Chapter 181: 180
“Why, why has it turned out this way?”
Until the next morning, Fang Zheng still had a look of wanting to cry without tears. He stared at the Awakening task in front of him, feeling utterly overwhelmed.
Arriving in a new world and getting a Fantasy Grade Soulstone for the first time had brought him even more joy with the convergence of two happy events. What should have been a dream-like period of happiness turned unexpected. But why, why did it turn out like this?
“Ah… No choice but to accept it.”
Fang Zheng sighed deeply and then pushed the depressing matter out of his mind. For him, as a Prophet Mage, this wasn’t really a difficult task because Fang Zheng could use prophecies to gain some insights and clues, so he didn’t have to worry about aimlessly wandering the world like a headless fly finding nothing.
And now speaking of which…
...
It was time to go to work.
After glancing at his phone, Fang Zheng turned around and walked out of his room, heading for his “workplace” —
Goki High School.
This was quite an ordinary high school, similar to those seen in many games and anime. Students in uniforms and sailor suits, and a wide, tidy campus. Honestly, just walking around the campus and seeing the lively and cheerful students brought back memories of Fang Zheng’s own school days.
Though not altogether great, yet not too bad either, youth… Sometimes it flew away like a bird, never to return.
However, it was quite a blessing to be able to experience this campus atmosphere anew.
Back when he was still a student, he always longed to graduate early and start working, thinking of escaping classes and homework, dreaming of earning lots of money, and managing his time freely to buy whatever he wanted.
But once he actually started working, he realized that repetitive labor was exhausting, requiring him to work late into the night. Money couldn’t be spent carelessly and he had to consider car loans and mortgages. There were also far more complex social interactions than in school, where communications were not as innocent and often colored by hidden agendas.
Only under the crushing pressure of real life did he yearn for that simple, linear campus life, which seemed such a wonderful time.
Unfortunately, time does not turn back; no matter how much he yearned, he could only continue living as a member of society. That carefree school time could no longer be found, existing only as an illusion in memory.
Fang Zheng was responsible for teaching mathematics and was also the advisor for Class 2 of the first year. Teaching was not difficult for Fang Zheng, as lessons were planned and he had gotten used to teaching back in the Higurashi world. Even if he was not accustomed, it didn’t matter much because his assumed role was that of a novice teacher, so a little inexperience wouldn’t draw complaints.
What’s more, Fang Zheng was handsome.
In a world where appearances mattered, good looks were certainly an advantageous resource, right?
“Well, that’s all for today. Be careful on your way home and make sure to return early,”
As he said this, Fang Zheng looked at the class of students who couldn’t wait to leave, shrugged his shoulders, and gave the response they loved the most.
“YEAH——!”
As expected, upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, the students excitedly raised their hands and jumped out of their chairs, then hurriedly packed their bags and dashed towards the door.
“…Indeed, students are the same in every world.”
Watching this scene, Fang Zheng smiled serenely, appearing quite calm. He originally thought that schools here would be different from those in his own world, but after taking over, he realized they were pretty much the same. As a class advisor, aside from teaching his subject, his job was to check the morning self-study session, and then communicate any school notices before dismissal in the afternoon. It felt… not much different from his own school days. If there was anything different…
“Bye, teacher.”
“Goodbye.”
“Take care.”
Watching the smiling girl in the sailor uniform bidding him farewell, Fang Zheng nodded his head and inadvertently glanced at their super short skirts…
Well, compared to the sportswear from his side, these uniforms were definitely more pleasing to the eye.
Although revisiting the feelings of his student days was nice, Fang Zheng hadn’t found the “main character” he was looking for at this school. Using his teacher’s privileges, he had checked the entire school’s student roster but hadn’t found a single familiar name. Moreover, he had not recognized any familiar “characters” in the class he was responsible for.
There were two possibilities, one was that his “identity” was too far from the main character, or the main character could be right in front of him, but since he had not seen this particular show, he couldn’t recognize them.
But… whatever, it didn’t matter too much to him.
When Fang Zheng left the school, it was already nearing dusk.
The brilliant red sunset shone on the streets, crowded with people and vehicles. Fang Zheng walked listlessly along, viewing such scenes.
“Let’s go find a place to have dinner first, I wonder how the ramen tastes here. I actually prefer beef noodles, but unfortunately, they don’t have those in the Main World… huh?”
While muttering to himself and looking around, Fang Zheng suddenly paused, then stopped walking and turned his head towards a nearby shopping district. Just a moment ago, his prophetic talent had once again brought him a hint—to head in that direction, where Fang Zheng could find what he wanted.
