Artifact Report

Chapter 336 Brianna's Devotion to Education - Shirley Kim
"who are you?"

Brianna hadn't taken two steps in the hall when she was stopped by the floor tiles.

She looked down and saw a faint, half-turned face visible in the winding, shallow lines on a marble tile in front of her.

The face formed by the lines looks like a cloud about to be blown away by the wind; as long as the color intensity changes and the lines slightly spread out, it will no longer look like a human face.

Strangely enough, at this moment, Brianna suddenly remembered a distant, human-only, woman's concern—Jacolin was wearing a skirt.

She took half a step back.

As she stepped back, she felt almost as if she had never changed, that she had always been a young woman.

That felt wonderful, but it was fleeting.

It was clearly a pareidolia caused by a human face illusion, but it was motionless in the paving stones and seemed to be talking to her: "Are you going to enroll in school or applying for a job? I can't tell if you've actually become a resident or not. If you want to apply for a job, you have to be a complete resident."

Who are you?
Brianna had come to inquire about the situation, so she had to be polite and asked, "And who are you?"

The person on the floor didn't seem to mind. "I'm part of the community college."

The creatures in the nest are neither living beings nor inhabitants, and have nothing to do with rules, scripts, energy, or mutated human matter. They are indefinable and virtually endless; it's not that it deliberately refuses to explain.

“I am…I am a resident,” Brianna said with some difficulty, “but I am not enrolling, nor am I applying for a job. I am here to find someone.”

“Looking for someone,” the floor-faced figure repeated, “then you are also a visitor. You have thirty minutes.”

On another floor tile in the distance, a human face emerged and gestured toward the stairwell—Briana didn't know if it looked the same as before, but the gesture of "gesturing" remained fixed in the pattern, unchanged.

Following the directions, she saw a promotional sign.

...Thirty minutes isn't enough to rescue Kim Seol-ri, is it?
Besides, she didn't even know what kind of problem Kim Seol-ri was currently facing—wait, something's not right?
Brianna's gaze swept back and forth across the hall twice.

Her mind was completely occupied by Jin Xueli, so much so that she only belatedly realized a problem now.

"This community college? I've never heard of it before!" she couldn't help but ask. "What kind of place is this? A theater? A playground? A maze? A human sewer?"

The messages that the lair instills in its inhabitants and into her mind naturally include a wide variety of location classifications, operating models, and even content—information that hunters would treasure, but which is destined to remain unknown to any hunter.

She had considered compiling the information and giving it to Morandall, which would at least reduce the risk of Morandall dying in the nest.

But no, no, it's impossible, I can't give it to her. A chasm truly exists between people and residents; she has to climb over it, she has to climb over it, climb over the chasm or the insurmountable barrier.

The consequences of being instilled with nest messages are similar to the effects of frequently entering and leaving the nest, leading to severe nest dissociation; the twenty or thirty years of human life cannot withstand the erosion of nest messages.

“This is a community college,” the tiled face replied matter-of-factly.

But Brianna had never heard of a trap or rule field called "University".

"As for why you haven't heard of it, it's simple."

The tiled face said, "Information about universities and the knowledge taught within them is only known to residents and humans who have visited. In other words, 'university' is a higher level of information, and it is naturally not included in the residents' basic knowledge. It's like if you only finished elementary school, you naturally won't be able to do calculus."

Kim Seol-ri could have just stayed for thirty minutes, but she enrolled directly... Could it be that it wasn't because she was too naive, but because she thought she could get information from the university?

Even for that reason, it's really hard to praise.

It would have taken Brianna and the residents at least ten minutes to catch up, let alone thirty; but before she and the shop assistant arrived, Kim Selena had already started school.

When you see Nest University, would the average person be so eager to study there? Have they never been to school in their life?

If that's the real reason, it can't even be said that Kim Seol-ri's decision was hasty; it can only be described as reckless, gullible, and short-sighted. Even if she did think things through, it was probably superficial. After I put myself in her body, will I be influenced by this kind of thinking?
"I don't know what your school's purpose is with human students, but I'm looking for—"

Before Brianna could finish speaking, the floor tiles interrupted her.

"The purpose of a school is naturally to educate and nurture students. It also earns some funding on the side. The funding is also used to better educate and nurture students."

"I am a resident, don't try to fob me off with those empty platitudes you use on humans."

Brianna suppressed her anger and prepared to walk around the floor tiles. "I told you, I'm here to find someone who is very important to me. Tell me where she is, give her back to me properly, and everything else is negotiable."

The most urgent task is to rescue Jin Xueli from the trap. As for whether or not to remove Jacqueline, and when to remove Jacqueline, we can only act according to circumstances.

