I went berserk in the game of gods.

Chapter 88 There is a ghost
Chen Luoyan then listed them one by one:
"First of all, the students here are all from poor families."

Secondly, the parents of these students are all engaged in low-level jobs and have low levels of education. After hearing about the 'young player care mode' of the Seventh Evolution Academy, they immediately sent their children who were unfortunately involved in the evolution game to the academy... Hmm, this reminds me of the 'internet addiction rehabilitation academy' that appeared in the Federation before.

Finally, the students in this academy were mostly novice players who had survived the first dungeon; very few had experience with the second or third dungeons. And none of the students here had awakened superpowers.

After revealing these details, she came to a somewhat conspiratorial conclusion:

"The students here are relatively easy to control and generally do not resist."

"Hmm... anything else?" Cao Yu gestured for her to continue.

"And then there's the information about the teacher..."

Shen Luoyan then began to recount the story in detail.

The college has a total of 50 faculty members.

These 50 people are not all players; many of them come from research institutes and the military, making the composition of the group quite complex.

Chen Luoyan said:
"Simply put, this academy was jointly built by the Weicheng Research Institute, the government, and the military; it wasn't solely led by Lin Youwei. Lin Youwei might just be working for the Weicheng government. And one more thing..."

Her tone became more serious:

"There are many newspapers and periodicals in the library, which record some... no, they record a lot of news about 'failed evolution'."

On their evolutionary journey, players inadvertently stray in the wrong direction; some die from genetic collapse, while others perish from mental breakdown...

Another group of people transformed into monsters, causing numerous acts of violence within Vicheng.

"Sounds like a period of unbridled growth? The Federation also has this kind of period."

The masked man pondered for a moment before speaking:
"However, I remember that the Federation's period of rapid development only lasted about a year. After players gained knowledge of the three major pathways from the D-level dungeons, this kind of rapid evolution was gradually replaced. Nowadays, basically no one uses this 'gambling evolution method' anymore."

“Vienna’s period of unbridled development lasted from beginning to end, which is quite different from that of the Federation.”

Shen Luoyan offered her own guess:
"I haven't found any clues about the three pathways in the history of this instance world. Perhaps the players in Vicheng have never come into contact with the three pathways."

"How is this possible?" The martial artist frowned. "Could it be that they haven't produced a single D-rank player in four years? Haven't they found the correct evolution method in the D-rank dungeons?"

"Regarding this issue, I don't think we need to worry about it or have any doubts about it."

Cao Yu then stepped forward and said:
"The three pathways were also researched and developed step by step, and did not exist from the beginning. We do not know how long this instance world has existed. Perhaps the time when Vicheng was involved in the evolution game was before the three pathways were born."

After a moment's thought, everyone accepted this explanation.

There's actually another possibility that Cao Yu didn't mention... the three major pathways, or rather, the immortal pathway and the subhuman pathway, were gradually researched and developed. So, what was the research process like?
Or to put it more bluntly, does the rule that players can obtain knowledge through three main pathways from D-rank dungeons apply to all world zones?

Are there any zones that don't offer this benefit?
If so, will this partition eventually become an "experimental field"?
The related speculations were somewhat alarming, but Cao Yu suppressed them in his heart for the time being.

He asked Chen Luoyan:
"Have you found any information on Lin Youwei?"

"Found it, they're all about research."

Chen Luoyan replied:

"Lin Youwei is the most outstanding researcher in Vicheng, but his previous research projects were unrelated to the evolution game."

Since being chosen as a player, he has begun researching the evolution of the mind and has achieved considerable results. For example... he confirmed the existence of the Mysterious Sea, which is the mental dimension. I don't know much about this, but I suppose immortal players are more familiar with it.

In short, for a long time, Lin Youwei's main research project focused on breaking down the boundaries between reality and the supernatural world, opening a door that could connect the two dimensions. Unfortunately, this research had made little progress. However, there were quite a few byproducts of this research. For example…”

She said in a slightly admiring tone:
"Lin Youwei has summarized a way to reliably raise the evolution level to the D-level range, which is somewhat similar to the immortal path and focuses on the evolution of the soul."

Such research-oriented talents would likely become highly sought-after guests immediately if they joined the Federation.

Evolution level is not tied to the three main pathways, but rather to data such as the player's mental state, physical fitness, and energy level. It is a rating of the player's degree of evolution.

