Chapter 89 – The Aberrant Richard
"Academic exchange?" Zhou Ning asked curiously.
"That's right. The participants are from Yule University of the Byron Republic and Inyek University of the Kingdom of Ruins," Professor Wesley replied with a smile. "It might be a bit early to bring this up, though. Due to political disputes, the Sunny Road at the border is temporarily closed, so the academic team from Inyek University probably won't be able to come for a while."
Zhou Ning nodded in understanding. Ever since the death of Charles VI, tensions between Bryston and Ruins had reached an all-time high. Inyek University making it over? Fat chance.
Professor Wesley paused for a moment before continuing, "This exchange will focus on the warrior and mage departments. As for our alchemy department... well, with Inyek University involved, the school's only requirement is that we don't embarrass ourselves. As long as the results aren't too terrible, anyone who participates will earn at least 10 academic credits. So, are you interested?"
Ten credits!
Zhou Ning was instantly swayed. With those 10 credits, he could coast his way to graduation without showing up every day like a prisoner. There were so many better things to do with that time.
After a moment's thought, he asked cautiously, "What about my alchemy courses?"
"You can't skip the final exam," Professor Wesley said, "but since you're already a Senior Alchemist, you're exempt from regular classes. You just have to show up for the final."
"Alright, I'm very interested, Professor Wesley." With everything already laid out, he'd be a fool not to take the offer. Zhou Ning agreed without hesitation.
"Good." A smile spread across Wesley's face. "When the exchange begins, I'll have someone inform you. And one more thing—my advice is to devote more time to alchemy during this period. If you perform well during the exchange, it could be a big help to your career."
Zhou Ning nodded. He understood what Wesley meant. These large academic exchanges often drew influential figures. A standout performance could easily land someone a great job—especially for a senior like him, it was a rare opportunity.
But Wesley would probably end up disappointed—Zhou Ning had no plans to job hunt anytime soon, he muttered to himself.
After chatting a little longer with Professor Wesley, Zhou Ning tipped his hat politely and took his leave.
Outside, the weather had indeed changed dramatically—from snow to rain. The once snow-covered road was now a muddy mess under the heavy downpour.
Zhou Ning opened his umbrella and began heading back to his dorm, lost in thought.
There was less than a month until the players descended. He still had a lot to prepare.
First, of course, was making money—while also trying to gather as many extraordinary items and alchemy blueprints as possible to boost his strength.
Second, he needed to trigger high-reward quests whenever possible to earn more experience and level up in preparation for the closed beta. He still didn't know how the game would determine who could give quests to players, but leveling up certainly wouldn't hurt.
Third, he had to keep sabotaging the Curse God Cult and hopefully uncover their conspiracy.
The first goal was manageable. Right now, he had two reliable income sources—firearms and devil fruits. And assuming John didn't screw him over, the Yu-Gi-Oh project would bring in even more money.
The second goal was trickier. Zhou Ning used to know how to trigger a bunch of major quests and could've dominated the game in minutes. But for some reason, once he entered the game, the plot had turned into complete chaos—monsters running wild everywhere—leaving him with very few stable ways to gain experience. Aside from the occasional triggered quest, alchemy was his only real option.
So, for the time being, he had no choice but to shift his focus to alchemy. While building his proficiency, he could also gain some extra experience.
Back in the dorm, John had already prepared the contract. Zhou Ning read through the terms carefully from start to finish. Finding nothing problematic—and with a 40% revenue split still in place—he signed without hesitation.
Under John's eager gaze, Zhou Ning began mentally reconstructing and writing out the rules and card effects for Yu-Gi-Oh.
Maybe it was due to his increased mental attributes, but although he'd mostly forgotten the rules and cards of Yu-Gi-Oh, somehow—with a mix of guessing and piecing things together—he managed to recall most of it.
In under three hours, he completed a rough draft of the Yu-Gi-Oh rulebook.
After some consideration, Zhou Ning decided to start with the original Yu-Gi-Oh: Duelist Kingdom rules and tweak them later: 4000 starting Life Points, the first player draws a card, and so on... As he looked at the familiar rules, even he couldn't help but mutter, Ah, youth revived.
As for the cards, the game had over 20,000, and Zhou Ning admitted he only remembered the monsters. After racking his brain, he could only list the ones he remembered best—like some low-tier cards, the Harpie Lady series, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the three Egyptian God Cards, Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and so on. The rest could be added later.
Of course, out of personal bias, he also included a few powerful Machine-type cards—clearly setting the stage for future cash grabs.
Handing the draft to John, Zhou Ning smiled and said, "This is basically version one. You'll have to find someone else to draw the card illustrations—I'm not much of an artist."
"Don't worry about it." John picked up the draft and started reading with intense focus.
He didn't look up for nearly 40 minutes. When he finally did, he gazed at Zhou Ning and gave him a big thumbs-up.
"This is amazing. I've got a strong feeling I'm finally going to make it this time."
"Let's hope so." Zhou Ning shook his head and chuckled. Honestly, John's entrepreneurial path had been one disaster after another—practically a real-life Looney Tunes character. Zhou Ning figured even John's dad had given up on him.
"I'm heading home for a bit." With Zhou Ning's draft in hand, John left the apartment without a second of delay.
Zhou Ning guessed he was off to ask his dad for money. Thank goodness I don't have a son like that.
Not bothering to wait, Zhou Ning had dinner and, after just a brief rest, rushed to the alchemy lab. He couldn't afford to slack off.
After two days of taking it easy, the deadline was looming—he had to deliver at least two devil fruits to the Sunwatchers by tomorrow. Plus, he needed to make one extra for tomorrow night's Supernatural Gathering as a test run. The workload was intense.
When Zhou Ning arrived at the gates of Vick University, he happened to see Sherlock passing by with a few men. After a quick greeting, Sherlock approached Zhou Ning and lowered his voice:
"Wayne, have you seen Richard Pessa in the past couple of days?"
"No," Zhou Ning replied, shaking his head. "What happened?"
Sherlock took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "He's been corrupted by an evil god and has undergone an aberration. So far, nine ordinary people have died by his hand. Someone reported seeing him nearby about half an hour ago. We have to deal with him before he hurts anyone else."
So it's true, Zhou Ning thought, taking a deep breath and forcing down the complicated emotions stirring within him. "What do you need me to do?"
Sherlock paused for a moment. "If you run into him—either notify us or take him out."
"Got it," Zhou Ning answered without hesitation.
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