Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  This represented that willpower restricted and controlled the beastly nature, and finally succeeded—this was the purpose and meaning of the School of Summoning.

  The School of Modifications created a new product called Thunder. Looking down at the sky, the musician controlled a new plane model, and faced various fleets and demons in the air. He must dodge the enemy’s attacks in the bullet-filled screen and fight back using the continuous energy.

  The plane contained three large annihilation bombs to respond to various attacks. They could clear the screen instantly and kill all enemies. This also provided a period of no enemies so the player could hide in the sealed screen.

  Winning against the stronger and bigger enemy, winning with formulas and energy, the game was also filled with an indescribably urgency and stimulation. The feeling of unleashing power was intoxicating. This was the School of Modification’s classic style!

  It could be predicted that this product would definitely be well received by Modifications students after its release. After all, they liked to do things forcefully.

  The Joker game by the School of Revelations could not be underestimated either…

  Cullen calculated in his mind, but his unsettledness grew. The question mark in his mind grew, grew and grew…Finally, he sighed and glanced toward the music history department…As expected, he could not be assured, no matter what!

  What had the history department done this time? He hesitated a bit and decided that he would personally take a look. But when he got near, he saw some people stalk out of the crowd angrily.

  “F*cking no one can pass!”

  “Those psychos…”

  “I was so close!”

  “No, still too slow.”

  Hearing their voices, Cullen’s suspicion grew. He was about to go up and ask but heard messy footsteps behind him. Turning around in confusion, he was met with a dark mass of people rushing over.

  It was amazing how many people there were. They brushed past him and charged straight toward the history department’s exhibit. Everyone’s expressions were of excitement and anticipation, as if they could not wait.

  “Hurry up! You’ll be late if you’re this slow!”

  “Don’t let them get there first.”

  “I’m going to save a seat first. Hurry over.”

  “What’s happening?” Cullen grabbed a familiar-looking student and asked quietly, “Did something happen to the history department?”

  “Cullen, haven’t you heard yet?” The student glanced at him strangely. “The rumors have spread through the entire school.”

  “What?” For some reason, the bad premonition grew in Cullen.

  The student’s expression instantly grew troubled. “A few minutes ago, that Eastern concertmaster bet all his points that no one could successfully complete his work!”

  “All his points?” Spots appeared in Cullen’s vision. “One-hundred and seventy-thousand?”

  “Yeah, one hundred and seventy thousand!”

  Cullen felt his vision going black. He forced his head up and saw the white-haired youth, sunbathing casually, at the front of the crowd.

  “Has this guy…gone crazy?”

  223 Consider Carefully…

  In the hustle and bustle, people queued excitedly, wondering if that Eastern concertmaster was a fool who wagered his all points on such a rough work. Even if it passed the school’s audit, many problems would be found by the students who tested it out, since it only took those guys a few days to make the thing.

  How did he have such courage to wager all his points on it and to claim that no one could pass the game? Or did he get too carried away because of the rewards for the top prize?

  People who looked depressed constantly came back from the front and were surrounded by people who excitedly inquired about what kind of work it was.

  “Is it really difficult?” someone asked.

  “It won’t be too difficult,” someone beside interrupted. “If the creator isn’t able to do it himself, then the school will never let him pass the audit.”

  The experienced student shook his head with a complex expression. “No, actually, it’s very simple…” He gesticulated for a long time before finally shaking his head in frustration. “Forget about it, you can see for yourself.” Finishing his words, the student went away regardless of other people’s tugging.

  After having waited for half an hour, Cullen lost his patience. He went directly to the front using his own privilege as a student council member. Fortunately, the music history department prepared dozens of copies this time, so multiple people could experience it at the same time. Otherwise, the people in line would have to wait until the next morning.

  “Hey, I know you!” Charles, who stood in front of the door for taking points, looked at Cullen. He reaching out his hand and smiled. “One-hundred points, please.”

  “It’s that expensive?” Cullen was dumbfounded. “Are you mad?!”

  “It might be a little expensive, but it’s worth it! Think about the reward if you win. It’s one-hundred and seventy-thousand points!” Charles explained exultantly. “Pay one-hundred points and you can get a reward of seventeen-hundred times that! Even a bank robber won’t get so much so fast, okay?”

  Cullen hesitated. Under the man’s urging, he paid one-hundred points very reluctantly and entered. “I won’t let you go if I find out that you are cheating,” he gritted out between clenched teeth in a low voice.

  Charles smiled. “Okay, no problem!”

  Soon Cullen was taken to a vacant field in the illusion. Nothing could be seen in the white mist.

  Cullen frowned. “Is this group of guys too lazy to even make the surrounding background? And they charge one-hundred points for this shoddy stuff? How f*cking crooked are these men?!” he thought.

  Boom! Before he could react, a square brick fell from the sky and crashed before him. He froze, “What is this?”

  “This is my graduation work.” Charles rubbed his hands. “It’s starting soon. Aren’t you going to prepare?”

  Before Charles finished his words, there was another boom. A rectangular brick descended slowly from the sky and landed next to the other brick…Following immediately, another brick in a right angle fell slowly, filling the gap between the square and rectangular brick perfectly

  Ding! After a crisp sound, the line that was filled with bricks disappeared. The piled bricks fell down and fell back into the bottom row.

