When evil gods hold a meeting in my head

"You can see me?" Richard asked, puzzled.

Alice did not respond.

"Hello?" he asked several times, but Alice still didn't make a move.

Perhaps the other person can sense his presence, but cannot communicate with him...

Sure enough, the dream was full of holes.

At this moment, Alice repeatedly brushed her cheeks with a quill, then turned back to look at her diary thoughtfully before continuing to write.

As before, she held her hand to the edge to prevent the paper from fluttering in the wind. However… this time, a hint of pleasure, completely opposite to her previous expression, appeared on her face.

As Richard tried to crane his neck to see what Alice was writing, the dream began to blur. He couldn't see the scene before him clearly; it was as if a thin, opaque veil covered his eyes, making the scene in front of him seem both near and far.

This is the price we have to pay for "creation"!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh."

A roar startled Richard awake. He gasped for breath and stared in panic at the familiar peeling ceiling. It took him several minutes to recover from the feeling of helplessness that enveloped him.

"The price..." Richard muttered to himself as he got up and walked to the bathroom.

He scooped up the cool water from the jug and splashed it on his face, pondering the meaning of the price.

The Alice we just witnessed was most likely the price to pay for creating the ring—an inescapable and unavoidable illusion.

Whether the illusion is real or not is perhaps like what you experience in a coffee shop—half real, half fake.

"The extraordinary is always lurking around us; it can appear anywhere, at any time, at any time." Richard's contact with the extraordinary has become increasingly frequent...

He carefully put away the empty water jug, then changed into his corset, put on the top hat he had left by the bed the night before, adjusted the position of his ring, and pushed open the door to walk down the wooden stairs.

Don't forget the way to school... Richard prayed silently in his heart.

The city of Metz is located in the northeastern part of the central Kingdom of Colombia. It covers an area of ​​approximately 4440 million acres and is the second largest city in the kingdom.

Two universities, the University of Tehran and the University of Law of Colombia, are located here. Non-humanities graduates from these universities can generally find well-paying jobs in the city. It's just... a bit tiring, but for a recent graduate, nothing is more important than money.

Richard looked at the rickshaws and horse-drawn carriages passing by on the street and couldn't help but feel a little envious. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided not to take a ride: "Let's save some money."

He suddenly regretted tipping 2 copper coins at the coffee shop. Actually, a cup of honey goat milk coffee only costs 4 copper coins, and his tip already accounted for half the price of the coffee.

"I must have been out of my mind back then..."

Long ago, the Kingdom of Colombia only had three currencies: gold, silver, and copper. However, due to the Great Depression and policy changes, copper paper with a lower value was introduced, with denominations of 1, 2, 5, and 10. All four currencies used a decimal system.

Including the money in the piggy bank he could get from the lab later, he only had a pitiful 7 copper coins left...

Stopping his thoughts, Richard had been walking for about twenty-five minutes, passing several Xixi Creek Cosmetics branches along the way, which he could only admire from behind the glass walls.

Upon arriving at the entrance of Tehran University, he saw a "warning sign" on the left, listing more than a dozen precautions for using fire. Several serious-looking patrol officers in black uniforms were standing around it.

As Richard was about to pass through the barrier gate, he was stopped by one of the middle-aged inspectors with neat short hair: "Which department are you in?"

Department of Faith and Theology

"What are you going back to school for?" the inspector asked, his expression scrutinizing.

"Grab some of the paper materials you missed."

The patrolman glanced at him and said coldly, "It's dangerous inside. No one can guarantee there won't be another explosion. Take what you need and come out quickly."

"Okay, officer. How long will the school implement control measures?"

"A week, two weeks, maybe a year... If this were all I knew, I wouldn't be standing here guarding the gate! Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask! Go over there and register."

Richard looked in the direction the other person pointed and saw a sparse line of students preparing to go back to school to pick up their belongings.

The school wasn't completely locked down as expected, but all teachers and students had stopped attending classes, and there weren't many people to be seen. People like Richard, who were afraid of not being able to get into the school, were already quite conspicuous.

He obediently walked to the registration desk, wrote down his name, department, and student ID, and was then allowed to pass.

Walking on campus, he could see the teaching building, which was blackened by the bombing, in the distance, with white police tape surrounding it.

"That's really powerful..."

In order to avoid attracting attention, he quickly found Professor Puta's laboratory.

The lab wasn't cordoned off, so it seemed the inspectors hadn't yet discovered any potential connection... Richard thought to himself, "What if one day they find out that Alice's death might be related to an experiment by a despicable professor? Wouldn't that be shocking?"

He pushed open the laboratory door, and a bone-chilling cold emanated from inside, just like, just like the emanation of turquoise!

The only difference between the two is that when turquoise is close to the skin, the coldness felt is more intense and rapid.

The room was very dark, and the only window was blocked off with wooden strips. Apart from the small area near the doorway illuminated by the gas lamp in the corridor, visibility was less than a meter in other places.

Richard half-closed the door, gently twisting the top hat that had been blown askew by the wind when he arrived, flames rising from the white brim of the hat: "Fortunately, these low-cut top hats are very popular in Mays, so wearing them around won't feel out of place."

The bright flames instantly illuminated the entire laboratory, allowing him to see the tables, chairs, bookshelves, and workbenches without needing to light the oil lamps.

A thin layer of dust covered the wooden table, indicating that Professor Puta hadn't been to the lab in a long time.

If that terrible, awful experiment really did kill a lovely, beautiful female student, then what a heinous crime it is...

"He didn't run away, did he?" Richard's lips twitched. He suddenly recalled Rosalie saying that Puta claimed he was going on a long trip...

If that's the case, I really should have tied up Puta earlier; maybe I could have found out the reason for the curse's birth and how it spread.

To flee is tantamount to admitting guilt.

The inspectors may also possess extraordinary powers; capturing an ordinary person, or even a less powerful superhuman, should only be a matter of time...

Richard coughed a few times, and after some searching, he successfully found the "steam" ink left behind on the desk he usually used in the classroom.

"You can get a stamp on the 'Steam Array' ticket and visit the gallery." He hopes to find clues about the Advent ceremony in the gallery.

He put away the inkpad and continued rummaging through the table drawers. Just as he was about to open the bottom drawer, a stern voice suddenly rang in his ears from afar: "Don't touch my drawers! Don't touch my drawers!"

The voice was exactly the same as Professor Puta's, making Richard's heart tremble!

The professor... was actually hiding in the lab?

He followed the sound to the window of the laboratory.

There was only one window in the room, and a metal cabinet that was locked from the outside was placed under the counter.

Richard was certain the sound was coming from inside. The cabinet was just wide enough for an adult to curl up inside, and he couldn't imagine how comical it would be to open it and suddenly find a white-bearded professor bending over and hugging his legs...

His hand approached the lock, and the voice came from inside again: "Don't come near me! Don't come near me!"