Stray Chapter 27: The meaning of “The Hanged Man”
Academy City.
was established by Aleister Crowley in the world for decades. It is a circular city located in the west of Tokyo, Japan, with an area of about one-third of Tokyo.
is named Academy City because it is a veritable school city, a huge collection of educational institutions consisting of twenty-three school districts, including dozens of universities and hundreds of elementary schools , junior high school and high school, there are more than 1,000 large and small "research institutions" in total.
The population is nearly 2.3 million, of which 80% of the residents are students.
This city is exclusive to outsiders. The entire city is blocked by tall walls and the outside world is blocked. The sky is also constantly monitored by satellites, and even the replenishment trucks of convenience stores also need special access permits. permit to enter.
Those who don't have a permit can hardly move here. After all, even in this city, even the currency in circulation is equipped with IC chips, which is not only an anti-counterfeiting function.
Xia Ran didn't care, and didn't think how troublesome it was. After he asked Kamijou Touma, he didn't go to the appropriate apartment area immediately, but first took advantage of the dark night to go to some remote areas
borrowed some money from some kind-hearted street gangsters and delinquent teenagers.
Miracles are not free, and praying for hope will spread the same amount of despair. Just as someone found money, someone must have lost it.
So while some people have gained a certain amount of start-up capital, some people have been knocked out a few teeth, spit out an unknown amount of blood, and have several broken ribs...
In the alleys in the middle of the night, the gangsters with strange hair colors, different heights, shorts, fats and thins, looked very non-mainstream gangsters, fell to the ground holding their heads or covered their stomachs, wailing in pain, and some people were low Low moan or sob.
These bad gangsters who used to haunt the streets and alleys, always beating and beating their victims with enthusiasm, today in turn suffer the pain they once inflicted on others... They feel wronged and sad, because the only They beat others badly, but today they were beaten badly in turn.
Sadly, the opponent not only made them vomit blood, but also robbed them of money!
"Why is there only this? You are so poor that you have the nerve to come out as a bad guy?" She took out the banknotes in her wallet and counted them. Xia Ran smashed the empty wallet on the ground with a disdainful face on the guy's face. On, and kicked by the way.
looked at the "corpses" in the alley, the magician weighed the money in his hand, and estimated that the harvest tonight was basically enough.
Although there are not many, it is impossible to expect how much oil and water can be squeezed out of these scumbags. After all, if they were so rich, they would not have fallen to this level. And it's useless for Xia Ran to ask for too much money. There are indeed many good things in this city.
However, that's not something money can buy easily, so don't worry too much.
turned around and put away the harvest tonight, and the magician Shi Shiran walked away at a slow pace.
And in the dark alley behind him, the bad guys who were beaten remained calm at first, only painful moans and sobbings and small wailing, and their voices were suppressed low, as if biting Teeth tried not to make a sound.
But it didn't take long for someone to burst into tears, and the emotional infection led to the other wounded.
The cries of grief rise and fall under the night, and the wind spreads far and far. The sad atmosphere and breath are like a decadent youth...
Although they have gone far, Xia Ran can still hear clearly, but although this incident has some meaning of fishing and law enforcement, if they have no bad intentions, they will not encounter such a thing. So the magician himself doesn't think there is any problem.
Following Kamijou Touma's initial instructions, he quickly found an apartment complex.
Students don’t need to worry about accommodation, because as students, they will always be assigned to dormitories. Many houses in Academy City actually exist in the form of student dormitories, but they are also divided into grades. Quality level.
Some are luxurious like a five-star hotel, and some are like cheap and simple low-rent housing.
This is mainly determined by two factors at the same time. One is the background and funds of the school itself, such as Tokiwatai Middle School and Changdian Shangji School. Such giants are either private aristocratic girls’ schools or Being at the top of the capacity development department of Academy City, it is naturally able to provide students with more favorable resources.
