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Earth’s Redemption: Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Spirit Summoning (8)
Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake
The moment Ning Buwen saw the photo, he realized he had finally obtained the key item for clearing the game.
As expected, the item had been in Dr. Cheng’s hands.
“Xiao Xin, let’s go.” Ning Buwen patted his dumb dog’s head. “We’re heading toward the school gate. Staying here means certain death. If we’re lucky, we might be able to leave the game early.”
There were three ways to clear a Pandora’s Box game.
The first was to fulfill the Pandora Game’s requirements. For instance, this time Ning Buwen’s goal was to survive for ten days. As long as he manages to live until the tenth day by any means necessary, even if he does nothing else, he would earn a D-Level rating and clear the game.
The second way was by using special clearance item cards. These cards were so rare that sometimes not a single one would appear for an entire year. They were life-saving items that only appeared in the elite Legions with single-digit codes. Such item cards were only used in extremely dangerous game instances, so this method could be almost entirely ignored.
The third method, which was currently one of the most important criteria for selecting talent
within Legions, was known as the fastest way to clear a game with the greatest rewards. It involved uncovering the truth and worldview of the level you were in. Doing so would allow you to exit the game early, and the rating earned would always be B-Level or above. The exact rating would depend on how thoroughly you uncovered the game’s worldview.
Generally speaking, players who had only cleared three levels were still considered newcomers, and expectations for them were very low. As long as they could survive by following the first method, that would suffice. Recklessly attempting the third method often led to extremely tragic deaths. Ning Buwen had thought about using the third method, but since his newbie gift pack didn’t contain any useful items, he had no choice but to proceed cautiously.
However, in this game instance, the circumstances were so unfavorable that Ning Buwen had reached a point where taking risks was his only way out.
Take now, for example. He had obtained the key item, but that didn’t guarantee he would survive the night’s pursuit. Just dealing with Zhao Shutong alone was enough to crush him, not to mention that there was an even more formidable monster in the classroom. Even if Zhao Shutong couldn’t kill him due to the diary, once she dragged him to the classroom, his will would be ground down, and by then, he wouldn’t be able to force her back as he did during the day.
So, at this point, Ning Buwen had only one path left.
Xiao Xin, knowing nothing, simply followed his master obediently, heading in the direction of the school gate.
It was only 8 p.m., and there were still about two hours left until the end of evening study.
Two hours should be enough to reach the school gate.
But while the plan was ideal, reality was far less accommodating.
Just as Ning Buwen stepped out of the infirmary with his dog, he saw his remaining classmates, one by one, blocking his path.
There weren’t many students left in the class, maybe a dozen or so, and nearly all of them were here.
Under different circumstances, Ning Buwen would have thought his popularity had soared.
“Classmate Ning, you’ve missed two consecutive days of class. The homeroom teacher asked us to bring you to class,” said a plain-looking boy. Ning Buwen wasn’t even sure if he was a student from his class.
“I’m planning to go abroad, so I won’t be attending school for a while, and I definitely won’t be going to evening study. Please step aside,” Ning Buwen said as he attempted to move forward.
“No, you have to attend evening study!”
“How can a student skip class? I’ll take you there myself.”
“Come on, Classmate Ning.”
The other students began to surround him, each reaching out to grab Ning Buwen.
Some reached for his hands, others for his legs. It didn’t look like they were trying to take him back to class; instead, it seemed like they were trying to tear him apart.
Ning Buwen didn’t panic. Instead, he curiously observed the students.
Judging by their vacant expressions, they were likely under some kind of control.
But looking at it from another angle, Dr. Cheng, the last living person in this school, was now dead. What’s left are just some moving corpses, so there really isn’t much difference.
“Do you all even realize you’re actually dead?” Ning Buwen suddenly asked.
The students’ expressions immediately changed upon hearing his words.
“What are you talking about?”
“Classmate Ning, let’s go back and study.”
“Let’s go.”
Ning Buwen kicked the closest student right in the face without holding back at all.
In just a few minutes, he had knocked all students to his sides.
No pressure at all.
“When it comes to those inhuman creatures, sure, I can’t beat them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t handle you ordinary students.” Ning Buwen clapped his hands and couldn’t resist whistling. “I’m a professional, after all.”
Xiao Xin bit down on one of the students’ pant legs.
“Stop biting.” Ning Buwen quickly picked up the clumsy little dog. “These are just dead people. Why are you even biting them? After you’re done, don’t come near me.”
“Woof—”
“Walk by yourself, follow me.”
These students were nothing more than moving obstacles. Clearly, Zhao Shutong had sent them to stall for time. What she hadn’t anticipated was that Ning Buwen was quite skilled.
After all, he had even won a fight against Chen Ying, who was wielding an axe.
For the next stretch, although there were various obstacles along the way, they didn’t really slow Ning Buwen down much.