  “Do you understand now?” Charles smiled and asked. “This game is called ‘Bricks.’ The work will produce intervals randomly, which are represented here through the form of bricks. You need to use notes to control where the bricks fall, and then combine those various intervals cleverly—that is, by putting them in a row and filling the empty spaces. The filled intervals will disappear. The longer you last, the faster it’ll get and the more scores you’ll receive.” Before Cullen could react, Charles disappeared in the mist. “There are only nine levels, so enjoy yourself!”

  “Wait! That’s all?” Cullen muttered blankly, not having processed anything…

  He had been ready to face the difficulty of hell before he came, but this was just too simple. It was as simple as a puzzle. If he passed the game, he would have one-hundred and seventy-thousand points? Where did these psychos get their confidence from?

  Soon the bricks began falling slowly again. This time, Cullen carefully controlled the whole process for fear that something strange would happen. But after ten minutes, he realized that it was just so simple!

  Without surprise, he passed the first level.

  At the beginning of the second level, the speed of the falling bricks seemed to have become a bit faster, but it did not matter. Cullen did not care about this speed at all. But why were there so few rectangular bricks?

  “Give me a rectangular brick! I don’t want strange corners and squares, just a rectangular brick. Rectangular brick, come on, rectangular brick!” he thought.

  Soon, a
belated rectangle fell from the sky. Cullen breathed a sigh of relief and carefully put it into the corner-most space. Instantly, four dings rang in a row. Four rows had disappeared!

  Cullen let out a long sigh, and felt light and happy inside. He had to admit that this game was quite interesting! Soon, he passed the third level, the fourth…

  By now, the bricks were falling at around the same speed as they would in real life. Cullen could barely handle it all. In the midst of the chaos, the bricks had piled up into a tall tower…

  Give me a square! A square!

  “Give me a square!” Cullen shouted. At last, the square came belatedly. Cullen was overjoyed, but then his facial muscles slacked. It was too late to move the square over; there was a rectangle in its way.

  There was a loud bang. The pile of bricks finally reached the top and all the bricks collapsed.

  Game over.

  Cullen shook his fist angrily. “Dammit! I almost made it. Almost!”

  In the illusion, a strange folk music sounded. A dog with arrogant eyes came, singing and dancing. After glancing at Cullen judgingly, it went away, singing and dancing…

  In such a cruel ending effect, Charles appeared, rubbing his hands. He smiled and asked, “How was the experience? Want…”

  “Again!” Cullen interrupted him resolutely, and transferred five-hundred points. “No need for change. Just deduct it automatically and don’t bother me!”

  “Ok, if you pay up, then you’re the boss. Boss, enjoy yourself.” Charles waved his hands and floated away like a ghost.

  Immediately, a square fell from the sky again. Cullen rubbed his hands and prepared himself. This time, he would succeed!

  Twenty minutes later, Cullen swore. The bricks before him had collapsed again because the bricks had piled up too much, before he could get the lifesaving rectangular brick.

  He was so close to the eighth level!

  “Again!” he gritted his teeth and growled.

  Boom!

  “Again!” he shouted again.

  Bang!

  …

  “Again!” he growled.

  “…”

  No bricks fell down this time. Cullen froze for a moment and turned back angrily, only to see Charles’s unscrupulous smile. “Ah, Mr. Secretary Cullen, your points are used up. You want to recharge?”

  “How can it be this…fast?” Cullen became dazed before finishing his sentence and carefully thought about it. It was true that he ran out of the points, without even realizing it…Was he going to give up here? He had gained so much experience and was almost there!

  “Again!” Gritting his teeth, he transferred one-thousand points. “I don’t believe it!”

  “All right!” Charles clapped. “Are you tired of standing? I also sell small benches here, it only costs ten dollars; there’s also ramen and iced water!”

  “I don’t need anything, go away!”

  “Okay, okay…” Charles said sadly.

  The bricks fell from the sky again. There were endless sighs in the environment. It was not until noon that Cullen came out of the illusion. The last time, he had reached the ninth level but failed in the last few seconds…

  He was so close and had brushed shoulders with one-hundred and seventy-thousand points! D*mn, he was so close! Just a bit more…and he had spent more than half of this thirty-thousand points on this thing.

  He gritted his teeth to keep himself from trying again. He finally understood that this thing was a bottomless pit. With that difficulty, no amount of points was enough!

  But he did not see Charles’s original work. That was a real bottomless pit…Countless points were put in, the wheel turned two rounds and the points were gone. One could only hear a ring.

  “Oh, you’re leaving?” Charles came up with a regretful expression. “A pity, you were so close.”

  “Shut up! I don’t want to talk to you!” Thinking of the twenty-thousand points he had lost, Cullen shivered inwardly.

  “Ah, what a pity!” Charles sighed. “I was going to tell you that the version had been updated.”

  “Updated?”

  “Yes, a lot of people responded that the final levels are too difficult, so we made a small adjustment.” Charles took out a flyer. “You see, with this, the difficulty is lowered a lot!”

