Did the Hardcover Book Upgrade?

Sol once again observed the ... chunk of flesh on the Teleportation Platform from a half-immersed perspective. This time, it was no longer covered by that hazy layer of holy light.

Suddenly, Sol sensed something.

He whipped his head toward the passage. A pair of eyes stared at him in terror from behind the black fringe.

Holding the Bone Cleaver, which was smeared with minced flesh and dripping blood, Sol walked toward the passage.

He grabbed the black leather fringe and swept it aside, revealing someone crawling backward inside.

The light in the room slanted into the passage, cutting a line between light and shadow across the person's face.

Sol narrowed his eyes and guessed who it was.

"Senior, we haven't met before. Come on over and chat."

"Ah, well, haha..." Hayden glanced at the knife in Sol's right hand and swallowed. "I, I just thought that corpse seemed a little strange, so I wanted to see if there was anything I could help you with."

Sol smiled.

"Thanks so much. I could really use a hand here. Could you help me carry it inside?"

"Look at me..." He showed Hayden his small, thin frame. "I'm young, and I'm not strong enough to move something that heavy."

Hayden's smile froze. He'd only been making polite conversation!

But when he saw the Bone Cleaver still gripped in Sol's right hand, Hayden gave in.

He crawled out of the passage one step at a time. "Haha, you're so small. Are you even ten yet? Your senior will help you move it, okay?"

"Wait." Sol suddenly tossed the Bone Cleaver back onto the tool table with a clatter, then turned to Hayden with a radiant smile.

"Senior, I was joking. You actually came over? Hurry back. This isn't a passage for the living. I can handle all this myself. Otherwise, the instructor might think I'm not suited for the job."

"Huh? All right, then. Call me if you need anything." Hayden froze halfway through, then had no choice but to crawl back.

Sol stood by the passage, holding the fringe aside as he watched Hayden retreat, step by step, until he was back in his room.

The fringe across from him fell into place, blocking the light that had shone into the passage.

The passage was three meters long, and about a meter wide and high. Thick walls surrounded it, separating the two rooms.

If not for this passage between them, the rooms would surely have been very well soundproofed.

Sol let the fringe fall and looked up. The Candle Lamp above the passage had turned a dim yellow again.

That was enough work for today.

But there were still a few things to take care of.

He pushed the large box beneath the worktable over beside the conveyor belt, then picked up the Bone Cleaver again and carefully scraped the chunks of flesh off the belt.

A round, lumpy thing dropped off the edge of the conveyor belt. It bounced a few times on the floor, then rolled all the way to the door, where it was stopped by the door itself.

What was that?

Sol gripped the knife and walked toward the door, ready to attack at any moment.

When he got closer and took a careful look, he realized the thing on the floor seemed to be... an eyeball?

With a clatter, the Hardcover Book flew up again and opened in front of Sol. He immediately went on high alert.

[Shuoyue Calendar, Year 314, June 24, Sunny

Today was a pretty good day. You dodged a cunning enemy's attack, sent him where he belonged, and gained a Phantom Sound Pupil.

How strange. Why can an eye talk?

Or did you think the eye was talking?]

Sol couldn't quite understand what the Hardcover Book said this time.

He couldn't figure out how he was supposed to die.

Eyes? An illusion?

Would his eyes split open? Would his mouths disappear, or get sealed shut?

Sol also noticed that a weather description had abruptly appeared after the date in the Hardcover Book. He remembered that it had never been there before.

As Sol stood frozen, unsure what to do, the Hardcover Book flew back to his left shoulder.

But he hadn't done anything.

Sol's eyes suddenly lit up. Could this not be a death prediction? Could it be some kind of appraisal spell, like an item description?

Sol turned his head toward the Hardcover Book on his left shoulder. "Buddy, did you upgrade?"

Unfortunately, the Hardcover Book stayed silent, still ignoring him.

"Ugh, you should give yourself a description first."

Though he had his suspicions, Sol remained on guard. He tightened his grip on the Bone Cleaver and slowly approached the eyeball by the door.

Judging by the Hardcover Book's reaction, what it had just shown him probably wasn't a death prediction. But that was only Sol's guess, and he couldn't let his guard down yet.

Sol walked over to the eyeball and slowly crouched. He took out a box and used the back of his knife to nudge the eyeball inside. The Hardcover Book still didn't appear to warn him.

Sol stood up, closed the box, and sealed it. His heart was racing with excitement.

He had dodged death predictions several times already, but each time, all he gained was the chance to keep his life a little longer. He hadn't expected to get an extra drop this time.

It was a shame that the Hardcover Book hadn't given him any warning before he noticed something strange about the eyeball.

He wondered if it could upgrade again in the future and become a radar that could search things out on its own.

Sol put away the Phantom Sound Pupil and his fantasies about the Hardcover Book, then worked his facial muscles until he looked more dour.

Then he picked up the Bone Cleaver and pushed open the door to the Corpse Room.

Ever since he'd come to the second floor of the East Tower, he'd never explored far down the corridor.

He walked along the corridor, which was still curved, though the bend seemed wider than on the tenth floor.

The second floor always seemed darker than everywhere else, and the farther in he went, the dimmer it became.

At the end of the corridor was nothing but darkness. Sol couldn't see what else might be concealed in the shadows.

After a dozen or so steps, a second crimson door came into view.

This was probably the Corpse Room of the senior apprentice responsible for the second stage of processing.

Sol stepped forward and knocked.

It was quite some time before a voice came from inside.

The door opened a crack.

Hayden's face appeared in the gap, his body blocking the view of the room completely.

"Senior, sorry to bother you. My name's Sol. I'm an apprentice who enrolled just a month ago. I still don't know your name. How rude of me."

"I'm Hayden." Hayden kept a hand pressed firmly against the door, as if ready to shut it at any moment. "I became a Level 1 Apprentice long before you did. What do you want?"

"I wanted to ask you, Senior Hayden: when you were handling that corpse just now, did anything seem off to you?"

Hayden shifted uneasily. "Ah, that. I did think something was strange. But I couldn't see what was wrong, or what else might be valuable, so I tossed it over to you. Haha, you seem to have handled it pretty well."

Sol stared straight at Hayden until the other man avoided his gaze and muttered, "Well, I might have been mistaken."

Sol grinned stiffly. "I'll be counting on you again, Senior."

After saying goodbye to Hayden, he turned and continued toward the first Corpse Room.

Once Sol was far enough away, Hayden hurriedly shut the door.

As soon as it closed, Hayden's expression changed. He muttered viciously, "Why are you cowering in front of a new apprentice?"

Hayden's expression changed again. He rubbed his hands nervously. "Well, there's... there's no need to start a fight. We'll have plenty of time to get along."

Meanwhile, Sol set the Bone Cleaver down in the shadows of the corridor.

He had brought the knife to deal with Hayden, but he couldn't meet Senior Byron while holding it.

He rubbed his face, and his gloomy expression turned courteous and polite once more.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The same crimson door slowly opened, and light spilled out from the room. A woman, just half a head taller than Sol, stood in the doorway.

Sol froze.

"I'm here to see Senior Byron. May I ask who you are?"

The woman's eyes were half-closed. Her voice was flat as she said, "Byron's old enough to leave the tower, so he went back to pack his things."

"Leave the tower?" Sol immediately forgot why he'd come and asked in astonishment, "Does that mean we all have to leave the tower once we reach a certain age?"