Volume 6: War and Peace in the Black Forest Chapter 5: Incident in the Black Forest
"Hello, Assistant Professor Li Lin. Thank you for your help to the world."
"You are truly our savior. You have accomplished so many great things in just a few months. I toast to you."
"A good person has emerged from the Holy Light Department."
“…”
"Sallys, do you think I should really switch to the Holy Light Department?"
Facing those paladins who came over to toast with smiles on their faces, Li Lin always felt that something was wrong.
It was now the university's dining time, or the official gathering time. It was a monthly information exchange meeting. All the teaching assistants had received the notice and came to this magnificent looking hall. There were delicacies from the mountains and the sea all around, and all kinds of arcane waiters shuttled around like the breeze, serving all kinds of food in a polite stream.
Generally speaking, people would dress quite formally in such situations, but everyone else was wearing jewels and looked very expensive, and Li Lin really didn't have any equipment to show off, so he could only continue to eat and drink in the crowd with a black fog cloak on his head. Even Sallys wore a cute princess dress, and she shrank to a considerable extent and rode on Li Lin's head, making the two of them look unusually conspicuous. Fortunately, there were many more conspicuous teaching assistants, and Li Lin even saw an ogre in a suit and tie who was politely communicating with people about political and legal issues, so he was nothing special.
But what puzzled him was that after his reputation spread, the professors and assistants of the Darkness, Curse, and Void Departments who were able to talk all treated him as if he didn't exist, preferring to teleport rather than let him meet. On the contrary, the professors and assistants of the Holy Light and Blessing Departments treated him with courtesy and smiles, which made Li Lin wonder if his abilities were fake.
This time, none of the people who came to toast were from the Dark and Curse factions. Instead, those from the Holy Light faction who originally just liked to drink wine quietly by themselves came over to chat and laugh with Li Lin, which scared him so much that he broke out in cold sweats, fearing that someone they didn't like would tear up his equipment.
Fortunately, this place is mainly a place for eating and exchanging information, and various secret messages and tasks will appear around.
Well, to put it bluntly, many teaching assistants don't want to lose face and compete with students, so they just find an excuse to eat all the food themselves.
As an assistant teacher, Li Lin had done nothing in his half-month treasure hunt. Although this matter had not been widely spread, the assistant teachers had some knowledge of it. They all looked at this unlucky guy with strange eyes, and then stepped aside a little to let Li Lin look at the tasks on their bulletin boards, which was considered a good show.
This really shows that there is true love in the world, and Li Lin was really moved. Then he felt from the bottom of his heart that the personification of this bastard was really annoying, and he couldn't ignore his past even if he wanted to.
However, when he took a look at the bulletin board, a task that was not ranked too high caught Li Lin's attention.
'Mission: Operation Black Forest Review'
'Introduction: After the cleanup by Assistant Professor Li Lin, the Black Forest epidemic was under control and the entire forest city was sealed off. But now there is news that some indescribable changes have occurred inside the Black Forest. Some creatures that should have died began to wander around, and toxins began to attach to the inside of the creatures, with a tendency of magical curse. There was once an extraordinary adventure team that disappeared inside, and the last person claimed to have seen a huge monster, and then died due to the outbreak of the virus. Please be careful of danger. '
"……Um?"
Looking at the instructions on the task, Li Lin raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Black Forest? I remember I killed everyone in there, didn't I? Why is it listed as a high-risk area now?"
"Oh, Assistant Teacher Li Lin, are you talking about the Black Forest?"
The Holy Light assistant teacher who was passing by flapped her wings and poked her head out, a look of understanding flashing on her beautiful face with light golden runes and light.
"Although the main body of the virus was killed by you, Assistant Instructor , the problem is that there were continuous mistakes in the subsequent processing. And it seems that a template close to the curse has been mixed into the virus. Now it is not just the virus that is spreading there, but also a considerable degree of curse, which can already affect extraordinary-level warriors."
"Previously, a group of people who claimed to be players went to a guild with a very strange name like 'Master. The World's No. 1 Madman', and then stationed in the vicinity of the Black Forest. As a result, no one knows what they did, but it seems that they broke some taboos. Now the energy index and corrosion range around them have been increasing. And the guild has now become a ruin. And those undead people who claim to be players ran out of it, claiming that a demon appeared inside."
"But their description is quite interesting to be honest. They claim that the creatures in the Black Forest City have undergone a blood and flesh mutation, and those checkpoints don't have the courage to go in and search. But in fact, the underground has long been hollowed out and is filled with all kinds of monsters."
"……monster ?"
Li Lin repeated it with interest.
"What monster? I killed everything that could move in the Black Forest. There was no living thing left. I have never seen any monster. If there really was a huge monster, you might not have seen me."
"Who knows what kind of monsters they are? They claim to have photos, but they can't produce them. If they were asked to draw, their drawings would be crooked. It might be some kind of perceptual confusion caused by the virus. But it's not a problem for you, Assistant Instructor Li Lin, to accept this. After all, with your strength, this kind of place is no big deal, right?"
"I'm just afraid of a boat capsizing in the ditch...but I'll take it anyway."
Li Lin reached out to take the task, and after confirming his target, a slightly strange expression appeared on his face.
It might be a coincidence, or maybe it was some other reason, but Li Lin happened to see a post refreshed on the player forum. The title was "The Big Reveal of the Monsters in the Black Forest". Players' photos naturally couldn't be shared with NPCs, but players could share them with other players. So in the attachment, Li Lin clearly saw the monsters seen by the players who were poisoned out of the mission area alive.
Maybe the artificial AI deliberately created a sense of urgency. The photo looked blurry and hazy. All you could see were countless towering trees and the magnificent buildings that climbed up around them. And around those trees, a group of black shadows with strange postures were rushing towards people.
At the back, Li Lin saw a black shadow with a dark red sword on its head.
That was the +3 ritual sword that Li Lin had lost, which had made him so sad that he could not help himself.
