Let's give space a touch of Chinese horror!

Chapter 94 Has the world gone mad?

"Don't……"

Old A's body trembled violently, and he sat up abruptly.

His consciousness returned instantly. Looking at the familiar surroundings, Old A realized that he was still at home, and even his body was sitting in his familiar chair.

"Phew..." He let out a heavy sigh of relief.

His personal computer was still safely on his wrist, and the screen displayed the group chat he had opened earlier. The message he hadn't sent yet, "Who knows if Red Robe has made any shady deals with the First Legion?", was still in the chat box.

There is no such terrifying classroom that one cannot leave.

There was no terrifying "Teacher Dai" wielding a black pointer.

There are no strange "civilized language" courses.

There was no... a teacher surnamed Hong who came to be a teaching assistant.

Old A looked around.

Could it be that everything that happened before... was all a dream?

Because he fell asleep without realizing it while chatting, and at that time he happened to be talking about the Red Robe and the First Legion, so he had a nightmare about being tormented by the Red Robe out of a guilty conscience.

The thought of the red clothes filled Old A with rage!

The man in red... he really is a scoundrel!

Although Old A had previously cursed Red Clothes online and posted a lot of posts opposing Red Clothes and "Reunion," seemingly having a big problem with Red Clothes, it was purely because it was a job he had just taken on as a water army. He had no opinion or liking or dislike for Red Clothes herself or the recently controversial game "Reunion."

But now, he has changed!

From this moment forward, he, Old A, will become the most loyal Blackie in Red!

He now understood why so many people online were attacking the person in red, or why some people would pay these online trolls to smear the other side.

That woman in red is really a monster!

The story begins with that terrifying nightmare he had before—

In the nightmare, at Teacher Dai's prompting, everyone discovered a woman in red who had suddenly appeared at the back of the classroom.

At first, Old A didn't recognize that the person who was smiling and greeting them in a friendly manner was his target for this period of time, until someone who knew her revealed her identity.

The people who exposed her identity weren't like those trolls who were oblivious to the world around them and only did what their boss asked; they were the real haters who disliked the woman in red but also understood her.

After the black-clad guy revealed the red-clad girl's identity, Old A suddenly understood why these people had inexplicably appeared in this classroom.

—This is revenge from the woman in red!

Old A had already discovered that all of them, without exception, had engaged in defamation or slander against the woman in red online. Old A simply couldn't understand how this woman in red had managed to "collect" them all and bring them here at once; even with the First Legion behind her, Old A found it utterly inconceivable.

If this was indeed done with the help of the First Legion, then the First Legion must have mobilized a lot of people; and when no mission was issued from above, the First Legion's sudden dispatch of so many soldiers to different planets to capture people would definitely attract attention.

Even if it wasn't discovered by the higher-ups, it would be noticed by people from other legions—you know, legions are always in competition with each other. Everyone is all smiles on the surface, but behind the scenes they are all trying their best to find each other's mistakes so that they can steal the resources of the legion that made the mistake and transfer them to their own side—even he, a naval officer who hardly ever goes out, knows this.

Unless the First Legion felt they already had enough, Old A couldn't understand why the First Legion would do this.

All this fuss about arresting and "imprisoning" them, just to help the red-clothed woman and her group vent their anger?

Old A didn't believe it.

Before Old A could figure it out, the familiar yet equally terrifying sound of a pointer lightly tapping the podium surface came from the podium.

"Okay, now that you've finished watching, hurry up and turn back."

Teacher Dai's voice sounded emotionless, but it sent a shiver down the spines of those below. "We're about to begin the lesson."

Old A could only swallow back the question that was on the tip of his tongue, and with a bitter and resentful expression, he quickly turned back to face the blackboard and began to listen to the lesson.

Old A swears he really didn't mean to go against the "teacher" on stage, but he just couldn't help it... the content of this class was so boring!

They were talking about things that even elementary school students know, such as "be civilized," "don't swear," and "don't insult or attack others." Even with Teacher Dai's cold and frightening voice, Old A couldn't stop his eyelids from drooping.

Especially since this group of people had been on edge ever since they entered the classroom, although the danger... wasn't over, their nerves could at least relax a little. So the result of relaxing their nerves was—

At first, Old A could still complain in his heart about how Teacher Dai asked them not to insult others, but then directly attacked them. Later, he, like everyone else around him, started to doze off.

The only saving grace was that Teacher Dai only stood on the podium to teach and did not come down to patrol the classroom. As a result, many people sitting in the back took advantage of the people in front of them to bend down and secretly doze off.

Then, they were reported.

—Reported by that damned, "helpful" teaching assistant in red.

Old A still remembers the moment his eyelids slowly closed, his vision gradually darkening, and he was about to drift off to sleep when that demonic voice rang out in the classroom—

"Teacher Dai, the student sitting in row xxx, number x from the left, seems to be daydreaming."

Old A's reaction was even considered quick; at least compared to those "students" who had already fallen asleep, Old A jolted awake and forced himself to open his eyes.

Whether his mind was clear or not, he didn't know, but he had to make sure that Teacher Dai on stage could see that he wasn't asleep.

Unfortunately, Old A's speed was still not fast enough.

Like the other online trolls who had fallen asleep, he was woken up by Teacher Dai and asked to answer his questions.

God knows that Old A didn't even listen to his lecture, so how could he answer?

Moreover, the questions Teacher Dai asked weren't the kind with clear-cut answers like "1 is 1, 2 is 2." They were all subjective questions! Not only were there no standard answers, but the quality of the answers was entirely up to Teacher Dai!

How can we play like this?!

