AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 769 - 353: Flesh Mural, "Obsession Sculpture" (Extra 2000 words)

Chapter 769: Chapter 353: Flesh Mural, "Obsession Sculpture" (Extra 2000 words)

"This is that special kind of sculpture Old Mo spoke of!"

"They... want to eat me?"

But it seems that not all sculptures gave him that feeling, truly bizarre.

As Lin Yi followed Old Mo, he divided his attention to occasionally observe them. Old Mo noticed what Lin Yi was doing but didn’t stop him nor did he give any warning.

It wasn’t until they arrived at the "Life towards Death" spot in the center of the Art Building Hall that Old Mo slowly started to speak: "Those sculptures... do you know what they are?"

"Hmm?" Lin Yi was confounded by this sudden question, and it took him a while to understand the implication behind Old Mo’s words. Yet, he knew that Old Mo wouldn’t speak without reason. Hence, after pondering for a while before replying, Lin Yi ventured a guess, "Could it be... related to Art Students?"

Old Mo’s revelation was shocking: "You just asked if the Art Students here would die? They are the answer you seek."

"What?!!!"

Old Mo said calmly: "Here, in this hall, all the Art Students you see right now could potentially become one of them..."

"Normally, the relationship between Supernatural Power and Art Students is like that between trace elements and the human body. When an excessive amount of Supernatural Power starts to wash over their bodies, their bodies begin to undergo that irreversible transformation, eventually becoming those... monstrous sculptures."

"Then they... are they still considered ’Art Students’?"

"No longer." Old Mo shook his head, "They’re not even human anymore, nor sculptures, Nocturnal species, or even Zealots or the like... They are ’Sacrificial lambs’ with strong Obsessions, you can think of them as a kind of ’Obsession Bodies’, or using another term... ’Obsession Sculptures’."

"’Obsession Sculptures’?!" Lin Yi muttered to himself, as a feeling known as sorrow slowly spread through his heart, "To battle for the Art Building, to end up like this even after death?"

Old Mo fell silent momentarily: "We will remember their sacrifice and continue the fight."

"Their behaviors are driven by ’Obsession’, thinking about repairing that breach even at the moment their bodies die."

"Perhaps they still remember why they exist, but it is only for this Obsession that they exist..."

"The reason you felt as if you were being watched is because the Supernatural Power within you has caught their attention..."

"Their Obsession drives them to constantly pursue and devour greater Supernatural Powers, and then use it to repair that breach..."

"They are dead, yet their Obsession is stronger and purer than any will..."

"I can’t describe them in terms of right or wrong, good or evil... because their Obsession has transcended ’cognition’. The moment the Unit carrying Supernatural Power catches their eye, they will stop at nothing to kill them—former Art Student classmates are no exception."

"If you share the same goal as them, they won’t harm you, but if not, they will attack you the moment they get the chance."

Lin Yi didn’t speak. His emotions grew more complex as he didn’t know what to say; perhaps he couldn’t accept the fate of the Art Students, or maybe he felt a sense of reverence, or perhaps it was a kind of sorrow and a sense of inevitable tragedy that he perceived from this.

Old Mo slowly said: "I remember there are some Art Student Rules in the Art Building like ’Do not wander aimlessly around the Art Building’. The existence of these rules has one purpose: to prevent Art Students from being killed by ’Obsession Sculptures’..."

"And the existence of the Obsession Sculptures also somewhat serves as the ’Defense Works’ of the Art Building. They won’t leave the range of the Art Building Hall, but anything that gets close to here, as long as it is within their reach, will be killed by them, especially—the Sneering Angel."

Lin Yi seemed to realize something: "For the Art Building Hall, are they like the ’Shadow of Origin’ for the campus?"

From Lin Yi’s cognition, both ’Obsession Sculptures’ and ’Shadow of Origin’ exist based on certain behavioral standards, more like the big BOSS in restricted areas than NPCs on a map.

With NPCs, there’s a chance for interaction, like with a Security Guard, but with BOSSes, they only care about whether you have aggroed them; if you’ve drawn their aggro, they will attack...

However, within the bounds of S City University, whether it’s NPCs or BOSSes, their combat power remains a mystery.

