https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-81-Seven-Mysteries-of-the-Campus-Part-3-/13511250/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-83-Seven-Mysteries-of-the-Campus-Part-5-/13511252/
Chapter 82: Seven Mysteries of the Campus (Part 4)
Chapter 82: Seven Mysteries of the Campus (Part 4)
[Main Quest Progress Update]
Explore Yejie High School and dismantle seven paranormal phenomena. Current progress: 1/7.
When the system alert chimed, Si Yu exhaled in relief. Her courage was well above the average person’s—perhaps even braver than veteran players like Long Ge. She hadn’t flinched when viewing that chilling newspaper clipping earlier.
Still, unease gnawed at her. Feng Bu Jue had explicitly told her during their last call that he’d located the well and was preparing to deal with it. Now, armed with partial information from the clipping and the eerie nursery rhyme they’d heard, Si Yu had deduced the same rule: Don’t look down the well. But she couldn’t warn him before their next scheduled call. The frustration of wanting to help yet being powerless was unbearable.
The system thrived on this tension. Their mutual concern might be pointless—if they’d just focus on the game, everything would resolve itself. But anxiety, like fear, clouded judgment and led to mistakes.
After the alert, Si Yu relaxed slightly. She glanced at her phone: two minutes remained until 25:00. She’d finished searching the first floor of the main building and decided to pause until after their call before heading upstairs.
Then the system cut in again: [In this scenario, lingering or wandering aimlessly in already-explored areas without progressing the game will be classified as "passive gameplay." Your Terror Value baseline will steadily rise over time.]
Si Yu sighed, grabbed her phone and lantern, and resumed walking down the corridor.
The "passive gameplay" mechanic hadn’t existed in Closed Beta—it was a new Open Beta addition. Take this scenario as an example: if two strangers were playing instead of Feng Bu Jue and Si Yu, one might be a timid, self-serving player who hid in a "safe" spot after the game began. They’d make or receive calls without risking anything, while their partner struggled through dangers alone—possibly even becoming a target during calls. Worse, both players might adopt this strategy, hiding separately and cycling through calls indefinitely.
This was just one hypothetical. In other scenarios, players might stagnate to avoid danger. To prevent this, the system penalized inactivity. Terror Value would rise slowly but steadily for passive players, regardless of actual fear. The longer they stalled, the higher the baseline climbed—until hitting 100%, which would boot them from the game entirely. Only proactive participation could reverse this decay.
Of course, this rule didn’t apply universally. Some scenarios—like Feng Bu Jue’s Jigsaw-inspired trial or the cursed city controlled by Samo Di Er—were timed, with delays leading directly to death.
Two minutes passed quickly. As the call time approached, Si Yu reached the staircase. She began ascending while speed-dialing.
"One, two, three, four..." she counted silently, pressing the phone to her ear.
Beep... beep...
Feng Bu Jue answered on the second ring: "I’m fine. How about you?" His standard opening—addressing her unspoken worry first, then his own.
"Everything’s normal. I’m on the staircase to the second floor", she replied, having just finished the first flight. She turned 180 degrees at the landing, facing the second set of stairs ahead. "Twelve steps in the first flight", she noted aloud as she climbed. "You don’t need to explain the nursery rhyme. I’ve figured it out—the clues are obvious."
Feng Bu Jue paused, then chuckled. "Huh… Guess we’ll have to find new topics for our calls."
"Just share progress updates", she said bluntly. "No asking ‘are you okay’ or ‘did you get hurt.’ It’s pointless—knowing won’t help, and it just burdens both of us."
He silently agreed—her logic made sense. But he couldn’t have said the same without sounding cold. A man uttering such detachment would seem cruel. Yet from Si Yu’s indifferent tone, it felt natural.
"Wow, you’re too considerate! I feel the same", Feng Bu Jue quickly shifted gears. "By the way, I’m at the northwest building now. The music room should be here—I’m checking it out."
"Thirteen", she suddenly said. "The second flight to the second floor… thirteen steps."
He didn’t get to respond before the call timed out. The line disconnected, replaced by the system’s busy signal.
"Hey! Hey!" Feng Bu Jue barked uselessly at the dead line, then hung up. "…Still worrying about you, though."
By now, he stood before the music room door.
He swung it open and swept the room with his flashlight. The rows of seats below showed no anomalies. The walls were free of bloodstains or occult symbols. Only one object stood out—the grand piano in the center.
"Sol-Fa-Re… La-Sol-Re…" he muttered, recalling the nursery rhyme’s notes. Taking a breath, he mused aloud, "Wanna bet pressing these triggers a trap? Something’ll drop from the shelves after?" He turned to inspect the glass cabinets against the wall, but their tops lay bare.
"Hmm… If anything was there, a piano stool would’ve reached it", he muttered.
His gaze drifted to a Beethoven bust on a nearby low cabinet—a common white plaster sculpture of the composer’s head and chest, life-sized.
He approached, flashlight in hand. "Brother Beethoven, what’s your take?"
No answer, of course. He set his phone and flashlight aside to shift the statue. It was solid but ordinary—no hidden switches beneath. Just a mundane decoration.
"Brother Fen, c’mon—artists gotta stick together", he joked, retrieving his gear.
Finally, he faced the piano. He knew touching it would trigger something, but stalling wouldn’t help. He pressed the keys one by one—Sol, Fa, Re... La, Sol, Re...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
