I Rely On Poverty To Sweep Through Survival GamesCh126 - Kriv Institute (9)

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Edited by Jules


Xiao Lan held the pocket watch from Luo, and the two went their separate ways after exiting the office. LXJsCP

After that, Xiao Lan hung around the headmistress’s office and waited for Luo to lure the headmistress away and create an opportunity for him to sneak inside.

Not long after, Luo’s figure appeared in Xiao Lan’s line of sight. He entered the headmistress’s office very smoothly, and a few minutes later, left with the headmistress Madam Wilder.

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Xiao Lan looked at the time on the pocket watch, then approached the headmistress’s office.

After ensuring that no one was around, Xiao Lan smoothly opened the door and entered soundlessly. pCkXMY

As soon as he entered, he almost thought that night had fallen.

Because the main theme in the office was black; the wallpaper was black, the floor was black marble, and the gorgeous velvet curtains were black. The curtains were half-drawn, letting in pitifully scant light, and the room was very dark.

Xiao Lan stood by the window and looked outside. The view from here was very good, and it was very high up. From this office, one was able to see practically the entire institute.

Aside from the black, what the office had the most of was various silver items. Whether it was stationery, candlesticks or ornaments on the wall, all of them were the same silver, which flashed with a conspicuous light in the pitch black.

PhA9sX

On the table in the headmistress’s office were documents that were all related to the institute, and Madam Wilder’s beautiful handwriting was on them. The content was very meticulous but extremely dull and tedious. Xiao Lan rummaged through them for a while but found nothing of interest.

The bookshelf on the side also held books about education and psychology. The books were worn; it was clear that Madam Wilder was usually very careful when it came to the students’ education.

It looked just like a normal office.

Xiao Lan turned his attention to the closed door on the side. ngUN7v

Luo had told him previously that Madam Wilder would stay in the office’s breakroom even at night. If that was the case, her personal items should be there.

Xiao Lan pressed against the door and carefully listened for any activity inside.

After finding that it was completely quiet, he gently pried open the breakroom door. The lock on this door was much more complicated than the one outside, but was no match for Xiao Lan, who had undergone much practice with his unlocking techniques.

Like the office outside, this room was also black in color. With the curtains fully drawn, it was completely pitch-black. He couldn’t see anything at all. gHAEJP

Xiao Lan had no choice but to turn on 【Nuclear energy flashlight】.

The instant he turned it on, he was startled.

Because what appeared in the light’s range — was Mister Wilder.

Wasn’t it said that Mister Wilder always stayed in the room close to the headmistress’s office because of his health? Why did he appear here?! DNf1pP

Moreover, what was he doing alone in such a dark room? He didn’t even make a sound.

Xiao Lan was thinking about how to lie about him cooperating with a teacher to break into the headmistress’s office.

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But he then noticed that Mister Wilder didn’t react in annoyance at the light shining on him. He merely raised a hand to cover his mouth, as if to muffle a cough that was about to escape.

But he didn’t look at Xiao Lan who had entered. coQ9jw

Xiao Lan felt it was a little strange and tried to ask, “Mister Wilder?”

Mister Wilder remained silent and didn’t respond.

Xiao Lan took a few steps. Mister Wilder had his head bowed, and he once again raised a hand to cover his mouth and suppress his soft coughs.

Xiao Lan frowned and took another step forward. This time, he was standing right in front of Mister Wilder. qntdsk

This exceeded the socially accepted distance between people. Usually, a normal person would notice a big living person popping up in front of them, no matter how distracted they were.

Mister Wilder finally reacted. He raised his head to look at Xiao Lan, a gentle smile appearing on his face. In his eyes was a loving expression, as if he was looking at his sweetheart.

Xiao Lan looked at him and asked again, “Mister Wilder?”

Mister Wilder still didn’t reply. He just sat there and quietly watched Xiao Lan, just like — aJmbqd

Like how he looked at his wife when Xiao Lan first met him.

This situation was just too bizarre. First disregarding how Mister Wilder could ever have such deep affection for Xiao Lan when they had only met once, Xiao Lan had now already said two sentences to him, and even someone with a hearing or speech impairment should have some sort of reaction ba.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Almost at the same time, Mister Wilder lowered his head again and went back to that peaceful silence from before. From time to time, he would raise a hand to cover his mouth as he coughed quietly.

Xiao Lan then took a step forward again, and Mister Wilder raised his head to meet Xiao Lan’s eyes once more.

When Xiao Lan retreated, Mister Wilder lowered his head again. tzZpsu

He kept switching between these two movements like a machine with fixed programming.

