Dark cleaned up the remnants of the experiment. After entering the bathroom to shower and coming back out, he saw Trash Slime slowly wriggling while balancing the [Meowth] Magic Guide Card on its head.
Trash Slime seemed to like this job very much, repeatedly wandering around the bedroom with [Meowth] on top.
Magic Beast (Ditto), who had always regarded Trash Slime as its own, watched gently. It was unexpectedly harmonious.
"Magic Beast (Ditto)."
Dark wiped his hair with a towel and spoke.
"Mang mang?"
Magic Beast (Ditto) immediately turned its head and looked at him with curiosity.
Dark pointed to the teaching materials on the desk and said casually, "How about I hand Meowth's teaching tasks over to you?"
Magic Beast (Ditto) tilted its head and thought for a moment. Its body suddenly stood up while wriggling, transforming into a Meowth with beady eyes.
Then it patted its chest and nodded. "Meow meow!"
Dark nodded with gratification. "Then I'll leave it to you. While you're at it, tutor the Slime; it's having a bit of trouble keeping up."
Magic Beast (Ditto): "Mang~ Meow meow!"
The next day, Sunday.
Afternoon.
Dark was continuing to write teaching materials when a wisp of clear breeze blew a paper crane into the dormitory.
He reached out to catch the paper crane, opened it to take a look, and his heart stirred. He packed his things and went out.
A few minutes later, he arrived at Professor Silf's office.
Inside the office, Professor Silf and Professor Kazel were already waiting.
Although the two had made no progress in the search for the "invisible person," they didn't look anxious at all.
When Dark entered, he saw a rare sight: they were playing Magic Guide Chess.
Dark was actually quite interested in Magic Guide Chess, but fearing he wouldn't be able to control himself once he got addicted, he had deliberately avoided learning it.
But seeing Professor Silf and Professor Kazel playing Magic Guide Chess, he couldn't help but lean in.
Magic Guide Chess is a type of game similar to [Beast Chess]. There are twenty-one pieces on each side. Each piece possesses corresponding Attack, Defense, HP, and Ultimate Moves, as well as a number of steps it can move per turn.
In each round, players can choose to "deploy a piece" or "operate a piece to move."
By deploying pieces within one's own territory and moving one piece per turn to advance and kill the opponent's pieces, one can achieve victory by slaughtering all enemy pieces or capturing the fortress!
In the past, Magic Guide Chess always had a fixed set of twenty-one pieces, but recently, some new pieces seemed to have appeared, setting off a wave of popularity.
Players can open new Magic Guide Chess pieces through a gacha model to construct their own Magic Guide Chess lineup. Just like building a deck for dueling, it is extremely fun.
Some rare Magic Guide Chess pieces even have additional value, and their transaction prices are astonishing.
Of course, inevitably, a distinction between pirated and genuine versions appeared!
Pirated Magic Guide Chess sets are generally unofficial, inferior products.
To distinguish genuine Magic Guide Chess from pirated copies, a difficult-to-replicate official crest is carved into the bottom of the pieces.
The Magic Guide Chess sets Professor Silf and Professor Kazel were using were brand-new ones that Dark had never seen before.
The piece combinations of both sides were very formidable, engaging in fierce offensive campaigns atop the small board.
The Magic Guide Chess pieces raised their blades and fell, constantly slaying each other.
In the end, Professor Kazel was one step ahead. He slew Professor Silf's [Elf Queen] and successfully occupied the fortress.
"Phew!"
Professor Kazel finally let out a sigh of relief. He picked up the teacup by his side to take a sip, only to find the cup was already empty.
Professor Silf was obviously somewhat disappointed. She straightened up, turned to Dark, and said, "When did you arrive?"
Dark smiled. "I've been here a while. How did you two end up playing Magic Guide Chess?"
Professor Silf put down the piece and gave a rare smile. "You won't believe it, but I just learned."
Professor Kazel also revealed a smile. "I recommended it."
Dark: No wonder you could win...
But he hadn't expected Professor Kazel to have such a hobby; he hadn't seen it before.
Professor Kazel seemed to see his confusion and said casually, "I've lived for such a long time, so of course I know how to play Magic Guide Chess. It's just that the fixed twenty-one pieces were a bit too boring before, so I stopped paying attention. I didn't expect the Magic Guide Chess Guild to actually develop new pieces, so I thought I'd give it a try."
