Survive in Azure Files

"Although I can't smell it from here, I think that the stale stench, no matter how faint it is, is definitely there."

On the other end of the line, Himari quipped, "Could it be that it's covered up by something, so I can't smell it for a while? Like air freshener or something?"

...I was actually killed once, so isn't it enough for me to just trust Alice on the surface?

I felt very unhappy, but I knew that this was Star Day.

Himari, who is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Liyin, has always been a thoroughly sentimental person.

From a rational point of view, Riju may be understandable; but from an emotional point of view, Riju is probably unacceptable.

Moreover, this guy has a terrible personality and is very rude. After being disillusioned with me, he felt dissatisfied and it was normal for him to make some sarcastic remarks.

But, in some ways, I am actually the same.

Being understandable does not mean being acceptable.

At the same time, I felt something.

The root of the current conflict between Liyin and Himari, and between me and the two of them, lies here.

However, I have an innate advantage that is enough to completely bridge the rift between us, or even surpass it——

That is my amazing charm!

One day, I will be able to conquer even the arrogant president of the seminar and the headstrong minister of the Ministry of Truth, and make them bow down to me. I firmly believe this.

By then, the current minor conflicts will not be worth mentioning at all.

Looking back, although Riju did ridicule me a few times, he stopped after that. It seems that he still intends to continue to assist me with my plan. What does this mean?

It must be that Rimu still has some desire for me and fantasizes about becoming my girlfriend one day. Now that he has satisfied his desire, he may be secretly regretting it, fearing that he will lose my favorability. He only did not call me to the corner to apologize to me privately for the sake of face.

Just like Liyin, she is essentially a variant of Tsundere.

Thinking of this, the subtle disgust in my heart immediately dissipated a lot.

I even feel that this is also a kind of interest.

While thinking, the girls and I continued to move forward.

Unfortunately, apart from the scare box in the square, no special encounters occurred until we had explored most of the outermost area.

Although we have explored less than eleven percent of the vast area of ​​Lost Paradise, the time I have left is becoming increasingly tight.

This commission actually has an implicit single time limit.

Abnormal phenomena will only occur in Lost Paradise after nightfall, and it will only be a few hours at most before students start to feel sleepy and have to return.

I can't force them to stay up all night to carry out the commission.

If the whole thing ended in such a dull manner, even if Alice remained as innocent as she is now until the end, could I really convince myself with peace of mind?

Even if I force myself to do it, I'm afraid there will still be some doubts in my heart that will take a long time to dissipate - is it because AL-1S did not find the right opportunity to reveal its true face?

With such concerns, I opened the "Wind Listener" again and again, trying to find some clues from the chaotic sounds.

The result was failure again and again.

In order not to appear tired in front of students and be forced to rest and waste time, I also have to control the duration and interval of using my power.

Such attempts are boring and tiring, and you have to pay attention to and be alert to Alice's movements. What's more torturous is that you don't know how many times you have to do it, and you don't know whether you will get any feedback in the end, which brings you a strong sense of frustration.

But apart from this, I have no other choice.

However, finally, things took a turn for the better.

Amid the busy sounds of the rides, I caught a peculiar, faint, creaking sound that I seemed to have heard somewhere before.

It's like a puppet with stiff joints moving.

Chapter 127: The Master's Amazement

"It is said that since ancient times, all emotions have their 'root emotion', and all emotions are manifested in the form of its replica."

In a corner of an abandoned amusement park, a two-headed puppet in a suit suddenly made a sound after hearing my footsteps, as if it was telling me something, but also as if it was talking to itself.

"Happiness, joy, desire, anger...all emotions are copies of the root."

I dismissed the students for the moment and followed the sound alone. I stood not far away, staring at the other person's back in silence.

“As an artist, I am inspired by this idea. I don’t know where this emotion will lead me… but it is deep and high filled…”

At this point, accompanied by a teeth-grinding creaking sound, the life-size puppet with two heads turned stiffly, but spoke in an enthusiastic tone:

"Ah, teacher, please forgive me for being rude. I haven't seen you for a long time. I wonder if you still remember me?"

I nodded slightly and said the other party's code name: "Master."

A member of the Kakuzu Mysticism, a colleague of Kurofu and Beatrice.

Although I only saw it once, its unique appearance left a deep impression on me.

I paused, then asked, "Was it you who turned Utopia into a lost paradise?"

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh at my humble work."

Having said that, there was a hint of pride in the master's tone.

After getting a positive response from the other party, I said to myself, "As expected."

In fact, when I first heard the rumors about the Lost Kingdom, I already directed my suspicion towards the secret art of numbers.

After all, they are the only mysterious organization I have encountered in Kivotos. Assuming that there are really inexplicable phenomena in this abandoned amusement park, and they are man-made, I can only think of them.

The master asked respectfully again: "Excuse me, teacher, do you have any advice for me when you come here?"

"I just got interested after hearing some rumors here." I said ambiguously, "If you don't mind, I hope to borrow your work to verify one of my guesses."

Although the master's puppet head could not reflect the changes in emotions, his trembling body was enough to feel his surprise and excitement:

"My art, which has not yet been verified, is fortunate enough to become the material for your creation?"

To be honest, I have always been curious about what kind of image the card and I, the holder of the card, have in the eyes of the Numerology to make them respect me so much.

But curiosity aside, in order to maintain this image and the advantageous position that comes with it, I can't ask any direct questions, let alone indirect ones. I can only summarize some information based on their words, whether it is right or wrong, and at the same time, speak as little as possible, and even if I have to speak, I need to think carefully.

