In this world, only the living can feel pain; after death, there’s only emptiness, and no more feelings like disheartenment. The saying ’better off dead’ probably means just that.

And that sense of emptiness is something people often find in their sleep.

Just like now.

Zheng Qing’s consciousness didn’t know how long it lingered in the deep sea, unaware, until at a certain moment, he suddenly awoke, feeling a ray of sunshine falling on his head, leading him slowly up to the surface, only to find himself sitting at a desk in the next second, starting to flip through a book titled "Life".

The first page was birth, tender and pink, with a loud cry.

Then kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, each page filled with fragments of his corresponding life, many memories he had long forgotten, vividly reappearing before him.

Until after high school.

Flipping past the last page of high school, the style of this book suddenly changed. If before it was a work of documentary literature, detailing the bits and pieces of his life like a diary, after high school, this book abruptly turned into a comic.

An incredible world, bizarre scenes, dialogues that are both realistic and full of exaggeration.

As he flipped through the blank pages.

The world before him became increasingly bright.

Sounds not belonging to this book gradually reached his ears—

"...I thought the school would send people from the School Works Committee to guard him."

"...It’s precisely because we made a huge mistake that we need to make amends."

"...Heh, that’s just self-deception. I’ve figured it out. Guarding him means being confined here with him... The School Works Committee people can leave the school, even the island, but we can only be Earth-bound Spirits... because they fear we might help him escape the island!"

"...Don’t overthink..."

"...Is this overthinking? When Tom was holding onto those gloves, I warned you that Nyah would eventually become everyone’s problem! Back then you also said I was overthinking, and look what happened? Don’t be fooled by his serious and meticulous demeanor... Just like those who always laugh and joke are most prone to depression!"

"...Life is like an onion, wrapping itself layer by layer each day, appearing shiny and glamorous, exuding an indifferent aura. Unless deliberately cut open, the tear-provoking scent will always remain in the layers of memory... or in the rings."

Achoo!

Zheng Qing seemed to have smelled a strong onion odor and couldn’t help but let out a big sneeze.

Then he felt himself finally breaking free from the oppressive, swaying sea, breaking through the surface, the sight before him suddenly becoming clear, but what met his eyes was not a blue sky, but the snow-white ceiling of a hospital room.

As for the ceiling of the school hospital, Zheng Qing was very familiar with it—though he hadn’t been here often recently, like those blurred and fragmented scenes in the depths of his memory, things he thought he had long forgotten could be vividly recalled with just a little trigger.

Hearing the boy’s sneeze, the voices in the room came to an abrupt halt.

The next second, two familiar faces almost simultaneously appeared in front of him, one on the left, the other on the right, blocking his view completely.

To the left was the Assistant Group leader Zhang Yu, and to the right was Practice class teacher Hilda.

"Awake?" Hilda looked eager.

"Awake." Zhang Yu obviously breathed a sigh of relief.

In just a moment, a swarm of white-robed healers crowded into the room, filling the previously spacious room to the brim, while the two male warlocks of the Assistant Group obediently shrank into the corners of the room, only to reappear in front of Zheng Qing after the nurse finished feeding medicine and left.

"How do you feel?" Hilda touched the copper ring on his nose.

This inexplicably reminded Zheng Qing of the group of Minotaurs contracted in his Merlin Medal.

"Great, never felt this good before."

The young cost student mumbled, rubbing his belly: "...Refreshed, feels like I could eat a whole cow, but Lady Bella won’t let me eat anything, says the pharmacology lab hasn’t finished testing the magic potion residues in my body..."

"This is to avoid uncontrollable risks, you need to understand."

The acting leader of the Assistant Group gently reassured him: "If you feel too hungry, you can sleep a bit more... The Beta Town Post reported once about a Britannia witch who, after a short nap, suddenly could speak Ningfu Language when she awoke, I hope you’d have such good luck too."

"Thank you, leader... Too bad I didn’t take Ningfu Language this semester, or I could have one less class." Zheng Qing’s drifting thoughts seemed as though he already knew how to speak the language of the Ningfus, involuntarily thinking of his densely packed class schedule.

The weight of the schedule grounded the boy’s thoughts.

Pulling him slowly back to reality.

Then he remembered the conversations he vaguely heard, becoming even more awake.

"Where’s Thomas?" he asked subconsciously.

Then the faces of the two assistants immediately turned unpleasant.

"Sorry..."

Zheng Qing realized he had mentioned an inappropriate name, carefully snuggled into the quilt.

"The ones who should apologize are us, you have nothing to be sorry for."

Zhang Yu shook his head, simply answering: "When we found the Illegal Laboratory, he’d long vanished without a trace... He was a core member of the Assistant Group, very familiar with the school’s search methods, so... We will catch him and bring him to justice as soon as possible. Finally... I’m sorry."

He bowed deeply to Zheng Qing.

"Ah, uh? It’s okay, it’s okay, this isn’t your fault!" Zheng Qing hurriedly sat upright, waving his hands messily: "It was him and Nikita—"

Zhang Yu quickly gestured, blocking Zheng Qing’s subsequent words.

"These matters are not suitable to discuss here."

He forced a smile, glanced outside the door, and lowered his voice slightly: "—nor appropriate to discuss with us. The Divination Group has roughly figured out your ordeal, and someone from the School Works Committee should come by to confirm with you soon. It’s still the golden period for capture, they are all in the Silent Forest and haven’t returned. As for Thomas—"

He hesitantly looked at Hilda.

The usually jovial Practice class teacher now had a somber expression.

The leader of the Assistant Group sighed deeply: "—He was once one of us, I must emphasize this point. This fact is not about your safety and health, nor violence or abduction, but concerns the honor, dignity, and even the existence value of the Assistant Group. The more we used to love him, the more disappointed we are in him now."

"This is not something simple penance can resolve." Hilda interjected with a gloomy expression: "Penance only needs a cross, but forgiveness requires three nails plus a cross."