Master of Kaidan-Chapter 544: Teleology

Watching Lin Shu, who really seemed like a transfer student late by three days, Feng Xue silently overturned her previous speculations.

Or rather, at least part of them.

She had thought that these students and teachers were merely derivations from Kaidan, a kind of villagers who could be fabricated and refreshed at will, similar to the Poisonous Insect Body she could create effortlessly.

But now, with Lin Shu, who should have been "discarded" due to cheating, returning to the class, everything had changed.

Because according to the school’s operational rules, cheating on an exam and being expelled was supposed to be something akin to an instant-death rule, which was also proven by the fact that the classmates had no impression of the name Lin Shu afterward.

Logically speaking, even to uphold this rule, the expelled person should not have been added back, or at least should have been given a different name.

But the issue was, this person was now brazenly present in the classroom, not only unchanged in appearance but also identical in name and persona to the original Lin Shu.

If there was any difference, it was that the people in the class seemed to genuinely not remember that there was a Lin Shu in the class two days ago.

"That is to say, these teachers and classmates in the class are not so-called derivatives, but carry some special function, or perhaps this Kaidan itself does not have the ability to create derivatives. When encountering ’one of its own’ breaking the rules, it can only recycle by erasing related memories."

Feng Xue tried talking to this new Lin Shu and found that he indeed seemed to have completely lost his previous memories, but aside from those concerning school, his other memories—or rather, his persona—were quite clear.

Originally, she thought that beings like the long-necked ghost were the most special entities in this Ghost School, but now it seemed that this speculation, if not entirely wrong, was at least missing some critical information.

Then, she suddenly realized another possibility—

Perhaps, this Lin Shu had actually been replaced by someone else?

Unchanged, only the persona!

This thought made Feng Xue’s scalp tingle, but at the same time, she could not ignore this suddenly emerging idea.

Although replacing another ghost’s identity in a Ghost School sounds a bit unnecessary, if one considers that this setup is a process applicable to both students and players, it makes sense.

Players who violate the rules here would be wiped out by some sort of instant-death (or imprisonment, exile) ability and then impersonated by some derivative or pseudo-entity maintaining the player’s persona.

But here comes the issue, what’s the point in this impersonation?

If it’s a team game, a pseudo-entity impersonating a player and then tricking more players would make sense. However, although there are many players in this level, there is no grouping together, and the players who were previously disqualified haven’t approached anyone.

And if it’s about disguising as a successful player to blend in with the group of players, that would be even more impractical. After all, no matter how inhuman the players may look, they are fundamentally just living humans raising ghosts or insects, and the students and teachers in this instance are all substantive spiritual bodies. Even if the forms are strikingly similar, players should be able to tell the difference.

"There must be some key information that I’ve missed!" Feng Xue took a deep breath, feeling a sensation of being stuck halfway with her conjectures, which made her very uncomfortable with the current situation.

"First, relax, don’t rush, let’s list the known conditions."

Feng Xue returned to her seat, holding a notebook, but her mind had already begun to list all the various aspects she had encountered after entering this level—

1. The level was a variant similar to a rule-based Kaidan; the foundational rules were the school’s regulations and public decency.

2. Most of the "ghosts" in Ghost School existed as quasi-entity NPCs, indistinguishable from ordinary people under normal circumstances, but revealing their ghostly traits when attacked or when a murder rule was triggered, returning to normal afterward.

3. There were a very few wandering spiritual bodies within Ghost School, maintaining ghostly demeanors over long periods, not particularly strong, and possessing independent thought logic.

4. The rules within Ghost School applied uniformly to everyone, affecting both players and NPCs.

5. Ghost School naturally produced phantom objects, awkward in effect but usually closely linked to the environment and having specific mechanisms for their destruction.

6. Each NPC had a fixed persona; even if a character violated the rules and was erased, their persona would still be recycled (or passed on).

...

Feng Xue pondered repeatedly over a few clues, emphasizing the keywords "wandering spiritual body" and "persona."

Why were there wandering spiritual bodies in Ghost School?

Were these wandering spiritual beings "without personas yet" or "had they lost their personas"?

The reason she was thinking so hard was not that the level was particularly difficult—if she really wanted, she could even summon the Star Destroyer Cannon to wash over this world without the "Emperor of Heaven" Kaidan. freeweɓnovel~cѳm

But that would be meaningless.

Feng Xue was a staunch believer in teleology, thinking that every intelligent being’s actions must have a purpose, however twisted, insane, impractical, or even incomprehensible to humans; there must ultimately be such a purpose, even for the most elusive fun seekers; their purpose was indeed "watching for fun."

Thus, when Ghost School presented itself almost like a rule yet defied common sense, Feng Xue’s initial reaction was that there was certainly some purposive hidden agenda.

Although Feng Xue’s journey in Kaidan had been especially smooth with the advantages of the information age, he remained a humble person; he didn’t consider himself unbeatable or others fools, and the rise of the Green Lantern and the secrets of the upper levels of the Tower of Babylon further convinced him of the purposive nature of the Tower of Babylon.

Considering this, sending these "potentially capable" Kaidans to various Kaidan worlds must also serve a purpose.

"If I wanted a hero to defeat the Demon King, surely I wouldn’t send a beginner-level hero straight to Demon King City. Instead, I would select specific trials according to the traits of the Demon King, send the hero to level up through these ordeals, master various skills that could target the Demon King, and then it would be the time to challenge the Demon King.

"If the purpose of Infinite City is to have us ’heroes’ challenge the Demon King at the pinnacle of the Tower of Babylon, then this progressive traversal mechanism might just hide the key to defeating the Demon King."

Thinking this, Feng Xue calmed her somewhat impatient mood. It was as though she had cleared the game on the ordinary difficulty and now yearned to advance to a higher level.

What needed to be done was no longer just to complete the game in a straightforward and brute-force manner using a set formula routine, nor was it about directly joining the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect for unrestrained pleasure, but rather about imposing self-discipline.

The Five Gates and Four Locks, the Self-closing Endurance Sect, various constraints weren’t to prove her greatness but indeed to advance her skills.

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