Update cookies preferences

 

Playmates, kindly whitelist the website to support the site or turn off adblocker!

 

Click On The Novel Title Link Above The Post Title e.g. Genius Mechanic: Chapter 1, or Scroll To The Bottom and Click On The Category To Get To The TOC.

Earth's Redemption

Earth’s Redemption: Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Spirit Summoning (6)

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake

In the truth that Ning Buwen had deduced, this should have been a rather simple situation.

Zhao Shutong, Dr. Cheng, and the female teacher who died at the beginning had a good relationship. After the female teacher’s death, Zhao Shutong and Dr. Cheng came to this school to continue investigating the cause of her death.

If it were just that, the school wouldn’t have become a game instance for Pandora’s Box.

Perhaps at first, Zhao Shutong came to the school to investigate her sister’s death and even began teaching in her sister’s class for convenience. However, when she discovered that the Dr. Cheng she liked was also diligently investigating her sister’s death, the deep sense of disparity in her heart grew.

Afterward, Zhao Shutong began studying esoteric techniques.

And whether by talent or not, she actually managed to achieve some results.

That spirit summoning ritual was likely something Zhao Shutong gave to Ning Buwen’s original body.

Maybe her purpose was to completely sever the connection between her sister and Dr. Cheng, or perhaps there was another reason.

But in a supernatural world like this, once you’ve meddled with unknown forces, there’s no way to walk away unscathed.

Zhao Shutong’s current ghastly appearance was probably related to the spirit summoning ritual.

Ning Buwen wasn’t making these guesses out of thin air—he was boldly deducing based on the clues available.

Dr. Cheng and Chen Ying had already told him a lot, and this diary in particular seemed to be a key item in this instance.

Actually, Ning Buwen leaned toward the idea that Zhao Shutong was in a half-human, half-ghost state.

If she were a ghost, then her diligent efforts during the day as a homeroom teacher would be utterly pointless. Zhao Shutong had been too normal at first, with her every word and action fitting the conduct of a regular teacher. Therefore, Ning Buwen didn’t suspect her at all until she revealed herself.

To put it bluntly, if a newcomer to this game couldn’t see through Zhao Shutong’s disguise, then no one else would either.

Such a level of difficulty wouldn’t match that of a newbie instance.

Pandora’s Box had been around in the real world for three years now. With the combined efforts of players worldwide, its exploration and utilization had reached an unimaginable extent, and many of its basic rules had already been summarized.

The newer a player was, the easier the instance they entered.

But if Zhao Shutong were still human, then her current appearance made it clear she couldn’t be.

She was neither human nor ghost, so the only answer was her being something in between.

“I didn’t mean to harm her,” Zhao Shutong’s voice had turned into that of a seventy- or eighty-year-old woman, so faint that it was almost hard to make out what she was saying. “She died, and that should’ve been the end of it, but even in death, she wouldn’t let the living be. That ritual was meant to release her spirit.”

“It failed.” Zhao Shutong was silent for a moment, then added another sentence.

“Who gave you that ritual?” Ning Buwen pressed further, “You used to just be an ordinary person, right? Now that you’ve become this ghostly figure, don’t you want to return to your original form?”

“Return?” Zhao Shutong burst into laughter. “If I were just an ordinary person, I’d be long dead by now. We’re all trapped here. Trapped in this school. Unless everyone in this school dies, we’ll be stuck in this endless cycle of death and rebirth, over and over again!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Heh, aren’t you just a moving Legione yourself?” Zhao Shutong tilted her head and smiled, making her face appear even more eerie and terrifying. “Except for Dr. Cheng, there’s not a single living person left in this school.”

…Even though Ning Buwen already knew this to be true, hearing her say it still made him feel a bit depressed.

There might not be any living people left, but there’s still a living dog!

“In this school, I’m just one of the pieces with less significance. The monster in our classroom is the one no one dares to mess with.”

Ning Buwen wanted to say more, but Zhao Shutong was no longer interested in talking to him.

“Take your time. In three days, it’ll be a new beginning again.” Zhao Shutong floated away in her ghostly form, her voice echoing down the hallway. “You can’t hide in the infirmary forever, haha.”

Still trying to scare me before you leave? Sorry, I’m not someone who scares easily.

No worries, I just need to successfully hide here for three days.

Ning Buwen sat in the chair, resting his chin on one hand as he slowly thought things over.

There was no way he could win a head-on confrontation with Zhao Shutong. His only helper was a dog, and aside from its good luck, the dog wasn’t of much use. No, it was useful—without Xiao Xin, he wouldn’t have been able to make contact with Dr. Cheng or hide in this infirmary so easily.