Professor Silf continued, "This is indeed a breakthrough. With new pieces, the strategies of Magic Guide Chess have become richer. Unlike in the past, where you just had to memorize the board. Also, the creativity of some new pieces is very worthy of reference... Let's talk about business!"
She sighed and pushed the chess pieces away.
Dark grabbed a chair, sat down between the two, and said, "Professor, has there been any progress?"
Professor Silf said, "It's precisely because there is no progress that we are annoyed."
Dark asked curiously, "Are there no ready-made methods?"
Professor Silf shook her head. "Now is not the past."
The meaning was that there were available methods, but they couldn't be used.
Some methods usable during special times were taboo in an era of peace.
And using only conventional means, it is very difficult to catch a person who has never shown themselves from beginning to end.
Dark nodded slightly and didn't ask further.
Professor Silf had sent for him presumably to discuss how to find the person within the scope of the rules.
She continued, "The problem now is that we have too little information on our side. We don't even know the other party's purpose for spying on the secret passage. We are completely clueless."
Professor Kazel said humorously, "This is the hardest part. It's like we are looking for a person who doesn't exist at all. But since we can't find them, we have to change our method—for example, making them come out on their own."
Professor Silf looked at Dark. "'Luring the snake out of the hole'—is that the saying?"
Dark nodded. "Perhaps the seal on the secret passage really stumped them, so they haven't made a move for a long time."
Professor Silf: "That is indeed a possibility. But we can't just unlock the secret passage's seal for that. Besides, that would be too obvious."
Dark thought for a moment. "But to lure the person out without unsealing the secret passage, we need to know what the other party's ultimate goal in spying on the passage is."
Professor Silf: "So the question returns to the starting point."
When their discussion paused temporarily, Professor Kazel chimed in, "Our current idea is to 'manufacture' a key used to break the seal, and then use this key to lure the person out."
After speaking, he turned his gaze to Dark.
Dark pondered slightly, then suddenly realized. "Is this the reason you called me here?"
Professor Kazel smiled. "Yes. We want you to 'manufacture' this key!"
Dark: "Let me think."
Professor Kazel and Professor Silf's intentions were already very clear.
Of course, they couldn't possibly go and manufacture a real key.
At this time, someone was needed to "create something out of nothing"!
Of course, that is a more elegant way of putting it.
In plain terms.
They needed someone to start a rumor!
Dark was, after all, someone who had experienced the information explosion of the internet age. His understanding of "creating something out of nothing" was even greater than what the two professors imagined.
This sort of thing didn't have requirements for the truthfulness of the rumor, but one had to pay attention to making the content sufficiently attractive. Even if no one pushed it, it had to be capable of spontaneous "person-to-person transmission."
And on this basis, the point to note was to guarantee that the cost of spreading the rumor must be zero!
If one wanted a rumor to fly, the importance of "no cost" was sometimes even greater than the content itself.
But to make the rumor fly higher, effort still needed to be put into sculpting the content.
Generally speaking, content linked to morality—making people feel they are standing on the moral high ground and can condemn those below—or content that can bring people huge benefits, belongs to the category of "good content" that makes rumors fly high.
Another point: if the rumor-monger's own status and position are convincing, that can also serve as support for the rumor's spread, making it fly even higher.
In this regard, Dark possessed a natural advantage.
It was very easy for him to spread a rumor.
It was just that once the rumor was popped, he would also have to bear the resulting crisis of trust.
"What do I need to do?"
After a long while, Dark finally looked up and spoke.
There were quite a few ways to avoid a crisis of trust. Blurring the rumor, or kicking the ball to "a certain professor," were both relatively practical methods.
Of course, if there was a "physical object," that would be best.
This "physical object" could also be made into real bait!
Professor Kazel and Professor Silf's considerations were quite thorough.
Professor Kazel immediately said, "I can make a fake key and then store it in a place with a certain level of difficulty to acquire. Then, you will accidentally leak this news. Hmm, you can say directly that you heard it from me."
Dark thought about it and said, "Then Professor, why would you make a key capable of breaking the seal? To cause trouble for yourself?"
