014 Shadow World: Demon Academy Odd Tale
“Cornelia, are you ready?”
“Mm.”
Dekan stretched his limbs and walked towards the Void Gate with Cornelia.
Stepping into the colossal Void Gate felt no different from entering the Man-made Shadow World before.
Pitch blackness, seeing nothing.
But he could feel Cornelia was right by his side.
Apart from his own heartbeat, he could hear her breathing.
Soon, the surroundings brightened slightly, and the scene spread across Dekan’s field of vision all at once.
This place…
Dekan observed the scene.
The location appeared to be a classroom?
Why did he use the term “appeared”?
Because this classroom looked too bizarre.
Though it was a spacious classroom of about two hundred square meters, it was unusually dark and oppressive.
The only source of light came from the few lamps hanging on the walls inside the classroom.
Dekan looked down and saw on the desk in front of him a piece of parchment imprinted with a demon pattern and a set of black stationery.
He looked around again and could see a group of strange beings sitting throughout the classroom.
Their appearances were wildly diverse, most having horns, black tails, and some with strange markings on their skin.
Between the aisles of desks, two menacing figures patrolled.
Though dressed in suits, they emitted a heavy scent of blood and an evil aura reminiscent of a swamp.
Their blood-red eyes revealed glimmers of greed and bloodlust, as if everything they saw were their prey.
It was a scene out of a nightmare.
But Dekan couldn’t help but admit the classroom had style.
If it were a haunted café during a school festival, it might be very popular.
Unfortunately, this Shadow World was clearly not such a light-hearted theme.
Soon, the introduction of the Shadow World came into his view.
This prompt was visible only to “Shadow World Challengers.”
[Shadow World: Demon Academy Odd Tale]
[Level: Tier 4]
[Number of Challengers: 6]
[In this demon academy filled with oddities, every corner hides danger – the civilization of demons is essentially a game of killing. To study the demons, a few human adventurers disguised themselves as demons using lost magical potion and infiltrated the academy, only to find humans cruelly tortured by demons. Please rescue them or grant them relief.]
[Objective 1: Explore more than 50% of the academy. Progress: 1%]
[Objective 2: Rescue at least three humans. Progress: 0/3]
[Objective 3: Not more than 3 infiltrated humans shall be unmasked. Disguises intact: 6/6]
[Remaining Time: 11 hours 59 minutes]
[Challengers’ starting point is the exam room. Exam duration: 2 hours 30 minutes. Subject: Demon Studies]
[Cheating of any kind is strictly prohibited in the exam. If discovered, the examiners will immediately take the life of the offender.]
[Upon exam completion, scores below 60 are deemed unsatisfactory, and examiners will immediately take the life of the offender.]
[Early submission is allowed.]
[Remaining exam time: 2 hours 29 minutes]
With his focus, this information window could be made visible or hidden.
Hmm, we’ve really arrived at the Demon Academy?
You thought you were on vacation, but it’s just another place to study.
Dekan muttered inside.
He wouldn’t comment on the story setting or the mission content yet.
What the heck is Tier 4?
He’s only Tier 2, and Cornelia is Tier 3; they definitely shouldn’t have entered a Tier 4 Shadow World.
This is a bit problematic.
He had thought they would casually push through the Shadow World for a relaxing holiday, but it seems to be quite thrilling.
Speaking of which, even the Demon Academy has excellent learning ethics, failing an exam warrants a death sentence.
Who would dare not to study well?
And… am I now in demon form?
Dekan looked down at himself; besides wearing the Demon Academy uniform, his nails had turned glossy like black jade.
On his head and back, he felt two horns, and his tail was long and thin.
He could hardly guess what kind of demon he disguised as for now.
A mirror would be nice to see what his current appearance is.
Dekan made subtle observations around, noticing two or three examinees clearly looking around.
These people were likely other challengers.
Some might be just like him, cautiously observing.
“Any more whispering, and it counts as cheating!”
A hoarse voice came from the examiners patrolling the classroom. The desire for slaughter appeared like a long-caged beast about to break free.
This scared a few examinees into obediently lowering their heads to their papers.
Well, cannot look around too openly.
Dekan thought.
But it seemed like glancing with slight movements was acceptable.
Just then, he found a piece of good news.
Cornelia was sitting on his left, separated only by an empty seat.
He had just locked eyes with Cornelia.
Cornelia’s appearance hadn’t changed much, except for a pair of small dragon horns on her head, and her pupils turned into a golden beast-like gaze, likely a dragon-type demon.
This confirmed to Dekan that his appearance hadn’t changed drastically since Cornelia recognized him.
In that case, let’s take a look at the test.
As a top student, Dekan was confident that if even he couldn’t answer them, then the other challengers in this test room would probably not complete them independently.
[Question 1: Humans, in the process of assimilating into a group, give up three-quarters of their individual traits, a painful process for them. For demons, if they wanted to assimilate into human society, what fraction of their self would they need to abandon?]
[A. 1/4]
[B. 3/4]
[C. 0]
[D. 1]
Sigh.
Dekan could not help but inhale sharply.
What the heck is this, philosophy or math?
Continuing to scan the questions, they only got stranger.
Dekan finally confirmed that these questions were not designed for humans.
Although some of them could be guessed, hitting 60% was still too difficult.
After all, there were also short-answer questions and subjective questions afterward.
…
In the viewing room of Hewenlit Academy.
“Why did they enter a Tier 4 Shadow World?!”
“It’s over. Freshmen entering the Tier 4 Shadow World! Last year, some veterans even perished in a Tier 4!”
“If it’s these two freaks… maybe there’s still some hope. After all, they defeated a weakened version of Tier 4 examiner during the entrance exams. But their experience is severely lacking.”
“Damn. Even a professor proficient in Shadow World intelligence might not pass these demon civilization test questions. We’ve collected little intelligence on high-civilized demon races from other Shadow Worlds.”
“Pray for them…”
…
Professor Arno was comfortably seated in the office until the urgent meeting summons arrived. He had already rushed to the meeting room.
“Director, how do you think their situation is?”
Arno anxiously inquired.
The principal looked at the images broadcasted from the alchemy institute and shook his head.
“Hard to say. I cannot predict their live combat capabilities. Fortunately, they took the observer protocol, and I will investigate the details.”
There are two possibilities for matching with a Shadow World higher than oneself.
One is either having been paired with more powerful teammates or simply having had a terrible streak of bad luck.
The other possibility is that a high ranker deliberately teamed up with a lower-ranked one to attempt low-level dungeons.
Using team cards with a difference of three or more tiers is a strictly forbidden act.
Because it could significantly affect the survival rates of other players.
Which case it was specifically will require further investigation.
