No!
Still nothing!?
Novak had searched every possible place throughout the afternoon, yet he still came up empty-handed.
He frowned.
Based on his understanding of how secret realm entrances work, even the slightest variation or anomaly would catch his attention. However, after scouring every corner of this virus research institute—from the first to the sixth floor, covering over thirty labs—he found nothing.
"Are you sure this place doesn't have a basement?"
Novak glanced at the ceilings he had already examined, the elevator shaft he had climbed, and the virus research institute he had nearly dismantled. He asked the question with some doubt in his voice.
Although he hadn't literally dug down three feet, he was pretty close!
Emaly nodded, her face showing clear signs of fear as she looked at the increasingly intense Novak.
His frown deepened.
Standing in front of an unmarked lab, Novak fell into deep thought. He had already absorbed all the available viruses in the institute, and now the sun was setting.
With nightfall, the zombies would become more active. Their likelihood of evolving or even mutating would be much higher, which could spell trouble. If Novak's goal was to kill and level up, this wouldn't be a problem. However, finding a secret realm in the dark? That would be far more difficult.
And based on what Zogwort had said, this particular secret realm might be quite special. If Novak didn't find it in time, there was a real possibility that the mission would fail.
Where could it be!?
Zogwort had mentioned that it was connected to his talent. Yet after spending the entire afternoon searching the virus research institute and even the medical school's main building, he had found nothing.
But where else could it be?
The only other possibility he hadn't yet considered was the staff dormitories. That would be ridiculous!
Frustration suddenly surged within Novak, and with a swift motion, he smashed a human skeleton model into dust. But he knew that acting out his irritation wouldn't help.
Then, something dawned on him. He froze, staring at the shattered remains of the skeleton.
He had just remembered a place—one he hadn't thoroughly searched. For any medical student, it was an unsettling location, but it was a necessary part of every medical school.
Turning to Emaly, Novak asked sharply, "Where's the morgue?"
Emaly shivered at the mention of the word.
Novak, for once, was grateful to have a medical student with him. Without Emaly, he might have completely overlooked this grim place.
That's right!
The one place Novak hadn't yet searched in the medical school was the morgue.
Medical schools almost always have morgues because they need to use cadavers—referred to as "silent teachers" for anatomical studies. Every medical school has a designated storage area for these bodies.
If he couldn't find anything in the morgue, then Novak would have to turn to the staff dormitories and perhaps even conduct a more thorough search of the entire university campus. But time was running out.
Exhaling slowly, Novak and Emaly descended into the morgue, where the temperature was as cold as a harsh winter night.
As they approached the morgue's cold storage doors, Novak's eyes lit up with excitement.
He could feel it—faint spatial fluctuations, like ripples on the surface of a pond, detectable even from a distance!
Even though the door was still closed, Novak knew with certainty that there was a secret realm behind it—a special one that had gone unnoticed even in his previous life.
It was right here!
Instead of forcing the door open, Novak calmly used a key he had found earlier on a zombie security guard. As the mechanical door creaked open, cold air poured out, revealing the morgue's dim interior.
The fluorescent lights reflected off rows of black metal storage units, where bodies should have been kept, but the cadavers had vanished completely.
Seeing this eerie scene, Emaly, already overwhelmed by fear, felt a cold chill run down her spine.
Though she was an atheist who had read the Bible only superficially, even she sensed that this place was beyond anything she had ever known. It didn't seem to belong to the natural world.
Novak, on the other hand, paid no attention to her reaction. His gaze was fixed on the far end of the room, where an open door stood.
But through that open door, instead of seeing a typical back room, there was a swirling black vortex.
The vortex appeared to devour everything in its path.
Excitement surged through Novak as he stared at it.
He glanced at Emaly. "Stay here and don't move. I'll be right back."
If Novak were speaking to a fellow Faeloria native, the meaning behind this familiar phrase would be clear. However, Emaly—who was already terrified—wasn't comforted. Tears welled up in her eyes as she watched him walk away.
Didn't this man have any sympathy for her? Leaving her alone in this dreadful place?
But the morgue, hidden beneath the school's underground garage, was well-protected. Other than the six zombie guards Novak had dealt with earlier, there didn't seem to be any immediate threats.
For Novak, Emaly's task was complete. Whether she survived or not wasn't his concern anymore.
All of his focus was on the secret realm before him.
He approached the swirling vortex, and as he drew near, a system prompt appeared in his mind:
[Enter secret realm: Cooling Incinerator (Level 5-10)?]
A glint flashed in Novak's eyes. Without hesitation, he stepped into the vortex and disappeared.