magic high school

The moment the monster appeared, everyone held their breath.

Even the heavily armored female knight was now like a cat with its fur standing on end, immediately entering battle mode.

But Li Ge could see that her armor was trembling, and she was shaking when facing this lantern-carrying monster.

The man in black robes quickly went on alert, and the newsboy was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground. Li Ge looked at the monster with great confusion, because the blood-soaked military uniform and badge on the monster's body looked very familiar to him.

Amidst their collective fear or alertness, the headless lantern-bearing monster seemed to have spotted them. At that moment, the monster charged towards them with strange sounds and roars at a speed far exceeding everyone's expectations.

All that remained for a moment was the newsboy's terrified screams and the black-robed man turning and fleeing.

Without hesitation, Li Ge turned and fled in a panic. Outside the city was fog, and he ran in the opposite direction of the fog, which was into the city.

He was the second to escape from the team; he didn't need to be the fastest, just not the slowest.

However, when Li Ge turned her head again, she suddenly realized that the lantern-carrying monster was not chasing anyone else, but was chasing straight towards her.

Dude, why are you still chasing me, you son of a bitch!

He immediately began to wonder what he had done to trigger the headless monster's pursuit.

I didn't do anything! Why are you still chasing me?!

He frantically hid in an apartment building, and the lantern-carrying monster paused for a moment in front of the building before immediately entering.

The place is filled with the style and atmosphere of the last century. It's not as dirty and messy as I imagined; it seems like people have only moved out recently.

Li Ge was panting heavily; he needed time to think about what murder rule he had violated.

What makes me different from others? It can't be that I'm still wearing this clown mask, can it?

What kind of bizarre legacy did my parents leave me? It seems to have only caused side effects so far!

"Tap tap tap..." Footsteps echoed down the corridor, and the lantern-carrying monster seemed to have no intention of letting Li Ge go.

Every step felt like stepping on Li Ge's heartbeat.

Li Ge looked around the room. It seemed to be a family's study; books were still on the shelves, and there were unfinished letters on the table, as if the owner had just left. The dust wasn't thick, and there was a faint... musty smell in the air?

At that moment, a chaotic chuckle or whisper seemed to emanate from the clown mask, as if urging or guiding Li Ge. Then, the following option appeared before him.

[The region "Chernobog" has been anchored, and the designated comedic ability for this region is being randomly generated. Fat guy companion!]

Note: A reliable, overweight guy from Nagasaki Prefecture who firmly believes he has a PhD. How could any successful person not have an all-around capable overweight friend by their side?

Just as Li Ge was still catching her breath, the clown mask suddenly displayed a series of prompts, and then a fat man appeared before her with a furious and ferocious expression, as if a king had descended from the sky.

"Ouch, my butt..." The fat man's face wasn't contorted with anger and rage, but rather with the pain of hitting the ground.

The moment Li Ge saw the fat man, his eyes widened, and he almost blurted out the name "Digging Well," because the fat man looked so much like his tech-savvy teammate from his favorite tokusatsu show in his childhood.

"Oh, Li Ge, I didn't expect you to be trapped here. Don't worry, I'll get you out of here." The fat man said very seriously, as if he knew Li Ge very well, but his face instantly put Li Ge at ease.

To put it bluntly, at least you have someone to take the fall for, right?

He hasn't figured out the clown mask's abilities yet, but it's an heirloom from his parents. According to his aunt, his parents seem to be incredibly powerful figures, so powerful that even now, Li Ge can still own property in the wealthy district and inherit a large sum of money. As for this clown mask, having it is better than not having it.

"You...know me?" Li Ge asked tentatively.

"Of course I know him! Aren't we old classmates?" The fat man looked around blankly. "Where is this? It looks like ruins... Wait, is there some noise outside?"

This ability allows him to summon "Well Diggers," and the guy seems to recognize him, acting all righteous and ready to rescue him, which immediately puts him at ease.

Li Ge immediately said, "Fatty, it seems like I've stepped into a horror movie, and there's a monster chasing me..."

"It's alright, I'm here now. I'll get you out of here in a bit." The fat man was still comforting Li Ge when he looked around at the surroundings and suddenly said, "This place seems to be in the style of the Soviet Union from the last century."

"The Soviet Union?" Li Ge calmed down instantly, then looked around. Indeed, the style and environment here were very similar to the Soviet Union. Even this abandoned city looked like it had stepped out of an old Soviet movie.

"Let's split up and gather clues in this room," Li Ge said. Although it's messy, we can always find something here.

