World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 5 University of Ann Arbor

The University of Ann Arbor campus is characterized by its vast size and sparse population.

Large tracts of land lie fallow, barren, with withered lawns and no vegetation, separating campuses for different majors, with students commuting by shuttle bus.

The university's history predates the founding of the United Kingdom. Modernization has only extended to the buildings, and the environment alone gives one the illusion of being located in the wilderness.

In the early morning, the campus was full of tour groups wandering around, taking pictures with their phones and praising the beautiful scenery and the quiet location.

The University of Ann Arbor has a renowned reputation, and visitors will naturally create a myth around it.

Lin An walked towards the student dormitory along the main road, which was covered with yellow "A" flags—the university's abbreviation.

After living there for two years, he knew the campus layout like the back of his hand.

Some members of the tour group consciously followed Lin An.

Sunlight danced on the tranquil water, reflecting off the beige brick walls, as if coating them with a layer of colorful fragments of light, blending seamlessly with the lush flower fields surrounding the teaching building.

The buildings are well-maintained; any university with an endowment will continuously build upon its campus.

This is common sense and sound business acumen. A beautiful campus attracts students, making teachers and students proud, and attracting parents from all over the world to flock to it.

When tour groups post photos on social media, applications for the following year come in like snowflakes.

Behind the humanities teaching building was Lin An's old dormitory. He opened the door with his student card, and the tour group dispersed in disappointment.

If they continued to follow Lin An, this university journey would end in disillusionment. The dormitory corridors were filled with the lingering smell of smoke, and littered with cigarette butts, scraps of paper, moldy pizzas and fries, used condoms, crushed beer cans, and other trash.

"Ding dong."

The moment the elevator doors opened, a woman reeking of smoke and alcohol bumped right into Lin An.

"Hehe, do I look drunk?" she said with a dreamy smile.

"Yes, be careful on your way back."

"No drinking, no smoking! Oh, you country bumpkin, are you from Kalevnia... or New Jersey? Go back to farming, this is Dietrich..."

Lin An, having been mistreated by Lin An's kindness, let go of her hand, and the woman collapsed into the elevator with a thud, falling fast asleep.

My former roommate's dorm room was the last room in the four-person dorm.

"Bang bang bang."

No one answered the door when he knocked. Lin An coughed a few times and said, "Sasaki, it's me, Lin An."

Twenty seconds later, the doorknob turned.

Upon entering, there is a short corridor with the toilet on the left, connecting to a rectangular room. On one side is a spacious double bed, and on the other side is a work desk with three computers and an opened bag of snacks.

Compared to the outside, this place is quite clean and tidy.

"Good morning, Lin Sang. You've come to pick up those books? Here, they're over there."

The voice sounded like a cotton candy. The young man speaking was chubby and fair-skinned, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a light-colored T-shirt printed with anime characters.

Haruto Sasaki, Lin An's former roommate.

When the two from Central Continent first arrived in Eagle Country, they were both amazed by the atmosphere. Unlike Lin An, who gradually adapted, Sasaki chose to shut himself off and became a true otaku.

Lin Anqing opened the cardboard box and began counting his mother's ancient books.

Carolingian calligraphy added a layer of sacredness to this mystery. Blowing away the dust, Lin An found the second copy of "The Complete Book of Magic".

Although he couldn't understand large sections of the text, Lin An had a basic grasp of the spelling based on his mother's translation.

The Complete Book of Magic II: Alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone - Metals that Create Life.

alchemy……

This term permeated the Middle Ages in the West.

Ancient alchemists believed that all things contain the seed of perfection, and that all imperfect things are naturally destined to evolve toward their highest potential. Alchemy would accelerate this process, with common spells such as transforming base metals like lead into precious metals like gold or silver.

Admittedly, this is just a scam.

Without the influence of "Commes" in the Middle Ages, famous alchemists either used the trickery of the tailor in "The Emperor's New Clothes" or were eloquent theologians.

The core of alchemy is "to make the imperfect perfect," which, from a human perspective, can also be understood as a spiritual worship that brings people closer to divinity.

Let's include it in the second book.

Besides the ancient books, the box contained all the books Lin An had borrowed from the library. Sasaki sorted them into categories and labeled them with "expiration date" notes.

Wow, so many fines.

That's the downside of not living on campus; I always forget the deadline for returning books.

Lin An turned around, and Sasaki had already climbed onto the bed, sitting in the center surrounded by cute girl body pillows, scrolling through his phone.

"Sasaki, do you remember the code we wrote together two years ago?"

"World Tree Forum?" Sasaki looked up from the game. "You mean the website where I was working hard that summer while you went to Starbucks to meet up with Senior Zhou?"