By around nine o’clock, Ning Buwen had reached the school gate with Xiao Xin.
At the gate, Zhao Shutong was waiting for him.
By this point, she looked no different from a vengeful ghost.
Ning Buwen glanced at her again and felt like she was a completely different person from what she was during the day.
He almost felt pity for her.
But pitiful people often have something detestable about them. Just the fact that she possessed Dr. Cheng and caused his death was enough for Ning Buwen to kill off any shred of sympathy he had for her.
“Let’s talk.” Ning Buwen put his hand in his pocket, gripping the old photo, trying to buy some time. “I can return this urn to you first.”
Ning Buwen placed the urn on the ground and stepped back a couple of steps. “Consider this my gesture of goodwill.”
Zhao Shutong’s nails instantly elongated, and she held the urn securely in her hands.
“I found a photo in Dr. Cheng’s diary.” Ning Buwen calmly looked at Zhao Shutong. “It’s a photo of a woman teaching in class. Guess who that woman is?”
Zhao Shutong held the urn in her arms, remaining silent for a long time.
“I always thought that you became like this because of your sister, but I was wrong.” Ning Buwen slowly pulled out the photo from his pocket. “Because even you don’t know the truth.”
When Zhao Shutong saw the photo, instead of rushing to grab it, a look of terror appeared in her eyes.
It was a mix of fear and anticipation.
A stark contradiction.
“Just like the students who have already died in this school, some of them may seem alive, but in reality, they’re all dead. It’s the same for both you and me. When you said earlier, ‘Dr. Cheng is the only living person in this school,’ I found it strange. At least, during the day, you seem no different from a normal person. I didn’t expect that the people you were referring to also included yourself.”
Ning Buwen turned the photo to face Zhao Shutong and slowly approached her.
Zhao Shutong’s gaze seemed glued to the photo, unable to move away.
The faded photo showed only one woman.
This woman was teaching a class, her face glowing with a radiant smile, looking absolutely beautiful.
The only difference between her and the current Zhao Shutong was that she appeared slightly younger and more human.
Ning Buwen immediately ruled out the possibility of twins.
That theory didn’t make sense. If a female teacher died at a school, how could they hire her twin sister, who looked almost identical, to teach in the same class? No matter how illogical a game might be, it wouldn’t have such a glaring flaw.
Then there was what Dr. Cheng said before he died: “She doesn’t have a…”
The full sentence should have been, “She doesn’t have a sister.”
So, only one possibility remained.
There was never Zhao Shutong’s “sister” in this school. Zhao Shutong never had a sister.
The deceased female teacher was Zhao Shutong herself.
She was the one summoned by the “original character” that Ning Buwen was playing and a group of students—the real, deceased female teacher.
But Zhao Shutong had forgotten this herself.
She had fabricated a reality where she “hadn’t died” and turned herself into her “sister.”
Yet, she hadn’t changed her name.
This was her biggest flaw.
That’s why, when Ning Buwen asked Chen Ying about the name of the dead female teacher, Chen Ying went mad in an instant.
Because at that moment, Chen Ying realized that her homeroom teacher, whom she had been with day in and day out, was actually the deceased female teacher. Everything Chen Ying had done, the person she wanted revenge on, and perhaps even her abnormal behavior, all stemmed from her teacher.
The instance “Spirit Summoning” was really about them dealing with a spirit.
And that spirit had been brazenly standing right in front of all the players.
Zhao Shutong was a teacher, able to interact with nearly all the students in the school. Yet, in the beginning, no one suspected her—how laughable is that? If everyone had united a little sooner, they would have quickly noticed something wrong with Zhao Shutong, rather than waiting until now, needing all sorts of deductions to confirm their suspicions.
“You wanted to kill Dr. Cheng because he had the diary and your urn. That diary contained your past memories and the method to destroy you!”
Ning Buwen pressed forward with the photo in hand, getting closer and closer to Zhao Shutong.
Zhao Shutong tried to raise her hand to kill Ning Buwen, but her body seemed frozen in place.
“I drilled a hole in the bottom of the urn with a knife and sealed it with wax. Just now, when I gave it to you, I removed the wax.” Ning Buwen opened his palm, revealing a piece of white wax. “How does it feel to have your own ashes covering you?”
On the back of the photo in the diary was a method for suppressing the vengeful spirit, which was the spirit’s own ashes. Dr. Cheng had suddenly gone to retrieve the urn because he realized Zhao Shutong had probably become a vengeful spirit. He wanted to protect the school, protect the students here, and even protect Ning Buwen.
Dr. Cheng was that foolish, that kind-hearted.
Zhao Shutong’s face began to change rapidly, her ghastly features gradually restoring to a more human appearance.
“I’ll give you the photo, too.” Ning Buwen pressed the photo against Zhao Shutong’s face, speaking clearly, “You are already dead. Leave this place.”
