CHAPTER 107: CHAPTER 107 INVERSION

"Which way should we search?" the Plague Doctor asked, glancing around the silent, deserted campus. "Let’s start with the School History Museum. That’s where we’re most likely to find clues."

Those seven tips were truly baffling. For the moment, lacking relevant clues, any analysis was futile. It was better to search more locations while the sun hadn’t set yet (if day and night even existed here).

Mu Ma and Li Ang had no objections, and the three walked side-by-side toward the comprehensive building.

Everything was peaceful along the way, but when they stepped into the entrance of the comprehensive building, an invisible, intangible Energy pushed them all back outside.

[Only one player can enter a building at a time]

The System’s announcement rang in their ears, and the three players couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

"What should we do?" Mu Ma looked gloomily at the entrance of the comprehensive building. "In horror movies, once someone is left alone, they usually encounter a Monster, and it’s game over. If the System set it up this way, we’ve completely lost our numerical advantage."

The Plague Doctor took a deep breath and pulled two walkie-talkies from his backpack. Handing one to Li Ang, he said, "Since it was my suggestion, let me search the comprehensive building. You guys wait downstairs. I’ll contact you immediately if anything happens."

Li Ang took the walkie-talkie. He thought for a moment, then stopped the Plague Doctor, who was about to enter the building. "Wait a second. Let me run a test first."

"Hmm?"

The Plague Doctor paused, watching as Li Ang pulled out a silenced pistol and fired into the open doorway.

RATATAT.

The bullets passed through the invisible air wall and struck the walls inside the comprehensive building, leaving bullet holes.

He put down his pistol. After looking around, he picked up a small stone from the lawn near the entrance and threw it into the lobby of the comprehensive building like skimming stones. Likewise, it wasn’t repelled.

"Players can’t enter, but Flying Props can get through, huh..." Li Ang muttered to himself. He plucked a strand of hair, laid it on his finger, then blew it into the entrance with a WHOOSH. Afterwards, he bit off a piece of his fingernail and threw it into the comprehensive building.

Mu Ma gave him a strange look. "Brother Li, what are you doing?"

"Testing this so-called restriction." Li Ang bent down, picked up the hair and fingernail that had fallen just inside the doorway, and stashed them in the pocket of his SWAT uniform.

"There are at least three possible sources for this air wall. One: the System set it up, either to increase the task’s difficulty or to protect the players. Two: it’s a ’rule’ inherent to this place. Three: it’s a power that comes from some Ghosts. Understanding the origin of the air wall is extremely important for us to complete the mission safely."

"Umm..." Mu Ma scratched his cheek. "So, do you have an answer now?"

Li Ang smiled confidently. "Not at all."

Then what was all that fuss about? Mu Ma complained inwardly.

But then he heard Li Ang say, "There’s nothing we can do. We have too little information right now to make an effective judgment. But at least we now know that inanimate objects, including bullets, as well as detached body parts from a player, can pass through this invisible restriction."

Actually, if he weren’t wary of his two teammates, Li Ang likely would have unzipped his pants and taken a leak into the comprehensive building, just to see if the System would repel urine.

"As long as one of us can reach the first-floor lobby, the others can stand outside the main entrance and provide assistance. And..." Li Ang took out a drone, controlled it to fly into the comprehensive building, hovering in mid-air in the lobby. He adjusted the camera angle to look back at the three of them outside.

He said to the Plague Doctor, "My drone can scout ahead. That way, if you encounter a Monster, you’ll at least have some time to evade or prepare to fight."

This was indeed good news.

The Plague Doctor nodded and followed the drone into the comprehensive building.

The building was eerily quiet. The slanting rays of the setting sun shone through the glass windows, staining the floor with a mixture of red and orange.

The Plague Doctor, wearing his beaked Mask, stepped forward. His Wooden Long Stick tapped lightly on the ground as he climbed the stairs.

TAP. TAP. TAP.

Every time the Wooden Long Stick struck a step, the contours of the entire building became clearer in the Plague Doctor’s mind.

[Skill Name: Echo Pathfinder]

[Type: Spiritual Energy]

[Special Effect: After the player actively makes a sound, they can detect the terrain and landforms of their environment based on the echo. Can detect Psychic Response]

[Consumption: Consumes 1% of total Spirit Power Value per minute]

[Learning Conditions: Perception Attribute must be 9 points or higher]

[Note: Forbidden to use in the bathhouse! Violators will be treated as peeping toms!]

Despite the somewhat joking note, this skill was actually quite powerful. It allowed him to form a completely transparent topographic map in his mind, similar to using a wallhack, and also detect Ghosts to avoid them in advance.

The drone flew ahead with the Plague Doctor following, and they reached the School History Museum without incident.

Inside the museum were various items: artifacts of historical value, student trophies, school banners, and books detailing the school’s history.

The Plague Doctor briefly looked through them but couldn’t find any useful clues.

Come to think of it, if any truly malicious events had occurred in this middle school, they definitely wouldn’t be recorded in the official school history.

Visibly disappointed, the Plague Doctor picked up his walkie-talkie. "There’s nothing valuable here. I plan to go upstairs and look around." He then stepped out of the School History Museum and walked up the stairs.

He searched from the library and the computer room all the way to the roof of the comprehensive building but still found no traces of Ghost activity.

"I’m heading downstairs."

As the Plague Doctor descended the stairs, his Echo Pathfinder skill active, he suddenly heard a sound from below.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

It sounded as if some heavy object was pounding the steps.

The Plague Doctor took a deep breath, turned, and hid behind the wall at the corridor’s corner, glancing at the drone hovering nearby.

It’s here.

Outside the main entrance of the comprehensive building, Li Ang squinted and spoke softly into his walkie-talkie, "Stay right there. Don’t move. I’m flying the drone down to check it out."

With that, Li Ang controlled the drone to lower its altitude and fly down the stairs.

The Black Trojan leaned over, nervously watching the remote control’s screen.

THUD! THUD!

The sound of the heavy object hitting the ground grew louder and closer. As the drone rounded a corner, Li Ang finally saw the source of the noise.

It was a person, upside down on the staircase, hands braced on the ground, waist leaning against the railing, legs in the air.

His back was to the drone’s camera, so his face wasn’t visible. But judging by his school uniform and slender figure, he appeared to be a student.

"This is..." the Black Trojan gasped.

The upside-down schoolboy, leaning against the railing, slowly pushed himself up with his hands. His arms made a CRACKING sound, like bones breaking, as he struggled to ascend the final step to the landing between floors.

Upon reaching the landing, his trembling arms could no longer support his weight, and his head hit the stone steps with a sickening THUD.

Blood flowed down the stairs, merging with the long, winding trail of gore already there.

As if suddenly aware of something, the upside-down boy pushed himself up with his hands and twisted around. He THUDDED his way toward the drone. His head was a ruin; the top of his skull had shattered and caved in by half. Through his blood-soaked, disheveled hair, ghastly white bone fragments and an indescribable slurry of red and white brain matter were visible.

The upside-down boy stared silently at the hovering drone with bulging, fish-like eyes. An unnerving silence fell.

He’s probably the boy from the System’s warning, the one who said, "My head hurts so much." Li Ang thought.

He took a deep breath, his hands tight on the controller, and began to slowly guide the drone backward.

But then the upside-down boy moved. His arms suddenly tensed. Not sluggish or clumsy in the slightest, they functioned like swift legs, propelling him in a rapid charge toward the drone.