Iketerite Academy basked in bright sunlight as a gentle breeze wafted through.
Many areas of the campus were equipped with Magic Screens like those on Commercial Street.
These screens not only provided students and faculty with real-time information, notices, and academic events, but also showed various entertaining short videos and live broadcasts of major campus events.
As a result, they sometimes became the focus of students and staff gathering around to watch and discuss during their breaks.
Like now.
The annual Entrance Examination broadcast was underway, and many older students found it quite entertaining.
Some simply wanted to watch the freshmen suffer or make fools of themselves, while some upperclassmen hoped to scout promising newcomers in advance and recruit them into their teams.
On the screen.
Wind and snow howled, blending the world into a single white expanse.
While the other examinees were still struggling through the frozen wasteland, Lanchi had already fulfilled the conditions for clearing the stage.
He sat in a warm house, roasting snacks beside the fireplace.
His practiced, leisurely manner showed none of the tension of someone challenging a Shadow World. It was as if he were filming a new advertisement for Holy Empire-style desserts.
All he had to do now was wait for the Artificial Shadow World time limit to end and for the terminal to finish calculating his score.
Although only a few students had noticed Lanchi's actions earlier,
after several bursts of astonishment,
the students quickly began passing the news around.
"Do you know what that guy just did?!"
"What?"
"He's seriously a lunatic! He went straight over and arrested that whole family!"
"Does that count as giving them a warm winter?"
"Look, did he complete the requirement or not? He really did complete it."
"Hahahaha! What a bizarre genius!"
The terrace of the Learning and Education Building.
Those waiting and resting there were either sitting or standing. Many had gathered around the suspended Magic Screen, forming a lively little crowd.
Quite a few had begun discussing what kind of rising star this boy named "Lanqi Wilford" was.
However, no one present had known the name beforehand.
Only one student wearing Alchemy Institute jewelry mentioned that he had heard of a company called the "Wilford Merchant Guild," whose chairman supposedly had a wayward son.
But he had never heard of a young prodigy named Lanchi.
"..."
Talia listened as the students gradually began focusing on their discussion of Lanchi.
Sitting on an outdoor wooden chair at the edge of the terrace, she silently lowered her head and looked away from the Magic Screen.
Although she had been observing Lanchi's movements in the corner of the split screen the entire time,
when she truly understood what Lanchi had done and heard the astonishment rising around her,
she only wanted to flee, as far away as possible.
Because she had begun hearing people speculate, "That guy named Lanchi really doesn't act much like a person. Could he be a demon spy?"
The thought sent a chill down her spine.
Talia absolutely did not want people to mistake her for a dangerous individual requiring special surveillance simply because she was too close to Lanchi.
She hadn't taught him any of this...
In fact, after spending the past three months with Lanchi, she had gradually realized that the boy's thoughts and personality were somewhat unusual.
But it was only now that she finally became certain.
This guy definitely has something seriously wrong with him!
Staying by his side made it impossible not to attract attention.
However.
According to their agreement,
she had to protect Lanchi and continue serving as his teacher.
The thought that she would soon have to leave the academy with Lanchi, and would have to stay with him in the royal capital for at least some time afterward,
made her feel as though she were being roasted over a fire.
If the restoration of her nation, which she had endured and yearned for all these years, ultimately exposed her identity because of this human and caused everything to end in failure,
then she only wanted to die together with Lanchi.
Now she hoped Lanchi would hurry out of the examination grounds so that they could leave together as soon as possible.
Yet she also hoped he would never come out, because she did not want anyone to see them together.
"Lan...chi..."
Talia muttered through clenched teeth.
She clenched her fists tightly, feeling that every second to come would leave her sitting on pins and needles.
In the decades since the demons destroyed her nation and she had wandered alone,
this was the first time a human had made her feel such agony.
On the seventh floor of the Learning and Education Building, the Seventh Floor Central Courtyard combined modern design with natural elements. Sunlight poured throughout the space through its skylight.
Indoor greenery clustered around the courtyard, while art installations and sculptures nearby added a gentle humanistic atmosphere.
Standing in the middle of the courtyard, the chief examiner, Loren, Dean of the Sage Institute, had now clenched his fists.
He had personally chosen this examination question.
According to historians' analysis, this Tier 1 Shadow World, Hidden Flame of Winter, was originally a predicament encountered in his youth by the final Holy Emperor of an ancient civilization from over ten thousand years ago in this world—a ruler renowned for benevolence and righteousness.
The legendary figure Loren revered most had always been this Benevolent Holy Emperor.
Every deed attributed to the Holy Emperor filled Loren with boundless admiration.
In fact, this examination was not merely intended to test the freshmen's "wisdom and character."
He also hoped they would come to understand the circumstances and state of mind in which the Holy Emperor had helped the villagers,
as well as the helplessness and sorrow the Holy Emperor had felt upon discovering the truth.
And yet, despite all that, the emperor had remained unwavering and continued to uphold his benevolent and righteous heart afterward.
"Damn it..."
However, this brat named Lanqi Wilford.
His actions
made the Holy Emperor look rather foolish.
So it was possible to sacrifice the benevolent heart directly in exchange for demonic power?
And just like that, he waited for the examination to end.
Loren raised his head and stared at Lanchi leisurely roasting sweets on the enormous Magic Screen in the courtyard.
He felt a fire burning inside him.
If he could enter the Shadow World, he would have loved nothing more than to kick that blasted stove away!
"With magic power this weak, why is he an examinee from our institute?"
Loren eventually calmed down and muttered in puzzlement.
The instant he arrived at the examination grounds, he had sensed the magic power of every examinee.
He remembered that Lanchi's magic power was undoubtedly among the weakest present, not even comparable to that of many Knight Institute examinees specializing in physical attributes.
If he had not noticed Lanchi on the Magic Screen, Loren might initially have mistaken him for a Knight Institute examinee.
"If he managed to pass the first attribute test during his enrollment application, then all I can say is that his Mental Attribute must be extremely high, making up for the deficiency in his overall evaluation after weighting..."
"But how is he supposed to pass the practical examination...?"
The third round of assessment was different from the first two. Apart from relying on one's own hard-earned strength, there was no way to pass it through trickery.
Loren was certain that Lanchi was not a member of the clergy.
He could not sense any aura of divine protection from him.
Naturally, Lanchi could not use the Priest-type Magic Cards that "used mental strength to influence healing output."
The angle of the light passing through the glass dome gradually shifted within the courtyard, like the hands of a clock recording the passage of every moment.
The examination finally neared its end.
In the order they had entered, the examinees were sent out one after another through the enormous vortex-shaped Void Gate.
Only after every examinee had left the Artificial Shadow World did Loren lightly touch the Secret Key on the terminal and close the Void Gate.
Then the Artificial Shadow World Activation Terminal began its final calculation of the examination results.
Standing on the high platform and looking out, Loren saw the many qualified examinees scattered around the courtyard who had yet to leave the examination grounds. Some could barely conceal their joy, while others wore calm expressions.
Although they had been unable to learn how the other examinees were progressing through their Shadow Worlds during the examination,
quite a few examinees were clearly confident. They were certain that their Shadow World scores this time would be among the very best.
Before you continue