Deep in the Living
Chapter 167 - 161: Monsters, Fear, and Disasters

Chapter 167: Chapter 161: Monsters, Fear, and Disasters

In the dimly lit, pitch-dark classroom,

a long-haired head was crawling on the ceiling, quickly exiting the classroom.

After waiting a few minutes,

the front door of the classroom was pushed open,

and the class president, who had regrown her body, was surprisingly dressed in standard Office Lady attire, carrying in her hands a blackboard taken from the next classroom for Class Senior 3-5 to reinstall, and even stole a box of chalk.

"Today’s cultural lesson will be taught by me, Teacher Wu.

The content of this lesson is ’Monsters in the Corner,’ a topic rarely mentioned in regular classes, so everyone please listen carefully and take good notes.

Hey! You over there, what’s your name! Still looking around, that’s a warning. If this happens again, you’ll go stand at the back of the room as punishment."

Holding a teaching ruler, the class president pointed straight at Luo Di, who closed his eyes to rest with a bored expression, completely lacking the concentration he used to have in class.

"Come on, Luo Di, cooperate a little! I was thinking, since we’re back at school, let’s do something different. And, what do you think of my outfit? Doesn’t it look just like a teacher’s?"

"Just say it; I’m listening."

Tch~ The class president clicked her tongue, snapping her fingers hidden behind her back with force.

Smack!

Luo Di’s head jerked back from the strike, with a trickle of blood flowing from his forehead, as he was instantly jolted awake.

The object that hit his forehead was a piece of chalk, which disintegrated into dust upon the high-speed impact, covering Luo Di’s face in white ash.

"Are you for real?"

"I’m the teacher now, if you’re not happy you can go report me to the President."

Luo Di, resigned, wiped the white ash off his face; his eyes gradually cleared, and he really did sit up straight just like a student.

The class president had already taken out another chalk and was drawing a very detailed structure of the pituitary gland on the blackboard.

"Question for you, student Luo! What’s the significance of the pituitary gland to a Pseudo-Person?"

"The source of the Thought Corner’s generation, as well as its carrier."

No sooner had the answer ended than another piece of chalk flew towards him; this time Luo Di was attentive and dodged by turning his head.

"Wrong! The true meaning of the pituitary lies in it being a ’medium.’ It serves as a medium connecting the individual with the Corner, forming a pathway on the level of thought.

The so-called ’Thought Corner’ is precisely this concept.

Once the connection is established, the human brain can hear whispers from the Corner, and access pheromones from the Corner through the pituitary medium.

These pheromones can uncover an individual’s most fearful memories, thereby inducing a physiological transformation, forming what is known as the ’Fear Embodiment.’

Do you know why the Corner induces individuals to transform into their most dreaded, most feared things?"

Luo Di paused briefly, then gave his answer: "...To overcome fear?"

He really didn’t know the answer, it was just a subconscious guess; his body was already prepared to dodge.

"Right you are! It’s to overcome fear.

The Pseudo-People who can’t overcome fear will fail to achieve ’Fear Embodiment’ and thus won’t qualify for the interstice screening.

Overcoming fear is a necessary factor for progressing to the Corner,

because the Corner itself is the ’Source of Fear.’

Let alone humans, even some Pseudo-People might die of fright if they fell into the Corner.

So! We will introduce the main theme of this lesson here - ’Monsters and Fear.’"

The class president picked up chalk to draw something new on the blackboard.

First, she drew an arrow to the right of the pituitary gland,

then wrote the word "Promotion" above the arrow,

and finally, she drew a completely new type of pituitary gland to the right of the arrow, a pituitary gland that didn’t belong to Pseudo-People.

The surface structure of the Corner on that pituitary gland was completely cracked open, with a snail-antenna-like structure emerging on top, slender and topped with a small fleshy bulb.

The more Luo Di looked at this pituitary, the more it resembled a germinating seed, a flesh seed.

"A seed? Will it grow?"

"Exactly! Think about it, the pituitary was originally a medium used by Pseudo-People to connect to the Corner.

Now that they have successfully advanced and moved on to the Corner.

Since they are now in the Corner, the medium becomes meaningless. The nature of the pituitary will change under the influence of the Corner, a change that signifies ascension.

The pituitary, like a seed, will sprout,

and the growth is what’s called a ’meat bud.’

At this stage, the pituitary is no longer a medium, but becomes a foundation, something similar to your spine, Luo Di, an external manifestation of a system.

Just as your True Hell also has a system, the Corner likewise has its own growth system.

Once the meat bud forms,

the Pseudo-Person will complete ’concretization’ between the Corners, and the essence of their human form will gradually be forsaken, the concretized form gradually becoming fundamental, becoming their essence.

