Escape From the LibraryCh18 - Research Group 01

Yue Xingwen stepped into the elevator, which was not quite the same as when he first took it. As more features in the library were unlocked, a row of buttons appeared inside the elevator along with the corresponding floor markings——

2F: Faculty of Mathematics RBl0jX

1F: Faculty of Medicine

-1F: Library’s Database

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

-2F: Research Group Center

-3F: Student Dormitory hVeG62

-4F: Student Canteen

-5F: Shopping Plaza

It could be seen that the underground floors were full of functional areas, while the floors above were the faculty in the University.

Yue Xingwen finished the compulsory courses of the Faculty of Medicine and unlocked the Faculty of Mathematics on the 2nd floor. It seemed that he must complete the compulsory courses of the Faculty of Mathematics to continue to unlock the new faculty on the 3rd floor. The total number of floors and courses in this library building was still unknown.

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The opening of the underground floor gave Yue Xingwen an illusion—— It was as if he had come to a strange ‘Library University’ that ‘admitted’ many students from universities all around the country, confining students to a building, giving them strange powers, forcing students to study courses that did not belong to their majors, and risking their lives if they failed.

And he, on the other hand, was just a new student.

The ‘ding’ sound was heard, the elevator had descended to the -2nd floor, followed by a familiar mechanical voice rang in his ear: “Welcome to the -2nd floor, Research Group Center.”

The elevator door opened, and Yue Xingwen stepped out quickly. bmQJ 8

The Research Group Center was almost as large as the waiting hall of a high-speed rail station, with incandescent lamps casting bright light overhead and the ground covered with clean ceramic tiles. In the center of the hall, there were two huge LCD screens more than eight meters wide, on which were scrolling rows of information in red and blue characters.

The distance was too far away for Yue Xingwen to see the specific content of the information.

The speed of the characters’ rolling was so fast, which made him think of the ‘world chat channels’ in online games.

Seats for resting were neatly placed to the left and right of the screen. There was a table computer in front of each seat. At this time, the Research Group Center was crowded with more than 80 seats filled with students and many students standing under the two huge LCD screens. The scene was really like a crowded rail station during the Spring Festival. Qw17ox

He could not believe that so many people were pulled into the library? Yue Xingwen visually estimated that there were thousands of students in the Research Group Center alone.

In this sea of people, how could he find Jiang Pingce?

Yue Xingwen frowned as his eyes quickly swept around and did not spot the familiar figure.

Underneath the LCD screen was packed with people, and Jiang Pingce hated such noisy occasions, much less close physical contact with people. He would certainly not squeeze into the pile of people underneath the screen, but more likely to be sitting somewhere to rest. However, where would Jiang Pingce sit in so many seats? 3bRUqi

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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Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

There was a seat in the corner of the 6th floor of the library at Hua’an University, with plenty of space around it and in a secluded location that was very quiet. The place would not be disturbed by students walking back and forth.

6-15, this was a tacit understanding that they did not need to say out loud. P6VFjp

Yue Xingwen’s gaze swept over the seating area, noticing that each row of seats was numbered with a fixed number. He started to walk slowly to the 6th row, the seats on this side were arranged backwards from no. 50. Yue Xingwen searched all the way to seat no. 15, and after a few dozen steps, he did see a familiar male student sitting on seats 6-15.

The male student looked indifferent and he was sitting upright, as if a natural cold air flow barrier had formed around him, and the 2 consecutive seats to his left and right were unoccupied.

He wore a light grey long-sleeved shirt with black suit pants and leather shoes. In high school, students were required to wear school uniforms, and since going to university, this was how Jiang Pingce’s dressing style had become. Yue Xingwen had also joked once with him because of this and said, “You dress so seriously every time I have a self-study with you. It feels like a meeting with a leader.”

However, Jiang Pingce’s appearance was very suitable for formal wear, and he did look good in a shirt. His appearance had a more classical charm, he had a tall nose, sharp facial features, a pair of slender sword eyebrows, a very distinctive single eyelid, and a pair of cold black and white eyes, let people feel that he was impressive at first glance and they would also find this person was difficult to approach. ceXu9p

He sat there alone, frowning slightly, as if thinking about something. There were many students around who would pass by and look at him a few times, but he did not care about those gazes.

Yue Xingwen walked to his side quickly, stopped in front of him, and called out softly, “Pingce.”

Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Pingce suddenly raised his head to look, and after meeting Yue Xingwen’s gaze, he immediately stood up. Before he could say anything, Yue Xingwen stretched out his arms and hugged Jiang Pingce tightly.

