Chapter 940: Prologue: Possibility of Precisely Activating Dungeons

Only by observing can interference be achieved.

Only by interference can control be exercised.

To put it simply, you first need to aim; at the very least, you must be able to detect and lock onto the target area, knowing exactly where you want to strike. Only then can the second step of shooting commence... If you’re clueless about the target you’re supposed to hit, and don’t even know where the area to strike is, or in which direction to aim—

Then you wouldn’t even be sure where to pull the trigger.

Of course, precise and meticulous operations are out of the question.

However, it’s not entirely impossible...

After all, even without aiming or knowing the enemy’s location, just blindly firing could by sheer probability happen to hit the target... This possibility cannot be denied; at least probabilistically, the chance of such an occurrence isn’t absolutely zero.

It’s just that this probability is extremely, extremely slim.

Thus, relying solely on a lucky burst to compensate for the lack of accuracy is not wise. Gu Mo had no such thoughts, as he thoughtfully examined Mikko’s delicate face, then glanced at the failed creation on the table, lost in contemplation.

"..."

"..."

A brief silence.

Since he’d temporarily stopped talking, the air naturally became quiet. Miss Tamamo no Mae had no intention of speaking either. Her eyes wandered, her thoughts unknown; perhaps never before had anyone felt more keenly that she was indeed a cunning fox turned elf.

The pavilion’s atmosphere also fell into tranquility.

Only the wind blew through the valley, rustling the nearby verdant bamboo forest, creating a rustling sound.

In this atmosphere, Yatsugaya Miko was quite uneasy, her head lowered as she gently twisted her fair hands under the table, looking somewhat bewildered. She couldn’t understand why the air suddenly grew silent; did she say something wrong?

The unavoidable suspicion arose, and she cautiously raised her gaze, sneaking a glance at the teacher opposite.

Thankfully, she noticed the young man across the table didn’t have a cold or angry expression, but rather a somewhat conflicted look, clearly deep in thought about something, which slightly relieved her. It seemed she hadn’t said anything inappropriate...

—That’s a relief.

—Otherwise, it would be troublesome, and she’d be at a loss.

But it’s not surprising she acted so cautiously; this succession of events was far beyond the average person’s ability to grasp. Absorbing a massive influx of information in a very short time overwhelmed her brain, leaving her somewhat dazed.

Furthermore, the unfamiliar surroundings added to her discomfort in a foreign place... As a supposedly ordinary high school girl, her mindset was naturally influenced, leading to a subconscious sense of reliance, worried she might not have done well.

—What if the teacher no longer cares about her? What then?!

This was an instinctive fear in her heart, a psychological thought she couldn’t avoid.

Gu Mo sensed Yatsugaya Miko’s psychological activity, but he wasn’t overly concerned. He had already identified the girl’s traits: even if she appeared calm, possessing the strength to face imminent doom without flinching, she was contradictory.

In many instances, while she seemed composed on the surface, internally she was terrified, frightened to the core.

Outwardly bold but inwardly timid, for reasons unknown, she always manages during truly pivotal moments to control her facial expressions excellently, suppressing the instinctive fear and scream within, never wavering regardless of the events unfolding before her, leading people to think her mental resilience is exceedingly strong.

Most likely, it’s the same now; her mind is racing with countless imaginary scenarios, despite emitting a calm exterior.

He offered no opinions, merely scrutinizing the slightly uneasy black-haired girl with long straight hair, then casually pulling the magic guidebook from the table to him.

Gu Mo’s gaze hovered briefly over the open pages of the book.

Just then, a breeze blew through, causing the pages to flutter slightly.

This book was imbued with many peculiar traits by his spell, such as "indestructibility," "automatic recording," "infinite pages," and the like, but the most crucial function had always failed in development, or rather... it hadn’t succeeded yet. Initially, this book was envisioned to be the "Book of Worlds," recording various dungeon world logs.

However, that doesn’t mean he was arrogantly planning to store an entire world on each page...

That is certainly impossible; even if Gu Mo became ten, hundred, or even a thousand times stronger based on his current capabilities, this task would remain unattainable.