Alright, strictly speaking, the combat power of some people in S University is also a mystery, like Boss, like Mu Daxian, and also... the Old Mo in front of us.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi suddenly wondered if the reason the Security Guard doesn’t enter the Art Building is because of this?

When kings clash, could two entities that fight against the Grey Mist or the Units within it colliding with each other and causing a fight be problematic?

"Obsession Sculpture" is uncontrollable, but are Security Guards uncontrollable too?

Controlling one variable should be enough to avoid such "internal consumption," right?

Old Mo patted Lin Yi on the shoulder: "Don’t be sentimental, kid. Hesitation here will cost you your life. Remember this path and the ’pits’ along the way, so when it’s time to save your own skin, you don’t fall into them."

"If you have the time to be sentimental now, better to stay sharp, rather than regretting when you’re being chased by ’Obsession Sculpture’ later on, that you didn’t learn more because you were too busy wallowing in self-pity."

"Um..." Lin Yi pursed his lips and nodded, indeed he had indulged in an untimely compassion because whether it be anyone facing the grotesque transformation of Sacrificial lambs, it’s impossible to remain indifferent...

But when Sacrificial lambs were mentioned, he suddenly thought of something and couldn’t help but look towards Old Mo.

Being the last drop of blood in the Cafeteria, Old Mo must have also been fighting incessantly with a certain "obsession" back then, right?

He said the "Obsession Sculpture" is some sort of "Defense Works", seemingly speaking about himself too?

But the changes in Old Mo are obviously essentially different from the "Obsession Sculpture"; the biggest difference is that Old Mo retains human traits.

"Let’s go... stop zoning out." Urged Old Mo, "The problems behind us are even bigger."

Lin Yi quickly followed, taking care not to accidentally distract the Art Students or affect their "combat."

Old Mo began to lead him along the edge of the wall, and as they approached the wall, the multitude of flesh wriggling on the wall once again assaulted his vision, invoking a sense of unease.

Some arms even reached out trying to grasp at Lin Yi’s limbs, emitting some obscure calls that Lin Yi could not understand.

"They... they couldn’t also be ’Art Students’ transformed, could they?" A terrifying thought popped into Lin Yi’s mind, but seeing Old Mo silent, he decided not to ask.

Absurd thoughts slowly surfaced in his heart, he hadn’t realized there was anything wrong with the Art Department or the Sports Department back in the Gymnasium, but now it looked like the entire Art Department seemed like they were mere "consumables"...

Lin Yi tried to avoid gazing at them, but eventually had no choice but to bite the bullet and think of another topic: "Old Mo... I have a question, can ’Obsession Sculpture’ really counter the Sneering Angel?"

"Yes," affirmed Old Mo, "other than being crushed by Contamination, the most effective method against Magic is to use Magic yourself."

"The Supernatural Power of the ’Obsession Sculpture’ can also infiltrate the Layers... The calling you heard in the corridor before, was probably a form of Contamination infiltration emitted by them."

"Their penetrative power is almost on par with the Sneering Angel, and they can counter each other, which is why Art Students only need to retreat to the Art Building when they are in danger, because there are not only the Art Teacher but also the ’Obsession Sculpture’."

Lin Yi realized: "I understand, so when faced with a Sneering Angel, we could actually seek ’Obsession Sculpture’, and the reason why the Art Student Rules specify to find the ’Night Watchman’ instead of ’Obsession Sculpture’, is because ’Obsession Sculpture’ has boss-like properties, and if luck is bad, it might take care of Art Students while dealing with the Sneering Angel."

Old Mo nodded, about to commend his analysis as sensible, but somehow felt a peculiar sense about Lin Yi when he said that; he thought for a moment and then realized—Hold on, when has this kid Lin Yi ever read the Art Student Rules?

His nodding stopped halfway, his posture freeze with a somewhat eerie air.

He looked at Lin Yi for a while, then suddenly in his heart silently wiped off some sweat, unable to suppress a sigh of admiration.

Forget it, it’s not important anymore...

After all, it’s already like a nuclear power plant with a core meltdown, discussing the extent of the leak doesn’t matter anymore.