Horror Movie Set: This extra is too good at playing the tricks.

Chapter 43 After School

The sound was amplified by the electric current, and it had a grainy quality, but it was like a saw that ruthlessly cut through the shackles hanging over everyone's head.

"Now broadcasting an urgent school announcement."

"Upon investigation, it was found that the so-called 'perfect order' of our school is actually illegal detention based on the deprivation of human dignity, and the so-called 'good student' standard is purely a perverse aesthetic of the administrators."

In the broadcasting room, when the skinless security guard heard this, he felt as if his spine had been removed, and he began to slump like melting wax, with black blood oozing wildly from his pores.

Rules are built upon faith. When broadcasting, the mouthpiece set as absolute truth, denies the legitimacy of the rules, then the monsters that rely on the rules for existence lose their foothold.

"No, you can't! The school board is watching, he's watching!"

The skinless security guard looked up at the ceiling in horror, as if a pair of giant eyes were watching his incompetence.

It tried to pounce on Lu Dan, but its body kept disintegrating, and its fingertips turned to ashes just one centimeter away from the shut-off button.

Lu Dan ignored its collapse, took a deep breath, and spoke into the microphone.

"True education allows you to fail exams, allows you to cry, allows you to be mediocre, and even allows you to secretly glance at the moon outside the window during evening self-study."

"Therefore, this security guard, with the highest authority, issues the order: To hell with Perfection! To hell with the Board of Directors! All teachers and students are dismissed immediately!"

"The door is open, don't look back, get as far away as you can!"

"Boom—"

The world collapsed. The barrier that originally separated the inner and outer worlds completely crumbled at this moment. The gloomy and oppressive inner world and the dim and false outer world were like two crumpled photographs, forcibly pieced together.

The deathly silence in the dormitory building was broken.

The "good students," who had been as stiff as marionettes, suddenly jolted.

Countless human skins float in the air, those selves that were once stripped away, like migratory birds that have found their home, frantically swooping towards their masters the moment the rules collapse.

This time it's a return of the soul.

Memories that had been suppressed for three years surged back like a tide, accompanied by pain and emotions.

"It hurts, it hurts so much!"

"I don't want to laugh, I don't want to laugh at all!"

"I want to go home, I want to eat my mom's cooking!"

Cries, shouts, and angry curses erupted like a burst dam, instantly shattering the lifeless building.

"Go! School's out!"

The blue and white school uniforms converged like a tsunami as hundreds and thousands of students rushed out of their dormitories. They no longer lined up, no longer bowed, and no longer smiled.

Like wild beasts bursting into a cage, with fangs of vengeance, they surged toward the two monsters representing order in the center of the playground.

On the playground, the head of the teaching department panicked. He looked at the clay figures that he had once molded at will, which had now turned into a swarm of man-eating ants.

Its hundreds of arms, which it was so proud of, seemed so powerless in the face of the real ocean.

"Get back! I'm the director, I'm the authority, are you trying to rebel?"

It waved its arms, trying to swat the ants. But there were too many ants, enough to devour an elephant.

The students climbed onto its massive body, biting with their teeth, scratching with their fingernails, and punching with their fists.

"This time, it's because of my confiscated comic books!"

"This is all for my long hair that was cut off!"

"This time, it's for the three years we've been dead!"

One arm was torn off, then two, then three... The once invincible hundred-armed giant collapsed in the wave of rage.

The old dormitory supervisor next to him was about to open his mouth to eat him, but the next second, dozens of students picked up stones, dirt, and even their own ribs from the ground and frantically stuffed them into his mouth.

"Eat up! Don't you love to eat? Eat your fill!"

The old dormitory supervisor vomited, his belly bursting open, and the black, malevolent energy scattered and fled, only to be trampled underfoot by even more students.

In just over ten seconds, the two once-arrogant bosses were submerged in a wave of rage, leaving not even ashes behind.

......

On the rooftop, as the broadcast began, the entire foundation of the broadcasting room faded away like a mirage.

Lu Dan released the microphone and leaned against the control panel, completely exhausted.

Before him, the skinless security guard was left with only his head, barely clinging to life, his body completely turned into black pus.

His face was filled with extreme terror.

"You're finished!" the skinless security guard hissed. "You've ruined this school, which means you've ruined the board's 'ranch.' They've noticed you. You'll be marked. You'll..."

"Shut up!" Lu Dan interrupted him, his tone flat and weary. "Let him do it! If that school board member is like you, only daring to hide behind the scenes and pull these disgusting tricks of turning good kids into monsters, I'll twist his head off and kick it around like a football!"