"Okay." The fat man started working without saying a word.

Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, approaching from afar, each step feeling like a blow to the heart.

Li Ge and Fatty were practically crawling on the ground, frantically and silently searching through the dust and scraps of paper by the dim blue light. "Faster...faster..." Li Ge murmured to himself as his hand touched a wet piece of paper.

The writing on the piece of paper was still barely legible. He examined it closely and suddenly exclaimed, "This seems to be Russian?"

At this moment, the fat man seemed to have found a clue and said, "Li Ge, here, I found this thing."

Li Ge quickly went over. It was the burned calendar. This fat guy really went all out. From that pile of ashes where no one knew what had been burned, he seemed to have finally found this clue, leaving his hands and face covered in ashes.

"Tap tap tap!" It seemed that the noise they made while searching for clues attracted the headless monster, and he quickened his pace, the light and shadow of his lantern following him closely.

"1986, Li Ge, the calendar is frozen in 1986." The fat man's voice came.

Li Ge was stunned for a moment. Then, all the clues connected: Soviet-style architecture, 1986, pollution levels, the monster with the shovel, the Watcher's label, the Russian text he had found, and the "Chernobyl" hint from the clown mask...

This headless monster didn't seem to actually kill; it was more like it was driving them away.

All the information seemed to connect here, and an idea instantly popped into Li Ge's mind.

"Li Ge, I looked at that piece of paper in your hand. The writing on it seems to be Russian for 'nuclear leak'?" the fat man said doubtfully.

"Fatty, you can speak Russian too?" Li Ge teased.

"I know a little, I'm a proper PhD," the fat man said immediately, making a fingertip universe gesture with his index finger and thumb.

Although Li Ge really wanted to retort to this, because the fat man thought he was a PhD and an old classmate of Li Ge, Li Ge had just failed the art exam and hadn't had a chance to retake it. There was at least a 7-year difference in their academic records, making the statement sound like a battle between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

But the fat man didn't think there was a problem, while Li Ge didn't!

"Never mind, that's not important." Li Ge waved his hand. "What's important is that we're stuck in this godforsaken place and need to survive for three days or find the 'source of pollution.' Do you know 'Chernobyl'?"

"Chernoberg?" The fat man pondered for a moment. "Sounds like an Eastern European name... wait." He stood up and rummaged through the basement, quickly finding a half-finished map book in a rotten cabinet.

The fat man blew away the dust and opened the atlas. It was yellowed and damaged, but still legible.

"Found it!" The fat man pointed to one of the pages. "Look, the Chernobog region... This is a map from the last century."

Although Li Ge really wanted to complain about why Fatty found so many clues in the same amount of time, was this the difference between him, a college student, and this "elite of the Victory Team"?

However, the Soviet Union, Chernobog, pollution levels, the headless lantern monster...

In Li Ge's mind, the clues began to piece together.

"And this too." The fat man picked up another tattered newspaper, dated April 1986.

A name exploded in Li Ge's mind like a thunderclap.

"Chenobyl..." he murmured.

"What profit?" The fat man didn't hear clearly.

"The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, April 1986!" Li Ge's voice was urgent. "If this is the place, could the source of the contamination be...?"

Nuclear radiation!

"Tap!" The monster's footsteps drew closer, as if stopping at the doorway.

The fat man immediately dropped the clue he was holding, and seemingly in a fit of rage, pulled out something that looked like a toy megaphone from his pocket, his face filled with tragic determination: "Li Ge, go through the window! I have a tool here that can be used against the enemy!"

"Bang!" The dilapidated door was kicked down violently by the headless monster. The fat man seemed to be rushing forward to block the monster, shouting at the same time, "Run!"

The fat man then pulled out a string of comical yet shrill whistles from somewhere, and the monster's movements visibly faltered, as if it were caught in a daze.

Although they had only met for a few minutes, Li Ge was immediately touched.

However, he did not run away, because there was no need to run now.

Li Ge gradually understood everything.

Looking at the charging monster, Li Ge finally understood why the blood-stained uniform and badge looked so familiar.

Those were Soviet military uniforms and medals from the Great Patriotic War.

Just as the monster was about to charge, Li Ge immediately shouted in broken Russian, "Comrade-in-arms!"

The headless monster suddenly stopped in front of the fat man, showing no intention of attacking. Instead, it silently took a step back, wiping the blood off its hands as if it were disgusted by its own filth.

It placed its cleaned hand on the now empty head, and with difficulty, spoke through some unknown part of its mouth, "Dava...ri...shi..."