Chapter 70 Haunted High School (4)
Su Yue held the water cup like a little squirrel holding a pine cone, drinking water while listening to the president introduce the necessary conditions for summoning the Pen Fairy.
Cang Zhi asked in a very good-natured manner, "Is the water temperature suitable? Do you want something to eat? Do you want a cushion?"
"?" Su Yue gave Cang Zhi a strange look, "You are also the president, right?"
Cang Zhi: “…No.”
Besides Su Yue and Cang Zhi, who rarely spoke, another particularly quiet person in the club was Wei Wan, who sat next to Su Yue. Although he had joined the Summoning Immortals Club and had many legends about him, Wei Wan himself didn't seem to have much interest in summoning immortals.
It was the players who were more active, especially the middle school player named Tang Li. Every time the president asked a question, he would answer it very proactively. It was obvious that he was trying hard to win the president's favor.
The club activity lasted for three hours, from seven in the afternoon to ten in the evening. While they were looking at the booklet and discussing it, the clock hand quietly moved from 7 to 9. When the bell rang at nine in the evening, the president clapped his hands and signaled everyone to pay attention.
"In the past two hours, I believe that the students have fully understood the methods and precautions of inviting the Pen Fairy." The president said, "Then let's proceed to the second activity of the day, which is also a large-scale activity I have been planning for a semester."
He dragged the table closest to him out to the center of the podium, opened the large black bundle next to the podium, and took out a piece of hard white paper from the bundle.
There was a pattern similar to the Bagua diagram drawn on the white paper, and something was written on each direction of the Bagua, such as numbers, "yes", "no", "good", "bad", etc.
In addition, there was an inkstone, two boxes of ink, and a huge brush in the bag.
The president pressed the remote control that turned the pages of the PPT. Amidst the swish of old pages, the slides turned to page three. The background was still that eerie white candle and ghost face. On this page, large, pale characters read:
Activity 2: Practice the Pen Fairy
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When I started reading the booklet just now, the president had already turned off the lights in the classroom and lit candles everywhere.
Now the flames of these candles were flickering, and the pale "Prayer Spirit" and the ghost face in the background of the slide seemed to be given life, and the shadows swayed with the flickering candlelight.
The classroom was dead silent.
A strong wind suddenly blew outside the window, hitting the window glass and making a whistling sound.
Su Yue blinked and saw that the white candlelight burning on the slide seemed to suddenly go out for a moment before returning to its original appearance.
The president smiled slightly. He was quite normal just now, but now his face was pale and looked a bit like a ghost. "Anyone want to try it?"
No one made a sound, and no one moved.
In Su Yue's opinion, this is a smart approach. Asking the Pen Fairy, no matter from which time and space or any kind of work, is definitely not an act that will bring good luck.
But the president was obviously not satisfied.
The president sighed. "Such an interesting activity, but no one wants to try it? If you want to try it, I'll give a reward to those who raise their hands."
As soon as he finished speaking, the middle school student and another player raised their hands at the same time: "I'll do it."
Suyue:.
The president smiled.
His face was fine when he wasn't smiling, it just made people feel old-fashioned. But once he smiled, it was as if a layer of fake skin covering his muscles was forcibly pulled, revealing a rather eerie and strange smile.
"Please come here." The president waved to the middle school student and the other player.
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The other player's name is Zhao Zhihuan. He has gone through at least eight thousand-level dungeons. The NPC in front of him did not give him a good feeling, but he also knew that in order to successfully pass the game, he must understand as much information in the game as possible.
For example, in this game called "Haunted High School", since all the players are members of the fairy-summoning club, summoning the fairies is definitely a key step that cannot be skipped.
More importantly, Zhao Zhihuan felt that he had fallen behind.
He was carrying a 1,000-word self-examination from the dean of studies. He was stopped and scolded because he ran for a while on his way to classroom A101. He took advantage of the time he had just spent reading the manual handed out by the president to secretly write. He wrote furiously for two hours and barely finished it. However, when the president came over, he looked at him several times, as if asking him why he didn't read the manual carefully.
Moreover, he didn't even realize that the NPC named Wei Wan was an NPC, but it was obvious that only a few people didn't realize that the other party was an NPC.
These signs made Zhao Zhihuan panic. He knew very well that the survival rate of this kind of game was less than half. He was now lagging behind the main force and was likely to be the first to die.
So when the president asked who would like to try to invite the immortals, Zhao Zhihuan raised his hand without hesitation.
The president spread out the piece of white paper with words written on it on the table. Miraculously, the piece of white paper looked bigger than the table, but when it was spread out, the size was just right. The white paper was a flat surface, but when the candle was shaking, it actually cast shadows of the words.
