Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Chen Ji's hand only had time to brush against the hem of her fluttering clothes.

Time seemed to stand still for two seconds. He stood blankly in front of the railing, still holding out his hand.

The narrow corridor was as silent as if it had fallen into a vacuum, until a desperate cry rang out.

"No! Meng Yue!"

Wu Yan pushed aside the people in front of her and stumbled towards the railing, looking down.

Her reddened eyes widened suddenly, and she stared blankly for a few seconds before taking a deep breath, as if she couldn't breathe!

Chen Ji closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened them again, some of the emotions within them had vanished.

He pulled Wu Yan's stiff body away from the railing and stood in front of her, preventing her from seeing Meng Yue's mangled corpse again.

Countless screams erupted from the crowd, some students even bent over to vomit, and everyone took a few steps back to keep their distance from the railing where Meng Yue had fallen.

Fang Jia, who had been staying with Wu Yan, did not move. She stood alone in the open space, only a few steps away from Chen Ji.

Her lips parted slightly, trembling silently, and her wide eyes were filled with disbelief.

Ding Xiang turned her head away, unable to bear to look any longer. Even though she already knew Meng Yue's fate, she still hoped that this frail girl would have a glimmer of hope.

Du Tingfeng stood in the crowd and shook his head helplessly.

The burly man beside him frowned, preoccupied with something else.

Meng Yue died too young!

Their original plan was completely disrupted, and they didn't even get any useful information from Meng Yue.

Suddenly, Wu Yan pushed Chen Ji away, covered her face, and ran downstairs.

The group exchanged glances. Chen Ji gave them a look, then stepped through the crowd and followed Wu Yan downstairs.

Wu Yan ran very fast, and it was unclear where she got the strength. She knocked past several classmates and rushed to the open space in front of the teaching building.

Chen Ji was about to grab her when his hand missed its target. Wu Yan had already knelt on the ground with a thud, her shoulders trembling, and tears streaming down her face.

Directly in front of them was Meng Yue's deformed body.

For some reason, Wu Yan, who always prides herself on being strong, has been losing control of her emotions from time to time since last night.

Although Meng Yue was just an NPC in the domain, Wu Yan had a strange feeling...

It was as if the person who died wasn't someone she'd only met once, but her best friend.

Wu Yan was lost in her grief and didn't notice...

Her sadness seemed to appear too suddenly, with a touch of eerie irrationality...

Chen Ji sighed, and was about to say something when his eyes suddenly flashed.

He squatted between Wu Yan and Meng Yue's corpses, patted her shoulder, and, recalling Meng Yue's mockery before her death, remained silent for a moment before saying:

"It's not a bad thing that she's free."

"Let's go, it's time for class."

……

The four classes in the morning flew by.

They were all familiar with the rules and did not break any taboos.

However, the death of Meng Yue affected the other students to varying degrees.

In Chen Ji's class alone, six or seven students were severely punished for being distracted in class that morning, and some even died.

"Don't you guys feel this is very unreasonable?" Ding Xiang frowned in the cafeteria. "Why don't the students care about punishments in the classroom?"

"It's as if all of this is commonplace."

"But why is everyone reacting so strongly to Meng Yue's death?"

Others shared the same sentiment, with Chen Ji saying, "Because they have cognitive dissonance."

Du Tingfeng nodded: "I think so too."

"They can't accept this reality, so they distort their perception and force themselves to believe that all the teacher's punishments are reasonable."

"But Meng Yue chose death herself, unlike them."

The burly man curled his lip, unconvinced: "We're already here, what's the point of talking about logic?"

Due to the restriction that they could not directly mention the mission, everyone spoke very cryptically.

Chen Ji glanced thoughtfully at Wu Yan, whose mood was deteriorating across the table.

There, Wu Yan's eyes were red, and she leaned on Fang Jia, unable to eat a single bite.

Fang Jia had been in a daze since morning, as if she had lost her soul. She had also seen Meng Yue's corpse with her own eyes.

Ding Xiang ate a few bites of food, but then, remembering what the female teacher had said during morning reading, she suddenly lost her appetite and felt a surge of anger welling up inside her.

During morning reading, the class was unusually restless, and the female teacher finally arrived half an hour later.

After entering the classroom, she did not conceal Meng Yue's death, but directly announced the fact.

"As you all probably know, Meng Yue from our class committed suicide by jumping off a building this morning."

Her voice was slow and leisurely, as if she didn't care at all, and even carried a hint of mockery:

"The students here are all adults, quite mature, and have their own judgment."

"But some people are still psychologically like children, quite fragile, don't you think?"

“I’m not targeting any particular person,” the female teacher said slowly, taking a sip of tea. “I just think that if someone is an adult and can’t even withstand the slightest pressure, then such a person is just trash in society.”

She coughed lightly twice, her tone light and airy:

"There's one more thing I need to clarify: Meng Yue is already eighteen years old. She has her own thoughts, and the school has no way of knowing them, so this is no one's fault but her own responsibility."

"Do you think so?"

As she spoke, she slammed down her teacup and sternly surveyed the students below the stage, from which a few scattered "yes" responses came from below.

Ding Xiang snapped out of her thoughts, pushed the rice plate away, and felt an indescribable sense of oppression.

No wonder this institution only accepts students who are 18 years old or older, because if anything happens, they won't be held responsible!

Even though the dungeons she had experienced before were also bizarre and dangerous, with vengeful ghosts roaming around, none of them had made Ding Xiang feel as utterly desperate as this one.

This feeling of despair was not her own, but rather a pervasive atmosphere throughout the school, like a dark cloud that made it hard to breathe.

"When will all this end..." Ding Xiang sighed deeply.

"It will be better after tomorrow," Fang Jia said softly.

The burly man nodded. They had already survived half of the mission's time limit. As long as they survived until tomorrow, they could return to reality.

But at the same time, he was increasingly worried, wondering what other unexpected changes might occur.

After returning to his dormitory, Chen Ji locked the door and checked the corridor again.

He turned around, stared seriously at Du Tingfeng and the burly man, and asked in a deep voice:

"Did you tell the girls about finding that diary yesterday?"

The burly man was taken aback, exchanged a glance with Du Tingfeng, and both shook their heads.

Du Tingfeng said, "I was going to say it this morning, but I forgot about it after Meng Yue's matter came out."

Seeing Chen Ji's expression, his heart tightened: "What's wrong?"

“I suspect they’re being slowly influenced by something.” Chen Ji’s eyes were hesitant. “Do you remember what Ding Xiang said at dinner?”

"She asked, 'When will all this end?' That was the last sentence in her diary!"

The burly man was startled. He felt that the words sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard them before.

Chen Ji continued, "Furthermore, don't you think Wu Yan, Fang Jia, and even Ding Xiang reacted too strongly to Meng Yue's death?"

"We all knew perfectly well that this was Meng Yue's inevitable fate."

Du Tingfeng thought for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly, "But this is just a vague guess."

"Besides, girls are naturally more sensitive and thoughtful than us, right?"

"Perhaps they are just women, and therefore more empathetic than we are?"

Chen Ji said, "What you said is also possible."

He fumbled in his pocket for a while and finally pulled out a neatly folded piece of draft paper:

"But what really made me start to have doubts was this piece of paper I found next to Meng Yue's body."

This is the second diary entry.