And the second is the quality of the students themselves, or to put it more bluntly, the ability rating.
All Academy City students have scholarships to receive, and the scholarships are automatically remitted to the bank account every month, just like salary. To put it bluntly, it can also be regarded as a human experiment contract for ability development. The more star school or the higher the ability level, the higher the amount of the scholarship, and the higher the importance of the research involved.
Scholarships for the incapacitated are just meanings, and the numbers given are only symbolic. Although they can be used as part of the living expenses if you plan carefully, it is nothing more than that.
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But the scholarship for superhumans is extremely extravagant. No matter how you open your flowers, no matter how you live, it is difficult to use up in Academy City.
It's a pity that Xia Ran is not a student and has no intention of starting from this aspect - even though it seems to be exposed, it is nothing. With Aleister's character, he will never act rashly or make any radical actions. The Hanged Man will only think about using everything that can be used.
As long as it is not a direct hostile, Aleister will probably think about how to incorporate it into his plan, observe and then use it.
is a terrible person, but this gives Xia Ran the opportunity to cooperate with each other...
It's just that the magician is still preparing to wait and see the changes. He has not yet figured out the truth of this "travel". Although it seems that everything in this world is so clear, it always gives him an illusion rather than a real sense of contradiction.
is like a flower in a mirror, a moon in the water, as if the mirror will shatter as long as he exerts a little force, the water surface will be broken, everything will be broken and annihilated, and it will disappear completely.
How to say it, like a Kryptonian wearing underwear, always feel that he lives in a paper-like world, everything is so fragile, a little carelessness will completely destroy the whole world The feeling of...
But how is this possible?
Although as long as he wants to, he can also create a hurricane, freeze the ocean, and even blow out the stars with a single sneeze, but in this world... the energy level of this power is actually nothing, it can only be up or down. The embarrassment is more than enough.
So, is this some weird illusion?
…
…
The next day, at noon.
This is also July 20th, the first day of summer vacation.
Xia Ran stood on the balcony overlooking this overly advanced city in her rented apartment, tilting her head and hands to her chin, thinking about something.
The apartment he rented is not too old. In fact, he wanted to live in the Academy City, which was twenty or thirty years ahead of the outside world, full of power-generating windmills and intelligent robots, and had a strong sci-fi atmosphere. Finding old and dilapidated buildings or something is not an easy urban area in itself.
Therefore, this apartment building is still clean and simple. Although it is not large in size, it is also a single-person suite. Although the sparrow is small and complete, the water and electricity are perfect.
is just...not usable right now.
Today's Academy City experienced a large-scale power outage for unknown reasons. The whole room was covered with suffocation, and the refrigerator, air conditioner, etc. had temporarily stopped working.
Xia Ran didn't care too much, he was just earnestly searching for all the information he could obtain, and slowly pieced together the outline of this Honghan world in his heart. On the surface, he was just standing on the balcony and looking into the distance, and even seemed to be in a daze.
However, the life form has reached such an advanced level, and his method of obtaining information has long surpassed human imagination.
The radio waves in the air, the AIM diffusion force field emanating from the capable people, the arrangement and operation of the stars and celestial bodies, and even... the real world context of the layers of phases, no matter whether he is qualified to manipulate, but At least observation is still no problem.
Just standing here is enough to observe too many things.
But the more so, the more strange he felt, the world seemed a little strange. No matter how the second magic works, the infinite possibilities of the world before and after the collapse of the wave function are presented in front of his eyes. His clear eyes have no change on the surface, but in fact, they have reflected various parallel futures.
as if everything was normal...
But under this cosmic system, the countless tributaries that appear in the long river of time are still unified matter and space-time.
is like a closed black box, he has no way to perceive other domains outside this universe, as if there will be no other time and space, other worlds, other dimensions outside the domain, just this world A benchmark exists.
Even the laws and worlds unfolding inside of him seem to be completely nihilistic, as if the inward creation he has been doing before has not yet been born, or has long since died, but it is only a matter of his power and essence. is not affected.
