Zong Jiu didn't think much about The Dark Wizard's abnormality.
He only cursed silently as he dried his hair with a towel.
Everyone in No.1 Middle School was required to wear the blue and white school uniform. Only No.8 was the most mysterious. Whenever he was in the dormitory, he would change his uniform back to his black robe and hood. His persistence was heart-wrenching.
Very soon, during the weekly test the next day, another unforeseen event happened.
This time, three Faceless Men appeared at once. All three of them were trainees ranked first and second from the bottom in their respective classes.
And without exception, just like the first Faceless Man, all of them transformed not long before the exam. The moment they walked into the exam hall the next day, they caused a huge uproar.
The results of the exam were self-evident.
Those three classes happened to be classes that were one step away from 600 points.
After the appearance of the Faceless Men, they all narrowly crossed the 600 point line.
When everyone else was only able to score 500 or 600 points, a Faceless Man who scored more than 1000 points appeared. It was as if a god had descended from the heavens. Not only did they lose a Faceless Man who had scored 200 or 300 points less, but he also single-handedly pulled up the average score by more than 10 points.
This time, everyone in the three classes chose to remain silent.
In the end, unless it was a close friend or a lover who was deeply in love. Other than that, no one really cared about the life or death of others. Everyone only cared about the mid-term exam's requirement to score more than 600 points. Moreover, these transformed Faceless Men were poor students on the periphery.
Humans were creatures of self-interest. As long as they could achieve their goal, as long as they weren't the ones being transformed, what did it matter?
After this incident, many classes even privately said, such as the class monitor of Class 5, "I hope that the last in our class will know what's good for them. Those who only scored around 200 marks are going to make many of us pull their scores down."
"That's right. They might as well become Faceless Men. They're just trash who only know how to drag down the rest of the class."
… and so on and so forth. Extreme remarks like these were becoming more and more common, like an undercurrent surging.
Up until now, there were still three classes out of the nine classes in the entire grade that had failed to meet the standards.
Class 9 was one of them.
Recently, Zong Jiu had been very strict. He made the few students from the bottom of Class 9 do the test papers together. If they didn't know how to answer the questions, he would force them to tell him the answers one by one. Sometimes, during class, she would even stand at the back of the classroom with a book, just to observe if the countdown students were paying attention in class.
When that pair of light pink eyes drifted down, they were beautiful but extremely oppressive. No one dared to disobey.
Compared to other classes, Class 9 had one advantage: there weren't as many troublemakers. Even if they did, they would not dare to speak rudely to Zong Jiu.
Previously, there were some dissenting voices when the class monitor was announced, but they all disappeared later on.
After all, the Class 9 homeroom teacher was not an existence that they could act as they pleased. Even that adult did not say anything, so how could they have the right to speak? Even though Zong Jiu felt that it was an arduous and thankless task, his achievements as the class monitor were obvious to all. He had indeed increased the class average. Gradually, those trainees who had been dissatisfied were convinced by him.
In addition, the hard work of the last few students in the class was obvious to all. No. 99, No. 98, and a few others even exploited their own sleeping time. They even used special items just to learn more.
They had good personalities, and a few of them were important figures in large organizations. Therefore, compared to the other disorganized classes where no one was willing to submit to another, Class 9's cohesiveness was absolutely incomparable.
Before the last monthly test, there might have been some complaints, but when Class 9's eighth place was announced, all the trainees sincerely threw the countdown students into the sky and cheered.
At that moment, everyone had a whole new understanding of the word "collective."
It was rare to see a class atmosphere where there was no bullying or discrimination. Other than Class 1, which was ruled by No.2 Fan Zhuo, and Class 3, which was fearful of the No.8 Dark Magus' unpredictable methods, there was only Class 9 that was like this.
Zong Jiu did not want to admit that he was indeed amenable to persuasion, but not coercion.
After the weekly test, Class 9, which was originally 50 points short of 600 points, had once again soared.
They were only 15 points short of the mid-term target.
Although the results were gratifying, it was still unsettling.
This was the last weekly test before the mid-term exam. The next time, they would have to go straight to the battlefield.
If there was even the slightest mistake, the entire class of trainees would be buried with them.
Zong Jiu left the dormitory after showering. When he went to the class, it was already full, except for him.
"You're here so early today? Not bad, you're aware. "
Magician complimented casually, but when he looked closely, he realized that something was wrong.
The trainees in the class were all gathered in a circle, each of them with an anxious and disapproving look on their faces.
When they saw the white-haired youth enter the classroom, they heaved a sigh of relief as if they had found their backbone. "Brother Jiu!"
"Brother Jiu, you're finally here. Come and talk to these idiots, they want to become faceless voluntarily!"
