Chapter 241 - 6: The Thing in the Basement

With Jinghong holding down the fort, Duan Fei wasn’t worried about any future problems at all.

It was currently 5:30 PM, with thirty minutes left until the end of this exam. Including the break time that followed, Duan Fei would have about an hour to move and perform Reconnaissance.

This seemed like a lot of time, but Duan Fei knew it would be over in a flash.

He dashed all the way to the stairwell, confirmed he was on the third floor, then started charging down the stairs until he reached the plaza directly in front of the school building.

The main gate leading outside was locked tight. While he could probably jump over it, time was short, and the focus of his investigation was still the school itself.

From the outside, the building before him looked like just an ordinary school.

It was five stories tall, but currently, only the first, second, and third floors had lights on, scattered here and there.

Looking over from his position, he noticed that in every lit room, a player was acting as an invigilator.

After a quick count, Duan Fei found that only twenty-one players were still invigilating; the rest must have been eliminated earlier. The fourth and fifth floors were dark, but Duan Fei clearly saw a figure in a room in the middle of the fifth floor, standing by the window and looking down on him.

Sensing Duan Fei’s gaze, the figure immediately moved away from the window, but the brief glimpse had already given Duan Fei a lead.

Right now, besides the players and the exam candidates, the only other person around was the dean of discipline—someone whose voice had been heard, but who had yet to be seen.

Changing direction, Duan Fei charged back up the stairs, jogging all the way to the third floor. He rounded the stairwell only to find his path blocked by an iron gate.

In front of the gate, a Husky and a white cat stood guard. A short, stout man stood behind the iron gate, pointed at Duan Fei, and said, "Go, Dog God! Cat God! Show him your Power!"

"Remember to offer me a bloody sacrifice, mortal," the Husky said menacingly, baring its fangs.

"I only require that delicious, milky-white fine wine and some tasty corpses," the Black Cat said, licking its paw pads.

"Alright, I promise! Go!"

Having received the man’s promise, the dog and cat trotted lightly toward Duan Fei. As they walked, one of them said, "Look, he’s already scared stiff."

"Of course he is! He’s lucky he’s not prostrating himself in worship after witnessing our boundless heroic visages. Take this—Meow Meow Fist!"

The cat stood up on its hind legs and, like a boxer, swung its paws, pummeling Duan Fei’s leg.

The spot where it hit him felt soft, like a tiny kitten kneading on him. The force from its soft paw pads was just right, and Duan Fei actually found it a little comfortable.

It was just that the cat yelling, "Are you scared? You’re scared, aren’t you?" while it attacked was a bit annoying to Duan Fei. Otherwise, it was fine.

The Husky also widened its eyes fiercely, but its dead-fish gaze made Duan Fei feel like it had completely zoned out, maybe even forgotten who it was.

’I really want to ask what I look like from a bystander’s perspective right now.’

Because he couldn’t see the supernatural effects.

After all, the man, dog, and cat in front of him seemed to be taking this very seriously, but all he could do was stand there.

’Should I be playing along with your performance?’

The feeling was like watching Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure from a normal person’s point of view: you just see two or more supermodels striking poses while wondering how they can say so many lines in a single second.

In short, it was a little awkward.

He was tempted to just walk around them, but the Husky and the white cat were rather cute. Since the exam had finally ended, Duan Fei decided to just return to the classroom and analyze the situation with Jinghong and Lin Daiyu.

Leaning wistfully against the railing, Duan Fei gazed into the distance. "Don’t you ever feel," he said, "that sometimes, seeing things too clearly isn’t a good thing?"

"Can you not get all philosophical all of a sudden? For a second there, I thought you’d gotten diagnosed with something," Jinghong said helplessly.

As they were talking, the school broadcast crackled to life, and the dean of discipline’s voice came through. "A few more ’teachers’ are out, but I’m gratified that some have managed to hold on. Now, for the students who haven’t passed the exam, please enter a classroom with an invigilator to continue your test. At this point, there’s no need to worry about the separated seating rule."

Right after the broadcast finished, another group of players was eliminated.

’This is total bullshit!’

The number of players had dropped to a third of what it was at the start. Now every classroom was filled to the brim, making it easier and easier for the students to cheat.

He watched as a stream of students filed in, occupying every empty seat and filling the entire classroom.

Seeing the new arrivals, Lin Daiyu cursed out loud, grabbed her hammer, and started marching toward the fourth floor. "You all just wait," she fumed as she walked. "I’m going to give them their retribution! This is just bullying!"

But it wasn’t long before the Hanfu-wearing girl came back, pale-faced and clutching her shoulders. "It’s too scary!" she said. "That wolf was so vicious, just radiating killing intent! And the tiger, it was surrounded by a sinister aura, its face full of malice! I’ve never seen anything so terrifying. That thing... it’s not something we can handle."

Seeing Lin Daiyu so terrified, Duan Fei now had a pretty good idea of what the Husky and the white cat looked like to others.

The time for the next exam had arrived. The three of them had to stop their discussion for now, return to the classroom, and continue invigilating.

The once-spacious classroom was now packed with people.

This new crowd was made up of the same candidates who had forced out other players. Their previous victories made them utterly confident they could oust Duan Fei by cheating, and every one of them was rubbing their hands together, ready to go all out.

Looking at the crowd, Duan Fei knew he probably couldn’t handle them alone.

But that was fine. He wasn’t fighting alone.

He pulled out the "Anna" Character Card, and a replica of Anna in her complete form was summoned.

Her two-meter-tall frame made the classroom ceiling seem low. Her exaggerated muscles made the exam candidates gasp, and they couldn’t help but imagine the result of taking a punch from her.

A smashed watermelon, a crushed egg, an exploding balloon...

Every image made them shudder, wondering if they should still go through with their plan.

Pointing at the students, Duan Fei said to the replica Anna, "Watch them. If anyone cheats, just punch them and throw them out. But don’t kill them."

The replica Anna nodded. Her bionic eye began to whir, taking in everyone’s every move.

At that moment, Anna was a super-powered surveillance camera; no act of cheating could escape her gaze.

Leaving the room confidently in Anna’s care, Duan Fei grabbed his Crowbar and continued his search for information.

This time, his target was the basement.

Besides the five floors above ground, this place also had a basement, which was bound to hold some important information.

He rushed to the basement without a moment’s delay, pried the door open with his Crowbar, and saw what was inside.

A familiar machine appeared before him, and he felt a flicker of recognition.

This machine was none other than something that had appeared in Love City: the Otherworld Machine.