Professor Kazel shrugged and smiled. "That's not important, Demon. As long as a craze is stirred up, no one will care about that. Just like no one wonders why there are treasure maps for labyrinth treasures. Of course, we can't let people think there is treasure in the secret passage. Otherwise, it will attract people we don't want to attract."
Dark said, "Professor, this is hard to control."
Professor Kazel: "That's why we need you."
Dark: "Let me think again."
The matter itself sounded plausible.
If he just casually leaked it, perhaps it really could attract people who had a need for the key to take the bait.
Many stories had similar segments.
It didn't require an overly elaborate design; the key lay in the word "need."
However.
Just saying however—what if the other party was a bit shrewd?
After all, a suddenly appearing "key" is very easy to make people suspect its authenticity, and whether it is a trap.
What kind of "need" could override "suspicion"?
Making someone take the bait even knowing the risk?
"Perhaps, we can be a bit more circuitous, so the hook doesn't appear so blatant?"
Dark couldn't help but start pondering.
His gaze swept over the Magic Guide Chess set on the table, and he suddenly clapped his hands. "Professor, I have an idea."
Professor Kazel focused his attention slightly. "Let's hear it."
Dark pointed at the Magic Guide Chess set and said, "Deliberately spreading rumors leaves too many traces. We can change the method. For example, counterfeit a Magic Guide Chess piece."
"Counterfeit a Magic Guide Chess piece?" Professor Silf asked in confusion. "What use is that?"
Dark explained slightly, "It's very simple. Let the other party see what they want to see, and they will naturally bite the hook themselves."
Professor Kazel's mind stirred, and he said, "Are you saying, counterfeit a Magic Guide Chess piece of Vampire Vlad?"
Dark: "Bingo!"
Professor Kazel mused, "This might be better than my method. But we still don't know if the other party is aiming for the vampire in the secret passage. In fact, the probability isn't actually that high."
"It doesn't matter."
Dark shook his head. "Since we've started, we might as well make the matter a bit bigger. We also need to know what the appearance of Vampire Vlad truly signifies! And, who Vampire Vlad actually is! Anyone who bites the hook, even if they aren't that invisible person, will be someone related to them. Only by truly understanding the origin of Vampire Vlad can we deal with it. As part of the academy castle, the secret passage has immense value and cannot be sealed forever."
Professor Kazel and Professor Silf looked at him with some surprise.
After a long while, Professor Kazel nodded. "What you say makes a lot of sense."
Dark continued, "We can also appropriately reveal a little bit of some news. For example, actually, many people are curious. Where exactly was I during the holidays, and who did I save, to obtain the extra Holy Grail wish opportunity? We don't need to admit it, nor deny it, and certainly don't need to reveal the reason for Vampire Vlad's appearance in the secret passage. Of course, we also need someone to answer this question. A real vampire appearing out of thin air in the secret passage of an ancient castle... Why would a vampire demon, a race long extinct, appear in the secret passage of an ancient castle? There are definitely not a few who are interested in this."
He paused slightly, then added, "Regardless of whether he is coming for the vampire or not. We can make him become someone 'coming for the vampire.'"
The matter was settled just like that.
When Dark left the office, he had an extra set of Magic Guide Chess in his hand.
One of the pieces, manufactured with Vampire Vlad as the prototype, was lying quietly in the chess box.
Today happened to be the weekend.
Because Valentine's Day was approaching, wisps of a decadent aura drifted through the Noble House common room.
Dark found a seat near the fireplace and sat down. Then he unfolded the Magic Guide Chess board on the round table. Using the set of Magic Guide Chess pieces he had mooched from the two professors and the original fixed set of twenty-one pieces, he played a game with his left hand against his right hand.
As a beginner, his technique was very clumsy.
But relying on the twenty-one powerful new Magic Guide Chess pieces, he still beat the twenty-one old Magic Guide Chess pieces into retreating defeat.
In the end, Little Right defeated Little Left.
"Dark, where did you get a whole set of pieces?"
Doron, who had come upon hearing the news, couldn't help but ask in surprise.
Dark had already noticed Doron's arrival, so he said, "Just bought it. How about it, want to play a game?"
Doron immediately got excited. "Of course! You're a beginner, right? Want me to give you a handicap?"
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