On the top of the white paper are "demons and monsters", on the bottom are "ghosts and monsters", on the left are "yin and yang worlds", and on the right are "travel without fear". The sixteen characters are like a frame framing the fate plate in the middle.
The ink spread across the rice paper. In the candlelight, each character cast a tiny shadow, like tiny claws waving in a ferocious manner.
There were eight directions marked on the horoscope. The president asked Zhao Zhihuan and the middle school student to stand in one direction each, and then asked if anyone else was willing to join.
Zhao Zhihuan looked at the dancing words on the rice paper, and when he got closer, he found that the horoscope drawn on the rice paper was red, and even looked like it was painted with blood, but the middle was filled with black words, and blood would turn into a dark red color when it came into contact with air, so he didn't notice it when the president first took out the horoscope.
Those words were densely packed with various numbers, directions, times, "good" and "bad", "can" and "can't", "yes" and "no", and each answer was squeezed into a square in the horoscope.
These words alone don't look that big of a deal, but when they're packed together they look a bit weird.
Moreover, the strokes of the characters are also very strange. The horizontal, vertical, left and right strokes are all extended very long, and the characters are mixed together in a staggered manner, like a group of fighting insects. Under the light of the candle, they seem to come alive.
Zhao Zhihuan's eyebrows and heart skipped a beat, and he had a very bad feeling. He was about to back out, but at this moment, the president came over with an inkstone and a small needle in his hand.
"Prick your finger and drop a little blood into the inkstone." The president said with a smile.
"One, do we have to do this?" Zhao Zhihuan's heart skipped a beat and he stuttered.
"To play the real game of summoning spirits, you need to be pious enough to summon the real Pen Fairy. The blood contract is a symbol of piety. Moreover, there are so many people in this room. If the Pen Fairy comes but can't recognize who is the believer who summoned him, your chance to ask questions will be consumed by the Pen Fairy. Isn't that a big loss?" The president said again.
Zhao Zhihuan hesitated, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that one of the players sitting there stood up.
This man is very good-looking. Zhao Zhihuan noticed him as soon as he entered the room, because Zhao Zhihuan had never seen such a good-looking handsome guy in his life. The most eye-catching thing about him is his white hair. For ordinary people, dyeing their hair this color would definitely ruin their appearance, but the way he dyed his hair makes his skin look whiter and his eyebrows and eyes look more beautiful. He looks like he walked out of a comic book.
Because this face was so eye-catching, Zhao Zhihuan also remembered his name, which was Su Yue.
Is he going to ask the Pen Fairy for help too?
The president obviously thought so too. He smiled and asked, "Classmate, do you want to try it?"
"No." Su Yue said, "I want to ask, what will happen to the club if we fail to invite the Pen Fairy?"
"You need to have a very devout belief to be able to invite the Pen Fairy. If you can't invite it, it's also expected." The president said with a smile, "If you can't invite it, we will try again at the next club activity."
"So if no one participates in summoning the Pen Fairy, it won't affect the club's activities, right?" Su Yue asked.
Zhao Zhihuan suddenly realized the meaning of Su Yue. In fact, it is not necessary to ask for the pen fairy, right?
The smile on the president's face froze, and he seemed to have suddenly turned into a frame in a stop-motion animation. The shadows cast heavy shadows on his face, and even his facial features could not be seen clearly.
"That's right," the president said, "but if you don't ask the Pen Fairy, you will lose the chance to make a wish and you won't be able to get my reward."
"What is the reward?" Su Yue asked.
The gloom on the president's face grew even heavier. "I can't tell you, but the person who summons the Pen Fairy will like this reward."
As he spoke, the president handed the inkstone to Zhao Zhihuan again, "Student, drop your blood in. Once the blood contract is completed, you will officially become a summoning immortal and can participate in the activities of summoning the pen fairy."
"I..." Zhao Zhihuan hesitated.
"Do you want to quit?" the president asked. He stared at Zhao Zhihuan, and there seemed to be something flashing in his eyes.
Zhao Zhihuan was struggling internally. He could feel the danger ahead, but he also didn't feel that he had to listen to other people's advice.
More importantly, disobeying NPCs and not following the usual path?
This was something that had never happened in his previous gaming experience. In Zhao Zhihuan's understanding, not following the NPC's requirements would basically mean death written on his face.
But now his premonition was indeed very ominous.
Just as he was hesitating, the middle school student said, "Hey! Stop dawdling. If you don't want to sign the blood contract, I'll do it. Hurry up."
Zhao Zhihuan was stunned for a moment. Before he could react, the president turned around and handed the inkstone to the middle school student, "Student, drop your blood into the inkstone."
"Calm down and don't do anything rash." Su Yue said.