"That's right, they're just a bunch of idiots. No wonder they can't learn it no matter how hard they try. Their brains are filled with water and flour, they'll turn into paste when shaken."
"And they talk about sacrificing themselves for others. Why don't I see these cheeky fellows with such dedication?"
Now that there were four faceless trainees in the grade, a simple comparison would show that they did have many similarities. Therefore, many people already had their guesses and conclusions as to how faceless people were formed.
First of all, faceless people were usually the last in each class.
Secondly, their social circle was very narrow. They were ignored in class, invisible people who were usually filled with righteous indignation or reticence. They rarely interacted with others.
Lastly, the pressure exerted on them must be immense. The pressure from all aspects was enough to cause them to fall into a trance and distort their personality.
Of course, other than these three points, the trainees also had to make their own choices. Just as the Dean of Teaching had said, they had to have a certain level of awareness.
Many of the trainees who became faceless were people who were afraid of death. Sometimes, under such extreme pressure, they chose to give up. It was very likely that they did not want to live and endure the painful whipping. They did not expect that it would benefit the other people in the class.
Through the gaps in the crowd, Zong Jiu saw the last few trainees in Class 9 sitting in the middle. Each of them had a heavy and dispirited expression, deliberately creating an environment for themselves to become faceless.
Although the students in the class gathered around and started to talk back, the concerned expressions on their faces could not be concealed.
At this moment, the interests of the class were pushed to the back, and human emotions prevailed.
No one was like the other classes, hoping that these poor trainees would sacrifice themselves to raise the class average.
Zong Jiu's eyelids twitched, and he said coldly, "Save it. Look at how autistic the trainees who become faceless people are. It would be strange if you could change with your characters that are always in a state of chaos. If you have the time, you might as well do a few more papers. "
A burst of laughter came from the class. Even No. 98 and No. 99, who sat in the middle, could not help but burst out laughing like two hundred and fifty kilograms of idiots.
Zong Jiu did not rush them. After they finished laughing, he put the book in his hand on the table, and his expression returned to being serious.
After seeing his expression, the atmosphere that had just livened up froze again.
"Not only before this exam, but in the next sixty days, I hope that such a laughable situation will not happen again. Don't we study hard for the sake of our classmates? If anyone dares to sacrifice themselves and become faceless like in that stupid diary, don't blame me for calling everyone to beat you up. "
"We, Class 9, will always be a group. Ninety-nine people, either live together, or die together. Don't give me any less. "
The white-haired youth's words were steady and firm, powerful and resonant.
Although there was not much rhetoric or rhetoric, it made the eyes of many of the Class B trainees turn red.
Not to mention the classmates, even the bullet screen burst into tears.
[Damn, I'm going to cry too. F * ck, this is too touching.]
[I'm already hugging a tissue. Sob sob sob sob.]
[The atmosphere of Class 9 is really good. Although it's not the best or the strongest in studies, it's the most humane one. With so many classes streaming, after watching it, I realized that I still like it here the most.]
[Yeah, it's mainly because the class monitor of Class 9 is really too nice … Which class monitor of the other classes would spend the time and effort to tutor these poor students? It's good enough that they don't unite with the rest of the class to pressure them. They verbally say that they will not give up on any of the poor students, but in private, aren't they deliberately alienating the poor students and using their actions to show that they want these poor students to become faceless more than anyone else? I've seen too many examples of coldness in the streaming room these few days, it's chilling.]
[Yes, it's true. Only Class 9 can be true to their words and be united as one. I'm now zooming in on everyone. Really, from their expressions, I can see that none of the trainees in the class are disobeying. Everyone sincerely hopes that all ninety-nine people can walk to the end together.]
.....
[After this dungeon, I've really changed my view of the Magician. I don't know why, although I used to follow his streams and perform well, I always felt that he didn't have any feelings and was indifferent to everything. Sigh, it's not that he doesn't have any feelings, it's just that he lacks humanity and compassion. This dungeon has really made me look at him in a new light. Sob sob sob, Class 9, charge!]
[Yes, the person above is absolutely right. That's how I feel too. Sigh, who would have thought that even though this dungeon is so cruel, even though everyone has graduated so many years ago, it still makes people feel so empathetic.]
In the classroom, the trainees' eyes were slightly red. No. 99 even sobbed and couldn't hold back his tears.
This time, no one laughed at him. Everyone patted his shoulder comfortingly with tears in their eyes.
Many of the trainees in the classroom had not even been to high school, or they had never experienced such an atmosphere.
But at this moment, ninety-nine hearts seemed to be especially close.
All the trainees looked at each other and roared in a hoarse voice, almost overturning the ceiling. "Heard it! Class Monitor! "
"We're Class 9. If we live, we live together. If we die, we die together. No one can be left behind —!"