Chapter 70 Road Trip Tips (XIV)
"Some marks"?
Tang Xinjue immediately thought of what Xiaohong had said.
[This is a sign from a higher level that someone has remembered you.]
If the two mean the same thing...how come it changed from "one" to "some"?
Before he could ask more questions, the counselor controlled Guo Guo's hand and moved it upwards, and Tang Xinjue's eyes suddenly went dark.
She opened her eyes and looked around in the darkness. She was back in the cave.
"Take a good look. What do you see?"
The counselor's voice suddenly sounded from outside the narrow hole.
This time there was no interference from external forces. Tang Xinjue easily concentrated his mind, and when he looked up again, he realized that there was a difference.
The cave was not really empty. The pitch-black darkness before our eyes was actually layers of floating black fog!
For some reason, the black fog gave her a familiar feeling of coldness, but it did not attack her, but floated quietly in place.
This time, Tang Xinjue concentrated his attention without any instruction, stretched out his "hand" and waved away the mist in front of him.
The mist cleared slightly, revealing a few items inside.
A small glass bottle was suspended in the air, and next to the glass bottle was a silver ring, which emitted a turbid yellow halo... When he looked closer, Tang Xinjue realized that it was not light, but a yellow eyeball floating behind the ring, spinning around.
Floating under her eyeball was a white, unidentified, donut-shaped object. She had to get closer to recognize that it was a roll of white tape.
These items are hidden in the black fog, and it is difficult to find them even if you notice something unusual.
Tang Xinjue vaguely understood what this [cave] was...but what was more important was what was in front of him.
When she reached out her hand to touch it, she felt an invisible resistance blocking her way, and the black fog also tended to close again.
"Do you want to take them out?" the counselor asked outside.
Tang Xinjue frowned: "It's difficult."
Counselor: “That’s right.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a force pushed her upwards. Tang Xinjue opened her eyes and saw the familiar dormitory in front of her again.
Her roommate was looking at her with wide eyes.
On the other side, the counselor sat upright: "What you see is all the marks you get."
Tang Xinjue hesitated for two seconds: "I saw four in total." - It can indeed be described as "some".
"Someone has warned me before, but at that time, it only said that I had a mark on my body."
There are two possibilities. One is that Xiaohong can only sense the existence of the marks but cannot see the number. The other possibility is that the remaining marks were added after meeting Xiaohong.
The counselor nodded. "Your guess is reasonable. Some bad students from first-tier universities, or not very decent outsiders, will leave marks on freshmen for various reasons. But the probability is very small, because marking also requires a price. As for those with so many marks on their bodies..."
The counselor carefully considered her words and said gently, "It is indeed quite rare. It is enough to show that you are a student with great potential."
"Why did they leave their marks on me?"
"Generally speaking, it's for revenge."
“…”
Is this what you call "potential"?
The counselor said kindly: "Visiting time is limited. You can ask one last question about the marking."
Tang Xin Jue lowered his eyes and thought for a moment. He did not ask how to remove the marks, but said, "Are these marks and the fact that the instructor mistook me for a dark creature one of the reasons for the bug that affected the difficulty of our exam?"
The counselor's smile froze.
It was clear that she didn't want to answer questions about the blunder.
But the words had already been spoken, and she could only cough lightly: "The exam is fair, and I cannot tell you about its screening rules. It's just that sometimes, excessive fairness can also lead to some omissions... When it thinks that your abilities are sufficient, it will relax the restrictions on difficulty, but at the same time it also makes it easier for some people with ulterior motives to take advantage of the situation."
The counselor didn't finish his words, and showed an expression that said everyone understood.
Tang Xinjue smiled and nodded: "For example?"
counselor:"……"
She had to explain in detail: "To put it simply, if even the counselor would mistake you for a dark creature, then the system would naturally occasionally confuse you with a bad student. If the examination system determines that there are students who are similar to bad students among the candidates , the difficulty you will face will increase."
Tang Xin Jue was thoughtful: "I originally thought that the instructor had made the mistake because of his personal reasons. Because there are no ghosts in the dungeon... the bad student mistook my identity."
counselor:"……"
She wiped the non-existent sweat off her face and said, "Well, the position was clear during the exam, but the situation is special now."
Fortunately, Tang Xin Jue turned the topic back to the main topic in the next sentence: "So, I influenced the system's judgment?"
The counselor nodded and said, "Student Tang, I'm afraid I have to say this with regret. The stronger your ability is, the more complex your aura will be, and the greater the probability of confusing the system... This is likely to become a vicious cycle."
The black fog represented the aura of darkness, and the objects in the fog represented the marks of ghosts. These two auras intertwined in her sea of consciousness, but only the human aura was thin.
Why is this happening?
Tang Xinjue had some guesses in her mind, but she didn't express them. She and her roommate looked at each other and asked the counselor together, "Is there a solution?"
"This visit was only to gather information, and no solutions were prepared."
The counselor spread his hands in a very human way, as if he was just an ordinary counselor - if there hadn't been a huge, motionless red eyeball outside the door, and if this action hadn't happened to Guo Guo.
The next second she changed the subject: "Of course, out of humanitarian guilt for accidentally hurting classmate Tang, I decided to give you a gift."
She opened her palm and gently tapped Tang Xinjue's forehead.
"This is my encouragement. When you turn it on, other auras will be temporarily covered up. When you turn it off, everything will return to normal."
After saying that, she smiled and withdrew her hand, as if waiting for something.
Zhang You and Zheng Wanqing immediately realized that the counselor might be waiting for them to express their gratitude.
However, before they could speak, Tang Xinjue suddenly shook and fell to the side!
"Heart decision!!"
The two of them cried out in shock and held her up. The counselor attached to Guo Guo was also so frightened that he clasped his hands together and stretched his head out: "My, my encouragement shouldn't cause any harm to the students, right?"
Next to the bed and stairs, Tang Xinjue held his temple. His perennially pale skin looked like he had gone from being malnourished to being seriously ill if he pursed his lips hard.
The calmness and energy he had just had disappeared, and now he looked extremely weak.
Tang Xin Jue coughed twice and spoke softly, "There's nothing wrong with my body, but when I met the counselor, I couldn't help but recall the pain of being just one step away from death. To be honest, I have been timid and easily frightened since I was a child. Once frightened, it is easy to leave sequelae, such as paranoia, weakness in the limbs, impaired IQ... auditory and visual hallucinations, subconscious disorder, etc."
She covered her chest with her hands, her face showing lingering fear.
Counselor: "Yes, I'm sorry. I was impulsive just now. So as compensation, I gave you [encouragement]..."
Tang Xin Jue shook his head and forced a smile: "No, we are lucky that the counselor can come to visit us diligently and actively find solutions to the system's problems. Even if I was killed by mistake, it was only out of your concern. How can I complain? I will work hard to overcome the psychological trauma in the next exam. After all, my roommate is a psychology major and can help me with counseling."
She pointed weakly at Zheng Wanqing.
Zheng Wanqing was confused: "What did you say? But I majored in finance, not psychology, right?"
"Ah, how could this be..." Tang Xinjue covered his face and sighed, "Alas, this is my fate."
roommate:"……"
counselor:"……"
Without waiting for others to respond, she suddenly spoke again: "But it doesn't matter. There are always more solutions than problems. In order to survive, I can also risk my life to find help in the dungeon. Perhaps other knowledgeable classmates and teachers have similar experiences. After they understand the specific situation, they may be able to help me-"
The counselor gasped and quickly stopped her, "Don't, don't go out and tell anyone!"
She forced a friendly smile and said, "Everyone, please solve your problems... Look, what else do you need?"