This is really a wonderful thing... In what state are you trapped in this world?
"It's really like a dream...just can't wake up."
opened the attribute panel that he was still not used to and looked at it. Xia Ran thought about it, and felt that there was something he didn't notice.
For example, if this world is so closed and independent and parallel in the entire infinite world, how did you come in? And how is the connection with the space maintained? Well, having said that, is there really a subtle connection to space in this world?
Xia Ran is a little unsure. He flipped through the attribute panel back and forth, but he was stunned that he could not find the familiar redemption options, residence time reminders and other functions. Without such real-time dynamic feedback, it is difficult to confirm the relationship with the space itself. Is there a connection.
I found some unfamiliar function settings——
For example, in addition to the free attribute points, there are also skill points, which are said to be invested in the corresponding expertise ability, which can directly improve the level of the skill, enhance the effect and performance of the ability... The upper limit of the basic ability level is LV20, The upper limit of advanced skills is LV10.
Although each skill point can unconditionally upgrade one skill level, but this is enough to make people feel liver pain.
When is this version, it is not humanized at all, or it means that the space at that time did not have so many resources, or the efficiency of transforming the source quality was also very poor, so we can only choose such a version of the rules. to operate?
In addition, there are also settings for merit points and rank, which makes Xia Ran even more liver pain.
turned off the panel, he turned around and walked back into the house, packed up his things, changed into clothes more in line with the style of the city, and pushed the door out.
There is no way to do it for now, and he doesn't understand why he can be so calm, as if he doesn't care at all, there is only a touch of curiosity and interest in his heart, which makes him feel that his state is somewhat Not quite.
seems to be true and feels that this is just an interesting and unreal long dream, just that the sleeping self doesn't have to worry about anything.
Xia Ran felt that this was a very incorrect mentality. He tried to ignore and suppress this strange feeling from his heart, ready to go out and have a look.
"Right..."
seems to have suddenly thought of something, the magician stopped, he reached into his pocket, and took out a tarot card with the help of this concealment. Pattern hanging from tree trunks.
"The Hanged Man" has a triangle with his hands tied backwards, and his legs are intertwined into a cross, which together form a special symbol.
This seems to be the only thing he carries on his body. When all other external objects, and even his own inner universe, only presents nothingness, only this card is brought over...
"Is this expected?"
Looking at the tarot card in his hand, Xia Ran shook his head with a laugh, and then couldn't help muttering.
There are two "hanged men" in this world, the first is that guy Aleister, this is a veritable hanged man, and now they are still hanging upside down in the windowless building.
The second is Othinus, the demon **** who is the true body of Odin in Norse mythology and legend. The most famous legend is that Odin once hanged upside down on the tree of gods for nine days in order to obtain the fountain of wisdom. Jiu Ye was stabbed by a spear and finally traded his left eye for wisdom.
must not be the former...
But if it's the latter, Xia Ran is a little unsure, and who knows how this card is used, should it be handed directly to that one-eyed Ji?
He was a little dazed, and a familiar and beautiful voice came from his ear at this time:
"Hey, you guy... are you okay..."
The surrounding scene is like a mirage, and ripples like a water surface. The scenery of Academy City changes in a trance, and is broken like a mirror. In the broken ripples, Xia Ran once again saw a pair of familiar Rose red eyes.
She was holding her shoulders and asked in a worried tone. The crowd around her was a little noisy, and it seemed to be very noisy.
"I..."
Xia Ran opened his mouth, but before he had time to say anything, everything quickly moved away from him, as if the broken water surface had returned to calm, and a false mirror image was reflected again.
The surrounding scene has changed back to Academy City again. The three blades of the windmill are emitting light in the sunlight. The guards and cleaning robots are patrolling the streets in the distance. Generally, there is no difference.
It seems...
Nothing happened.