The middle school student glanced at Su Yue and said with a smile, "Brother, please don't rely on your age to give orders. We are all at the same level. I am so much younger than you, and maybe I am even more capable than you."
Su Yue was stunned, thinking that if age and strength were calculated proportionally, wouldn't he be the weakest person in the whole place?
The middle school student was obviously not going to listen to advice. Without giving Su Yue a chance to speak, he took the needle from the president's hand and pricked his fingertip.
Drops of blood oozed out from the fingers and fell into the inkstone with a "drip". It was as if the inkstone swallowed them and disappeared in an instant.
"Thank you for your active participation in the club's activities." The president smiled and pulled out a badge from his bag and pinned it on the middle school student's chest. "Collect three badges and I can grant you one wish."
Although no one knew what kind of wish could be fulfilled, nor how the president would fulfill it, the fact that the president was an NPC immediately excited the other players.
“I want to join!”
"I want one too!"
Players raised their hands one after another, and the number of people required for the Summoning Immortals activity exceeded eight.
"Don't worry." The president said with a smile, "Two people can stand in each position. It is also possible for sixteen people to participate in inviting the Pen Fairy together. The power of everyone's faith is combined together, and the effect is stronger. Maybe the Pen Fairy can better respond to our wishes."
Su Yue tried to dissuade Zhao Zhihuan again, but it was obvious that he could not persuade him. Zhao Zhihuan had already dripped his blood into the inkstone.
The blood fell onto the inkstone, and with a slight "hiss" sound, it seeped into the inkstone and disappeared without a trace, as if it had been eaten.
.
Su Yue felt a headache looking at the current situation. He had clearly forced the NPC to admit in person that it was okay not to summon the immortal, but it was still useless.
But no one would listen to him even if he said that now. The group of people represented by the middle school students might still have a rebellious mentality. The more he persuaded them, the more they would think that he had ulterior motives.
The man with the black-framed glasses hesitated, feeling that the aura of the room full of candles and the horoscope painted in blood was extremely sinister, but everyone had raised their hands, and if he didn't go, he would definitely fall behind.
The man with the black-framed glasses raised his hand halfway, wondering whether to continue. He heard Su Yue next to him say to him, "Don't go."
The man with black-framed glasses glanced at Su Yue. He quite trusted Su Yue, but he couldn't trust blindly in such matters. He asked, "Why?"
"He didn't go either." Su Yue whispered, looking in Wei Wan's direction.
Wei Wan is an NPC, and NPCs don’t participate in the spirit summoning ceremony, which seems to indicate that summoning the spirit of the pen is indeed not that necessary.
Moreover, the black-framed glasses really don't like the atmosphere of summoning spirits.
"Classmate." The president had already walked up to the man with black-framed glasses, licked his lips, and handed the inkstone to him. "Do you want to participate in the immortal invitation activity?"
"I..." The man in black-framed glasses looked at the dimly swaying candles in the room, as well as the shadows of people in the room illuminated by the candles, and pursed his lips. "I won't do it now, but I'll definitely do it next time."
"Okay." The president said regretfully. He came over to ask Su Yue and Cang Zhi, but of course neither of them would participate.
Finally, the president walked up to Wei Wan.
"Vice President Wei." The president handed the inkstone to Wei Wan, "Aren't you going to participate in the Pen Fairy?"
Wei Wan raised his eyelids, looked at the president, and shook his head.
"Alright." The president regretfully retracted the inkstone. "As a vice president, you never participate in our spirit-inviting activities. It's really disappointing. Why are you still joining the club?"
Wei Wan didn't answer, instead looking indifferently at the horoscope on the table. Even in this gloomy atmosphere, his aura was still very cool and cool. Compared to the president, he felt quite detached.
If it weren't for his student ID and the rumors among the students proving that he was an NPC, Su Yue would definitely suspect that Wei Wan was a player.
Among the last 23 people, 15 participated in the game. In addition to Su Yue, Cang Zhi, Wei Wan, the president and the man with black-framed glasses, there were three other players, two men and one woman, who probably felt that the atmosphere was not right and chose not to participate in the game.
"That's perfect. With me included, the fairy-summoning activity can officially begin." After the president pointed at the people, he said with a smile and put his thumb to his lips.
He seemed to be completely unafraid of the pain. His upper and lower canine teeth bit the skin of his finger, and blood oozed out and quickly seeped into the inkstone and disappeared.
"All students who have signed the blood pact, please gather at the table." The president said, "Students who have not signed the blood pact can leave. It should be written in the manual for summoning the Pen Fairy that outsiders cannot be present when summoning the fairy."
Su Yue was stunned. He didn't expect this to happen. The middle school student whistled proudly, as if showing off to Su Yue, "You lost."
