Chapter 23: My Master’s Name Is Dumbledore

Activating the Sprint Slash skill, Lin Xiao instantly crossed five or six meters, appearing before the giant flower bud. He raised the Star Destroyer Axe, ablaze with magical fire, and brought it down hard upon the flower bud.

A human-like scream echoed as the bud violently trembled, unable to escape the magical flames. The fire ignited its body, rampant fire serpents quickly spread, devouring the creature and transforming it into a blazing torch.

A few minutes later, the flames gradually died out. The flower bud was charred black, all its tentacles limp and drooping to the ground, utterly devoid of life.

[Congratulations, host! You have slain one of the Mind Flayer’s avatars, LV3 Corrosive Vine. Source Power +20. You have once again altered the course of the story. Story Disruptor task +1. Reward: One ordinary three-star miniature jar.]

The unexpected reward sent Lin Xiao into ecstasy. So this tentacled monster truly was an avatar of the Mind Flayer. How many avatars does this creature possess?

In the original storyline, this Corrosive Vine spread through the underground spaces of Hawkins, forming a vast network of pipes that relentlessly eroded the human world.

It was also the main group, driven by fearless determination, who ventured in to ignite the vine’s core, supporting the action to seal the eleventh interdimensional passage, ultimately leading to its closure.

Now that the vine core had been destroyed, the subsequent plot was indeed altered. The second season had changed drastically, and even Lin Xiao could not predict what would happen next.

But what does that matter to me? As long as there are monsters to slay, Source Power to gain, strength to increase, and I can protect my brother and mother from harm, that’s enough.

[Congratulations, host! You have accumulated 30 points of Source Power and met the upgrade requirement. Would you like to upgrade now?]

“Not now.”

Upon hearing the system prompt, Lin Xiao did not rush to upgrade. With 43 points of Source Power at his disposal, he needed to carefully plan how to maximize his strength. After all, he had just leveled up; rapid advancement might not be the best course.

After slaying the vine monster, the passage entrance stood wide open. Lin Xiao let the others exit first, staying behind to cover their retreat.

One by one, his companions crawled out of the tunnel. Sheriff Hopper carried Will out as well. Seeing everyone had left, Lin Xiao followed and squeezed out of the tunnel, entering the laboratory on the other side.

Finally returning to the real world, Lin Xiao let out a long breath. The Mind Flayer had suffered consecutive heavy blows and should now be incapable of dragging them back into the Upside Down. The most pressing matter was to expel the Mind Flayer’s avatar from Will’s body.

Fortunately, he had leveled up and used the Demon’s Hand to interrupt the Mind Flayer’s possession process. The avatar in Will was not as strong as in the original story, but it still needed to be expelled as soon as possible.

Judging from the later seasons, the Mind Flayer’s knack for causing trouble was formidable.

Especially in the third season, where it created numerous grotesque monsters and killed many residents of the town. If one wished to avoid such developments, the avatar had to be completely destroyed.

Yet judging from the recent attack, its vine avatar was easy to kill, but the storm-like avatar was exceedingly difficult to eradicate.

Neither Demon’s Hand nor Holy Light had managed to seriously wound the Mind Flayer; they likely would not be able to destroy its avatar either.

“Jonathan, what’s the deal with your superpower?”

A voice called out. Lin Xiao turned toward it, seeing everyone staring at him—and at the Star Destroyer Axe.

“Well, if I said I was born with extraordinary talent, would you believe me?”

Everyone shook their heads in unison. Eleven’s abilities were true innate talent. Lin Xiao’s seemed more like a cheat—certainly not natural.

“Fine, I’ll admit it. My abilities were actually taught to me by a teacher.”

Lin Xiao’s mind raced. He had long anticipated this moment and already prepared an excuse. Whether they believed it or not was out of his hands.

“Taught by a teacher? So there are other people in this world with abilities like yours?” Sheriff Hopper asked in surprise, feeling his worldview had been utterly upended. At this point, even if aliens appeared, he would accept it without flinching.

“Probably so. When I was young, a mage took me as his apprentice and taught me many magical abilities. That’s why I possess these special powers.”

Lin Xiao began spinning his story. One lie begat countless others; if only he had a skill for lying, he would surely max it out.

“A mage?”

Everyone looked amazed. Were it not for the existence of the Upside Down, Eleven, the demodogs, and the Mind Flayer, hearing such bizarre claims would have made them question Jonathan’s sanity.

“Yes, the mage’s name was Albus Dumbledore. He claimed to be the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, recruiting magically gifted individuals from around the globe and teaching them magic.

I studied under him for five years and stopped only a few years ago. He said a dark lord named Voldemort was stirring up trouble in the magical world, so he had no time to teach me further.”

Lin Xiao decisively invoked the world of Harry Potter. At that time, the book had not yet been published; no one knew of such a magical academy across the Atlantic.

Mike and the others, along with Sheriff Hopper, were stunned. Lin Xiao didn’t seem to be inventing things out of thin air.

Look at those names and the school—Voldemort even sounded oddly familiar, not like something simply made up.

Especially since they were surrounded by an interdimensional gateway, Will lay unconscious after being possessed by a monster, and Eleven possessed supernatural abilities. All these silently attested to the existence of a strange world.

Bang!

As they were lost in thought, a sudden violent tremor came from the entrance to the tunnel. A large mass of black shadow slammed itself against the passage, trying desperately to force its way through.

The Mind Flayer!

Everyone’s faces changed. They quickly refocused. Judging from the scene, the monster on the other side wanted to break into the human world. If it succeeded, it might wreak havoc.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Mind Flayer repeatedly battered the passage, its fury at the consecutive setbacks and loss of its avatar making it lose all reason. It was determined to storm through and kill them all.

“What do we do? We must stop it from breaking through!” Sheriff Hopper shouted, feeling helpless. Such a bizarre supernatural creature was far beyond his ability to handle.

“Eleven, do you have a way to seal this passage?”

Lin Xiao asked Eleven. Once he reached level ten, he could learn the Shadow Traverse skill. Whether there was a fixed passage didn’t matter; the key was not to let the Mind Flayer cross over.

“No, my energy is completely depleted. Even if I were fully charged, I don’t think I could close this passage,” Eleven replied weakly. She had used up all her energy controlling so many demodogs and the tentacled monster.

“Then there’s no other way but this.”

Lin Xiao decisively pulled up the system interface, entered the system shop, and mentally typed in ‘holy water.’ A dense list of entries appeared, all sorts of holy water.

Carefully comparing the catalog and considering the Mind Flayer’s characteristics, he chose an exorcism holy water, highly effective against shadow monsters.

Thirty points of Source Power vanished instantly. A bottle of holy water, a full five hundred milliliters, appeared in Lin Xiao’s hand.

Ignoring the pain of losing Source Power, he gripped the bottle tightly, aimed at the massive shadow across the passage, and hurled it with all his might. Whether the Mind Flayer could be expelled now depended on the power of holy water.