Chapter 14. Shadow World: Demon Academy Strange Tale

“Cornelia, ready?”

“Mm.”

I stretched my muscles and walked with Cornelia toward the void gate.

Stepping into the massive void gate didn’t feel much different from entering an Artificial Shadow World before.

Pitch blackness, nothing visible.

But I could sense Cornelia right beside me.

Other than my heartbeat, I could hear her breathing.

Soon, the surroundings lit up faintly, and the scene spread across my vision in an instant.

This was...

I observed the place.

The location I was in seemed to be a classroom?

Why did I use the word “seemed”?

Because this classroom looked far too bizarre.

Though it was a spacious classroom of about two hundred square meters, it was unnervingly dark and oppressive.

The only light came from several lamps mounted on the walls.

When I lowered my head, I saw on the desk before me a piece of parchment with a demon sigil printed on it, along with a set of black stationery.

Glancing around again, I noticed the classroom was filled with strange figures.

Their appearances varied wildly—most had horns, black tails, and some had eerie markings on their skin.

Patrolling the aisles between the desks were two figures that looked especially dangerous.

They wore suits resembling human clothing, yet their bodies exuded a dense stench of blood and a swamp-like aura of evil.

Their blood-red eyes couldn’t conceal the greedy, bloodthirsty glow within, as if everything they gazed upon was prey.

It was a scene straight out of a nightmare.

Still, I had to admit, this classroom had a certain atmosphere.

If it were part of a haunted house at a school festival, it would probably get rave reviews.

Unfortunately, this Shadow World clearly wasn’t a lighthearted theme.

Soon, the information screen of the Shadow World appeared before me.

This was a prompt only “Shadow World challengers” could see.

【Shadow World: Demon Academy Strange Tale】

【Level: Rank Four】

【Challenger Count: 6】

【In this bizarre Demon Academy, every corner hides deadly traps—demon lessons are in fact games of slaughter. In order to study demons, several human adventurers disguised themselves as demons using lost potions, infiltrating the Demon Academy, only to discover that within were humans being brutally tortured by demons. Rescue them—or grant them release.】

【Mission Goal 1: Explore over 50% of the Academy, Current Progress 1%】

【Mission Goal 2: Rescue at least 3 humans, Current Progress 0/3】

【Mission Goal 3: No more than 3 disguised humans have their true identities exposed, Current Status: 6/6 disguised】

【Remaining Time: 11 hours 59 minutes】

【All challengers begin in the exam room, exam time is 2 hours 30 minutes, Subject: Demon Comprehensive】

【Cheating of any kind strictly forbidden. Once discovered, the proctor will immediately strip you of life.】

【Once the exam ends, scores below 60 will be deemed failures, and the proctor will immediately strip you of life.】

【Papers may be submitted early.】

【Remaining Exam Time: 2 hours 29 minutes】

With a thought, the information window could be shown or hidden.

Hah, so we really were at a Demon Academy?

You thought you were on holiday—turns out you were just sent to study somewhere else.

I mocked in my heart.

I didn’t comment on the story background or mission yet.

Rank Four? What the hell?

I was only Rank One, Cornelia Rank Three. No matter how you looked at it, we shouldn’t have entered a Rank Four Shadow World.

This was troublesome.

I had thought this would be a vacation-style run, but it seemed there was excitement waiting.

Also, the Demon Academy really had a strict academic atmosphere—fail the test and you get executed.

Let’s see who dares not to study hard.

And… wait, did I turn into a demon?

I looked down at myself. Other than wearing the Academy’s uniform, my fingernails had turned black and glossy like jade.

Touching my head and back, I found two horns, and a long thin tail.

For now, I couldn’t guess what kind of demon I had become.

I wanted to find a mirror and see what I looked like.

Glancing carefully around, I noticed two or three examinees sneaking peeks.

They were probably the other challengers.

And surely some were cautiously observing just like me.

“Any more whispering, and it’ll be treated as cheating!”

A hoarse voice came from one of the patrolling proctors, the killing intent within like a beast caged too long, about to break free.

This scared several examinees into bowing their heads honestly to look at their papers.

Mm, better not peek too obviously.

I thought.

But small movements of the eyes should be fine.

Just now, I discovered something.

Cornelia was sitting to my left, with only one empty seat between us.

Earlier, our eyes had met.

Her appearance hadn’t changed much—just a pair of small dragon horns on her head, and her pupils had become golden beast eyes. She seemed to be a dragon-type demon.

That reassured me that my own appearance probably hadn’t changed much either, since she had recognized me.

In that case, let’s look at the test questions first.

As a study master, I was confident: if even I couldn’t solve these, then most likely none of the other challengers here could finish independently either.

【Question 1: In order to blend into society, humans discard three-quarters of their true selves during growth. This process is painful for them. For demons, if they wish to blend into human society, how much of their true selves must they discard?】

【A. 1/4】

【B. 3/4】

【C. 0】

【D. 1】

Tch.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

Was this philosophy or math?

I kept scanning down. The questions grew stranger.

I was convinced—these tests weren’t meant for humans.

Even if some could be guessed, trying to blindly reach 60 points was too difficult.

After all, there were short-answer and essay questions at the back.

......

Heavenlit Academy Broadcast Hall.

“Why did they get thrown into a Rank Four Shadow World?!”

“It’s over. First-years in a Rank Four Shadow World! Last year a Rank Four run even killed upperclassmen!”

“But if it’s those two freaks… maybe there’s still hope. After all, they defeated weakened Rank Four proctors during the entrance exam. But their experience is seriously lacking.”

“This is bad. These demon exam questions— even professors of Shadow World Information Studies might not be able to pass. Our collected intel on high-level demon clans isn’t much.”

“Pray for them…”

......

Professor Anno had been sitting comfortably in his office but had just been summoned to an emergency Knight Academy meeting. He had already arrived in the conference room.

“Principal, what do you think of their situation?” Anno asked anxiously.

The principal looked at the Alchemy Academy’s broadcast feed and shook his head.

“Honestly, I can’t predict how those two will perform in real battle. Fortunately, they’re carrying Broadcast Programs—I’ll investigate the situation thoroughly.”

There were two reasons why one might be matched into a Shadow World above their own rank.

First, being matched with many strong teammates, or simply having terrible luck.

Second, a higher-ranked teammate deliberately grouped with lower ranks to challenge an easier dungeon.

“Rank disparity of three or more, using a Team Card”—this was expressly forbidden behavior.

Because it could severely affect the survival rate of other challengers.

Which case it was this time still needed further investigation.

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