Hidden Support

"Of course, but this alone won't be enough. I'll also need to know how difficult this assignment is. You can provide the information, right?"

"Of course."

Wang Hai made a call, and before long, someone delivered a very thick file bag. Jiu Ming's eyelid twitched slightly at the sight. It seemed tonight would not be boring after all. "Let's arrange a meeting place. How about we meet in three days? I'll need some extra time to prepare."

"That's easy. The same place as last time. I'll go there tonight."

Taking the file bag, Jiu Ming weighed it in his hand. "We'll discuss the payment then."

"Don't worry, you won't be disappointed. Oh, and if there's no need, don't show up in broad daylight anymore. Someone called the police last time. Want me to get you a silicone skin suit? I guarantee you'll look exactly like a normal person."

"Uh... Skin Painting? That feels weird. Forget it. I'll just make sure no one sees me." Considering this world's technology, Wang Hai's suggestion truly would not be difficult to carry out. But the feeling of it—put nicely, it was like Skin Painting. Put badly... wasn't it like some pervert crawling into an inflatable doll?

"Fine, then."

Wang Hai shook his head. Turning to Jiu Ming had been a last resort. Teachers like them were forbidden from interfering with student training, and finding outside help was even less permitted. If they were discovered, they would face disciplinary action. There were protective measures prepared for the students, of course, but those were only for relatively mild situations.

They would be useless in an emergency.

Naturally, some academies that cared more about their students would find external help when conditions allowed. Those helpers had to be registered. As for the ones whose existence was concealed, the first requirement was that they could not be discovered. And if they were discovered, they absolutely could not admit who had hired them.

Everyone understood without saying it aloud...

This kind of hidden support generally acted as little as possible, with most of their attention focused on the academy's more promising students. The more often they acted, the more likely they were to be exposed. Once exposed, it would not be easy to leave the student Training Area. If they were caught, they would have something held over them, and they would definitely lose face.

There could not be too many hidden supporters, but they absolutely had to be strong!

"See you." Tucking the file bag beneath his arm, Jiu Ming waved at Wang Hai behind him and walked forward. Suddenly, several faint ripples appeared before him. Then Jiu Ming vanished into thin air. If an outsider saw such a strange sight in the middle of the night, it would be terrifying.

"Pfft... Holy shit! Space Ability!?" Wang Hai, who had just gotten a can of beer from a nearby vending machine, sprayed out half the beer in his mouth. He then shook his head in disbelief. "It's probably related to what he is... After all, ghosts are such rare beings."

Fine, Jiu Ming's existence was no secret. Changhe Academy was, after all, the most famous school in Lingquan City. There was a reason Jiu Ming had been able to sneak inside so smoothly before. Many of the school's experts had left in advance to prepare for the upperclassmen's training.

Afterward, they had brought back this very bad news.

Quite a few researchers at Changhe Academy were extremely interested in Jiu Ming's existence. Many had tried to speak with him, but Wang Hai had used his connections to suppress the matter for the time being.

He was just a ghost! Was there really any need to make such a fuss?

...Of course there was. Maybe he really was the only one of his kind. If word got out, perhaps they would not even get the chance to speak with him first.

In short, Changhe Academy temporarily kept Jiu Ming's matter under wraps. Paper could not cover fire forever, but they would keep it covered for as long as they could...

"Let's see. Hm? Death Forest... Never heard of it. What an overused name!" Pulling several documents from the file bag, Jiu Ming yawned. These materials had been prepared quite thoroughly... They must have been put together beforehand!

After rummaging through it for a while longer, Jiu Ming found a large map. The distribution of the continents was fairly similar to the world from Jiu Ming's previous life, though many regions had different names.

They were sending the students there for training?

The interns in his previous world were ridiculously weak by comparison. Training meant completely different things in these two worlds. In the former, interns could at least be called cheap labor. In the latter, it was outright live combat training!

The Training Area was marked with a red circle on the map. The circled area was not large, and it was neither on the outskirts nor at the center of either side's territory. Even so, the danger level had risen greatly. After briefly reading through the materials, Jiu Ming memorized several precautions. One of them was that he could not be discovered, whether by students or anyone else.

The purpose of the training was to hone the students' abilities. Another rule was to act as little as possible, and not act at all if possible, so as to develop the students' ability to adapt. Beyond that, he had to pay special attention to highly talented students. If they encountered danger, he was to save them if he could, even at the cost of exposure. Every talented seed that died was a loss to the Human Race.

This was also an unspoken rule behind the academies secretly finding hidden support. Few people wanted to see promising talent lost.

Finding them was one thing, but if they were exposed, then it was the academy's fault. Punishment would definitely follow. Some things only needed to be understood in everyone's hearts. Saying them aloud was courting death.

