Chapter 53

As the sun blazed brightly in the sky, a sudden rain of gold coins fell, clattering to the ground and attracting the attention of players on campus.

"Gold coins are falling from the sky? Is this a new mission?"

"I'm so shiny, it looks like pure gold."

"No way, no way, no one will really pick it up, there must be something wrong when things are out of the ordinary, hide quickly!"

Players are no longer as naive as they were when they first entered the game. All the naive players have already died. Now, when players see something is wrong, they either quickly run into a building to hide, or use skills to dodge carefully.

But despite this, many players still fell into the trap. After being hit by gold coins, they began to pick up the gold coins like crazy.

The players hiding in the building looked at each other and discussed this sudden incident.

"Is this the new game segment that E-Da recently added? Why is there no pop-up notification at all?"

"I don't think so. Triggering a new plot point always results in a pop-up window. This is a long-standing tradition in Eda. It's rare for a plot kill to happen without any warning like this."

"Yeah, it can't be that the school suddenly dislikes the students and wants to sacrifice a group of players to the gods, right?"

For a while, players had all sorts of speculations, and some even started conspiracy theories, but all of this came to a sudden halt when they received a text message from the school office:

[School Office] Emergency Notice: Due to the influence of the mysterious area outside the school [Jingdu Business District], a large area of ​​gold coin rain appeared on the school. This gold coin rain has a strong hallucinogenic effect. Students are reminded to take precautions and not touch the gold coins. If any students accidentally touch the gold coins, please go to the school clinic for medical treatment in time.

After reading this message, the player: ""

Damn, it turns out we were attacked by other strange domains.

Since the school didn't deliberately cause trouble, the players felt relieved and simply treated this sudden incident as a fun event.

Some players have already been privately asking about this: "Which mysterious region is 'Mirror City Business District'? Is it very powerful?"

"Who's more powerful, the Domain Lord of Jingdu Business District or our principal?"

"I don't know. This Territory Lord looks very powerful and aggressive. What if the principal loses?"

"Lose the fight! The rain of gold coins has stopped outside. I don't think this Domain Lord can even hit the principal with a finger!"

The players reacted and looked out the window hurriedly. Sure enough, no more gold coins fell from the sky. The gold coins on the ground were sparkling in the sunlight, constantly testing the players' willpower.

The players looked at each other blankly.

"Is this the end?"

It's indeed over.

Qin Xiu's level is originally two levels lower than Cen Xun's, and now he has taken the initiative to run into Cen Xun's territory. With the home advantage and overwhelming strength, there is no doubt that he will win this battle.

Cen Xun didn't even leave the office. He simply used the [Absolute Domain] and casually made a rule for his own strange domain that "visitors entering the school are not allowed to attack the faculty and staff of the school." He easily eliminated Qin Xiu's combat effectiveness.

After asking Cen Xun for his opinion, the security guard from the Security Department took Qin Xiu directly into the principal's office.

The moment Qin Xiu saw Cen Xun, he was about to pounce on him angrily, but two security guards immediately pulled him back and roughly forced him to half-kneel on the carpet.

Cen Xun said slowly, "Nice to meet you again, Qin Xiu."

"What did you do to Wusa! Give it back to me!" Qin Xiu didn't sense Wusa's existence in Nightmare University and thought that Cen Xun had already swallowed Wusa. He was very excited and the two security guards could hardly hold him down.

Cen Xun looked at him with a smile, which Qin Xiu thought was extremely evil and sent a chill down his spine. "Wusa, he has become a member of Nightmare University. Do you want to see him?"

Qin Xiu suddenly froze. What did it mean to "have become a part of Nightmare University"?

Could it be that Wusa has really been eaten by Cen Xun?

He didn't dare to think of the worst possibility. He stared at Cen Xun blankly, feeling dizzy and as if his heart was being tightly grasped by a hand, squeezing out the last drop of fresh blood from his shriveled flesh.

Qin Xiu felt as if his voice was squeezed out from his vocal cords, empty and numb: "What do you want in exchange for returning Wusa to me?"

Cen Xun: "I thought you already knew my purpose."

He raised his finger, and the puppet thread delivered the contract that had been prepared long ago to Qin Xiu.

"Worked for me for fifty years."

"Fifty years from now, you can take Wusa away," Cen Xun added with a smile, "a normal Wusa, alive and able to think for herself, not one controlled by me."

"How about this deal?"

Qin Xiu lowered his eyes and stared at the contract on the ground. Fifty years is half a human's life. After signing this contract, his life for the next fifty years will be spent in a long and perhaps hopeless wait.

But he was willing to wait as long as he could see Usa again.