In short, it means to act as a taciturn riddle man when facing the secret arts of numbers.

I emphasized: "It's still just speculation."

The master nodded and said, "I was overwhelmed by joy. I sincerely apologize for my intrusion. Then, please allow me to continue to introduce to you my creation here.

“After being inspired, I chose this place. In this abandoned amusement park, there are still many remnants of people’s happiness and laughter, which is a perfect example for me.

“And now, these emotions have been replicated and reappeared here. The abandoned doll has finally been given the meaning of existence.

"I call these imitations. They are copies of joy that have the attributes of horror as the other side of mystery."

Speaking in obscure words, the master's emotions and tone became increasingly high:

"Come, teacher, please witness the art I have created and turn it into nourishment for you and the students you have chosen. Let me have the honor of seeing the legend you are about to recreate and the great deeds you are about to accomplish!"

Seeing him so excited, I actually felt a little embarrassed for a moment, and the pressure on me seemed to be even greater.

The refinement of the divine name is undoubtedly one of the most core abilities of my card.

However, to this day, I still don't know how this ability works. The only name I got, the White Crown King, was unlocked by accident and coincidence.

I also suspected that this divine name was a benefit for me as a novice, so the difficulty was deliberately lowered.

In short, even though I wanted to reproduce it, I had no idea how to do it.

I was mumbling in my heart, but I didn't show any fear on my face:

"It all depends on whether your work can provide my students with enough experience. There is no point in saying more, Master. Just tell me, as a creator, what you think is the most suitable position for the work at the moment."

"Your will be obeyed."

After giving me a creaking salute, the master provided me with two nearby coordinates.

Comparing with the maps of Lost Paradise or Utopia, I found that these two places are the circus near the gate leading to another area, and the divination house after entering the next area.

In other words, even without the information provided by the master, and just proceeding step by step, we will encounter what he calls "abandoned dolls."

However, getting this information at least made the next step of the plan clear to me.

I nodded to the master and was about to say goodbye and leave, but he suddenly spoke again:

"Excuse me, teacher. There seems to be a strange person among the students you lead this time...ah, or should I say, can that person really be called a student?"

Hearing this, I couldn't help but stare at him, and said in a cold voice:

“She is my student.”

"...Could it be that this is also one of the materials you need?"

The master seemed a little surprised, but soon he became more excited: "What kind of scene are you longing for? I, I really... No, please don't tell me now, I will suppress this expectation and save it for the joy and shock that I can see with my own eyes in the future!"

After saying that, he bowed to me, then muttered something in a low voice and left in a hurry.

It was as if he was afraid that I would spoil the story for him. Ah ha ha, luckily I really didn't know anything.

As for the scene I longed for...

From beginning to end, there is only one.

I met up with the girls who were waiting for me, and told them that it was getting late and that we should speed up and get to the next area as soon as possible.

Perhaps we were tired from playing, so no one objected. Soon, we hurried on and saw a passage in the distance that looked like the main gate of a castle.

And a huge marble placed abruptly in front of the door.

"Oh, this is," Tao Jing suddenly said seriously, "I have a feeling that there is a strong enemy ahead..."

As soon as he finished speaking, before Green, who wanted to refute, could open his mouth, something strange happened.

Brilliant fireworks burst into life. At the top of the city gate, behind the signboard "UTOPIA", a vague black shadow poked its head out, flashing two cold lights.

Chapter 128 Humorous Day

The sudden rise of fireworks made everyone notice the existence of the dark shadow.

The next moment, the mysterious black shadow flashed and appeared on the city wall, revealing its true face.

It was a cartoon mouse doll in black and white, wearing clothes like a circus clown, with a long tail tied with a bow, big round ears, and eyes that emitted faint blue light. It was an anthropomorphic cartoon mouse doll.

At this moment, it was putting one hand to its mouth and snickering in a very human way.

Then, the cartoon mouse doll jumped high into the air, turned flexibly, stretched its limbs into a "wood" shape, and then landed steadily on the huge marble placed abruptly in front of the city gate, opened its arms, and fireworks exploded behind it, as if welcoming our arrival.

All the girls in the game development department were amazed by its circus-like opening.

But the next moment, the doll raised one leg, stepped on the marble in a one-legged stance, and reached behind its waist.

"Be careful!" Noticing the other party's unusual movements, Saori warned sternly, raising her gun and dodging to the side.

My reaction and that of the game development department was a beat slower than hers.

Before we could dodge, the doll grabbed a white ball, held it high, made an exaggerated throwing motion, and then threw the white ball towards us.

The white ball landed not far in front of me, and after violently colliding with the hard ground, blue flames suddenly burst out in all directions.

This is like a bomb.

Even though I am protected by the Shiting Box, I will not be injured even if I am hit by a close-range explosion, but the consumption of precious electricity is inevitable.

However, even this did not happen.

At the moment the bomb exploded, an extremely swift shadow rushed towards me and pounced on me. It protected the back of my head with its slender hands, and fell out of the range of the explosion with me.

"Teacher, are you okay?"

As this deep female voice sounded, the elasticity that was bound by the tight vest moved away from my face. The girl stood up and stretched out her hand to me, her ice-blue eyes staring at me calmly.

It turned out that Saori, who had already dodged, forcibly changed direction the moment she realized that I might not be able to react in time, just to protect me.

"I'm fine. Thank you." I held Saori's hand, stood up, and gave her a warm smile.

Even if she didn't do this, it wouldn't be a big deal, but I accepted her kindness.