Chapter 104

“Miss, what’s wrong with you?”

Just as Dorothy was nearly terrified half to death by the grotesque, revolting underground scene, her side, Senior Dai Na stared at her in confusion, then stepped out of the elevator first.

Dorothy could clearly see how, with each step Senior Dai Na took, the fleshy fungal carpet beneath sank inward, the eyeballs spinning lazily across its surface crushed outright, their fluids spraying and intensifying the stench of decay in the air.

The fungal carpet, seemingly stimulated, sprouted countless writhing tentacles that began coiling upward along Senior Dai Na’s long, rounded legs, leaving sticky slime on her clothes, making the intellectual, teacher-like senior now drenched in foul-smelling muck.

Yet, as if utterly unaware, Senior Dai Na continued to gaze at Dorothy with puzzled curiosity, as if wondering why the young lady had suddenly turned pale.

“S-Senior, don’t you feel like you’re stepping on something?”

Dorothy trembled as she warned, especially since she noticed the countless unfathomable horrors nearby were already rushing toward them—she felt utterly drained, wishing she could just die.

Honestly, she wasn’t truly terrified—after all, fear of monsters stems from helplessness; once you possess power yourself, even the most horrifying creatures become merely... things. But these unfathomable horrors were just too bizarre, and the smell was truly overwhelming.

She’d initially felt a physiological revulsion.

But it was strange—after staring a while longer, she’d almost grown accustomed to them, even beginning to feel curious about these monsters, since she realized only she could see them. Senior Dai Na was completely entangled in tentacles and yet showed no sign of noticing anything amiss—she saw nothing at all.

“What’s wrong? Nothing’s there.”

Senior Dai Na glanced down at her feet in confusion, seeing only smooth, flat flooring. To prove she hadn’t stepped on anything, she bounced lightly, causing her plump, curvaceous body to sway and ripple like waves.

Too bad—if this were any other place, Dorothy might’ve enjoyed the view. But now her face turned pale again, since Senior Dai Na’s little hop had just crushed a few more eyeballs from the fungal carpet.

Yet Senior Dai Na’s expression and movements didn’t seem fake—she truly saw nothing. Then what was this grotesque scene she herself perceived—real or illusion?

Was this some kind of illusion spell?

And why was only I affected? Why wasn’t Senior Dai Na? Could it be because I’m too weak?

Dorothy began pondering.

Then again, she’d felt a slight stir in her Insight just now—perhaps it was because her Insight level was unusually high that she could see these things.

“Hey, Senior, may I ask—what’s your Insight rating? If it’s private, just ignore me.”

As the unfathomable horrors neared, surrounding Senior Dai Na completely, Dorothy no longer hesitated—she grabbed the senior’s arm and yanked her back into the elevator, then asked.

“A. My Insight talent is pretty high.”

Senior Dai Na answered directly. Though this should’ve been confidential, she showed no intention to hide it—after all, this was her own deity asking. As the loyal High Priestess of the God of Academic Excellence, Dai Na declared she had no secrets.

Hearing this, Dorothy grew puzzled. An A-rank rating was indeed high, and combined with the senior’s magic power—ten times hers—her total Insight value must far exceed hers. So why could she see these things, but not the senior?

Was it really because I’m too weak and caught in an illusion? Or does visibility depend not on total Insight value, but on Insight rank?

Dorothy pondered again.

Forget it. A gentleman doesn’t stand beneath a crumbling wall. Regardless of the mechanism, this situation looked dangerous—better to flee first.

She promptly pressed the magic-energy elevator button, preparing to get out of here.

Just as the elevator doors were nearly sealed, they suddenly jammed—Dorothy flinched in alarm.

Oh god, do I really have to fight?

She frowned, silently stepped behind Senior Dai Na, and a patch of black dragon scale materialized in her hand.

She’d found it beside her pillow just days ago, upon awakening in the Shining Tower—its magical aura unmistakably came from her mother.

Over the past few days, Dorothy had studied the scale. Though the manufacturing principles were too complex to understand, she’d deduced its general effect.

It was an automatic defense-and-counterattack talisman: if she suffered a fatal blow, it would activate, defending and retaliating with double the force of the attack.

As for its output limit—given the terrifying magical fluctuations within the scale—it likely matched the full-power strike of a Peak Witch.

Ugh, no wonder she’s my mom—she just handed her daughter a world-ending nuke to play with. Every day she carried this scale, Dorothy felt on edge, convinced she was just a mushroom-growing little witch.

So please, don’t come closer—if I slip up, this library might vanish.

Watching the stuck elevator doors, Dorothy silently screamed.

But...

Though the doors were jammed, no further horror followed. After waiting a moment, Dorothy gathered courage and stepped out from behind Senior Dai Na, who still looked baffled by the young lady’s behavior.

Of course, she wouldn’t dare peek directly through the crack—such suicidal behavior was beyond her. Instead, she casually cast two Ice Mirrors, arranging them into a periscope to peer through the gap.

Then...

“Damn. Knew it was this trick. I stabbed.”

Seeing the rectangular, goat-like pupils reflected in the mirror, Dorothy extended her hand, transforming it into a dragon claw, then struck back with a Double Dragon Probing Pearl.

Immediately, a scream echoed outside.

“Ah... my eyes...”

Dorothy: “...”

Wait, why wasn’t it a monster’s roar? That voice sounded like a witch senior...

Beside her, Senior Dai Na’s face lit up.

“Senior Fan Ni, you’re awake?”

Dorothy: “...”

Ugh, screwed.

She stared at the blood on her claw tips, sinking back into self-imposed isolation.

Though minor wounds meant nothing to a witch, had she really just offended a senior? Would she still have any hope of asking for help later?

Waiting online—urgent.

Dammit, those terrifying eyes were actually human? Are you kidding? What kind of evolutionary template does this senior have? How is she so bizarre?

...the little witch stared upward at the ceiling...