Chapter 340 - 312: The History Department’s Small Project

Chapter 340: Chapter 312: The History Department’s Small Project

Lloyd continued to read the post, increasingly unsure whether to laugh or cry.

’Have these people really turned my own Twisted System’s tower into a ’campus legend’?’

’Being misunderstood was one thing, but how did the misunderstanding get so strange? So completely off the rails?’

In fact, the person who originally started the thread had only expressed surprise at the "tower in the corner." They found it strange and mysterious, and their words conveyed the excitement of witnessing a "campus legend" firsthand.

It was the replies below that started spouting nonsense:

"Whoa? I heard people who’ve seen that tower run into bad luck. Apparently, they get lost for no reason, fail their exams, or make all sorts of stupid mistakes on their projects. You’d better be careful."

"I’ve heard that, too. The most ridiculous story I heard was about a guy who mistook a lamppost for a cute junior girl and got down on his knees to confess his love right then and there..."

"That’s not all. A Senior from our Biology System got lost once and accidentally stumbled near the tower. Afterward, he was sent straight to the psychiatric ward and spent over half a year in there before he barely recovered!"

"Right, right, I’ve heard about that too! And after that Senior got out, he refused to say a word about what was inside. No matter who asked, he wouldn’t talk... I can’t even imagine what horrors he must have seen."

"Could it be... some kind of mysterious being of a High Position?"

"Highly likely. I’m from the Mysticism System, currently studying Divination. Our professor specifically warned us to never get curious about that tower and to absolutely never use Divination to find out what’s inside!"

"Whoa? How does this keep getting scarier? There isn’t actually some man-eating monster in there, is there?"

"If it only ate people, that might not be so bad... But I’ve heard that tower is capable of bringing Destruction to all of Mizkatoke!"

And so it went. As more replies piled up, the speculation and wild theories grew more and more outrageous, straying further from the truth until the tower became a source of "great horror," something "unnamable"—a thing that "could not be spoken of, seen, thought of, or looked upon directly."

Discussing the tower was one thing, but as he read further, Lloyd realized he’d somehow gotten dragged into it.

"Let me tell you all a secret... This very morning, I saw a guy walk out of that tower with my own two eyes!"

"What? Another person with a death wish went inside?"

"No, no, no, I don’t think so. I’d never seen the guy before. His Arm Badge looked brand new, with no etchings on it, which should mean he’s a genuine new student. But think about it—the new academic year hasn’t even started yet. Where would a new student come from?"

"Hiss... now that you mention it, could it be that the thing from the tower has disguised itself as a human and infiltrated our ranks?"

"No way! If it intends to harm people, wouldn’t it be impossible to defend against? Will it secretly attack students who are alone? Eat them?"

"Quick, tell us what the guy looked like! Any distinguishing features?"

"He was actually pretty handsome, one of those rare, stunningly good-looking guys. But that’s meaningless! Since the thing inside can disguise itself as a human, it can definitely change its appearance at will. For all we know... it could even turn into someone you know!"

"Then... what are we supposed to do? What if one day my roommate isn’t my roommate anymore? What if he just suddenly eats me one day?"

"I... I think I’ve heard a similar story. There’s a type of evil Demon that transforms into the people it eats. This thing could eat you, then turn into you, and go on to eat your friends, and even your family!"

"Whoa! You guys, stop talking! This is getting scarier and scarier!"

"SOB... You guys are awful! I’m never looking at the story section again!"

The rest of the discussion devolved into people guessing about the handsome-boy-shaped Demon—what species was it? Where did it come from? What did its true form look like?

In any case, they trotted out all sorts of hearsay: stories about shape-shifting Demons, an extra student appearing out of nowhere, a suddenly resurrected relative...

As for its actual appearance, the initial image of a handsome youth morphed into a great beast with "a face red as cinnabar," "eyes like bronze bells," and "a mouth like a basin of blood." All it did was eat people, eat people, eat people! It ate people in all sorts of creative ways!

Lloyd was so speechless he didn’t even have the energy to retort.

’What’s with the obsession with eating people?’

’I’ve never eaten one myself, but no matter how you think about it, humans can’t possibly taste good, right?’

’My culinary skills might be profound, but I’ve never actually researched recipes for humans, have I?’

’Nope, not looking anymore.’

Lloyd shook his head and closed his student handbook.

This whole "misunderstanding," however, did make him realize something. Even with a tool as convenient as the student handbook, the flow of information at Mizkatoke wasn’t nearly as efficient as he had imagined.

When he’d first entered the academy, there had been a large crowd of onlookers. Yet not a single person had stepped up to debunk the rumors and confirm that a normal new student had recently enrolled.

None of the new classmates he had just met had come forward to help explain, either...

’Perhaps it’s because not everyone likes to browse the ’message boards,’ and not everyone is interested in the ’story section’?’

As for the Twisted System’s "academic building," the rumors had distorted it beyond all recognition...

But since the Twisted System had no students, there was naturally no one to debunk the rumors...

’Whatever. Let them spread whatever rumors they want, as long as they don’t scare themselves sleepless.’

Lloyd grumbled to himself, then went to take a shower, planning to turn in early.