This infirmary should be considered something like a safe zone in the game world.

It’s precisely because this place was a safe zone that Dr. Cheng was still alive and able to survive in this bizarre school.

If those newbies hadn’t killed themselves or indulged in pleasure right away, they could’ve easily found this safe zone by working together. Among the newbies, there would surely have been a few who got decent starter packs, and enduring through the instance’s duration together wouldn’t be difficult.

Thinking of it that way, it did fit the difficulty set for a newbie instance.

The problem was, Ning Buwen had terrible luck.

The people who enter the Pandora Game could generally be divided into three groups based on their motives and mindset.

The first group consists of those who come purely to try their luck. Resources were scarce in the real world, and anything brought out from the game world could be sold at a high price. While the survival rate for supernatural instances was only around 10%, other types of newbie instances have survival rates of 30% or higher. If they encountered a few competent fellow newbies, the survival rate could even reach 50-60%.

The second group consists of professionals. These are people who have undergone specialized training. They’re often from military families, are those with connections, or people with exceptional natural talents; they can be set aside for now.

The third group are the suicidals.

In the real world, there’s nothing left—air, soil, water, sky—everything natural has almost vanished. People could only continue to survive within a special protective barrier created by Pandora’s Box.

For many, this kind of life is hard to get used to.

After enjoying so many years of blue skies, white clouds, sunshine, and fresh air, having all that taken away and facing a world of wasteland drove many people to suicide.

Among these suicidal individuals, a large group emerged that believed, “If I must die, I want to die in a place I love.” The world inside the Pandora Game is just like the old world. Enjoying life in the game and then dying was far better than clinging to survival in the harsh reality.

When newbies enter the game together, the most frustrating ones to encounter are the third type.

This was because people who want to commit suicide often have a skewed mindset. If they quietly take their own lives, that’s one thing, but some are determined to drag others down with them.

Ning Buwen’s luck was terrible. Over half of the newbies in this batch were suicidal.

In the end, he found a girl who seemed relatively normal, but she turned out to be suicidal too?

Ning Buwen almost wanted to cry over his bad luck. As a complete newbie, he was starting off with just a dog and having no reliable companions, of which several were even plotting to drag him down to die with them.

This was basically forcing Ning Buwen to act alone.

Luckily, now that things had progressed this far, it was finally time to start preparing to leave this world.

The problem was, after surviving today, what would he do tomorrow night? It was obvious that Zhao Shutong was restricted from killing him upfront or entering the infirmary during the day, but at night, she could still move him to the classroom.

What a headache.

But the biggest issue right now was that he was hungry.

He hadn’t eaten since the afternoon, and after expending so much effort during the night, how could he not be hungry?

But at this point, Ning Buwen definitely didn’t have the guts to go out and find food for himself.

“Woof, woof!” Xiao Xin wagged its tail and lay on the ground.

“No, no, no, even though it has a lot of meat, there’s no way I can make a fire now,” Ning Buwen rubbed his belly and sighed, “Forget it, I’ll just sleep. If I sleep, I won’t feel hungry.”

After all that effort, Ning Buwen fell asleep on the desk not long after.

The next morning, he was woken up by the aroma of the soy milk and baozi Dr. Cheng had brought.

“Since you’re awake, go ahead and eat. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got soy milk and baozi. There are several different flavors,” Dr. Cheng, now dressed in a white coat, had already started work.

Ning Buwen was so moved he almost cried.

Dr. Cheng not only looked beautiful but had a beautiful heart as well.

He was incredibly thoughtful.

Ning Buwen grabbed the soy milk and baozi and started eating without hesitation—he was really hungry.

“Hey, why is there so much meat in this meat baozi?”

“Is there? I just bought it from the cafeteria,” Dr. Cheng replied after thinking about it.

“No way, the pork and green onion baozi in the cafeteria are usually all onions, and the meat’s about the size of a fingernail. I can’t even tell if I’m eating a baozi or a mantou1!” Ning Buwen confidently declared.

“Well, I wouldn’t know,” Dr. Cheng blinked, “The baozi I eat have always been pretty good.”

Maybe it’s because you’re likable…

Ning Buwen glanced at Dr. Cheng’s face and fully understood why the cafeteria aunt was willing to make special buns for him.

“Dr. Cheng, do you live at the school?” Ning Buwen asked tentatively.

“Yeah, I live in the staff dormitory,” Dr. Cheng nodded.

