The darkness recedes.
The first thing that caught the eye was the clear blue sky, a clear, pure blue with snow-white clouds dotting it, enough to make everyone who saw it feel refreshed and happy.
Unfortunately this is in a copy of the game, and just the thought of that is not so pleasant either.
Xiao Lan found himself in a car with a somewhat retro-looking interior. I don't know if it was a deliberately vintage car, or if this copy was originally set in the past.
But Luo is not with him, nor does he know where he has gone.
This is the first time the two have been separated in a game.
There are only two people in the car apart from the driver. Sitting next to Xiao Lan is a dark-skinned man, now with his eyes closed, who is tall and strong, with long woolly curly hair that gives him a rock 'n' roll look.
As usual, the driver was oblivious to the player's movements, as if he was just an emotionless tool of a driver.
Xiao Lan intends to take a look outside the car, but just as he sits up he realises something is wrong.
He's at the wrong height of vision!
Xiao Lan, who is 184 in height, had long been used to his usual position of looking out of the window, but now his vision was suddenly shorter, as if he had shrunk in height.
He surveyed himself carefully, and then noticed something different.
Xiao Lan's long, slender fingers have thin calluses and small scars on the inside of his hands from his working days and later from his combat training.
But now his palms are delicately soft, with no trace of anything except a thin callus on his middle finger from holding a pen.
The view shifts to the glass beside him, which reflects a teenager.
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The young man's body is thin, his hair has a slight natural curl, his skin is fair and his features are extremely similar to Xiao Lan's, but much more youthful, looking no more than fifteen or sixteen years old.
Xiao Lan's eyes meet those of the young man in his reflection.
The teenager's eyes are clear, but with the determination of one who has been through the mill, and this is the only thing that carries a sense of defiance in this teenager.
Xiao Lan blinked and the teenager in the glass reflection blinked in sync with him, he tilted his head and so did the teenager. The teenager even wore the exact same clothes he had worn when he entered the game, only in a smaller size.
Apparently, the teenager in the reflection is himself.
Is this ...... him back at fifteen?
Xiao Lan clenched his fist, clearly feeling the power weakening: "Not good ......"
An unfamiliar body is bound to be uncomfortable when it comes to fighting, and this, coupled with a drop in fitness, has resulted in a huge reduction in his fighting ability.
This copy gives the players a run for their money right at the start.
But ......
Xiao Lan's eyes turned to the person beside her. How did she seem unaffected?
At that moment, the man being watched by Xiao Lan also woke up, taking in everything around him and looking at himself in the reflection of the car window with a surprised look on his face.
"I ...... I'm turning fifteen!" His eyes turned to Xiao Lan, "You too?"
Xiao Lan nodded: "Yes ......"
At Xiao Lan's incredulous look, he spreads his hands, "I've been like this since I was fifteen."
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"My name is Dai Bumao and I grew up ......" he said as he introduced himself and opened the car window.
The wind was much stronger than expected, pouring through the open window and sweeping away Dai Bumao's long, woolly hair to reveal...
A shiny brain.
Dai Bumao: "...... grow taller."
Already bald at the age of fifteen? Isn't it a bit cruel how age has left its mark on Dai Bumao's body?
Looking at her distant hair, Dai Bumao's eyes were filled with sadness: "Alas ...... my treasures."
Xiao Lan reassured him, "My condolences."
The car drove slowly in the direction of the top of the hill.
Slowly, a gothic building appeared in front of the pair.
It stands like this at the end of a cliff at the top of a hill. It is surrounded by dense forest, and the trees around it grow so tall that they block out the otherwise brilliant sunlight, making the atmosphere seem a little depressing out of thin air.
Even the temperature here dropped instantly.
When they reached the entrance to the building, the car stopped and it was clear that this was their destination.
The two men got out of the car, the iron gates of the building were closed, but they did not see anyone around.
The system prompt rings out.
"Ding dong--"
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"My most beloved Adeline ......"
It was a voice so hoarse as to be inhuman, spoken in a tone so eccentric and slightly maniacal that a chill ran down one's back at the mere sound of it.
" Adeline ." Xiao Lan remembered the name, which sounded like a female one.
It did not take long for the iron gate to open slowly and two figures appeared behind it.
One was a lady in a black dress with a bowler hat and gloves on her hands. Although the shade of the trees shaded the sun, she still wore the standard parasol of a noblewoman, and she looked beautiful and gentle as she smiled at the two men in the doorway.
The other is a handsome looking gentleman in a wheelchair with long flaxen hair tied behind his head.
The lady in black spoke, her voice melodious: "Hello, Corrieff College welcomes you, you two are the last students for a while."
"Here are some children who are as special as you are, don't be nervous, you will be reborn in the Academy."
It seems that this is an academy for special children, and the player is one of the new students, and it is not clear what these specials are, as neither Xiao Lan nor Dai Bumao are physically challenged.
The headmaster mentioned the last batch of students, does that mean the players are entering in batches this time?
"I am the headmistress here, you can call me Mrs Weld." Mrs Weld introduced the man in the wheelchair again, "This is my husband."
Mr. Weld did not look well and he coughed lowly every now and then.
But the two seemed to have a great affinity for each other; when she heard him cough, Mrs Weld would bend down and stroke his chest, and when they met, Mr Weld smiled gently at his wife with a lingering look of love in his eyes.
The two clasped hands and exchanged a gentle kiss in front of the players.
Xiao Lan and Dai Bumao, who were forced to eat dog food from the headmaster couple: "......"
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Is this copy so unforgiving?
Headmaster, according to the script we are still underage.
--
Led by the headmaster and his wife, the two entered the college grounds.
