hsntnovel Chapter 1 Crossing
Chapter 1 Crossing
The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.
The old professor on the podium closed his lesson plan and announced the end of get out of class.
The drowsy students instantly came to life, and the chairs scraped against the ground with a screeching sound.
Jiang Ming woke up at that moment.
Last night, he stayed up until 4 a.m. to complete a survival game.
Right now, all he wants to do is get back to his dorm and log on.
However, before he could get up, a huge commotion erupted in the classroom, almost lifting the roof off.
Jiang Ming raised his head and lazily looked in the direction of the sound.
At the front of the classroom, under the podium, Zhang Wei, the rich kid in the class, was kneeling on one knee, holding a large bouquet of bright red roses, gazing affectionately at their class beauty, Su Xiaoxiao.
"Wow, playing this high?"
Jiang Ming raised an eyebrow, showing some interest.
Zhang Wei was dressed in designer clothes, his hair was styled with hair wax and each strand was clearly defined, and he had what he thought was his most charming smile on his face.
"Xiaoxiao, from the first day I saw you, my heart was captured. Be my girlfriend! I promise, I'll buy you all your bags from now on! After graduation, my dad's company vice president position will be yours!"
This corny yet money-grubbing confession instantly ignited the enthusiasm of all the "spectators" in the class.
"Wow—!"
"Say yes! Say yes!"
Whistles and table-banging echoed throughout, creating an atmosphere that was pushed to its limit.
However, Su Xiaoxiao, who was in the spotlight, showed no joy on her face.
She stood there, her brows furrowed, watching the exaggerated scene before her, her eyes filled with helplessness and an undisguised annoyance.
She wore a simple high ponytail, a plain white T-shirt, and jeans, looking somewhat out of place in the noisy scene.
Faced with the clamor of her classmates and Zhang Wei's determined gaze, Su Xiaoxiao took a deep breath.
"Zhang Wei, get up." Her voice wasn't loud, but it was clear. "I've said it many times, I don't like you, and we can't be together."
The curt refusal was like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing the heated atmosphere.
The commotion abruptly stopped.
Everyone was stunned, looking at each other in bewilderment.
Zhang Wei's smile froze, turning extremely ugly.
He remained kneeling on one knee, the roses in his hand looking incredibly awkward.
"Why?" he pressed, unwilling to give up. "What's wrong with me? Is it Jiang Ming? It's him again? Do you like him?!"
Zhang Wei suddenly turned his head and glared fiercely at Jiang Ming in the back corner of the classroom.
In an instant, all eyes in the class followed Zhang Wei and focused on Jiang Ming.
Jiang Ming, who was leisurely watching the play while leaning back in his chair:
"?"
He shrugged innocently, indicating that he wouldn't take the blame.
Being called out in public, Su Xiaoxiao's cheeks instantly turned bright red, and she subconsciously glanced in Jiang Ming's direction.
Her eyes darted around quickly, revealing a hint of panic, a hint of expectation, and a subtle, almost imperceptible, sense of loss.
However, she was disappointed to find that Jiang Ming did not notice her.
At this moment, Jiang Ming was frowning and looking out the window.
He ignored the farce in the classroom because he had discovered something even stranger.
The sky outside the window suddenly darkened.
It wasn't the gradual gloom of dark clouds obscuring the sun, but rather like someone flipping a light switch, plunging us into pitch blackness without warning.
Just moments ago it was a clear, sunny afternoon, but now it feels like the dead of night.
"Why is it dark?"
"Holy crap! What's going on?"
"Is there a power outage? But wait, my phone screen is still lit up..."
The students in the classroom finally noticed this strange change, and murmurs of surprise and uncertainty began to circulate.
Just then, a sudden change occurred!
Without warning, the entire teaching building suddenly shook!
It was like a magnitude 10 earthquake; everyone was unsteady on their feet and swayed from side to side.
The ceiling fan shook violently, and dust fell in clumps.
"What happened? Was it an earthquake?"
"Run!"
The classroom instantly descended into chaos.
Immediately following were the second and third, even more violent tremors.
"ah--!"
Terrified screams rose and fell.
In the chaos, Jiang Ming instinctively lowered his center of gravity, grabbed the desk with one hand, and steadied himself.
His mind, which was constantly immersed in various survival games, instinctively sensed an unusual sense of danger.
This is definitely not a simple earthquake or power outage!
Suddenly, a tremendous feeling of weightlessness swept over everyone, as if the entire school building was rapidly falling.
Darkness surged in like a tide, swallowing up the last of light and sound.
Jiang Ming felt his body being torn apart by an invisible force, and his consciousness gradually blurred amidst severe dizziness.
I don't know how much time has passed; perhaps it was just a moment, or perhaps it was eternity.
The vibration stopped.
The blinding sunlight streamed in through the window again, stinging my eyes that had just adjusted to the darkness.
Jiang Ming slowly opened his eyes and found himself still lying on the desk, only in a slightly contorted position.
The classroom was a mess, with desks and chairs overturned and books scattered all over the floor.
The students lay sprawled on the ground or slumped over their desks, groaning in pain one after another, before struggling to sit up.
"What...just happened?"
"Such a strong earthquake... Is it over?"
"My head is so dizzy..."
Everything seemed to have returned to normal, except for the chaos at the scene, as if the darkness and weightlessness just now were a collective hallucination.
Su Xiaoxiao had somehow arrived near him, not far away. She was slowly standing up, leaning against the wall, her face deathly pale.
Zhang Wei also got up from the ground, not bothering to straighten his disheveled clothes, panting heavily with shock.
"Everyone, check your phones! Is there any signal? Call the police!" the squad leader shouted immediately.
However, at that moment, a student by the window let out a distorted scream, as if he had seen a ghost.
"ah--!"
The voice was shrill and desperate, making everyone's hearts leap into their throats.
"What are you yelling about?" Zhang Wei shouted impatiently.
But soon, he himself could no longer speak.
As more and more people walked to the window, everyone stood frozen in place, as if under a spell, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Jiang Ming frowned and walked to the window as well.
He looked outside.
The next second, his pupils suddenly contracted.
Outside the window, there were no familiar skyscrapers, no familiar overpasses, and no city skyline in the distance.
Instead, there was a vast, unseen primeval forest!
Towering trees, hundreds of meters high, with thick vines coiling around them like giant pythons, and strange plants covering the earth, all filled with a damp and unfamiliar atmosphere.
Their school building, along with the entire school, appeared next to this eerie primeval forest!