Xiao Lan had a rather ominous theory.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

He reached out to press against an artery at Mister Wilder’s throat. It was cold to the touch; although the texture of the skin was soft, there wasn’t any of the warmth that a human body should have at all, and there wasn’t a pulse.

This wasn’t a living person at all! pnaqkj

When he touched the artery, Xiao Lan noticed that there seemed to be something black at Mister Wilder’s nape.

He pushed aside the long, flax-coloured hair, and noticed black, bizarre characters which formed a tattoo on his nape. This tattoo went down Mister Wilder’s spine and spread to cover his clothes.

Xiao Lan then examined Mister Wilder’s body, and confirmed that this strange tattoo covered his entire body, like a string which was connected to his body.

During this period, Xiao Lan also noticed that there was a gaping wound in Mister Wilder’s chest from which he could practically fish out his heart. The wound had been sewn together several times, and new tattoo patterns were added over the top. jfkIAE

This tattoo formed with characters looked like they were filled with a strange air of death, and had a slightly freakish artistic sense about them at the same time.

It seemed that Mister Wilder had probably died long ago, but this odd tattoo was controlling his corpse and making him seem like a living person, and he could carry out simple actions.

Just like a puppet.

Thinking of the photograph he had obtained of the joyous and harmonious family of three, Xiao Lan felt a chill run down his spine. The Adeline in the photograph appeared to be dead, Mister Wilder had become a puppet that was being controlled, then… What about Madam Wilder? yonsbi

Xiao Lan tidied up Mister Wilder’s clothes, then turned his head to size up this breakroom.

There were a whole lot more things in here than outside. Piled on the table were several silver instruments Xiao Lan didn’t recognise and many personal journals that were spread open. Recorded in them were things which were all complicated and hard to understand.

Although he couldn’t understand the content, there were a few diagrams in these journals which were related to the human anatomy, as well as tattoo designs similar to the one on Mister Wilder’s body.

It looked like it was the headmistress who had a hand in Mister Wilder’s current state. 2A4RVQ

What in the world was she researching?

Xiao Lan continued searching the table, and a particular journal finally attracted his attention.

The pages in this personal journal were already yellow with age, and it was padded with more paper and a lot of extra content. The entire personal journal looked completely packed, and could just barely be closed with a strap.

This should be the oldest one on the table. OoQgtH

Flipping it open.

The front contained obscure content similar to what the other personal journals had, until it reached a certain section and the content abruptly changed.

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【Hobson was killed!】

【Adeline… Adeline is also dead…】 RrEZx0

【Who was it? Who was it? Why do this?!!】

【My Adeline ah, she was still so young】

【Your entire body was in pieces, it must have been very painful ba

【I can save you both. I definitely can】 JeglBw

This Hobson should be Mister Wilder’s name, and Adeline was indeed the headmistress’s daughter.

It seemed some mishap had happened which led to their deaths, and in the face of such a tragedy, the headmistress decided to employ her own methods to save them.

A complicated image was stuck in the middle. Amidst the drawing, Xiao Lan saw the complete design of the tattoo that was on Mister Wilder’s body. It looked like the headmistress had done this to revive her husband.

【Didn’t work, Hobson’s soul was unable to harmonise with it】 Q4Zn6

【Still didn’t work】

【Failed again】

【Why…】

【I can only turn you into an ordinary cursed puppet. Will you blame me? Hobson】 8zR1K0

Seeing the words ‘cursed puppet’, Xiao Lan understood. This was Mister Wilder’s current state. It wasn’t a genuine resurrection, and he was just being controlled by a secret text. There was no soul inside; like a puppet, it was an empty shell.

After that was a lengthy, even more complicated record, which was different from how Mister Wilder’s body had been mended. It seemed that Adeline’s body had been damaged too severely, so Madam Wilder had no choice but to construct a new body for her.

The form which finally appeared was incomparably familiar to Xiao Lan — a female with two snake tails.

It was the same as that strange goddess statue in the assembly hall. No wonder he had never seen that statue anywhere else; it turned out it was designed by the headmistress herself. afsibw

However, things didn’t develop the way the headmistress had hoped.

【Adeline… Adeline, how did you become like this…】

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【Why did you attack mum, Adeline?】

【She’s gone mad】 xK7kX1

【She’s eating people】

【Why is it like this?】

【No, I definitely can save you】

【Mum will make you like before】 3G qyf

【To stop you from hurting other people, I can only lock you up for now. I’m sorry】

After that, the situation took an even more bizarre turn.

After each new method failed one after another, a bloody handprint suddenly appeared on one page.

