Parallel World: Dungeons Galore

The racket of the classroom slowly stirred Chen'an awake. When he blinked his sleepiness away, his vision focused on a sight that was equal parts familiar and unfamiliar, buried in the depths of his memory.

The room was well-lit and spacious. Students were chatting energetically about their hobbies, and a few troublemakers were chasing each other around the classroom in a scuffle, sparking a round of laughter.

Isn't this… from my time as a student?

For a long moment, Chen'an sat, stunned. Finally, he picked out some familiar faces in the sea of people, unlocking memories from ages past.

There was Jiang Min. A glance at her chest told him she was still as well-endowed as ever. And Chen Shiyu, who had been the prettiest girl in class. And… everyone else.

Wasn't this his class from Grade 12–Class 37?

Chen'an was baffled. He had just put his head down for a short rest while writing his novel on his laptop. How had he woken up back in his third year of high school?

Disbelieving, he sat upright and seized the hand of his classmate, Lu Gang. He squeezed Lu Gang with a vice grip, looking puzzled all the while.

"Ow! What's wrong with you?" Lu Gang snatched his hand back and shook it.

Ignoring him, Chen'an said with certainty, "Looks like I'm not dreaming."

"Dreaming? Did you stay up late watching movies or something?" Lu Gang shook his hand a few more times. Only then did the lingering pain dissipate.

Out of the blue, Chen'an recalled that he was supposed to meet with his teachers online tonight. He filed the important reminder at the back of his mind, then studied his deskmate for a few seconds and burst out laughing. "Looks like you haven't slimmed down at all, Lu Gang," he said, drawing a confused stare in return.

They only had a ten-minute break between classes, and the bell interrupted Lu Gang before he could respond. Although Class 37 was only the second-top class in the school, they were no worse than the top class in terms of discipline, and everyone–whether they had been playing sports, online games, or engaged in robust discussion–fell silent.

Before the bell had even stopped ringing, a middle-aged man with a sizable potbelly and closely-cropped hair emerged in the doorway.

"Is it just me, or did Boss Cao become even fatter?" Lu Gang muttered under his breath.

Boss Cao was their chemistry teacher, Mr Cao Zhijiang. But because the man in question stood no more than 1.7m tall, with a belly that spilled over the waistband of his pants–along with a series of keychains, which jingled with every step–he didn't look at all like a respectable teacher. As such, everyone simply referred to him as Boss Cao.

Boss Cao entered the classroom and slammed a heavy stack of papers on the podium.

"The results for our first mock-exam are out. Put bluntly, you are the worst class I have ever taught."

Everything about this was familiar: Boss Cao's opening remarks, the whiff of sourness in the air–the whole process, really. Still, Chen'an couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't as simple as just returning to high school. No, it felt more like… a parallel world of sorts, existing at the outskirts of his consciousness.

Just as Chen'an was sieving through his memories of the past, a mechanical voice spoke.

"Reality is being copied… Beginner's dungeon guide is being created…"

"Dungeon is being created…"

"Dungeon has been successfully created. Micro Dungeon [Chemistry Class] has been opened. Main task and side task have been extracted."

"Please follow the instructions of the beginner's guide. All the best."

The onload of information caught Chen'an off-guard, but he absorbed it all quickly enough. So the guide contained hacks, then; a cheat sheet of sorts. He was familiar with that sort of thing, from his time writing novels on his laptop.

Of course, he would have to get accustomed to the guide in order to figure out what those hacks were exactly.

Meanwhile, Boss Cao ordered several students seated near the podium to distribute their mock-exam papers. Chen'an took the opportunity to open the system interface and scan the panel displaying his list of objectives. He had two tasks: a main one and a side one.

[Main task: Solve the chemistry questions of your group and get through class without trouble. (Compulsory)]

[Side task: Solve the chemistry questions of other groups. Rewards increase by 10% for every question solved successfully. (Optional)]

[Note: Use unauthorized violence and other forms of coercion at your own risk.]

Hmm. Both tasks didn't seem that difficult. In fact, they were rather simple, as expected from a beginner's dungeon.

Chen'an opened his stats window and saw a list detailing his various attributes.

[Name: Chen'an]

[Level: 0]

[Title: None]

[Experience: 0/10]

[Lifeblood: 60]

[Vitality: 6]

[Power: 6]

[Agility: 6]

[Spirit: 7]

[Charm: 5]

[Luck: 1]

[Note: Charm and Luck are hidden attributes. The other basic attributes have a maximum level of 10 when developed.]

[Potential points: 0]

[Achievement points: 0]

[Gold coins: 0]

[Skills: High school physics, high school chemistry, high school mathematics, high school biology, high school history, junior high school Chinese, junior high school English]

[Items: None]

Additionally, Chen'an found that he had a window for equipment, storage, and even shopping, all of them in a dim state.

A cursory examination revealed that navigating the system would be relatively straightforward; he managed to familiarize himself with all the different functions before Boss Cao finished addressing the class.

"We will have a 20-minute discussion in your groups. Keep your volume down so you don't disturb the class next door."

Chen'an breathed out a sigh. It was easy to fall into the lull of chemistry class–unlike in math, where losing focus for a few minutes meant inevitable and overwhelming confusion once you snapped back to reality. Here, he could zone out and miss little to nothing.

[Attention! The BOSS Chemistry Teacher is forming groups. The dungeon mission has officially begun. Please prepare accordingly.]

The system notification alarm went off without warning. At the same time, a name appeared over Boss Cao's head in bright red.

[Level 5 Chemistry Teacher (BOSS)]

[Health: 1000/1000]

[Skills: ???]

[Note: Chemistry Teacher has complete authority in class. Please refrain from provoking him, or the consequences will be severe.]

Chen'an's brows lifted. Only then did he realize that his classmates, too, were marked as 'monsters'. Beside him, the name floating above Lu Gang's head read:

[Level 1 Chemistry Failure]

[Health: 20/20]

[Skills: ???]

[Note: Chemistry Failure Lu Gang is at the bottom of the class. With your abilities, you can easily humiliate him as you please.]

Chen'an's gaze drifted to the two girls in front of him. Jiang Min–who had carved for herself a sizable place in his memory–had a different name hovering over her head.

[Level 1 Model Worker]

[Health: 40/40]

[Skills: ???]

[Note: Model Worker Jiang Min is studious, but lacks the aptitude for chemistry.]

Gao Tianjie, another one of his female classmates and Jiang Min's deskmate, shared her title. It couldn't be denied that these two girls were diligent and earnest about their studies. Even if they sowed twice as much effort but only reaped half the results, at least they were doing their best–unlike Lu Gang.

Chen'an recalled that Lu Gang used to secretly read novels in class by hiding his mobile phone in a stack of books. He would keep up a charade of being engaged in discussion with their classmates, while never once glancing at the material at hand.

Of course, he wasn't the only one who made use of such tricks. A quick survey of several classmates–all of them barely scraping by in chemistry class–confirmed Chen'an's theory.

But that didn't matter now. Chen'an returned his focus to his group members.

It was time to start his main task.