After a long silence, Lin An awkwardly explained, "It's just attending a senior's social gathering. Besides, she invited you, but the problem is you absolutely refuse to step out of your dorm."

"Explode, you damn popcorn!"

Sasaki grabbed a body pillow with a blue-haired girl on it and hugged it like an octopus. Lin An shrugged helplessly and got back to the main topic.

"The World Tree administrator can view the IP address of each registered account. The forum is now very large, and the administrator's backend is full of code that looks like a foreign language. It's impossible to know where to start and find useful information quickly."

"Would you like to add a 'keyword search' feature?"

“Yes. Also, it would be even better if the backend could display each newly registered account individually, for example, by highlighting their ID in red, and then returning to normal after a month,” Lin An said. “It would also be best if there were special prompts when the login location is in Dietrich.”

"..."

"Can you even write something like this, Sasaki?"

"You bastard, you'd better have saved my life in your past life," the fat man said through gritted teeth.

Lin An smiled slightly: "500 dollars."

"No, I want to grind the guild wars!"

"800 dollars."

"Sinai!"

"1000 dollars. Just imagine how much 648 yuan you can spend on it, how many characters you can draw, and how much merchandise you can buy."

Sasaki stared intently at Lin An for a long while, then gave in dejectedly.

"If it weren't for the upcoming Winter Festival limited-time gacha banner, damn it, I wouldn't be helping you!" he grumbled. "By the way, 1000 gold coins can only get me two fully upgraded wives!"

The amount of money spent on in-game purchases in mobile games is outrageous.

In fact, Sasaki's family was well-off, but he spent all his living expenses on virtual networks every month; Lin An, on the other hand, would save the money and spend it on the money he earned from part-time jobs.

"Then I'll send you the code right away. Go and modify it, young man." After a pause, Lin An pressed, "How long will it take to finish writing?"

"A day or two."

Sasaki struggled to his feet, sat down in front of the three computers, pressed the power button on each one, glanced at the idle Lin An, and felt a surge of anger.

"Hey, Lin-san, let's not repeat this summer. Can you buy me some takeout?" He scrolled through the executable file on his computer. "It's not complicated. It's similar to the source code. You didn't make any major changes. Maybe I can get it working tonight."

Awesome, boss!

Why should your next fat support character be surnamed Wang?

"Okay, I'll go to the library first, and bring you fried rice when I come back." Lin An picked up a large stack of hardcover books. "Did you return the book that Ampelle borrowed?"

She said she would pay it back for you.

"Is April really that trustworthy?"

“I feel the same way. I’ll check your borrowing records later, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll report the situation to the library administration.” Sasaki’s fingers flew across the keyboard, clicking away. “Go quickly and come back soon, I need to enter the Zone.”

Without bothering him any longer, Lin An left the dormitory.

Despite the university library's name including "books," the building contains almost no paper books.

The high-tech desk was filled with flashing computer screens, and PowerPoint presentations played non-stop 24/7 on digital book covers, accompanied by 360-degree surround music, making it feel like watching a pop art film.

Of course, students can interrupt the computer's presentation at any time to search for the content they want.

Twenty years ago in the United States, as creative companies competed with old-fashioned preprint books for market share, a large number of jobs disappeared, and people were lost in the tide of the times, and were called the "second generation of the lost".

The end result was a victory for digital commerce. The United States' wealth soared, and it became a top business empire. No one cared about those young people anymore.

Books have become compressed knowledge packages, outsourced to computers, and downloads have transformed the publishing industry. Except for avid collectors, no one wants to waste paper on printing.

Fortunately, there are still many paper books on the fourth floor of the library, where Lin An is a regular visitor.

"The late payment penalty is $32.50 in total," the clerk said without looking up. "Cash or card?"

"Swipe card." Lin An paid while asking, "Could you check if I haven't returned a copy of 'Tales of the Lower East - Aztec Mythology'?"

The administrator typed quickly, clicked the mouse, and shook his head.

"No, it's all wiped clean."

Lin An was somewhat surprised, not expecting that the loud and boisterous party girl to be so reliable.

"Student, I don't understand why you always like to borrow books." The administrator swiped the magnetic cards on the spines of the books one by one, half-complaining, "It's causing trouble for both of us."

"My eyes can't stand electronic screens."

"Ah, what a pity." The administrator shook his head. "You know, it's lucky to be born in the United States."

"which aspect?"

"You can enjoy modern facilities that are at the forefront of technology and knowledge. In the neighboring Western Continent, libraries are just old storage warehouses with no commercial value. Nobody uses them, and their funding is collapsing."

Lin An gave a perfunctory reply and went down the stairs.

A voice with a heavy accent suddenly came from around the corner, muttering a familiar name.

“'Sasaki Haruto,' you better not let me find you…”

(End of this chapter)