The skinless security guard was stunned, seemingly having never seen such a reckless person before.

Finally, he gave a bleak smile and vanished completely into the air.

"Ding!"

A black card fell from the spot where he disappeared.

Lu Dan bent down and picked it up. The card was pure black, with a half-open, half-closed eye ironed on it.

Special Item: The Gaze of the Board of Trustees (Fragment)

[Note: Do you really think this is the end? This is just the beginning of a grander performance.]

"A performance?" Lu Dan sneered, casually tossing the card aside. "See if I want to talk to you or not."

Footsteps sounded behind me.

"Not dead yet?" Lu Dan didn't turn around, took out his last cigarette and lit it.

"Thanks to you, I'm still alive."

Lin Xiaoxiao, clutching her still-bleeding left eye, limped over. She looked at the dissipating broadcasting room, then at Lu Dan, who was covered in blood.

"You're a lunatic! Even if you were reading from a script, not an average person could deliver that broadcast with that same feeling."

"What does it feel like?" Lu Dan turned around and pointed to his blood-stained chest. "This is called the resentment of a working person."

The two supported each other and staggered towards the edge of the rooftop.

At this moment, a faint glimmer of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon.

The first ray of sunlight was like a golden sword, piercing through the gloom that had shrouded Chengde Middle School for three whole years.

As the sunlight streamed onto the playground, the students, who were still venting their frustrations, gradually stopped.

The malevolence on their bodies dissipated, their hideous ghostly appearances faded, and they returned to their original appearances of eighteen or nineteen years old.

They were young, clean, and full of energy, just like when they entered this school three years ago.

They looked up at the long-awaited sun, their faces breaking into relieved smiles. Then, they transformed into countless shimmering points of light, drifting slowly into the sky on the morning breeze.

In the center of the playground, only a scene of devastation remained, and on those ruins, four figures stood out clearly.

Bao Ping slumped to the ground, looking utterly disheveled, holding a dull wrench, looking somewhat dejected, his eyes red-rimmed.

Then he looked at the rising sun and said, "Well, daughter, Dad has done a great thing."

Beside him, Zhang Kai, Li Mu, and Su Ke huddled together, enveloped in the gentle sunlight.

Li Mu lay on Zhang Kai's broad back, transforming back into the quiet, thin, bespectacled boy.

Su Ke linked arms with Zhang Kai, resting her head on his shoulder. The scars on half of her face healed in the light and shadow, making her breathtakingly beautiful.

Zhang Kai stood in the middle, his whole body filthy and his clothes tattered, but his smile was brighter than the sunshine.

Seemingly sensing the gaze above him, Zhang Kai raised his head. The morning light shone on his stubborn face, and tears streamed down his face, but no longer from fear.

He waved his arms with all his might, shouting his last words in this world towards the figure on the rooftop: "Uncle—!"

This shout pierced the morning breeze, crossed the boundary between life and death, and struck straight into Lu Dan's heart.

There was no sentimental farewell, no unnecessary words.

Li Mu pushed up his glasses on Zhang Kai's back, a shy smile on his face, and nodded gently. Su Ke waved towards the rooftop, her lips moving as if to say goodbye silently.

As Lu Dan watched the three figures below gradually become transparent and about to disappear into the morning light, a hint of emotion appeared on his tense face.

He moved his throat as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

He raised his blood-stained right hand and casually ran his fingertips lightly across his brow, a graceful movement.

"Take care, good students."

The sunlight completely bathed the campus, and the figures of the three teenagers turned into golden dust, completely merging into the sunrise that was three years late.

A gentle breeze swept across the rooftop, carrying the fresh scent of earth after the rain.

It blew a breeze through Lu Dan's bangs and gently brushed against his eyelashes.

Lu Dan was stunned for a moment. This was the evening breeze that Su Kexin had written about. It wasn't late, but it took a long detour, crossing life and death, and finally delivered its final greetings this morning.

"Ding!"

The cold, impersonal system notification sounded in my mind at just the right moment, shattering this warmth:

[Script settlement in progress]

[Script Rating: B+]

Congratulations to Lu Dan on completing the script for "The Abandoned School Building"!

[Special rating awarded: Disruptor of Order. (You're quite the expert.)]

My vision began to blur, a familiar dizziness washed over me, and white light engulfed everything.

Lu Dan closed his eyes, but a smile lingered on his lips.

This scene is now finished.