603: The "Cafeteria" is a Street of World-Famous Restaurants?

The "Cafeteria" is a Street of World-Famous Restaurants?

After arriving at the Recreation Campus, the girls and I were at a bit of a loss as to where to go. All around us, buildings of different types stood. There was a bowling center, a whole amusement park, an arcade, and… just generally every recreation-type facility you can think of. I'm talking swimming pools, VR-simulators, basketball courts both indoors and outdoors… the list goes on.0

Point is, there were so many different facilities and buildings here that we had absolutely no idea where the hell the cafeteria was. We only had an hour's worth of time for lunch, so there was no time to walk around exploring—though that was a plan of ours for the weekend that was to come.

"Um… let's try asking our Navigators," Lan Xiao Su proposed, tapping on her watch to awaken the sentient artificial intelligence stored inside. "Excuse me, hello. Do you know where the cafeteria is?"

At this, the other girls and I stared at Xiao Su for a brief moment, the same thought going through all of our heads: She's so polite, even to an AI… her own private servant AI… but that's just her personality. She wouldn't be Lan Xiao Su if she wasn't like that.

Regardless, it seemed to work, as after a beep, the floating disc hologram representing the Navigator suddenly appeared above her watch, and answered her question. We couldn't hear it since the message was directly sent to her mind, but after a few seconds, Xiao Su relayed the message to us.

"Um… according to the Navigator, there is no single 'cafeteria' in the premises of this academy."

"What? No cafeteria?" Yu An Yan raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. "But… didn't Doc say we would find the cafeteria in the Recreation Campus?"

"Do you think… she may have screwed up?" Qing Yue asked with an awkward laugh. "I mean, it's pretty plausible, considering her personality."

"No, that's not it," Lan Xiao Su interrupted, cutting us off. "Let me finish. The Navigator said there wasn't any 'single' cafeteria, but there is an area in the Recreation Campus known as the Food Hub. It contains many world-class restaurants of different styles and cuisines from all around the globe, overseen by many world-famous chefs. I'm not sure why Doc called it the 'cafeteria', but… according to the Navigator, that's where we're supposed to eat."

"Will the teachers be there too?" I asked, and immediately, felt myself become the center of multiple narrowed gazes of suspicion.

"Hmm~? And why do you want to know that, exactly?" Qing Yue questioned, leaning into my face. "Are you thinking about Ling Xin, perhaps, Big Brother Xuan Kai?"

"Uh… no?" I replied hesitantly. "I was just merely curious about whether the teachers and students shared places like the Recreation Campus, or if the teachers had special facilities of their own over in their Administration Campus…"

"They don't," a voice suddenly said, and we turned to see none other than Ling Xin standing there, who winked and blew a kiss in my direction. "Greetings, students. It makes me happy to hear you're thinking about me so much, Xuan Kai~"

"Who was thinking about you…" I muttered, sighing. "But in any case, I guess that answers my question. So the teachers share the same recreation facility as the students, huh… won't that cause problems?"

"The teachers at this school aren't strict… mostly," Ling Xin explained. "There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, the teachers are quite easy to become friendly with. As such, using the same recreation facilities as students won't make them uncomfortable—that's the goal, anyway."

"Huh… I see…"

"Generally, though, the students will still mingle amongst themselves," Axilia said, placing her finger beneath her chin. "At least, that's what I've seen from experience."

"You've been a teacher before, Axilia?" Xuan Yu asked curiously, but Axilia shook her head.

"I mean I used to be a student. In that world, friend groups form. Those who are left out will be isolated. In this case, the teachers are the ones left out. Regardless of how friendly they are, the truth remains that they are teachers, and we are students. There is an invisible line between us that cannot be crossed."

"Wow… I never knew Axilia could actually get so philosophical," Ling Xin mused in awe at her own sister. "I always believed she only cared about killing people…"

"Shall I kill you, dear sister?" Axilia replied with a sinister smile that looked innocent on the surface but was anything except that.

"No, no, I'm fine," Ling Xin replied with an equally sinister smile. Sisters indeed.

"Well, anyway… since you're already here, want to eat with us?" I asked Ling Xin, inviting her. "I know Axilia just said all that stuff about invisible lines and whatever, but we're not friends."

"Fufu… true enough. It may be a bit conspicuous if I favor you too much, though, so… hm, how about this…?"

Saying that, she twirled around as a short-lived tornado of black shadow energy formed around her, and by the time it was gone, she had transformed into a completely different person.

Well, not exactly.

It would be more accurate to say she had now returned to her original appearance, without the glasses and teacher outfit. But… this didn't seem like her usual look either, back before this academy was even created. I could definitely tell it was still Ling Xin, but… she had a different air to her—different makeup, different clothes, and a slightly different aura. Those who didn't know her personally and deeply would never be able to connect this woman before us with the teacher Ms. Lixia of Counterhex Academy.

"Oh…?" Axilia seemed to recognize this look, however, and leaned in with interest. "I never thought I'd see you wearing this again, sister…"

"Neither did I, honestly," Ling Xin replied, glancing down at her outfit. "This is what I wore back in the Death Realm, before escaping to this dimension. In other words… this is the look of Lixin, before I became Ling Xin."

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