Chapter 244 - 9: Exams and Gacha Game

After getting the seemingly innocent but actually devious Maid to quiet down, Duan Fei began to ponder how to solve the problem here.

Frankly, he was quite tempted by the Otherworld Machine here.

The Otherworld Machine provided Energy. This Energy could be used to add affixes to Equipment, making it easier to upgrade them further.

The Equipment he currently had on hand included the Crowbar, Void Glasses, Spider Suit, and Mechanical Bracelet. Both the Crowbar and the Void Glasses were Indestructible, and now was the perfect time to use Energy to add affixes to them.

Therefore, if he could solve the problem here and turn this place into the Salted Fish Inn’s second base, he would be able to obtain more Energy. That would make adding affixes much more convenient in the future.

However, this type of permanent instance was quite valuable. Duan Fei didn’t know the true nature of Lin Daiyu, Flora, or the Maid, so he disguised his plan as a hidden quest. This was a way to rope the three of them in and temporarily form a team.

After learning about the hidden quest, Lin Daiyu thought for a moment before saying, "Anxiety actually has positive aspects. It can focus a person’s scattered thoughts and motivate them to work toward a goal. The constant worrying about gains and losses that stems from anxiety can actually help us address our own shortcomings and improve our relationships. That’s one of the reasons we feel anxious."

Noticing everyone looking at her, Lin Daiyu explained, "I’m an applied psychology major. I might be a slacker, but I still know a thing or two."

Realizing Lin Daiyu knew more about this than he did, Duan Fei immediately asked, "Then what do you think we should do?"

"Let’s start by getting to know the students here. This place has supernatural elements, so their anxiety might be different from what you’d see in reality. We need to investigate this. Hold on, I’ll put together a simple questionnaire, and then we can split up to conduct the survey. There are thousands of students here, so there’s no need for a small sample size; we can just survey everyone directly."

"We have to hand out a thousand of these? What do you think I am?!" Flora complained. "I’ll only do it if someone comes with me."

As she spoke, she kept sneaking glances at Jinghong from the corner of her eye.

Jinghong had an aura similar to hers, which gave her a sense of kinship. She had a keen feeling they could become friends.

Jinghong’s only thought on the matter was, ’Go away.’

Some people don’t have friends because they can’t make them. Others don’t have friends because they don’t want them.

Lin Daiyu was about to explain that it didn’t need to be so complicated when she heard Duan Fei say, "Why don’t we just include the questionnaire in the exam? No need to distribute them. We can just have the dean take care of it."

"Good idea." Lin Daiyu nodded in agreement. "You think fast. You’ve already figured out how to leverage the instance’s resources. Okay, I’ll go make the questionnaire."

Flora shot Duan Fei a resentful glare, a whole series of complaints running through her head.

Ignoring the little brat, Duan Fei waited for Lin Daiyu to finish the questionnaire and then gave it to the dean of students.

When he learned that Duan Fei’s group had helped prepare a questionnaire, the dean of students shook Duan Fei’s hand gratefully. "Thank you so much, Duan Someone."

"Don’t thank me. It was all Lin Daiyu’s work. You should organize the exam quickly so the students can provide their feedback. Would it be alright if I observed?"

"Not a problem. Watch as you please. Fierce Wolf, pour our guest some tea! Don’t just stand there gawking."

The Husky immediately snatched a teacup in its mouth, hopped over to the water cooler, and used its nose to press the lever, filling the cup halfway. It then trotted back to Duan Fei, cup in mouth.

Staring at the cup, which was now half water and half drool, Duan Fei could only say politely, "That’s not necessary, I’m fine. Uh, Husky, how about you just come over and let me give you a good scratch instead?"

"I’m Fierce Wolf, not a Husky! Ahh, that’s the spot... I love you~"

As he scratched the Husky’s head, Duan Fei thought, ’This guy’s well-built, with a glossy, shiny coat. His fur is so smooth... he really is a good dog.’

The dean of students was also watching Duan Fei, stunned.

In his eyes, a peerless Fierce Wolf, wreathed in black mist, was being toyed with by Duan Fei. No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t break free. It ended up making a complete fool of itself, revealing a disgustingly fawning side.

’This Duan Someone... he’s really something else.’

Snapping back to his senses, he got down to business and began distributing the new test papers to every student.

Since this was the Ghost Hunting School, its specialty was, naturally, using Supernatural Power to accomplish various tasks.

A small model of the school was brought out. It was a 1:100 scale replica of the entire campus, and every area was perfectly recreated—except for the very room Duan Fei and his group were currently in.

Tiny figures representing the students and players also appeared on the model, and they even mimicked their real-life counterparts’ actions. Duan Fei clicked his tongue in amazement as he watched.

"This is a miniature model. It’s used to monitor the entire school and also to perform maintenance. A school this large would be impossible to manage without it."

The dean of students introduced the model with considerable pride, but then he sighed. "This sort of thing was commonplace back in the day. It wasn’t until we left our homeland that we realized just how precious it truly is."

After the test papers were copied, the dean used a pair of tweezers to pick up the miniscule papers and place them into each classroom on the model. With that, the initial preparations were complete.

Once the students finished the test, he collected the papers again and handed the stack to Duan Fei.

Back with his companions, they sorted the papers, reviewed the contents according to Lin Daiyu’s instructions, and came to a single conclusion.

Aside from exams, they weren’t anxious about anything.

These kids had been trapped here since they were in elementary school. They had virtually no concept of the outside world, nor had they ever been beaten down by the harsh realities of life.

Their only source of anxiety was the stress from taking exams, but that source couldn’t be tapped too frequently.

In the past, to obtain more Energy, the dean had held exams every single day. While this had significantly increased the amount of Energy they collected, it also made the students excessively stressed. Ultimately, the gains weren’t worth the losses.

After sharing this information with the group, Duan Fei looked at Lin Daiyu and asked, "What’s your take on this?"

Lin Daiyu looked at their summarized findings. "Anxiety is often a fear of the unknown—either the fear of not getting something or the fear of losing it. Right now, the students’ anxiety about exams is actually quite superficial; they’re simply scared of the tests themselves. Therefore, we should amplify the impact of the exams to make each one generate more anxiety."

Pinching his chin, Duan Fei mulled it over for a moment before saying, "Then how about we introduce a ranking system?"

"Isn’t that too cruel!" Flora immediately interjected.

Ignoring the kid, Duan Fei continued, "We’ll give scholarships to the top-ranked students. These scholarships can be used to buy various things. The higher their rank, the more scholarship money they get."

The dean, who had been listening in, immediately chimed in, "That might not be possible. We have too little Energy, so we probably can’t offer any worthwhile rewards."

"Don’t worry, I have another ace up my sleeve," Duan Fei said. "Have you guys ever heard of gacha games?"

"You really are too cruel!" Flora cried out.