lovenovelstory Chapter 21 in progress
Chapter 21 in progress
There weren't many people in the library.
The entire library was formed by combining two rooms.
Inside the brown bookshelf were many books.
However, upon closer inspection, one will find that some of them are even novels published several years ago.
This is the norm for libraries.
Although there is a vast amount of metaphysical knowledge, most of it is difficult to describe in plain language and is mostly written in classical Chinese.
The purpose is to maintain that state of "as if".
Therefore, the book is basically full of profound meaning in concise words.
Lu Shi walked through the first room, but when he entered the second room, his path was blocked by a glass door. He was only allowed in after swiping his employee ID.
The books in the second room seemed much more formal.
Lu Shi then opened a book on metaphysics.
The book's title is very important, as it is called "Metaphysics, Part 2".
Lu Shi had read the first volume of it before, and learned a lot of metaphysical knowledge from it.
Now, turning to the second volume, one finds that much previously unexplained knowledge has been clarified here.
For example, the six-dimensional definition mentioned by Captain Fu.
The team leader had already explained the concepts of depth, alienation, breadth, and scheduling to Lu Shi, so Lu Shi focused on the remaining two dimensions: atmosphere and misalignment.
The meaning of atmosphere is quite clear: it refers to the interference of ability on the mental image of a group.
The so-called atmosphere is something you can see in everyday life.
For example, in various live-streaming e-commerce platforms, a group of shills are making a lot of comments, creating an atmosphere that the products are great and many people are scrambling to buy them.
In such situations, even if the item is useless to you, you might still impulsively take a picture due to the atmosphere.
Once you break free from that atmosphere, you'll feel regret and other emotions.
The atmosphere surrounding metaphysical abilities is similar. These abilities are used to manipulate people's emotions and influence their cognition, causing them to lose their rationality and thus creating a certain atmosphere. Within this atmosphere, people are influenced and act in accordance with it.
Those with this ability are best at manipulating the masses.
Then came the misalignment.
Misalignment sounds a bit mystical, but in essence it's the ability to rewrite cause and effect, logic, and relationships.
Taking Captain Fu as an example again, a normal flame requires elements such as temperature, combustible material, and oxidizer.
Once the flames ignite, they will indiscriminately burn all flammable materials around them, friend or foe.
However, Captain Fu's flames could flow through his body's meridians, providing high temperatures without burning him.
The key lies in this misalignment, which rewrites the logic of events and is crucial to many extraordinary phenomena.
Only now did Lu Shi have a clear and comprehensive understanding of the six dimensions of metaphysics.
As Lu Shi continued reading, he also gained a corresponding understanding of the different levels of metaphysical abilities.
Lu Shi then conducted a self-test and obtained approximate data on his [Blood Calamity] metaphysical ability.
Depth 1, Breadth 1, Scheduling 1, Atmosphere 0, Alienation 0, Misalignment 0.
In addition, Lu Shi can use the power of the "Failed New Year" to enhance any dimension of the "Blood Calamity".
"The previous ritual was a bit lacking; otherwise, the mutation should have reached level 1."
Lu Shi's spirituality is now more sensitive to the presence of danger, which is a characteristic of the mutation. Unfortunately, the strength is not enough, and the level is only about 0.3. Apart from this change in spiritual perception, Lu Shi's body has not been strengthened in the slightest.
If it is below level 1, it can only be counted as 0.
But this level is already considered quite good in terms of various metaphysical abilities.
Many mystical abilities initially only have one dimension and a series of levels. They require repeated simulations of horror to slowly fill in the gaps and even upgrade.
For example, if Lu Shi were to design several bloody disasters, causing some of the "sacrifices" to develop a fear of bloody disasters and form a cognitive imprint of it.
Although it's difficult to upgrade in this way, the 0.3 level of alienation might be gradually strengthened to level one.
To upgrade, new simulated horror events need to be held to reinforce people's awareness of the impending bloodshed.
As Lu Shi finished reading "Metaphysics, Part 2", his brows furrowed.
This section only describes the various manifestations of the first three levels of the six dimensions.
In addition, some common metaphysical abilities and metaphysical rituals.
The book doesn't mention anything beyond Level 3.
"Knowledge of regulation?" Lu Shi had a sudden realization, and then began to browse through other books.
Metaphysics is not just about ability.
The characteristics and manipulation of various metaphysical methods are also key.
For example, the phenomenon of overlapping victim elements, or the essence of other metaphysical imprints.
In the end, "Bloodshed" is just a "technique" that Lu Shi uses in battle, while "Failure to Cross the New Year" is Lu Shi's "method".
Lu Shi's focus should be on the "failure to cross into the new year". All metaphysical learning should aim to understand the "failure to cross into the new year" and then improve upon it.
"Perhaps I need to slowly begin simulating the horror of a failed New Year's Eve," Lu Shi thought to himself.
The focus of this simulated horror is the fear of being left behind by time.
He needs to make elaborate arrangements to make the target realize that he has been left behind by time, and to make him fearful because of this realization.
As this fear takes hold, his previously restricted area of activity will gradually be opened up.
This setup doesn't require upgrades, so it can probably be completed in just a few hours.
The premise is that this matter is likely to attract the attention of the metaphysics community.
In modern society, surveillance exists everywhere. Metaphysics societies also possess special metaphysical abilities that enable them to monitor and track. If one is not careful, they will be caught red-handed, so careful planning is necessary.
After browsing through some books on metaphysics, Lu Shi realized that it was already noon.
Lu ate lunch at the cafeteria behind the Metaphysics Society.
The cafeteria was built on the other side of the stadium track. It wasn't very big and only had one floor.
I went in, picked up a plate, and then got my lunch for the day.
Braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, tomato and egg, and blanched greens, served with seaweed and egg soup on the side.
The food tastes much better than in a regular cafeteria.
The main dish is braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens.
Braised pork belly is the perfect cut of pork belly, fatty but not greasy.
The meat fell apart the moment you bit into it.
The fat seemed to have turned into juice, and the lean meat wasn't dry at all; instead, it crumbled easily in the mouth as the fat and juice were pressed together.
The chef at the Metaphysics Club is a contract worker; he was originally a head chef.
If I hadn't awakened my spiritual awareness through an unusual experience, I'd probably still be working at a big hotel right now.
After slowly finishing his lunch and taking a short nap to digest, Lu Shi went to the nearby gymnasium.
Standing in front of the sandbag, Lu Shi threw a punch, and the suspended sandbag began to sway.
Treating the swinging sandbag as an enemy, Lu Shi constantly moved his feet to dodge and occasionally threw punches to attack.
At the same time, my mind was emptied, and my spiritual awareness sank into the [Blood Calamity].
This metaphysical ability is clearly an outward-oriented ability, but Lu Shi does not want to completely give up his inward-oriented ability.
At the very least, one needs more flexible combat skills to react and dodge quickly in the face of various strange and mysterious abilities.
Otherwise, even if you have enough time coins and can keep reviving, it's easy to lose your save file.