Zhao Shutong was stunned, her gaze blank. “I… I’m already dead? Yes, I… I already…”
Several months ago.
Four students, carrying a small booklet, had secretly climbed up the old school building.
“Teacher Zhao was so good to us. We can definitely bring her back to life.”
“Are you ready?”
“I’m ready.”
“I’m ready too.”
…
“Teacher Zhao, you’re really alive!”
“Teacher Zhao!”
“What… what happened to me?”
“Blood?”
“It hurts, it hurts so much.”
…
Reviving someone comes at a price.
The original host and the students who performed the summoning all died. All the students in Zhao Shutong’s class died as well.
Perhaps the curse spread throughout the school early, which is why this place became so eerie.
Ning Buwen watched as Zhao Shutong’s body slowly turned to ash, while a gentle female voice echoed.
“Congratulations, player, for clearing the instance ‘Spirit Summoning’ ahead of schedule. The exit has been opened. Please leave within two hours.”
At the school gate, a large golden chest suddenly appeared.
The patterns and design on the chest were exactly the same as those on Pandora’s Box, which Ning Buwen had obtained in the real world, except this one was much larger.
The chest was open. All he needed to do was step inside and close the lid to immediately return to the real world.
Ning Buwen walked toward the chest. Xiao Xin had already jumped inside, wagging his tail as he waited for his master to join him.
“You go back first.” Ning Buwen raised one foot to step in, then set it back down. “I need to grab something, I’ll be right back.”
There were still many unresolved questions in this instance.
From beginning to end, Dr. Cheng played too many crucial roles, yet his death was incredibly dramatic. Is that what they mean when they say good people don’t live long?
Ning Buwen wasn’t quite sure why—perhaps because it was rare for him to develop feelings for someone—that he was unwilling to believe Dr. Cheng had died so easily. Or maybe it was the first time someone had protected him like that, and now that the situation was resolved, he felt overly sentimental.
He wanted to go see him again.
“Woof.”
“It’s the first time I’ve caused someone’s death, and also the first time I’ve liked someone. I should at least take something back with me.” Ning Buwen muttered to himself, “Maybe once I get out of here, I’ll need to find a psychologist.”
He wasn’t the type to easily fall for someone, but when he met Dr. Cheng, it felt like something was constantly pulling him toward him.
Like, like, like!
Ning Buwen himself couldn’t understand his own thoughts. The eeriness of the instance had made him overlook how suddenly these feelings of “liking” had arrived.
If Dr. Cheng hadn’t died, maybe Ning Buwen would have forgotten about him once he left the instance. But Dr. Cheng had died to save him, and that made it hard for Ning Buwen to let go. This was a debt of gratitude that he would never have the chance to repay.
Ning Buwen couldn’t tell if he felt more guilt or more affection, but he knew he couldn’t just leave. Otherwise, he might feel sorrow every time he thought about it in the future.
He just needed to take a little memento with him.
At least that way, he would remember that there was once such a kind and beautiful NPC who died for him.
“Woof.” Xiao Xin couldn’t understand any of it and just wagged his tail happily.
Ning Buwen turned and ran toward the infirmary.
All he needed was to take back that framed photo of Dr. Cheng—that was allowed by the rules.
In fact, Pandora’s Box always left players with one to twenty-four hours after the game instance ended, depending on the situation. If a player was skilled and bold enough, they could use that time to continue searching the instance, and anything they found would belong to them.
Of course, some had risen to power this way, while others had dug up an item belonging to another boss and ended up dead.
Ning Buwen wasn’t greedy.
Having cleared the instance early, his rating would definitely be at least a B, possibly even an A. He didn’t need any additional rewards; he just wanted to bring back a keepsake.
The return trip was smooth and without incident.
He quickly reached the infirmary.
“Just to thank him…” Ning Buwen picked up the photo frame, muttering to himself when he suddenly heard unhurried footsteps approaching the door.
At this hour, how could there still be someone here?
Ning Buwen grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk and hid behind the door. The moment the person entered, he immediately thrust the scissors toward them.
But the other person was much faster than him.
The world spun.
A sharp pain came from hitting the ground. Ning Buwen had been swiftly thrown down by the newcomer.
The scissors fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
“If you want to kill someone with scissors, you shouldn’t aim for the chest.” The newcomer picked up the fallen scissors and pointed the tip at their own temple. “Stab here, that’s how you can kill me in one strike.”
It was still that same beautiful face, completely out of place in the eerie surroundings.
Only this time, he had taken off the white coat and replaced it with a black trench coat that could be seen anywhere.
He looked like a completely different person.
Dr. Cheng?!
“The instance should have ended. What’s wrong, didn’t I disguise myself well enough?”
The author has something to say:
If Dr. Cheng wasn’t the gong, I wouldn’t have spent so much ink writing about him, so the answer is very clear.
However, there may be a problem with his personality, hehe.
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