AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016

Lin Yi scratched his head awkwardly, "I didn't want this either... But Boss, using the control variable method, it's not hard to find that the problem actually lies in the locker room."

He looked serious, putting on a stern face as if he was being completely serious.

"Do you even hear what you're saying? The locker room has always been like this… true control variables, you are the problematic group." Boss was amused by Lin Yi, "Go on, tell me what trouble you've caused this time."

"No, why does Boss act like an older sister who has to clean up the little brother's mess? The situation is totally not what you think!"

Lin Yi grumbled internally, but his words were nothing but a solemn statement of facts.

After hearing Lin Yi's statement, Boss furrowed his brow slightly.

"Ice shards... the showers outside the layer..."

"You go with Huihuizi to the Swimming Hall first, change into your swimsuits and wait for me."

"I'll go in and take a look."

"Oh, right, before I come back, no swimming allowed... I'm not just talking to you, Huihuizi, you're not allowed either."

"Oh... okay!" Li Huiyuan nodded her serious little face, thought to herself how the Boss knew she wanted to give Lin Yi a little bit of swimsuit temptation at the pool first...

"Alright then, Boss, be careful!" Lin Yi advised.

Boss chuckled—when a person is speechless, even the coldest person can smile: "Worry about yourself first, in the Gymnasium, even Immortals would have to take a hit from me before leaving."

"Uh..." Lin Yi shrank his neck.

After Boss finished talking, he briskly entered the men's locker room.

"Lin Linzi, let's go change into our swimsuits~" As soon as Boss left, Li Huiyuan jumped up, wrapped her arm around Lin Yi's, and affectionately snuggled, just like a little cat.

"Mm... Alright." Unable to refuse her hospitality, Lin Yi went along as they walked down the stairs.

As they passed the stairwell corner, the flame in the old kerosene lamp's glass cover flickered on its own, but immediately returned to normal.

Just as they descended the staircase, Lin Yi saw straight down the hallway to a dark corner at the far end of the first floor.

The corner housed a shadowy staircase, with steps leading into growing darkness, as if there was an outline of an old door in the shadows. If he hadn't seen it, no one would notice it even on the first floor of the Gymnasium.

The door at the end of the stairs was the portal leading to the basement of the Gymnasium.

"The Gymnasium's basement..." he squinted slightly, even though he had heard Li Huiyuan describe the basement's environment firsthand, he still couldn't picture its layout in his mind.

All he could imagine was a dark dungeon-like environment, cold walls adorned with a series of old kerosene lamps, everything else was beyond imagination.

The mystery of the basement surpassed his imagination, and one wouldn't truly appreciate it without seeing it for themselves.

However, the Gymnasium's basement wasn't somewhere one could enter casually.

"What are you looking at?" Li Huiyuan waved her hand in front of Lin Yi's eyes, even pushing her lively face close to his, blocking his view.

"It's nothing, I just glanced at the basement." Lin Yi withdrew his gaze and replied plainly.

Li Huiyuan froze for a moment, "Basement? There's no basement over there, is there?"

As soon as she finished speaking, her expression changed dramatically.

Lin Yi also realized something, his expression changed as well!

There was never a basement over there?

Then what did he see?

And it's something he saw on his very first day at the Gymnasium!

Thinking this, he unexpectedly had a desire to pursue it.

Li Huiyuan grabbed him, exclaiming, "Wait, you mean... you saw the basement?"

"Uh..." Lin Yi snapped back to reality when Li Huiyuan tugged at him, and then said, "Maybe I was mistaken, but even if it exists, it must not be something from this layer..."

Lin Yi shook his head. Now that Li Huiyuan's depth of cognition was no longer shallow, some things could be said.

Li Huiyuan glanced in the direction Lin Yi mentioned, then pouted, "I don't see anything... sigh, forget it, let's go to the Swimming Hall first!"

"Mm." Lin Yi nodded.

The secrets of the Gymnasium seemed many, but there was no time to explore them now.

Walking side by side, they headed towards the Swimming Hall.

Suddenly, Lin Yi felt as if Li Huiyuan blew a breath into his ear.

"Stop messing around..." Lin Yi turned his head, rubbing his ear with his shoulder.

"Huh?" Li Huiyuan was taken aback, "What did I do?"

Looking over, Lin Yi saw confusion in Li Huiyuan's eyes as well.

"Huh? This..." Lin Yi's eyes flickered, if it wasn't Li Huiyuan blowing, then what was it just now?

"It's nothing... maybe it was just an illusion." Lin Yi muttered.

Li Huiyuan placed a hand on Lin Yi's forehead, "Are you alright? Why are you always being so paranoid recently?"

"Am I?" Lin Yi frowned.

They continued walking when suddenly, the sound of "clang clang clang" echoed around Lin Yi's ears, accompanied by the vibrant jumps and flickers of colors in his surroundings.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The Gymnasium's basketball court flickered, sometimes presenting a vibrant street graffiti-like mechanical punk feel, other times revealing the grotesque and eerie atmosphere of a dark, damp cave, or the decayed remnants only found in the ruins of high-tech alien civilizations...

He felt his mind exploding, and an indistinct voice filled his ears, somewhere between distant and near, its gender indistinguishable, yet overall sounding like a soft female voice; he lowered his head, shaking it repeatedly, and from the corner of his eye, glimpsed a little girl dressed in black Gothic Lolita attire...

The little girl stared coldly at him, with a thick, black oily substance seeping from her lace stockings, while her pristine self donned a grimy dress, yet still exuding a distinct cleanliness.

Little girl...

It's that little girl!

Suddenly, the little girl spoke, her expression still cold and ethereal, yet her voice was jarringly urgent, "Lin Yi, Lin Yi! What's wrong with you Lin Yi! Lin Linzi! Lin Linzi!"

It was Li Huiyuan's voice.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

"Clang, clang, clang..."

Focusing, Lin Yi saw the little girl's figure becoming blurred while Li Huiyuan's appearance grew clearer.

The flickering environment faded, finally returning to normal.

It was obviously Li Huiyuan calling out to him from the Gymnasium's basketball court.

Lin Yi came to his senses, took a deep breath, "I... I'm fine, I'm fine, it seemed like some illusion just now..."

Li Huiyuan pursed her lips, "I would believe it was an illusion in the past, but now, I think you've seen something not belonging to our layer..."

Li Huiyuan was originally a student of 'Mystical Genealogy.' After becoming Lin Yi's Mist Chasing Light Seeker and carrying Lin Yi's ashes to become a unique Ashen Apostle, her cognitive layer deepened rapidly. Although her strength was still at an initial-stage Sports Student, her cognitive depth had already taken a step ahead.

Director-040's premonition wasn't wrong; Li Huiyuan originally should have been in the Art Department, only to inadvertently transfer to the Sports Department, becoming a Sports Student. Lin Yi evaluated in his mind.

He even felt that Mu Daxian's path might just be Li Huiyuan's path...

Transcendent Art Student?

Or a Transcendent Sports Student?

Or perhaps a Sports Department "Ashen Apostle"?

Li Huiyuan felt uneasy under Lin Yi's gaze, subconsciously shook his arm, "Lin Linzi, what mischief are you planning again? Why are you looking so sneaky?"