Chapter 330 - 306: A Little Otherworld Culture Shock

Chapter 330: Chapter 306: A Little Otherworld Culture Shock

Lloyd clearly remembered that before coming in here today, he had gained a little over one level from his contact with Elolo last night and the giant flower bud this morning. He’d then raised all his Attributes to 275.

’Then where did these extra 30 points come from?’

’Thirty Attribute points meant I’d gained six levels, which meant I’d been exposed to 60,000 points of Spiritual Contamination...’

’Where did it all come from?’

But luckily, Lloyd hadn’t lost consciousness at any point. The panel had been operating continuously, so his mental state was still normal.

’I should just assign these points first...’

’Ten points into Rationality, ten into Spiritual Power, and ten into Cognition. A perfectly balanced, all-around build!’

[Ding~ Point allocation complete]

[User: Lloyd]

[Status: Normal]

[Madness Value: 233/10,000, Limit: 28,500]

[Rationality: 285]

[Spiritual Power: 285]

[Inspiration: 150]

[Cognition: 285]

[System: Twist LV4, Veto LV3, Manifestation System Enlightenment available]

’Ah, that’s better. The very definition of a well-rounded build.’

Lloyd nodded. While he started cooking, he scrolled back through the panel notifications, searching for the source of this huge chunk of Madness Value.

Looking back, he discovered that during the initial period of his studies, he hadn’t suffered any Spiritual Contamination. Instead, he would just occasionally obtain a skill fragment.

’They were most likely related to Spatial Domination, as expected.’

’It was a shame. He’d gotten quite a few fragments, but the skill showed no signs of leveling up. It was still LV1...’

But after he finished his eight hours of studying, the skill fragments vanished, replaced by a flood of Madness Value in varying amounts.

[Ding~ Madness Value +3]

[Ding~ Madness Value +1,671]

[Ding~ Madness Value +23]

The amount of Madness Value fluctuated wildly, from just a few points to over a thousand. Even the frequency was random; sometimes it would tick up every few seconds, other times every minute or two. It was the very picture of chaos and unpredictability.

This also made it impossible for Lloyd to tell whether his body was adapting to it.

Fortunately, he wasn’t hit by any particularly strong or sudden bursts of Spiritual Contamination, so the panel simply absorbed it all.

After four hours, a total of over 60,000 points of Madness Value had been converted into his well-rounded Attributes.

’Is this why Professor Lawrence told me to study for only eight hours?’

’But what is this strange situation? Why was it safe before, only for me to start suffering from Spiritual Contamination afterward?’

Lloyd didn’t quite understand.

Still, this was a good thing for him. He had been worried that joining Mizkatoke would slow down his leveling speed, but now he wasn’t concerned about that at all.

Coupled with the ten-to-one time dilation here, Lloyd didn’t dare to imagine how inflated his Attributes would become by the time he graduated.

’This probably goes way beyond what terms like "version updates," "power creep," or "predatory monetization schemes" can even describe, right?’

’It’s probably an inflation on the scale of an Italian plumber becoming a Nephilim from Sanctuary, right?’

At this thought, Lloyd’s mood brightened, and the fatigue from his long hours of studying eased considerably.

He even added a few leftover squid tentacles to the little kitten’s goat milk to give it some extra nutrition.

As for his own meal...

Perhaps because he was too busy looking at his panel to pay attention to the stove, the dish he made today wasn’t up to his usual standard. It was just a blackish lump that bore a certain resemblance to the cuisine of a particular great Eastern nation.

’I’ll just call it Indian curry rice...’

Lloyd casually named his new creation for the evening and then shoveled down a few bites.

’It won’t kill me!’

Cooking for one is easy. Even with some culinary improvisation, you can still fill your stomach.

After dinner, Lloyd flopped onto the living room sofa. Looking at the lavishly furnished yet empty room, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.

’My sister isn’t here... I really miss her...’

Just as Lloyd was feeling melancholy, he suddenly felt a familiar and gentle power emerge from the air beside him. It actively nestled into his arms, pressing against his chest.

It felt as if, in his moment of loneliness and vulnerability, the Childhood Sweetheart from next door had slipped in to comfort him with her gentle presence.

A warmth spread through Lloyd’s chest. His hands subconsciously wrapped around an invisible, slender waist, and his mood gradually settled.

’Then again,’ he thought, ’it’s not surprising that this power can cross the barrier of Space to reach me. After all, the giant flower bud acts as a channel and Medium.’

’But how does she bypass the barrier of time?’

’This ’Childhood Sweetheart’ from next door... she’s truly unfathomable...’

Lloyd mused carefully, not daring to dwell on it too much. With one arm around the invisible ’Childhood Sweetheart’—who was who-knows-how-many-years his senior—he activated his student handbook and went straight for the "Message Board" section.