The difference between an Academic Scum and an Academic Tyrant?

Jiu Ming raised an eyebrow slightly. Academic Tyrants were valued everywhere after all. Setting the documents aside, he looked at the thick book stuffed inside the file bag, pulled it out, and began reading.

After reading for only a short while, Jiu Ming shook his head. This world's history had developed completely differently from his own, even down to the dynasties, let alone everything else. Supernatural abilities had also existed in this world for a long time. Asia's population advantage was simply enormous.

With such a massive population advantage, the probability of geniuses appearing had been forcibly raised to a remarkably high level. In other words... the Celestial Dynasty National Strength in this world was very formidable...

It was quite an impressive world. Once Individual Combat Power reached a certain level, one could dominate an entire region. Technologically, because of those High-Energy Mineral Crystals, it had also developed along different paths.

Well, just as the Mysterious Shop's appraisal had said, High-Energy Mineral Crystal was merely this world's term. In a Xianxia World, it would be called a Spirit Stone... and there were also Immortal Stones and God Stones?

Perhaps this world's Abnormal Energy was particularly abundant, leading to such evolution. Humans benefited from it, but animals and wild beasts were not treated unfairly either. The ones that evolved were no weaker than humans. Some especially powerful ones were said to possess intelligence no less than that of humans. Fine, they could be called Monsters.

The conflict between humans and Exotic Beasts had never stopped. Humans were developing, but those creatures were not growing stronger slowly either. The stalemate between them was rarely broken. Even when the scales tipped toward one side, it would not last very long.

Page by page, Jiu Ming carefully read the book on the table, familiarizing himself with the new things in this world. Soon, he reached the final page, left with a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.

"Ah, there's still too little content." Standing up and stretching, Jiu Ming checked the time. Dawn would come in another two hours. Without that Great Luck Burst from the other day, it was unlikely any new customers would come here anytime soon.

Without customers... Tsk, now that he thought about it, apart from the conveniences provided by the Mysterious Shop, wasn't the world he was currently in also meant to get Jiu Ming to start working?

If he just waited, then if his luck was bad, no one might come here for one or two months. If he failed to meet the monthly turnover, then the current shopkeeper would be dismissed in disgrace.

After surviving that inhuman Training Period, Jiu Ming no longer took death lightly. After such a painful experience, treating death lightly again would leave him feeling deeply unwilling. Dying was one thing, but dying after suffering so much?

How frustrating? Since that was the case, he might as well live on strongly. Jiu Ming was not calm enough to let go of the miserable memories from that Hell Training Period.

He had endured so much suffering and survived. Throwing his life away now would be a complete loss!

The screen of the phone Suzumiya Haruhi had left on the coffee table briefly lit up. Jiu Ming, who had already narrowed his eyes and planned to sleep for a while, did not notice.

"Hey! Old Wang, the reference books you gave me aren't enough. Can you bring me a couple more?"

The next morning, after getting Wang Hai's phone number, Jiu Ming began bothering him early in the day. Normally, making a call from the Mysterious Shop would have been impossible. There was no signal at all!

But Suzumiya Haruhi's phone seemed to have broken free from ordinary signal-based communication and reached the Rule Level.

He easily dialed Wang Hai's number. When Wang Hai answered, he stared blankly at the huge string of garbled characters displayed on his phone. What the hell was this?

Only after answering did he realize it was Jiu Ming. What was this? A Ghost Call?

"For something this minor, you can find this kind of book in any small library. Go look for them yourself." Wang Hai grabbed a towel beside him and wiped his face. "I've got some matters keeping me busy lately. Like I said, want me to get you a silicone skin suit? The Folk's Highest Specification kind—highly elastic, breathable, bulletproof, thin, and it won't affect your sense of touch. You can receive it in two hours."

"...Would you willingly crawl into an inflatable doll for no reason?"

"Being a ghost is such a hassle."

"I can walk through walls."

"...I'm telling you, don't go committing crimes for no reason. I know people at the station too. When the time comes, I definitely won't cover for you."

"You're overthinking it. What can a ghost like me even do?" Jiu Ming sneered and changed the subject. "Forget it. I'll figure it out myself. You won't subsidize me with some money?"

"Hah!?" The corners of Wang Hai's stern mouth twitched. "Didn't you say money was beneath you?"

"Of course. You also know I have plenty of ways to get money through Illegal Channels." Jiu Ming shrugged.

"Fine. Half an hour from now, I'll have someone leave a bank card at our usual place. The password is six zeroes. Handle the rest yourself. If someone picks it up before you do, use your Illegal Channels. I'll tell you about a few Illegal Dens..."