Shadow World: Purgatory Corridor Academy

As Lanchi felt the surroundings brighten again, his vision gradually focused.

He found himself sitting in the back row of a classroom as spacious as a theater.

In the dim space, the only light source was the faint glow from a few oil lamps hanging on the walls, a dim, almost tangible golden yellow.

They flickered constantly, like the pulse of life, ensuring a certain degree of visibility while adding a mysterious sense of drama to the place. Under the dim light of the lamps, the shadows of tables and chairs twisted and elongated, rustling in the silence with some swaying dark figures.

Although what Lanchi saw at this moment did indeed look like a classroom—long tables covered with red tablecloths were neatly arranged, a brand new black and gold blackboard stood on the distant stage at the front of the classroom, and the window frames and carvings also appeared ancient and luxurious.

But this space, estimated to be about three hundred square meters, should have given a sense of spaciousness, yet for some reason, it was completely gone. An unusually strong smell of blood, accompanied by an indescribable sense of eeriness, was present.

For a moment, it made Lanchi suspect he had arrived in the Netherworld.

His gaze shifted downwards, only to see a rough and ancient-looking parchment placed on the red tablecloth, with an ink bottle and a quill pen resting beside it.

The surface of the parchment was imprinted with mysterious characters different from human language, but through the translation spell that came with the Shadow World, Lanchi roughly determined that this was a Demon Script magic exam paper with questions.

Why is it still a school?

Lanchi was incredibly shocked.

He thought he had finally escaped from school, but he didn't expect to just escape to another school!

What was worse.

He was just attending classes at Iketerite Academy, but it seemed he had to start taking exams directly after coming to this Demon Race school!

With a feeling like he was visiting a grave, Lanchi slightly raised his head and scanned around, only to feel a sudden sense of abrupt detachment emerge in the air.

The students in this classroom had varied appearances, each one stranger than the last.

Each had an indescribable characteristic, most had sharp horns, and their skin had strange patterns and exoskeletons, some even had long, slender black tails.

And in the aisles of the classroom, two figures resembling examiners were methodically patrolling. They were wearing classical clothing similar to suits, neat and somber.

But surrounded by the smell of blood and evil aura, they appeared particularly eerie and terrifying.

It looked very bad at first glance.

Compared to the previous artificial Shadow Worlds he had experienced with seemingly milder themes like the Hidden Flame of Winter and the Infinite Phantom Canyon, this real Shadow World was clearly not on the same level!

Soon, information related to the Shadow World also appeared in Lanchi's line of sight.

This was a prompt that only a Shadow World challenger could see—

[Shadow World: Purgatory Corridor Academy]
[Level: Tier 4]
[Number of Challengers: 6]
[Historical Background: This was once the darkest era for humanity. Humans could only have daytime, while the night belonged entirely to the servants of the Blood Race. However, some people, for the dignity of the human race, did not hesitate to shatter their own dignity. To reclaim the south shrouded by the Blood Moon, only by obtaining the power of the Demon Race was there a possibility of creating a miracle. Thus, a crazy plan was born—a group of humans disguised themselves as demons through forbidden surgery in the imperial experimental field, crossed the extremely cold and dangerous northern regions to enter the Demon Realm, attempting to integrate into Demon Race society and learn Demon Race magic...]
[Mission Overview: You are currently lurking in a Demon Realm academy that is too absurd for human civilization to gather intelligence. Tonight will be the most dangerous night, and you need to try your best to survive safely.]
[Time Remaining: 11 hours 59 minutes]
[Mission Objective 1: Academy exploration progress exceeds 60%, current progress 3%]

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

[Mission Objective 3: At least 1 person survives until the time limit ends. Current survivors: 6/6]

[Challengers Lanchi & Hughberlian's starting location is the exam scene. Exam time is 2 hours. Subject: Demon Script]

[Any form of cheating during the exam, once discovered by the examiner, will grant the examiner the right to eliminate the examinee.]

[If the score is judged to be below 50 at the end of the exam, it will be considered a failure, and the examiner will immediately carry out the elimination.]

[You can submit your paper early. If you have any needs, you can raise your hand and ask the examiner for help.]

[Remaining exam time: 1 hour 59 minutes]

As Lanchi's thoughts settled, these information panels, similar to those in the artificial Shadow World, could be hidden or displayed again.

However, after understanding the content of his first real Shadow World, he furrowed his brow.

Tier 4, what the hell?

Lanchi didn't comment on the nightmare scenario of starting with an "exam" for now.

He was Tier 2, Hughberlian was Tier 3. If the Shadow World had learned math, there was no way it should match them into a Tier 4 Shadow World?

But what Lanchi was more concerned about was, if according to the Shadow World's prompt information, he should currently be temporarily disguised as a Demon Race by the Shadow World's mechanism.

Would it damage his image?

Lanchi looked down at himself. Besides wearing the dark black uniform of this Purgatory Corridor Academy, his joints seemed to have an exoskeleton like white jade crystals, emitting a faint glow.

Touching his head, he indeed found two more horns. From the faint light and shadow reflected in the ink bottle, his black hair and green eyes hadn't changed, but the horns and the patterns on his face were pure white.

Meanwhile, on the campus of Iketerite Academy.

The academy at 5 PM was immersed in a deep tranquility. At this time, the sunset had begun to slowly sink below the western horizon, casting its last golden-red light on every corner of the campus.

In Jella Memorial Square, not far from the academy entrance, a group of passing students had already begun to enjoy their time after class, discussing dinner options. Many students also sat on the steps of the square, watching the campus news broadcast projected on the open-air giant screen in the center of the square.

Often, this open-air giant screen would broadcast live footage of the Shadow Worlds currently being challenged by students in the academy.

Since the Shadow World itself was a projection of a period of history, the live footage of a Shadow World challenge would often be no less exciting and unique than a movie.

Students would often watch live clips of Shadow Worlds here.

It was both a form of entertainment and enjoyment of life, and a process of learning.

Of course, many students sat on the steps in front of the giant screen, simply chatting leisurely with their friends about the classes that had just ended, or quietly reading books, immersed in their own worlds.

"Hmm? There's a new Tier 4 Shadow World?"

"It's a rare Demon Race history Shadow World..."

On the steps, a student suddenly muttered to himself.

This caused many students to look up and gaze at the screen at this moment.

Since not many students challenged Shadow Worlds on the first day of school, the appearance of a new challenge was immediately noticeable.

Moreover, it was a dark-toned screen with extremely distinct thematic characteristics.

"Wait, aren't these two new students?"

Soon, a student noticed the [Challenger Information] section below the live footage of this Shadow World and exclaimed in surprise!