As the surroundings gradually brightened, light filled Lanchi's vision.

He found himself in a cold iron prison cell, able to feel the cold wind seeping in through countless unknown cracks, carrying a bone-chilling iciness.

Each breath felt like swallowing hail, his lungs seemingly frozen solid.

"This is way too cold..."

Lanchi's words were accompanied by white mist.

In truth, he had never challenged this artificial shadow world, because his experience with shadow worlds was limited.

Including the two entrance exams, plus the real shadow worlds, there were only four experiences in total.

His gaze swept around, only to see a thick layer of frost congealed on the rough walls. In the corner, an iron chain connected to the heavy shackles on his wrist.

The ground had been etched uneven by time, and dark ice had accumulated in some of the lower-lying areas. Whenever the wind blew in through the gaps in the iron bars, the ice and chains would rattle.

Long icicles formed by the moisture in the cell hung from the low ceiling, poised to fall and pierce the prisoner's skull at any moment.

Thick iron bars formed the entire gate, and outside the corridor was an unending wind and endless darkness. The howling seemed to carry the mournful cries of souls imprisoned here for millennia.

At the same time, shadow world information appeared before Lanchi’s eyes—

[Shadow World: Despair's Bone-Chilling Cage]

[Level: Tier Two]

[Number of Challengers: 2]

[Welcome to the artificially created and simulated shadow world, technically supported by the Magic Engineering Institute.]

[Note: This assessment is a practical simulation of the shadow world. Generally, there will be no life-threatening situations in simulated shadow worlds.]

[Note: This shadow world is not suitable for challengers with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases.]

[After a candidate is killed, they will be automatically ejected from the shadow world. Candidates may also choose to voluntarily exit the shadow world, but you may experience death and pain, including but not limited to hunger and extreme cold...]

[Even when trapped in a prison with no hope of escape, and no hope in sight, only those who survive to the end can win.]

[You have been captured and thrown into the seventh level of an absolute prison that has never had an escape case since its construction. The warden changes his methods every day to shake the prisoners' will. Today you have been thrown into the extremely cold punishment chamber.]

[All magic cards will be sealed in this shadow world, and your tier will be sealed to Tier Two.]

[In addition to initial supplies, a random supply drop will be provided every half hour.]

[Mission Objective (Endless Mode): Survive as long as possible and obtain more information about the prison from other prisoners.]

Lanchi calmly finished reading the shadow world information.

It was about the same as what he had learned from last-minute cramming before the competition.

In the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association's registered challenger exam question bank, there were many classic replicated low-tier shadow worlds.

Among them, [Despair's Bone-Chilling Cage] was a well-known Tier Two shadow world, often used as practice. The content was to survive for two hours in an extremely harsh and constantly cooling polar prison cell.

Later, its space for modification was gradually discovered by various academies and the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association.

Because it could be turned into a "endless mode" full of randomness, challengers could survive as long as possible in various ways.

It once became a well-known artificial shadow world for setting records.

…

A raindrop fell on the stone steps, followed by increasingly dense raindrops. The area around the plaza quickly became a white expanse.

A commotion had just occurred on the edge of Gela Memorial Square, and someone had fainted again.

However, the students of Y克力忒 Academy quickly contacted the hospital of the Alchemy Institute to come and carry the girl away.

Looking at the unconscious girl being sent away.

"Thank you for your help."

The students of Yarrowland Royal Academy thanked the enthusiastic Y克力忒 students around them who had lent a hand.

They didn't expect that the students of Y克力忒 Academy were unusually decisive and swift in dealing with this kind of sudden situation. The medical staff from the Alchemy Institute were also methodical, and the entire process was smooth and didn't waste a second.

It was as if they had just done a drill a few days ago.

The students of the Kingdom of Yarrowland couldn't help but marvel at how strong the Y克力忒 students' execution and solidarity were in dealing with emergencies.

"Don't worry, she may have fainted due to anemia and is not in any life-threatening danger."

The surrounding students said modestly.

After all the problems were solved, the students on the square's stone steps gradually shifted their attention back to the screen, from near to far.

From the audience's perspective, the camera was facing two adjacent prison cells. Adams was on the left, and Lanchi was on the right. They were both behind iron bars, and the cells were separated by walls. There were also prisoners in the cells next to them.

Apart from the initial supplies, if you survived every half hour, you could get a supply drop, which could be food and water, medicine, textiles, or even fire-attribute crystals.

