointed to the city map on the table: “We should explore new ways of coexistence. That’s the meaning of the existence of ‘school’.”

Offering children to ghosts as food? Is this a school? Or a cafeteria?

Han Fei didn't voice his thoughts. All he could think about was how to save the thirty children. This time, he was facing not only ghosts, but also the school teachers and the living people around him who were enjoying the existing rules.

"You were the teacher I thought was the best in the school. It's a pity. If only I could have stopped you when you went to the haunted building that night." Director Ya's tone did carry a hint of regret. Gao Cheng used to be very popular in the school.

"I will recover as soon as possible."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself, go back and rest."

Han Fei resisted his drowsiness with his willpower, and his mental state improved slightly.

After greeting Director Ya, he left the office, intending to first inform Number Two about the assessment.

He walked toward his class, and just as he reached the corner of the stairs, someone grabbed him and dragged him into the shadows.

"Teacher Wong?"

The one who attacked Han Fei was Wang Chuqing with the scarred face, and he seemed very agitated.

“Gao Cheng, I have a bottle of medicine here that I brought from the Red Mansion. It might be able to cure your illness.” Teacher Wang took out a glass bottle filled with blood from his pocket: “I want to use this medicine to exchange for a promise from you.”

"What promise?"

"On the day of the assessment, let the children from your class go into the building in place of Class 5." Teacher Wang looked fierce, but he was genuinely thinking about his students and was the only teacher who wanted to protect them within the rules.

“Those children are just food and offerings. Is it really worth it for you to go to such lengths to protect them?” Han Fei subconsciously used his master-level acting skills. The profession of actor is actually very useful in any memory shrine.

"This is my business, it's none of your concern." Teacher Wang stared into Han Fei's eyes: "Our power comes from personality, will, and ghosts. You are currently severely mentally polluted and cannot use the power of your own personality at all. You are a useless person. You should also know the school's attitude towards useless people, right?"

"Then I need to test your medicine first. What if you try to exchange it for poison?" Han Fei took the bottle of medicine from Teacher Wang's hand, and a system notification sounded in his mind.

"Attention player number 0000: You have discovered diluted ghost blood, an F-grade drug. Using this drug can clear some mental pollution, but there is a chance of being cursed by the ghost blood."

Han Fei grew up eating curses and has extremely high resistance to all kinds of curses, so this bottle of medicine is very important to him.

Han Fei opened the bottle and took a small sip. It felt like he had swallowed a piece of ice, and he felt a bone-chilling cold from his lips to his throat.

"It seems to actually work..." Han Fei put the medicine bottle directly into his pocket.

"You agree?" Teacher Wang didn't expect Han Fei to agree so readily.

"Okay." Han Fei nodded. He had no intention of having the students participate in any assessments. He wanted to use methods outside the rules to lead everyone to escape completely.

"As expected of the successor favored by Director Ya, he's indeed cold-blooded and ruthless." Teacher Wang seemed to be praising Han Fei, but his eyes were full of disgust. After obtaining Han Fei's promise, he left immediately.

Finding two secluded corners, Han Fei drank the ghost blood in one gulp. He felt as if his whole body was frozen, even his mind was frozen.

Rubbing his hands together, Han Fei tried hard not to fall asleep. After a long time, he gradually felt a warmth in his body, some of the negative emotions in his mind were cleared away, and his will seemed to become stronger.

"Attention player number 0000: Your mental pollution index is currently 29. You are still not out of danger. Please clear your mental pollution as soon as possible."

Han Fei felt much better, but he still used acting skills to cover it up, moving weakly by supporting himself against the wall as he entered the teachers' office.

After finding his seat, Han Fei began searching through various documents.

"Attention player number 0000, you have found the key to room 204 of the teachers' apartment."

"Attention player number 0000, you have discovered an E-grade special item - the Ghost Mirror."

"The Ghost Mirror: The only item Gao Cheng took out of the Ghost Building - the Third Eye Hospital".

After putting Gao Cheng's belongings away, Han Fei gradually noticed some problems.

This Gao Cheng is no ordinary man. Before the disaster, he was blind and suffered from an eye disease. However, when the disaster destroyed Shanghai, he regained his sight by accident.

Despite being the least popular teacher in the school, he not only lived a good life, but was also the only person in the school who entered the haunted building five times and came out alive each time.

Based on the information left by Gao Cheng, it seems that he also has a twin brother trapped in a strange building deep in the city, and he dreams about things related to that blood relative every night.

(End of this chapter)