“Then can I sleep in your dormitory tonight?” Ning Buwen immediately brought up his request, pretending to sneeze for effect. “I feel like I might catch a cold if I sleep here. Dr. Cheng, I won’t disturb you; I just need to sleep there for two days. My dad will come to the school in two days.”

Ning Buwen’s thoughts were racing.

Staying in the infirmary, he might end up becoming the target tonight in the classroom, and the only person he could rely on was Dr. Cheng.

After all, he was the only living person in this school, and he must have something special about him to survive this long. Staying close could not only save his life, he might also discover the method to Dr. Cheng’s survival.

Perfect.

Ning Buwen convinced himself.

But Dr. Cheng was not convinced.

“No,” Dr. Cheng said firmly. “I’m used to sleeping alone, and having you stay in the infirmary is already against school rules.”

“Oh, I see.” Ning Buwen sighed slightly. “Then forget it; I’m fine staying here.”

As if!

After Dr. Cheng finished work in the afternoon, Ning Buwen immediately followed him in secret.

He didn’t believe that when he arrived at Dr. Cheng’s doorstep, he would be sent away. Even if he was sent away, it wouldn’t matter; he could just huddle at the door.

When Dr. Cheng left work, it was still light outside, which made Ning Buwen feel more secure following him.

For safety, Ning Buwen even brought the diary along. If he encountered Zhao Shutong and things went south, he would have to use the diary to save himself. If worse came to worst, he could slowly tear it page by page to buy himself some time with Zhao Shutong.

But after following Dr. Cheng for a while, Ning Buwen began to feel uneasy.

Wait a minute.

This isn’t the way to the dormitory.

Dr. Cheng wasn’t heading to the classroom dormitory; instead, it seemed like he was going to the old teaching building where the “spirit summoning ritual” took place.

That building was practically a dangerous structure, ready to be torn down at any moment, and no one went there anymore.

Ning Buwen wanted to check it out, but Zhao Shutong’s appearance had delayed him. Who would’ve thought he could follow Dr. Cheng there now?

However, Ning Buwen wasn’t happy about it at all.

Damn it. 2

Ning Buwen had finally thought he could pass these last three days by lying low with the Generation Zen 3 Dr. Cheng, but given the current situation, it was impossible for nothing to happen.

The problem was, turning back now wasn’t realistic either. It was already dark, and returning would definitely lead him to run into Zhao Shutong.

Was it Zhao Shutong or Zhao Shutong’s sister?

That was a question, and it was even more serious than Shakespeare’s question 4.

Now that he was here, what could he do?

Ning Buwen could only be thankful that he hadn’t brought Xiao Xin along; otherwise, one bark and everything would be over.

Why does life have to be so difficult?

Unknowingly, Ning Buwen followed Dr. Cheng upstairs and then stopped because Dr. Cheng had stopped too.

Huh, this is the top floor.

Even if Ning Buwen didn’t remember the original body’s memories, he knew that a spirit summoning ritual wouldn’t take place on the top floor. With the wind blowing so strongly, there was no way to perform a ceremony here at all.

Strange, what’s Dr. Cheng doing?

Ning Buwen hid behind the door and peeked out. He saw Dr. Cheng bending down in the corner, seemingly doing something.

There should only be a pile of rubble there.

“You’ve been waiting here for a long time, and you probably aren’t too happy, right? Sorry for being late,” Dr. Cheng murmured.

Strange, who’s Dr. Cheng talking to?

Ning Buwen’s mind was a jumbled mess. If possible, he really didn’t want to be enemies with the only living person here.

But being the only living person also meant that, in some ways, Dr. Cheng wasn’t as simple as he appeared.

Dr. Cheng quickly stood up, but this time, he had something in his hand.

That thing was square with a round top.

This is…

An ash urn?!

If you're enjoying the story don't forget to support the author! You can also support me on KOFI for site maintenance, raws purchase or as an energy boost~ 

 

 

 

Translator Notes
  1. 包子 (baozi) is a filled steamed bun that has an outer coating which is a white fluffy breading and a filling in the center (most traditionally a pork-based filling). 馒头 (mantou) is just a steamed bun, with no filling inside. It is essentially the same as the outer coating of a 包子.[]
  2. 麻蛋[mādàn] – literally mother’s balls. Internet slang. Damn it/ WTF/Fuck[]
  3. 佛系[fo xi] – Buddha-like. A buzzword used in China to describe young people who reject the rat race of contemporary workaholic Chinese society for a tranquil, apathetic life.[]
  4. To be or not to be[]
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
error: Content is protected !!
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x