Wei Wan was the first to stand up and left the classroom without any regrets.
Su Yue, Cang Zhi and others followed him out. A group of people stood outside the door. The president came over and closed the door in a friendly manner, but his action of closing the door was not so friendly.
With a "bang", those who did not participate in the ceremony of summoning the Pen Fairy were isolated outside the door.
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The whole place seemed very lonely. In the long corridor, sounds of club activities could be heard from other classrooms, such as the bagpipes from the music club, the singing from the drama troupe, and bursts of laughter.
Only Su Yue and seven other players who did not participate in the Pen Fairy Celebration were blocked outside the classroom door.
Wei Wan took out the book again and started reading. It seemed like he always carried a book with him.
The corridor wasn't well lit, so Wei Wan took a few steps forward to the light, leaning against the wall to read. This distanced him from the six players.
Six players gathered together, ready to discuss the plot, but Wei Wan, as an NPC, happened to walk away, so they had no intention of going to look for him immediately.
The only girl who didn't participate in the Pen Fairy whistle: "This is like being punished by standing."
This girl has blonde hair with a few pink and blue highlights, and she looks like a big sister.
She said she was punished by standing and seemed very depressed, but in fact she just stood on tiptoe to look at the scene in the classroom through the glass, and did not show any regret.
"Will we miss a key clue?" The man with black-framed glasses looked into the classroom through the glass and asked worriedly.
"Don't overthink it," the girl said. "You've already made your choice. There's no point in regretting it."
"That's right." The man with black-framed glasses nodded, but still looked at the classroom worriedly.
Through the glass, you can see that sixteen people have formed a circle, eight in front and eight slightly behind. Sixteen hands are holding the brush in the middle and drawing circles on the horoscope together.
The candles around them burned dimly, casting a ghostly shadow on everyone's face. The natal chart in the center seemed shrouded in a layer of fog, making it impossible to see clearly from outside the door.
Su Yue and Cang Zhi were just turning to the back door to try to see what was happening inside the room from another perspective when the sound of high heels tapping suddenly rang out in the corridor, followed by the familiar voice of the dean of studies.
"It's club time! What are you doing? Why aren't you in your classroom? Do you want to write a self-criticism?"
The man with black-framed glasses' face turned green when he heard this. He already owed 1,500 words, and he still had to write a self-criticism. He might as well just fire him.
"The president allows us to participate in activities outside the classroom." Su Yue said, "If you don't believe me, you can go and ask."
The president allowed them to stay outside the classroom, which meant they hadn't skipped activities, so they couldn't write the inspection. The dean was very unhappy. However, she stared at Su Yue for two seconds, as if she had discovered a new world. "Didn't I punish you by making you write a 1,500-word inspection? Have you finished it?"
"No." Su Yue said.
"Hurry up and write!" The Dean's momentum returned. "The club activities will end in an hour. If you don't finish the inspection, you'll be expelled!"
"Do any of you owe me anything to check? Write it down together, I'll be right here watching you!"
The eldest sister felt a little sympathetic to Su Yue. Writing 1,500 words by hand in an hour was impossible to complete. The man with black-framed glasses showed sympathy with a sense of despair, because after all, he also owed 1,500 words.
As for Cang Zhi, he also owed 1,500 words but was very calm. He would write if Su Yue wrote, and would not write if Su Yue didn't.
Even Wei Wan was pulled over to write a self-criticism, but of course he didn't react too much.
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Su Yue was not frightened by the dean at all. He took out a notebook and tore off a page, asking, "What do you want me to write?"
"A 1,500-word self-examination!" the Dean shouted. "You can't even remember this, are you still trying to add more?"
Su Yue didn't reply. Instead, he wrote the seven characters "1,500-word self-examination" clearly and carefully on a piece of paper and handed it to the dean: "1,500-word self-examination, is that ok, teacher?"
The black-framed glasses that saved the day:?!?!
Dean of Studies: “…”
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If this were a real teacher, Su Yue's 1,500-word inspection would become 15,000 words, but she is an NPC, and NPCs must abide by the rules of the game, so even if they play word games, she can only accept it.
The dean of studies was so angry that his glasses fogged up. With a sullen face, he accepted a "1,500-word self-criticism" from each of Su Yue, Cang Zhi, Wei Wan, and the man with black-framed glasses. He snorted angrily, turned around and left, leaving behind only the clattering sound of his high heels on the ground.
"Handsome boy, you are awesome." The leader looked at Su Yue in surprise and gave him a thumbs up.
Su Yue smiled reservedly and was about to say something when a scream suddenly came from behind her in classroom A101 where the Pen Fairy was being summoned.
All the candles went out and the classroom suddenly became dark.
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