Just then, a plume of black smoke seeped out from the corner of the wall and began spinning like a tornado.
Amid the swirling black mist, Otaku emerged with a pale face, cackling. "I thought my enhanced Black Mist Stealth could fool your Wolf Scent, but I didn't expect it to fail anyway. You..." Otaku put away the slender black wand in his hand and asked, "Where's Ji Wen?"
"She got here a while ago." Xiong Ba glanced at the pool of blood on the ground. "Right? Don't think that overpowering stench of blood can cover up the perfume on you. I told you not to wear perfume, but you wouldn't listen. That stuff will get you killed one day. Hmph! You didn't even help me just now and made me handle it myself. The Headmaster only gave me 25 Study Points. That's practically pocket change."
The blood on the ground began to boil out of nowhere. Then it flowed together, rising higher and higher until it formed a slender figure with generous curves. Finally, a person appeared from within the membrane of blood.
It was Ji Wen!
Ji Wen walked with seductive grace and gave a playful laugh. "Xiong Ba, you've gotten quite a bit stronger. You can even use Blood Wolf Smoke so easily now. Congratulations."
"Your Water Body has improved a lot, too," Xiong Ba said flatly. Then he asked, "How many people did you lose?"
Otaku gave a sinister laugh. "Half of them. Hahaha, what a bunch of idiots. They really thought I was their bodyguard? The Headmaster may have set a rule that every student death costs one point of Comprehensive Evaluation, but that restriction doesn't apply while you're in a 'mission state.' After all, the Headmaster doesn't expect us to be full-time babysitters for rookies, does he? So I found them a 'simple' mission..." Otaku shrugged. "You can't blame me for that."
Xiong Ba pursed his lips, then asked Ji Wen, "What about you?"
"About the same," Ji Wen replied. "A few of the girls didn't trust me and left on their own. See? Their blood's mixed in with this pool, too. Did they think it was so easy to ride the 'protagonist's halo'? They deserved what they got. As for the rest, I found them a mission that was neither too hard nor too easy, and managed to get away cleanly. I don't know if they're alive or dead now. What about you?"
"Two died. One was bitten by a Zombie, and you saw what happened to the other one. They weren't in a 'mission state' or 'voluntarily withdrawn,' so the Headmaster deducted two points of Comprehensive Evaluation and one point of F-grade Evaluation from me. What a loss."
"What about the others?" Otaku asked.
"They took on the Hidden Mission 'Save Guide Dog Mary.'"
"A Hidden Mission?!" Ji Wen was rather surprised. "They're pretty lucky."
"Who knows?" Xiong Ba said. "Though one of them did surprise me. I used Scout on his attributes, and it turned out he had seven points of Intelligence."
"Seven points?" Otaku's expression shifted. "A rookie was given seven points of Intelligence by the Headmaster... Heh, sounds like promising material. If he chooses the mage path, his future achievements could be immeasurable."
Ji Wen added, "Seven points of Intelligence... Yeah, he's got potential. Maybe we could recommend him to Senior Chong Ming."
Xiong Ba shrugged. "But he only has 34 years to live."
"Wait..."
Ji Wen and Otaku stared at each other in shock.
"Would you call that the heavens being jealous of a genius?" Ji Wen smiled.
Otaku chuckled. "What a shame, what a shame. Sigh, the heavens really are jealous of talent."
Xiong Ba pursed his lips. "Don't forget, there are infinite possibilities at the 'University.' Lifespans can be shortened, but they can also be extended... Let's keep an eye on him for now. If he really is talented, we might as well recommend him to Senior Chong Ming."
After a pause, Xiong Ba said, "All right, enough chatter. Let's get down to business. Ji Wen, how's it going?"
Ji Wen smiled. "Don't worry, I've found the 'entrance.' Just as Senior Chong Ming said, there's more beneath this church than meets the eye. I think Senior Chong Ming discovered this when he completed that 'Ultimate Reward' mission... I'd never paid attention to why all the Lickers showed up at this church. We all thought it was just part of the director's plot, but there's another reason behind it. Only a powerful person like Senior Chong Ming could uncover a secret so obvious and yet so well hidden!"
"Yeah. Only someone as brilliant as Senior Chong Ming... No, a god, could complete that nearly impossible mission. If we're careful, we might make a fortune," Otaku said, not bothering to hide his admiration for Senior Chong Ming, even though he had once cost him twenty years of his life.
Then Otaku continued excitedly, "Five thousand Study Points, twenty points of Comprehensive Evaluation, and one point of C-grade Evaluation! Even if the rewards are cut in half, it's still a fortune! We've just moved up to sophomore year, and we can upgrade a lot of our skills and enhancements again. We've already run out of the Study Points we saved up. The thought of making a big windfall this time has me thrilled."
"Mm." Even Xiong Ba was getting excited. "But don't get careless. The Headmaster has weakened our abilities by 50%. This mission probably won't be easy. More importantly, this is a test from Senior Chong Ming! We must not fail!"
Ji Wen's eyes shone brighter, like stars veiled in mist. She clasped her hands to her chest like a little girl, her face full of admiration and reverence. "Senior Kong Ming's Grand Prophecy has grown even more powerful. She's practically a god. She can even influence the Headmaster's decisions so easily... Without her, we couldn't have entered the world of Resident Evil to complete this 'Ultimate Reward' mission."
At the mention of "Senior Kong Ming," Otaku's pale face turned lovestruck, and color even returned to his cheeks. But the next moment, his expression dimmed. In a soft voice, he said, "Only a powerful person like Senior Chong Ming could be Senior Kong Ming's destined partner. Only he is worthy of her... No one else is. No one..."
Xiong Ba glanced at Otaku and pursed his lips. "All right, hurry up. Even though we've found the secret passage, we still have to figure out the exact route ourselves. Whether we earn Senior Chong Ming's favor depends on this!"
"Mm!"
The cemetery behind the church!
Ji Wen led Xiong Ba and Otaku along at a leisurely pace, not paying the slightest attention to the Zombies crawling out of the ground. It was as if they weren't terrifying Zombies, but helpless ants.
A shield made of water surrounded the three of them. Its dark blue barrier kept the hideous corpses at bay. No matter how they clawed and bit, they couldn't break through to get at the three feasts inside.
"Here!"
Ji Wen stopped in front of a gravestone and read the English inscription aloud. "A path to heaven. May the dead rest in peace."
"Heh, 'a path to heaven' and 'the dead' again. The Headmaster sure is bored," Otaku said.
Xiong Ba snorted. "You want to die, making fun of the Headmaster like that?"
"I'm just saying," Otaku replied with a shrug.
Ji Wen ignored them and ran her slender fingers over the English words for "heaven" and "rest."
"Click!"
A soft sound rang out, followed by the scraping of stone. In the dark cemetery, it was eerily unsettling.
A pitch-black hole opened beneath their feet, revealing a passage leading to who knew where—to death, perhaps, or maybe to heaven!
"Let's go."
Xiong Ba said it and jumped down.
Ji Wen and Otaku followed.
Then the secret door quickly closed again... leaving only a group of Zombies on the surface, howling in confusion.
The night went on...