He had lost everything and he couldn't afford to lose his kitten.

Qin Xiu signed his name on the contract stroke by stroke.

Qin Xiu had made many lucrative deals in his life, but the only losing deal he had made was saving Wu Sa.

This loss cost him the rest of his life.

With the final payment, the contract comes into effect.

Cen Xun took back the signed contract. His eyes swept over the signature at the end of the contract, and his expression darkened slightly. He then turned to look at Qin Xiu: "Then, the deal is done."

Cen Xun signaled the security guard to let Qin Xiu go. Qin Xiu stood up, his expression completely cold: "Since you've already eaten Wusa, how are you going to return it to me?"

"You seem to have misunderstood something," Cen Xun raised his eyebrows slightly and leaned back casually: "I didn't say I ate Wusa."

Qin Xiu was stunned for a moment. Before he could open his mouth to confirm, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him, with almost overflowing surprise, calling him: "Qin Xiu?"

The sound was like thunder exploding in Qin Xiu's heart. He was filled with disbelief. He turned around, but before he could see the source of the sound, he was hugged by someone who suddenly rushed over and was knocked back two steps.

Qin Xiu was caught off guard and his body froze on the spot.

The person hugging him tightly was clearly a stranger, a black-haired boy. Qin Xiu had always hated physical contact, and this sudden hug immediately disgusted him. He was about to push away this unrestrained boy when he suddenly heard the boy's familiar voice again: "Qin Xiu, I missed you so much."

Qin Xiu's CPU exploded like a thunderbolt: "?!!"

Where's his cat? Where's his cat!

How did his cat turn into a human? !

Qin Xiu's heart was in turmoil, but the cat was unaware of this. Noticing that Qin Xiu hadn't responded for a long time and his body was tense, the cat looked up at him curiously and called out to him in confusion and worry, "Qin Xiu?"

A pair of round, clear yellow cat eyes finally made Qin Xiu regain a sense of reality.

Qin Xiu hesitantly raised his hand and touched the boy's face to confirm that he was real: "Usa?"

The young man suddenly became happy and smiled at him with his eyes curved: "Qin Xiu, it's me."

"How did you become a human?" Qin Xiu's mood was very complicated. He stared at the boy in front of him, barely finding some traces of a cat in his face. But how did his cat suddenly become a human? Wusa had never transformed into a human when he was in the Jingdu Business District!

Wusa only felt that Qin Xiu looked at him a little strangely, but he didn't care. The joy of reuniting with Qin Xiu so soon had already overwhelmed his mind, making Wusa so happy that he didn't know what to do. Hearing Qin Xiu's question, he explained honestly: "I can always become a human, but becoming a human requires more energy. I don't want to waste energy, so I haven't become a human."

"It's not you. Wait," Qin Xiu carefully removed the boy's arms from his waist and asked Wusa with difficulty, "Can you turn into a cat again? I want to confirm whether you are Wusa."

"I'm definitely Wusa!" Wusa was incredulous. To prove that he was Wusa, he immediately changed back into a cow cat, jumped into Qin Xiu's arms, and put his head in Qin Xiu's palm: "Look, I am Wusa! It's absolutely true!"

Qin Xiu held the familiar cat in his arms, breathed a sigh of relief, and coaxed the cat, "Okay, I know you are Wusa."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and wanted to kiss the cat's head soothingly like before, but when he thought of the boy just now, Qin Xiu suddenly froze.

Wusa raised his head and waited for a kiss, but unexpectedly Qin Xiu lowered his head, and the expected kiss did not follow.

He looked up in confusion, stretched out his claws to tug at Qin Xiu's forearm, and urged Qin Xiu: "Qin Xiu, kiss me."

Qin Xiu rolled his throat, unable to bear to disappoint the cat, and kissed the soft cat's head with difficulty.

That question was still lingering in his mind.

How did his cat suddenly turn into a human? It was so sudden, really, so sudden.

Ursa finally got the kiss, but it still felt like it wasn't enough.

Today was really strange. In the past, Qin Xiu would kiss him several times in a row, but today he only kissed him once.

The cat felt that the human was not enthusiastic enough, but the cat still forgave the human.

Maybe Qin Xiu was just too tired?

Wusa soon felt that this reason was untenable, because no matter how late Qin Xiu worked overtime, he would always grab him for a hug and kiss when he came back.

Before Wusa could think about it, Cen Xun's voice came, drawing Wusa's attention back: "Secretary Wu, please take Qin Xiu downstairs to complete the employment procedures."

Wusa immediately came to his senses, responded, jumped out of Qin Xiu's arms, and turned into human form again.