Although using a massive amount of evolution points can forcibly evolve the body and mind to the D-level range, this kind of evolution method, which cannot be popularized, is meaningless to the player community.

We can't pool all the players' resources to raise a few useless characters who only meet the stat requirements, can we?
Moreover, whether this method of brute-force evolution points can be continued in the later stages of the game is unknown.

In the later stages, the evolution level is not a simple one plus one; it can be accumulated and stacked up.

Lin Youwei's talent was undoubtedly outstanding.

Such research talent is highly sought after anywhere.

"Did you go to Lin Youwei's office?" Cao Yu asked.

"We went to check, but found nothing. Lin Youwei himself isn't here either," Shen Luoyan replied. "We tried to find him, but didn't find any clues related to his whereabouts. It seems he's not in this academy?"

"He's not here..."

Cao Yu recalled the information he had obtained from Fang Yi, a "native of the instance"—Lin Youwei would guide his students in evolution once a week, and was rarely seen at other times.

It makes sense that he's not at the academy.

Of course, we cannot draw conclusions based on this alone.

The teachers and students in this academy have all turned into monsters.

So, what is Lin Youwei's current situation?
Cao Yu began to think seriously.

The information provided by Shen Luoyan helped him complete many pieces of the puzzle in his mind.

Lin You's main research method of evolution is related to the soul, and the students in the academy have all turned into spirit monsters... This Seventh Evolution Academy, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be an "experimental field".

The question now is, what stance did the Vienna government take in this process?
Is the government in control of everything?
Or did Lin Youwei deceive everyone, using his reputation and goodwill as a cover to secretly conduct experiments without telling anyone?
And... if the students turned into monsters in the evolutionary experiment, what about the teachers? Why did they change too?
'Is the mastermind the Vicheng government or Lin Youwei? And how did the teacher turn into a monster...? Clarifying these two questions should unlock the truth of the dungeon and complete the side quest.'

Cao Yu completed the deduction in his mind.

Things gradually became clearer. It seemed like they needed to investigate two points, but in reality... Cao Yu guessed that all of this was likely related to Lin Youwei, and all they needed to do was investigate Lin Youwei.

Cao Yu asked:

"Besides Lin Youwei's information as a researcher, have you found his personal information?"

“I searched every locked room in the academy, even risking going into Dean Lin Youwei’s office,” Shen Luoyan sighed. “The result is that I didn’t find any information about his personal privacy. What I just mentioned is all I could find.”

Upon hearing this, Cao Yu seemed to be deep in thought.

He always felt that something was missing.

At this moment, he basically understood how to play this instance.

The teachers and students of the academy are all monsters, and players have to work at night... This means that at night, the Seventh Academy will become a monster academy, where players can "enjoy" adventure and excitement.

Four teachers went out in the afternoon, and it is highly likely that they left their "teacher's work permits" behind.

The logic is now clear.

When cleaners are cleaning the college and carrying out garbage, they will most likely encounter attacks from the "teacher monster".

The teacher was afraid of the students, so if the cleaner encountered danger, he could just run to the dormitory building.

When dormitory inspectors conduct room checks, they will most likely encounter attacks from "student monsters." Judging from Fang Yi's words, the students of this college are probably also afraid of strict and powerful teachers.

Teachers and students are mutually afraid of each other.

Therefore, as long as the dormitory inspectors wear "teacher's work ID" when conducting dormitory inspections, the risk factor should be minimized.

The gatekeeper's room is the last safe haven when other players fail to complete their tasks and the situation begins to collapse.

Cao Yu thought of the first message in the dungeon—the guardhouse is the only safe place for players, but it is not absolutely safe.

In other words, if the situation collapses, the guardhouse may not be able to save the players. At that point, the players might be playing a survival game, and the guardhouse would only serve as a temporary safe haven, which could be reused repeatedly.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this is likely how the dungeon will be played.

But... that's not enough.

not enough!
This is just the basic level completion mode, so it definitely won't get a high rating.

Lin Youwei is such a crucial figure, yet the information he provided failed to piece together a complete logical chain... there must be some omissions.

Suddenly! Cao Yu realized something... Was Lin Youwei really not at school?
Or perhaps, the dean's office really doesn't have anything to show up?
"This Seventh Hospital is safe during the day and dangerous at night—two scenarios, two modes… The dean's office is quiet during the day, but what about at night? Will things change?"