The college is very quiet and very green, appearing lush and green. Not many people are walking around the college at the moment, and a few gardeners can be vaguely seen in the adjacent gardens, all of whom also remain quiet.
Xiao Lan's eyes were about to move away from the garden when her afterglow caught sight of a short figure passing by, like a four or five year old child.
Are there children that young at the college? Xiao Lan is a little confused.
When he turned his head over to try and get a closer look, the garden was the same as before and there were no children in sight.
"What's the matter? Are you interested in the garden, my boy?" Mrs Weld, the headmistress, turned her head and asked gently.
"I'm just a little curious, are all the students here my age?" Xiao Lan also gave the headmaster a gentle, harmless smile with a touch of juvenility.
The headmaster looked at Xiao Lan with a loving gaze: "There are lots of children here, they come from all over, all ages, and you don't have to worry, they are all good children and you will get along well."
Xiao Lan nods and continues to follow the headmaster and his wife as they walk forward.
He glanced back at the garden again and the diminutive figure did not reappear.
Follow the Headmaster to his office.
Once they have registered their student details, they are officially students at Corrieff College.
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The headmaster patiently introduced them to the layout of the college and some of the relevant regulations, after which he gave them their class schedules.
When it came to getting the timetable, Xiao Lan realised that Corrieff College is a non-class system, which means that students do not wait for the teacher to come to class, but go to the appropriate classroom at the right time, just like a university.
This arrangement is much more liberating in terms of freedom and facilitates the player's activities.
However, Xiao Lan took a look at Dai Bumao's class schedule and only part of their curriculum overlapped.
It looks like the players in this game are pretty much spread out, both in terms of entry times and course content, and thankfully the intermediate players no longer like to huddle up and survive either, so this arrangement doesn't affect them too much.
"Good children, come here." The headmaster's voice came from a short distance away and she waved at Xiao Lan and Dai Bumao to come closer to her.
The two stood in front of her and the headmistress took out a tape measure and measured their body size. Her movements were gentle and her measurements were skilful, and the data was soon recorded.
"You can all go back to your bedrooms now and rest until the dinner bell rings, then you can go to the dining room." Mrs Weld said gently to them, and patted Xiao Lan on the shoulder.
Perhaps it was the fact that she was dealing with her official students, and after measuring her body type, she seemed to treat the players better.
--
Follow the directions to the dormitory.
The dormitories are luxurious to say the least, with each student in a separate room, fully furnished and in the same gothic style as the exterior, which looks fine but cold.
But while there were clearly cars in this game's time, there were no electric lights in the entire college, and the rooms were still lit by paraffin lamps. He hadn't even seen a few things related to electricity along the way, as if this was a corner of the world that didn't fit in.
The uniforms had been put in Xiao Lan's room in advance and several sets had been prepared for him, depending on the occasion.
Xiao Lan changed into her school uniform and stood in front of the mirror to fix her clothes.
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The Corrieff Academy uniform is a black, lapel suit with the school's crest, lined with a white shirt and straight trousers underneath, with an exclusive tie for a sophisticated look.
In the mirror, the teenager's figure was still a little thin, but his legs were long and straight in his school uniform, and his stance was straight, and with his naturally fair skin and handsome features, he looked like a pampered Mr. Xiao.
Xiao Lan looks at the young man in the mirror and for a moment is in a trance.
The look gave him a sense of familiarity, as if he had once stood in front of a mirror like this.
But his school uniform in secondary school was not of this style, and searching his memory he could find no fragment of himself wearing such a dress.
Not only that, but from the moment he entered Corrieff College, he had always had a vague sense of familiarity, with its dank corridors and sharp, towering roofs ...... everything looked familiar.
But again, he had never been inside such a building and his knowledge of Gothic architecture was limited to pictures or videos.
Where does this sense of familiarity come from?
--
By the time dinner is served.
The students all gathered in the dining hall, which was probably the most crowded looking time in the whole college.
Sure enough, as the headmaster had said, there were students from all over the place, all of them looking different in race and colour, and a wide range of ages, from about ten to almost adult, though there didn't seem to be any particularly young children in sight.
Xiao Lan noticed a few people in the crowd, including Dai Bumao, whom he had seen before, sizing up their surroundings with their eyes. The moment his eyes met, he could confirm that they were all players.
And like himself, none of the players were really teenagers; after all, there's a big difference between the eyes of an adult and a real child.
A few players exchanged glances and averted their eyes in unspoken agreement.
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The table is already set and Xiao Lan takes a seat where she can easily observe.
Shortly afterwards, several adults filed in, led by the headmistress, Mrs Weld.
A few people walked towards another area different from the players, and it looked like that side should be the exclusive dining area for faculty and staff.
Mrs Weld, however, was in no hurry to sit down as she raised her voice and addressed the students, "Today, we have two new teachers at Corrieff College who will be guiding your studies for the rest of the year."
"Let's welcome our two new teachers." Having said that, the headmaster led the applause and the students followed suit.
To a round of applause, two men emerged from behind another door in the restaurant.
Both had dark hair and didn't stand out in this ethnically mixed academy, one of them Xiao Lan didn't recognise, and the odds were that the player had randomly arrived as a teacher.
But the other one is Luo.
Luo wears a teacher's uniform, a little more ornate than a student's suit, more akin to a dress, with a symbolic teacher's badge pinned to his chest and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses with eyeglass chains perched on the bridge of his high nose.
It looks more bookish than its usual elegance.
Luo was introducing himself to the students in his low voice, his elegant demeanour and good looks made many students' eyes light up and they couldn't help but look forward to the teacher's class.
But Xiao Lan didn't listen to a word of it.
That familiarity comes back.
He looks at Luo now, as if he is reunited with an old friend.