The heavy oak door emitted a low creak as it was gently pulled open, a sound smoothed by the years. Then, the headmaster's office door was drawn shut as the last of the demon teachers departed.

Outside the large, wood-framed window, the starlight of the Demon Realm spilled into the room, overlapping with the warm lamplight in a bright, shimmering array.

Beside the square coffee table by the window, Lan Qi sat comfortably in a soft woven armchair, displaying a rather leisurely, retirement-like air.

[Time Remaining: 0 hours 57 minutes]

[Mission Objective 1: Academy Exploration Exceeds 60%. Current Progress: 1200%]

[Mission Objective 2: Investigate the Source of Tonight's Danger—Crisis Resolved]

[Mission Objective 3: At Least 1 Person Survives Until the Time Limit Ends. Current Survivors: 6/6]

[Challenger Lan Qi is in T01 Corridor, Headmaster's Office]

After receiving the good news from Da Ai Shiren, he glanced at the Shadow World information panel.

Sure enough, the mission status had changed.

It seemed the objectives of this Shadow World were all completed, and the time was in the latter half of the fifth class.

Before long, the Shadow World would come to a conclusion.

And he and Hyperion would be teleported back to the Ikryte Academy in the real world.

"No way!"

At the thought of soon changing from the headmaster of this dreamlike campus back to a student of that hellish academy, Lan Qi didn't want to see the painful countdown to the end of his dream.

Immediately, Lan Qi turned off the recording function of the [Shadow World Recording Program] on his body.

The live broadcast function could be turned off or on at any time at will, because sometimes in high-level Shadow Worlds lasting several days or months, challengers often needed to live their own lives, and it was not always suitable to broadcast.

Since the mission objectives had all been completed, even if Lan Qi continued to record, it would not affect the school credits and the South Continent Shadow World Management Association's calculation of his promotion points.

So now he just wanted to study and record the *Demon Beast Hair Handling Magic* that the magic department teacher sent to the headmaster's office in peace.

He didn't want these magics to be recorded by the Association, he just wanted to find Talia to study them together.

Other humans didn't need to know the principles of this forbidden magic!

Why not go offline now and broadcast something relaxing and enjoyable for the audience.

Once Lan Qi turned off his feed, the live broadcast in the real world would only show Hyperion's perspective.

He believed that compared to watching him sit in the headmaster's office reading, the audience in the real world would prefer to see Da Ai Shiren's happy smile.

"Let me learn about this great product of demon wisdom!"

Lan Qi leaned back in his armchair contentedly and began to read the book on magical principles.

"But speaking of which, why were Hyperion and I matched into a fourth-tier Shadow World..."

He suddenly seemed to think of something again, muttering to himself.

Could it be that a fifth-tier challenger came in and raised the average difficulty?

Both he and Hyperion were below the Shadow World's tier, so there should also be a guy in the challengers who exceeded the Shadow World's tier to balance things out.

The demon students who had been invited to the headmaster's office earlier had strengths and weaknesses, making it difficult to distinguish them, and the high-level challengers were also proficient in magic control methods, making it difficult to judge which four were the challengers.

Of course, these four challengers were completely unaware that Lan Qi, the headmaster, was also a challenger.

After all, normally speaking, no one would think in the direction of "a student becoming the headmaster of a demon academy in a few hours."

"Hiss, if they all misunderstand me as a hidden NPC in this Shadow World, wouldn't it be very awkward if we meet in the real world in the future?"

Lan Qi realized with a start.

"Forget it."

Lan Qi shook his head. Anyway, he had already cleared the game, and there was nothing else to worry about. He just wanted to study this magic that he had been thinking about for most of the Shadow World without any distractions.

...

Located above the base level,

F03 Corridor.

The Demon Realm Botanical Experiment Garden, where the fragrance of flowers could be smelled even through the doors.

The first thing that came into view in this classroom was a vast lawn, spread out like a carpet of emerald green.

Along the winding paths grew various forms of Demon Realm plants, from giant Demon Realm eucalyptus trees to tiny Demon Realm wildflowers, from brightly colored Demon Realm tropical plants to thorny Demon Realm vines—these all seemed to be natural treasures that could only grow on this land.

The bright and full plants, bathed in the subtle glow of the magic lamps, had blurred outlines, like ghosts in the night mist.

They didn't necessarily have gorgeous colors or ostentatious forms, but they were quietly beautiful like a poem, silently standing there, remaining unchanged as time passed, quietly waiting for each sunrise and sunset.

Da Ai Shiren and Hyperion had spread out a picnic blanket under a tree, preparing to enjoy Demon Realm cuisine packed from the Demon King's imperial restaurant in the faint starlight of this early morning.

It was four o'clock in the morning, barely qualifying as breakfast.

The happiness on Da Ai Shiren's face seemed to overflow. She lay on the ground, propping her face up with one hand while gently touching the stamens of a flower with the fingertips of her other hand.

Then, as if the flower felt her warmth, clusters of petals bloomed miraculously.

Da Ai Shiren's entry special effect was to make flowers bloom rapidly all over the ground, but if Lan Qi wanted to trigger this beautiful effect, he needed to spend more magic power when summoning her.

Correspondingly, she also possessed a small amount of ability to make plants grow, but it all consumed Lan Qi's magic power.

Now that Lan Qi had agreed to let her play as she pleased, she was unceremoniously squandering Lan Qi's magic power.

Hyperion looked at Da Ai Shiren, not quite knowing what to say, but gradually felt relieved.

At this moment, Da Ai Shiren no longer looked like that succubus full of bad ideas at all.

Due to the arrival of Hyperion and Da Ai Shiren, the demon teacher of the botany class in this difficulty level 1 classroom temporarily changed the course content to [Free Viewing].

In other words, as long as they didn't damage the plants, they could rest in this classroom at will and pass the course.

After the vice-principal held a general meeting and announcement, the teachers naturally knew the identities of these two female demons.

Today, the Purgatory Corridor Academy had just been reborn, so let it be a celebration, and they would no longer make things difficult for the students.

Unknowingly, they spent a long time in this peaceful atmosphere that made it easy to forget the passage of time.

Gusts of cold wind swept through, and the grass blades rustled.

Da Ai Shiren raised her head in confusion.

She felt that the scene before her seemed to become dull for a moment.

The gradually cooling, thin starlight allowed the tranquility in the botanical garden to be replaced by an indescribable silence.

In the next instant.

A sound of something tearing through the air, from an unknown source, echoed across this empty meadow!

A strong sense of danger made Hyperion's spine tingle, and she immediately entered a state of full tension.

There are two more chapters coming up. There are four chapters today too.

(End of Chapter)