Having considered this, Cao Yu made a decision.

At this moment, the other players had already begun discussing and analyzing the information provided by Shen Luoyan.

"Since the students of this academy were once players, are they alive or dead now? Have we entered a historical fragment?"

"Since it has become a dungeon life form, it must be living in a rather special way, right? I've seen this situation in E-rank dungeons before, so it's not that surprising."

"So, are these students actually in danger? I observed them this afternoon and didn't find anything unusual..."

*Clap!* Cao Yu clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

Just listen to him say:
"I'll share some information with you for free. The teachers and students of this academy are all monsters in their true forms, and they are connected to the spirit monsters in the abandoned city..."

He was generous and shared the information he and Yang Chan had gathered together.

After hearing his words, the other players all received a notification that the side quest had been started.

"Monsters...? Investigating the truth behind the dungeon? Uh... are we still going to do room checks tonight?"

The player wearing the dormitory inspector badge immediately showed a conflicted expression.

They initially thought the dangers that would appear at night were the strange events mentioned in the dungeon's background description.

So all the students are monsters?

This... this dormitory doesn't seem to be something that absolutely needs to be checked?

"No rush, there's still plenty of time before the students go to sleep," Cao Yu said. "You can go and observe the layout of the dormitory building and familiarize yourselves with the environment."

"Uh... getting familiar with the environment? So, we're really going to do room checks tonight?" the bodyguard asked.

He was wearing a dormitory inspector's badge.

"The job of the dormitory inspectors is to check the dormitories at night to prevent students from going out," Cao Yu said with a smile. "If no one goes to check the dormitories, all the students will run out, and the scene will be... tsk tsk."

"..." the bodyguard asked, "Shouldn't there be a way to avoid this situation?"

"Yes. It's just my guess, and it needs to be verified."

Cao Yu said:

"I'm a cleaner now, so I need to finish moving the trash first. It's still early before the dorm checkers start their shift. As I said before, you can familiarize yourselves with the environment first. Before the students go to sleep, there shouldn't be any danger for the dorm checkers. Don't be nervous, I have a dorm checker's badge too."

Having said that, he looked at Shen Luoyan and the masked man:
"It's time for us to go."

The two nodded and, together with Yang Chan, followed him out of the guardhouse.

All four were cleaners.

Cao Yu said to the three people traveling with him:

"Don't rush to move the garbage. The deadline is midnight, so there's still plenty of time. Let's go to the dean's office first."

"The dean's office...?" Shen Luoyan was taken aback, but quickly realized, "Junior, you have a new guess?"

She had been to the dean's office, but found nothing.

Cao Yu replied, "We'll talk about it when we get there."

"Junior, being a riddle teller can make you unpopular," Shen Luoyan reminded him.

"Hurry up and lead the way," Cao Yu urged her.

……

Guardhouse.

After Cao Yu and his three companions left, the bodyguard and Brown Bear pondered for a while and finally decided to go to the dormitory area to familiarize themselves with the environment.

If you're not familiar with it now, it will be too late once the danger officially begins.

So the two of them followed Cao Yu and his group of four and left as well.

Only three people remained in the guardhouse: Xigou, Wudaojia, and the sycophantic senior.

The dog glanced at the player panel, which showed that the time was 6:30 pm in the lower right corner.

It was only a little past six o'clock, but the sky had already started to darken, just like in winter when it gets dark very quickly.

There were footsteps outside the door.

The dog looked outside—the guardhouse door was always open to make it easier to observe the surroundings, and he saw that Cao Yu and his three companions, who had left not long ago, had returned.

"Captain, you guys are so fast?" Greyhound asked in surprise.

Cao Yu paused outside the guardhouse and smiled:

"I just thought about it. We can leave one person to guard the gatehouse for now. Let's bring two more people to help us move the trash. More people means more efficiency, and the sooner we finish moving the trash, the more we can work together."

"..."

The greyhound suddenly felt a chill run down its spine, and its hair stood on end.

Based on his understanding of Cao Yu... Cao Yu plans everything in advance before doing anything, so there's basically no chance of him acting on a whim.

If you wanted him to help carry the trash, you would have asked him before you left... Greyhound immediately reminded the two people inside:

"They are ghosts!"

(End of this chapter)