The Eldritch Files

Amid Han Su's astonishment, Black Rose's voice on the recording was still probing, "Why does it have to be exactly 70%? Can't it be 69%, or 71%?"

"Is there some special significance to this number?"

The middle-aged man sighed softly. "There is no 'why.' Humans can't even figure out their own minds, how could they possibly understand the secrets of the Gods? 70% is a threshold—a threshold where Spiritual Power undergoes a qualitative change."

"Before 70%, Spiritual Activity is still within the human realm. But the last 30% is considered a Divine Forbidden Area—a domain that mortals are not allowed to touch. It's as simple as that!"

...

Black Rose said, "So, just because it's 'not allowed,' you're not going to touch it?"

"Of course not."

The middle-aged man's voice seemed to carry a hint of frantic urgency. "When have humans ever listened?"

"Although my spirit hasn't awakened yet, I've already figured it out. The first step is to awaken your spirit. The second is to increase your Spiritual Activity to 70%. And then, you have to break through the Divine Forbidden Area."

"It's just that this step is too difficult. The only way is to find some professionals."

...

Black Rose seemed intrigued. "Professionals like me?"

"You don't even believe your patient. What kind of professional are you?"

The middle-aged man let out a cold chuckle. Maybe it was the recording quality, but when he spoke, his tone seemed to take on a mysterious air. "In this world, the ones who have truly mastered the Mysterious Power are these four types of people."

"One type is people carrying suitcases, another is Mysterious Organizations. But the truly erudite with ancient lineages are the Hidden School and the Ancient Nobles..."

"The Hidden School originated from scholars who studied the history and archeology of the Radiation Age. They began their research thousands of years ago. Generation after generation, they got closer to these mysterious things than ordinary people and have accumulated vast amounts of knowledge."

"The Ancient Nobles..."

"Heh, they are the masters of this world. They just pretend to be ordinary people, hiding in our city. But absolutely nothing escapes their control..."

...

Black Rose mused, "They sound very rich..."

"So, which type have you found?"

The middle-aged man's train of thought was broken. He sighed and said, "I haven't looked yet. My spirit is still dead right now. It's too early to talk about this. For now, I'm planning to go die for a bit."

Black Rose said, "Well, good luck with that. Remember to pay the consultation fee on your way out. I'm afraid you won't have time later."

The middle-aged man said, "I will. But I also want you to agree to one condition. You have to be my witness. If I really die, the insurance company will rule it a suicide and won't pay out."

Black Rose was suddenly in a difficult position. "Even if I'm your witness, they still might not pay..."

The middle-aged man's mind was made up. "But you have to promise you'll testify for me then. Of course, there's still a risk, but everything has a price, doesn't it?"

...

...

The conversation ended there. Han Su was utterly confused. The content really did sound like someone obsessed with Mysterious Power who had become lost in their own bizarre theories.

But how could a layman like him mention Spiritual Activity, and these so-called Hidden School and Ancient Nobles?

'He seems to know more than I do, and I'm an Investigator!'

The people with suitcases and the Mysterious Organizations were a given; he was familiar with them. He had also long been aware of the existence of the Hidden School he mentioned. But these so-called Ancient Nobles... what kind of people were they?

A strong curiosity grew in Han Su's heart. He felt that the doubts that had arisen during this mission were quickly being resolved by the contents of this bizarrely-sourced conversation.

He sat in silence for a long time before sending a message: "So, the reason you had me listen to this recording is?"

It was as if Black Rose was waiting right at her computer. The reply was instant: [Weren't you interested in this before? I came across something related, so of course I thought of you.]

[What do you think? Pretty amazing, right? Let me tell you, there's something even more amazing!]

[...]

Han Su immediately followed up: [How amazing?]

Black Rose: [After I saw that patient, I felt that while his story was outrageous, it seemed useful. So, I did a search using a few of the keywords he mentioned...]

[...It's amazing, there's actually a lot of related content out there, and it's all been compiled into a whole system.]

[...]

Han Su's heart stirred. He temporarily cast aside his suspicions about Black Rose and eagerly asked: [Then tell me, is there anything in there about increasing Spiritual Activity?]

[Yes, and a lot of it.]

Black Rose replied: [If this related content is a pseudoscience compiled by people with too much time on their hands, then the question of Spiritual Activity is the main body of that pseudoscience.]

[According to their theories, the method my patient thought of to awaken his spirit actually makes a certain amount of sense.]

[And it's a similar process for increasing Spiritual Activity. Things like a person's adventures, the crises they encounter, contamination, the thirst for knowledge, the understanding of things and philosophy, and epiphanies about life—all of these can increase one's Spiritual Activity.]