【Adeline, were you the one who gave me the human skins on the nights of the red moon?】 imKhXb

【Is this the material you want?】

【Mum will save you】

【But… these skins are all from the children in the institute】

【No, I can’t treat them like this】 Qd8auN

【This is definitely Adeline’s wish】

【Adeline… Adeline… Adeline…】

【I’m sorry】

【I’m sorry】 U3Q9mF

【I’m sorry】

Chrysanthemum Garden.

The next few pages were crammed with ‘I’m sorry’s. The handwriting was illegible and messy, and it was clear that the headmistress struggled greatly in her heart when faced with this choice. She probably did genuinely care for the students.

But in the end, she still chose to harm the students for her daughter’s sake, and deal with the corpses after Lady Red Moon’s slaughter. ds3ecU

Perhaps the very contradictory corpses and funerals stemmed from this conflicted mentality.

On one hand, she allowed Lady Red Moon’s killing of the students in order to gather materials for her daughter’s revival, while on the other, she felt very guilty about it, which was why she created new skins for the dead students and risked exposure by holding funerals for them.

【Adeline, mum will make you strong】

【Like this, no one else can kill you ever again】 YDX0zO

【Our family will be happy like before】

The rest of the journal was just complicated images and texts. The headmistress no longer recorded her thoughts.

Xiao Lan shut the book and frowned slightly.

The content of the journal had resolved most of his suspicions, but it was unable to explain why Madam Wilder’s appearance remained unchanged, as well as why that small Adeline suddenly appeared and disappeared. It still wasn’t clear what the clues were for clearing the instance. rXEbg1

Did he have to kill Adeline?

It was like a jigsaw puzzle that was missing an important piece; Kriv was still covered in a thick layer of fog.

Perhaps, his next step should be to see Adeline, even if she had already turned into a dangerous monster.

As he left the headmistress’s office, Xiao Lan saw Dai Bumao and two other people, who were secretly hiding their tracks. The two sides exchanged understanding looks. NkAtrY

It looked like it wasn’t just Xiao Lan who was grabbing this opportunity.

Xiao Lan indicated that it would still be safe for another half an hour or so, and they gave him grateful looks.

Dinner. ljbVEQ

Who knew what madness had happened in the cafeteria today, but canned herring mushroom soup and stargazy pies had been prepared for everyone.

It was all renowned, world-class gourmet food.

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When the students stepped into the cafeteria, the wonderful fragrance which assailed their nostrils made them doubt life. When they were face to face with the fish which had their eyes open even in death in the stargazy pies, their expressions changed from doubting life to having nothing left to live for.

Living on earth, it was hard to avoid rising, then falling, falling, falling, falling… u KVOU

The children of Kriv learned this principle prematurely.

However, for the man who had experienced the torture of his own dark cuisine and was still able to jump about to this day, something at this level was still unable to do any harm to Xiao Lan’s steel-like tastebuds.

Xiao Lan thus finished his meal under the reverent gazes of the surrounding students.

After that, Teacher Fei Luo showed concern as planned. u1pe8k

Luo reached Xiao Lan’s side and pushed up his glasses. “Student Xiao Lan, can you explain why your self-reflection was written in such an artistic style? Even if you gave a paramecium a pen, it might not be able to write such a remarkable piece of work.”

Xiao Lan’s school slag character was reinforced yet again.

Xiao Lan: “…”

What artistic style? Your drawing style? 78mOAY

Why was it that every time he created a chance for them to meet, Luo would set up such a convoluted plot ah?!

Xiao Lan examined Luo’s expression. Although Luo looked unmoved by great waves on the surface, Xiao Lan felt that this guy was actually having fun.

The surrounding students enjoyed the show from the peanut gallery.

“Looks like writing a self-reflection was too complicated a task for you.” Luo continued to look at him with a solemn face. “Tonight, come clean my office ba.” LKQg8i

With that, he turned and left.

Xiao Lan got up and left self-righteously under the students’ condemning eyes.

I’m a school slag. Don’t like it, come fight. 

  nXFv8L

The author has something to say:

The proper way to use punctuation:

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Luo: Tonight, come clean my office ba

Xiao Lan: … CAm2w0

Leave a Comment

19 comments

  1. To me it sounds more like this headmistress has a split personality. She’s the one who killed her daughter and husband. And she’s the one who’s now killing the students and taking their skins for whatever convoluted reason.

  2. Mr.Luo as a teacher is too powerful, ba! it makes me happy that he’s having fun playing this character!!

    did flashback Luo join the games to meet him? because he knew of his father? did his father make Luo join that game?