Chapter 1 Light and Shadow

In the dimly lit, flickering corridor, three figures stood silently. They were shrouded in light and shadow, making their appearances even more eerie and sinister.

"A Difficulty 3 classroom is usually beyond the reach of normal students. It's only opened for special courses or high-difficulty assessments," Batcheer said.

"But legend has it that there's a hidden Difficulty 4 classroom in some corridor, though I've never heard of a student who's experienced it firsthand…"

After listening to Batcheer for a while, Lan Qi handed the academic credit coin to him.

Batcheer immediately snatched it, as if he had received a death-exemption token.

Lan Qi once again brought up the Shadow World's mission information before his eyes.

[Time Remaining: 11 hours 42 minutes]

[Mission Objective 1: Academy Exploration exceeds 60%. Current Progress: 4%]

[Mission Objective 2: Investigate the source of tonight's danger.]

[Mission Objective 3: At least 1 person survives until the time limit expires. Currently 6/6 survive]

[Challengers Lan Qi & Hyperion are in Corridor G21, not participating in any classrooms]

The initial "Progress: 3%" in [Mission Objective 1] had changed to "Progress: 4%".

This meant that passing the Devil's Exam had increased the exploration progress by 1%.

According to Lan Qi and Hyperion's earlier discussion on the way, the Shadow World showed a total of 6 challengers, which were likely divided into 3 groups of two.

So, the data change meant that entering a Difficulty 1 Devil's Classroom should give 1% exploration, and clearing it would also increase it by 1%.

By analogy, Difficulty 2 and Difficulty 3 classrooms would likely yield even higher exploration progress.

If there were 3 teams, clearing 5 Difficulty 1 classrooms within 12 hours would only get them 2% x 5 x 3 = 30% exploration, at most.

So, they had to consider splitting up into individuals to simultaneously challenge more Difficulty 1 classrooms, or try to challenge Difficulty 2 and 3 classrooms, to have a chance of reaching the 60% exploration required by [Mission Objective 1] within the 12-hour time limit.

Lan Qi looked at Hyperion, and Hyperion nodded.

Her arithmetic was excellent, and she had obviously figured out the Shadow World's mechanism.

The next strategy was clear: they had to try to challenge higher-difficulty classrooms as much as possible, and investigate what the [Mission Objective 2]'s "potential threat in the Devil Academy tonight" referred to.

"Batcheer, do you know of any recent anomalies in the academy? Or are there any dangerous factors that you're afraid of tonight?"

"..."

Batcheer looked at Lan Qi, and remained silent for a long time without saying a word.

He didn't understand what Lan Qi meant, and he didn't know if there was anything more dangerous than Lan Qi tonight.

"Alright."

Lan Qi nodded helplessly. It seemed that students like Batcheer had limited intelligence, and obviously didn't know any of the school's secret inside information. Regarding [Mission Objective 2], he would have to ask higher-level staff, such as teachers or even the principal.

It was a pity that he couldn't ask those two examiners in the exam room.

But no matter what, Lan Qi was sure that his progress was ahead of schedule.

Because if he had finished the exam normally, he would have had to wait more than an hour before he could learn about these rules and information, and he might not have met a friendly and sincere classmate like Batcheer, who was willing to tell him all the information in detail.

Next, he had to study hard, or he wouldn't survive!

Compared to the courses at the Ikriit Academy that he just wanted to escape from, Lan Qi honestly didn't hate studying at this extraordinary, fantastical, and demonic academy. He even had a little bit of anticipation!

Hyperion: "..."

She felt like Lan Qi was already impatient to go to the next classroom.

The Lan Qi she saw in the Sage Academy classroom during the day was completely different from this eager-to-learn appearance...

Hyperion was worried that after Lan Qi finished his studies at this school, he would awaken some irreversible qualities… and become even less human…

But she didn't say anything, after all, she wasn't exactly human either.

Just as Hyperion was thinking this.

"Classmate Batcheer, there's an old saying in my hometown: 'A wise man submits to circumstances.' I believe you won't refuse to cooperate with us, right?"

Lan Qi said, patting Batcheer on the shoulder.

"T-that's natural."

"If you do a good job, we won't mistreat you. Please take me to an art-related classroom."

Lan Qi needed a sincere and intelligent devil to guide him, so that he could save a lot of time.

"This way, please."

Batcheer quickly acted like a waiter, instinctively using elegant aristocratic etiquette to extend his left hand to gesture, and began to lead the way for the two.

Although the school's intricate and ever-changing corridor structure meant that there was no fixed map, Batcheer, with his survival instincts maxed out, naturally knew what most of the classrooms in the corridors were.

Lan Qi and Hyperion followed Batcheer quickly through the corridor.

Their steps were steady and fast.

A few minutes later, a wide door appeared in front of them, standing like a silent giant barring the secrets within.

Batcheer stopped and turned to face Lan Qi.

"It is said that behind this door is a music classroom, which is also the closest art-related classroom at the moment. If you're not satisfied, I'll take you to find another one."

Lan Qi's gaze followed Batcheer's gesture to the artistic door, which had two strange demon marks on it, obviously indicating Difficulty 2.

Then, Lan Qi nodded, seemingly satisfied with this classroom.

He reached out and placed his palm on the ancient and solid door. "This one will do."

Searching further would only waste more time.

"Y-you really want to challenge a Difficulty 2 classroom?"

Batcheer had obviously never been to this kind of classroom before, and still looked at Lan Qi with some worry.

"It's okay, there's no art-related subject I'm afraid of."

After speaking, Lan Qi confidently pushed open the door.

The moment he stepped into the classroom in the next second, the interior scene also flooded into his eyes. Compared to the giant lecture hall, this place was more like a spacious grand theater! The interior had ornate lamps, red velvet seats, and a solemn stage, all of which exuded luxury and nobility.

On the stage, a student was playing music with complete concentration, their movements coordinated and passionate, constantly stirring up echoes in the large classroom like waves.

At the edge of the stage, a formally dressed teacher was vaguely visible, acting as the manager of the entire classroom. He stood by the curtain and saw the appearance of Lan Qi and the other two at a glance. Immediately, he raised his hand to signal them to go to the back row seats, and his gestures contained only an impeccable sense of command.

Lan Qi and the others nodded and slowly moved up the stairs to the highest point of the classroom, where they could finally get a better view of the entire theater classroom.

Besides the devil students sitting on the back row of stepped seats watching the performance like spectators, there were also four devil teachers sitting on four large chairs facing the stage, listening to the student's musical performance like judges.

Lan Qi stared at this extremely strange structure. Although he didn't know the rules of this classroom yet, a strong sense of déjà vu had inexplicably risen in his heart.

"Hmm? Devil Voice?"

Lan Qi felt that this classroom was a bit outrageous!