’Time to see what kind of crazy antics the Seniors of this madhouse have been up to.’

Lloyd first checked the "Campus News" section, where he found a serialized post titled "Mizkatoke Daily Record."

This was the so-called school paper, collected, organized, and published by the Arts Department. Its dates were based on the academy’s internal clock.

Which meant that eight days had passed, academy time, since Lloyd last read it.

But it seemed the Seniors had been pretty quiet over the past eight days, failing to pull off any major stunts. As a result, the paper could only publish some rather tame news—

For instance, some Senior’s love confession to a junior was rejected, so he leaped from the top of a fifteen-story tower and wrecked the lawn in the Extraordinary District. He was originally only going to be docked a few academic credits for repair fees, but the Senior tried a hit-and-run and was caught by a patrolling professor. He was docked even more credits and suffered a disastrous loss.

Another story was about a Medical System student who secretly sabotaged a biology student’s research project, turning their painstakingly cultivated singing sunflowers into sunflowers that did nothing but curse. The two of them ended up in a massive brawl in the dueling arena, nosebleeds flying everywhere, with no clear winner...

Then there was the bold madman from Engineering who tried to use a self-developed autonomous machine to destroy the ugly statue in Knowledge Square—a public service, really. Unfortunately, someone snitched, the operation failed, and he was tragically punished with a deduction of academic credits...

’Well, while there weren’t any eye-popping stunts, at least the news was concise and factual. They didn’t resort to clickbait titles like "Shocking!" or "This only ranked third!", and there were no rumors or slander.’

’Seems like Mizkatoke was wise not to establish a journalism major, huh?’

After reading the news, Lloyd moved on to the section that interested him most: the "Story Corner," where he browsed through all sorts of fascinating historical tales.

The stories were refreshing at first, but after reading a few, Lloyd noticed a common flaw they all shared—

’They were far too realistic...’

’There were no stories about a Dragon King’s Son-in-law, no framed War Gods, and definitely no leveling up and assigning points.’

’Even the fictional stories were overly concerned with realism and logic. They just weren’t very exciting to read.’

’In that case, I’ll just have to show you all a little culture shock from an Otherworld!’

Lloyd selected "Post Message," intending to bring over some of the most memorable works from Earth and give the students of Mizkatoke a taste of true imagination.

He thought for a moment. ’I’ll start with this one—’

"Do you want to know the meaning of life? Do you want to... truly live?"

Of course, as a civilized young man with a higher education, Lloyd made sure to add a disclaimer before the story began, stating that it was purely fictional and a complete transcription, making his role as a simple "transporter" of the work clear.

The student handbook’s input method was incredibly convenient, allowing for "thought-to-text" input that even Earth’s technology couldn’t manage. As a result, Lloyd wrote very quickly, and the first Chapter was finished in no time.

There were bound to be some deviations from the original, but it couldn’t be helped. It had been so long since he’d read it that he naturally couldn’t remember everything perfectly.

He had also localized some of the character names to make them easier for others to understand, but the main plot should be more or less intact. With that, he selected "Post Message."

He didn’t need to worry about it after that. It wasn’t like he’d get paid, receive donations, or be able to sell merchandise for posting it. There weren’t even stats for likes or views. It was purely for fun, so Lloyd didn’t give it much thought.

Besides, it was getting late. Time for bed.

But before going to sleep, Lloyd returned to the Thought Realm and tried once more to use Infiltration to reach Elolo’s side.

Unsurprisingly, it failed.

’I don’t have the ’Childhood Sweetheart’s’ ability to cross the barriers of Space and time to get to Elolo.’

’The ’Childhood Sweetheart’ has also vanished without a trace. Maybe she left quietly after seeing that my emotions had stabilized?’

’She’s as gentle as always...’

With his mind wandering, Lloyd slowly drifted off to sleep.

The moment he woke up the next day, he entered the Thought Realm again and reached out to touch the giant flower bud, wanting to see if there was any more Madness Value to be had.

As expected, there were no surprises. He received exactly 10,000 points of Madness Value, enough to gain another level.

Lloyd couldn’t help but nod. ’This is pretty good,’ he thought.

’The ’Childhood Sweetheart’ is already carrying such a heavy burden, but with her gentle nature, she’s still looking out for my mental state, unwilling to let me share too much of it at once.’

’This is much better. I can level up more efficiently, and she can have an easier time. It’s a win-win for both of us.’

Five points into Rationality.

Lloyd casually assigned the points, pushing his Rationality up to 290.

Then he got out of bed and started his morning exercises.

However, he had only just finished a few sets of squats when his student handbook began to vibrate impatiently.

It was a message from Professor Hazled, and it posed a strange question:

"Did you study for too long yesterday? For more than eight hours?"

’Huh? How did he know?’