If there was a shortage of supplies, such as a desperate need for food but an abundance of fire crystals, you could try to exchange them with the prisoners in the neighboring cells at the edge of the walls and iron bars.

But at this time, it was necessary to deduce the other party's needs and level of abundance in order to reach the best trading conditions.

Veterans who had played this artificial shadow world knew that when exchanging supplies, you couldn't let the other party see what you were lacking. Sometimes you even had to pretend to be abundant when your supplies weren't abundant, or make predictions when you were already abundant, improve the structure of your supplies, and also judge the risk of the transaction being reneged on, because if the prisoner next door was about to die, they might carry out a one-time scam transaction.

In addition, if you had extra supplies, you could also exchange them with other prisoners for information. Collecting information would also earn extra points in this shadow world.

"In this endless mode, the temperature will gradually decrease. No matter how abundant the supplies are, it's ultimately impossible to last indefinitely, because it's only Tier Two. The current record holder in the single-player mode has lasted a full twenty hours and five minutes."

Among the colorful umbrellas in the square, older students were explaining the mechanism of this shadow world to the confused younger students around them.

"Adams' advantage lies in his body, which has been tempered and refined as a warrior, which is better than Lanchi's. He is also experienced. Most of Lanchi's advantages are difficult to use in this shadow world."

"The main thing is that I'm very sure that Lanchi has never challenged this artificial shadow world. Some of the issues with multiple playthroughs are difficult to compensate for with intelligence."

Like a glass cannon, it takes more wisdom to survive for two hours, but combat jobs like Lanchi and Adams, who are born with high stamina, can withstand it in the early stage.

The real competition lies in who stockpiles as many supplies as possible in the early stage, and then has an ultimate clash of willpower in the later stages when the temperature gets lower and lower.

…

In the area belonging to the Sage Institute, there was a small library阁楼. Although it wasn't large, its interior design was full of ancient and noble magical academic atmosphere.

The bookshelves in the 阁楼 were carefully arranged into gorgeous patterns, starting from the floor, extending along the walls all the way to the ceiling, like a bulwark inside an ancient castle.

Walking up to the second floor of the 阁楼, an independent magic screen hung high on the wall, its surface flickering with light and shadow from time to time, playing the same images as the open-air giant screen in Gela Memorial Square.

And in the most conspicuous position in this 阁楼.

"Hahaha, Lanchi is playing so big."

A woman wearing a black dress sat on the main seat, commenting on the images on the screen, laughing uncontrollably.

This belonged to a powerful team from the Sage Institute and was a unique activity venue that the school had permitted them.

The team's current leader was Marquis Modan Gasiggs, a Gold-level challenger, but it was very obvious that this woman in the black纱长裙, a fourth-year student at the Sage Institute and a Platinum-level challenger, was the real speaker.

Modan, who was standing downstairs watching the screen, still didn't look relaxed at this time.

Having had a falling out with Lanchi, he had always believed that if Asina, the vice president of the Student Council, didn't fight, then he would be the strongest among the third-year students of the Sage Institute.

As a result, everyone unanimously recommended Lanchi.

But after seeing the content of this shadow world, Modan didn't think Lanchi could win easily.

"Lanchi is playing so big this time. Do you think he dares to lose?"

As if sensing Modan's state downstairs, the black纱 woman stood up, leaned on the railing, and asked with a smile downstairs.

"..."

Modan didn't know what to say.

He couldn't deduce the mood and position of the person on the second floor at the moment. She was more or less related to this bet.

Because she was one of Dean Loren's fiancées.

"Senior, do you still think Lanchi can win?"

After a moment of silence, Modan asked uncertainly as he looked up.

"I think he'll lose."

The black紗 woman covered her cheeks, as if praying,

"Lose, lose, Lanchi, mess with Dean Loren even harder!"

Although she liked her teacher, Dean Loren, she was very happy every time she saw Dean Loren suffer. She really wanted to be able to play with Loren herself one day.

Just thinking about it, her face gradually turned a joyful crimson.

And at this time, the shadow world image on the screen on the wall.

Lanchi and Adams, unsurprisingly, both chose to use their physical fitness to withstand it, hoard supplies, and wait for the prisoners in the surrounding cells to initiate transactions with them.

It seemed that they were really going to have an ultimate contest of willpower.

(End of chapter)