Everyone ended up in front of the door to the school's principal's office.
A simple door with a sign reading 'Hán Jǐnghóng - Principal' indicated the presence of his office. Surprisingly, it was not located in the school's administrative wing but in the middle of the classroom building.
Leolia knocked a few times on the door, and a voice came from the other side.
"Come in!"
It was an extremely deep voice. Gu Luo swallowed, imagining what kind of terrifying man this voice could belong to.
The door nevertheless opened to reveal a completely ordinary-looking man with black hair who was sitting at his desk writing. There was nothing remarkable about this man to Gu Luo, and he could easily have been mistaken for an office worker.
It was when the man stood up to come and greet them that the calm expressions of Gu Luo and his classmates changed to surprise.
This man was gigantic, he was at least nearly 1.90 meters tall.
Seeing the surprise on the children's faces, Hán Jǐnghóng smiled. "Well then, kids, you've never seen someone this well-built before, have you?"
After this declaration, he began mimicking bodybuilding poses with his arms and laughed.
Gu Luo turned his head toward Leolia only to notice that she wore a disappointed expression, as if she had been let down even though she had expected it.
Hán Jǐnghóng clapped his large hands. "Alright, enough joking around. Come sit down."
There were only four chairs, so everyone hurried to take a seat and of course, only Shěn Yán was left without a chair.
He therefore sat down on the floor, but unfortunately for him, Lǐ Xīnyí was sitting behind him, so she stretched out her legs and placed her feet on his shoulders, using him as a low table.
"Hey!"
Lǐ Xīnyí replied with an amused look as she stuck out her tongue. "What?"
"Silence, you two!"
Leolia gave them a dark look, which immediately had the effect of stopping the quarrel. Nevertheless, Lǐ Xīnyí's feet remained on Shěn Yán's shoulders.
The principal, who paid no attention to what was happening in his office, was rummaging through his numerous drawers before finally making a satisfied expression and taking out a stack of papers.
He looked up from his desk and noticed that everyone was waiting for him.
He laughed softly with an embarrassed expression.
"Hehe, I don't know who forgot to put these away..."
Leolia took her head in her hands and shook it with a disapproving look.
"Hmm Hmm." Hán Jǐnghóng cleared his throat.
"I heard from Leo一from your teacher that you were ready to undertake your first mission as VEIL executors, so I looked for something rather simple to start with."
Hán Jǐnghóng placed the papers on his desk and began flipping through them with ceremonial slowness, as if he were trying to give himself a serious appearance. Each page seemed to demand a moment of silent contemplation, probably because he had prepared nothing, to the point that Gu Luo wondered if they were going to have to wait until the next day.
Finally, the principal cleared his throat and read aloud.
"Category D Mission — 'The Karaoke of Three Moons Alley'..." A silence.
Lǐ Xīnyí abruptly removed her feet from Shěn Yán's shoulders, causing him to almost fall forward.
"A karaoke? What is it, another hideout for drunk students?"
"—Not exactly..." Hán Jǐnghóng replied, nodding.
"An establishment located in the old district of Three Moons Alley. The locals say that it is open every night, with lights, music, laughter. But when you approach, the door is locked and the windows are opaque. And yet, from outside, you can see silhouettes singing inside."
Leolia raised an eyebrow.
"And you call that a 'simple' mission?"
The principal shrugged his massive shoulders.
"It's a Category D, the lowest one. A recurring but non-aggressive sensory and spatial anomaly. You enter, observe, take notes, and if necessary, resolve it. A piece of cake. I wasn't going to give you an 'S-rank' mission like Wáng Jùnjié."
Gu Luo glanced at Leolia, who seemed torn between skepticism and resignation.
"And why would this karaoke be... like that? It's a residential neighborhood, not a shadow theater."
Hán Jǐnghóng scratched his chin, suddenly looking vague.
"Ah, that... The archives mention a fire twenty years ago. The establishment supposedly burned down with around ten customers inside. But the ruins were never found. Instead, this building appeared, intact, as if it had always been there. Honestly, we don't know."
He stretched.
"It's an absurdity, as usual. It exists, that's all."
Shěn Yán, who had stood up and was massaging his neck, grimaced.
"So we're going to push open the door of a haunted karaoke place to sing duets with shadows? Great."
Hán Jǐnghóng gave him a sinister smile and looked the young boy straight in the eyes as he leaned over his desk.
"They might not even be shadows. There may be nothing at all, just an acoustic echo from another era. In that case, all you have to do is dispel it. Nothing violent. Or maybe they really are ghosts!"
He leaned back and pushed the stack of papers toward the center of the desk.
"Everything is here, a map of the neighborhood, audio recordings, testimonies from the neighbors, safety instructions. I'll let you look through it."
Leolia grabbed the file without enthusiasm, quickly flipped through it, then closed it with a sharp motion.
"Very well. We'll go tomorrow. The drive is about forty minutes."
Gu Luo nodded, followed by the other three. Despite the apparent strangeness of the mission, he felt a slight shiver run down his spine. This would be their first real intervention. Finally, an opportunity to prove their worth or to find themselves face-to-face with a microphone that sang by itself.
As they stood up, Hán Jǐnghóng called them back. "Ah, one last thing!"
They turned around.
"Take flashlights and earplugs. And... avoid answering if someone asks you to sing a duet. You never know."
Then, with a big smile.
"Good luck, my little executors. Oh, how handsome you are."
Lǐ Xīnyí rolled her eyes, Shěn Yán muttered something about adults who thought they were funny, and Gu Luo followed Leolia, who was already opening the door with a determined stride.
For some unknown reason, the principal reminded Gu Luo a little of Leolia.
Behind them, the principal's deep voice echoed one last time.
"And don't forget to bring back some cream-filled pastries if you pass by the bakery!"
The door closed behind them into a heavy silence, disturbed only by Leolia's exasperated sigh.
"That guy is really..."
She did not finish her sentence, shaking her head.
Gu Luo cast one last glance at the plaque on the door: 'Hán Jǐnghóng — Principal'. A man who talked about haunted karaoke places and pastries in the same sentence. He had the strange feeling that this first mission might not be as simple as it seemed.