Arc 17Chapters 412–436
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Lin Yi explored the Dream Studies sector and found a book written by a dreamweaving person about reaching the boundary of dreams. As he read, its account pulled him into a vivid dreamlike world, where he began sinking into the terror and despair described on the page.
Lin Yi became trapped in a Dreambuilding book’s account of Gu Fangqing’s descent into despair, while Fanatics gathered in the Library and plotted to eat him. The Female Dorm Supervisor protected him until he woke, and the chapter ended with Lin Yi checking the time and eyeing more books.
Lin Yi explored the Library’s dream studies sector, where he found a warning about the Collection Area and continued reading scattered notes. As the Library’s floors shifted and revealed a book called The Law-Establisher’s Words, Amon’s Music Box and Black Nursery Rhyme began to sound, leaving Lin Yi in danger.
Lin Yi escaped a dreamlike passage where The Law-Establisher's Words and the Little Girl's influence tried to pull him in, then waited with the Female Dorm Supervisor for the Security Guard. The Security Guard arrived as darkness spread through the Library.
The Security Guard arrived with several Black Apron Chefs and drew the Grinning Angels hidden in Lin Yi’s ashes out of him, destroying them with his Spiked Club. He left the ashes in Lin Yi, and the chapter ended with the Female Dorm Supervisor asking to be stripped of her position.
The Security Guard stripped Zhao Lingxiao of her dorm supervisor identity, then led Lin Yi and the others away while calling Lin Yi an “Ashes Apostle.” Elsewhere in the Library, an old researcher’s experiment failed, but a passage to The Law-Establisher’s Words appeared, and he rushed toward it.
A frantic Library administrator spotted Lin Yi through a disappearing Pathway but failed to reach him before he left, then collapsed with a coughing fit. Meanwhile, Lin Yi followed the Security Guard and the others through a dark field that seemed to lead into the Wooded Belt, where a distant light appeared ahead.
Lin Yi and Zhao Lingxiao returned to the Campus, where the Security Guard let them go and warned that an Ashes Apostle would find Lin Yi. As Lin Yi hurried toward the Teaching Building to retrieve a dictionary left by Head Teacher 039, the Wrathful Angel Sculpture awakened and attacked him.
Lin Yi lured the Wrathful Angel into the Teaching Building and discovered that the Impersonator Classmates and Purebred Night-Walking Species in the elevator could drain its supernatural power. As they began devouring it, Lin Yi noticed someone in the corner of his vision.
Lin Yi entered the Group B Class 2 Teachers' Office to retrieve a dictionary and was attacked by a hidden figure. After a brutal fight, he recognized the attacker as Head Teacher 040 and convinced her that he was Lin Yi.
Lin Yi confirmed his identity with Head Teacher 040 and retrieved the dictionary Head Teacher 039 had left for him, while the two discussed an unusual envelope that revealed their differing perceptions of contamination. Lin Yi opened the dictionary and froze at what he saw.
Lin Yi found Head Teacher 039's investigation records about the 70th Gray Fog Invasion, the Angel, and the search for Ashes, and learned how her investigation led to her contamination and disappearance. The final entry, dated the day Lin Yi enrolled, asked, "Who is he?"
Lin Yi read Head Teacher 039’s investigation notes about the Angels, Ashes, and the concealed seventieth Gray Fog Invasion, then discussed his own Ashes contamination and the Authorities with Head Teacher 040. He learned that the Authorities sent Head Teacher 040 to replace 039, and wondered whether 039 had been sacrificed.
Head Teacher 040 explained how Head Teacher 039 had secretly continued investigating the 70th Gray Fog Invasion and recruited Lin Yi to help. Their records revealed that Mu Daxian and Yuan Big Head entered the Campus in the same batch, and that someone had deliberately erased Yuan Big Head’s first entry record.
Head Teacher 040 explained how Big Head Yuan and Mu Daxian had been used in a scheme to collect ashes, and revealed that Yuan Lijian was a new Ashes Collector in Lin Yi’s class. She showed Lin Yi a secret archive linking Yuan Lijian to a decades-old incident, then began recovering by absorbing primal contamination at dawn.
Lin Yi examined Head Teacher 040’s severe back wound and learned that Yuan Lijian had unusual contamination and a history tied to the Authorities’ exoskeleton armor project. After running dozens of simulations, Lin Yi found a way to restore her, and they moved to the Head Teacher’s bedroom to begin before 7:40.
Lin Yi used his simulated contamination to restore Head Teacher 040’s wound, then learned how the School Doctor’s power to “repair” differed from his restoration. As he waited with Head Teacher 040 for evening self-study to end, Lin Yi began to suspect that Wei Liang might be tied to the mysterious “he” mentioned in earlier clues.
Lin Yi and Head Teacher 040 discovered that a strange, unrecognized figure had infiltrated the classroom and vanished, and Lin Yi suspected Mountain Man was connected to it. While taking attendance, Lin Yi recorded clues from his recent experiences and ended by writing, "I am human."
Lin Yi learned that the Gymnasium battle had left many Athlete Students injured and some dead, while Boss remained unharmed and sent him a message of thanks for repairing the City Wall. After promising Li Huiyuan he would explain the secret someday, Lin Yi went with her to question Xu Shunkang about what happened.
Lin Yi questioned Xu Shunkang about Lao Mo’s death and the previous night’s events, then learned how the Gymnasium and Art Building related to the Gray Fog Invasion. Xu Shunkang began describing the ominous being summoned by the Fanatics, leaving its threat unexplained.
Lin Yi learned that the creature that attacked the Campus was an Ashes Apostle and resolved to investigate its connection to Ashes. Back in class, Li Huiyuan and Wei Liang teased him over his damaged clothes, while Wei Liang’s suspicious reaction to Lin Yi’s bag left Lin Yi wondering what he knew.
Lin Yi changed clothes in the bookshelf area and was pulled into a Dreambuilding vision of the Abandoned Classroom, where he saw a passage connecting the eerie book The Law-Establisher's Words to his past self in the Library. He escaped by anchoring himself to the classroom's time, then found the Ouroboros Ring on his finger despite its Stone Box remaining closed, leaving him wondering whether the Abandoned Classroom and Library were connected.
Lin Yi found a newly written diary entry in a Hentai Manga that described events in the Art Building and questioned how the information could keep changing. Suspecting the answer might involve sleep and dreambuilding, he decided to initiate dreambuilding himself while Li Huiyuan watched over him.
Lin Yi used his perception to follow the information in the book across layers and saw the Library through the eyes of an Art Student named Li Zidan. As he fled back toward his body, a presence detected his layer leap and began collapsing the passage around him.
Lin Yi escaped the shifting layers and returned to the Bookshelf Area, where he learned that Li Huiyuan had shared his perception through the Ouroboros Ring. Meanwhile, Art Students investigated a brief mental intrusion and prepared for another dangerous night, and Lin Yi left the library after an awkward exchange with Li Huiyuan.