  Cullen paused. “What’s this?”

  “This is…” Charles smiled meaningfully. “I call it the khorium system.

  “There are three new items that can be purchased with points. There’s a small shovel that can help you clear some of the wrong bricks. One is an explosive barrel that can help you clear a row of bricks. The last one called the siege hammer, which can directly clear the entire screen of bricks…Well, you see, since these things are so powerful, it’s understandable that the charges are expensive, right?

  “But,” Cullen looked at the price list on the flyer and gulped, “but isn’t it too expensive?”

  “It’s worth it.” Charles put his arm around Cullen’s shoulder, and whispered in his ear like a devil, “Consider it carefully. Will you become stronger if you don’t recharge?”

  224 Explosive Maniac

  “Consider it carefully. Will you become stronger if you don’t recharge?”

  Where was the logic? Cullen fell into deep thought.

  After a few minutes, the student council’s moderator felt his school badge vibrate. He realized it was Cullen after answering it.

  “Ingres, do you still have points?” Cullen asked quickly on the other end of the call.

  “Yeah, and some saved up.” Ingres counted in his head. “Probably around ten-thousand.”

  “Is anyone around you? Ask them.”

  “I asked and we probably have thirty-thousand together. Cullen, what’s wrong?”

  “Don’t ask, just transfer them. I’m in a hurry and I need them now…”

  “You…wait a bit. I’ll do it now.”

  Ingres felt slightly unsettled, but he trusted Cullen and transferred the points. After a few minutes, Cullen entered the illusion once again, armed with a bag of small shovels, gunpowder, and siege hammers, and the grave determination of dying if he could not succeed.

  Outside the door, Charles watched as the number on his badge grew rapidly and was overjoyed. “I hit the goldmine, the goldmine.” He laughed quietly. “Ten-thousand points in a few hours. This is faster than robbing a bank! The khorium system is so amazing. I’m a genius!”

  Done with counting his money, he cackled weirdly and looked at the long line of students. In his eyes, these students had all become man-shaped ATMs for school points. They looked lovable.

  “Please be patient and don’t shove. Take your time. We’ve added ten more locations…”

  The surging crowd came in waves and left in waves after using up all their points. In the end, everyone finally gave up and lost confidence in this thing.

  “There’s no way to pass this!” someone yanked Charles’s collar and yelled. “You’re just scamming us!”

  “Ah, don’t get so worked up.” Charles patted his shoulder. “There’s always hope in life, don’t give up so easily. Want to try again?”

  “In your dreams!” the student roared. “You still want my money? This thing is just for scamming people! It’s impossible to pass! Give me back my points!”

  The other depressed students crowded over. Passerby were angered by the injustice and pulled at Charles too, yelling, “Give us back our points!”

  “Otherwise we’ll report you to the school board!”

  “Can’t believe you’re like this…”

  But just then, a hoarse cheer rang out. Like a firework, the burst made everyone’s head spin. They turned toward the exhibit in shock. “No way?”

  A dazed man with bloodshot eyes ran out of the illusion. He danced and yelled, “I passed! I passed! I finally passed!”

  A group appeared around him in the illusion. They crowded around him and clapped energetically in celebration. These people clad in ex
tremely weird clothing had smiling and satisfied expressions, as if humanity had been saved.

  “Congratulations Cullen!”

  “Congratulations!”

  “Congratulations on your victory!”

  “Congratulations on finding the meaning of life…”

  “Humanity has been saved…”

  On the side, Bai Xi felt chills at this and quietly asked Charles, “Where did you think of all this?”

  “I dreamed about it.” Charles glanced at her in confusion. “Don’t you think it fits?”

  “…Not at all!” Bai Xi did not want to talk anymore.

  “Congrats, Cullen. You’ve finally received the final victory!” Charles went up and shook his hand strongly. “You’ve become stronger with the khorium!”

  “I—I—I…” Cullen was speechless and felt tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. “I finally passed.”

  “Yes, I saw it!” Charles nodded. Before Cullen could speak, Charles pressed his badge onto him. “Here are your points. Take them!”

  With a ding, Cullen had one-hundred and seventy-thousand more points. It was incredible. The happiness made him feel as if he was on cloud nine!

  “Did you really pass?” someone asked.

  Cullen nodded; he was so happy he could cry. He had spent more than one-hundred thousand points on khorium, and had practically used up all of the student council’s points. If he still had not passed, he would have had to kill himself as an apology.

  But for some reason, he felt empty after the short period of joy. But he plastered a smile onto his face to make it seem as if his efforts were worth it.

  “Is there a trick to passing?” someone asked enviously.

  Cullen’s smile stiffened and said, clenching his jaw, “It’s actually really easy. You just have to focus.”

  The crowd rustled as they mused, but before they could speak, they saw Charles hang up two-hundred thousand points.

  “Whoever passes this time will get two-hundred thousand points!” Charles raised his voice as his smile grew stranger. “Two-hundred thousand, first come first serve…anyone want to try?”

  The crowd rustled again. This time, there was an example of success. The ones who had failed felt determined once again; they borrowed points from friends, used khorium to buy tools, and charged into the illusion.