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Chapter 83: Seven Mysteries of the Campus (Part 5)
Chapter 83: Seven Mysteries of the Campus (Part 5)
Sofare, Lasore…
Feng Bu Jue stepped back after pressing those notes, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily for any strange movements.
Seconds ticked by. Suddenly, two pale, elongated arms emerged from inside the piano lid at an unnatural angle…
There’s an idiom, dǎo bèi rú liú, describing someone who can recite something backward with fluency. Feng Bu Jue had never actually seen it done, nor did he understand the point of reciting anything backward. But now, witnessing this eerie scene, he realized he might soon witness a new variation—dǎo tán rú liú, playing the piano backward with fluency.
Before playing, the hands stretched out their fingers, interlacing them and extending their palms outward. Feng Bu Jue immediately recognized this seemingly casual gesture as the game’s “reaction time” clue. If a player hadn’t frozen in terror, this was their chance to act.
“Don’t listen… Just clap when it’s done…” Feng muttered the rhyme’s hint, instantly grasping its meaning. He dashed to a chair in the first row, sat down, placed his phone on the adjacent seat, and clamped his flashlight between his knees, angling the light toward the piano.
The skeletal white arms now seemed ready. The claw-like fingers twisted grotesquely before descending onto the keys. Then the performance began—those hands danced across the piano, their forearms bending at impossible angles, elbows jutting unnaturally, fingers slithering sideways and leaping like living things.
Visually, the ghostly performance was neither graceful nor fast. If forced to describe it, imagine ten earthworms writhing on two fishhooks, each hook impaling five worms, their long bodies wriggling to escape the hooks’ grip.
As for the melody, Feng Bu Jue couldn’t say. Though stray notes pierced his ears, he couldn’t catch a single coherent phrase. From the first note onward, he clamped both hands over his ears, rhythmically shaking his head while humming furiously: “La la la! La la la! I’m a newsboy hawking papers…”
After finishing The Song of the Newsboy, he sped into the March of the Volunteers at double tempo. As long as the hands kept playing, Feng resolved to loop these two songs indefinitely—Nietzsche would’ve been offended.
Five minutes later, as Feng prepared to hum the third round of The Song of the Newsboy, the ghostly arms halted mid-air, their claws retreating from the piano.
Without hesitation, Feng clapped loudly, shamelessly shouting, “Bravo!” He almost yelled, “Encore!” next.
This vaudeville-style ovation seemed to shock the ghostly performer. The hands hovered, frozen for about thirty seconds before reacting.
The right hand clenched and swung twice, as if expressing indignation. Then, the left hand supported the piano lid while the right removed its prop. Together, they slowly retracted into the piano, closing the lid like a curtain call.
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[Main Quest Progress Update]
Explore Yejie High School and dispel seven paranormal phenomena. Current progress: 2/7
“Hmm… So the ‘Seven Mysteries’ aren’t all fatal,” Feng Bu Jue remarked, picking up his belongings. “Or maybe… hearing that whole piece would’ve killed me? Hmm… Feels like this scenario’s pushing a ‘ghosts have humanity’ theme.”
He checked his watch—35:18. Five minutes until his next call. He wondered how Si Yu was faring. No task completion alert meant she remained trapped in the “Thirteenth Step,” and the system hadn’t reported her death.
Knowing someone was in danger yet being blind to the details gnawed at him. Feng instinctively opened the game menu, though he knew it was pointless. He just wanted to glance at the “Surviving” label beside her ID—a strange compulsion, like pressing Tab in a shooter to check teammates’ statuses.
To his surprise, the menu revealed a new unlocked proficiency. The shadowy area under “Open Beta” had partially cleared, displaying Spirit Arts, now at Level F.
Of the two new post-beta proficiencies, Feng had unlocked one. But judging by the name, this would be a grind. The original six—Universal, Mechanics, Scouting, Martial Arts, Shooting, Medicine—were standard fare. This “Spirit Arts,” and the final locked proficiency, likely related to supernatural abilities.
He couldn’t tell if unlocking it stemmed from solving this task or carrying the ghost at the dry well earlier. Either way, his mind raced: Would the scenario’s clearance reward grant Spirit Arts skills? Did this proficiency, seemingly ghost-specific, affect other monsters or players? Could its effects interact with the physical world?
Lost in thought, he nearly ignored the system’s prompt to move. Lingering too long counted as passive play. He had to keep going.
Time until his next call dwindled, yet no alert for Si Yu’s task completion surfaced. Anxiety crept in. With one minute left, he hesitated—should he make the call?
Si Yu’s situation was dire. Among campus legends, the “Thirteenth Step” ranked among the deadliest. The rhyme’s warning—“Turn back, turn back… never take that thirteenth step”—offered little clarity. The implication was clear: crossing step thirteen triggered a fatal flag.
Earlier, Si Yu had multitasked during their call, counting steps while ascending to the second floor. She’d unknowingly reached the thirteenth step in a seven-story building.
Feng pondered: If Si Yu couldn’t answer, she’d become the liable party, facing greater threats in the next fifteen minutes. But if he skipped the call, he’d assume liability, sparing her additional risk.
As he wavered…
Time ran out.
(End of Chapter)
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