This process will make the concretization more perfect, and the use of abilities will advance further, gradually clarifying ’what is fear’.

Although the pituitary has simply grown a meat bud, for us, it represents a true qualitative change, something all Pseudo-People are pursuing.

On the human side, all those things that go to the Corner and completely abandon human essence are collectively referred to as [monsters]. Of course, there are more meticulous hierarchies in the Corner, but I won’t go into details here; we will understand when we go to the Corner ourselves."

Luo Di actively asked, "Abandoning human form and becoming the very image of what one fears most, to pursue the essence of fear.

Is the nature of the Corner truly absolute fear?"

The President also wrote the word "Fear" in large characters on the blackboard.

"Fear is an emotion, the most primal and oldest of emotions.

We are merely using the ’knowledge’ learned at the human stage to summarize it, yet the depth of the Corner far exceeds the domain of human knowledge.

Such generalizations are very likely to be wrong, but for now, we can understand it in this way.

What the nature of the Corner truly is can only be known when someone reaches its deepest parts."

Watching the President so seriously lecturing, Luo Di was somewhat mesmerized, and even for a moment truly regarded the President as a teacher and this place as a classroom.

He shook his head, his thoughts returned to normal, and he looked at the sprouting seedling on the blackboard.

"Such meat buds can continue to grow like seedlings, right?"

"Of course, but what it will grow into, I have no idea. After all, it’s still early days for me now.

I’ve only heard from my grandmother that different people’s seeds will grow into different things. But the root of them all is based upon the Corner, which will urge individuals to move deeper into it.

This is also why residents of the Corner generally won’t return to the Human World, one of the reasons for not coming back to the surface.

Similarly, that’s how Warrants come about.

The Corner will never allow monsters that have surpassed humans to return to the shallows to engage in interference or meaningless slaughter.

The Human World is a very good place for initial screening,

Only by ensuring the stability of the Human World, can it continue to supply ’talent’ to the Corner."

"Wait a moment..."

A very special idea suddenly flashed through Luo Di’s brain.

"What is it, student Luo?"

"I’m thinking, the different worlds connected by Connectors each have their own systems.

But the world we originally lived in seemed to lack such a system before the appearance of the Corner.

The human body has visible limits to the naked eye, and no matter how desperately one trains, it’s not possible to make a significant difference compared to an ordinary person.

The appearance of the Corner seems to have given humans a system to choose from.

Or maybe, the system of the Corner has always been the system of our world. It was just sealed off for some reason a long time ago, and it wasn’t until War and nuclear explosions that the Corner was reopened."

The President at the podium looked at the student who had an epiphany with a gratified smile.

The President nodded, "Indeed~ I’ve been thinking about this issue, too. The Corner may have existed in our world for a long time, as an ancient human path to ascension, yet was sealed off due to some reason.

But well,

The system brought by the Corner has an indescribable strangeness.

Even Pseudo-People who win identities through interstice screening may decay, wither, necrose, completely lose themselves and go mad in the Corner, die, or become part of the composition of the Corner space.

Moreover, the system of the Corner doesn’t seem to conflict with the systems of other worlds; Connectors can also take pituitary injections.

After you complete your pituitary injection or Alien Food, you can compare it with your spinal system."

"Hmm~ Right, President, there’s one more thing you didn’t mention, what is called [Calamity]?"

"Call me teacher!" The President turned around, wrote the word Calamity on the blackboard, and connected it to Fear with double-headed arrows.

"Calamity is a unique property of monsters, an effective means for them to radiate fear... Once contaminated with calamity, fear will accelerate its spread within you.

This kind of fear cannot be resisted by will alone; it will truly erode your sanity.

If your sanity is completely devoured by fear and reduced to zero, the consequences will be worse than death.

The expression form of calamity varies, and each monster’s calamity is different.

For example, Yose, listed on the white Warrant, his calamity has been identified by the Corner as [Chair], and if you happen to sit on a stool in his territory by accident, fear would accelerate its erosion on you.

Like my grandmother,

Once touched by her hand, the calamity condition will be met, and fear will crazily spread within you.

Of course, if grandmother has no hostility towards you, fear will naturally not descend."

Luo Di nodded, "Simply put, it’s like an ’Enhancer’! Monsters themselves generate fear impact on individuals, and the calamity they possess can double that impact.

Once fear completely erodes the individual, there’s no need for the monster to take action, and the fight will be over."

"Yes, that’s the terrifying aspect of monsters; therefore, after we land on the island tomorrow, we must be attentive to every detail and try not to get contaminated with calamity."

"Essentially, it still affects the brain, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I might be able to resist it a little... President, if you became a monster, what would your calamity be?"

"Me? Who knows right now, find me in the Corner later on and you’ll know the answer."