Chapter Twenty-Four: The Voice on the Radio

"Shaking her head."

Mei Misaki did not speak, but her gesture only made Liu Mengchao fall silent.

"Do the people in class show no signs of death?" Liu Mengchao asked, lying on the bed.

"No, at least I haven't noticed any so far," Misaki replied. "Also, Liu Ling wants me to ask you when you will be returning to school; she has something to tell you."

"Back to school?" Liu Mengchao looked out the window. The sunlight outside was growing brighter; it was already noon.

"This afternoon, at least not until I finish the hospital's free lunch."

"Absolutely not. Dr. Toyama said you must stay in the hospital for observation for at least two days to confirm there is no internal organ damage before you can be discharged."

"Are you serious?" Liu Mengchao asked with a smile.

Izumi Akazawa nodded without budging an inch, her eyes filled with seriousness.

"By the way... have I ever told you guys..." Liu Mengchao said, his hand moving slowly beneath the bedsheet.

"Told us what?"

Whoosh!

The only answer Akazawa received was a white sheet. The quilt that had been covering Liu Mengchao was flicked up by one of his hands, completely obstructing Akazawa's view.

"I’m best at escaping locked rooms!"

That was the last sentence Akazawa heard.

When she pulled the sheet off her face, she could only see Liu Mengchao’s back as he crouched by the window.

"This is the fourth floor!" Akazawa cried out in alarm.

"It’s a pity it isn't the fourteenth." Liu Mengchao turned around and looked at Akazawa, who was so nervous she looked like she was about to cry.

"In that case," Liu Mengchao placed his hands on the window ledge, pointed at Akazawa as she tried to rush over, and said, "See you at school!"

With that, Liu Mengchao pushed off with his feet, letting go of the window frame.

A leap of faith.

Liu Mengchao jumped straight down, his back to the ground.

"Liu Mengchao!" Akazawa suddenly realized what was happening and reached out to grab him, but she was a step too late, only catching a glimpse of him leaping from the window.

In Akazawa's field of vision, Liu Mengchao spread his arms like a cross, tracing an arc through the air, and then...

He landed in the fountain in front of the hospital.

"Splash!"

Liu Mengchao’s head emerged from the pool, and he waved continuously at the two girls by the window.

"See you at school!" Liu Mengchao’s voice drifted intermittently to Akazawa’s ears.

How annoying.

How worrying...

How happy.

Standing by the window, Akazawa watched Liu Mengchao’s retreating figure and found herself smiling unconsciously. The smile seemed contagious; turning her head, she saw Misaki, standing beside her, smiling as well.

"He really doesn't have the aura of death on him, right, Misaki?"

"Mhm." Misaki nodded slowly. "He will definitely survive; I believe in him." As she spoke, Misaki bowed her head slightly, peering through the gap in her bangs at Liu Mengchao’s receding figure. The vast sunlight bathing him made her feel very, very warm.

"Let's go back too."

Misaki turned around, looked at the hospital bed where Liu Mengchao had just been lying, and suddenly asked, "Did you see the item Liu Mengchao left on the bedside table?"

"What item...?"

Akazawa looked at the table by the bed. It was empty, save for a vase holding a single yellow artificial flower.

"His phone, the blue phone."

The blue phone was currently in Liu Mengchao's hand.

He flipped it open and looked at the person on the standby screen. Katsura Kotonoha's smile floated before Liu Mengchao’s eyes, indifferent and casual.

Click.

With a soft sound, Liu Mengchao closed the phone. The gates of Yomiyama North Middle School now appeared before him.

"I wonder how you are doing now, Kotonoha. Will we ever meet again?"

Liu Mengchao smiled faintly, as if gathering his scattered thoughts, and stepped forward, calmly heading toward his destination.

There, there was no one Liu Mengchao cared about.

Only the speeding cars and a group of strange, nameless transmigrators.

"Even if I were to push you all off a cliff, I wouldn't feel a shred of pressure," Liu Mengchao whispered to himself, pushing open the classroom door.

"You're alright?" Liu Mengchao was very familiar with the person standing in the classroom.

The teacher leading the exchange students, Zhang Han.

Or, by another name, the professional con artist, Old Snake.

Liu Mengchao’s gaze slowly swept across the classroom.

Liu Ling, clutching her doll, sat in the front row. Seeing him enter, she smiled and nodded, as if to express her gratitude.

Sitting in the corner, the hacker Tao Yungang also looked up in pleasant surprise. His lips were pursed, but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were fully bunched up.

This was joy from the bottom of his heart.

Compared to him, the smile of another transmigrator seemed far more professional. The war correspondent, Zhen Qianting, bowed slightly, keeping her head low as if she didn't want anyone to see her expression.

"Teacher Zhang," Liu Mengchao withdrew his gaze and said to Old Snake, who was standing at the podium, "The doctor said I’m fine and I can return to class."

"Oh!" Old Snake looked at Liu Mengchao and said happily, "Then go back to your seat quickly." Liu Mengchao nodded and walked toward his seat in the far corner of the classroom. Along the way, Long Xiang reached out a hand with a broad smile.

"It's really great that you're okay."

"Thank you."

As Liu Mengchao spoke, he sat down. Then, his brow suddenly furrowed, and he asked the person beside him, Teshigawara, "Teshigawara, have you seen Zhao Weijie?"

"Who?"

"The otaku who arrived the same day as me." Liu Mengchao scanned the classroom again but could not find the figure of that one transmigrator who knew the plot.

"No, we haven't seen him since lunch."

Hearing Teshigawara's reply, Liu Mengchao’s frown deepened.

It wasn't because of the missing transmigrator, but because of the rapidly rising prize pool before his eyes. The pool, which had stabilized when he arrived because the other transmigrators were no longer worried about his hospitalization, was acting up.

Prize Pool Amount: 730,000.

But...

Liu Mengchao tapped his desk subconsciously, staring at the pool.

Why was it still rising?

Prize Pool Amount: 735,000.

Crack!

The door was pushed open again.

The classroom suddenly went quiet.

Misaki and Akazawa appeared at the classroom door simultaneously.

"You're back?" The girl nodded at Old Snake and returned to her seat.

"Regarding haiku..."

Liu Mengchao frowned, listening to Old Snake reading the textbook content word by word. Suddenly, a strange sound reached his ears.

It sounded like a television receiving interference, emitting a static, buzzing noise.

Liu Mengchao jerked his head up, just like the others who had finally noticed, and looked toward the source of the sound.

The classroom speaker.

A voice was coming through.

"I... I... am Zhao... Weijie. I, I have already... found a way... Prize Pool Amount: 740,000!"