The clothes on his body were made by Cen Xun using his skills. He could put them on automatically once he changed into human form. He didn't have to hide in the mirror world to change clothes, which made things a lot more convenient.

"Qin Xiu, let's go." Wu Sa took Qin Xiu's hand and excitedly led him out.

Qin Xiu was led forward a few steps, his whole arm stiffened, and his mind was in a mess as he looked at the young man who appeared again.

Not long after they left, Tong Ming, who came to watch the fun, slowly walked in.

"Brother, I don't think that capitalist will be honest." Tong Ming turned sideways and sat on a corner of Cen Xun's desk, his dangling leg dangling nonchalantly. "The capitalist has a skill called [Contract Fraud], which can directly make the contract invalid. You let Wu Sa and Qin Xiu go together, aren't you afraid that they will never come back?"

Cen Xun stood in front of the French window, looking at the two people walking out of the administration building side by side downstairs, the corners of his lips curled up meaningfully: "He will stay."

Downstairs, Qin Xiu was led by Wu Sa and was walking towards the School of Economics and Management.

Seeing that Wusa was so familiar with Nightmare University in just one day, Qin Xiu hesitated to speak and began to think about what Wusa had experienced after being abducted here by the principal.

"Usa, how did you become the principal's secretary?"

Qin Xiu finally asked.

Wusa replied quietly, "Because the principal said that if I worked as his secretary for fifty years, he would bring the Jingdu Business District under his protection and help you through any crisis free of charge. I agreed."

Qin Xiu: ""

It was not until this moment that Qin Xiu finally saw through the entire scam.

Why did his contract state that he could only take Usa away after fifty years?

Because Usa was also deceived into signing a fifty-year contract!

They are like the protagonists in "The Gift of the Magi", who each paid the price of fifty years for the other's well-being.

But in fact, after Cen Xun signed a contract with Qin Xiu, Jingdu Business District became a subsidiary of Nightmare University. Cen Xun would of course protect Jingdu Business District and help his subordinates through any crisis free of charge. Wusa's wish was what Cen Xun had intended to do from the beginning.

As for Qin Xiu's hope that Wu Sa would be resurrected and return to his side, that was even more absurd, because Wu Sa was not eaten by Cen Xun in the first place, he just misunderstood.

By some strange coincidence, they were all left behind to work.

Qin Xiu gritted his teeth and said, "Damn scammer!"

Wusala tugged at Qin Xiu's clothes and asked with a guilty conscience, "Qin Xiu, have I caused you trouble again?"

Qin Xiu's expression softened and he comforted the cat: "It's okay, it's not a big deal."

Wusa breathed a sigh of relief, let go of his clothes, and instead held Qin Xiu's fingers and shook them: "Qin Xiu, you came so quickly, I thought it would take another fifty years to see you."

Qin Xiu's fingers that were held immediately began to feel numb. He endured it again and again, but finally chose to withdraw his hand inconspicuously and put it in his pocket.

Intellectually, he knew that the boy was a cat, but he could not resist his body's conditioned reflex. In this strange place, he seemed to have returned to his human state both physically and mentally.

Qin Xiu hates physical contact with others. It is a psychological disease, but he doesn't hate cats.

Now that the cat has turned into a human, his body seems to automatically recognize the cat as a human.

Wusa's hand missed and he was stunned for a moment, looking at Qin Xiu with a heartbroken look.

Qin Xiu couldn't stand the cat's heartbroken look and hurriedly explained: "I don't hate you, Wusa, you know, I have always hated humans touching me, so now..."

But I am not someone else, Usa thought to himself, but said with understanding: "Oh, okay, I understand."

He reached up and took hold of Qin Xiu's clothes again, and asked cautiously, "Is this okay?"

Qin Xiu refused the cat's approach, feeling guilty, and quickly said, "Okay, that's fine."

Cats are very easy to coax. Usa looked at him and smiled again, his eyes curved, which was very cute.

Qin Xiu was stunned when he saw him smile. He looked away awkwardly and changed the subject, "I can't leave you here and let you wait for me alone for fifty years."

Wusa was delighted when he heard this, and asked with concern: "Qin Xiu, were you in danger when you came here? Were you injured?"

"I'm not injured. I encountered several strange domains on the way here and had a few fights with the domain masters, so it took me a little longer." Qin Xiu hesitated for a moment, then placed his hand on the boy's head and rubbed it gently. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so long."

Wusa was even happier. After being patted on the head, he immediately forgot about the incident. "Not long at all, only one day."

As he was talking, Wusa suddenly touched his neck and said a little embarrassedly: "Your bell was taken away by the principal. The principal said that he would keep it for the time being. I will ask the principal for it later."

