Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 54 Dormitory Manager's Ballpoint Pen
Campus, night ghosts, Wang Meng's death, the ghost in the bathhouse, beginners, materials, side quests, main quests, and the nail in the beggar's chest.

All these things appeared in front of Xiao Ran, making his thoughts a little confused.

I simply took out a piece of paper and a pen and started listing these problems one by one.

Soon, all the problems I knew about were listed above.

Looking at the sorted out contents above, Xiao Ran began to reorganize his thoughts.

"The night ghosts on campus didn't originally exist. Considering what I saw in the beggar's memory and the iron nail I found, could it be that an initiate deliberately turned the school into this state?"

"Is this... something a beginner can do?"

Xiao Ran wasn't sure.

During the trial, he had seen the old lady's methods. With just one copper coin, she turned the entire village into a horrible state.

The techniques used might be the abilities of a certain profession, and there is no guarantee that other beginners’ professions do not have the power to change the school in this way.

"Wang Meng's cause of death is also a mystery. He died on June 20th, so what about September 5th? If, as Yang Kai and others said, they encountered a strange story and only had to mention September 5th, does that mean that September 5th was the date of death for everyone on this campus?"

Xiao Ran frowned.

He had tried to take the souls of Wang Jun and others many times, but the memories of these people were completely a mess of fragments. Since they had souls, why did their memories become like this? ?
After all the problems were laid out in front of him one by one, Xiao Ran felt like he was facing a huge puzzle.

And all the problems seem to be missing a part.

It seemed to have been deliberately hidden.

In fact, I can be just like other beginners and not worry about these problems. I can treat this place as a base for materials and then complete a side quest and leave.

But Xiao Ran couldn't leave in such a confused manner. The Mystery City gave him the feeling that it was more like a corpse that had been in a car accident, lying on a stretcher, smashed to pieces. Perhaps he could fool around and dispose of the corpse like making dumplings, but Xiao Ran couldn't accept such a foolish way.

If you fool around today and fool around tomorrow, in the end you will probably fool your own head.

And this school obviously has big problems. If Xiao Ran doesn't figure it out, he'll feel as uncomfortable as if he's been scratched by a cat.

"Bang bang bang!"

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door of the dormitory. Xiao Ran was startled and immediately took out the [Strange Cloak] and [Mourning Ring] and activated them both, then walked to the door: "Who is it?"

"it's me."

Xiao Ran was a little surprised to hear the familiar voice. He opened the door and saw the old lady who managed the dormitory standing outside the door with a smile on her face.

Seeing Xiao Ran open the door, he pushed it open and walked in.

"How is it, are you used to living here?"

"Fortunately."

Xiao Ran looked at the bloodstains on the floor and the bed with a guilty conscience.

But the old lady who manages the dormitory seemed to have noticed nothing. She looked around and said, "Okay, just get used to it. I just came to check on you. I'm afraid you won't be used to it. If you need anything, just tell me."

The old lady walked to the edge of the bed and said, "There are fewer and fewer students in this school. On weekdays, I don't see any students. They are almost preparing for the exams. I don't know how long this school can last."

Xiao Ran listened to the old lady's sigh and felt a little strange. Is there not enough students in this school?

Every day when the bell rings, so many students rush to the classroom. How could there be so few students?
But soon Xiao Ran realized that the students the old lady was talking about were probably not the ones outside, but the one in the bathhouse. With an idea in mind, he quickly asked, "Old lady, where did all these students go?"

"I don't know. They are all poor children, but they must be in school. I can hear their voices every day, but I can't see them. It's difficult."

The old lady wiped her eyes and said, "Hey, I'm old and talkative. I didn't come here to talk to you about this. The child has been uneasy at night recently. You have to be careful."

The old lady took out a ballpoint pen from her pocket and handed it to Xiao Ran: "The exam is coming soon, you must study hard and get into a good university."

"This……"

Xiao Ran was still thinking of making a guess, but when he touched the ballpoint pen, he unexpectedly received a prompt sound.

"Found a cursed object, the dormitory manager's ballpoint pen. Do you want to activate it?"

"Is this still a cursed object?"

"Auntie, you are so kind to me."

Xiao Ran looked at the ballpoint pen handed to him and was deeply touched. Even if this thing was not a cursed object, Xiao Ran had to thank the person for the thoughtfulness alone.

"Silly child, what's there to thank for? Just study hard."

The old lady didn't stay in the dormitory for long. After handing the pen to Xiao Ran, she walked out of the dormitory.

Xiao Ran closed the door and looked at the ballpoint pen in his hand. He sighed and thought to himself, "The old lady is so special to me. Is it because of the driver that she treats me as her own?"

Picking up the ballpoint pen in his hand, Xiao Ran tried to activate it with an idea.

[F-rank cursed item, Dormitory Supervisor's Ballpoint Pen Trainee]

(Note: This cursed item can only be used on campus and will be destroyed after leaving the campus!)
Privilege 1: Temporary Draft

The holder can temporarily write a curse on himself.

The curse will take effect as long as the curse level does not exceed F level.