“That way?”
Looking at the seemingly unchanged street, Fang Zheng hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked towards the direction of the shopping district.
And just as he stepped into the shopping district, a sudden change occurred.
“Swoosh——!”
In Fang Zheng’s eyes, a silver-white object resembling an array suddenly appeared out of nowhere and quickly expanded in all directions. However, the people walking around seemed completely oblivious to this, moving forward as usual. Then, in the next moment, the world in front of Fang Zheng suddenly changed.
The sky turned into a dark red, the sunlight disappeared without a trace, and everything was bathed in a vivid red. Wherever this red reached, all the people stopped moving. They just stood there, motionless, as if they had turned into stone statues. Even their bodies themselves seemed covered with a layer of dust, no longer distinct.
“What is this?”
Faced with this abrupt change, Fang Zheng immediately became more alert. From the surroundings, it seemed to be a Time Stop barrier. But Fang Zheng felt nothing. However, this didn’t mean he could lower his guard, because the current abnormal situation clearly indicated… something was wrong!
“Boom!!”
Just then, not far in front of Fang Zheng, a shop suddenly exploded, debris flying in all directions. Immediately following this, Fang Zheng saw a person completely engulfed in flames flying out from the explosion, crashing down not far in front of him.
“Ahhhhhh!!”
The moment he hit the ground, the person began screaming as the rhythmic pale white flames instantly devoured his body. Soon after, Fang Zheng saw the man’s body swell up like a balloon, and then with a “bang,” it burst open like fireworks, and he disappeared without a trace.
But Fang Zheng was not just focused on this, because as the figure exploded, he keenly noticed a small, silver-white glowing point emerge from inside the man’s body. Upon seeing this light point, Fang Zheng’s mind suddenly flashed with a “premonition”!
That’s it, that is one of the key points to unlocking his Soulstone!
Hand of the Mage!
Fang Zheng reached out without hesitation, magic power quivering in his hand, forming into a transparent hand that grasped the floating light point, quickly bringing it before his eyes. But after clearly seeing the light orb, Fang Zheng was stunned.
“What is this?”
In front of Fang Zheng was a bizarre contraption made up of several gears. In its center was a white light orb, around which gears and bearings continuously rotated. Fang Zheng was sure he had never seen such a thing before, but… whatever it was, it was definitely his mission item!
Thinking this, Fang Zheng hurriedly opened the Dimensional Codex, and soon saw swathes of light emerge from it, wrapping around the strange object like chains. Just then…
“Ugh ah!!”
With a scream, the next moment Fang Zheng saw a blond man’s apparition suddenly fly out from the strange object; he screamed as he fell to the ground, looking utterly disgraced as if he had been kicked hard.
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“This, this is…”
The blond man turned his head in surprise at Fang Zheng, then glanced at the peculiar item now bound by the Dimensional Codex. His expression shifted slightly, wanting to say something, but in the end, the blond man said nothing and vanished like a shooting star into the sky.
“…??? What the heck?”
Watching the blond man suddenly disappear, Fang Zheng was also stunned; he had no idea what was going on. At least for now, he was clueless about everything that had happened. But… whatever, at least he got his essential item!
“Snap!”
With the odd item retracted, Fang Zheng once again closed the Dimensional Codex. Simultaneously, a system prompt appeared before him again.
[Obtained Awakening Key Item X1, Progress 1/3]
This really is simple.
Looking at the system prompt before him, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but remark. He had worried whether he would have to search all over the streets, but now it seemed so effortless, just casually walking and finding it. So next…
“Bang!!”
But before Fang Zheng could finish his thought, a massive white creature descended from the sky, landing not far in front of him. It looked like a giant toy baby, with a rather ugly face. The creature glanced around briefly, then showed a puzzled expression.
“Strange, where did Mistis go? I was planning to eat him!”
“Forget about that Mistis, he’s disappeared!”
Just then, not far behind the giant baby, a spherical object looking like a fusion of numerous model figures suddenly appeared. It rotated its eyes, staring intently at Fang Zheng.
“I can feel a treasure’s presence on this man; he must have taken the treasure from inside Mistis!”
“Huh?”
Hearing the spherical object speak, the giant baby turned its head, curiously looking at Fang Zheng.
“It’s a human, how strange. Why can a human move within the Sealing?”
“Don’t worry about the little things, kill him and take back the treasure!”
“Well…”
Watching the two ready-to-attack creatures before him, Fang Zheng sighed helplessly, then casually pulled out the Sky-Cleaving Sword from the void.
As expected, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.