The person who suddenly crashed into his arms made Jiang Pingce’s back stiffen slightly. He was silent for a few seconds before he reached out and gently wrapped his arms around Yue Xingwen’s shoulder and asked, “Xingwen? Are you okay?” fwa5 M

A low, pleasant voice was heard in Yue Xingwen’s ears, and his eyes suddenly turned a little sour as he sighed lightly and said, “I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad to see you in this library.”

In this strange library where exams turned into life-or-death struggles.

They were just ordinary university students who were chased by crazy monkeys, witnessed a mutant researcher who ate human flesh alive; inexplicably got a heart disease, and experienced a few nights of thrilling battle royale…

In this terrible place, Yue Xingwen really did not want to stay for a moment longer. gJtdFS

Since entering the library, his mind had been tense and he did not dare to relax at all. Because, if he took one wrong step, it might be his own life on the line. Now, seeing his best friend whom he had known for many years, Yue Xingwen’s tense emotions seemed to have suddenly found an outlet to vent.

They understood each other and there was no need to hide their emotions in front of each other.

Jiang Pingce patted Yue Xingwen’s shoulder gently, and he said in a rare gentle tone, “I don’t want you to come to this place either. But things have happened, it’s better for the two of us to take the exam together than to pass it alone.”

He paused and whispered, “Don’t worry, you still have me.” tU0wNO

A warmth current welled up in Yue Xingwen’s heart as he released his hold on the other party and smiled, “En, we’re all here already, we can only continue to brace ourselves to continue taking the exams. This time we both took the exam together, and we could discuss with each other how to answer the questions.” He looked at Jiang Pingce with a serious expression and continued, “With you here, we will definitely be able to graduate smoothly and go out together.”

Seeing Yue Xingwen’s confident look, Jiang Pingce nodded and said, “Let’s sit down and talk.”

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Both of them sat down side by side. Yue Xingwen looked at Jiang Pingce and asked, “After I sent you the message, I went to the <Cardiovascular Ward> course at the Faculty of Medicine, and it took me 5 days to get out, you wouldn’t have waited here for me for 5 days, right?”

Jiang Pingce replied, “The course examination’s time is different from the library’s time. I came here to wait for you after I received your message, and I only waited for only 2 hours.” K7vaJO

Yue Xingwen was a little surprised and said, “That means you only spent 2 hours in the library while I spent 5 days in the hospital?”

“Yes.” Jiang Pingce explained, “The library’s time and course’s time aren’t equal; The time of each course from the beginning of the exam to the end is calculated by 2 hours, and the time inside the course is calculated independently, which has been confirmed by many students.”

Yue Xingwen frowned and lost in thought.

A moment later, he suddenly put forward a bold conjecture and said, “The course and library’s time are calculated independently, so is the time in reality different from here too? Maybe, after leaving here, I’ll still be able to turn in my thesis in time for my final exam?!” mynlsJ

Jiang Pingce agreed and said, “The possibility of what you said does exist.”

Even if it was self-consolation, this possibility lightened Yue Xingwen’s mood a lot—— Perhaps, in reality, he had not disappeared for too long, and as long as he left this library, everything would be back on track?

He withdrew his thoughts and turned his attention to the tablet in front of his seat, asking curiously, “What does this tablet do?”

Jiang Pingce reached over and helped him to press the boot button and explained, “The tablet computer in the Research Group Center can connect to the campus network, and we can view the recruitment information released by the students. When you came it, you saw those two huge screens, right?” TJPiMb

Yue Xingwen looked at the red and blue text swiped out from the tablet and quickly responded, “The information from this table is synchronized with the huge screen, right? Can we also type in messages on the tablet and send them to that huge screen, like a chat in online games?”

“En. The tablet on this -2nd floor can only post research group’s recruitment messages, other chats will be blocked.” Jiang Pingce helped Yue Xingwen open the introduction of the research group and said, “You should read the regulations related to the research group first.”

Yue Xingwen looked at the description of the research group’s function that popped up in the tablet carefully——

[Research Group is similar to a fix team. After joining the research group, students can enter the examination room of the same course with the team members, without being scattered by the random matching of the library system] WoNEYg

[Team members can cooperate with each other, work together to pass a course, and can exchange and give away the points they earn with each other for free. The library only allows students whose course progress is on the same floor to team up with each other; Those who are not on the same floor cannot team up]

[All team members must be present at the same time to open the compulsory course, but there is no restriction on the elective course. After the research group is expanded in later stage, the team members can go for separate elective courses that are easier to earn credit, depending on their areas of expertise]

[Team leader has the authority to expel a team member, and the team member can leave on his or her own initiative. The team member who is eliminated during the examination will be automatically withdrawn from the Research Group]

[The conditions for forming a Research Group are: 1. Pass the two compulsory courses of the Faculty of Medicine at 1st floor; 2. Team leader puts out 1,000 points, or the team members put out 1,000 points together] ySXVv6

[The maximum team members of the Junior Research Group is four people. After reaching the 3rd floor, you can upgrade the Research Group and increase the number of team members]

[The library has three different styles of tutors. When setting up a Research Group, you can choose to follow your favorite tutor.

