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(Image source: Generated by Disco Diffusion AI)
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After saying goodbye to Xin-Jie Wang, Yay and her friends learned they were in New Sprout Hall, just in time for the Introduction to Story-Command class.
“Let’s go grab some seats!”6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGohKccndD4
“Yeah!”
As they walked, they discussed what had just happened, puzzled as to why the principal said the handsome guy who controlled Story-Blights wasn’t dangerous, but warned them not to get close. Either way, as total newbies, their top strategy was still to run away whenever in doubt.
Feeling a bit guilty, Yay confessed: if a Story-Blight is an unfinished story, that little thread-doll was probably a project she’d abandoned. Xin-Cheng Liu had the same look of guilt and quickly changed the topic: “By the way, if all you saw was paper, what about when Director Lin was flying around controlling the UFOs?”
Yuni shrugged. “She was writing in the air the whole time, though I have no idea how paper could float and carry her around.”
This place felt like a library, with two massive books at either end—one gray labeled “Class Index,” and one white, “Faculty Office Index,” each two or three stories tall.
“Are you looking for the Forest Classroom too?” a boy nearby asked. He was tall, sunny, with a neat haircut and tan skin—clearly a freshman like them. Yay thought he looked familiar, but couldn’t recall from where.
The boy explained that simply Script-reading the index would make a guiding arrow appear—just follow it and you’d arrive without issue.
The Forest Classroom turned out to be an actual forest. Yay had expected a regular classroom, but instead found herself outdoors. Looking back, it seemed they’d just left a tiny wooden cabin—impossible to have fit the vast space they’d just seen.
The air was cool and fresh with phytoncides, strange trees encircled the clearing, and tables and chairs were arranged around the podium like an open-air concert hall. There were short, fat trees with yellow-green featherlike leaves, their tangled branches forming bookshelves stocked with all kinds of books—some comically large, as if recommended by the classroom designer, like The Illusion of Knowledge, Little Forest Life, A Day Without Slaughtering Pigs, Rainy Days, No School, and more.
The seats looked like round beige mushrooms—adorable, sturdy, and whenever someone sat, new ones would sprout, ensuring there were always seats but never too many.
They snagged three good seats. The boy from before said he’d wander a bit more and parted ways.
Yay once again used her sister as a “reality detector”—could Yuni see a forest of paper here, like she saw at the archive, or just more paper like in that haunted place?
“I see an ordinary classroom—no blackboard, seats a bit disorganized. But the air really does smell like a forest, and it’s cool, like being in the mountains,” Yuni reported, confused by the sights but not by the undeniable smells and feelings.
“Looks like what we see is just the upgraded version of Yuni’s vision!” Xin-Cheng Liu laughed.
Yay just threw up her hands. Her brain was already overloaded—hopefully class would provide some answers.
At that moment, a classmate walked by. Yay meant to nod hello, but froze—was that her old middle school classmate, Zui-Yue Ye? Zui-Yue used to have a plain black bob, but now had long wavy purple-brown hair, making her delicate face look like a Barbie doll. It took Yay a few seconds to recognize her.
“Huh? Isn’t that Yu Zhongxia? And her clone?”
Zui-Yue stood up, tugging on her green elite-school uniform. “Didn’t think I’d see you here! Sorry, our school’s uniform is so ugly—yours is way cuter.”
Yay regretted not wearing something more casual. What rotten luck, having to run into an old classmate and get caught in a comparison contest.
“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, shoving her stuff into her bag and sliding closer to Xin-Cheng Liu, knowing Zui-Yue only ever saw Yuni.
The three of them had once been in the same class in their final year of middle school. Yay’s grades were always mediocre—she got distracted by the feel of test paper. Meanwhile, Zui-Yue and Yuni took turns at first or second in class, so Zui-Yue was always competing with Yuni, and Yay, the ordinary older sister, constantly got caught in the crossfire.
Now, with Zui-Yue here too, it meant she’d managed to overcome the “distraction talent” and still get good grades. How did she do it? Was she even human?
Yay just wanted to stay far away.
Zui-Yue ignored Yay entirely and went straight to Yuni. “I thought you’d end up at my school! What happened—bad exam day? Such a shame.”
Yay bristled. She’d worked hard to end up at the same high school as her sister. It might not have been the top choice, but it wasn’t bad, so why was Zui-Yue acting all superior?
“I like it,” Yuni replied, holding up three fingers. “It only takes me three minutes to get from home to school.”
“So you just picked the closest school? Even if it’s the worst one?”
“I care about resources too, but you can’t ignore the commute,” Yuni said matter-of-factly. “How long’s your commute?”
“Twenty minutes. Not too far.” Zui-Yue smiled. “But it’s worth it—my school is elite. I’d commute an hour if I had to.”
“So you spend 17 minutes more, which adds up to half an hour a day. That means I get about three extra hours a week,” Yuni pointed out.
“That’s nothing! I use my commute to memorize vocabulary—I don’t waste time!”
“But the things I do can’t be done during a commute.” Yuni replied, completely unfazed. “Being close means I have more time for volleyball.”
“What?”
“I watched a volleyball anime over summer break. Now I want to join the volleyball club.”
“…”
For once, Zui-Yue was speechless. Yay made a mental note: Round 87, Yuni wins again.
“Yu Zhongxia, you’ll regret being so slack,” Zui-Yue finally declared haughtily. “Just wait for the midterm challenge.”
Yay rolled her eyes. This was just like the start of middle school, when someone always wanted to compete over test scores.
“Oh, you’re all sitting here?” The sunny boy from earlier popped back up and happily sat nearby.
Zui-Yue teased, “You’re pretty forward—we don’t even know you.”
“I’m Dian-Hua Qiu—Dian for classic, Hua for splendor.” Dian-Hua grinned. “Now we’re friends! Don’t pretend not to know me outside class!”
“Huh? Who are you? Never heard of you.”
Yay was relieved. The boy’s arrival had distracted Zui-Yue—thank you, mystery boy, for saving the world’s peace. She nudged Yuni to gather her things so they could slip away.
“Yaya, Yuni—there are seats over here!” Xin-Cheng Liu had found a new spot and waved.
Yay grabbed Yuni and smiled at Zui-Yue. “You two keep chatting—my friend’s calling. We’re off!”
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