Chapter 311 – Visitors from the Academy of Sciences
[Next, I will demonstrate my superpower. You can click on my profile to watch the video.]
The video was shot from a fixed angle. Judging by the background, it appeared to be a standard single-room hotel with only one bed. The protagonist of the video was a girl dressed in sportswear.
She had filmed the video herself. The opening scene showed her adjusting the camera to ensure that everything she intended to capture would fit within the frame. After confirming this, she stepped back to a position where her entire body was visible.
She waved at the camera and said, “My superpower is super bounce. Let me show you.”
With that, she bent her knees slightly and jumped effortlessly. Her height kept increasing, and just when everyone thought she was about to land, she continued to ascend. She didn’t stop until her hand touched the ceiling, at which point she finally descended.
This height was already something most people couldn’t achieve, but in the video’s comment section, some viewers still expressed skepticism about the feat’s authenticity.
In response, another video was quickly uploaded.
This time, the video was filmed outdoors, likely made in response to the doubters. It was shot on an empty road at night. The streetlights were on, and the girl set up her phone before stepping back. She kept retreating until she was directly beneath a streetlight, then stopped. As before, she waved at the camera. This time, viewers could see she was holding a pink sticky note. She bent her knees and leaped again.
This time, she kept ascending, defying the laws of physics as she soared to the very top of the streetlight. Reaching the lamp, she stuck the pink note onto the glowing bulb.
Instantly, a small section of the streetlight dimmed, creating a shadow on the ground. The girl landed gracefully, using one hand to steady herself as she touched the ground. She stood up, walked to the camera, and stopped the recording. The entire process was seamless, with no signs of editing.
A post accompanied by two videos quickly spread across various websites, drawing heated discussions in the comments under the original account.
[Can any editing experts check if the videos are fake?]
[They don’t seem fake. She even revealed her name and school. I checked her school’s official website, and the second video matches a missing person notice for her and two companions. The timeline also lines up.]
[I just looked at Wenjing University’s website. The second video was from their anniversary celebration, not a missing person notice?]
[Maybe it got taken down. Luckily, I habitually took a screenshot. I’ll share it with you.]
[Image]
[Who are these people? A missing person notice on a school’s official website?]
[I just asked around at her school. The three of them include a girl from a wealthy family. Her dad’s job is unclear, but he’s definitely rich—he even donated a building to the school. Posting about his daughter’s disappearance on the official site wouldn’t be unusual.]
[Wow, donated a whole building? How rich is this family?]
[Guys, are we getting sidetracked here?]
[I forwarded this post to all my family and friends. Just in case it’s real, I might have helped out.]
[Lol, can’t believe people actually believe this. Maybe I’ll make up a story and post some edited videos. Think I’ll go viral too?]
[With how many shares and likes this post has, my years of experience tell me they’ll start selling products next.]
Since posting the second video, Xiang Sheng had been glued to the comments section, keeping a close eye on the discussions. It was already 2 a.m., and despite her dark circles, she continued scrolling through the comments one by one, afraid of missing any crucial updates.
When she saw people accusing her of fabricating a poorly constructed story just for attention, her heart sank into icy despair.
She had just tried contacting Li Rui and Song Bai, but neither of them answered their phones. The three of them had made a pact within the Threshold: they would contact each other as soon as they got out. The fact that she couldn’t reach them meant they hadn’t made it back yet.
She had no idea what kind of world they were in now, nor whether they were alive or dead. She had risked everything to escape, didn’t even go home, and posted this message online—only to be met with such responses.
Xiang Sheng’s eyes stung slightly. Watching the steadily increasing views on the videos and the post, she rubbed her heavy eyelids but decided to keep reading. Someone out there would believe her. She couldn’t let Sister Tu Ran’s expectations go to waste.
Just then, a knock suddenly broke the silence of her room. Xiang Sheng, already on edge, tensed up instantly and turned to look at the tightly shut door.
The spot where she emerged from the Beast Master World wasn’t in her school’s city, nor her hometown. She had nowhere to go, and feared that showing up out of nowhere after her disappearance would result in being detained and questioned. That would leave her no time to post about their plight.
So, she had found a secluded spot to quickly edit and publish the post. Her phone, unused for a month, was nearly out of battery. She located a small inn, borrowed a charger, and filmed the proof videos while her phone charged. Then, she uploaded them.
She hadn’t told anyone she was staying in this inn—not even her parents.
Xiang Sheng stood up cautiously and approached the door, pressing her ear against it to listen for sounds outside.
“Miss Xiang, we’re here to ask you some questions regarding matters of the other world. Please open the door.”
Xiang Sheng didn’t let her guard down right away. She leaned against the peephole and examined the situation outside.
There were five people. At the front stood a man in a suit, looking formal and businesslike. Behind him was a woman in military uniform. Flanking them were two individuals in police uniforms, and standing at the back was the innkeeper, a middle-aged woman with an anxious expression.
The moment Xiang Sheng saw their uniforms, her vigilance melted away completely. She hurriedly opened the door.
The man in the suit extended his hand politely and said, “Miss Xiang, hello. My name is Guo Changming, from the Academy of Sciences. Here is my identification.”
Xiang Sheng glanced at his credentials and confirmed they were legitimate. She shook his hand, her voice trembling slightly as she said, “You’ve finally arrived.”
Guo Changming looked past her at the cramped, single-bed room of the temporary inn and asked, “Would it be possible to talk in a different location?”
“Yes,” Xiang Sheng agreed, nodding.
“Great. Please pack your things first. We’ll wait here,” Guo Changming said with a polite smile.
“Alright.”
Xiang Sheng turned and went back into the room. She didn’t have much to pack—just a jacket and a pet brush. The brush had been in her hand when the “Gate” opened. She had been grooming a pet beast at the time and, in her rush to jump through, hadn’t had the chance to set it down. She brought it with her.
Later, she was glad she had. The brush had hairs from the pet beast stuck to it. She hoped a DNA test might verify her story.
Holding her phone in one hand, she carried the oversized brush with the other. It looked heavy, and she was clearly struggling a bit.
Guo Changming, ever the gentleman, offered, “Would you like us to carry that for you?”
He didn’t reach for it directly, mindful that the brush might hold significant importance to Xiang Sheng.