(Note: Each use will have a huge impact on yourself, please use it with caution. Each person can only leave one curse on their body at a time.)
Privilege 2: Curse Override
If the holder is cursed, he can use a ballpoint pen to modify the original curse.

(Note: The curse level cannot exceed F level.)
"This thing is quite interesting."

Xiao Ran looked at the message conveyed by the ballpoint pen, thought for a moment, pulled up his sleeves, thought for a while, and wrote a curse on his arm.

[If you are attacked, you can transfer the damage to the other party! ]

As Xiao Ran finished writing, he heard a prompt sound in his ear.

"The curse level is too high, judgment failed!"

"Failed!"

Xiao Ran thought about it and realized that it was indeed a bit too much, but from a side point of view, the reason for failure was that the curse level was too high, which did not mean that there was no such curse. "It's a pity that this thing can't be upgraded, otherwise it would be a magical weapon comparable to the [Evil Suppression Order]."

Xiao Ran sighed slightly. The writing on his arm disappeared after the judgment failed, so he wrote it again.

[If attacked, a warning will be given three seconds in advance. ]

"The curse level is too high, judgment failed!"

"Okay, three seconds is a bit too much."

"Two seconds?"

"The curse level is too high, judgment failed!"

"One second!"

"The curse level is too high, judgment failed!"

Xiao Ran's mouth twitched a few times, and he could only write on it with a helpless look on his face:

"0.5 seconds!"

"The curse was determined to be successful!"

After receiving the confirmation, Xiao Ran immediately felt a heaviness in his body, and his shoulders, neck and whole body felt a little sore.

0.5 seconds is very short, just a blink of an eye.

At this time, for ordinary people, even if they realize it, it is difficult to react. But for experts, it is enough to save a life at the critical moment.

But Xiao Ran always felt that this thing should not be used in this way.

Xiao Ran put the thing away for the time being and did not stay in the dormitory. No matter what the dormitory manager said or what the young man in the bathhouse said, Xiao Ran was more certain of one thing: students like Yang Kai might not be like this originally.

In the eyes of the old lady who manages the dormitory, they don’t seem to be the original students.

After thinking about it, Xiao Ran thought of a place.

This is the meat furnace that Yang Kai mentioned yesterday. According to Yang Kai, all the students who died on campus would be thrown there.

Since the bodies of these students were burned in the flesh furnace, their souls should also be liberated.

But there isn't one in school, so the problem is most likely with the meat stove.

Xiao Ran walked out of the dormitory door and looked around. He remembered that after Yang Kai's brothers took the body, they walked to the back.

Xiao Ran walked in that direction, passed through an iron gate behind the teaching building, and saw a huge chimney in the distance.

Black smoke was coming out of the chimney at this time, a thin layer of white ash hung on the surrounding leaves, and a very greasy and pungent smell was floating in the air.

Xiao Ran was very familiar with this smell; it was the smell of the crematorium.

Why do you say it was in the past?

Because the equipment in the crematoriums in the past was not good, after a person was thrown into the furnace for cremation, the burning smoke would float out of the furnace.

Now the equipment has been upgraded. Although some crematoriums still have chimneys, most of them are just for decoration.

When I got closer, I saw a huge iron furnace room in front of me, and from time to time I could hear the humming sound of machines turning.

The gate was closed. There was a large truck in front of it with a sign next to it.

【Where the body is placed】

Rule 1: Please throw the body into the bucket truck and leave as soon as possible.

Rule 2: If you happen to encounter a cremator, please remain standing, bow to the cremator, and recite the school rules.

Rule 3: The incinerator is not on campus property, students are requested not to attempt to enter.

Weird story: When the radio gymnastics song starts playing, please escape as soon as possible.

Xiao Ran looked at the sign above and walked around the big iron gate again.

"Not even a soul?"

The more he looked at it, the more he felt that there was something wrong with this place.

At this time, someone was walking towards them from a distance. Xiao Ran immediately hid behind a tree and squinted his eyes to see that they were several students. These students walked to the front of the truck bed with several corpses wrapped in quilts and threw them into the truck bed.

He cursed, "We are made to do dirty work every day, but there is no benefit at all."

"That's right. They even asked us to hand in all our badges. I don't want to stay in this rubbish club anymore."

Several students threw the body into the truck bed, cursing and complaining, then turned and left.

After they walked away, Xiao Ran came out from behind the tree and took a look in front of the truck bed. Inside were the bodies of five students, both male and female.

The corpse had been tortured beyond recognition.

Xiao Ran checked and found that they had all been abused to varying degrees.

“It should be the work of a beginner.”

The god on duty this time is still the God of Joy, but his essence is similar to the evil god Xingxie last time.

The last time he stabbed himself, he got a huge bonus, but it was not infinite. He speculated that the pain was not just physical, and the psychological pain might be even stronger.

On the other hand, the same is true for joy. Once it is amplified to a certain level, ordinary joy may no longer be able to be amplified any further.

If you want to get more power, you might have to do some tricks.

Xiao Ran looked at the corpses, then at the iron gate in front of him. Suddenly, a bold idea came to his mind. He took out the suture needle and began to sew up the corpses...

(End of this chapter)