novelraw Chapter 112: The Stargazing Laboratory and Omniscient True Knowledge!
Chapter 112: The Stargazing Laboratory and Omniscient True Knowledge!
After exiting the Dean’s Office and confirming that there were no more items to loot on the third floor of the teaching building, Lin Xun returned to the stairway at the corridor’s entrance.
[At the corridor entrance is a stairwell leading to the lower levels of the teaching building. You look to the wall beside it, it is marked with the symbol for the third floor.]
[Embedded in the wall beside you is a rust-covered iron ladder.]
[You look upward and see the iron ladder extends to the ceiling, where there is a square hatch that appears to lead to the rooftop of the teaching building.]
[Will you go down the stairs, or climb the iron ladder to reach the rooftop?]
Lin Xun decided to explore from top to bottom, starting with the upper levels before heading to the basement laboratory.
[You climb the iron ladder, using both hands and feet to ascend.]
[You open the hatch at the ceiling and climb up to the rooftop of the teaching building…]
[This is not a wide-open rooftop platform, but a spacious room instead.]
[The large room is brightly lit, filled with many desks and bookshelves.][At the center of the room, you discover a one-meter-high orrery, and beside it a large fixed monocular telescope anchored to the ground. Both instruments are made of brass.]
[This appears to be a special-function laboratory.]
[As you gaze upon the familiar furnishings of the room, memories from the Shell stir slightly…]
[You recall that this place is the Academy’s Stargazing Laboratory. Your mentor once brought students here for observational astronomy lessons.]
[You clearly remember that on the side wall of the laboratory, there is a rotatable handle device that opens the rooftop of the lab.]
[You also clearly remember how to determine star coordinates using the orrery, and how to use the large monocular telescope to pierce through the Veil of Knowledge and observe the stars, thereby acquiring profound knowledge.]
[You remember even more clearly the late-night visits to this place with your mentor, just the two of you and the wonderful memories left behind.]
[Oh, that intoxicating knowledge…]
“…”
Fortunately, the Shell’s memories were presented as text. If they had to be visualized and played out in reality… that would’ve been too beautiful for Lin Xun to imagine.
He controlled Lir’s Shell and continued the game.
[Following your memories, you walk to the side wall of the laboratory…]
[There, you find a metal handle device, its hinges connected to the rooftop of the Stargazing Laboratory.]
[You rotate the metal handle. Amidst the sound of hinges turning and gears meshing, the rooftop of the Stargazing Laboratory slowly opens.]
[Starlight gently spills in. You look upward. In the pitch-black night sky, no stars or moon are visible. Yet the faint white glow of the stars still falls softly, as if draping the eerie world in a veil of soft white gauze.]
[You understand that human eyes alone cannot penetrate the Veil of Knowledge to observe the stars. One must transplant sensitive eyes or rely on the Stargazing Telescope to acquire knowledge about the stars.]
Veil of Knowledge?
Lin Xun frowned. What the hell was that?
[You approach the towering orrery, which records nine celestial bodies. You check the star calendar on the desk to confirm the date, then look at the wall-mounted clock to confirm the time. Recalling the content of your stargazing lessons, you begin to manipulate the orrery…]
[You successfully lock onto the coordinates of a star. Using those coordinates, you adjust the Stargazing Telescope to align with the appropriate angle…]
[Seeker Apostle, would you like to use the Stargazing Telescope to observe the star and gain knowledge?]
Currently, Lir’s Shell skill was still active, allowing for increased Knowledge gain.
The only hesitation Lin Xun felt was not knowing how much Knowledge the stargazing would yield.
His current Knowledge stat was 125/200.
If the Knowledge gained exceeded the limit and triggered overload, Lir’s head would explode, and she would die instantly. Reshaping her would cost another point of soul strength.
If he used another student Shell as a scapegoat and the Knowledge gained from stargazing didn’t reach the overload threshold, then he’d lose the 50% amplification bonus from Lir’s Shell.
After careful consideration, Lin Xun decided to observe the stars using Lir’s Shell.
Since all students at the Academy could take the stargazing course without losing their minds, it likely meant that the Knowledge gained from stargazing wasn’t excessive.
Or rather, the stars that the students were allowed to observe contained very little Knowledge.
[You close one eye and lean toward the lens of the Stargazing Telescope…]
[Through the lens, you see a brilliant star in the pitch-black void of space…]
[You have acquired Knowledge. Your Knowledge stat increased by 30! Current Knowledge: 155/200]
[The orrery records eight more stars. Would you like to continue identifying a star’s coordinates?]
A fixed 30 points per star? Or is there fluctuation?
Lin Xun clicked continue.
[You manipulate the orrery… determine the star’s coordinates… adjust the Stargazing Telescope…]
[You close one eye and lean toward the lens…]
[You have acquired Knowledge. Your Knowledge stat increased by 40! Current Knowledge: 195/200]
…That was way too close!
Lin Xun exhaled in relief.
[The orrery records seven more stars. Would you like to continue identifying a star’s coordinates?]
He immediately hit no and switched to the Knowledge-Seeking Student Shell.
Time for the scapegoat to take the stage!
He opened the inventory and clicked on one of the Books Containing Trace Knowledge.
[You open the Book Containing Trace Knowledge and read through its contents, absorbing the knowledge within…]
[You have acquired Knowledge. Your Knowledge stat increased by 10! Current Knowledge: 205/200]
[Your understanding has surpassed the critical threshold and reached the extraordinary. You once again glimpse Omniscient True Knowledge…]
[Chaotic, disordered Knowledge floods into your soul. You begin to lose yourself in the ocean of Knowledge.]
[Sanity slips away as madness consumes your mind.]
[Your head explodes with a deafening blast…]
[You are dead!]
The Knowledge-Seeking Student Shell died as planned, sacrificial strategy successful.
Lin Xun grinned wide. Another soul strength point saved.
[The ordinary wandering soul is reborn in the ancient lecture hall…]
[The ordinary wandering soul is filled with chaotic, disordered Knowledge and cannot move freely.]
[Would you like to spend 1 point of soul strength to purge the chaotic Knowledge from your soul?]
[Current Soul Strength: 1/3]
This Shell could be discarded soon anyway. The cost of Knowledge overload had been reduced from 2 points of soul strength to 1.
With only 1 point remaining and unable to use it, and the cursed game’s anti-addiction system kicking in again, Lin Xun put down his phone, opened the Writer Assistant, and began his miserable writing grind…
By the following evening.
In-game, his soul strength had recovered to 3/3.
The Book of Salvation. Activate!
[You have entered the Apocalyptic Chapter.]
[Chapter 82740874]
[The ordinary wandering soul awakens in the ancient lecture hall…]
[The ordinary wandering soul is filled with chaotic, disordered Knowledge and cannot move freely.]
[Would you like to spend 1 point of soul strength to purge the chaotic Knowledge from your soul?]
Lin Xun decisively clicked ‘Yes.’ He wasn’t sure if the Knowledge cap would become 300 or 400.
[You spent 1 point of soul strength to purge the chaotic, disordered Knowledge from your soul.]
[Current Soul Strength: 2/3]
[Your Knowledge cap has increased. Current Knowledge: 0/300]
Lin Xun curled his lip. Only a 100-point increase each time from overload? Kinda stingy.
[You have possessed the Knowledge-Seeking Multivision School’s Four-Eyed Student Shell.]
After possessing Lir’s Shell, just as he was about to return to the Stargazing Laboratory to grind more Knowledge…
[You are being watched by an unknown presence. Your connection with the Omniscient True Knowledge deepens!]
???
Lin Xun slowly typed out three question marks.
This scene… felt eerily familiar?