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Group A, Professor Qin, all Research Group’s members will receive the speed attribute bonus, and skill cooldown reduction;

Group B, Professor Liu, all Research Group’s members will receive a physical attributes bonus, and obtain a death-free shield, which can be used once in each examination; 3TawLY

Group C, Professor Zhu, the Research Group will receive bonus points. After each examination, the total points at the end of each examination will multiply by 1.5 times]

Yue Xingwen quickly read through the instructions related to the Research Group and said, “It seems that if we want to enter the same examination room, we must form a Research Group. We need 1,000 points to set up a Research Group, I only took two courses so far, got 6 credits, and now I have 700 left in my hand, how about you?”

“12 credits, 1,400 points.” said Jiang Pingce, “I entered the library a few days earlier than you, and I also completed two Faculty of Medicine’s elective courses.”

“You also went to elective courses? No wonder your points are higher than mine.” Yue Xingwen then calculated carefully, “In this way, I will first give 400 points and you will give 600 points to set up a Research Group. I want to save 300 points to upgrade my skill book once, is it okay?” q4bdjf

“Okay, I’ll also pay for the dormitory’s fee.”

“Dormitory’s fee?” Yue Xingwen was stunned, “You need points to live in the dormitory too?”

“En. In this library, eating, accommodation, shopping, all of these have to consume points.” Jiang Pingce was obviously a little unhappy about this rule as well. He paused slightly and looked at Yue Xingwen before saying, “For the dormitory, can we take a double room?”

“Will the dormitory fee for the double room be very expensive ah?” Yue Xingwen furrowed his brow and suggested, “If it’s too expensive, let’s just get a quadruple room or something cheaper and make do with it first?” BorbvO

“I’ve seen the dormitory’s fee for the double room, it’s 400 points. I have enough points to cover it.” Jiang Pingce said lightly, “I don’t like to live with strangers.”

Yue Xingwen thought about it for a while, and nodded cheerfully, “Alright then, we’ll both take a double room.”

He knew that Jiang Pingce hated noise the most. He would likely not rest well if there were too many people in the dormitory. He would let Jiang Pingce pay for the dormitory’s fee first, and then he would pay for the meal and living expenses when he earned points. Both of them had been friends for so many years, so Yue Xingwen did not bother to say politely and asked directly, “Next, shall we go to the dormitory first, or shall we set up the Research Group first?”

Jiang Pingce noticed the dark circles faintly appearing under Yue Xingwen’s eyes. He simply got up and said, “Let us go to the dormitory first to rest. There is no rush on the Research Group, we can discuss it later.” lHZ9ae

Yue Xingwen followed him to get up and said, “Okay, I also want to take a break. The cardiovascular ward is so torturous that I haven’t been able to sleep well for the past few days.”

They arrived at the elevator side by side. There were hundreds of elevators that circled the entire hall, and the scene was quite spectacular as the doors opened and closed, countless students entered and exited.

Jiang Pingce pressed the down button.

The elevator in front of them arrived quickly and opened its doors with a ‘ding’ sound. Both of them stepped into the elevator side by side and pressed the -3th floor button. o0k8WT

The elevator soon took them to the students’ dormitory area.

Yue Xingwen stepped out of the elevator and found that the structure of the student’s dormitory area of this library was very complicated. Eight neat corridors appeared before him, leading to different directions, like a large maze.

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The corridors were marked with a total of 8 letters from A to H, and a huge LCD screen was erected in the central lobby with the <Student Dormitory’s Regulation> written on it. Next to it, there was a sign of ‘Dormitory Area’s Self-Service Center’, and a row of self-service tablets was placed.

Jiang Pingce led Yue Xingwen to a vacant tablet computer. 3wlnWa

He placed his fingers in the fingerprint recognition area of the tablet, and a cute little child appeared on the computer: “Hello, I am the Dormitory Manager, You You. Student Jiang Pingce from the Mathematics Department at Hua’an University, I welcome you to the dormitory area. The intelligent system has detected that you are not currently registered for dormitory, are you registering for student dormitory?”