After continuing to climb for a while, the two of them finally managed to climb smoothly up to the third floor.
Clambering over the windowsill, Sixth Master jumped steadily onto the floor.
Mono, however, slid down by grabbing onto a nearby curtain.
Mono sized up the surrounding environment.
They were currently standing in a corridor.
Several chairs for people to sit on were placed on both sides, with a dilapidated trash can next to them, and piles of paper were stacked outside the trash can.
Mono glanced at them and found that one piece of paper had writing on it:
"The distance between Place A and Place B is 1,152 kilometers. A passenger train and a freight train depart from both places toward each other at the same time. The freight train travels at 72 kilometers per hour, which is 2/7 faster than the passenger train. After how many hours will the two trains meet?"
On the back of the paper, an answer was written in crooked handwriting: "7 hours."
A large red 'X' followed immediately after.
Looking at the red 'X', Mono could generally empathize with the feelings of the teacher who graded this homework.
If someone couldn't even calculate such a simple problem, he would have given it an 'X' too.
The answer was clearly 10.
As expected, only by studying hard can one become a pillar of the nation.
He looked at another piece of paper:
"Xiao Ming is reading a storybook. On the first day, he read 1/9 of the book. On the second day, he read 24 pages. The ratio of the pages read over the two days to the remaining pages is 1:4. How many pages are in this book?"
Mono threw it to Sixth Master.
He was afraid.
"Go back and calculate this properly; it'll be good for you," he said.
Sixth Master caught it, looking puzzled.
After clearly seeing the problem written on it, she murmured:
"I... never read books."
Mono: "..."
Silence lasted for a long while.
"You are more impressive than me."
In his heart, Mono silently gave Sixth Master a thumbs up.
...
The two of them continued walking forward.
They reached the end of the corridor.
Suddenly, a painting appeared on the wall.
Mono looked at the painting seriously.
He saw that what was painted was a portrait of a person.
She had lustrous black hair, rigorous and deep eyes, a high bridge of the nose, and a smiling face that looked kind and approachable.
She was dressed neatly and meticulously.
Just by looking at the portrait, one could tell that this was perhaps a kind woman.
However, looking at the portrait, Mono couldn't feel happy at all.
The person in the portrait was none other than the Beautiful Teacher who had once chased him in the game.
He still had a deep impression of her neck.
"Damn painter, if you're so capable, paint the part below the neck too. Hanging this portrait here is clearly deceiving those who don't know the truth."
Mono criticized the person who made the painting.
That must also be a person with ill intentions.
Sixth Master, however, didn't know why Mono was showing such anger toward a painting.
While she was wondering, Mono's voice came over.
"Hey, smash it for me."
Mono pointed at the painting on the wall and said to her.
Upon hearing this, Sam gave Mono another strange look.
Did he really hate the woman in the portrait that much?
But why did it seem to her like there was nothing wrong with the woman in the portrait at all?
Despite her confusion, Sam's actions did not slow down.
She looked left and right, then padded over on her bare feet to pick up a book lying on the ground.
Then, with a burst of strength, the book flew straight toward the portrait.
"Bang~"
A heavy sound of impact rang out.
Subsequently, the portrait could not withstand the force and was knocked directly to the ground.
After the portrait fell, an open hole appeared in the wall.
Sam stared blankly at the hole that had suddenly appeared.
How could there be a hole behind the painting?
"Hey, why are you still dazing off? Hurry up and go."
Mono had already leaped into the hole.
He had known long ago that a hole was hidden behind the painting; otherwise, he wouldn't have told Sixth Master to smash it.
After all, he wasn't the type to do things for no reason.
Sam finally snapped out of it.
She also hurriedly jumped into the hole.
The two of them climbed through.
On the other side of the hole was another, even more Sealing space.
Mono stepped onto the cold wooden boards and looked at the surroundings.
In a room that could fit fewer than ten Little people, only a single small chair was placed.
And scattered around were several spoons.
On the walls of the room, rows of scratches were carved.
This place seemed to be a Solitary Confinement Room.
Or rather, a Little Black Room.
And it was specifically used to lock up Little people.
Although Mono had never experienced being locked up, it didn't hinder his imagination.
Staying in a Sealing space, struggling yet unable to escape.
This, for any normal person, would perhaps be a form of immense suffering and torture.
No one likes the feeling of losing their freedom.
Not to mention this cramped space was so dark and foul-smelling?
Anyone staying here would involuntarily feel an inexplicable fear and unease.
Pessimistic emotions would also breed day by day, only able to accumulate in this small room, growing more intense until they layered into a thick despair.
This would perhaps make a person's spirit become numb.
Or even cause them to lose their mind, go crazy, or die.
Mono didn't know how many people had once been locked up here.
But he knew that for everyone who came here, their ultimate fate was probably not very good.
At the very least, a nightmare that would make them tremble whenever they thought of it would be permanently left in their memories.
This was the Little Black Room.
Sixth Master also sized up the surroundings.
She remained silent.
Because she also knew what this place was used for.
"Alright, let's go."
Mono's strong spirit once again allowed him to recover quickly.
Sixth Master snapped out of her thoughts and nodded, but as she looked around, there was a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Where should they go?
The door of the black room had already been closed.
And the hole they had just jumped down from was too high; they couldn't go back.
Mono walked to the very center of the room.
Then he waved his hand: "Hurry up and come over."
Sixth Master paced forward with doubt, slowly approaching Mono's side.
"Jump with me," Mono said.