"It's okay. If he wants it, just give it to him. We should avoid dealing with dangerous monsters like this as much as possible." Qin Xiu held Wu Sa's arm through his clothes and softened his voice, "I'm glad you're okay."

Wusa had another strong urge to hug Qin Xiu, but Qin Xiu didn't like it, so he had to hold it back.

At this moment, Wusa realized that Qin Xiu had led them astray. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Qin Xiu, where are we going?"

Qin Xiu said in a deep voice, "Go back to Jingdu Business District."

Wusa was even more puzzled: "Why do you want to go back? I haven't taken you to see your office yet."

Qin Xiu turned to look at him with a serious look: "Wusa, do you really want to stay here as a secretary?"

Wusa thought for a moment and said seriously, "I promised the principal. I even signed a contract with him."

"During the contract signing process, the principal committed fraud, so this contract is invalid." Qin Xiu explained to the cat: "Wusa, we don't have to abide by the contract."

Wusa still hesitated: "But"

Qin Xiu said patiently, "If you're worried that I'll continue to lose control after I return, then that won't happen anymore. My skills can earn me liquidated damages, and I can use the compensation from the contract to ensure my own sobriety."

"What's wrong, Wusa?" Qin Xiu noticed that Wusa was still hesitating and realized that something was wrong: "Don't you want to leave with me?"

"Of course I do, but..." Wusa stopped and said hesitantly, "Qin Xiu, I think there's something wrong with us leaving like this."

"What's the problem?" Qin Xiu looked at him in confusion.

Wusa made up her mind and grabbed Qin Xiu's clothes: "I don't know if what I think is right, Qin Xiu, you have always been better than me. Can you listen to my thoughts and then decide whether to leave?"

Qin Xiu looked at him for a moment, and finally nodded.

Wu Sa first took Qin Xiu to the medical school to see the corpses of the red ants that attacked Nightmare University last night.

"Qin Xiu, look, Nightmare University is such a powerful strange domain, other domain masters dare to send spies in, let alone the Mirror City Business District?"

Wusa shook his head. "When that student approached me, I didn't notice anything wrong. If they had disguised themselves as our employees and appeared in the Jingdu Business District, I wouldn't have been able to eliminate them as quickly as the principal."

Qin Xiu looked deeply at the red ant and didn't say anything for a while.

Wusa continued, "Actually, the principal is not that bad. If he wanted to eat us, he would have eaten us a long time ago."

"That's because he has ulterior motives. He wants us to work for him. We're more valuable to him if we're alive," Qin Xiu sighed and said seriously to Mao, "The principal is an ambitious man. He definitely has more than just Nightmare University in his sights. Once he becomes powerful, the whole world might become his. Wusa, even though he's treating you well now, who knows if he'll turn against you in the future?"

Wu Sa wilted: "Qin Xiu, what you said makes sense."

"But," Wusa held his chin and looked at Qin Xiu, "the principal said that if you don't agree, he can let you go, but he will directly swallow up the Jingdu Business District. So, do we still need to run?"

Qin Xiu: ""

Qin Xiu smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that he has set his sights on me." There was no way he would let him go no matter what.

Ursa looked at him for a moment, then changed back into cat form and jumped into his arms, purring soothingly.

Qin Xiu gently stroked the cat's back, was silent for a moment, and finally relented: "Wusa, take me to see my office."

Qin Xiu did not say whether he would stay. He looked around the office and contacted other deans to understand the current operating model of Nightmare University. Then he went to the Finance Department and consulted the director of the Finance Department on many questions that Wusa did not understand.

Wusa squatted on Qin Xiu's knees, looking up at Qin Xiu holding the financial statements, looking very serious.

Hey, has Qin Xiu decided not to leave again?

After reading the report, Qin Xiu said that he also needed to look at the database that recorded all the players' information. Since Qin Xiu had not yet taken over the position of Director of the Finance Department, he did not have this authority. So the Director of the Finance Department went through the procedures and applied for temporary authority from the principal.

Cen Xun passed this approval.

He knew that Qin Xiu had made his choice.

Cen Xun, in a happy mood, opened his system panel.

After signing the contract with Qin Xiu, the special identity of [Folklorist] indeed gained a new skill:

[Exclusive Skill 5: All Mind is Illusion (Purple Level)]

[Special Effect Introduction: All appearances are false, all things are impermanent, everything is empty.]

This was another skill that Cen Xun couldn't understand.

Combining the name of the skill and the ability of Qin Xiu who triggered it, Cen Xun reasonably guessed that this should be a hallucinogenic skill.

Cen Xun tried to release a skill.