[Also, because people have different experiences, their starting value when their spirit awakens will vary. Someone who enjoys adventure and has had unusual experiences will have a much higher initial value than an ordinary person. Their subsequent increases will also be much faster.]

[...]

Han Su suddenly felt as if many things in his mind were clicking into place.

'If that's the case, then it's true.'

The Spiritual Activity of those people from D7 was ridiculously high. Never mind Pot Lid Head, even the three from Jackal were higher than his.

And when he first achieved Penetration, his own initial value was also frighteningly high—something that Secretary Cui Qiao and even Red Windbreaker couldn't comprehend.

'Is it because I've been constantly escaping from the Ancient Castle, giving me a natural advantage in Spiritual Activity over others?'

He pondered this silently, organizing his thoughts, but this also gave rise to a new question:

'But if that's the case, why was my initial value so high, but my subsequent growth so slow? And my experiences in the Ancient Castle—did they really only give me an initial value of 30%?'

'Somehow, that advantage doesn't seem to justify all those near-death experiences in the Ancient Castle.'

Just then, another message arrived from Black Rose: [Besides the impact of crises, Spiritual Activity is also affected by another factor: life range.]

Han Su was taken aback. [What does that mean?]

Black Rose: [Because the people who compiled this pseudoscience discovered that, compared to young people, it's harder for the elderly to increase their Spiritual Activity. This could be due to age, physical decline, and mental fatigue, of course, but it's more importantly influenced by another factor.]

[A person's spirit is continuous and transcends time. Therefore, the total volume of one's spirit is often related to the length of one's life.]

[It's like how it's much easier to heat a cup of water than a whole pool. So, the same stimulus will have a much more significant effect on a young person's Spiritual Activity than on an older person's.]

She seemed to pause here, and then the message came through: [If someone has lived for several hundred years, their Spiritual Activity would be even harder to increase than an elderly person's, because the total volume of their spirit is already so much greater than others.]

Reading this, Han Su suddenly felt as if everything had been connected.

'It all lines up.'

'No wonder the experiences in the Ancient Castle only gave me 30% Spiritual Activity, and my growth slowed down so much afterward.'

'Because every "Flashing" brought crisis, but it also increased my Spiritual Range by ten years. My Activity has been increasing, but my Spiritual Range has been expanding too.'

'It's like Pot Lid Head getting his sentence reduced for completing missions, only to have it extended again and again because of his niche hobbies, resulting in his sentence just getting longer and longer.'

'For me now, forget about increasing my Spiritual Activity. In a way, isn't it good enough that it's not decreasing?'

This discovery left Han Su sitting in his computer chair, silent for a long time. Though he had suddenly understood everything, it also felt like the problem had just walked straight into a dead end.

'With such a vast Spiritual Sea, how could I ever increase my Spiritual Activity?'

[Sigh, I actually find their compilations rather interesting. There are always gains and losses. The more powerful the spirit, the harder it is to increase its Activity. But once its Activity is raised, the future potential is surely unimaginable. It's very logical.]

Black Rose sent one final lament: [It's just, if someone really happened to have a vast spiritual length from the very beginning, then how to take that first step would be the biggest challenge, wouldn't it...]

'It's more than just a challenge...'

Han Su's heart even felt a little heavy. Composing himself slightly, he typed: [Thank you, Miss Ai.]

The other party replied instantly: [You're welcome, Mr. Butcher...]

Silence!

Retracted!

Black Rose: [Who is Miss Ai? When did you get another woman behind my back?]

?

While she was getting angry, Han Su was equally stunned. He had only thrown out a random probe, but it seemed he had actually found something out.

He typed furiously on his keyboard: [Who exactly are you? Where are you right now?]

[Oops...]

Black Rose grew nervous: [I have to go mix protein powder for my cat, goodbye!]

After that, no matter what messages Han Su sent, she didn't reply.

Regarding this psychologist, whom he thought he knew so well—even to the point of considering silencing her over potential leaks—Han Su was now plunged into deep suspicion.

This was someone he had known for many years, someone he had met face-to-face more than once. She was also the only person with whom he had previously shared the secret of the Flashing. And yet, now he had his doubts.

'Who... is she, really?'

But what made him feel even more lost was the information she had mentioned.

If a certain high level of Spiritual Activity was required to glimpse the Life Code, and his own Spiritual Range had, due to his Flashing experiences, swelled to a magnitude comparable to that of two elderly people, wasn't the so-called Life Code now hopelessly out of reach?

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