“I knew it; residents with only basic knowledge wouldn’t believe it,” the tiled face sighed. “Please go to the left side of the lobby; there’s a visitor reception room there. Our administrative assistants will answer any questions you may have.”

Brianna rustled toward the reception room on her left; behind her, the tiled face grumbled, "Ugh, the door can't even close properly now that you're here." She didn't need to turn around to imagine what it was complaining about. She didn't want to turn around.

The dark blue carpet in the reception room was worn thin from repeated use, almost shiny with oil. The energy-saving lights shone a harsh, white light, casting shadows like two water bags under one's eyes.

Behind the desk sat a very large resident, who at first glance really did look like a kind-hearted aunt from the South, a common sight in the world.

"Oh dear, another visitor today," it said, its voice surprisingly drawn out with a southern accent. "I've heard you're here to see our students, aren't you?"

After announcing Jin Xueli's name, the administrative resident lowered his head and stared at its empty plywood tabletop for a while.

“Ah, yes,” it nodded and said, “She just enrolled, and hasn’t submitted her personal information and resume yet. I thought her name sounded familiar! The girl is pretty too, and she kept asking me if a teacher who doesn’t teach her would see her and still not be allowed to hurt her… Sigh, if we let the teachers talk like Pac-Man around the school, we wouldn’t be able to run a school!”

Perhaps they didn't trust their English teacher... If they knew they were worried about the danger, why did they still enroll?

Moreover, the dangers of community colleges go far beyond this.

"Who are you to her? Do you want to kill her, or do you want to eat her?"

The resident assistant enthusiastically said, "Don't blame me for not reminding you, she's in class right now. She can't come out, and you can't go looking for her. You can only wait for her to finish class. But as long as she's at school until she finishes her studies, we have a responsibility to protect her life. You can't lay a hand on her while she's at school."

Brianna frowned.

She had too many questions, so after thinking for a moment, she decided to ask the most important one first: "As a human, she can only stay in the nest for seven days. When does she finish her classes? She can't stay here to study forever, can she?"

"What kind of question is that? Didn't you go to college?"

The administrative assistant smiled in a good-natured manner. Even if the words were unpleasant, they came out warmly, even reminiscent of the teasing of an older female relative.

“If this class is over and there are no more classes afterward, then she can naturally leave the school. However, it also depends on the student’s personal wishes. If she wants to stay at the school until the end of the seven days, we will not object.”

Brianna felt as if she had found the real reason why Kim Selena enrolled in school.

Okay, it seems she's not too stupid after all, knowing that the shop assistant might be lying in wait outside the school; is she planning to attend a class and then hide in the school until the shop assistant leaves before coming out?

"What class is she taking? How much longer? Which classroom is she in?"

If there are traps in community colleges, they must be in every course; as a visitor, she doesn't know if she can go in and rescue people.

After thinking for a moment, Brianna added, "I...I am her...um, I don't want to eat her. The human who gave birth to me was her sister in her previous life."

The resident studied Jacqueline's face for a few seconds. "So that's it. No wonder he's so obsessed with her. Even if he can't kill her, he'll still follow her to the death."

It was true, but Brianna found it very uncomfortable to hear.

"Jin Xueli has just enrolled and cannot take the major courses she wants yet; she must first take a general education course. However, visitors are not allowed to enter. The general education course is two hours long, and your visit time limit is not enough to wait for her."

The resident said with a smile, "If you're worried that we'll set traps for the students, you don't need to worry at all. The students are the same before class and the same after class; there are rules for that. Don't worry, your sister will definitely be able to leave school lively and energetic."

"So I can only wait at the school gate?" Brianna asked, trying to suppress her frustration.

“Waiting is fine too,” the resident said, leaning back in his chair and tucking his hands into a cross shape. “But our school might not always be here.”

"……what?"

"If another student has a map and looks for our school in the right place, then they will naturally find it, right? If another student finds our school in location A, then the school will naturally not be in location B, right?"

To a human, it would have sounded completely illogical, but Brianna understood it.

As if afraid she wouldn't understand, the administrative staff added, "You just wait and see, and when you turn around, the school might be gone."

Visitors can't get into general education classes, and they might not be able to wait for Kim Seol-ri. Does that mean she has to enroll too?
Is this a joke? She finally managed to put on Jacqueline's clothes. She still has so many things to do in this world. She still has the Nest Domination game to compete in. She wants to see Morandall as soon as possible. Who wants to be here? Who wants to follow Jin Xueli around to school, to class, to professional courses? This whole thing is so stupid. Would Morandall really fall in love with someone like this?
“Wait a minute,” Brianna said.

The residents looked up with smiles on their faces.

"You just said... what major courses does Jin Xueli want to take?"

This time, the administrative residents answered very readily.

"The burial and reconstruction of personal history."

(End of this chapter)