Thus, he wasn’t aiming too high, attempting to fly before learning to walk. Therefore, his goal remained practical and realistic: simply to have each page collect a world’s coordinates, which could open entrances to various dungeon worlds.

Indeed, that’s all there was to it.

If successful, nothing could be more convenient.

If successful...

Gu Mo skillfully concealed his inner thoughts, not revealing them at all, gently exhaled, and then waved the magic guidebook in his hand towards the JK girl across from him, simply asking, "Mikko, can you really see the... entrance on it?"

"Uh... yes, yes."

Yatsugaya Miko blinked and nodded slightly, her gaze shifting to the book in his hand.

"But... this page doesn’t seem to have it, the previous page did."

The book had been left on the table, pages turning continuously by the breeze, and it was just by chance that she saw such dazzling light and shadow effects on the page. In the real world, seeing such effects would easily astonish someone, instinctively associating it with magic or immortal techniques.

Thanks to a massive enhancement in her perception domain not long ago, merely gazing was enough to vaguely establish a slight connection with the space-time across from her.

She inexplicably perceived, vaguely, a mysterious passage, constructed somewhere deep in the void of space-time, extending from the current world directly to another world... fresh, unfamiliar, complex; although she didn’t know what the world on the other side was like, it also seemed filled with unknowns and variables.

Even she couldn’t help but feel a sense of curiosity and a desire to explore.

It was precisely because of this that she immediately connected this possibility to being some sort of magic teleportation gate, perhaps leading back to her original world... Isn’t that quite possible? Moreover, since she woke up here, the passage from her world must be nearby, right?

"Is that so..."

Gu Mo nodded slightly, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

He quickly flipped the book pages with his other hand while calmly asking, "Is there one on this page?"

"Yes..."

"What about this page?"

"There’s none on this page..."

Yatsugaya Miko didn’t quite understand what was being done, merely sensing that it seemed like the teacher wanted to confirm something, so she obediently cooperated, earnestly watching the other person flip through the pages, stating what she saw.

Not every page had a space-time vortex-like effect...

At least she didn’t see it.

But for those pages with strange vortices gently rotating on them, she honestly stated what she could see.

Gu Mo swiftly conducted several tests and compared the results with his records, gaining some understanding. It seemed somewhat different from what he imagined, but perhaps more reasonable. He scrutinized those pages, squinting slightly.

Why was he unable to see them?

Or perhaps, the dogged system only entrusted this portion of function to specific "functional NPC"?

Thinking this way, it indeed seemed quite possible, after all, he never could, by his own ability, notice the dungeon entrances refreshing on the large map; the only change was after recruiting Hiri, he could intuitively see the dimensional teleportation gates through her ability.

But that’s it, just like now, when the Demon Hunter Girl temporarily left to save her world—

The system’s dungeon mechanics reverted to their original form.

They still randomly refreshed on the large map of the real world, with no discernible pattern; likewise, neither he nor anyone else could see the entrances to the dungeon...

With this understanding, he realized something.

The idea of utilizing Zi’s ability for more precise dungeon localization shouldn’t be wrong. But in this process, a crucial element was missing, which was... observation.

"Tamamo, could you do me a favor and make a trip?"

Gently knocking on the table with his knuckles, after pondering for a moment, Gu Mo turned to look at the nearby Miss Fox Spirit.

"Go to Fantasy—no, better head to the Wizard World, see how Hiri’s progress is, and bring her back."

He initially intended to ask Miss Tamamo no Mae to go to Fantasy Land to bring Zi over, but reconsidered and decisively changed his mind. It was probably safer not to risk it; he had every reason to suspect that sending Tamamo into Fantasy Land would only trigger an increase in anger value.

She was already hostile to that "extremely dangerous" world filled with beautiful women...

Having managed to calm her down before, why risk provoking her again?

Miss Tamamo no Mae naturally agreed immediately, always full of motivation when it came to serious matters of her Master. With a single turn, she vanished.

Gu Mo turned back to look at the somewhat puzzled expression of Yatsugaya Miko, smiling slightly: "Mikko, it seems that my previous decision to hire you was quite foresighted..."

Saying this, he glanced at the options below the girl’s health bar ID—

Then selected one, sending a team request over...