A full ten seconds passed and still nothing happened.

Cen Xun: “?”

What a weird skill.

Cen Xun was speechless for a moment and began to think about whether this skill needed to be released on the right person.

So Cen Xun called a monster up from downstairs and used this skill on it.

This strange monster is an employee of the Academic Affairs Office. After being used as a guinea pig by Cen Xun to unleash his skills, it still looks normal and can even answer Cen Xun's questions with ease.

Cen Xun was even more confused.

So what is the use of this skill?

After observing the monster for a while and confirming that it had no other problems, Cen Xun could only wave his hand and let it return to its post.

The incident happened after the weird employee turned around. He suddenly took out his phone and saw something, but he suddenly became excited and danced ecstatically, saying, "Wow! So many points! I'm going to be the richest man in the world! Hahahaha! I don't have to be suppressed by the stupid director anymore! I'm the king of all weird people!"

Cen Xun: “”

Cen Xun fell silent.

Seeing that the monster was about to crash into the wall in ecstasy, Cen Xun coughed lightly and retracted his skill.

The strange man froze while holding the phone, staring blankly at it with a look of horror: "Where's my bonus? Where's my bonus?! Who swallowed my bonus?! I can't live anymore! I don't want to work for the stupid director anymore!"

As it spoke, it was about to bang its head against the wall in despair. Cen Xun tied it up with puppet strings in time. Seeing its terrified and desperate look that it wanted to escape reality by dying, he couldn't help but start thinking.

His skills had indeed been taken back, but the residual effects of the skills still dealt a huge blow to the employee, and the ups and downs also broke down his psychological defenses.

Cen Xun roughly understood the function of this skill. It can allow the enemy to see what they desire most.

It is indeed a hallucinogenic skill.

But how long do its residual effects last?

Cen Xun watched the strange employee collapse, rolling around and banging his head under the restraints of the puppet threads. He was thinking about how to restore it to normal when the nightmare ruler spontaneously appeared.

Because Cen Xun hurt the school staff and violated the agreement with the old principal, the nightmare ruler hit Cen Xun without hesitation.

"Hiss" Cen Xun rubbed his forehead. Knowing that he was in the wrong, he had no choice but to extend another puppet thread and pierce it into the body of the strange employee to control its emotions.

The strange employee quieted down. With the intervention of the puppet string, he gradually regained consciousness. He looked at the puppet string that bound him in confusion and asked, "Principal?"

Cen Xun withdrew the puppet thread: "Go back, I will tell the director of the Academic Affairs Office to reduce your workload."

The strange employee immediately became happy after hearing this and thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you, Principal!"

Cen Xun watched it walk out the door, and suddenly something happened in his heart.

Puppet Thread is an active control skill that can control the target's thoughts and ideas according to one's own wishes. [Mind is Illusion] can also control the target's mind, but what the target can see is related to the target's own thoughts and is very uncontrollable.

So, if he uses puppet thread and [Mind is Illusion] at the same time, is there a possibility that he can make the target see specific illusions?

This is different from the function of puppet strings. Puppet strings are completely controlled. As a controlled puppet, the enemy has no thoughts of his own and can only passively accept Cen Xun's thoughts. He is fully aware that he is being controlled.

But if the puppet thread can be used in conjunction with [All Minds Are Illusions], the effect is that the enemy will not realize that he is being controlled, but in fact all the scenes and contents he sees in the illusion are the result of Cen Xun's secret manipulation.

It’s like Cen Xun thought about it and finally found a metaphor to summarize it.

It's like constructing a dream.

First, use [All Minds Are Illusions] to extract the enemy's subconscious, then use puppet threads to string these subconscious together, weaving a dream that is so real that even the enemy can't tell whether they are in illusion or reality.

As this idea fully emerged, Cen Xun narrowed his eyes and looked at the system panel.

The system panel is touchable, and there are some unspoken rules that Cen Xun does not understand, such as long pressing on the system panel to select the default identity and default special skills.

Cen Xun stretched out his finger to the system panel, long-pressed [Mind is Illusion], and then dragged it to the [Nightmare Puppet Show] column.

After releasing his finger, a new dialog box suddenly popped up on the Nightmare System panel.

[Do you want to combine the special effects [Nightmare Puppet Show] and [Mind is Illusion]? Yes/No]

Cen Xun raised his eyebrows and chose [Yes] without hesitation.

The system panel refreshed, and after the refresh was completed, a new prompt message appeared on the panel.

【Congratulations on obtaining your new special identity [Dream Weaver]! 】

Cen Xun looked at the message and slowly raised the corners of his lips.

Life is full of surprises. Look, isn’t this a new surprise?