So, unsurprisingly, just like everyone else, no matter what Old A said or how he answered, he couldn't satisfy Teacher Dai. After receiving a stern reprimand from Teacher Dai, Old A was made to stand as punishment.

The thought of being "punished by standing" sent a chill down Old A's spine, and he dared not recall it at all.

So much so that after the "standing punishment" ended, everyone who had experienced it would rather pinch or twist themselves under the table to stay awake than dare to doze off again.

After one class, their arms and thighs were noticeably thicker (due to swelling).

Looking back now, Old A no longer resented Teacher Dai for calling him up to answer questions and making him stand as punishment. Instead, he was furious with the woman in red who reported them for sleeping.

Old A gets angry whenever he thinks about the smug face of the man in red when he reported them (from Old A's perspective).

He glanced at the personal terminal still stuck on the group chat interface, quickly deleted the line of text in the chat box, and started typing again, "Brothers, you'll never believe how ridiculous a nightmare I just had—"

Before he could even finish typing, someone in the group messaged him with almost the exact same message: "My God, guys, you know what? I just had a really scary nightmare!"

"I dreamt that I suddenly appeared in a classroom! And there were many other online trolls like me in the classroom!"

Old A: "?"

"!!!"

He stared in shock as the online troll sent him message after message about his experiences in the "nightmare," completely frozen in place.

Could it be that what happened before... wasn't a nightmare after all?!

Old A quickly joined the group chat and discussed the details of his dream with the troll who had spoken.

This pair is quite something. Not only did Old A discover that the details of their "nightmare" were exactly the same, but he also managed to find several other people in the group who had the exact same experience as them.

Old A stood there, stunned, in front of the personal terminal.

Obviously, it's impossible for so many people to have the exact same "nightmare" at the same time.

But if, as they guessed in their dreams, they were taken away and kidnapped, then why is it that when they woke up, everyone was still in their own homes, without having moved an inch, and those who had fainted woke up right where they had been?

"I...I just asked my family..."

Unlike Old A, who lives alone, there was someone in the group who lived with family. However, the words he gradually revealed made the horror of the situation increase exponentially:

"They said I just stayed in the room the whole time and didn't move."

"The door wasn't closed."

"My room door was always open, so they could always see me."

"My sister said she came in to try to wake me up, but I was sleeping too soundly and she couldn't wake me up."

"You guys, what exactly was that thing we encountered before?!"

The group chat went completely silent.

……

"Hey, didn't they report a security risk in 'New World' before? What happened after that? It seems like there's been no follow-up..."

"You're not mistaken, there's just been no follow-up. After all, the First Legion is behind the 'New World,' who would dare to investigate?"

"When the truth about the 'food' in 'Reunion' was exposed, there was such a huge outcry online, but nothing came of it. Do you really expect 'New World' to be investigated?"

"It's really good to have power... So many people opposed it before, and the matter became such a big fuss, I thought 'Reunion' was going to be banned, but nothing happened. On the contrary, all those accounts that caused the trouble before have been banned for violations."

"Seal the account, cover up the conversation, then create some other trending news to divert attention, and after a while, nobody will remember it, and that's the end of it—I can recite this whole process by heart."

"Holy crap, is the person upstairs a prophet?! A new hot topic has really emerged!"

"See, I told you so!"

"Where is it? Where is it? I'll go check!"

"Wait a minute—did I look at the wrong thing? I clicked on the new trending topic, and isn't this still about the incident before 'reunion'?"

"What?!"

……

The previous "prophet" clicked on a newly trending topic that had just climbed to the top, refusing to believe it.

The topic's name is explosive, truly deserving of the "explosive" icon that follows it: —

"The online trolls collectively apologized."

The commenter clicked on the topic and was shocked by the uniform, unanimous apologies displayed within:

"I apologize here to the Red Coat and to the First Legion."

I am sorry.

The intermediary who introduced me to this job only said "make money by posting reviews." I didn't realize that posting malicious negative reviews of games without actually experiencing them was harmful to the creators.

I will remember this lesson and be more careful with my words and actions in the future.

"I am a professional online troll. The negative reviews I posted online about 'Reunion' were only at the request of my company, not my intention. I apologize here and hope to receive your understanding."

……

"No way, isn't that a bit too much?"

"Is this some new kind of hype? First, a large number of online trolls insulted the woman in red, and now they're lining up to apologize to her and her group... I don't believe this isn't a publicity stunt."

"Don't you find this scene bizarre? If you click into the accounts of these people apologizing, some of their accounts haven't even been banned yet, and their previous comments and posts criticizing the woman in red and the 'reunion' are still there..."

"I was so angry at him in the first post, as if the woman in red had killed his whole family, but in the second post he started admitting his mistakes and apologizing. His humble and submissive appearance... it gives me goosebumps."

"I'd guess they were directly threatened by some legion."

"Sigh, what kind of era is this? There are still dark and evil forces..."

Other netizens who were watching the drama saw these comments and thought they made a lot of sense, and were about to agree; but before they could even type their comments, they attracted the attention of the online trolls who apologized.

"No! No! We truly know we were wrong! We sincerely apologize!"

"That's right! No one forced or coerced us! It was all voluntary!"

"We were the ones who made the mistake, and it's only right that we apologize! It has nothing to do with the First Legion or the Red-Clad Army, so please don't misunderstand!"

……

One after another, apology posters appeared in the comments section. They not only explained that they did it voluntarily, but also looked nervous, as if they were afraid that netizens would misunderstand, which shocked the netizens who were watching the drama.

Help! What's going on?!

Has the world finally gone mad?