Chapter 274 - 270: This School Gate Is Pretty Hard to Find? (Part 2)

Chapter 274: Chapter 270: This School Gate Is Pretty Hard to Find? (Part 2)

Lloyd’s door happened to open directly above the conference table. The moment he poked his head out, everyone else jumped in fright, their legs trembling as if they were ready to bolt.

However, because he was wearing that little vest, [Composure of a Detached Onlooker], he was in a "detached from the world" state relative to the other strangers present. They couldn’t notice his existence at all.

In the end, only his sister could see him. She was maintaining Order in her soft, sweet voice:

"Don’t be afraid, everyone. It’s not dangerous. That’s my little Yi behind the door."

"Huh? Your brother, Editor-in-Chief? But why can’t we see him?"

"A sudden rift in Space, a door to an unknown place, an invisible relative behind it... I’ve got it, I’ve got it! Quick, jot it down! This will make a great story!"

Watching the noisy commotion, Lloyd felt extremely awkward and quickly said to his sister:

"Er... sorry for interrupting. I’m in the middle of a fantastic experiment, but I don’t know how I ended up here. My apologies, Sis. You all get back to it. I’ll explain when I get home tonight."

Lloyd pulled his head back through the doorway and shut the door, and the rift in Space vanished along with it.

’I can’t believe a random attempt landed me right next to my sister.’

Lloyd didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He glanced back at the frequency noted on the paper and committed it to memory.

This first attempt was, by and large, a failure. He hadn’t found the "specific frequency" for Mizkakotok University, but the outcome wasn’t too bad.

’At least I’ll never have to worry about getting lost again.’

’And if need be, I can get to my sister’s side anytime.’

So, Lloyd made a second attempt, "knocking" on the brooch with a different frequency.

A rift in Space appeared once more. Lloyd, ever cautious, first used his inspiration to probe the other side. Seeing no danger, he pushed the door open and poked his head out for a look.

He was immediately hit by a nauseating stench. Then, he saw a pile of massive, round creatures muttering some sort of incomprehensible gibberish.

"GRUNT~ GRUNT~ GRUNT GRUNT~"

They kept up their low muttering as they gnawed on a pile of indescribable, unnamable food, paying no mind to Lloyd’s sudden appearance.

’Oh... this...’

’How did I manage to open a door into someone’s pigpen?’

Lloyd watched the fat pigs busily rooting through their food, too drained to even muster a sarcastic comment.

There were, however, a few plump little piglets off to the side. They looked so pale and tender, quite adorable, really. It made one want to take one home... for a taste.

Fortunately, Lloyd had always prided himself on being a cultured, well-educated young man. He wasn’t so crass as to run off and steal someone’s piglet.

"My apologies for the intrusion."

He said, then pulled his head back and closed the door. He then noted the location this frequency led to on his sheet of paper—

Emergency Food Stash.

’The second attempt was still a failure, but the result was decent enough. If I’m ever broke in the future, at least I won’t starve.’

Undeterred, Lloyd began his third attempt, which was also his last for the day—

The brooch could only be used three times a day. After that, he’d have to wait until tomorrow to "open a door" again.

This time, to avoid the awkwardness of the last two incidents, Lloyd deliberately "knocked" a much longer frequency.

But as soon as the door appeared, before he could even send out his inspiration to probe, he heard a series of system prompts:

[Ding~ Madness Value +50]

[Ding~ Madness Value +100]

[Ding~ Madness Value +22]

Then, his inspiration and eerie Intuition began to raise a ruckus, like a crowd waiting for a banquet to be served.

If Lloyd actually walked in there, he’d probably be mentally regressed enough to sit at the kids’ table in a few years...

To be safe, he quickly released a burst of Spiritual Power to "wash" the brooch, and the door immediately slammed shut.

’I can’t get greedy for a little bit of Spiritual Contamination. What if whatever’s on the other side gets through?’

And just like that, he’d used up all three of his daily attempts without even getting close to the gates of Mizkakotok University...

’So this must be deliberate, right? They intentionally don’t tell students the "specific frequency" to get to the university. They make you explore and find it yourself, as some sort of entrance exam?’

’A student who can’t even find the front gate would never be able to keep up with the coursework. They’d just be weeded out immediately.’

After mulling it over, Lloyd felt he had grasped the university’s intentions.

’This school is certainly interesting...’

’That’s fine by me. It means my future classmates will all be extraordinarily skilled. That’s a valuable network to have.’

Lloyd felt a thrill of challenge and couldn’t help but smile. He opened his desk drawer and took out a box of matches.

’When in doubt, try a bit of Divination.’

’My [Divination] skill just leveled up, and I haven’t even tested its effects yet.’

Lloyd casually tossed a few matches onto the desk, then activated his level 6 [Divination] skill, murmuring repeatedly:

"Where is Mizkakotok University? Where is Mizkakotok University? Where is Mizkakotok University?"

After he asked several times, the matchsticks on the desk began to react.

One by one, they stood up straight on the desk, then confidently lit themselves.

But the flame they gave off wasn’t the normal orange of a match, but a deep, eerie blue, like the color of a will-o’-the-wisp.

These little balls of eerie blue "ghost fire" flickered and danced joyfully, like tiny people.

A few seconds later, the "ghost fire" went out. The remaining matchsticks had twisted into a series of bizarre lines and "lay" back down on the desk, forming a peculiar pattern.

It looked like a hideous face, split by a menacing grin.

Lloyd pursed his lips, trying to interpret this Omen and its result.

’It should be a good sign. After all, the face was smiling in the end.’

’The flames seemed so lively and cheerful, too. Does that mean it’s a place that can make people happy?’

’As for the blue flame... is that the color of burning phosphorus? I’m not really a chemistry guy. I studied civil engineering...’

’So should I be looking for clues related to "phosphorus"?’

’What a pain. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have listened to the butler and Miss Desda’s advice to study civil engineering. I should’ve studied chemistry...’

As his mind wandered, Lloyd recalled a particular story.

It was from the intelligence his sister had gathered for him—the one about the "Grave Digger" father who always visited his deceased daughter in the public cemetery...

’Since it’s a "ghost fire," it must be related to graveyards or something similar.’

As it happened, Lloyd had already planned to check that place out; he just hadn’t found the time yet.

’I’ll go tomorrow, then. I’m out of brooch uses for today anyway. If I travel too far, I won’t be able to get back in time. Besides, even if I found the "specific frequency," I couldn’t verify it.’

And so, Lloyd happily finalized his plans for the next day.

Then, after work, he had his usual date with Weiya. After a round of sweet nothings, he still made sure not to mention a word about his plans for tomorrow.

He was afraid Weiya would get angry again...

He had to make up another excuse, saying he was going home to be with his sister.

Weiya, still feeling dizzy and flustered from Lloyd’s kisses, didn’t notice he was lying for a moment. She just nodded and asked when he could arrange for her to meet Evelor.

"Well... my sister’s the editor-in-chief of a magazine now, so she’s pretty busy. How about I set something up when the time is right?"

Lloyd asked.

’Truthfully, he wasn’t very confident. He didn’t know if his sister would be able to accept a high-society debutante like Weiya.’

’The gap between their families’ social standing was just too vast. If they weren’t a match in that regard, it could cause a lot of trouble...’